Posts by Pat:
Sunshine or Shadow-Your Choice!
February 2, today, is Groundhog Day!
Folklore says that if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, then spring will come early.
If it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and the winter weather will continue for six more weeks.
Every culture seems to have a “middle of the winter” celebration because winter is dark and discouraging. This is ours! We all seem to look for some hope that spring is coming.
What I love to do is figure out a personal metaphor for life in most holidays and this one is no exception!
How many of us are living as groundhogs and hibernate and vegetate until we get an idea or see an opportunity to live more actively? Then we timidly stick out our head to check things out and quickly withdraw back into our comfort zone at the sign of our own shadow.
Our groundhog nature is often scared of our own shadow-shadows of
- fear,
- anxiety,
- of what will they think,
- what if I fail,
- what if I make a fool of myself… all personal shadows.
If it’s any help to you…
- just remember what Mark Twain said,
“I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.”
- And do what I do: think that they are worried about what I will think!
- And remember what Michael Jordan said,
I have missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occassions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot . . . and missed. And I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why . . . I succeed.”
If we choose, we can look towards the sun, letting all our shadows fall behind us. We can then see the road ahead with its possibilities and potential for living life fully, with no need to continue hibernating!
You can join me in using this most uplifting of holidays to celebrate, to say YES to life and step out into the sunshine!
What will you say YES to?
P.S. Remember Bill Murray in Groundhog Day? It may have taken him a long time, but he really did finally “get it!”
Monthly food for thought!
Do you have any new thoughts as we move forward in 2014? Maybe some old thoughts that are still applicable today? Do any of these shared today remind you of something you forgot to remember? I’ve again limited my selections for the end of this month’s review to just eight (and that’s always difficult for me!) So here’s […]
Fix Your Broken Windows
There’s a concept in law enforcement known as the broken windows theory, which says that we take cues from our environment-so if a neighborhood shows evidence of minor lawbreaking, like graffiti or vandalism and these things go unchecked, people in that neighborhood become more likely to break bigger laws. But if you address these minor […]
Which role in the pack do you fulfill?
I got an intriguing glimpse into two different cultures (both the wolf culture and the Eskimo culture) as I reread the Newberry Award classic of 1974 by Jean Craighead George, titled Julie of the Wolves. I’d be interested to know where you would find yourself in them! This is a moving novel of a 13 year […]
Remember the computer saying G.I.G.O. ?
Did you know that at birth, a baby’s brain contains 100 billion neurons, roughly as many nerve cells as there are stars in the Milky Way, according to a Times magazine article? And what do we feed it? My first reaction? “Wow, we get all that power and hardware with no owner’s manual or instruction […]
Thoughts for the end of the year
As the year comes to a close, I like to reflect both forwards and backwards! So how will you release the 2013 year and welcome in the 2014?
Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody!
This poem by Charles Osgood is about four people: Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. Which one do you know best? “There was a most important job that needed to be done, And no reason NOT to do it, there was absolutely none. But in vital matters such as this the thing you have […]
Winter…again?
They come regularly, right after autumn. Some are long, some are short, some are difficult, some are easy, but they always come right after autumn. That is never going to change. There are all kinds of winters-the “winter” when we can’t figure it out, the “winter” when everything seems to go haywire. There are economic winters, […]
Is broken better than new?
On one hand… The story goes that a 15th century Japanese shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, sent a broken tea bowl to China to have it fixed. When the bowl came back, it was held together with metal staples. Disgusted, he set out to find a better, more aesthetically pleasing way to repair broken pottery. His […]