Being Successful in the Face of Fear 101

She came into work early with her heart in her throat.  She had talked to one of her clients last night and things were falling apart.  Anna wanted to put that phone call off.  Her fear must have shown because when her boss walked by, he paused and sat down at her desk.  “What’s up?” he asked.  She grimaced.  “I think that the deal I have been working on is unraveling.”  He looked at her and smiled.  “I know that’s hard.  You have worked hard, but my rule is this, ‘if you have to eat a frog, do it first thing in the morning.’  Then the rest of the day will not have a cloud hanging over it and you can be productive!”  Anna laughed.  She turned to the phone and as she picked it up, she asked her boss for some salt and pepper.

Anna had learned an important lesson.  When we face our fears and do the hard things early in the day, things improve quickly.  The relief of having the difficult call behind her gave her the release to have a day that was highly productive.

Does fear freeze you?  Are you afraid of making cold calls?  Are you afraid that someone is going to tell you no?  Do you have unrealistic expectations?

Truth is that only 5% to 20% of the new activity actually sign up, so a ‘ no’ is just one step closer to the yes that you are seeking.  And here is more good news, all the people you meet and develop a relationship with today are the people who may say ‘yes’ tomorrow or refer someone to you that will rock your world.  ‘

Anyone for frog legs?

What are you afraid to do???  Let’s talk.

Related articles

• What am I so afraid of? (randomnesshappens.wordpress.com)
• Four Powerful Steps to Dissolve Fears That Hold You Back (solo-e.com)

Blue Moon 101 or Why Do We Call It Blue? and Other Trivia

August 2012 we will have two full moons in one month.  We like to name the moons such as the Harvest Moon, the planting moon.  Now you and I know that it would be a rare occurence for the second moon in the month to actually be blue, but it is a romantic notion nonetheless.

On the internet, I found different reasons for it to be called the Blue Moon.

At Green Answers, they said:

A blue moon, the second full moon in the span of a month, originally was called blue around 1883. This was right after Krakatoa erupted, sending ash into the air. There was enough that the moon looked blue through all the dust. This is how we got “once in a blue moon,” whose name was later switched with harvest moon, to get what we now call a blue moon.

The Answer Bag  (http://www.answerbag.com) contradicts with this:

My dictionary of idioms says this:

“The allusion to the moon being blue goes back at least to a 1528 rhyme:
Yf they say the mone is blewe,
We must beleve that it is true.”

Etymonline gives:
“Blue moon emblematic of ‘very rarely’ suggests something that, in fact, never happens (cf. at the Greek calends), as in this couplet from 1528:

Yf they say the mone is blewe,
We must beleve that it is true.”

So now that we have that out of the way, I looked to see what else is called Blue Moon and there is quite a list.

There is beer, roses, wisteria, cup cakes, quilts, ways to apply nail polish, lamps, pumpkins, goddesses, bread, margaritas, cakes, perfume, glass, foliage, candles, hibiscus, cocktail, phlox, and a book called ‘Blue Moon Rising’ by Simon Green.

But for those of us in the Encore Generation, we remember the blue moon through a wonderful old song written by Richard Hart in 1934.  It was later used in the musical ‘Grease.’

Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone, Without a dream in my heart, Without a love of my own, Blue moon, you knew just what I was there for, You heard me saying a prayer for, Someone I could care for,And then there suddenly appeared before me, Someone my arms could really hold, I heard you whisper “Darling please adore me,” And when I looked to the moon it had turned to gold, Blue moon, now I’m no longer alone, Without a dream in my heart, Without a love of my own. And then there suddenly appeared before me The only one my arms will ever hold heard somebody whisper please adore me And when I looked the Moon had turned to gold Blue moon Now I’m no longer alone Without a dream in my heart Without a love of my own Blue moon Now I’m no longer alone Without a dream in my heart Without a love of my own

 

For me, it comes down to something rare and unexpected as in ‘once in a Blue Moon.’  There is some nostalgia in and longing.  It indicates things rare and precious.  “I only get to see my good friend once in a Blue Moon.’

What does Blue Moon mean to you?

The Top Reason to Grow Old

Growing old makes no sense.  It is unreasonable.  I still feel like I am a happy, healthy thirty year old on the inside – so ‘whatsup’ with the change in the outside?  I look in the mirror and sometimes I see my Mother.  Sometimes, I see just an older version of me.  Sometimes I am shocked by the reflection and step outside of myself and consider the stranger that stares back at me.

Apart from the exterior, there are many things I like about being in my ‘encore’ time of life!  I like the freedom of relationships.  You don’t have to like me.  I know that I will survive your rejection.  I can tell a man of most any age that I love him and it just says, “I love you too.”  There are no innuendos and no concerns that he will suddenly want more than I meant.

I am thankful as I advance in years as not all people grow old and I believe that it affords us wonderful perspective.  .

I have time.  Time to reflect and play.  Time to sit and watch the clouds and feel the heat from the sun on my skin.  Time to listen to nature and to other people.  Time to write – love that!

My grandchildren amaze me with their abilities and thoughts.  My grown children are a source of pride in their accomplishments and character.  They live too far away – or I do.

My true friends are few but I value them and they value me.  We have walked past the ones that were for a season and those who are users.

I can travel if I want, but mostly I love being home and enjoying the peace and quiet companionship of my dear husband.

Everything is more intense.  The things that I have little or no control over seem to be moving at a more rapid pace including political divides, corporations like Monsanto that have high-jacked our food supply and led to the genetic modification of so many things, the patent office that made GMO possible, and so much more.  Our grandchildren have much to deal with and I fear our legacy isn’t a pretty one.  .  I still have a desire to impact things for good.

My husband of thirty-two years is more precious to me every day.  He doesn’t say much but the silence is filled with love.

But the top reason for growing older is the closeness that I feel to my Creator and the love that I feel for everyone I meet.  I used to look at others and judge their clothes, their financial condition and their failures – now I feel an overwhelming love for them and find myself praying for complete strangers.

I am truly free and I love living!

Freedom Isn’t Free

Freedom is a complicated subject.  We are only free as long as we see that there is a high price paid for freedom and that we have a responsibility to maintain it.  

When my children were in their teens and still at home, they had certain criteria that affected their freedom.  When those criteria were met, they had more privileges.

As a wife, there are limitations to my freedom if I want the relationship to be one of happiness and contentment.  It assumes faithfulness and truth.

The men and women who fought for our freedom in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and every war since have paid an enormous price for our freedom.  My uncle Jack was a ball turret gunner in a plane that went down over Belgium in WWII.

The Civil War and the life of Martin Luther King paid for the freedom of those who had been enslaved.

As a citizen, my freedom is contingent on my attention to the people we place in office and to be aware of what they do after they get in.  It is always based on my exercise of my voting privileges.

Have you ever noticed that people who aren’t free want to trap you in the same web that enslaves them?

A drug dealer wants you on drugs.

An alcoholic invites you to have just one more.

A thief will work to get you to steal.

A gang member will have an initiation that will ensure that you are guilty of crimes before you can be a member.

A smoker is all too willing to share a cigarette with you and teach you the ‘how to.’

A person driven by lust will try to get you hooked on it as well.

Advertisers want you hooked on prescription drugs, fast food, cigarettes, and a myriad of other products that are designed to keep you buying their products.

We have the freedom to say anything in this country and on the internet, but there is some speech that is designed to put us in bondage like pornography.

The ultimate price was on the cross when Jesus Christ shed His blood so that we could choose freedom

We are reminded of the rights and responsibilities that we have in the Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,^[76]that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long-established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

Our future freedom depends on our actions today.

I am gratful to God for all the freedoms that we have in this country.  We are still the greatest nation in the world.

 What freedoms are you grateful for this week of celebration of the independence of the United States?  

Living on Fast Forward in Retirement

The internet has really captured me.  I started working with it because I like to write and now the ministry, that we participate in, has asked me to help with their  blogs and websites.  At sixty-nine years young, I thought that the task was overwhelming and then I got into it and found out that I was right.  The good news is that I have found people to help me develop the web pages which are beginning to come together and look good.  But, because of this activity my personal blogging has taken a back-seat and I really miss it.  So – here goes!

Being retired isn’t just sitting in front of the television, traveling, and feeding, the birds.  My life is full and busy.  I still do the normal things of taking care of the house and yard.  We visit my 95 year-old Mom and our kids.  The ministry has monthly tent meetings and that has kept us engaged.  My Usana business has suffered a bit.  Visit me at http://www.encorenow.usana.com and help me out!

Pinterest is a pin-board that is a fun leisure time activity.  Most interesting to me is that I can do it and not feel like ‘if only’ I had this or that.  It is just a place to see pretty things, learn things, get tips, learn about products, and find humor.  Yes, it can be a time-waster but I am learning just to do it for short bursts of time!

In addition to the normal part of my life, who would have thought that the very thing that I struggled with at work (the computer)  would become a  passion?  So now the writing bug has me wrapped up in blogging and posting to web-pages.  I am learning so much.  I guess the book that I pondered will have to wait.

Here is one of the web sites that I have in process – http://www.fireinthestreets.com.  The picture is what I am using as a header.  Cool huh?

So what is keeping you engaged and happy in your retirement?

From Ink Wells to Keyboards – How the Internet Changed my Life in my 60’s!

• As a kid, I learned penmanship using an ink well and an old ink pen.  We practiced doing circles and lines so that our writing was legible and yes, even pretty.   I enjoyed writing and from an early age wrote poetry and short stories.When I became an adult, I worked in offices that did everything by hand.  We kept record and files and remembered details in our minds.It was in the late 1980’s when I got involved with the computer.  My then boss decided to computerize our company.  I was part of the beta and learned from dos on up.  The good thing about those days is that I had computer support.  Then I retired about twenty years later.When I moved to the Ozarks, I took a job recruiting from home for a company in my home town.  It had many challenges, not the least of which was the lack of computer support.  I no longer had an Admin Assistant to type my interviews and when the computer acted up, I had to figure it out.  As a result, I got up close and personal with the electronic gadget.  Three years later, I really retired and laid the old computer aside and bought a lap-top.

  Since then, I can compute from anywhere and I discovered the wonders of social media.  When I first tried to work with a web-page, I had a friend, Steve, who helped me.  In fact, he led me into this amazing new world by introducing me to the Chief Blogger, Tom McDunn.  Since then I have taken blogging classes and now I manage five blogs, three of which are my own. I have written a blog and a web page for someone else.

  I wake up in the morning with ideas running through my head for a new blog post and can’t wait to get it ‘in the can.’  (Do they say that for blogging?  Maybe I coined a new phrase from the film industry!)

  Are you over fifty and think that this social media thing is too hard for you?   I challenge you to find a class.  Join me in a great adventure!

  Let me know what you think about social media, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.  Do you blog?