Beth K. Vogt's Blog, page 17

In Others’ Words: A Simple Hope

 I know many of us are counting the days down to Christmas — that gift-giving day that out-gives all other days in the year. And if you’re wondering, there are 47 days until Christmas. 4-7. 

And yet,  not all of us celebrate Christmas.

But gift-giving? It’s a year-round activity, what with birthdays and anniversaries and even “for no special reason” occasions, when we give someone a present, be it extravagant or small, to show a loved one that they are special to us.

We like to find fun gifts. And just-the-right gifts. And unexpected gifts that will surprise the recipient. Memorable gifts. And sentimental gifts. One-of-a-kind gifts.

But what about the giving and receiving of the simple gift of hope?

We know our supply of hope can be exhausted. Depleted. But we can’t go into a store in purchase a bottle of hope. We can’t have a box of hope shipped for free in two days via Amazon Prime. There’s no membership plan that ensures we receive a recurring monthly supply of hope.

When someone shares their hope with us … restores our hope with a word, a prayer, a gentle touch of compassion … that can be the best gift of all.

In Your Words: When has someone refreshed your hope?

In Others' Words: A Simple Hope http://bit.ly/2JKMfBX #quote #hope
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'The gift we can offer others is so simple a thing as hope.' Quote by Daniel Berrigan http://bit.ly/2JKMfBX #hope #encouragement
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In Others’ Words: The Importance of Dreams

Someone came up to me the other day and said, “I didn’t know you were an author!”

I smiled and said, “Yes, I am.”

Whenever someone says something like this to me, I pause and  remember I’m living my dream.

This crazy, challenging, some-days-I’m-not-sure-I can-do-it career? It’s my childhood dream come true.

And sometimes, I forget  it all started because years ago, I imagined that one day I would be an author.

Dreams are important because they are the genesis of so many good and beautiful things. Life-changing things. Our dreams change us as we pursue them. Dreams teach us to be stronger. Braver.  And the things we imagine can change others, too. The dreams of creatives result in books and songs and paintings that inspire others. And then there are the dreamers who produce scientific and cultural advancements. Or the people who dare to imagine cultural or spiritual advancement.

So many good things start with a beautiful, unexpected moment of imagination giving birth to a dream.

In Your Words: What dream are you living out loud today? Or what dream are you imagining today?

In Others' Words: The Importance of Dreams http://bit.ly/2F2KVLK #quotes #imagination
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'Dreams are extremely important. You can't do it unless you imagine it.' Quote by George Lucas. http://bit.ly/2F2KVLK #dreams #imagination
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In Others’ Words: An Opportune Time

 

So often we look at the time we have and think of what we’re not accomplishing. 

And we stress out.

Maybe we could change how we think about the time we have. Be more positive about our days — the hours and minutes we are blessed with. 

Today is an opportune time to:

be kind. 
laugh with family and friends.
stop and listen when someone else is talking to us, rather than thinking about what we want to say. 
comfort someone who is mourning.
encourage someone who is struggling.
affirm someone who is doubting themselves.

We get to choose — 1,440 times each day — to make a positive impact in this world. It’s all about being more mindful about our actions and reactions.

In Your Words: How has someone’s words or actions made a positive influence on you recently?

 

In Others' Words: And Opportune Time http://bit.ly/2EVfW4t #Quote by Les Brown #opportunities
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'In every day, there are 1440 minutes.That means we have 1440 daily opportunities to make a positive impact.' http://bit.ly/2EVfW4t #time #perspective
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In Others’ Words: The Secret to Living Well

My mother-in-law turns 100 years old tomorrow.

Yes, you read that correctly: She will be One. Hundred. Years. Old.

Her father was one of the last homesteaders in Montana. And she was born in a one-room log cabin — that her father built — during the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. She rode a horse to school, which was also a one-room schoolhouse. She married right out of high school — and years later, she became the first female lobbyist for National Farmers Union. She was a late-in-life mom when it wasn’t the norm, after experiencing several miscarriages. And she lost her first husband to a rare and aggressive cancer when her son (my husband) was five years old. There’s a lot more to her story, and I’m thankful she’s written it down for the family.

A few weeks ago, when I asked her what she thought about her approaching milestone birthday, she said, “Well, you just put one foot in front of the other, and somehow, there you are.”

Many people like to weigh in on the secrets to a long life — and some people are simply surprised to find themselves older than they ever expected to be. I also know that no matter what age we are, the number doesn’t define us. So often, someone will say, “I don’t feel [insert a specific age].”

So maybe the secret to living well is to ignore the accumulation of years. Instead, accumulate good memories. Accumulate love. Accumulate a strong sense of self. Accumulate kindness. And then share all of that wealth you’ve accumulated … over and over again.

In Your Words: What’s your “secret” to living well?

In Others' Words: The Secret to Living Well http://bit.ly/2ABS41D #quotes #perspective
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'The secret to living well and longer is: eat half, walk double, laugh triple, and love without measure.' Tibetan Proverb http://bit.ly/2ABS41D #life #encouragement
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In Others’ Words: The Secret Living Well

My mother-in-law turns 100 years old tomorrow.

Yes, you read that correctly: She will be One. Hundred. Years. Old.

Her father was one of the last homesteaders in Montana. And she was born in a one-room log cabin — that her father built — during the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. She rode a horse to school, which was also a one-room schoolhouse. She married right out of high school — and years later, she became the first female lobbyist for National Farmers Union. She was a late-in-life mom when it wasn’t the norm, after experiencing several miscarriages. And she lost her first husband to a rare and aggressive cancer when her son (my husband) was five years old. There’s a lot more to her story, and I’m thankful she’s written it down for the family.

A few weeks ago, when I asked her what she thought about her approaching milestone birthday, she said, “Well, you just put one foot in front of the other, and somehow, there you are.”

Many people like to weigh in on the secrets to a long life — and some people are simply surprised to find themselves older than they ever expected to be. I also know that no matter what age we are, the number doesn’t define us. So often, someone will say, “I don’t feel [insert a specific age].”

So maybe the secret to living well is to ignore the accumulation of years. Instead, accumulate good memories. Accumulate love. Accumulate a strong sense of self. Accumulate kindness. And then share all of that wealth you’ve accumulated … over and over again.

In Your Words: What’s your “secret” to living well?

In Others' Words: The Secret to Living Well http://bit.ly/2ABS41D #quotes #perspective
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'The secret to living well and longer is: eat half, walk double, laugh triple, and love without measure.' Tibetan Proverb http://bit.ly/2ABS41D #life #encouragement
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In Others’ Words: A Work in Progress

As I moved the graphic over into this blog post, two words stood out to me in the quote: in progress. 

“In progress” means motion. Forward motion. We’re moving toward something — a goal. A dream. There’s action happening.

When I was deciding on the graphic to use for the quote, I skimmed through lots of photos of staircases and stepping stones. But I found myself thinking, “No. I need movement in the picture. I need someone walking up those stairs.” And that’s why I settled on the photograph above. Only afterward did the words “in progress” jump out at me.

Too often we beat ourselves up when our efforts don’t produce the results we want fast enough. Or the results aren’t good enough and we have to start over — take a step or two back — and try again. We call ourselves “failures” and wonder how many other people realize that about us, too. We wonder why we even tried in the first place. We think about giving up — just stopping in our tracks because, really, what’s the point?

The point is progress.

And one thing I’ve learned is progress is rarely from success to success to success. I may know where I want to go. I may even map out my steps. But some of those steps can end up being missteps.

That doesn’t mean I’m a failure. It just means I’m not where I want to be yet. But that’s okay: I am a work in progress. I will get where I’m going a little at a time, with leaps and bounds and missteps.

We are all works in progress. Not perfect — but our efforts are worth our time. We never know who we will meet along the way … and we just may be surprised at who we become …

In Your Words: How do you feel about being a work in progress? 

 

In Others' Words: A Work in Progress http://bit.ly/2Aseq5H #quotes #perspective
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'Stop beating yourself up. You are a work in progress, which means you get there a little at a time, not all at once.' Quote by Unknown http://bit.ly/2Aseq5H #progress #perspective
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In Others’ Words: Life has No Remote

I am always losing track of the TV remotes.

Remotes, as in plural. Does anyone have just one remote anymore? We have one to watch TV. One for the DVD player. One for the sound bar. And another remote for … well, I don’t really know. It may be for the standing fan, but it gets put in the TV remote basket.

The thing is, I spend way-too-much time wandering around the family room looking for the “clicker” to turn on the TV, muttering, “Why can’t people put the things back where they belong?”

There have been times I’ve wandered around in my circumstances, muttering to myself, wanting things to change. Looking for an easy way to fix things. Wanting someone else to do or say something to change what’s happening. Acting as if I could push a button and change the channel, change my life.

That’s not the how things work.

There is nothing remote about real life. And change demands involvement — personal involvement. We have to care enough to get up, get in the fray of what’s working and what’s not working — and make the effort to change things. Change our circumstances. Change our attitudes. Change our actions and reactions. Change our future.

In Others’ Words: What motivates you to get up and pursue change in your life?

In Others' Words: Life has No Remote http://bit.ly/2CzqseT #quotes #change
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'Life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself.' Quote by Unknown http://bit.ly/2CzqseT #perspective #choices
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In Others’ Words: Living More Richly in the Moments

Stress is getting the best of me these days.

We all experience times where we get overwhelmed and a bit frantic. Moments race by with things left undone and our frustrations mount.

I don’t want to surrender to these kind of moments, as author Anne Morrow Lindbergh suggests in today’s quote.

“If you let yourself be absorbed completely to the moments as they pass, you live more richly those moments.”

I want to move past the stress — stand outside it or above it — and absorb the good moments, the worthwhile moments that I’m overlooking in the midst of all the hurry and have to’s.

My friend Angela suggested that I be less aware of danger — definitely a stressful mindset — and more aware of safety. Of calm.

I tried that tonight and allowed myself to be aware of some goodness surrounding me — time spent talking with my husband and youngest daughter. Our laughter. Our ability to connect and understand one another.

Just now I closed my laptop and absorbed the moments as my family talked and laughed together: two of my daughters, one son-in-love, and my husband. This post could wait to be finished. I didn’t want to let those moments pass.

And yes, it was rich.

In Your Words: What rich, I’m-so-glad-I-didn’t-miss-them moments have you experienced recently?  

In Others' Words: Living More Richly in the Moments http://bit.ly/2QYr6pZ #quotes #perspective
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'If you let yourself be absorbed completely, if you surrender completely to the moments as they pass, you live more richly those moments.' Quote by Anne Morrow Lindbergh http://bit.ly/2QYr6pZ #moments #choices
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In Others’ Words: Rowing Through the Hard Times

Sometimes life is hard. 

And sometimes when life is hard, don’t we just want to quit?

To stick with the boat analogy, when we’re stuck in the middle of nowhere and nothing’s happening — no wind filling our sails — it’s easy to just sit down and wait it out. 

Sometimes we tell us ourselves we don’t need a lot of wind to get moving again. Any sort of breeze will do.

A word of encouragement.

Some sort of acknowledgement for what we’ve done.

A pat on the back — literal or figurative — that will move us forward.

But maybe, just maybe, it’s not about waiting for the wind to fill our sails again.

Maybe it’s about grabbing those oars and making forward motion happen ourselves.

Hard work in the midst of the hard moments.

Yeah, it would be easier to sit down and wait it out.

But nothing happens when we don’t do nothing. 

In Your Words: When life takes the wind out of your sails, what helps you grab the oars and keep rowing?

In Others' Words: Rowing Through the Hard Times http://bit.ly/2QRXFpA #quotes #perspective
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'When life takes the wind out of your sails, it is to test you at the oars.' Quote by Robert Brault http://bit.ly/2QRXFpA #perseverance #challenges
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In Others’ Word: Don’t Jump — to Conclusions, That Is!

We all have different goals. Different dreams. But no matter what we’re aiming for, we all hope to succeed.

I’ve attended lots of writers conferences in years past. (Not lately. It’s been more about my daughter’s volleyball tournaments — and I’m okay with that.)

When I’m with writers, we talk about the books we’re writing. The books we want to write. And we never, ever say, “I hope I fail at this writing gig.”

Nope.

But sometimes . . . sometimes, we fall prey to “What if …”

What if I don’t land an agent?
What if I don’t land a book contract?
What if my books don’t sell well?

And if we’re not careful, the what ifs can weigh on us like reality. Even worse, we use them as a jumping board to conclusions about our creative ability, our future, our value.

When you’re jumping to conclusions, you’re always heading in the wrong direction.

 

In Your Words: How do you avoid jumping to conclusions? 

In Others' Words: Don't Jump -- To Conclusions, That Is! http://bit.ly/2NAy7va #quotes #success
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'To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions.' Quote by Benjamin Franklin http://bit.ly/2NAy7va #success #perspective
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