September 12th marks the day that is annually dedicated to uplifting people around us and making a positive impact. Yes! We can all do this. Encouragement is FREE! Let’s give some away!!!
President George W. Bush signed the documents making September 12th the official National Day of Encouragement, a fitting follow-up to the horrors of September 11, 2001. Everyone needs encouragement and not just after suffering great loss and destruction.
When I published my 2019 book Encouragement: How to Be and Find the Best, it was because I truly want people to be able to live with as much contagious enthusiasm as possible. (It remains my favorite piece to share with others, whether in paperback, digital, or audiobook form.)
Personally, I have been blessed with encouragement and surrounded by many wonderful Encouragers during my life. I like to remember that this taught me a great many wonderful and practical life lessons, many of which I share through my social media articles and on my GoodLiving123.com website.
I suggested my book could be enjoyed for amusement or personal growth or to help someone else who may need encouragement, perhaps desperately. I also thought it might be read to simply polish up some good living skills that may have become a bit rusty.
We do get rusty. We forget to ask how someone else is faring. Or we overlook some indicator that a personal struggle is underway. Sometimes sharing a hug or a few positive words can help someone know that they can make it… they can get through one more hour… one more day.
Whatever your personal style may be, try to give someone else a boost… today and every day. Recognize the Encouragers in your midst and draw the closer. Remember the solidarity in a stack of pencils versus one pencil. We can easily snap a single pencil in half. With a bunch of pencils, fragility vanishes. Encouragers build our strength in much the same way. Every word of encouragement adds another pencil to our arsenal.
Then there are the Discouragers.
These folks seem focused on being the nay-sayers. They “know” all the reasons something can’t be done, why we do not have a chance, why our plan will ultimately fail. They assuredly stack the odds and facts against us. They diminish our confidence.
With every word and look of discouragement, they take pencils away from our stack. They make us more fragile. They add rust to our hearts and minds. None of us needs more rust.
What is most frustrating about a Discourager? They often tend to erroneously think they are Encouragers. They frequently try to correct us and tell us why we should do things their way.
Life is not always easy. It comes packed with ups and downs, turmoil, and challenges. When we are better prepared, we can meet/face the woes with greater grace, courage, and terrific tools to overcome.
We can rediscover the natural confidence, self-esteem, and poise with which we were born. We can achieve greater goals; we can genuinely feel better about ourselves, our lives, and our futures. And perhaps, most importantly, we can take other people along with us to find or rediscover their own “happy place,” their greater success, their ability to positively blossom.
Does all this truly matter? I believe it does, and in an enormous way, if we want to lead happier, more fulfilling lives.
We can all overcome discouragements. We all deserve encouragement.
We all know Encouragers. We all know Discouragers.
We can all grow to be more encouraged and more encouraging. We can all learn to avoid, dismiss, or deal with discouragement and Discouragers.
If you’ve ever faced a time when your choices, your path, your circumstances, or your life felt chaotic, out of control, pointless, or even hopeless, get ready now to find the tools you can use to not feel so low again. We can’t always control our circumstances. Life can hit us in some devastating ways.
But we can do better. We can feel better. We can bounce back more quickly. We can grow in strength and ability. We can become the people we were meant to be.
Too many people struggle with discouragement. They need a little encouragement… perhaps just a few sincerely, thoughtful words. They need a little shot of confidence. A boost. We can all help.
We need stay rusty no more. We can bounce back more quickly. We can grow in strength and ability. We can be happier… more fulfilled… thriving… empowered.
Bust some rust today!!!
Yes, this is a real holiday. It was initially proposed back in the 1950s and finally became a federal holiday by proclamation signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1978. Celebrated on the first Sunday after Labor Day each year, there is no need to send cards. Just share the love… the love of people for people… family for family… and Grandparents can also share it with the children of their children.
“Expect to have hope rekindled. Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways. The dry seasons in life do not last. The spring rains will come again.”
Pick a book… any book! Serious nonfiction or comic book, romance novel or mystery thriller… your choice.
“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win.”
“When hope is taken away from a people, moral degeneration follows swiftly thereafter.”
One legend says that this cheesy dish was first developed by Welsh peasants seeking a substitute for expensive meat. There are records of the dish in Wales dating back to the 1500s under the name “caws pobi,” meaning toasted cheese in Welsh. Likely it was a staple throughout Britain, and it remains popular in British pubs.
Quiet Thunder Publishing releases Book 2 in the Destiny Trilogy in just 2 months!! The paperback edition of Destiny of Determination: Faith and Family will sell for $15.99 and the digital edition for $5.99. But Amazon is offering a pre-sale on the digital edition for just $3.99. Anyone who orders one prior to November 2nd gets the discounted price as the book is released that day.
Two hundred and seventy years ago today… on September 1, 1752, the Liberty Bell arrived in Philadelphia. Ordered from the Whitechapel Foundry in London, it was originally the bell for the Pennsylvania State House, which is now called Independence Hall.
Ah, yes! When life hands you lemons, make lemonade! I love citrus fruit, including lemons, so lemonade is a fave beverage. And yet, it must be true lemon juice, and not the sugary substitutes. Same goes when making anything from chicken piccata to lemon meringue pie.
When one of us shares that a beloved 4-legged family member has crossed the Rainbow Bridge, each of us who has been loved by a special critter feels the pang of pain and loss. Whether your loss happened years ago or today… whether it has happened to you once or many times… they do leave paw prints on our hearts that time cannot diminish, never mind erase.
If something wonderful is starting or happening in your life, bravo!!!! Relish the time… the sharing… the marvelous memories you are making. On the other hand, if something not-so-wonderful is happening… or something wonderful has ended, please do not lose hope. Your heart may be broken into thousands of pieces. You may be living in a manner that makes you feel utterly off balance. Your world may even feel totally shattered.
Each year, this day pays tribute to the most well-known eruption of one of history’s deadliest volcanoes, Mount Vesuvius, still active today. From August 24-25, 79 AD, the mountain violently spewed 1.5 million tons per second of molten rock and hot ash, obliterating the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and a couple of other surrounding villages in the Italian region of Campania just southeast of Naples. The event released 100,000 times the thermal energy of the atomic bombing tremors were common throughout the region, but the warnings of small earthquakes preceding the massive eruption had not been recognized.
Herculaneum, an ancient city of Greek origin, sat just 5 miles from the western base of Vesuvius, and the then luxurious seaside town was buried under 75 feet of molten lava. Centuries later the Naples suburb town of Ercolano (now with a population of 50,000) was unknowingly built on top of Herculaneum, the location of which had long been forgotten. That is until it was discovered by accident in the 18th century during the digging of a well. The first wall that was discovered turned out to be part of the stage of the Herculaneum theatre.
“In matters of principle, stand like a rock; in matters of taste, swim with the current.”
I am in the demographic group known as the Baby Boomers. We are those born between the end of World War II (1946) and 1964. Baby Boomers are known for “rejecting and redefining traditional values.” So true… I mean, the Flower Children live here. We took pride in being informed citizens and questioning government.
The classic film “Wizard of Oz” debuted in Hollywood, California on this date in 1939. It opened across the United States on August 25th. While she started as a fictional character in L. Frank Baum’s children’s novel, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” in 1900, it was actress Margaret Hamilton who breathed life into her in the film. Actress Gale Sondergaard was originally cast as the Wicked Witch of the West, but withdrew when the sly role turned sinister, the green glamour gown was replaced by black, and her skin would be green.
“Listening does not require agreement. Understanding does not necessitate compliance.”
This date was chosen as it commemorates the date on which Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in 1877. It’s funny how what’s old is new again. Vinyl records are back. After nearly vanishing in the early 1990s, vinyl records outsold CDs in 2020.
There are countless jokes told about every single U.S. President, but even Presidents can be funny, too.
Attention bibliophiles everywhere! Today has been proclaimed to be your special day!
I just finished reading a cute little book called “Outnumbered: How an Average Super Mom Raised Five Professional Athletes.” It was written by Diane Gronkowski, Rob’s mother. She shares a number of adventures and misadventures that occurred in the course of raising 5 rambunctious little boys who all grew up to become professional athletes… one in baseball and four in football. All 5 started out playing hockey. While the next to youngest, Gronk #87, is the most famous, it was delightful to hear his mother sing everyone’s praises. Personally, the fact that all five of her children played either MLB or in the NFL strikes me as downright remarkable, easily qualifying her for Super Mom status.
If you have a vegetable garden, you inevitably have faced the dilemma of what to do with the plethora of zucchini that hits right about now. I never before knew there was an official day to sneak zucchini onto your neighbor’s porch. Go figure. Just remember, they are apt to do the same thing. LOL. Many of us have been able to bless co-workers with an abundance of various freshly picked veggies. Plus, everyone has favorite recipes to share. From zoodles to stuffed zucchini boats, if you’re a fan, you’re a fan! I like this little gem that my notes showed I’d pulled from Mom’s recipe box on September 30, 2007. By then, of course, we’d already been enjoying these crispy beauties for a great many years.
I have been deeply blessed with one sister by birth, many sisters through the sisterhood of the ZTA sorority, and countless more through friendship. A sister sees the best and worst in us and loves us anyway. A sister is there for us when we need them… and even when we don’t know that we need them.
Dad loved root beer floats…. A&W or made at home. Scoop that rich, creamy vanilla ice cream into a tall glass. Pour in the bubbly root beer. Insert straw. Go crazy with happy flavors and fizziness!
“There can be no doubt that our Nation has had a long and unfortunate history of sex discrimination. Traditionally, such discrimination was rationalized by an attitude of “romantic paternalism” which, in practical effect, put women, not on a pedestal, but in a cage.”