Stormy days within.

   The last week has been busy and challenging.  I learned a very valuable lesson yesterday while at work.  Maybe I should say I was reminded of a very valuable lesson and how there is always room to grow!

   I had a customer come in with a concern, it was obvious that he was not in a very good mood.  I was as polite and professional with him as I possibly could be, he had to leave his vehicle so that we could attend to it.  Later as I followed up with him to inform him when it would be done and that we were taking care of it, he was still very rude.  I would say that he was rude and insulting as he made everything feel like a personal attack.  I was still polite however, in my frustration after a few minutes I directed a subtle jab back at him so that, in my mind, I was putting him in his place.  Boy! Did I get a response!  His response was over the top and he flew into a rage, called the powers that be and made life just generally difficult for me for several hours.

  The lesson here is DON'T TAKE THINGS PERSONAL!  Yes, I allowed him to get to me and worse yet, by being anything but neutral, I allowed him to mess with my day on a whole different level.  Just imagine how much easier it would have been to keep my simple little comment, no matter how politely stated or subtle I thought it was to myself and never let it become personal for just those few seconds.

   It's not personal. Whatever his issue or challenge that day. It was his, I was in the wrong in several ways.  First, I let him effect me. I took it personal. Second, I allowed my self to feed the flames of his bad humor.  Lastly, I allowed myself to get involved instead of keeping my professional wits about me.

   In life, sometimes the best rule is to keep our own peace, and rest in it no matter what the storms around us.  This is perhaps the best way to be a pillar to those who need us most.  Agreed this gentleman was probably looking for someone to go off on.  The problem, it should not have been me and it was my fault that it happened the way it did.  My bad, time to learn, move on and not let it happen again.

   What do you do to keep the peace within you from being disturbed by others?  How do you maintain presence when others are truly caught up in their story and drama?

   My desire for each of you is that you have a Marvelous Day!  One where the love and peace that is you, is present and untouched by the disrupted souls of others.

Peace, love and a truly GREAT DAY to you.

Billy B

Worthy of love.

   I apologize to those who are used to me posting almost everyday. This time of year get's very busy for my house.  Thanksgiving, birthdays and the many family gatherings.  I hope that everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving!  It's always good to get together and enjoy good food and family.

  Today in church the person who prepared the lesson brought up some very important points that I thought would be good to pass along.  She asked the question, how do we show love for our children?  There were many answers to this question of course, the one that struck me is that just like God allows each one of go through our challenges and struggles, he still loves us and has provided us with instruction, direction and the privilege of being able to communicate with him.  Do we remember to love our children by letting them be themselves?  Accepting them as individuals and teaching them love and respect for themselves?

   I know that when our children where younger it is easy to think that we can decide everything for them. Sadly, they don't learn much or even independence this way.  Just as God loves us so much as to let us learn our own lessons, we must also love our children enough to let them learn for themselves and still love and accept them even when they make decisions that will have outcomes different than we would chose for them.

   Some have challenged us as we have raised our children to be freethinkers and often times, non-conformists. Hopefully we have taught them to love and accept themselves for who they are and for their individuality.  My sincerest desire is that they love live, themselves and have respect for life and for others as we have for them.

  As parents, we sacrifice much for their well being, heart and soul, energy and effort, money and time.  It is these sacrifices that build the next generation.  Let's hope that we have taught them well to respect the value of their own lives and to the lives of others.

   I challenge you to look at your own life, ask yourself, what blessings do I have that show God's love for me?  How can repay him for all the blessings we receive.  I know that I can never repay him even with a lifetime's effort, I can only hope to pass what love I have received on to others.

   I am thankful for each one of you who read and consider my words and thoughts.  Thank you for visiting.  If I may ask, pass the love on.  Let someone know today how thankful you are for them, for them being just exactly who they are and that they are worthy of love.

   May your heart be swollen with gratitude this beautiful day.  May you warm the heart of another.  Most of all, may you know that you are loved and that you are worthy of that love!

Peace, love and good will be yours.

Billy B

Awards!!

   Thank you so much to Gene Pool Diva and this awesome award that she gave me!  She has a really fun blog about family and something that most of us can appreciate because family is the one place where we are all allowed to be the messed up people that we are. ;D

   "Liebster" is a German word meaning dearest and the award is given to up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers.

Here is how it works.

1 Show some love and link back to the one that gave you the award.  Diminishing Gene Pool

2 Reveal your Top 5 Blogs (with less than 200 followers) and let them know by leaving comments on their blogs.

3 Post the award on your blog.

4 Enjoy the love and support of the most supportive people on the web!
Here are my 5.


1.) Mainly Mug Ups is a great blog with both stories, folk tales and poetry.  I adore her writing style and it's hard to resist the charm of her blog.


2.) I Take the Pen is a fabulous little blog that will challenge you to write a quicky based off of some simple prompt words, she then hands out an award and an honorable mention based off the entries.  A fun way to challenge yourself!


3.) I know that I am breaking the rules because he has about 300 followers, I have to recommend him because he has a great blog that I pay attention to almost daily. Where Sky Meets Ground.  He was also very nice to give me the Lovely Blog Award and I appreciate his attention.  I hope you enjoy his blog as much as I do!


4.)  Skipping Stone Memories is one that I follow closely. Very down to earth, warm and friendly. Just feels like home kind of blog.


5.)  Casting Pearls is very thoughtful Christian oriented blog with a lot about family and down to earth values.  A very good vibe.


Honorable Mention!!! Em Dashes and Icecream.  Just go check it out, the rest will explain itself. ;D

   I hope that you get the chance to follow up on each one of them. If you like what you read, follow them! You will not be disappointed.

Peace, love and THANKSGIVING to all, warm beds, full bellies and appreciation to all!

Billy B

Conversations with myself.

   Every morning I take time to have some important conversations with myself to properly prepare for the day.  I can tell you from experience that when I forget or get to busy to do this, it has a very big impact on the quality of my day. 

   Now I understand that you are asking yourselves about my state of mind when I say conversations with myself so, let me explain just a little bit.  Some call it "self talk", many call it "positive affirmations" and other names exist that you maybe aware of.  I like the term "mantras" or simply "conversations with myself".  I enjoy making people wonder, get's them thinking!

   I take time every morning to confirm the quality of the day, the quality of my presence and the experience I am going to have with the day.  I prepare myself to see and enjoy how great the day really is!  These conversations have proven so important that on those days that these morning conversations have amazing energy and incredible positive force (once you do this regularly you will understand what a "great" one is), these are the days that take off and the most surprising and positive things happen!  On the days that I just don't put much into it or I just don't feel it when I go through these morning exercises, I tend to struggle or not be able to hold my emotions in check as well.  One could say, I have a bad hair day when the morning conversations do not go well.

   Each one of us has tactics and methods to help create the positive energy we need in our day to have a good day, to be able to get the things done that require our attention or to reach our goals or even to step it up and get that little bit of extra out of the day we are looking for.  This is mine and I would like to suggest that it works for just about everyone that I have met that has ever really given it a go.

   Here is my challenge to you.  Write down what kind of day you want to have, something real, write it down and a positive statement that says it clearly and simply, don't hesitate to go a little beyond.  Take these few statements, say about 4 or 5.  Clear your head for just about 10 minutes early as your day is just getting started and repeat them to yourself in a very positive upbeat way until you can "feel" them.  Take the positive energy and move forward with your day!

Example,

"Today is a great day!  Great things happen and I find it easy to be filled with joy and love for everyone I meet today!  It is very easy for me to be a positive influence in the lives of others today!  I feel great positive karma in my life today!  What a great day!"

   I will repeat that 4 or 5 times, maybe more if I am really feeling it or feel that I need a little bit more convincing.  Once you can really feel it, you will know what I mean after a practicing this for a couple of weeks, it can make a HUGE difference in your life.  

   Our minds are like computers in the fact that they follow their programming pretty closely, The great thing is that we can change the programming if we want to. This is one of the best ways I have found.  

   Give it a try, tell me if you feel it works or if I just took up 10 minutes of your morning to make you feel silly.  Either way, let me know.  I would love to hear from you and to find out if you are like me.  After all, I would love to find out that you are in control of your programming. ;D

   Put it to the test. In the end, it could make a positive impact in your life!

   May you find joy, love and peace in your life.  May you find great power in being able to have a conversation with yourself each morning!

Power to those who listen to positive thoughts!

Billy B

Adventurers.

Source Sailboatlistings.com

   I met a young lady recently that I have to admit could not see the miracle that she is!  I was truly humbled to realize that she has struggled with the value that creation placed in her and in her opportunity to experience life. 

   Do we realize that there is so much value in our presence here, this day, right where you are, that your are here!  If you were not meant to be here, today, you wouldn't be.  Creation/God does not chose by chance or by role of the dice as to whether you should be here.

   Just like the picture above represents to me, we are adventurers!  Sent here to figure out for what purpose we are here for and to fulfill that purpose.  We all have such amazing talents and gifts!  We are here to share those gifts and talents with others, to create value and joy, to bring love into the lives of others.

   This beautiful young lady has so much talent within her.  It is my wish that she discovers how much talent is within her and those gifts that help us create love and joy in the lives of others.  It is my sincere wish for all of us.  There is greatness inherent to each and everyone of us.  We are godseed, children of creation.  We are here to evolve beyond the ego and to move past self centered life (Ego-centric) and to live selfless or live nonego-centric lives.  

   How do you move beyond the doubts that limit your productivity, your relationships and your experience in life?  How do we help others to see the potential within themselves?  For those of us with children, how do we install love and respect for oneself in our children?  How can we help others to love themselves until we do? (You can take this question several ways, as intended.)

   May we all see and realize our own sacred nature, may we help to increase awareness of this within everyone we meet.  Most of all, let's not let anyone, ever, ever consider looking for a way out because they do not see the value in their own life, their own existence and presence in this life.  The only real tragedy is when we let someone believe in a lack of value in themselves.  They did not fail, we did.  

Peace, Love, Joy and sharing to you and those you meet.

Billy B

Breaking

Breaking

In moment of silence and ease
Joy fills the space between me and thee

When you don't feel you can
Even when passion has left your hand

There is no doubt from my soul
That you are the one that I love whole

When you feel all is naught and bunk
Your beauty still stuns and causes my heart to jump

Know that all that you are or will be
Is everything that I would ever want or need

Don't believe that life has failed your wish
Your loving glance is all that it takes to steal my breath

You are the one for whom it is all done
There is no other that holds sway over what is won

When you feel all is breaking and undone
Of all in the world know that you are the one



I wrote this for my wife.
Love you babes.

Peace and Joy,
Billy B

Today's Sunrise.

   Thought I would share with you the sunrise I experienced this morning. ;D

Peace and Joy.

Billy B

Warm sun fills the sky
Touching the hearts and closed eyes
Starting great new day