Give It the “Scratch-Off” Treatment

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Being overwhelmed is a constant state for most of us. The list of to-do’s can never seem to get to-done, and distractions know no limits. Being a list-maker can help, but some of us have a tendency to either make too many lists or put so much on our agendas that it’s not feasible to finish any of it.

At a coffee date with Maddy Hoeltke-Brown, we talked about the unconventional way we are approaching life with our side hustles and how the 8-to-5 scene is not the career path we have followed. Even thought we’ve chosen different paths, Maddy is just getting started in her business ventures, while I’m trying to evolve with mine. She asked if I had any advice to help with her whirlwind of distractions as she tries to get a good focus on building her graphic design business.

First of all, I do not profess to be a guru in business and my blog and writing career are just getting going, but I know a little something about helping people pave paths to success from my experiences on the farm and in the classroom.

To get started, I shared Lysa TerKeurst’s story of dedicating time to her desired work. In her book, The Best Yes, Lysa talked about making the decision to take her writing seriously and scheduled time on her calendar to do just that. TerKeurst reflected the first time she had to turn down a lunch date because she had scheduled time to write. The act of saying no to someone, because she chose time for her own goals, made her feel guilty at first. Eventually, Lysa found that giving herself time to do what she needed to be successful was the ultimate route for making her goals realities. I advised Maddy to do the same. Each week I plan time to write and most weeks I am successful, but I also realize that life throws priorities in my way and I have to compromise to keep the big picture moving forward. That realization led to my second piece of advice.

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Pansies in a Tin Cup: Memory in a Tattoo

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Have you ever noticed someone’s tattoo and thought, “That’s different. I wonder why they got that?”

Interesting enough, it is because of an artist’s willingness to talk to three, crazy ladies sitting at a bar, that I came to see such a tattoo and definitely wanted to know the story behind it.

The artist’s name was Maddy. One of the three crazy ladies at the bar was me.

Maddy’s intriguing tattoo was pansies in a tin cup.

The story behind the tattoo stared when Maddy’s grandparents Kerry and Nancy welcomed the first of their six children into the world. Kerry wanted to surprise his wife with flowers after the birth of their son. He did not have money to purchase long-stem roses or a fancy arrangement from the flower shop, so he gathered a handful of pansies and delivered them to his bride in a tin cup from their pantry. The sentiment was well received and continues to be a story of simplicity and love passed down to their children and grandchildren.

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It’s Not What You Grow – Wise Words Wednesday

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While it may be winter and there aren’t a lot of crops in our fields now, we are reaping the benefits of last year’s hay season and the work of grain farmers from across the country. Long days and late nights produced a tremendous amount of hay to be stored in our barns last summer. As the grass has frozen and dried up this winter, the cattle and horses have been able to continue to grow and find comfort in those bales. The turkeys and calves are able to eat and develop thanks to the feed made from the harvest of American fields. We aren’t growing crops or animals; we are creating a place for them to flourish in spite of winter’s harshness.

Farmers aren’t the only ones creating places for people and things to produce. We all are creators of environments that allow for safety and growth. We are all cultivators of children, pets, food, products, and emotions. Each and everyone has a hand in growing something.

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Upcoming Bloggers BeLOnG Session – February 8, 2020

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Hey, Bloggers!
Hello, anyone considering blogging or creating a website!
Join us for Bloggers BeLOnG on
Monday, February 8th 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. CST!

If you have ever thought about blogging or already have a blog and would like to network with others, sign up for this free, digital discussion. We will talk about organizing your ideas, building readership, and answering questions about blogging.

Thanks to Missouri River Regional Library, Blogger BeLOnG will meet monthly so as to help grow our blogging network and create opportunities for sharing and development of sites.

To register for the February 8th session, click here: https://mrrl.org/index.php/event/bloggers-belong-virtual-3

Have questions?
Contact:
Megan Mehmert at Missouri River Regional Library mehmertm@mrrl.org or (573)634-2464 ext. 247

Melanie A. Peters at Intentergy.com intentergynow@gmail.com

The Sounds of Snow and Relieving Stress

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The snow globe is filling.

I’m no Robert Frost, but I am an admirer of hearing “the only sound’s the sweep, of easy wind and downy flake.” I’m not an enthusiast of freezing precipitation and the havoc it wreaks on roadways, but I am a fan of the peaceful nature of falling snow and an even bigger admirer of Fridays. Fridays are the highlight of the week, but a Friday in a world that looks like a snow globe is a special treat.

The peaceful nature of today’s snowfall felt like a call to drop all the worries and stressors that have been weighing me down. The dance of flakes in a symphony of spiraling, soft landings seemed to lower my stress level and reminded me to just let go of the silly stuff that I can’t control. (Hopefully I don’t sound too much like the Frozen soundtrack.)

If you are not in a place where you can see or hear the snow, I hope you will enjoy this clip from my front porch.

The sights and sounds as the snow began to fall harder this morning

The Intentergy message for today is to let the falling snow be your call to peace. Even if for only a minute or two, taking in the frosty scene can help you forget what’s wrong with the world and the blanket of white can be a clean slate allowing you to find calm.

Slow down.

See the world for the beautiful and chaotic snow globe that it is.

Let the simple pleasure of flakes falling be the counterweight to your worries and find some balance between stress and serenity. While we are like Robert Frost in that there are probably miles and miles to go before we sleep, we can be grateful for the opportunity to watch these woods fill up with snow and empty our emotional overloads as we enjoy the sights and sounds of this wintery season.

By: Melanie A. Peters

P.S. If there’s enough snow, you can throw some snowballs to get frustrations out as well. A very peaceful practice!

P.P.S. My allusions to Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” do not have to stop here. I am so glad we are past “The darkest evening of the year,” and the day light is blissfully growing longer.

National Broadcast Anxiety

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Photo by Negative Space on Pexels.com

Every hour on the hour.
Breaking, late-breaking, exclusive.
National Broadcast Anxiety is produced at the speed of sound and sight.
Our eyes, ears, minds, and hearts cannot escape.
Tonight’s segment on how to handle media-based stress
made it that much worse.

We can’t trust the “honesty” of journalism because they feed on
National Broadcast Anxiety.
Coming at you from every angle,
but the only angle they want you believe is theirs.
Loving our nation for what is it can’t be allowed.
Only one side or the other can be accepted.
They refuse to compromise…

Photo by Daria Sannikova on Pexels.com

The only ideals that do not deserve to be compromised
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness are excluded by National Broadcast Anxiety.
Apparently, if their side is not happy then no one can be happy.
The only pursuit is to divide.
Liberty loses life when the desires of a radical few strip the American dream from those who are willing to work for it.
Working for it isn’t enough. Speaking up is not accepted.
Suffer in silence because standing up for yourself is considered prejudice.
Be careful! You’ll end up on the NEWS.

Photo by Terje Sollie on Pexels.com

N.E.W.S. – Directions that fail to lead anywhere but
National Broadcast Anxiety.
It’s time to change more than the channel.
“Journalists,” listen.
You are not speaking for America. You are speaking for ratings.
State facts. Take out the loaded adjectives and labels. Tell the stories of what’s working.
Use your avenues for advancement beyond that of overpaid officials and their tantrums.
Share the problem-solvers. Mute the warmongers. Produce something positive.
We don’t need any more seasons of National Broadcast Anxiety.

By: Melanie A. Peters

P.S. If we are ever going to find peace amongst ourselves, we must change the channels of journalism today.

Fluff It If You’ve Got It

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Be like this guy. Fluff what you’ve got!

Each morning as I check turkeys, I am amazed at how much they have grown and how their looks change from one day to the next. The funny thing about turkeys is the older they get the prouder they are of their looks. As their plush, yellow fluff is replaced with fine, white feathers, the birds make it their business to hold their heads higher when they pass by. When their fully white plumage is in place, turkeys seem to spend all their time admiring and admonishing their tails and wings, and flaring their feathers as they strut around. Pride in their maturity seems to be the opposite of what we humans do. We lose confidence in our appearance as we age. This loss of self-esteem is tough emotionally and isn’t very attractive. So while turkeys are definitely not the most beautiful of creatures, I think we need to be more like them.

  • 5 Days Old
  • 21 Days Old

As we begin this new 365-day trip around the sun, many of us are focusing attention on our appearance. The most common New Year’s Resolution is to lose weight or exercise more. So while, many of us are counting our calories and watching our weight, I want to encourage you to fluff your good stuff. Don’t let love handles or belly rolls be what you purposefully draw attention to. Single out your best qualities and draw attention to what makes you feel good about yourself.

There is nothing wrong with being proud of a personal quality or physical trait. There is tremendous benefit to knowing what you are good at or what makes you beautiful and unique. So, if you’ve got it, fluff it!

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Blank Terror #BlogBattle

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“Sign here, please.” – Words that strike fear into hearts every minute of every day.

“Sign here, please.” – What do these words imply?

They imply agreement, sacrifice, and worst of all – commitment.

Don't be King Triton – Consult with a Lawyer! - Hirsch & Westheimer, P.C. - Attorneys and Counselors since 1913.

When I think of blank terror, I always remember the scene in Disney’s The Little Mermaid where Ariel is so desperate to become human that she signs away her voice in exchange for a chance to meet Prince Eric.

Everything in her body language says, “I really don’t want to do this,” but, if you’ve seen the movie, you know in her heart she felt like she HAD to sign it.

What is the scariest blank you ever had to sign?

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An Important Part of Success – Wise Words Wednesday

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“Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.” – Arianna Huffington

It’s very rare to find someone who masters a skill with only one attempt. In fact, the attempts that we remember are usually the ones where we seemed to fail the greatest. While I haven’t had any huge failures to report as of late, I do have some pretty spectacular ones from the past and they have all helped me to find success in new ways.

One particular failure that came to mind was when I was first given the chore of mowing our lawn. I was 9 years old and my parents got a brand new Snapper riding mower. My dad showed me how to start the engine and the blades, turn the steering handles, and proudly set me off to mow down our unruly front yard. The one lesson that didn’t sink in was how to stop. On my first pass, I ran that mower right up the woven wire fence in our side yard. Fortunately, I was not injured, and the mower was okay (I think it gave up when I bailed from the seat.)

My dad came running and asked what the heck I was doing.

“Mowing the yard,” I screeched back through adrenaline and embarrassment. He pulled the mower off the fence, turned it around, and told me to get back on. We then practiced how to start and stop the machine before I was let loose on the lawn again.

I can’t say I never had another incident with a mower, but I can say that I became much more aware of what I did and did NOT know about a piece of equipment before I accepted the job of working with it. Now I know exactly what questions to ask before Dad or Hubby put me to work with a new tractor, truck, mower, rake, or baler. I know that to be successful with those implements, I have to possess working knowledge of they start and stop. It makes for a much more productive day on the farm.

“Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.” – Arianna Huffington

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January 2021 – Positivity Challenge

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Forgive and forget… easier said than done. I’m gonna make it happen in 2021.

It is true that we are often our own worst critics, but being a flawed human (just like everyone else) I have come to the realization that I am pretty critical of a few other folks in my life.

My cynicism is the result of my failure to forgive. I can’t be my best if I do not absolve my grievances with the people who have hurt or hampered me in the past. Never would I claim to be completely innocent of hurting others, but if I am ever going stop the damage to my own self-esteem and the esteem I have for others, I am going to have to do some forgiving.

My 2021 Vision Board: It’s going to be a GREAT year!

When I started gathering ideas for my 2021 Vision Board, I knew I needed to work on my relationship goals with some people in my life, as well as myself. Setting a goal for greater compassion and acceptance was something that my Vision Board simply HAD to display.

In my search through magazines and websites, I couldn’t find just what I needed to say on my board, until I stumbled across a quote from Galina Majda in Mukilteo, Washington. (I am sad to say I don’t know what magazine this was from.) Galina’s statement of forgiveness was EXACTLY what I needed for myself and my relationships.

“Every night before I go to sleep, I forgive everyone, including myself.”

Wow! Wow! Wow!

“I forgive everyone, including myself.”

Wow!

Do you ever lay awake at night hashing over the mistakes you made or the things you forgot to do? Do you ever just lay there simmering in regret or guilt or anger? I know I do. Ending the day with a mentality of forgiveness could stop all of that wasted worrying and bring about greater peace. It’s what I need to do.

Maybe you do too.

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