Do nothing

I saw this image this morning on Facebook, and knew I had to share it!

The world was loud enough BEFORE the pandemic. The extra noise created by Covid and vaccines and and and has become so overwhelming for so many!

When I saw this picture, I smiled because that is me next to that tree, except I am a grownup (apparently) and a woman 😛

This image is also how I feel when I am next to my 30 kilogram male rescue dog, and the little 6 kilogram rescue dog is cuddled up next to him 😉

So this is a friendly reminder that sometimes the something we need to do is absolutely nothing.

Don’t scroll on social media, don’t read your texts or even respond (in fact, switch that cellphone off 😛 ), don’t even turn on your television/computer/laptop.

Just be.

Switch off, and do absolutely nothing. Even if just for ten minutes a day!

They say that making a conscious effort to do this every day not only leads to a calmer and more peaceful ‘you’ but it can also make your brain work better and increase your efficiency!

For me? It’s about my love for trees and my ‘furbabies’ 😛 Seriously though, I don’t know about you, but with all the noise, I sure do love some peace!

Have a great weekend, everyone 😉

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IMHO

I heard something said the other day that is definitely worth sharing. And although I will share it, it won’t be in this post 😛

Instead, this post is to address ‘an issue’ of sorts. And hopefully make you laugh a bit along the way 😉

IMHO

You know what that acronym means, right? Well… I didn’t!
I was only told its meaning a couple of years ago, when in desperation I finally asked what it meant. (I still don’t know why I didn’t just google it!!!)

I had a friend who used the acronym often… but it was always at the ‘end’ of something she said, and so it made no difference to me that I didn’t know what she meant. Until the day I asked for advice via text, and she replied, ”IMHO?”
It was time for me to ‘fess up!
My text read : ”I know you’re going to tell me I am backwards…. but what does IMHO mean, please?”

She CALLED me to reply… but she couldn’t even say ‘hello’, she was laughing so much! And every time I think of that day, I laugh too…at myself! When she finally choked out the definition, I shook my head in wonder that I had not figured that out!

IN MY HUMBLE OPINION! Of course! (Come to think of it now, she never did give me the advice I had asked for. Hmmmm. 😛 )

Except these days there seems to be more of the opinion, and less of the humble. Especially on social media. And it’s become quite a sad state of affairs. If I did grab a bowl of popcorn every time a ‘Facebook fight’ occurred as instructed by a popular meme, I’d never eat anything other than popcorn! 😛 (And that’s in community groups…not even personal pages! SMH! – I know what that means, but in case you don’t : SHAKING MY HEAD 😉 )

I’ve been blogging for about 15 years now. Not always on WordPress though. For the most part, the blogging world has been rather safe….
there seems to be a general knowledge AND RESPECT (because let’s face it, it really does come down to respecting our differences, even on social media) for the fact that if you are a ‘personal blogger’ then the things on your blog posts are pretty much, well, personal.

But after seeing some keyboard warriors at work this morning on a community post, making things personal and pretty much trying to ruin each others reputation, I decided to type this blog post as a form of what my blog means : ‘nopassingfancy in Meg’s mind’. I may even start adding a link to it at the end of some of my posts 😛

When I research things and add them here, I give credit (unless the author is unknown). And at those times, clearly it isn’t MY opinion. Depending on the post, and what I say about whatever I quote, I either agree or disagree with that research.
However, a LOT of what I write is OPINION based.
And EXPERIENCE based – but it’s based on MY personal experience…
And the aftermath? The things I do, or share, or my opinion of the occurrences?
Well… it’s ALL ABOUT ME 😛

I cannot stress enough : we are all different. This means that everything : how we respond to things, how we feel about things, what we think about things etc. will also be different.
By no means do I share things as a ‘foolproof plan for YOUR life/to heal YOUR hurt/to help YOU move forward’.
I do know, from personal experience 😛 though, that reading about the ways of others can sometimes put me back on the path, or help me change my mindset, or inspire and encourage me. And so that is why I share.

I respect that what works for me might not work for you. I respect that not everyone shares my faith, or has the same opinions as me. I really do. And guess what? I still value you stopping by and reading, and commenting. You still have worth in my eyes. Even if you don’t agree with me.

You have your opinion, and I have mine. RESPECT says we can co-exist in the blogosphere 😉 (It would work on Facebook too if people remembered the word! 😛 )

And no… no one has been mean to me on here 😉 (Not lately, anyway)

I just thought I would put it out there, as a little reminder : I’m not selling you anything that is guaranteed to work. I’m giving you ideas based on what has worked FOR ME. (And sharing all my spectacular failures along the way 😛 )

I’m glad you’re here. I’m encouraged, and incredibly grateful, that you take time out to read my words – my mishaps and my motivations that keep ME going.

Hopefully I bring a little sunshine to your days 😉

The world needs love. Especially now. Part of that love is to just respect the fact that we all have our own thoughts and opinions. (Well, that’s MY opinion anyway 😛 ) Let’s get out there and be kind, even to those who don’t agree with us.

And if you think what I have said is wrong, you might be right. Who knows?!?!
You matter to me anyway, and I am glad you stopped by my blog and took the time to read ❤

Battery light

A couple of months ago, my bathroom scale stopped working. I was thrilled. My teenage daughter, not so much 😛

My son asked if that meant we had to buy a new one, or is a bathroom scale battery operated? I replied with a hasty, ”battery, will get later”, because I was on my way out the door.

A few hours later, I returned home with two packs of batteries, AA and AAA. I opened up the back compartment and realised that neither one would work. It needed one of those 2032 flat batteries. I’d never owned anything before that used those types of batteries, so it was new to me. I didn’t recall ever seeing one like that either. Yes, you can laugh at me and ask, ”You’re HOW old?” Well, clearly not too old to learn something new 😛

The following morning, I took the flat little battery ‘coin’ to the shop with me, and was surprised to see a whole section of different brands, right next to the batteries I usually buy! Note to self : be more observant! 😛
Armed with a matching flat, I returned home and hey presto, our scale worked again! Much to my disgust 😛

Why the battery story? I read something this morning that I felt I simply had to share with you. So the anecdote was your introduction 😉

I identified so much with the first part of the little story I read this morning because I have a torch/flashlight that is busy dimming. It needs new batteries. And thanks to my bathroom scale disaster, I still have some in my drawer 😉
The story I read goes like this (no idea who to credit because there was no name attached to it) :

When a torch/flashlight grows dim or quits working, do you just throw it away? Of course not! You change the batteries!
When a person messes up or finds themselves in a dark place, should we just cast them aside? Of course not! We should help them change their batteries!

Some need AA – attention and affection. Some need AAA – attention, affection and acceptance. Some need C – compassion. Some need D – direction.

And if they still don’t seem to shine, sometimes we just need to sit with them quietly and share OUR light with them!

(I understand that there are some cases with circumstances where none of the above apply. BUT in all cases, the above is needed, whether it changes things or not!)

Here’s to being kind! To accepting and acknowledging others! To showing compassion! To sharing our light!

Closer to beauty

Photo credit : cafepress.com

When I was ten years old, my brother had a sign like this stuck on his bedroom door. And every time he saw me glance at it, he’d be sure to tell me, ”You aren’t one of us”. At that time in my life, surrounded by a lot of rejection and painful circumstances, it hurt… and it was one of those hurts that I carried with me into my adult life.
It’s only now that I can laugh at it when I think about it, because I realise that his intention was to be funny, and not to add more pain to my life. It’s just his sense of humour!

This same brother (I have two who are much older than me, and he is the younger of the two) gave me something else to carry into my adult life, which has actually been quite valuable.

Between the ages of 17 and 19, this brother spent a lot of his spare time with his music blaring, and either a Scrabble board, or a large puzzle on a board, on his bed. The love for Scrabble was thanks to our grandparents, and he and I were the only two in our extended family who grew to love it so much that we’d play against ourselves for hours! Would you believe, we never played a game together, even though we lived in the same house!
But that’s not what I wanted to tell you about…. I wanted to tell you about his puzzle!

He had a beautiful puzzle, a seemingly deserted island, with two palm trees and a hammock; blue seas and a sunlit sky. When he had finished building it on his large piece of firm cardboard, he grabbed his glue, and patiently (I think it’s one of the few time I remember him being patient 😛 ) stuck the individual pieces to the card. But he left one off! Right in the middle of the puzzle! And then in the space at the bottom of the sheet, he wrote these words :

Even paradise isn’t perfect!

I saw it stuck up on his wall a few days later, and commented, ”Well, that’s just dumb. You left a piece off. It’s ruined!”
I will never forget his reply!

”Nothing, and no one, is perfect. And if you think something is ruined just because it isn’t perfect, you’ll be miserable!”

I’ll admit that I have not always applied those words! But here’s what I have learnt along the way :

Yes, it is good to have expectations of things and people; to know limits and forge forward. But when we are pushed to the limit, or our expectations are not met, it is important to focus on acceptance, instead of disappointment.

Wait, what? Are you saying I am not allowed to be disappointed?

Nope! Not at all!

Feeling is equally as important as doing. In fact, it’s usually how we feel that determines what we do next.

In small moments of disappointment, it is easy for me to ‘get over it and move on’. When disappointments are great, it’s a lot harder! And sometimes take a lot longer to ‘get over’. When the tears roll down my cheeks and I feel every bit of that disappointment weighing heavy on me both physically and emotionally, I let myself feel it. I don’t even question it. I just go with it. Sometimes it even makes me angry enough to scream into my pillow 😛 And my thoughts are sometimes not even very pleasant either!

But I don’t stay there.

After a few minutes, I tell myself, ”Well, girl, even paradise isn’t perfect. Stop expecting everything else to be!”
And sometimes it’s a temporary fix, that just helps me get through the rest of that day! Some things are so overwhelming that they rear their ugly heads over and over, at the most inconvenient times!
So I become a shampoo bottle! Lather (let myself feel it), rinse (remind myself about the reality of imperfection) and repeat if desired (the next time it comes along)! 😉

When I think of that puzzle now, even though there was a piece missing, I could still see the hammock, the palm trees, the blue sea, the sunlit sky. It was no longer a perfectly finished puzzle, but it still had incredible beauty and elicited a feeling of peace and relaxation.

So here’s hoping that in your week ahead, even though it might be slightly disrupted and less than perfect, you will still be able to see some of the beauty and feel some of the peace! ❤

Fabulous Fun

Things have just been way too serious since this pandemic started! The stress of it all is affecting everyone, even those who will tell you that it’s not.
It IS possible to be ‘okay’ – have an inner peace and joy – but still feel the stress. No one is entirely immune.

But as with everything else in life, our attitudes play a big role in how okay we stay despite the circumstances.

I don’t know if you have ever experienced it, but I’ll share this anyway….
I had four days in a row (my son has just reminded me that they weren’t quite in a row, but spanned 7 days instead… it probably just felt like in a row 😛 ) where something went wrong on each day : my car needs repairs again, my microwave decided it was retiring, my vacuum cleaner finally gave up, and my daughter’s school bag decided to be like my bank account – broke 😛
Each day, I did a great job of dealing with these things. I took them in my stride, didn’t get too upset, had a great attitude towards them.

Last night they hit me all at once. It was like this sudden hard downpour that came out of nowhere, and I just felt so darn sorry for myself! Ha ha! It was short lived, and probably mostly from frustration and exhaustion because yesterday was a busy day, but it happened.

And I went with it. I had my ‘good cry’, and then blew my nose and washed my face. I grabbed myself a ‘comfort snack’ from the kitchen and climbed into bed. I forced myself to dwell on all I have to be grateful for – to not allow my brain to ‘go there’/ think about the minor ‘disasters’.

When my teenage daughter came through to put her phone on charge because it was time for her to go to bed, and sighed out loud, ”I’m so glad it’s Friday tomorrow”, I smiled.
In my head, I told myself this : ”You are going to make it not only a fabulous Friday, but a fun one too. No matter what, you have to laugh, silly girl!”

I’ve been up and about for three hours, and so far so good 😛 (And I’ve even left the house! 😛 )

So I thought I’d share two bits of Friday fun with you 😉

This was my Facebook post – not intended to offend anyone, but I think it’s pretty darn funny… (no idea who to credit for the image, as it was in my memories as a re-share from five years ago)

And then I saw another image on Facebook (again, no idea who to credit) that I will be sharing with my kids (and you) because….
Sometimes my children will ask me to do something for them – something they are quite capable of doing for themselves – and I’ll be busy with something else and usually tell them, ”I’m not your maid or your servant. I’m busy.” It’s never said in a malicious way though – my tone is always a little bit like ‘feigning shock’. The response is usually said in a teasing tone, ”Awww, but you’re my mom. It’s your job. The best job in the world, right?”
Most times, they end up doing it themselves because they know their request was ridiculous (Mommy, please bring me glass of water; Mommy, please pass me my phone, I’m too lazy to get up; Moooooom…. please come here….. now that you’re here can you please pass me xyz).
Sometimes I humour them, because it really isn’t inconvenient, and they do little things for me as well, that I am perfectly capable of doing for myself too! 😉
So I saw this image this morning, and it is SO applicable to one of the things that go with ‘my job’:

I’m off to see what other fabulous and fun things I can find to do on this Friday! And who else I can share it with! Because being kind to others and brightening their day has a very positive effect on us too!

Let’s get out there and be the light 😉 Happy Friday, and weekend, everyone! ❤