The morning after

Have you ever had one of those time when you think..."Man I wish I hadn't said that" or "I should have said..." or "how in the world could have I forgotten to..." ?
I certainly have.


Once I made a comment to a supervisor.  It was not a bad comment, honest.  The supervisor was late to a meeting.  I was a little peeved.  I had spent several hours the night before in the ER with my dad (I think he had a nosebleed that wouldn't stop and since he had a blood related disorder, we didn't think that was anything to fool around with - but I digress).


Anyway my "boss" bounded in to my office and said "what are my assignments from the meeting?"


And I said "I'll let you know".As soon as I said it, I thought - okay Paula, go back - apologize - that really was a bit rude.


But I didn't.


And can tell you - more than 5 years later I think back on those four words and wish I had at least tried to smooth the waters.  I have no doubt but that the next three years that I worked with this person would have gone better and not ended on bad terms as I have always hated.


This week I was a part of a mailing that was a bit of a bear.  The more we worked to get it done, the more problems...so many that yesterday - after the mailing was in the mail -- I realized that a document that should have been in those envelopes "got left out".


Ouch.


And then I saw a couple of friends - and I said something that was not necessary.  May have been true but I really didn't need to go there.


So where am I this morning?


How about here:
"But one thing I do:  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
(Philippians 3:13,14 - New International Version).            


Oh - and guess who helped me learn that principle when I was a freshman at Bryan College - all those years ago.  Well, then he was my boyfriend who became my husband and the very best thing of all - the father of our children!

Find your bliss

A few years ago, my childhood friend, Bobby Drashin, spent a lot of time encouraging me to "find your bliss".

I kept thinking about that as I thought about my 2014 resolutions.  I did some research.  The concept seemed to be someone "self-centered".  That wouldn't work.  That's not what I want to be. 

So I kept digging.  And I found a definition of bliss - perfect happiness; great joy; blessedness. . .

Hum...maybe that is what I want for 2014...

Really I could have a year just like the one that's passed and be okay.  New friendships came along; old friendships were renewed.  I'm published in magazines, I'm planning events, my house is being redecorated. 

 

But if I'm going to find my bliss in 2014, here's how I think I'll do it.

          *I am going to be the kind of friend that Isaida Sanchez has been to me.  All she did was "over hear" that I needed a crystal punch ladle and it was mine.  Never mind that we had only just met that morning.  And who knew that my need for a ladle was the beginning of a great friendship?  Or the kind of friend, Virginia Jefferies Pillsbury is  - she is always so excited to see me.  It just warms my heart.  Renee Skinner is like that too.

I have found that practicing loving others really works.  Did you see my Christmas stash?

         *I am going to encourage others to write.  From my mother to my friend Allison Oxford Rifkin (who also happens to be Virginia Pillsbury's daughter) to my friend Doris.  Sometimes when I read some of my friends' Facebook postings, I think "she needs to be a writer" (shout out to Beth Lunsford).

         *I will also spend more time with my grandchildren.  My children remember making fudge and watching football with granddaddy; taking trips with my parents and many Sunday dinners at grandma's house.  If I want them to remember me, I have to make time for Adorable, Admirable,  Gracious, Terrific, Effervescent, Caring and Radiant (*I have an agreement with my children - I don't write about their children by name - so I made up names).

         *I will read devotionals every day.  There are so many good ones on line.  I've been reading The Upper Room for a while and I really do have time to read more than one and find myself encouraged and challenged.  And maybe I will write a book of devotional thought.

     AND finally - I am going to have some fun

         * FUN?  Once more I searched for a definition and found the word ENJOYMENT.

         *I remember a song from my childhood - Jesus and Others and You what a wonderful way to spell JOY.   In other words, I'm going to find the joy which if you look back at the definition of bliss is one of the words that is included.

Okay Bobby - let's just say  - I'm ready to find my bliss!

"May the God of hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope" (Romans 15:13 - The Message).