Tag Archives: challenges

When We Long For A Life Without Difficulties

“When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.”  -Unknown Diamonds are made under pressure…  which is really to say – no pressure, no diamonds.  No Diamonds??!!  Frankly just typing the words “no diamonds” makes me break into a cold sweat… A […]

Why Me?

I started reading through things I’d written in past years Aprils to try and remind myself of what my Aprils used to be like before this pandemic. Ironically, the first thing I flipped to was an article I’d written back in April of 2013 that was published in Forbes, and when you read what I’d […]

You Can Keep Going Long After You Think You Can’t

“You can keep going long after you think you can’t.” – Roger Knapp If I’ve learned anything the last few weeks it’s that this quote is true – you really can keep going long after you think you can’t.  There have been several times the last few weeks when I’ve been so tired from the […]

Don’t Lose Faith In Who You Are

“Don’t lose faith. Promise yourself that you will be a success story, and I promise you that all the forces of the universe will unite to come to your aid; you might not feel today or for a while, but the longer you wait the bigger the prize.”   – George Bernard Shaw I love that […]

Turning Weakness Into Strength

We were all born with our own unique challenges. Some physical, some mental, some circumstantial. Some all of the above.  But those challenges we were born with were never meant to hold us back, in fact, they were meant to help us become strong in the areas we would most need to be in order […]

My Favorite Thanksgiving Tradition

I grew up in a big family. My parents have ten children and nine of the ten are married currently and all ten of the children have children of their own, and some of those children have children of their own. In fact at present my parents have a total of 70 something children and […]

You are more than enough. You. Are. Amazing.

The following article was written about Mom’s but the truth is that we have all been there before, both Moms and Dads. We’ve all had those moments when we feel we aren’t good enough to handle everything life is throwing at us as parents. But this article reminds us that we actually are: “To the […]

If your future self could speak to you…

I have been out in Washington DC for the last few days and I was reminded of how beautiful Virginia is.  I lived in Vienna, Virginia when I was a teenager in High School and during this visit I was able to drive past the house I used to live in while I was there […]

Don’t stop dreaming just because you had a nightmare

“Don’t stop dreaming just because you had a nightmare.” Some days I come across a quote like that one and instantly know it’s what I need to write about in that day’s blog, and for whatever reason when I saw that one I knew it had to share it… We all go through our own […]

It’s A Roadblock, Not A Dead End

Nothing is more discouraging then when you are literally working your guts out to make something happen and you suddenly get a wrench thrown in your works. Having something unexpected trip you up can feel in the moment like you’ve hit a dead end. Especially if you are physically worn out and emotionally spent from […]

10 Tips To Help Get You Through The Hard Times

None of us are immune from having hard times in our lives. We all struggle with one thing or another. Whether its illness, or loss of a loved one, or financial difficulty, or heartbreak, or job loss, or feelings of inadequacy…everyone struggles…  Over the past few weeks I have had several close friends dealing with […]

How To Achieve More Than The American Dream (Forbes Article)

“The essence of America – that which really unites us – is not ethnicity, or nationality, or religion – it is an idea – and what an idea it is: That you can come from humble circumstances and do great things.” – Condoleeza Rice The American Dream Awards is an event put on by the […]

The things we CAN do for others and the things we CANNOT do

One of the most difficult challenges a person can ever take on is the task of being a Parent. Being a parent is intimidating, it is heart wrenching, and some days it is downright terrifying. You do your best to teach your kids everything even though you are still learning yourself, you do your best […]

You’re Better Than You Think You Are (Forbes Article)

We’ve all experienced times where we’ve had a false sense of security, but we’ve also experienced times were we’ve had a false sense of insecurity…in ourselves. Too often we are our own worst critics. When circumstances of life don’t go the way we hoped for, we often allow them to make us think less of […]

Things happen around us, but it’s what happens within us that matters most

My daughter-in-law came across a story I hadn’t heard before. When I first saw the title of the story I almost didn’t read it because I couldn’t imagine how a story with that title would be interesting, but I am really glad I decided to keep reading because the message it conveys is just plain […]

Determination, Work, and A Whole Lot of Courage

As those of you who follow my blog know, I try to write each day about something I learned during each day I am writing. So being that it is Super Bowl Sunday, I decided to write a lesson that comes to mind as I am sitting watching the game with my family (okay let’s […]

To Succeed in Life, You Need Two Things: Ignorance and Confidence

“To succeed in life, you need two things:  Ignorance and Confidence.” – Mark Twain When I read this quote I couldn’t help but laugh because so much of my life I lived by those two things – ignorance in that I always underestimated just how hard I would have to work to pull off the […]

Look at it from a different perspective

Over the weekend I thought quite a bit about gratitude and our ability to completely change our thinking and perspective of situations that would be easy to be upset about or frustrated about to instead see a situation where there is something to feel truly grateful for.  I realize that as easy as it sounds for me to say […]

Express and Live A Life of Gratitude

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” – William Arthur Ward Tonight I have been thinking a lot about Gratitude. My life has been a huge whirlwind the last several months. Some things I have experienced have been amazing and some things I have experienced have been […]

Life’s Tug of War

Life’s Tug Of War  Life can seem ungrateful and not always kind. Life can pull at your heartstrings and play with your mind. Life can be blissful and happy and free. Life can put beauty in the things that you see. Life can place challenges right at your feet. Life can make good of the […]

Don’t Give Up On Your Goals Because of One Setback

“Giving up on your goal because of one setback is like slashing your other three tires because you got one flat.” -unknown I absolutely LOVE that quote! I love the visual image it paints for us to help us recognize how dumb it is to give up on our goals just because of one little […]

There is Something Inside You that is Greater than Any Obstacle

“Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.”  – Christian Larson I cannot tell you how much I love that quote. It is especially helpful at times when you are facing a current obstacle in your life because those are the times […]

True Friends

“Good friends care for each other…close friends understand each other, but TRUE FRIENDS stay forever…beyond words, beyond distance, beyond time…!” Many of us have friends in our lives over the years. Some friends we make as children and then lose contact as we grow older. Other friends we make as adults and stay in touch […]

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”

Tomorrow early morning we send our daughter off to go and serve a voluntary 18 month long mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  For the next 18 months she will be sacrificing time away from her family, home, friends, cell phones, Facebook, Instagram, college, vacations, trips to Lake Powell, movies, etc […]

“Everybody deserves somebody who makes them look forward to tomorrow.”

Back when I was single someone shared this quote with me: “Don’t marry a man unless you would be proud to have a son exactly like him.” That really made me rethink the men I was dating in my life. I hadn’t thought of them in that light before. Would I be proud to have […]

No Pressure, No Diamonds

No Pressure, No Diamonds…and let’s just be frank…life without Diamonds would be Un-Imaginable!  Just typing the words “no diamonds” makes me break into a cold sweat….it’s like typing the words “no happiness”…(tee hee)… Yes I admit, I love diamonds. And I don’t just kind of love them…I am head over heels in love with them!  […]

You Can’t Start the Next Chapter of your Life if You Keep Re-Reading the Last One

Moving Forward. That is a concept I have been taught since I was young.  Whenever I went to my father or my Grandfather for advice in life they would always tell me, “Just keep moving forward.” It was the solution to almost every problem I would take to them, and over time I began to […]

The Most Beautiful People

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not […]

“Great things are done when men and mountains meet.”

I love that quote by William Blake, although I change it to read “where women and mountains meet” for the version on my wall :).  Today I want to talk about overcoming obstacles, mostly to help remind me of how I need to always take on the obstacles in my own life. One of the […]

You were given this life, so LIVE IT WELL!

“You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it.”  That quote has helped me many times in my life.  Especially during difficult or stressful times when I feel overwhelmed or incapable of handing a situation I am given.  We have all heard the phrase that “God doesn’t give us more than […]