Beth K. Vogt's Blog, page 59

In Others’ Words: Take Your Medicine

Walks are a great way to start the day.

My friend Mary and I meet up around 7:30 a.m. and head out for a good three-mile walk. We take our phones with us, too — but we use them as cameras and look for what we call “a little bit of pretty.” Today’s blog post image? That was taken on a recent walk with Mary. On that particular morning, our friend Jeanne joined us.

By the time I’m back home, I’m ready to start my day. I’ve cleared my head of things that are weighing me down. I’ve laughed — oh, yes, there’s always laughter during the morning walks. We’ve begun praying, too, about particular concerns close to our hearts. And we always end our walks the same way: we look at each other and say:

This is the day the LORD has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24)

So I have to agree with Hippocrates: walking is some of the best medicine. It’s not found in a bottle. You don’t need a prescription — but the refills are limitless. Walking is good for your body, your mind, and your spirit.

In Your Words: When have you found walking to be good medicine? How would you complete this sentence: _______________ is man’s best medicine. 

"Walking is man's best medicine." #lifequotes #Hippocrates
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Take Your Medicine & Go for a Walk #lifequotes
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You’re invited! Want to help me plan Bellamy’s wedding for my novella, Can’t Buy Me Love? The novella releases next May and I’m writing it this month. Visit this blog post for more details.

Help @bethvogt plan the the destination #wedding for her 2015 novella Can't Buy Me Love!...
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In Others’ Words: Taking a Break

There’s taking a break … and then there’s taking a break the way those sea lions are doing it.

I’m taking a break from blogging this week — but I’m not lazing around on some rocks (even if I am in Monterey, CA!).

I’m attending the Books and Such Literary Agency biannual retreat for their clients. I’ll get back to blogging next Monday.

And yes, I’ll miss y’all. Really. I will.

 

In Others’ Words: Where Are You?

Wherever you are … be all there.

It’s easy to “be all there” when where I am is a good place to be.

When life is going my way. When circumstances are favorable. When all’s well with the world — and when my relationships are peaceful and easy.

But being all there — and staying there — when life is careening out of my control? When the longed for yes is an unwanted and unyielding no? Well, sometimes that’s when I go looking for the EXIT.

The times when I am able to stay … to be all there when I really, really want to be somewhere else — that’s when I learn the most. When I change the most. When I see the things … or the people … or the hidden truth that I might have missed if I’d walked away.

Being all there is about doing life on purpose. Paying attention. Being all there costs you something. But it also gives you something in return: experience. Life change. Understanding. Appreciation.

In Your Words: How do you ensure that you’re “all there” in the day to day of your life? What have you learned by doing life on purpose and paying attention?

Where are you? #lifequotes #focus
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"Wherever you are, be all there." #lifequotes #jimelliot
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You’re invited! Want to help me plan Bellamy’s wedding for my novella, Can’t Buy Me Love? The novella releases next May and I’m writing it this month. Visit this blog post for more details.

Help @bethvogt plan the the destination #wedding for her 2015 novella Can't Buy Me Love!...
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In Others’ Words: Learning and Changing

I was the kid who liked to go to school. The kid who never worried about report cards — well, except when it came to math class. The kid who thought learning was fun and who, to this day, still gets excited when school supplies go on sale.

And yes, all my years in school  changed me — elementary right on through high school and on through college. I learned lots and lots of things. Facts about history and literature and music and art and science and yes, even enough about math to know math and I will never, ever get along. By the time I graduated, I went from someone who didn’t know her ABCs to someone who could write a college essay.

But the truest learning came through the people I met along the way. Classmates. Teachers. Advisors. Mentors. My interactions with others, my relationships, resulted in the greatest changes. Sometimes I learned more about myself. Sometimes I lost myself. Sometimes I caught a truer glimpse of God — and sometimes Truth was muddied with personal opinion and yes, even propaganda.

Learning doesn’t happen in a vacuum — never has, never will. Learning happens as I experience life with and through other people — sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. Change happens, and sometimes change has to be undone. Being willing to learn, to change, is part of the process. Being willing to unlearn a falsehood is an even greater part of life.

In Your Words: How has “true learning” happened in your life? Who has taught you something that changed you? When have you had to unlearn something and replace it with the truth?

True Learning and Life Change #lifequotes
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Are you learning? Are you changing? #lifequotes
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You’re invited! Want to help me plan Bellamy’s wedding for my novella, Can’t Buy Me Love? The novella releases next May and I’m writing it this month. Visit this blog post for more details.

Help @bethvogt plan the the destination #wedding for her 2015 novella Can't Buy Me Love!...
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In Others’ Words: Choose Joy

I am often surprised at how quickly I I can “un-choose” joy.

I’m having a successful day — one where my heart is settled on joy. Again and again and again, come what may.

And then something happens. Or someone happens. Life disappoints me in a variety of small ways or one very big way.

And I stop choosing. I let go of joy. I look away from joy — and am overwhelmed by circumstances. All of the realities … and even some of the maybes.

No more choosing joy.

My friend Rachel has set her heart on joy. She’s chosen joy over and over again so that it has become the true north of her heart.

She has an eyes-wide-open joy – the kind of joy that stays when contentment comes easy and the kind of joy that stays when circumstances gang up on you.

There’s more to today’s Henri Nouwen quote and it’s worth sharing:

“[Joy] is a choice based on the knowledge that we belong to God and have found in God our refuge and our safety and that nothing, not even death, can take God away from us.”

And there you have: the way back to joy when we lose sight of it.

Can’t find joy? Remember that you belong to God. (1 John 4:4 NLT)

Can’t find joy? Remember that God is your refuge. (Deut. 33:27 NIV)

Can’t find joy? Remember that God provides you safety. (Psalm 121:7 NIV)

Can’t find joy? Remember that nothing, nothing, nothing can take God away from you. (Romans 8:38-30 NAS)

In Your Words: What do you do when you can’t find joy? What helps you choose joy? Who in your life exemplifies joy? 

Keep Choosing Joy #lifequotes #henrinouwen
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4 Reasons to Choose Joy #lifequotes ##henrinouwen
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You’re invited! Want to help me plan Bellamy’s wedding for my novella, Can’t Buy Me Love? The novella releases next May and I’m writing it this month. Visit this blog post for more details.

Help @bethvogt plan the the destination #wedding for her 2015 novella Can't Buy Me Love!...
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In Others’ Words: Everydays

I remember seeing this quote and thinking, “This would make a good quote for a Friday post.”

It’s not so, so serious, and yet, it’s a good quote. One worth pondering.

How do we spend our “everydays”? 

Do we take time for a little song? A good poem? A fine picture? Do we make the effort to speak a few reasonable words?

And here’s another thought: What would you add to Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe’s list?

One ought, everyday at least, to ________________________. How would you fill in the blank?

I’ll go first: One ought, everyday at least, to find a few moments of solitude.

In Your Words: How have your “everydays” been lately? What have you heard or read or seen or spoken that has been memorable? And how would you finish the sentence: One ought, everyday at least, to ____________________________.

How do we spend our "everydays"? #lifequotes
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You’re invited! Want to help me plan Bellamy’s wedding for my novella, Can’t Buy Me Love? The novella releases next May and I’m writing it this month. Visit this blog post for more details.

Help @bethvogt plan the the destination #wedding for her 2015 novella Can't Buy Me Love!...
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In Others’ Words: Give Up

Oh, how I love this quote.

The beautiful, breathe it in, breathe it out freedom in these words.

Give up perfection.

Become yourself.

And the implied truth is: You are not perfect.

And guess what: You are still a worthwhile person with all your imperfections. Yes, all of them. You have value. You are needed. You are loved. You have a reason for being here.

We live in a world where we learn that love is conditional. Where the bar is set at perfect–or sometimes higher than that. We learn to look at others and examine their talents and think “I have to be better than them” rather than saying, “Wow. That was impressive.”

Because if they’re so impressive … well, what does that say about us?

Perfection is impossible–unless you’re God. And you’re not. And neither am I. And let’s all be thankful for that. God’s grace is new every morning–and mine has its limits, although I hate to admit it.

Maybe we should start each day by lowering the bar. By saying out loud: I am not perfect. Just get that little lie, that pressure, out of the way. Then maybe we can begin the work of becoming ourselves — our imperfect, truest selves. And as we become ourselves, we will discover the beauty hidden behind the lie of perfection.

In Your Words: What helps you give up on perfection–lower the bar, step away from the lie? When do you feel most truly, most amazingly, yourself? 

 

When Giving Up is a Good Thing #lifequotes #perfection
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Being Perfect vs. Being Yourself #lifequotes
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Help @bethvogt plan the the destination #wedding for her 2015 novella Can't Buy Me Love!...
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You’re invited! Want to help me plan Bellamy’s wedding for my novella, Can’t Buy Me Love? The novella releases next May and I’m writing it this month. Visit this blog post for more details.

In Others’ Words: Rise and Shine

It’s Monday!

Truth be told, it’s Sunday night as I write this blog post, but I’m already thinking about Monday and all of you who will be reading these words. And for you all, it’s Monday.

Now that we have that little time-bending thought cleared up …

I’m one of those (few) people who likes Mondays. The first work day of the week equals a fresh start — the chance to tackle my To Do list and, who knows, maybe actually clear it off.

A person can dream, right?

There are Mondays that I get out of bed with an ample supply of determination — wide awake and raring to go. By the end of the day, even if I don’t accomplish everything, I’m still satisfied with what I’ve done. Why? Because I’ve stayed focused, even in the midst of frustrations and interruptions.

And then there are the days that I leave all my “want to” stuffed under the blankets. Determination? I’m sorry, it’s snoozing the day away — and so am I. By the time I crawl back in bed, I drag a whole lot of discontentment with me.

Here’s what I’ve realized: I can’t always determine how much I’ll accomplish each day — although setting goals is important. Life does come with inherent responsibilities, right?

No matter what, I can determine who I’ll be each day. I can stay true to my beliefs, no matter the frustrations or the interruptions. I can stay true to my values whether I cross one thing off my To Do list — or everything off my To Do list. On the days I do stay true to myself, I go to bed soul-satisfied. And that is quite enough.

In Your Words: What do you want to accomplish today? What one action or attitude would make today a “rise and shine kind of day!”?

Is your determination leading to satisfaction? #lifequotes
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It's Monday! Rise and Shine! #lifequotes
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Help @bethvogt plan the the destination #wedding for her 2015 novella Can't Buy Me Love!...
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You’re invited! Want to help me plan Bellamy’s wedding for my novella, Can’t Buy Me Love? The novella releases next May and I’m writing it this month. Visit this blog post for more details.

In Others’ Words: How’s It Working For You?

I like the freedom inherent in today’s quote:

Life is about trying things … and maybe they work, and maybe they don’t.

Life isn’t about getting it right the first time. And there are some seasons in our lives when it isnt about getting it right most of the time.

Life is about discovering what works for you.

So here’s a story for you:

I went to breakfast yesterday with a few writing friends. One of those friends was an early writing mentor. This is how my  former mentor  complimented me on Somebody Like You, my latest novel: Beth, I hope it’s okay for me to say this, but Somebody Like You is better than Catch a Falling Star. (Catch a Falling Star is the novel I wrote before SLY.)

My response: I hope so!

I try to up my game with every book I write. I want to discover what is working for me as a writer — and improve on it. And I also try to figure out what isn’t working — and fix it in the next book I write.

I wish I had learned the whole “how’s it working for you?” principle sooner in my life — instead of operating on the “let’s pretend I’ve got it all together and aim for perfectionism” theory. When I allow myself to learn — and leave room for both success and failure — then I grow in an atmosphere of grace.

In Your Words: So what have you tried lately — and discovered “Wow! This worked!” And what have you tried … and it didn’t work? And what did you learn from those experiences?

Life is about discovering what works for you #lifequotes
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Life: How's It Working For You? #lifequotes
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"Help @bethvogt plan the the destination #wedding for her 2015 novella Can't Buy Me Love!...
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You’re invited! Want to help me plan Bellamy’s wedding for my novella, Can’t Buy Me Love? The novella releases next May and I’m writing it this month. Visit this blog post for more details.

 

In Others’ Words: Tell Me a Story

I just came back from a writers conference. Besides the word “Hello,” — usually accompanied by lots of laughter and hugs — do you want to know what the most repeated phrase/question was?

“What are you writing?”

Yeah, get in a hotel full of writers and there’s going to be a lot of people talking about story.

But you know what I think? Everyone loves story. Everyone has a story. We are surrounded by story just like today’s quote says. 

A few years back there was this reporter who drove around the country looking for people with stories to tell. He would drive into town, grab a phone book and randomnly pick a name. And then he’d interview that oh-so-random person. And guess what? There was always an amazing story to be told — every. single. time. (Anybody else remember this?)

I’ve come to look at people two ways:

each person I meet is a story waiting to be discovered
each person I meet is made in the image of God

 

Yes, I have my story too. But you know what? I’m surrounded by story. It’s a gift to be invited to listen in on someone else’s story — to learn who they are, where they come from, what they dream about …

There are stories written inside books and then there are life stories inside people’s hearts and minds. Both are powerful, but only one is eternal.

In Your Words: What stories are you surrounded by? And how would you answer the question: What’s your story? 

We are surrounded by story. Are you listening? #lifequotes
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Help @bethvogt plan the the destination #wedding for her 2015 novella Can't Buy Me Love!...
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You’re invited! Want to help me plan Bellamy’s wedding for my novella, Can’t Buy Me Love? The novella releases next May and I’m writing it this month. Visit this blog post for more details.