Loving One Another

Posts tagged ‘learning’

Punch the Damn Keys


Photo by Andri on Pexels.com

Cristan Mihai is a blogging guru who started his blog within a month of when I did in 2012. His posts on “The Art of Blogging” have taught me so much about how to create and continue to improve my JanBeek, Loving One Another website. A constant piece of advice that Cristian repeats at least weekly is: “Punch Those Damn Keys.”

https://artofblogging.net/

Ironically, today Cristian posted,

The Road to Order #1000 Continues

Posted on by Cristian Mihai

In his “About” introduction to himself on his website, Cristian wrote:

“Cristian Mihai (born 25 December 1990)
grew up in Constanta, Romania.
And he’s still growing up, or at least trying to.
Sometimes he writes.
Sometimes he gets lucky and writes something good. 
He can’t, however, draw a straight line.
No matter how much he tries.
Not even with a ruler.
And, please, don’t ever ask him to sing.”

You can tell by that introduction that he has a wonderful sense of humor. You know he is an English-as-a-second-language blogger.
You would never know that by visiting his website. His English is perfect! And his tips, ideas, lessons about how to improve are priceless.
He offers his services in a number of ways –
and he is sponsored by several companies on his website.
He’s a full-time blogger.
He tells us that TENACITY is one of the most effective qualities
if you want to grow your blog.

What’s ironic about his “The Road to 1,000th Order” blog?

He posted today “The Road to 1,000 …”
the same day I received this notification of
congratulations from WordPress:

Posting for Readers

I am not selling anything on my blog, so I won’t get 1,000 orders…
But I would love to get 1,000 followers! And I am pleased to know I have posted that record 1,000 number of times – pleased because I know my posts and my readers have grown and improved through the years.

I post for my readers… and to my readers. I post to encourage, inspire, educate, and occasionally just to share my love, to share my joy or to entertain.

I post to show you the scenery, people, activities, and animals in whatever corner of the world I am today, knowing it may be very different from your surroundings. I enjoy seeing where you are and what you are doing.

Each day one or two new folks join us. Each day between 70 and 120+ folks from around the world visit JanBeek. Of those an average of 15 to 20 click “like” to let me know they have been there. If I am lucky, 8 or 10 will leave a message (usually it is only 2 or 3 comments, however). Usually I have no idea who more than 75% of my visitors are (except that WordPress tells me where they are from).

Encouraged or Discouraged?

Are those numbers typical? Are they encouraging or discouraging?

They are neither. They just are what they are. The “Discover” site on WordPress has 42,500,197 followers!! What would I do with that? I’d have to hire several private secretaries to keep up!!

It is not the numbers that keep me posting. One thousand posts since 2012… of those, the last 148 have been consecutive. It is not the numbers… it is the contacts, the friendships, the connections with people I have come to love here – or conversations with those I love in other walks of my life, as well. I hope to meet face-to-face someday the new friends like Derrick and Richard who are so kind with their messages of affirmation.

It was 148 days ago when I decided to make blogging a priority after my devotional time each morning.

Photo by nappy on Pexels.com
My sanctuary where I meditate, read, pray, and write each morning
(when I am home in Montana)

Get Serious

It was 148 days ago when I committed to taking that part of Cristian Mihai’s advice, that “Get serious about it,” very seriously.

Just “Punch those damn keys!” Say what you mean – and mean what you say. Get passionate! Share what you care about. Be the change you want to see in the world … one word, one post, one action, at a time.

Cristian Mihai – The Art of Blogging

Cristian has 131,548 followers and often offers them perks… like today, “A random person will be selected among those who order until we reach #1000 will receive six months of reblogging, one sponsored post per month for a duration of six months, and a one-on-one Skype chat with me.”

I am one of Cristian’s 1,000. I ordered his on-line book, “The Art of Blogging,” and I subscribed to some one-on-one tutoring from him. He gave me some great advice about formatting, headlines, content, and networking. I recommend you take him up on his offered perk today. Who knows, maybe you will be the 1,000th person! He’s offering a great reward!

Thanks for visiting.
See ya tomorrow.

Category:

blogging, friendship, learning, Life's Challenges, Love, Serving One Another, Sharing, teaching, writing

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Purpose of Art Ed


Arts education includes not only the visual arts, but also music, culinary arts, and all forms of creative expression.

The difficulty in auditory performing arts education is that excruciating learning period before clarinets stop squawking and violins stop screeching. Unlike my mother, who couldn’t stand it and sent me and my clarinet out to the shed across the driveway to practice, the teachers can’t send the students outside to learn! At least not all the time!

Those darling violin students that I introduced you to yesterday do not sound (yet) like the YouTube video I posted of beautiful violin virtuosos. God bless the teachers, students, and appreciative audiences who recognize the learning process and love them through the squawks and squeaks!

Listen without covering your ears!

Support arts education in your schools and in the independent Arts Academies that teach visual and performing arts after school and on weekends. God bless those teachers! Ya gotta love ’em!!

Photo by Kat Jayne on Pexels.com

Don’t hide your face and cover your ears.
Don’t send ’em out to the shed!
Ya gotta love ’em!!

See ya later!

Category:

art, learning, Life's Challenges, Living in Harmony, music, teaching

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The Road to Inner Peace


Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

“In today’s world,
despite ample material development,
too many lack inner peace.
One way to counter anger, jealousy and competitiveness
is to cultivate non-violence
and compassion towards others.”

-Dalai Lama

Cultivate Compassion

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When you have a friend who’s down,
You may not be able to physically lift them up,
But you can bend down to understand
And massage their heart and fill their cup.

Giving comfort to others who hurt
Seems to lift my spirit as much as theirs.
Compassion is directed in as well as out,
It’s a two-way street, an up-the-down stairs!

Photo by Jc Romero on Pexels.com

Journey Inward

“And you? When will you begin that long journey inward?”
– Rumi

I am certain that my friend, Lilie, is on the road to inner peace. Yesterday she quoted the wisdom I copied above from Rumi on her WordPress blog, Tea and Toast with Kindness.

I learn a lot by reading the ruminations of others. This week I especially appreciated the writings of Dr. Perry in his blog,

Dr. PerrySep 15, 2019bloggingpositivitymotivation

Dr. Perry, posted a blog titled, It’s OK to Have a Bad Day. It caused me to internalize this inward journey for peace and think about the habits I have worked to develop in order to be my own best friend.

He quoted Emerson, who wrote:
““Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Photo by David Garrison on Pexels.com

Ten Habits of Peaceful Living

Traveling inward, looking for contentment, I have found that I need to consciously adopt habits that foster inner peace:

  1. Forgiveness
  2. Positivity
  3. Self-Acceptance
  4. Recognition of Limitations
  5. Confrontation of Temptations
  6. Elimination of Blame
  7. Hope in the Face of Despair
  8. Celebration of Where my Hope Lies
  9. Life-long Learning
  10. Prayer

Reflect

In the process of traveling the Road to Inner Peace, it is important to stop every now and then to look back. Consider your progress or regression. Have you every noticed when you’re traveling up a hill that you don’t realize how steep it is until you look back at the incline you have just traversed?

Likewise, when the road is on a decline, you may not realize how drastic the angle until you stop and look back up to the place you began. Reflecting on where you started and seeing how far you have improved or deteriorated can be very helpful.

Dr. Perry, in the post I referenced above says it this way,
“After a period of time, reflect on what you have learned and gained from the negative event or interaction in your life. More often than not you will find that you have learned something. Perhaps you will discover an inner strength that you were not aware of or a higher purpose for your existence.”

Find Purpose

In her September 27th, The Godly Chic Diaries posted a WordPress guest writer. She introduced Matik Nicholls by saying, “I’m a firm believer that if you have a pulse, you have a purpose. I say this with my whole heart, Everyone needs a blessing. And if you have the ability to bless others, be a blessing. And when you are a blessing to others, you will find ‘joy unspeakable’ in the process….”

Photo by Samantha Garrote on Pexels.com

Guest Blogger: Matik Nicholls wrote:
“Every gift, ability and blessing we have
is for the service of others.
We are blessers not blessees!
We carry the presence of God
wherever we go
for a greater purpose
than just for us to be happy.
It is our privilege and purpose
to transfer the blessings of God to others!”

Take Joy in the Journey

Photo by Bekka Mongeau on Pexels.com

Traveling life’s road,
I take joy in the journey.
Spreading it’s my goal.

With The Godly Chic’s help, I discovered this new website, and decided to subscribe to it. The author, Matik Amilcar Nicholls, has created an inspirational web blog at http://www.Authenticjoy.org. This handsome, positive-thinking young man resides in the beautiful islands of Trinidad and Tobago.
On his site, he shared, “I am an engineer by training, having graduated from the University of the West Indies with a B.Sc. Computer and Electrical Engineering (with honours). More recently, I completed an M.B.A. with the Heriot-Watt University. I also have a certificate in Applied Theology (class valedictorian) from the Millennium Bible Institute and currently I am pursuing an online programme with the International Coaching Academy to become a Certified Coach.”

Naturally, reading about him, I am inspired to want to learn more. My Road to Inner Peace is made more successful when I can join hands on the journey with people like Matik. People in other parts of the world. People whose life stories are far different from mine, but who share the common purpose of wanting to “Be a Blessing.” I encourage you to let Matik’s JOY infect you as I found it to be quite “catching” indeed!

Like me, spreading joy
– and the source of his joy (his FAITH) –
is what Matik says he is all about.
He wrote,
“I love Jesus. I love spending time with Him.
I love His mercy that keeps flowing endlessly in my life.
I love what He stands for:
love, grace, mercy, peace,
truth, freedom, humility and transformation.
I am committed to these values.
I’m committed to doing my part to preach the gospel,
heal the sick, feed the poor,
comfort the hurting and free the oppressed…
I enjoy seeing people walk in the fullness
of all that God has for them to be and do.“

Photo by Negative Space on Pexels.com

Walk in the fullness
Of all that God has for you
Find that Inner Peace.

Amen!

See ya tomorrow.

Category:

blessings, blogging, contentment, Faith, friendship, God, Gratitude, Haiku, happiness, Love, peace, Poetry, writing

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Turning Things Around


I follow the posts of a delightful lady – “Time Out with Lois.” She refers to her very tall, deceased husband as “He-Who.” That’s short for “He-Who-Took-Long_Steps.” He-Who was well over 6′ tall … maybe 6’7′ or so. Lois loves to quote things He-Who used to say. And I love reading her quotes. Today she said he loved to turn things around.
Lois wrote, “He-Who always liked to turn them around, on purpose. Like ‘You can kill two stones with one bird’ or ‘Easier done than said’. Lois was on a trip and made a big u-turn. She said,  “Age is not why I’m doing this. I did it before I got this age. Who can remember if you starve a cold and feed a fever or feed a cold and starve a fever? I don’t take any chances, I feed both!” She is quite a character… must have rubbed off on her from He-Who!
Have you ever made a big U-Turn in life? Lois did it to retrieve a journal she had left under her pillow at a motel the night before. She said she put it there to see if the tooth fairy would leave her any money! I told her I’d make a big u-turn to retrieve my journal if I forgot it in a motel.
I’m almost finished with this one.
I received that journal in July of last year, 2018, from my friend, Sue Woodruff. I finished the journal I was on, and then in September a year ago, I began this one. It has that dedication page I showed you in a post earlier today:
In addition to answered prayers, I use this book to write the ideas that inspire me when I am up in my sanctuary. Then I carry it down to where my computer is to jog my memory and inform my daily post. It’s full of heart-felt thanks, ideas, plans, poems, pictures, newspaper articles… I’d hate to lose it!   Do you have an item you’d hate to lose? One you would gladly do a u-turn to retrieve if you left it behind somewhere?

What item has that specialness to you? What U-Turn have you made in your life? Or do you anticipate one on your future?

pexels-photo-707046.jpeg

Photo by Trace Constant on Pexels.com

Seems to me, u-turns are rarely plan-ahead items. But, when we need to, we can skid into a U. We can go back. We can retrieve. We can re-do.

Do you have a re-do in your future? It may be “‘Easier done than said.” Go for it! cattle in Ruby Valley field See you tomorrow.

Category:

Life's Challenges, Love, writing

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40 Old Fashioned Skills


This list says these skills are “old fashioned,”
but I say some skills NEVER go out of style.
It’s always timely to be kind, for instance.

gold colored chain necklace with watch pendant

Photo by Lukas Hartmann on Pexels.com

If you want to be an example of “love”
in a world where peace, joy, and kindness
sometimes seem like rare commodities,
I think we should not only teach these skills
to our children, but practice them ourselves regularly.

Some of them are “Duh, of course!”
Others are “Hmmm… Do I do that?”

Do I even know how to check the tire pressure?
Am I conscientious about asking questions
to get to know people better?
Do I give people the benefit of the doubt
all the time?

This list is from “frugalfun4boys.com”
But, it applies to all people… to adults as well.
Which of them resonate with you?

40 Old-Fashioned Skills

Cheers!
Have a great Friday night.
We’re headed to the neighbors.
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See ya tomorrow.

Category:

children, Family, friendship, learning, life, Life's Challenges, Love, work

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You Have the Power


You Have the Power

This post is dedicated to my #1 Grandson.
He recently graduated from college,
received his well-earned diploma,
and has a couple of part-time jobs,
equaling 100% employment.
It was not an easy road,
but he has tenacity…
He stuck with it.
He did it!

I am so proud of him!

 

z-Perks' Wisdom: Your Power.jpg

Happiness is living life true
In a way that allows you
To be all God made you to be
And doing it on a path of integrity.

No one says it will be easy.
Sometimes it’s light and breezy,
But mostly it’s just hard work
And determination not to shirk.

So, run the race of life with grit.
Set your goal and stick to it.
When times are tough, keep going –
You crossed the finish line  knowing

You Have the Power!

Mike - finished race.jpg

Congratulations, Mike!

Did you, or do you have a person in your life who used their grit and tenacity to achieve a goal in spite of all odds? This post is for you!

And if you are in the midst of a struggle – wondering if the blood, sweat, tears, and heartache, setbacks and discouragements are worth it. Believe in your goals. Believe in yourself. Stick with it.

You have the power!

Have a good night.
It’s my bedtime.

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See you tomorrow!

 

Category:

Family, happiness, learning, Life's Challenges, Love, Poetry, work

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Quote

Learning Trust — Amputation, Rehabilitation And Miracles


I love this post by Jim.
It’s too good to keep to myself.
I am sharing it with love –
and with the trust that you
will love it, too.

blur bracelet conceptual female

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

My journey from amputation through rehabilitation on to recovery has taught me many lessons. One of the most important is the difference between belief and trust. For most of human history, just about everyone believed in some version of a god. In Europe, the existence of God was accepted as given. What divided people was […]

via Learning Trust — Amputation, Rehabilitation And Miracles

Written

on September 13, 2019

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