Self-improvement

Silver and Gold

Jeanna G3 Comments

Make new friends, but keep the old. And the same goes for yourself: love yourself now, but don’t forget to give props to the O.G.

I had actually started a letter to my younger self about a year ago, but got distracted while adulting. In this season of gratitude, I was reminded that it’s important to follow through on those thank you notes. Henceforth, I will catch up on some overdue correspondence with myself, both the silver and gold versions.

I find inspiration in the quote from Lalah Delia, “She remembered who she was, and the game changed.”

Dear future self,

Be grateful for the childhood you had, for the foundation that your life was built upon. You will be hit with hard times, but you will already have everything in you that you will need to get through.

Dear Little Jeannie,

Thank you for being someone I want to return to. Thank you for your light and your strong sense of self, because that makes finding you easier, and I want to be like you again. Thanks for not giving up when times got tough.

Dear future self,

Promise me this: now that you’ve made all the mistakes, you won’t make them again.

Dear Little Jeannie,

No promises, but I’m sorry I got lost and thought I needed to be someone different. You were right.

Dear future self,

It wasn’t your fault.

Dear Little Jeannie,

It wasn’t your fault either.

Dear future self,

Life is short. Play more. Don’t forget how much you love to do things. Don’t forget, when you get confused, just listen to the music play. And don’t forget that God knows you, and still loves you. Oh and hey…don’t stop believin’.

Dear Little Jeannie,

Thank you for your optimism, your playfulness, your curiosity and imagination. Your idea that life is a game, and that you’re going to win, has helped the journey to be entertaining, challenging, and worth continuing.

Dear future self,

Continue to be an altruist, and remember to help those who need it most.

Dear Little Jeannie,

You’ve got so much love.

Dear future self,

Don’t forget to save some of that love for yourself.

Dear Little Jeannie,

You’re so smart.

Dear future self,

You’re right.

The Days of Our Lives

Jeanna G1 Comment

I read today that John Aniston recently passed away. He played Victor Kiriakis on NBC’s Days of Our Lives for a very long time. This news flashed memories from childhood across my mental screen. My grandma started watching the show when it first aired back in 1965. She was a housewife, and everyday she took an hour off from the cooking and cleaning and child-rearing to enjoy her program. When I was in Kindergarten, my mom ran a daycare out of our house. I attended the morning program at school, so I was getting home as she was putting all of her charges down for a nap. This was also right on time to lie on the couch with my mom while she watched the same soap opera.

Both my grandma and mom worked their tails off, and they deserved much more than an hour-long break everyday. I work a full-time job outside of the home, so I don’t get to follow in my matriarch’s footsteps and watch tv daily from 1-2pm, but I deserve a break, nonetheless.

I heard a devotion the other day that really struck a chord with me. It was about the sacredness of the mundane (I apologize I do not know the title or author of the devotion). We can practice this by slowing down, and in those moments we have an opportunity to “discover a spark of joy,” even in activities that we do as routine or out of necessity, and not necessarily out of spontaneity or want.

Every day I’m rushing around and thinking about what’s next, instead of being present. My grandma and mom were wise women to know they needed to stop and take a break every day, for themselves. Sometimes we need to escape in order to be more present. And the author of the devotion is right about slowing down, because we all know that, “Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.”

Turn the Other Cheek

Jeanna GLeave a comment

Jesus slapped me in the face today. Literally. 

A few years ago, my church passed out a cartoon cut-out of Jesus to all of the children in Sunday School. The teachers told the children to take Flat Jesus wherever they went that summer, and to have their parents take pictures and send them back to the church. We followed the directions, but at the end of the summer we left Jesus in the car. Flat Jesus has been riding around with us ever since. Today, on my ride home from work in the 100° heat, I decided to roll down all of the windows. A big truck drove past me on the highway creating a gust of wind that resurrected Flat Jesus from His resting place. He flew to the front of the car and slapped me across the face. I was stunned, to say the least. I was even more stunned when I picked up the paper from my lap and realized what, or rather who, had slapped me. It’s not every day you get slapped in the face by Jesus.

Flat Jesus

But it got me thinking about what that slap from Jesus might mean. What is He trying to tell me? Is there something I’m supposed to change? My daughter, being as intelligent as only a pre-pubescent, clear-minded child could be, asked me in return, “Why don’t you just ask him?“ Being the old, post-pubescent, cloudy-minded adult that I am, admitted that I wasn’t so sure I actually wanted to know.

In the meantime, I’ll continue practicing the motto of clean living, dirty thinking. Hahaha, no no no. What I mean to say is, “Cheers to the pirates. May we be more like them.” Oh Lord, maybe I should just turn the other cheek.