Category Saying “No” is ok

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.

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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?

Continue reading “Blank Terror #BlogBattle” →

Absolutely Worth It – Wise Words Wednesday

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Will it be easy? Nope. Worth it? Absolutely!

There are two scenarios for this holiday season that come to mind when I think of what’s worthy of effort.

Scenario 1: Putting up Christmas decorations, particularly outdoor lights, is a tough job. It requires precarious positioning of one’s self while attempting to securely attach, mount, or hang the lights in a way that is both esthetically pleasing and able to withstand potential blizzards. Once the lights are in place and any necessary medical attention has been sought, the display of glowing Christmas spirit can warm even the coldest of Grinch hearts.
Was it easy to get those eight pre-lit reindeer with Santa’s sleigh AND the inflatable Snoopy snow globe on the roof? No.
Could you ever imagine the amount of time it would take to assemble your Made-in-China nativity using words that baby Jesus should never have heard? No. But you do it anyway, and it’s worth every watt of energy and effort because you are letting ALL your Christmas lights shine.

Scenario 2: The second scenario of the season is a bit tougher. As our world continues to battle the COVID crisis, I encourage you to envision a holiday where you loosen your hold on what tradition says we MUST do to make Christmas happen.

Will it be easy? Nope. Worth it? Absolutely!

Continue reading “Absolutely Worth It – Wise Words Wednesday” →

Put Some Battles Back

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Put some back

Put some battles back. Never will I claim to be an expert at saying “No” to volunteering. Never will I raise my hand and say I am the best at walking away from being too busy. Never will I be a poster child for those who are willing let someone else do everything, but I will be the first to sign up for this Instagram message.

Instagram is a social media platform that I am growing to enjoy more and more, but it still overwhelms me (along with Twitter). Today this sweet reminder found its way into my feed and I thought, “Boy, did I need that!”

Okay, so I know the world spins on a tilted axis, and that the battle between good and evil is one that will wage until Armageddon, but there are lots of wonky, unjust, and yucky situations for which we are not called to take up arms.

The barrage of battles reminds me of going to the grocery store, and I have one very solid rule for grocery store shopping. I stick firmly to the rule: If something is not on my grocery list, I am not going to purchase it.

My kids and husband know this rule. They are TERRIBLE at following this rule (Hubby is the worst). For this reason, I never take my husband to the grocery store. When they are with me, I give my children stern, Mom’s-death-stare warnings before entering any grocery/clothing/shoe/farm supply or craft store (Any store really). Continue reading “Put Some Battles Back” →

Pouring From an Empty Cup…

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two clear drinking glasses on table

Photo by Andreea Ch on Pexels.com

The last post that I fully drafted and shared on Intentegy was on February 28th. That was 110 days ago. So for almost a third of this year, I have not shared my Intentergy on this site. (YIKES!)

That’s okay because it’s never healthy to pour from an empty cup.

Each day life has a way of filling us up and draining all we have in one foul swoop. My days, while not all foul, definitely took a lot out of me.

This spring I witnessed, worked through, and experienced many powerful things and survived a number of challenges. Through all of the moments, minutes, hours, and weeks of existing, I continued to gather inspiration for writing, but failed to scrape together time to write.

For my absence I apologize. What I won’t apologize for is saying “No” to writing during this time. My cup was just too empty to eek out a weak post. As a reader, your time is too valuable for me to do that. Continue reading “Pouring From an Empty Cup…” →

You Can’t Beat Those Guys – Wise Words Wednesday

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Cant beat em

“It’s hard to beat the person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth

You seriously can’t beat someone who never gives up.

It’s that whole “never” thing.

If “never” happens, they “never” record a loss.

Babe Ruth learned a lot about losing things early in life as he faced poverty, being an orphan, and loneliness. In his adulthood, he was successful because he refused to give into the expectations of others. He sought only to follow his own dreams. Of course, he had weaknesses and made mistakes, but Babe Ruth has never been known as someone who caved easily. And that is why his legacy has never dimmed in the realm of baseball.

What about you?

Can you say you are undefeated?

Can you say that you have stuck to your guns?

Can you say that there is any one aspect where you stuck to your “never”? Continue reading “You Can’t Beat Those Guys – Wise Words Wednesday” →

The Power of Silence – Wise Words Wednesday

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unresponsive

The Silent Treatment can be one of the most painful treatments known to man or woman. Nothing hurts more than when we do not receive a response after asking a question or requesting an answer.

Recently my son tried to tell me a joke (It was actually like 300 hundred jokes and by joke 301 I was done.) After politely telling him I was tired of “laughing so much” and that I needed some quiet time, the jokes kept coming.

I would also like to interject that they were the jokes of a 5-year-old and revolved mostly around farts, butts, and “dummy heads.” So instead of replying to his 301st joke, I ignored him and focused solely on driving home, while he drove me crazy.

Well, this did not stop his attempts. In fact, it made him shout the desperate and increasingly unfunny jokes. With no response from me, anger took over his humor and he began kicking my seat. There was clearly nothing funny about this show on the road.

We were almost home when the kicking started. As soon as we hit the driveway, I put the car in park. I turned around and asked my now-fuming 5-year-old, “Why are you kicking my seat?”

“You didn’t listen to my jokes,” was his angry answer.

“I listened to your jokes for the last 45 minutes. You didn’t listen to me when I asked for some quiet time. What gives you the right to kick my seat?”

“You didn’t listen to my jokes,” he repeated, losing steam.

“I listened to each and every one of them. You didn’t give me a choice not to. Now I am asking you to make the choice to stop kicking my seat and give the jokes a rest,” I snipped back at him.

“But you didn’t say anything when I told you jokes,” he whined.

“I was giving you the silent treatment so I could have some silence,” I explained.

“You’re mean, Mommy,” was all he said in reply.

Silence followed (for about 1 minute). Continue reading “The Power of Silence – Wise Words Wednesday” →

You Can’t Rush Peace

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wp-1536515914136.jpg

You just can’t rush peace. Clearly mankind has not found the means for bringing serenity to the world in the millions of years that we have inhabited it, so why should we expect peace to come quickly and quietly into our daily lives?

As I sat down to write this post, all three children stormed into the office after me. One wanted to talk about a homework assignment. The second wanted to watch baseball. The third wanted his second supper for the night. (I literally JUST finished cleaning up the first supper, where he ate three helpings.) All three kiddos laid guilt trips on me because I had gotten home late and went straight into making the first supper. This post clearly wasn’t going to get written without a fight. Continue reading “You Can’t Rush Peace” →

Burning Calories by Walking Away

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Burning Calories

“Burn calories by walking away from anything that causes you severe mental distress.”

There wasn’t any real story behind choosing this quote. It just felt like a great quote to share for today.

As I bask in the afterglow of my 39th birthday, I can only rejoice in knowing that I am alive and I can chose to walk away from those times and people who stress me out.

You can too.

“Burn calories by walking away from anything that causes you severe mental distress.”

By: Melanie A. Peters

P.S. I am pretty sure this is one exercise routine that doesn’t require doctor permission.

When Life Gives You Bananas…

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We all know the adage, “When life give you lemons, make lemonade.” What about when life gives you bananas?

Recently my mom came into a pile of bananas. Literally, there was a pile of bananas at her work that were just going to be thrown out because they were overripe. Not wanting to let good bananas go to waste, Mom politely asked if she could have them. Her manager said, “Yes, my wife will kill me if I bring home another box of brown bananas.”

When she got home Mom set to work putting the soft, but still yummy, bananas to good use. She baked a banana cake, banana bread, and banana muffins. She still had a few of the aged fruits left over; she will surely come up with a clever way to use them. (Fertilizer for her rose bushes, maybe?)

Bananas (3)Saturday night, Mom and Dad joined us for dinner. She brought the banana cake. It was awesome! (In fact I had one of the last pieces this morning with my coffee. A terrific way to start a Monday morning.) She plans to share her banana muffins with her co-workers at school. I am sure the banana bread has a generous future too.

What do you do when life gives you bananas?

Do you toss them out? Do you let the fruit rotten? Do you make them into something that is still enjoyable? Do you fertilize your flowers? Continue reading “When Life Gives You Bananas…” →

Sometimes the Answer is “No.”

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Sometimes the Answer is No

Monday the electric company cut down our pear tree.

It was not just any pear tree.

My babies and my nieces and nephews all ate canned pears from that tree when they were too young to eat the fresh pears. It was our safe spot in case of fire or evacuation when we lived in the old farm house. Countless pears from that tree were given as gifts to friends and neighbors. For 6 six years, Peters’ Pears were delivered for Letter “P” Show-and-Share Day at Miss Kim’s daycare. That tree was the first place we let our kids go to “alone” after we built our new house. (It is just up the driveway, but far enough away to feel like freedom.) When my children came home after a stressful day at school, I would often let them take a break to pick pears and de-stress as they ate the fresh fruit and walked the distance to and from that fruit-filled tree. Watching deer eat the fallen pears was always a fun pastime.

The only downfall to that tree was it stood 13 feet from the power line and the required distance was 15 feet. Even though it has never grown (and probably would never grow) tall enough to touch the lines, those two feet cost us our tree. Continue reading “Sometimes the Answer is “No.”” →