Kathleen J. Shields's Blog, page 11

All mankind is divided into three classes…

All mankind is divided into three classes; those that are immovable,
those that are movable and those that move.
Benjamin Franklin

The immovable (in my opinion) are those that are content with where they are in life. They have no need or desire to do anything different or go anywhere further. They are happy where they are at, and as far as I am concerned, I am happy for them.

The movable (in my opinion) are those that are not necessarily unhappy where they are at, they just see where someone else is and decide they want that. They are the ones that want to climb the corporate ladder and are always out to better themselves.  There is nothing wrong with being movable in this case

The ones that move (in my opinion) are the ones that take chances, follow their dreams, push the boundaries, think outside the box and charge into the unknown with both eyes open. They are the ones who listen to the negative but don’t take it to heart. Hear the positive but don’t drown in it and stay humble throughout life.

[image error]Yes, I could have taken that analogy another way, a lower way, but why would I do that? What would that look like?

I’m sure if you thought about it, you could come up with what I started to write next but I decided against it, and I suggest you take the same road.
The immovable doesn’t need to be the stagnant, arrogant type.
The movable doesn’t need to be the low self-esteem and bullied type.

Rise above that. See the beauty in every situation (or at least try to) and when you start to see that dirty stuff trickling its way in, hit the delete button and take pride in the smile you have and hopefully, you are helping to spread.

Have a blessed day!

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We Should Stop Idolizing Villains

For years, when I see a new TV show or movie come out that is centered around a “bad guy” I cringe. It bothers me that we are spending so much time and effort to build a “like” for the villains that hurt others.  From psychopathic serial murders, to telling the ‘sad’ story of how a criminal became said criminal, to just idolizing movie villains in cartoons and history – Hollywood (and Disney) has made millions capitalizing on, and sensationalizing bad guys.

How did it become entertainment to ‘escape into the mindset’ of one of these evil people?  How do people find enjoyment through viewing the tragedies these criminals have caused with their actions, the pain and suffering of others? At least, decades ago, the horror movie ended with at least some of the good guys escaping, and the bad guy ‘getting his’. Not so much anymore. All these movies do is teach us and our children that it is “okay” to be bad. That your heinous, criminal, destructive and hideous actions will be immortalized in books and movies long after you are gone. We’ve gone from Disney Princesses to Disney Villains. The ‘bad guys’ are called Bad for a reason. So you won’t like them.

I get it – I used to enjoy watching horror movies – I don’t anymore. Maybe I’ve grown out of it, maybe I have just gotten ‘old’ or maybe I have seen enough hate, turmoil and disparagement to last me a lifetime. Maybe, with all of life’s daily struggles and stresses I choose to watch something upbeat and lighthearted when I finally settle down to view some entertainment. This mindset might not be ‘popular’ to some, but it is my opinion – and – it is God’s.

It used to be so simple – Good versus Evil – the Good always wins and the Bad Guys get their punishment. I’ll admit even as a child I’d fast forward through the villain’s song in my cartoon movies. I wanted to sing the happy, upbeat songs. I wanted to watch the colorful happy moments. Yes, I enjoyed watching the good guy win and the celebration at the end, and there wouldn’t have been a win without the conflict. I’ve said before and I will say it again, I still feel the happy endings are way too short.  I want to stay in that happy celebration for as long as the bad guy made us sweat.

Today, there are hordes of movies where the villain actually wins. Stories portrayed in a way that actually makes you root for the bad guy. You want the criminal to succeed. I will admit, while doing a search for these movies, I have not seen them and cannot discuss their merits, but I do know this: I have been through some tough times. Harsh life lessons thrown at me so forcefully that I guess, could have turned me to the ‘darkside’ – but it didn’t. Never once did I rob a bank, kill someone, or break the law to get through it. I worked hard, I struggled, I did without, and I crawled through it with blistered hands and came out the other side better, stronger and more proud of my accomplishments.

This is what strong, good morals did for me.

I refuse to idolize villains. I will not support the accomplishments of criminals. I will not tell Hollywood it is okay to keep doing these kinds of movies because they will not get any money from me or any of my time by watching them.

2 Timothy 3:1-5  But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

Avoid such people.Avoid such movies.

Avoid the temptation of rooting for Evil to win, by avoiding the Evil that is coming at you through your eyes and ears.

Choose Good.Root for Good.So you can be the light our world so desperately needs right now.

If everyone took the same stand, Hollywood would ‘hear’ our demands loud and clear.

But who knows… maybe I am one of very few who still want Good to prevail and Evil to be eradicated.

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No Resolutions for 2014

What are resolutions anyway? It is the process of resolving a problem. But what if you don’t have a problem? Just kidding…

Actually, I say if your resolutions are to lose weight, quit smoking, get organized, or spend less, you are doomed to fail (shy 8% – which is the statistic of those who actually succeed in their resolution) The other 71% of us make it through week 2 before giving up entirely.

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Why? That sounds so negative! Where is the inspiration I usually post?

Here…

There is NOTHING wrong with you! God made you who you are.

[image error]If you want to lose weight, do it because YOU want to, not because you NEED to or because someone else says you should or the magazines TELL you to.

If you WANT to quit smoking, really want it – then you will succeed. But if you are just saying it, you are just wasting your breath making a resolution to change your problem that you really have no true intention on changing. Smoking is HARD to quit, most of us are just trying to make it through the day. Resolve to smoke less, it’s easier than quitting, something you can accept and possibly something that will make you happier… and if it leads to quitting, it’s a step further than you planned and something to throw a party over!

If those shoes make you happy… then budget a little happiness in. Just try to be more responsible in your spending by recycling to resale those shoes you haven’t worn in years to circumvent the added expense.

Plan for happiness by not resolving to failures.

I say – don’t resolve to solve a problem, be resolute – which is: possessing determination and purposefulness.  What is your purpose in life? Then… do it better.  Be a better wife/husband, mother/father, friend, colleague. Listen more. Pray more. Try harder.

Be a better you.

When you desire to be a better you, you are choosing to do something you want. You are allowing yourself failures, which is a given for ANY human being, which is not necessarily a bad thing, because you grow each time you learn something new. You are opening yourself to successes because you will be proud of yourself and open to happiness because you smile more and scold yourself less.

So this year, don’t make a resolution to which you know subconsciously that you are going to fail at. Be resolute in the knowledge that you are going to be a better human being which in turn will make the world a better place, one person at a time.

That’s my take on it.

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Magic Eye – A Metaphore for Jesus’ Plan

The Magic Eye is an excellent metaphor for Jesus’ plan for us. From a quick glance it looks like a collage of random shapes and colors melded together to create chaos.From the outside looking in, without the instructions, you can not see what the rest of us see.  You must first read the directions if you plan on gaining the perception of His love.It is by refocusing your viewpoint, studying the image with a new perception and a redefined clarity that you can begin to see the picture He wants us to see. But if you do not keep staring at it, continuously fine-tuning your focus and really looking around, you will not see the complete picture. You must study it, like the bible, reading further and further into it until every last bit of story appears for you to see. It is only then, that you can understand why He has done this for you.
Merry Christmas my friends!

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To see the 3 dimensional image: Use the two black marks above the image to work your eyes into focus. Cross your eyes (diverge the focus) until the two black marks look like three. If you see four boxes, keep working on your focus until they are three. Once you see three boxes, you should be able to view the image below in its 3D state. The longer you look at it the clearer it will become, the more 3d effects will appear and looking around the entire 3D image will become easier.

The effect is the same as if you hold a pencil directly in front of your eyes and look at it; you should see only one pencil. Then look beyond the pencil, or through it at a distant object; the pencil should then appear to double.  If you can do this, you should be able to see a Magic Eye Illusion.

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Laughter is the best medicine.

What was it that said you should laugh every day?  Have you ever gone a day without laughing? A chuckle, a giggle a simple smile? I know that when I am stressed out, even funny jokes don’t get me laughing. Sometimes I hear my husband barrel laughing so loud he’s falling out of his chair and when he forwards the joke to me, I kind of go, hmm.

It made me kind of jealous.

[image error]There were times, especially after situations like that that I began to wonder about myself.  There had to be something wrong with me if I couldn’t find humor and express my enjoyment in such a simple excitable way. So I really looked deep within myself, and this is what I found: If I can’t laugh, I must be insane!  The stress is overwhelming me. I am too focused on work. I am not having fun in life. Either way – it’s not good.

The diagnosis is dire.

 

Freud said that laughter is the best medicine.  And those that can’t laugh, need to be treated for this disease. So I’ve got a few “medicinal treatments” below: See if these help you. They helped me.

What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul.
~Yiddish Proverb

 

So to keep your soul clean and be a healthy individual, you should find something to laugh about (at least ever other day or you’ll start to smell)

 

When people are laughing, they’re generally not killing each other.
~Alan Alda

 

Instead of spending all of your time watching the news or working or (whatever it is you do) find a joke website and read one… or go set a booby trap for someone and laugh when they walk into it.

I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose.
~Woody Allen[image error]

While milk is definitely good for the bones, the nose is made of cartilage, so milk is not necessary.  Make sure you are not drinking anything when you laugh.

Sometimes I laugh so hard the tears run down my leg. 
~Author Unknown

 

While most of us really don’t want to know that, or be near you when that happens… actually, that’s it.  I guess there’s a reason that author wanted to be left  unknown.  But good for him/her! Don’t be afraid to laugh! Don’t be afraid to be bold. And don’t be afraid to carry a change of clothes!

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And finally; I’d like to leave my regular laughers with this:

If you find yourself on a quick trip to the Looney bin for laughing insanely for no apparent reason, and everyone around you thinks you are nuts, remember, by text book standards (since you are being treated by the medicinal effects of laughter regularly) you are actually one of the sane ones.  And it is everyone else who is nuts.

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The 3 C’s of Life – another poem

Choices – Chances – Changes

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If you make a choice to take a chance, to change your life for good,
Will the chance you chose to take, turn out to be the one you should?

And how do you know which chance to choose, if change is so uncertain,
Cause the change you chose to see about, might change behind the curtain.

Well this I know and I choose to share, this chance that it may change
Your indecisive dialog, of chance or choice exchange.

Take every chance that life throws out, if the change is what you’re wanting
But avoid the change that you don’t want, even if it starts its taunting.

Cause you need the chance to choose the best, of changes that are out there.
You see, chances are the changes come, with cautions to beware.

So whether you choose to take the chance, is simply up to you
But your life will never change, unless you take the chance and choose.

~ Kathleen 2013

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The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.

The older I grow the more I distrust that familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom. H. L. Mencken

One of the guys at breakfast club said this a while back and while I burst out laughing, it also made me think.

“I was looking at a guy who had really white hair thinking to myself that he must be very wise… as you know with age comes wisdom… but then I realized, even the stupid get old.”

I really have nothing to add to that.

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To escape criticism – do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.

Oh those dreaded rejection letters!

Your story doesn’t fit us, your story isn’t marketable, you can’t write… I made that last one up, they don’t say that anymore (political correctness and all) but it used to happen.

Did you know that Rudyard Kipling was told he didn’t know how to use the English language and that Sylvia Plath was told she didn’t have enough genuine talent to take notice?  Seriously! John Grisham was rejected 25 times but all it took was one acceptance. So why not keep submitting?

[image error] Of course, who am I to talk? I self-published.

Yes. But I did submit to quite a few publishers and agents before taking that route. I did it for the Kaitlyn Jones series, I did it for the Hamilton Troll series and I did it for Dandy Lion and Rainbow and the Bonfire and Alley Cat and I will do it for the Star Story, constellation crimes and every other book I am working on.

Why?  Because I can!

Yes, I can self publish – I am thrilled that modern technology has provided this option to us – we as authors deserve to have the ability to get our stories read… but I will give any publisher the opportunity to back my work, to stand behind my story, to give me that needed push into the lime light.

So submit your stories.

Follow their rules, do what needs to be done and if all else fails, after 10 rejections, 25 rejections or even 160 rejections (like Dick Wimmer “Irish Wine”) go to plan B. But don’t jump to plan B first to escape criticism.

It’s not considered giving up.  It’s not considered cheating… If you do nothing – you are nothing!  And we all know you are anything but nothing!

To escape criticism – do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.
– Elbert Hubbard

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Grand-daddy may I ask you… a poem

Grand-daddy may I ask you, why is the sky so high?
Because the birds, with feathered wings, need places they can fly.

Grand-daddy may I ask you, why is the sky so blue?
Because my boy, it’s one of those things, that yellow would not do.

Grand-daddy may I ask you, why is the grass so green?
Because green is how God made it, and it’s what I’ve always seen.

You see when I asked Grand-dad things, he always had an answer.
And I always felt I understood, the world a bit more after.

For whether it was cats in trees, or beetles on the ground
His answers were the perfect bits, of information ever found.

So now that I am older, and I see a sky so blue,
I know it’s for the birds with wings, and wonder how he knew.

How did he know about the grass, and rainbows in the sky?
How did he know the answer, every time I questioned why.

When cats climb trees why do they fear, returning to the ground?
Because dear looking up, is very different than looking down.

Why do raccoons come out at night, when the world is at its darkest?
Because someone needs to see the world, different than all the rest

Why do horses gallop, when all we do is run?
Why separate the little things, when either way it’s fun?

Why are flowers different, the colors, shape and scent?
Because God is so creative, and more was his intent.

So as I find a question, bubbling up within my mind,
I try to think like grand-dad, and find his answer for my why.

Grand-daddy why’s your hair so gray and why do lightning bugs glow,
Because the older that you get, my dear, the brighter you will show.

Fore life’s an education, so be sure that you have heard,
Every word of every question that your grand-dad ever answered.

~ Kathleen J. Shields 2013

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The most motivational words in history: “I betcha can’t?”

I betcha can’t guess what this is.I betcha can’t beat this.I betcha can’t hold your breath for…I betcha can’t have just one.I betcha can’t do this…I betcha can’t catch me.Life, for me, is an I betcha can’t enticement, pushing me harder and harder to successfully accomplish each goal.

In my life, an I betcha can’t would be; make another great website, design another cool logo, write another neat novel, or hit that ultra high note. Since “I can’t” is not part of my vocabulary, I keep trying.

It goes back to my very first job. I was told to say when asked, if we could do something, if I didn’t know how to, I’d say, I will figure it out, and I always have. It has helped me grow as a worker, designer, creator, writer, singer, wife and worker. I’ve done things I never thought I could. Faced challenges I would have never thought I’d face and came out stronger, smarter and braver for it.

So the next time you are faced with an “I betcha can’t” situation, let it motivate you towards the success in proving that YOU CAN!

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