Are You Positive?

Monday, February 1, 2010

Positive Entry 2010 - 3

A Harp Orchestra for your Inspiration



Sometimes I feel like a very small voice in the wilderness on my blog, but that's ok. These entries may be solitary ones, like a tree that rustles in the deep woods for a little while. I hope to gather a faithful following of friends that benefit from these entries some day...as they say persistance pays off! The inspirations that come may be a bit haphazard yet I am compelled to continually share them. I really can't help it. In the case of this entry I am writing about something that I have found to be of importance to me for some reason. The subject of Harps. Harps are so amazing. I found this YouTube harp presentation to be amazingly soothing and pretty. I"m learning to play a harp...you can see a photo of me with it below. It's a slow process but I'm getting there.... It takes practice and positive thinking to master any skill. You never know where it will take you.

The orchestra is young but together with the flutes, chimes and violins the buildup at the end is really nice! Enjoy.





and then there is this wonderful harpist, Katrina, who absolutely knows how to strum the strings in this beautiful rendition of the Wedding March as if she were an angel - listen for the grand finale:




Ending with me and my harp...dreaming of playing those tunes some day!



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Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Positive Entry 2010 - 2

ENCOURAGEMENT WIRED!



We all need encouragement! The Encouragement Wired website is a great place to get some nice reminders of how important encouragement is with some tips on how to be more encouraging to others. Here is their home page link: http://encouragement-wired.com/default.aspx . You can also sign up for a great newsletter from them. Today's post was on the 30 second rule in relationships which simply involves this:


Within 30 seconds of a conversation, say something encouraging to the other person.


Giving out compliments focuses one on the value of the other person and prevents one from being self-absorbed.....Be sure to visit and see the rest, including principles and tips.











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Monday, January 11, 2010

My Positive fixes entry 2010 - 1


FOUNTAINS OF INSPIRATION


This is incredibly inspiring and beautiful. The Fountain in Dubai in this link really is incredible. I could listen to this all day. Check out the You-tube video below. The music is called Baba Yetu.... There are postive vibes here as well as some thought provoking questions. What is the cost of this beauty? What is the price of inspiration? What would this world be without beauty such as this? These are not easy questions to answer. I can only say that I am inspired and that is priceless.




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Monday, December 21, 2009

My Positive fixes - entry 2009-4


MUTTERINGS - FREE ASSOCIATION

This is sort of like a gazing globe for the mouth...:)

http://subliminal.lunanina.com/

Week 360

I say ... and you think ... ?

Here are my answers:

1. Interest – the money I earn on savings – Yay!
2. Chase – Manhattan, a mortgage company for homes
3. Itch – scratching that satisfies
4. Soothe – lotion effect on the hands
5. Lamp – light in the living room
6. Tutor – teacher with a personal touch
7. Nicole – one of my daughter’s friends
8. Sloth – furry mammal
9. Burn - The TV show ‘Burn Notice’
10. Bug - Ladybug

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My positive fixes - entry 2009 - 03



CHRISTMAS FROM THE HEART

This is such a magical time of year. I know that not everyone celebrates Christmas but I wish everyone did. The traditions and decorations, the feeling of good will, the hope in a new beginning, a clean spirit, a joyful time are all part of this time. The true spirit of Christmas is about giving and helping and enjoying each other from the heart. I've always felt that it's important to give of oneself especially at this time of year.

My memories of Christmas extend way back to when I was about 3 years old and my sister and I were all dressed up for church. We were at a friend's home that day and got our photo taken at the foot of their huge, and I mean huge, tree. Even though the photo is in black and white I still remember some of the colors of the dresses we wore and the presents under the tree. Not much more just the image of it being a special time. My mom always dressed my sister and I like twins when were were young. It was easier I guess. We are 1 and 1/2 years apart, me being the oldest...but she was pretty much the taller one the whole time we were growing up and she still is!

I remember being so grateful for whatever we got for presents. You can't imagine how that felt unless you have been in situations when you don't have a lot of money. We played with the toys all year long and when Easter or our Birthday's came we would get presents then but otherwise we got what we needed. There was not much money to spend on wants during the rest of the year especially since there eventually were seven of us siblings, with me as the oldest. Somehow I think that made Christmas all the more special. Looking forward to seeing those presents under the tree was so exciting...however, I think it was even more fun anticipating and then walking out of our rooms on Christmas Eve after the 'angel' had come to see our presents all wrapped up. Giggling with each other as we opened our own packages. These are some of my Christmas childhood memories.

Maybe that is why my family keeps up this tradition even though we have all grown up and our children are young adults for the most part. But now, we are in a better position and we are used to just buying things throughout the year when we want them. We have more than we need, luckily we all have fulltime jobs and can do this. I know that having gift exchanges are fun and all but somehow the magic is not the same. I am so blessed to have so many things, and even though I am not rich by any means I don't really need anything. What I love is to get gifts from the heart and to give gifts from the heart. I think that is what we all love. That is what is uplifting to me. It is always so wonderful to know someone thought of you from their heart. Even the gesture of a gift to a charity from their heart on your behalf is something to cherish. I love hearing the story of the charity or how the giving was done. There are so many deserving people out there that are out of work or ill. Prayers are always good to give. I try to write a few prayers this time of year to give silently to those in need. Especially those I might know about more personally. Prayers do get answered.

In any case, thinking about this and how we feel when we know we have celebrated Christmas from the heart is exciting. Ask yourself if the gift you are giving is from the heart and if not, how can it be from the heart?..or better yet make an afformation - How is it from the heart? and make it happen.

It's almost Christmas, isn't it time for making more memories we will cherish for years to come - like this little gif made by a fellow blogger awhile ago and shared with me and many others gifts like these from her heart before she became ill and had to cut back on her sharing. Her heartfelt gift remains for me and you to enjoy!

Monday, November 23, 2009

My positive fixes - entry 2009 - 02



PINK ROSE of ELEGANCE - HENRIK EDBERG

This is my second post on my positive fixes. I feel compelled
to seek out things which are positive and optimistic. We have too
much attention on the cyniscism in the world. I feel that more
energy needs to be expended on the bright and useful thinking
surrounding us. While it's not good to bury one's head in the
sand like the proverbial ostriche it's also not good to dwell on
what is wrong all the time. That's why we have backup plans.
In any case I am convinced that a focus on the positive in the
moment will help us to avoid the negative in the moment and
thus in the future as well.



My entry today is a spotlight on a blogger who continually inspires.
I am completely impressed with this positive thinker!
Henrik Edberg is the blogger and his intention is to write
about all sorts of positive things that might help people.


He writes in the entry at this link:
http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2009/11/20/9-life-lessons-i-have-learned-from-blogging/
about his tips on blogging.

Who couldn't use some good blogging tips.


He covers 9 lessons he's learned about life
through his blogging. To wet your curiousity appetite here
are the titles of the nine lessons ----------------
(he has some great explanations for each one on his site):



1) Don't wait for Inspiration
2) More work less talk
3) Learn from people with more experience
4) You need to set limits and just focus on what is important
5) You get what you give
6) More external validation won't save you
7) Ideas and insights are fleeting
8) How you present it makes a big difference
9) Don't think about what everyone else may think

I enjoy Henrik's candor and his indepth writings. Maybe you
will too. He identified not just two or three lessons but nine!!!!!
I felt that all were great but I especially liked 1), 2), 5) and 7).
The images he chooses for his entries are always very intriguing
to me as well. Whether you agree with these lessons or not,
after reading his descriptions you might find your own life
enriched a little after visiting his blog. I know I did. I'm very much
of the thinking if just even one person is helped that is success!
It always makes me think..what if...?

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Friday, November 6, 2009

My positive fixes - entry 2009 - 01



THREE BLOGGERS OF NOTE:


I sometimes visit my favorite blogs, twitters or facebooks and get some wonderful ideas and links to help satisfy my addiction to positive things. Whenever I visit a site which I think is positive or inspiring I have been trying to find a way to capture that for the future. I tend to jump around a lot so that I lose track in my travels between blogs, comments and sites sometimes and have been trying to think of ways to capture these entries for later visiting. I don't want to lose them.

Ta da! I found a way to keep that thread by periodically blogging about their blog, site or twitter. I can note why I think that the entries are a positive force and an antidote to my affliction with Positive thinking. Yes, I say it is like the caffiene for my coffee. Sometimes I need to revisit these places and when I can't find them again I feel a sense of loss. Hopefully, no longer will this be a problem as I begin to capture these visits on my blog from now on! I also love to number things. That's keeping me organized as well. Notice that this entry title is numbered Positive fix 2009-01. ( I don't think I'll get past 99 before December). (An addiction to numbers can be a bit much I admit, but I love to number things to for tracking and find them later. I have some latent Librarian desires and tendencies...don't even get me started on the Dewey Decimal system....hmmm, I haven't thought about that for a long time.)

Today I'm going to honor three sites that had blogs or ideas I thought were especially fit for getting a positive fix (besides mine of course...LOL):

1) Operation Nice - a great blog entry about doing nice things. See the link on my sidebar to the right? It says I'm very nice, with the link: http://www.operationnice.com/ I want to bring your attention to a particular entry on the blog that I connected with immediately at this link: http://www.operationnice.com/2009/10/i-did-my-assignment.html#links Melissa, the blogger made Halloween cards and candy bags and handed them out to her favorite Starbuck's employees as a random act of kindness. I connected with it because I did something little similar to this at a restaurent I went to on Halloween day. I had these little photo cards that had the cutest pumpkins on the front and some Halloween humor inside: "What is the ratio of a Jack-O-Lantern's circumference to it's Diameter? Answer: Pumpkin Pi! " After our meal and as I was leaving I slipped one of these cards on the table with a hand written 'thank-you from a customer' inside along side humor. ...I also made one out for my Physical Therpist the day before and handed it to her as I was leaving. It's nice way of both extending appreciation and gratitude.

Reading over Melissa's blog I got routed to another site whose photography and posts are most inspiring:
2) The site is entitled: 'Be yourself - Everyone else is taken' by Beth. It is a collection of photos and poems and just positive and inspiring peices. In particular is this one which caught my eye and heart: http://moredoors.blogspot.com/2009/10/i-dont-ever-want-to-judgedo-you.html Here Beth was walking along in and saw some kids having fun and laughing and figured out how to interact with them in the most amazing way with her photography. They all seemed to have fun and when all was said and done it left me smiling. You can find more on her post by Clicking on the 2009 in the right hand column of the post.

3) At the bottom of the Be Yourself site I found another link to tryout. See how my thread gets woven with jumping from one site to the next? It's all good but very time consuming. This new site is inspiring to me because I am hooked on numbers and time management ideas. I am not saying I'm especially great at this but it is a obsession of mine. Couple this with an engaging photographer and new ideas and I'm hooked. Have you ever seen a Human Calendar? Here you go: http://www.humancalendar.com/ To read about this just click on the calendar or go to http://www.humancalendar.com/about.php The link is cool because it actually changes when the calendar changes..you will see that is should be reading the current month! It is so much fun. The author/programmer Craig D. Giffin also has a human clock site: http://www.humanclock.com/ I am just too inspired.
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