Nikki Rosen's Blog, page 4

Thankful Thursday - Power of Love

"Anything will give up its secrets if you love it enough. Not only have I found that when I talk to the little flower or to the little peanut they will give up their secrets, but I have found that when I silently commune with people, they give up their secrets also if you love them enough." George Washington Carver. 

The power of love! It can soften the hardest heart. 

It's interesting to me that George Carver was born a slave. He experienced firsthand the tough, the mean, the awful ways people can treat other people. 

But somehow this amazing man realized that living kind, living gentle, living loving was the best way to be in the world. 

I agree. Happy Thursday, Guys.   

Thankful Thursday - Being YOU!

The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can. Neil Gaiman
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/ke...

 "The one thing you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can." Neil Gaiman. 
I used to compare myself to others, wanting to be like them, or have the talent or ability they had. I even  wished my life was like theirs with all the things they seemed to have going for them.  
But not anymore. I'm happy being me because now I realize we are all originals. All of us are different. All of us are special. All of us stand out in our own way. And all of us bring something unique to the dance of life.
It's like how I see my kids. They are incredibly different but neither is better than the other. I love them equally for who they are and for what they each bring to this dance. 
My youngest has a wicked sense of humour. She's intense, stubborn, and knows her own mind. She's a kid who stands her ground and fights for what she wants. She's a leader, a kid who gets the group to follow her. She takes charge easily, organizes events and laughs from her belly up. 
My oldest is a thinker, a tree hugger, a girl who wears kindness and gentleness as part of her daily make-up. She's a peace-maker, the one to compromise. And she has this amazing knack to turn pieces of nothing into pieces of art. She's a writer, a word lover, an internal optimist. 
I'm grateful today for the differences we all have. It's what makes life interesting and fun.
Have a great Thursday, Guys.

Thankful Thursday - Doing It!

“Sometimes there is no next time, no time-outs, no second chances. Sometimes it’s now or never.” Alan Bennett. 
There's so many things I want to do. Things that play in my heart, that pull and call me to come. 
But stepping out and moving towards them is no easy thing for me. I drive myself crazy telling myself all the reasons why I can't or shouldn't. At least not today. Maybe next year or the year after when conditions are better. 
Fear becomes a roadblock, holding me in place, keeping me stuck in wishing, in longing. 
It's something I need to change. I want to be able to move when fears tell me to stay. All anyone one of us has for sure is today. So I've set a goal and taking steps to make it happen.  
The time is right now. No more waiting. There's a place I've always wanted to go. Called the travel agent, booked the tickets and heading out next week. 
Happy Thursday, Guys.

Thankful Thursday - Never Give Up Trying!

"Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat." F. Scott Fitzgerald. 

There's so many things I wanted that I've had to try for two or three times before I got it. Sometimes even more than that.  

It's so tempting to give up after that first try. After that first defeat the thought usually hits me, 'there's no way the thing I want could happen.' But there's a fight in me, a determination to stay in the game and keep trying.

Many times I sent off a writing piece to a publisher and it was rejected. Something inside me though, refused to give up. I sent it out again and sometimes again and again until finally, it got accepted. Writing is only one of so many things I've tried for and had to keep trying for, before I got what I wanted.  

We've watched a couple of movies recently that showed the power of never giving up no matter how many fails happen. Lion is about a little boy who got lost and couldn't find his way back home to his family. Eventually he's adopted by a couple in another country. When he grows up he wants more than anything to find his 'home' his 'mom,' his sibs. The movie is about his refusal to give up trying to find the home he got lost from. Many times he thought it was pointless, especially after his efforts kept failing. 

Another movie - Hidden Figures - is the story of three black women working in the space centre in the 1960's. Their fight to be recognized was long and hard. They had a strong determination to never give up trying even after many failed attempts. 

I loved these movies. They motivated me, inspired me, to stay in the game, fight for what I want and to never let a 'single defeat be a final defeat.' 

Happy Thursday, Guys. 

Thankful Thursday - Hats Off

"Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave. And you can't be brave if you've only had wonderful things happen to you." Mary Tyler Moore. 


Moore was a star - not just because she acted in movies and tv shows, but because she had a 
fighting spirit to push through life's tough stuff, the things that brought her to her knees, and yet, she refused to give up. She stayed in the game. I can't imagine losing my child or having a brain tumor.

She was no 'ordinary' person - none of us are. Everyone has something in their life they have to deal with - a broken heart, a debilitating illness, lost dreams. To get back up and keep getting up after being sideswiped by the bad, the heartbreak and the awful, is brave. 

Mary Tyler Moore lived the good and fought through the bad. 
Hats off to everyone who like Moore, never gives in or gives up, who knows giving up is never an option. 

Happy Thursday, Guys. 

Thankful Thursday - Being Me

"I will no longer act on the outside in a way that contradicts the truth that I hold deeply inside. I will no longer act as if I were less than the whole person I know myself inwardly to be." Rosa Parks

It's been a long road to get to where I'm at.....a journey of many ups, downs, side-roads and detours. There were times I believed people, and situations would destroy me, but they actually ended up doing the opposite.  They empowered me to stand up, stand tall, and be me. 

I struggled with who and what I was - always wishing to be somebody other then me. I believed something was wrong with me, and that I wasn't good enough, bright enough, pretty enough, capable enough. Those beliefs were all lies, deception but I accepted them as gospel truth. 

Being me is what those hard lessons have taught me. There's nothing better. Being me, accepting all the good, bad and ugly parts that make up me, gives me the freedom to move in the world with confidence. 

Grateful today for all the tough times. They had purpose. Didn't know it then but sure do now. 

Happy Thursday, Guys. 

Thankful Thursday - Dream

"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood." Martin Luther King, Jr. 

I get chills when I read King's words. Chills because his dream which seemed so incredibly impossible at the time, became reality. King wanted something so bad that he could see it. It became his goal, his purpose to make that dream come true. Everything he did, everything he said moved him closer to his dream. He lived and even died for that dream. 

It's a new year, new goals, new purpose - what are your dreams? What do want that you'll give everything you got to make it happen? What do you want that will cause you to stay focused, stay in the game until it becomes real?

Those are questions I've been asking myself. It's a new year, a blank slate to fill up with something amazing to work towards.  Over the years, I had incredible dreams, dreams that some people  told me would never happen, but they did. Dreams that grabbed my attention, filled my days with purpose, pushed me to fight until the thing I wanted I got. 

There were highs. There were lows. There were times it seemed impossible. Other times I knew, that I knew, it would happen. From writing a book that won an award and has sold around the world, and continues to sell well, to getting my degree, getting on the Dean's Honour List - and so many other amazing things that happened that simply began with a small thread of hope. 
 
Now again, it's time for something new, to have another dream, another goal, another purpose. King's words, 'I have a dream,' excites me and starts the creative juices flowing again. 

Happy Thursday, Guys. 

 
 

Thankful Thursday - Kindness

"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule, 'you've got to be kind.'" Kurt Vonnegut. 

Love this quote by Vonnegut because life can be incredibly tough and unfair at times. And kindness can make all the difference.  

Someone showing kindness can help heal life's hurts. Kindness can even rekindle hope.  

I remember the time when I wandered around lost, believing no one cared, a streetkid, alone - and then every now and then someone would step into my world and show me a bit of kindness by their smile or words or touch and it made my life a little bit better. It gave me hope to try, to fight, and mostly to not give up.  

Kindness  - the one rule that truly makes a difference. Goal for 2017 - live kind!

Happy Thursday, Guys!

Thankful Thursday - Forward

"There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." C.S. Lewis
2016 is almost over. A couple more days then we'll all slip into a brand new year and a whole lot of new beginnings. Whatever happened is gone, done, finished.
2017 will be a completely empty slate waiting to be filled with life experience. It excites me just thinking about what's going to happen and how and with whom and when. Sort of feels like getting ready to go on a trip. And holidays for me always mean daring adventures, amazing sights I've never seen before, and meeting and connecting with new people. 
Sure sometimes things might happen that throw us off like lost luggage, or some weird misadventure, but that's all part of the incredible journey.  
Here's to a new year, an exciting time, a new beginning. 
Happy New Year, Guys. 

Thankful Thursday - Miracle

"And so this is Christmas....for weak and for strong....for rich and the poor ones...for black and for white....for yellow and red ones...for old and for young.
A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Let's hope it's a good one without any fear." John Lennon.

It's almost here.....a few more sleeps.  Malls are packed, people shopping, spending money, buying gifts to make people happy. 

Christmas - I never celebrated it growing up. I was raised Jewish but now our family celebrates both Hannukah and Christmas - two holidays that for me, are all about miracles. Miracles about Light that shine in the dark. Miracles about Light that can never be extinguished.

I used to be afraid of the dark. I didn't like sleeping without a nightlight. I still don't. Bad things can happen in the dark - I experienced them. BUT I also experienced tons of miracles.  

I love this time of year, not because of the gifts or festivities, although that's fun, but more so, because Christmas, & Hannukah are huge reminders to me that 'miracles are for real.'



Happy Thursday, Guys.