Doggie Deja-Vu

LIKE MOST DOGS, my rescue mutts have very active sniffers. Their noses are always in the lead and their bodies follow.

The Appalachian foothills of Western North Carolina provide an ample variety of critter smells and living in a heavily wooded area gives them many different scents to track.

It makes me laugh when they really get excited about a spot, certain that they have found evidence of a wild beast, and it is just where they themselves had peed a few hours before. Unless I'm late for work, that is. Then I don't laugh so much.

HERE IS THE KICKER,...we do the same thing all the time.

Okay, so most of us don't go back and excitedly smell our toilets. But often in life we will unwittingly retrace our own steps, completely unaware that the evidence of activity we find was created by our own actions. Life can be funny that way, as long as we are not running late for work.

THE NEXT TIME YOU FIND yourself "running over the same ol' ground" either figuratively or literally, cut yourself a little slack. Your sniffer isn't quite as effective as your pooch's snozz.

-b2

b2publishing.blogspot.com

Thought-0-tha'-Day - "Tha' 'I'm not your fool' edition"......

Look down at your feet. Go ahead, I'll wait. Look down at your feet.

Okay, look forward. Let's not make this any more difficult than it needs to be. Now, look forward.

Close your eyes and imagine yourself two steps ahead of where you are at this moment.

Now, read this next part very carefully and follow my instructions...........

Lift your left foot, shift your weight to your right side and use your hip to swing your left foot forward. Use this same method to move your right foot and then repeat as needed until you are farther down the path then when we began.

Now isn't that better?

-b2

Small, incremental changes can improve your life - Restitutions PART 3

Back in school I knew guy who literally ran off an joined the circus. He didn't have to run far. We lived in Central Florida and were only a couple of hours drive from the home of the Greatest Show on Earth and their world famous Clown College.

When I caught up with him a few years later he was following the elephants with a wheel barrow and shovel. I asked him if ever thought about getting a 'real job'. He said, "What? And give up show business!"

Seriously, sometime the fear of change can immobilize even the bravest among us. But it doesn't have to be that way.

Since New Years day I've been writing about making RESTITUTIONS instead of resolutions. And together we have been wrestling with the idea that there are some things we owe to ourselves that can be accomplished through small, incremental changes.

If you haven't yet read the first two installments, I strongly encourage you to go back and check them out right now:

How to make a New Year's RESTITUTION

Restitutions Realized - Making Good in the New Year - Part 2

So far we have:

• taken a quick look in the rear view mirror
• made a list of 3 things we feel need to be RESTORED in our lives
• Read the list out loud to ourselves
• Shared the list with another human being / potential accountability partner

Congratulations! You have already made some serious progress towards positive change that can lead to the life of your dreams.

Now that we have our road maps, it's time to 'hit the road'. We are ready to begin making small, incremental changes to our daily lives.

Pick one of the items from your list. Don't over think it, just grab one.

Take a blank piece of paper, or open a new Word document, and write this item on the top of the page.

Spend no more than 3 minutes writing down every roadblock you can think of that has kept you from accomplishing this, or has deterred you from trying. We need a complete brain dump here. Right it all down. You will NOT be sharing this with anyone, so let it all come out on the page.

Go ahead, do it now. I'll wait.

This is me waiting.

Okay, all done?

Great!

 Here is what I came up with when I did this exercise:

Submit three short stories for publication and / or writing contests

Roadblocks:

• Only have two half written stories
• My third story idea isn't 'flushed out' yet
• Have not been making enough time to write
• Not sure who to submit to
• feel overwhelmed by amount of contests and publications
• havn't made time for proper research
• need to read the publications or past winner of contests to better understand expectations
• Fighting doubts about the quality of my writing, my ideas, and my execution of story lines
• Will anyone read it
• I'll get rejected
• I won't get a response at all

Okay, I think you get the idea.

Let it all out. Then, when you are done with your list, remember no more than 3 minutes, I want you to put it way. That's right, put it away in a safe, private place and let it sit there. Just for a day or two. Let it simmer.

Besides, we've made some real progress. Time for a break.

So, go read a book, take a walk, or what ever it is you do when you do what you do.  



Please send your questions, comments, and good gazpacho recipes to b2publishing@gmail.com

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But either way, don't forget,......... 'dream big, act swiftly....' - b2

the meaning of strife.....

I embarked on a journey that took me far from my home.
Many moons I was away in search of a noble path.
Climbing rock and crossing treacherous river beds,
I continued on with blistered feet and bleeding hands.

Nothing could stop me from reaching my goal.
No one could reach me as I plodded onward into the abyss.
Days passed and my mind was lost in constant hallucinations.
Finally the destination that had called me came into view.

Just beyond a gnarly aging tree older than time,
In a dark cave lit only by the whites of my bulging eyes.
Deep in a corner sat the wisest of the wise,
Mentor, muse, guru, and saint all wrapped up into one.
Slowly his dark squinty eyes peered at me below
The ragged brim of his filthy rotting sampan.
His right cheek winced several times as he
Struggled painfully to speak his ancient truth.

I knelt before him, more to hear his faint whisper,
Than out of some pathetic attempt at respect.
He stamped his foot twice on the dusty cave floor.
Then breathed into my ear the words I was born to hear...............


"sauerkraut is your destiny......."



-b2