Fair

...and I don't mean the kind with rides and farm animals. I mean being fair. Yes, yes I know no one ever said that life is fair. Believe me I have seen my "fair" share of the inequities in life.

Not too long ago I bought a book called "Stand Out". After reading the book, there was a "test" you could take to show you what your strengths were primarily in a business setting. I wasn't too shocked to find that I was very heavily invested in "fairness", "fair play" and in asserting myself into situations where I felt things just weren't fair. I guess it helps some to know this is part of my nature, now I need to figure out how I change that about myself I'm thinking.

I've always thought if I do the right thing, others will also do the right thing. But, maybe that right thing is only my perception - who can say? Who can know?

My inherent nature is to please, to give, to do and to make people happy and feel valued and validated. To give more than is asked, often before it is asked and I am constantly amazed when my efforts are under-appreciated. And that is a failing inside me. Just because I value them does not mean they have to value me. I go rocking along through life and when something heads south I am completely undone by the event and associated fall out. And then, because I am human and subject to all those little human failings and petty thoughts I start to load up the scale. And in my mind...they also tip in my favor. But do they really?

After all, no one asked me to do everything I've done. No one expected me to provide a little surprise now and then in life. No one would have faulted me (probably) if I'd just stood on the sidelines and watched the game play out. And yet.....there I was....on the field with a big target on my back under my player name "Pleaser" taking it on the chin. Again and again. And, in my mind...when I looked around....all the things I thought I was playing for had wound up being my competition instead of my defensive line.

I would like to think at this point in life, I can learn. However, I've come to know that the only thing I am truly guilty of is caring and often caring too much. And I'm not so sure I want to learn differently. Do I really want to be like other people who just don't care what happens? That any means justifies the end result which will probably be good for them but accomplished at the expense of others?

I grew up in a community where your word was your bond. A friendship was a cherished and protected relationship. Deals were made with a handshake. Slights were quickly forgiven, enemies could become friends with a good sit down face to face talk, and when there was trouble - you looked around and found people you never expected to see standing, not just behind you but shoulder to shoulder with you propping you up and pushing you forward. And usually you found that one person you knew would be there, ahead of you - plowing the row to make your journey easier and to put themselves between you and the harm that might come next. And everyone involved was earnestly entreating God to guide their steps, protect their path and bring them through to the conclusion He thought best. And, praying for those on the other side just as fervently as they prayed for themselves.

And people, even people close to me, don't understand why I am so often homesick. It is because when my chips have been cashed, it is those people who swiftly join the handful of people present in my life now that I know I can count on. My home is built around the people I know I can count on and the ones I know have my best interests at heart. And my little home is crowded, lucky me.

So...one thing I WILL do is be extra careful who I invite into my "home" as a guest because we will all care about them and when they hurt one of us, they will hurt us all. And, I refuse to have my cherished people harmed by someone whose only idea of "fair" is what is good for them with no regard for the collective pain caused by their actions. But....I know I will also always CARE. And only you will be able to tell me if that is a strength or a failing within me.

Besame Mucho

A friend of mine asked me if I would be willing to do a product review for her on an anti-aging lip product called Theraderm Anti-Aging Lip Complex. Hello......anti-aging?, more kissable lips?, I.THINK.SO.

The product arrived today so this is my initial review and reaction. This product smells FANTASTIC!! I couldn't wait to get it on my lips....so I started my test drive right in the post office parking lot. When I arrived home, my husband said "what smells so good?" well, honey, that would be me and my increasingly kissable lips!

I can tell already this is going to beat the socks off of any other lip balm I've come in contact with so I can't wait to really get into this product and see what it does for this old gal's pucker.

Stay tuned......for Puckerupdates! But if you can't wait to try it yourself, message me and I'll hook you up with a connection.

Lesson From a Goose

Today I saw a lone goose winging through the sky....flyin' low - honking like crazy. I wonder.....is lone goose lost? Has goose stayed too long at the fair, slept through the alarm, thought he was smarter than all the other geese? Or was his GPS system simply on the fritz?
As we know, my mind is a strange, vast and multi-colored weird little country. And, because of all my skewed way of viewing the world around me, I started to think how much like the goose I am.
Sometimes my GPS is all out of whack. But, not my GLOBAL positioning system, my GODLY positioning system. I forget that my hand is not on the rudder, I am merely holding down a seat and sometimes looking frantically around for the life jacket I'm SURE I'm going to need. Oh and then there are the times I am clutching a bucket ready to "bail" at the slightly provocation.
I am so keyed up, tensed up, worried and stressed that I eventually just black out. And when I wake up, the seas have calmed, there's no water in the boat and I am still not in charge. And even though I can see the choppy seas ahead, the rocks along the shore and the storm clouds building on the horizon - there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. Left to my own GPS I will fly into the storm, allow myself to be buffeted by the waves or.... worse - crash my frail little craft on the rocks.
Hopefully, I can learn that I don't need to constantly be unconscious for the calming - I would really love to be fully aware when the miraculous and marvelous work of the Great Harbor Master is in progress.
And....isn't God amazing?! Just as I was about to finish this.......I received news that took a huge burden from my shoulders. Never, ever, ever, never underestimate the power of praying with like minded people and a daily devotional.

Deceit

For some reason - this just jumped out at me today while working a crossword puzzle. Interesting...........

Deceit — 1. act of representing as true what is known to be false; lying. 2. lie; dishonest action. 3. being deceitful. Syn. deceive implies deliberate misrepresentation of facts by words, actions, etc., to further one’s ends; mislead is to cause to follow the wrong course or to err in conduct or action; beguile implies use of wiles and enticing prospects in deceiving or misleading; delude is to fool someone so completely that false is accepted as true; betray implies a breaking of faith yet appear to be loyal. ~~Webster’s New World Dictionary, Collegiate Edition, ©1962

Which Way Did They Go?

Where did they go? Those pitchmen of the past? You know Speedy Alka Seltzer, the Frito Bandito, the Hamm's Beer Bear and associated drumming, the Ipana toothpaste beaver and little Mikey? Granted some of these characters may still be around in a newer and modernized form, but I miss the old ones.

That Hamm's Beer commercial could bring me running to watch the woodland creatures and sing along...."from the land of sky blue waters....." - maybe that's why they are no more. They sure made Hamm's beer seem awfully attractive.

And I confess to a mild addiction to Alka-Seltzer as a young child. We couldn't afford Fizzies but mom always had Alka-Seltzer tucked away in the medicine cabinet.

I'm sure the Frito Bandio must have offended a rapidly growing culture, but I would have run away with him in a second. **shut up Judy...I know what you are thinking**

Those sparkling little "toofers" on Bucky Beaver made me want to brush in the hopes that little **ping** of sparkle would show up on my enamel as well.

And...of course...I realize little Mikey had to grow up - but I'd be willing to bet Big Mikey will still eat anything, hopefully he is currently gainfully employed by Pillsbury.

I grew up too and even though he is not still around, I've never forgotten the Italian Swiss Colony little old winemaker. His could have been the product I most enjoy endorsing today. That and Yo Quiero Taco Bell.