What is Hope and Where Does It Come From

Hope. I hope I see my book published by spring of 2017. I hope I can visit China in the near future. I hope I can stay healthy well into my 90s.

Where in the world do those thoughts come from? From me. Those hopes are my aspirations, my goals, my anticipation for the future. When you have goals that can realistically be reached, and there is an optimism about that desire, you have hope. Hopes are different from wishes.

I wish I would win the lottery (not really), I wish I had long legs, I wish I wore a size 2 dress. Sorry, folks, those are never happening. First, I would have to buy a lottery ticket. Then, I was born with short legs (but I do wish I had long legs so I could reach the top cabinet). Then, I have never worn a size 2 dress, never, so that is so out of reach for me. And I wouldn't look good that thin. Wishes -- desiring something that has no basis in reality.

Hope -- desiring something that includes a mental will power and a realistic goal.

Wishing and hoping -- all the difference in the world.

When I was young, I wished for so much, but I never put forth the effort to make those wishes a reality. Instead, I hoped for a degree and to work in a field that I enjoyed. I systematically worked for those goals and they happened, they became my reality.

Then, hope goes beyond desire. There is something to be said about visualization and hope. I have tried this and for me it works. When I truly hope for something, I visualize it in my head before I make it a reality. I work through the process of obtaining my hope before I actually start the physical plan. It's like writing a story in my head before I actually sit down and write the story.

Once, I learned a great way to test visualization, and still to this day, it works when I truly concentrate on the visualization. It is simple. I am driving my car to the mall and I want to get a good parking space near a certain store. The parking lot is always jammed and usually, I can not find a parking space anywhere near the store I want to visit. While I am driving to the mall, I start visualizing a parking space close to the store, and once in the parking lot I head toward the certain area I have visualized in my head. I keep telling myself that the parking space will be available for me. I pull in and someone has just pulled out. I have my parking space.

Try it. On anything, not only a parking space. But you have to believe, you have to visualize yourself obtaining the desire. Let me know if it works for you. It's a 90% success rate for me, but I have to believe that it is mine. That is the key.

That belief, that optimism is the basis of hope. It comes from within, and you can bring it forward when you so desire.

Think of someone who is ill. When there is great hope, the illness is not so grave. It is only when the sick person gives into the illness will hope be lost and the illness takes hold. Of course, there are terminal illnesses that have gone past the stage of hope, but on the whole, there are many where hope helps people with the suffering that comes with illness.

Also, when a person has hope, they are usually optimistic about that future and has a greater sense of well-being, of being comfortable and happy. And when you are happy, you want a life that is healthy, so you eat better and you exercise and you laugh and you have happy thoughts.

Me. I just hope I publish my book by spring (nearly there, I have my to do lists), I continue working on my body so I can easily climb those steps at the Great Wall, and I really hope I stay healthy by eating healthy food and exercising well into my 90s because I have a lot of stories to write.

But then again, my glass has always been half full....

Until next time...stay hopeful for your desires to become a reality.

Trump and the Electoral College

I am going against my staunch conviction to not discuss politics with this post. I still am not going to talk about politics, but I have to post about the Electoral College vote that is suppose to happen this coming Monday.

As the world knows, the American people's popular vote was for Hillary Clinton in November but Donald Trump carried the majority of states and thus, the electoral votes. So, according to our constitution, he wins.



I wondered about the electoral college and so I researched. I learned that the reason why the electoral college is is that the majority of people live in and around large cities, but there are tons of people who live in rural areas. Large cities have more people, thus more votes, but in actuality if you take into account all the people who live outside of large cities, there are more of them than the city slickers. The electoral college was put into place to make an election fair. What November's election tells me is that Hillary got the people from the large cities and Trump got the rest. It was a pretty cut and dried picture on election night. The news networks showed where the votes were from and who voted from where. I understand this reasoning. Is it fair for large cities to win an election when people outside of the large cities do not live by the same ideology as those who come from the cities?

Then there comes the facets between the liberal democrats and the conservative republicans. I am not even going to elaborate on this because there is too much hate being spewed from the mouths on both sides. This has taught me how divided our country is. Truly, I can say I have not opened my mouth on what I believe about  either of these two facets, but I can tell you that I have witnessed families and friends being ripped apart to not talk nor want to have anything to do with each other. I shake my head in disbelief and sorrow. For 40 year friendships to not exist any longer or fathers and sons not to talk -- because of politics -- there is something else going on here. It reminds me of brother against brother at the time of our civil war.

Now comes the electoral college vote on Monday. I thought I knew a bit about our constitution and how this country is run, but apparently not. Even though Trump got the electoral votes on election night, the Electoral College is going to vote on Monday and they can upset the entire course of history, or not. This has never happened in recent years (last time was 1824), and I never knew anything about this. I thought everything was decided on election night. I have a lot to learn, and can definitely say that I am living through a piece of history. (Shoot, I have lived through many pieces of history.)

Since I am a baby boomer and it is common knowledge that we changed the world then, I honestly believe that this election, no matter what happens, will also change our world.

As the saying goes, "hold on, Buttercup, we're in for a ride...."

Until next week... have a great one...

Completing the Ceramic Projects

I can't believe it. I am going to be finished with all my large ceramic projects before the end of the year. That is great, because next year I am going to cut back on the ceramics to go further with the stain and fused glass pieces. So, I am thrilled.

Let me show you my finished products.

Remember this piece as I started painting it. I painted the outside with a pink foundation, thinking it would be a very pale pink. All of the pictures were stenciled on then hand painted. All in all it took me close to six months to finish this piece working only one day a week (that is the only time this ceramic club is open).

And I finished.

 There are six sides to this pot so I have shown all sides to get an idea. (I forgot to drill holes in the bottom, so she is going to have to have a pot for the flowers or plant and then have it drain into the inside of this pot.

 I trimmed the top with a grass green and on the inside of the pot I used crystallites so there are burst of white.

I am a bit disappointed with how pink the outside is, but it still looks good, and I think my friend should like it.

Then, there are the hand painted dishes. This project took me a total year going to another ceramic group where I went about 2 days a week to work on this.

My set of pasta dishes were painted on greenware instead of bisque (what has been fired in the kiln).

Each vegetable was given three coats of paint, and each letter was painstakingly given three coats of black paint. The first coat was the hardest because I could not go out of the line and my hand had to be very steady.

I must say, I am please with the finished product. I was going to make a setting of 12, but I finished 6 with a 7th as a mistake but usable. Plus, I did the large serving bowl.

After each plate was painted, it was then fired to make bisque. Then I applied the glaze so it can be used for food. The instructor said they are dishwasher safe, but still, a chip could occur, so hand washing is recommended.

Not bad! I am very pleased.

Then, I completed a few mugs.

My one nephew has a bicycle and shoe shop on Hilton Head Island in S. Carolina, so I made both him and his wife a mug with the logo on it and their name on the back. 

Then, another nephew wanted a mug with Naked Ladies on it. Well, as you can see, I made sure he has plenty of Naked Ladies on his mug! He should get a chuckle out of this.

All in all, I am very pleased with my end products, but everything is for someone else. This next year, it's going to be all about me. There are some ceramic pieces I want. I have this ledge in my living room, and I think it needs some colorful birds and fish on the ledge.

Pink flamingos would be cool, and I need to replace many other birds with color!

I am so close to being finished with my stain glass car that I can taste it. I have been working on it all week, and it is now soldered. I am going to finish it up Friday, so next week I will share that project with you. It was another all year project. One that was also accompanied with glass cuts and solder burns!

Until tomorrow...have a great day.

Success -- What Is It and How Do You Get It

Albert Einstein -- German born physicist, developer of the general Theory of Relativity (wormholes, possibility of time travel, black holes, creation of the universe), and Nobel Prize recipient -- is the epitome of success. To me.

But actually, what is success and how do we get it?

According to the dictionary success is obtaining a goal. So, there are many successes as we finish school, further our education with higher studies, obtain a "good" paying job, buy a house, find love, fill the house with children, and on and on and on. Those are societies standards for success.

But what are mine and yours?

Success changes as goals are met and others are set. And since I am a goal orientated person, I can talk about goal setting, or what I call, list making. Oh...I am a list maker, and when I was going full throttle with my career, I had those lists made for the week, the day, and sometimes for the hour. Then, I could push ahead without a burp. I was going full steam.

The most important part of goal setting is to set attainable goals. It is not realistic to have winning the lottery as a goal. That is a game of chance, and goals are not reached when there is chance involved. But, when I set a goal I have a plan (hence, the list) and I also prioritize my list. What is important to me to obtain that goal. If I have a goal of selling 20 items on e-bay, I am going to look at the myriad of items I want to sell and then select the 20 items that is relevant to the time of year. Such as, I would sell a heavy wool coat in the autumn or winter, not in the heat of summer. Then, I would learn how to sell on e-bay, then I would go through their steps on how to be a successful seller. Then, do it. With perseverance (not giving up) and determination, I will reach the success of selling the 20 items.

Sounds easy, but it's not. As humans, we do give up more than stick to it. But, for the few who are determined to see the task to the end and do not give up when the going gets tough, they will succeed. It may take a while, sometimes a long while, but usually, if it is an attainable goal, the goal will be met and success will be met.

The other part of success is doing something that I truly enjoy, and I will add something that I can do. Although I enjoy reading about history and topics on science, there is no way that I could become a success in physics like Einstein. I am not prepared. I could never be successful in this field because I can not do it. So, these topics are interests.

But, I am very creative. I even dream in color. So, I know that I can be successful in some forms of the arts. And today I am proving it by painting some beautiful ceramic pieces or completing stain glass pieces. I am learning, but I am also successful as I complete one project after another. A master, no, not even close to calling myself a master of these arts, but I enjoy them, and I complete the goals of seeing a completed piece.

I am also a researcher and a writer. I love, love, love to research. I can get lost for hours looking up pieces of information. And I have stories to write, stories in my head that I have to share. And I have attained a standard of success in research while working on my master's degree. I took research courses for fun (I love the hypothesis and the variables and the findings). I love what I learn along the way. And sometimes that information is melded into my stories, and I become so excited to share the stories, the learned information with my fellow man, that I want to burst. I am so proud.

There was a day when I loved teaching the composition courses to my college students. I loved it when I saw "the light bulb click" when a student "got it" and I loved playing the devil's advocate on topics that were theirs to write. I loved explaining the argument essay and having them understand or not understand inductive and deductive reasoning. I was successful because I loved it and as one semester turned to another my goals were met.

Today, though, the composition courses have been set aside and I write. I write blogs, and short stories, and genealogy stories (that's the history buff in me), and now a novel. I write. I research. I write some more. And I love it.

Success through writing. Mine is not going to be measured by money. My writing success will be seeing how many people read my words; hearing about how many people I reach through a kind word, through a difficult scene that shows a life event; and touching the hearts of my readers. That will be my success. No Nobel Prizes for me, but then again, Nobel Prizes come in many shapes and forms.

With that, I leave you with Pablo Picasso's quote --

Action is the foundational key to all success

Have a great day....

Wrapping Up!

Today, I went to the DMV (department of motor vehicles) to get my license plate tag and to transfer the title of my car from Illinois to Florida. It is the last item that needed to be completed due to my move. I am officially a Floridian. I have its drivers license, a house, a car that is now registered in Florida, and I have voted in this state. The move is complete.

Was it a good move for me? Yes. I do miss my friends and family members, but the bad outweighed the good for me staying in Illinois. And now the weather is changing there, and I am really glad I moved. I just talked to a friend of mine who is still in Illinois but winters in Arizona. She said it is 12 degrees outside and it is snowing. This winter in Illinois is supposed to be the same as in '14, and that was the winter I decided to move. It was soooo cold for soooo long. It is chilly here, too. It is in the low 70s right now so I can wear my jeans and a long sleeve shirt. But there is no snow, no bone chilling winds. The weather alone was a deciding factor for my move.

I came here knowing a few people, bought a house sight unseen, and had no idea how to get around and how far the towns were from me. I've come a long way in the past 2 years. I know a few more people, have done many projects to the house, and can get around pretty good and am learning my way around the two large towns around me -- Tampa and Sarasota. Brandon is in there, too. But, the big thing is there is always something to do here.

In Illinois, I was bored. Real bored. Here, there is always someplace to explore. Someplace new and exciting. There are tons of restaurants and if all else fails, I can go to the beach and walk along the Gulf's sandy beaches. I have yet to be bored. Actually, it's probably the total opposite. I am sometimes so busy that I have to make lists of what to do that day and week.

But my interests are changing. When I first came, I got into ceramics, then I joined a writing group, then DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution), then stain glass, then genealogy. But, two years later I can see that these groups are shifting in importance.

I have never felt like this at the end of any year. It's like I am wrapping up activities that will go by the way-side, and I am revving up activities that will take front and central. This end of a year feels like a total break and in 2017 I will be starting refreshed and renewed.

I know. There are a couple more weeks left of the year, but that is what I need to complete what I have started. There will be more to write about this as the year closes and 2017 begins, but for now....I am a Floridian!

Until next week...have a good one!

Fitbit Update

The fitbit. That wonderous device that looks like a watch, acts like a watch and wears like a watch, but is so much more. I have had it now for about 9 months, have worn it mostly faithfully (time out to recharge), and have synched it to my smartphone.

So, why am I not a svelte size 6? Uh, because I am not made that way. I don't think I was ever, EVER, a svelte anything. But, I was a trim and firm size 10 or 12 most of my life. Then came one thing after another, and the activity levels went down and my weight went up. Since I have changed my life, I thought with a BIT of effort, the weight would just drop off, especially if I kept track of food consumption, exercise, activity level, etc., etc. Hence, the purchase of my fitbit.

Not so. It's hard, hard, hard to take off that weight. I work with it every day. My most recent try has been to join a gym to follow a program. Can't really comment on that, though, as that only happened this week.

But, what about the fitbit? Without a doubt it has made me more aware of my eating habits and my exercise style. I have been more aware of my activity level and can push myself off the chair to DO something, anything instead of just sitting. I have learned to enjoy standing as I talk on the phone and possibly even pace. Steps, you know. They all count. I have even added the pacing to when I blow dry my hair, anything I can think of.

I do not think I was ever this aware of my activity level.

But I need to do more. Remember, my goal is to go to China. And I believe I need to be more than physically fit there because the brochure said "uneven steps with no hand railings." I wish they would also tell me the size of the riser on the step. Small risers are okay for me, large risers -- not so okay. When it comes to the steep step, I usually just look at it and decide if it is worth it. Usually nothing is worth the very steep step, which are few and far between. I can walk, no problem for a good 4 - 6 hours, but it's the darn steep step that gets me in trouble. I'm working on it, though.

Now, the fitbit has been great for raising my awareness, but because I wear it everyday it is getting worn. The band is made from a plastic of some sort, and I can tell it is beginning to pull away from the (black) part that displays the time. So, I know it is not going to last like a watch. It's the material used in the manufacture of it. I have done some research on the product, and it looks like there are similar experiences out there. Great idea, great product, not so great manufacturing material. Will I get another when this one is no good? I don't know. I am out on that one as of right now. I think if I can incorporate 3-4 days of exercise into my life and take daily walks, I will have the idea ingrained into my lifestyle. Then, I would not need the fitbit. So, we'll see about that one.

Until tomorrow...have a great day...

Montmorency Tart Cherries and Arthritis

As people age, they get arthritis. Arthur and I have had quite a relationship these past 10 years, and I have learned how to deal with him without taking a lot of meds. I started with ibuprofen and that was enough for years. When a flare-up occurred I used an ointment with menthol and rubbed that on my sore area. After years with this treatment, my doctor recommended a prescription for the arthritis so the ibuprofen would not hurt my stomach. I did and I really do not need the medication all year round. My arthritis is weather-related, and for me, that means when it is windy out, I hurt. Someone explained to me that it was the barometric pressure more than the wind. Whatever, I know when I am going to hurt.

Then came  Montmorency tart cherries. I had been hearing about them for quite some time. The first time I tried them I went to the health food store and bought liquid concentrate tart cherry juice. I did not know enough that I had to cut it with water and I took a teaspoon straight. OMG -- it was awful. Awful. And that was that. Some people can drink it straight, but I can not.

But, I kept hearing about the cherries, and a friend of mine has a daughter (in her 40s) who has arthritis and she swears by the tart cherries. After years of being on the regimen she knows the difference in her pain when she does not have her tart cherries. (She does take the liquid concentrate form but knows to cut it with water or juice). You can also buy Montmorency Tart Cherry Juice in the store (or on Amazon) but be sure it is pure. I would buy the organic form and be sure to read the label to make sure there are no added sugars. Just drinking a glass of the juice is 140 calories, so be certain there are no other calories added. And be sure not to drink more than 1-2 glasses of the juice a day.

One of the products I use is the dried tart Montmorency cherries. I make my own trail mix with nuts and chocolate and sometimes have the mix with a glass of wine at night as I watch TV or read. I also add the dried cherries to my oatmeal in the morning. (I sometimes add dried cranberries, too).

But, I would have to eat a lot of the dried cherries to gain the same effect as the juice.







Another way to drink your cherries is to make a smoothie, but this is made with real cherries, not the juice.

Blend 1 small banana
           1/2 cup of frozen montmorency frozen cherries
           1/2 cup of low-fat milk (or almond or soy or coconut)
in a blender until smooth.

The tart cherries are good for more than arthritis. According to heathline.com, livestrong.com and prevention.com there is a long list of benefits from drinking the  Tart Montmorency Cherry Juice, including:

1. high in potassium, so it helps with muscle damage after exercise as well as helps recovery in marathon runners.

2. fights inflammation (and that is what osteoarthritis is, inflammation)

3. has flavonoids, which is a type of antioxidant, so it is good for boosting your immune system.

4. regulates metabolism and fights fat, especially the abdominal body fat

5. helps with sleep

6. blocks cancer growth

7. helps fight age-related cognitive decline (study published in the August 2009 Journal of Nutrition)

8. helps fight heart disease (study published in 2013, European Review for Medical and Pharmacalogical Science)

Be aware that because the tart cherries are sour, there may be side effects, such as a stomach ache, diarrehea, or abdominal discomfort.

Please, please let your doctor know you are going to take the cherries, just to be on the safe side.

In all my research on this subject, I found that when you drink 1 cup of the Montmorency Tart Cherry Juice 2 times a day for 21 days, you will see a difference in your arthritis (or gout), plus I read how much better people felt after only a week. So, I am going to start this sometime this week, and I am going to do it for 21 days (including the holiday) and will get back to you on how I feel.

What about you? Do you want to go the journey with me?

Until Wednesday...have a great day...