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Tuesday Slice of Life : July 19, 2016.

It is one of those days.
I clearly know what needs to be done. And I’m ready to get busy.
Oversized sheets of paper are on the table. Colored pencils are sharpened. My notes are gathered. Some mentor books are stacked on a chair.
I begin.
Erase.
Write more.
Strike through.
It’s tough going. Hard to keep my focus.
I find myself gazing out the window, getting another cup of coffee, walking from room to room, folding some laundry, even pulling a few weeds in a flower bed.

Finally, I just push my work aside and go out to sit in the shade of our old walnut tree. I let my thoughts tumble without direction; there’s been so much going on in my life.

What makes life good?

Laughing
Laugh out loud. Studies show that laughter will reduce stress hormones, fill your lungs with air, and strengthens your immune system. Yep, laughter is the best medicine. So have a hearty, healthy laugh at least once a day. For a week, I had my students write and post each day one thing that made them genuinely laugh in the past 24 hours; no jokes allowed.

Taking time to wonder
Wonder is the breath of creativity. It is a curiosity that fires the imagination and flings open the doors of learning. I like the @Wonderopolis slogan: Where the Wonders of Learning Never Cease. I like to take my students outside on a warm fall day just to wander and wonder.

Enjoying simple things
In the simple things of life, I find clarity. My mom watched the ladybugs and listened to the birds, and loved her life with a ready smile in spite of difficult circumstances. She taught me to drink deeply of life’s simple things.

Forgiving
There will be an offense. That is a given. Intended or unintended. So, decide right now how you will respond. Then when it comes, you can forgive. –that is what my mom taught me. Without forgiveness, anger simmers, bitterness grows tenacious roots, and vengeance births an endless destructive cycle.

Giving thanks
Gratefulness always changes my focus and dispels dissatisfaction and despair. It is hard to grumble when I am being grateful. Have you ever kept a grateful journal?

Hoping even when it seems hopeless
Hope brings the promises of the future into today’s reality. A man once told me, Don’t set aside hope. If you do, your heart will be sick.

Believing
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Believing is what I do so I can be who I am.

Loving
Love never fails. In it there is no fear. Because of God’s love, I am alive.

I am living the good life!


slice_of_lifeSlice of Life Tuesdays

Thanks to Two Writing Teachers for hosting this weekly writing event.


Hebrews 11 (believing)
1 Thessalonians 5 (giving thanks)
Proverbs 13 (hoping)
1 Corinthians 13 (loving).