Melody's Sofa

dream BIG dreams......especially when WINTER comes....

December 4, 2006
Goals that Matter

DREAM BIG DREAMS!

Life sure requires a lot of trust....a lot....just to get through the day...don't you think?

I think things can sneak up on you and put you into funks that you think you'll never be able to get out of....I KNOW that those funks can make you think that the best parts of your life are over....when, really, they are necessary.....and, not really funks at all......it's all so much like the winter-time DORMANCY of a tree.

This is a bit long....but I hope you'll read through it....and put it into the analogy of your own life....

I asked Cheryl Boyer....who is just about to be a doctor of horticulture...about dormancy.

I have always wondered about what happens in the winter when everything looks and seems dead....when everything is covered in sparkly frost, but not leaves....when it's easy to think that life has stopped.....when it's really not that at all.....think of this in terms of phases and stages in your OWN life...maybe you are in a winter, or in a dormant state RIGHT NOW....don't be discouraged...be EXCITED!

Cheryl....why is dormancy necessary and GOOD?
To your question: Dormancy is a period of rest and inactivity (weekends!—I always need the recharge). The tree is not dead; it's just awaiting spring. Dormancy is also survival.
First, it's important to note that not all trees go dormant. Evergreen trees choose to maintain their leaves throughout the cold winter which allows them to continue to make food (photosynthesize). They just don't add much growth.
Deciduous trees make a more costly choice. They drop all of that surface area used to make food and have to regenerate it all again in the spring. So much more to manufacture! During dormancy, the plant moves all of its stored energy underground to the roots (that's why you can get maple syrup in the spring—all the energy (sap) is moving back up into the tree to start leaf and bud production).
Both types of trees slow their growth during dormancy. They still continue to grow roots, respire (breathe) and take in water and nutrients, just at a much reduced rate.
Trees in fall are in a state of serious change and reorganization. They are storing up food and energy reserves which are needed for next spring's growth. Forcing new growth occupies the plant and delays the energy-storage process. If they do produce new growth late in the fall (an unusually warm period, for example) when the winter comes they are more prone to injury because the plant is expecting spring instead of a harsh winter. However, when the weather begins to warm for good and the days get longer in the spring, nothing can stop that flush of new growth!
All of this is triggered physiologically by simple things that affect us as well like day-length, height of the sun in the sky, temperature, and presence of water/nutrients.
Many plants actually have a cold/dormancy requirement to set fruit or flower the next year. They have to have that resting period in order to continue to live and reproduce.
Trees go through so many changes in a year, but each change makes it stronger and bigger and more alive than ever before. If it never experienced those changes its growth would eventually become stagnant and the plant would die. We need change, too. We may be sad to see the leaves go in the fall or a part of our life change, but excitement and joy is just around the corner when new growth comes in the spring.
Have I answered your question? Please let me know if you need clarification. I have a tendency to give more information than is needed when it comes to plants. Also, send me new questions if you have them—I am more than happy to help!
~Cheryl
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I love that....LOVE IT! Clears up so much for me....hope it does for you, too.

I have to admit that so much of me has been dormant....and really, it's been for the sake of survival. I have NEEDED to rest and revitalize and let myself grow.....

....but, there have been days when I thought that dormant meant "dead"....that because my leaves were falling off....and I was bare and cold....that my best days were over.....

NOPE.

It's just a natural part of life....seasons....essential, necessary, life-saving winters must come, we must go through a state of dormancy.

And, I have realized that this is the BEST time to dream....to make your BIGGEST plans for Spring....to look forward to being bigger, and stronger and more majestic than ever....to use that dormancy for what it is intended for.....and have the patience and faith to know that Spring is on it's way.....

......enjoy your winters.....have faith in what will come of them.

And....I hope I get a chance today to photograph and show you what I did this weekend....a big, huge DREAM BOARD.....photos, magazine clippings & sketches of my biggest dreams....so that I can look at them....I have done it MANY times before....and that kind of visualizational planning is the most effective vehicle to getting to where your heart is begging you to go that I have ever used.....it's a perfect DORMANCY activity....

A bunch of us got together over the weekend, kids and all....and made boards of what our heart is desiring...what our individual 'sweet spot' is calling out to us......it was a beautiful sight to see what each individual put on their dream board......because just like every different kind of seed has a different blueprint for what it is to grow into.....every one of us has different kinds of things calling to us....each of us will look different when spring comes...we'll have different blossoms and different shapes and a different kind of growing season.....

...and, that's just as it should be. It's beautiful, really....what a boring world it would be if we were all the same....if the world was covered in maple trees only......

Make the most of it....how you spend your winter is your choice!
Dream BIG dreams....

Lots of Love,
Melody

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes..........

October 23, 2006

Goals That Matter......

Yep.

Today is totally surreal.....and someday, someday, SOMEDAY......I get to tell you where I am and what I am doing on this day. BUt, really, it doesn't matter so much where I am and what I am doing as it matters what it means....what it means about life and what it means about possibilities....what it means about JUST DOING IT....what it means about GOING FOR IT, no matter what.....

I have been working for a very long time to get to this day...I mean...years and years and years.....something that I believe in and wish for so much....a HUGE dream that I've had, one that has materialized and focused and became more and more and more clear the steeper the hill got.....and, most of it may seem insignificant to others, but to me, it's so much of what is in my heart, and all of the work that I have sacrificed so much for...and so many people have shown up from out of nowhere....and then, ONE DAY....it just sort of happened....all the work started coming together, and things just started to make sense....and here I am, on this day.

Life requires so much patience....living your dreams, shooting for things that seem impossible...it all requires so much patience....it seems like you get tested and tested and tested....like every single force out there is asking you "are you sure this is what you want?" "are you sure you believe in this enough to climb to the top of a mountain to make it happen?"..........and, I am so thankful that somewhere, somehow, I've always tried every single thing I can think of to muster up the courage to say "YES!" because yes is what I mean....but yes is also very very scary sometimes....because saying yes to life's big questions isn't just an answer, it's a commitment....you are committing to a whole different way of doing things....a whole different way of living....because when you say yes to yes....you absolutely positively have to say no to no......you have to run straight towards every NO and disintegrate it.....when you know that YES is the right answer for you, you just have to follow that, lead that, run toward that....and CONStANTLY say no to every single NO that comes along.....and, that's maybe even a harder part of it all than saying the intial YES.

There is something big right now for all of us...I KNOW that is true...I know that God plants little seeds in all of us that are custom designed to fit our particular set of talents and personality traits and circumstances.....and, nurturing that seed, watering it, growing it....WEEDING the yucky weeds that try to choke it out....it's all so important...it's important to say YES to that seed of hope and ideas and influence....the world needs EVERY single one of us to go out and do the things that we were sent here to do...and not ONE of those things is small....if you can help one other person, it is worth it....the world would be healed if we all just went out every day and helped ONE person....but, most of us have the ability to multiply that by the hundreds....and, the best and most lasting kind of happiness and joy and fulfillment in life doesn't come from "stuff" or titles or whatever....it comes from making a difference in the world...smiling at someone who is having a bad day, calling your sister to see how she's doing, encouraging your kids, writing YOURSELF a love letter.....just making things better, one thing, one person at a time......it's so easy and so important.....

and....dreaming.

DREAM.

DREAM BIG...AS BIG AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN!!!!
And, in my experience, someday, when you least expect it.....if you've been very faithful to nurturing that dream....no matter what the external conditions, it will BLOSSOM....and none of us have ANY idea how beautiful that has the power to be in our lives.....

Dream Big.

Talk to you soon,

Lots of Love....
Melody

p.s. no matter how your heart is grieving...if you keep on believing.....the dreams that you wish will come true.....................................

Off I GO........................

Memory Trends, HERE I COME!

Cowboy boots....check.
Appointment list....check.
Saved-up cash for Sephora.....check.
Spray-on tan....check.
Ready to show our INCREDIBLE NEW PRODUCT RELEASES....check.
MONDAY GOAL to catch up on emails at the airport and on the plane......check.

My favorite thing? Our new corduroy albums that we are debuting......they are simply stunning and I'll be putting all of my photos in them......AND.......an incredible kit that has everything in it to make a beautiful, entire album in less than 2 hours........can't wait to show the world.....it's good stuff.....

So....off I go....yeeeeeeha! VIVA LAS VEGAS!!!

Ok....wanted to share something really cool with you....go to itunes.com (the music store) click on free podcasts....then search for Morning Stories.....it's just a bunch of people telling a story from their life....scrapbooking via podcast....I love it, and IT'S FREE!!! .....go check it out!

TALK TO YOU ALL SOON!!!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHELSEA!!!
mel

Back in the Saddle....again.....

September 25, 2006
Goals That Matter

Back in the Saddle...again.....
So, I’m back on the wagon…back in the saddle……trying out spinning….I have been not so good lately about exercising and eating right, after that whole big long speech I gave about the importance of exercising and eating right and about how FOR SURE I am definitely in a lifelong habit of it……never to turn away……….HA!!!

1 year ago I was in the best shape of my life…remember that photo I posted….ugh….that was hard work……then, I got tired and I went on a trip and the food in Africa was so good….and I didn’t get up every day and exercise there, either…and guess what? I GOT OUT OF THE HABIT!!! Caaaaan youuuuu belieeeeeve thaaaaat???? HOW EMBARRASSING!! I am so totally mad at myself because I am pretty sure I’ve gained more than 10 pounds on the last few months…..but, I am back on the wagon….and working hard again…..

And….I did spinning for the second time today and it is SO HARD. It is a new thing for me and it makes me feel like I have never worked out in my entire life….I am a total dork on that bike…I am serious….I don’t have the right shoes and I have to squeeze my big sneakers into those plastic cage thingees, instead of having the cool shoes that clip into the pedal….and, I don’t have the right shorts so…well, you know……and, I was totally huffing and puffing even though I can run 4 miles….or do the stairmaster forever and still leave being able to breathe….it was hard and I was the newbee and it reminded me of when I first stepped into the gym 6 years ago and went to my first kickboxing class……

I think I was invented to be the girl who is here to make everyone else feel good about themselves….by that, I mean that when I was on the front row in kickboxing (where I really had to be so I could watch the instructor closely because I am so uncoordinated)…anyway, when I was on that front row….every girl in that class felt so good about herself because she could say…. “wow, at least I am not as bad at kickboxing as that girl in the front row!”

And…that is ok……..

That’s how I felt in spinning today, but I was there, and I finished a really long one hour class, then I did 100 sit ups and took on the day…..

…..another start-over, do-over, get-over-it and move on….and that’s what life is all about….what was your spinning class today???

….I bet you wondered why I wasn’t pushing you so hard on the fitness challenge, huh? You see, I am thinking that God humbles us whenever we think we are super-cool or super-good at something….and shows us….that we have to get back up every day and try try try…..that we are never ‘there’…..that it’s always a journey…..

…..so, here I go again. I want to get back into shape before Christmas….anyone with me? Again? Goals….we can do this.

Hope you’re having a great Monday….thanks for your friendship….and just for everything….I love you guys.
Melody

The Miracle That is Life....

August 28, 2006

Counting our Blessings
Success and Goals that Matter

Here I go again! I will do better at keeping up....

I am in Dallas, TX right now....got here late late late last night....it has been raining and a wonderful break from the dry dry dry heat at home......I have had meetings and then a lot of time working alone in my room.....after the month I have had it's been a nice change, and I have thorouhly enjoyed the time in my room while the rain beats on the window. I am very thankful for it.

....although I missed Max's first day of Kindergarten today and my heart is absolutely broken over it....Marq is doing well (THANK YOU for the prayers...they are working) and they (Marq and Max) called me this morning from the Kindergarten line that they were standing in outside of his classroom door....he was so happy and excited....and we'd gone in the day before I left to meet his teacher and see everything, so I knew he was ok with it all.....still....you can imagine what I am feeling now....sadness, jealousy, guilt.....all of the kids started school today except for Mitchy....and, he said this morning from home that he misses Max......oh life....life life life.....

....and, can you believe I have one who started TENTH GRADE today?
....and I have a SEVENTH GRADER?
.....and a FIFTH GRADER?

I can still tell you details about all of those years of my life...like they were yesterday........

Well, I am rambling, what I really want to tell you is that I am thankful that the black cloud is blowing over my head...I am emotinally, physically and spiritually coming out of a very deep rut....and I see light....and, I know from so many of you that you are in that place right now....and I just want to tell you that it will pass......I know when people were telling me that, I was silently saying "yeh, right" but...I promise, it will pass......

so...my thing to be thankful for
......light at the end of the tunnel....

and....my goal for the week....
to stay in this state of gratitude and out of a state of yuckiness

because, there is so much to be thankful for....so much. There is so much in life to look forward to....life is so big....and God is so big...and when things are tough, there's always something to look to for joy....even if it's just rain on the window....

I ran today for the first time in weeks....it was wonderful, and gave me new perspective. I have been sleeping in instead of working out...and I'd forgotten how much my mind needs to be cleared every morning through exercise...why do we forget? I know that staying out of the yuckiness for me means exercising every day and staying away from junky food...and I'm recommitting...it also means filling my mind with goodness, and not allowing any negative or yucky information in....good stuff in, good stuff out.......

I'll write more later...gotta head off to another meeting!
Thanks for hanging with me!!!!

I have lots to tell you over the next few days!!
Lots of Love
melody

Who Wants A Free Book?

August 22, 2006
Success And Goals That Matter

****LOOKS LIKE WE'RE DONE!...sorry if you missed it! We'll do something like this again soon!*****

Telling Our Stories...

So, one of my life's goals...and I take it very seriously...is to get people to understand the power of their personal stories....and so, this Fall, just like I told you, I am focusing on finishing my book about it.....I thought it would be great if we could chat about it on Mondays....so....anyone who responds to this post, and wants to make a commitment to writing down at least ONE of your stories and ONE story from someone else you love....I will send you a copy of my book "Instant Interviews" .......it is full of hundreds of questions to help you find and remember the details of your stories...and to draw them out in others....simply respond to this and then I'll have someone email you back for your address and we'll send a copy of my favorite pretty little book out to you!!!!

I hope you'll join me! I can't wait to get this book done for myself....but, also to see what other miracles happen in everyone else's lives as we draw these stories out!!!

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FIRST 100 PEOPLE ONLY!!!! ---hurry hurry hurry! Only 100 people get the books!

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Today's post....coming soon!
Lots of Love
Melody

ps...LOVE LOVE LOVED reading your answers to the ten questions below! awesome! thanks for participating!

You HAVE TO CHECK THIS OUT!!!!!

Ok....
I have a to-do list a mile long...and on my list for weeks has been to tell you all about hollydoodle.com .... Oh MY GOODNESS!!!! SO CUUUUTE!!!!

And, I can't believe the prices...seriously....Holly...you are selling yourself short here...but, you all have to go get some stationery or some address labels or a decal of your family...this is totally the cutest stuff, ever....

And....Holly is married to my cute little brother, Ben....and they have the cutest darned kids and they are the CUTEST and happiest darned couple...and I love them so much and Holly reminds me of me when I was her age....and HollyDoodle is the next Chatterbox!!! YAY FOR HOLLY!!! YOU GO, GIRL!!!

check it out...

hollydoodle.com

Why Should I Tell My Stories? Why Should YOU Tell YOUR Stories?

August 7, 2006
Success and Goals That Matter

Why Should I Tell My Stories?
Why Should YOU Tell YOUR Stories?
I am still working on a book that I started more than a year ago...called "Why Should I Tell My Stories
Why Should YOU Tell YOUR Stories?"I already have an agent, I already have a publisher....I am almost done with the book........and, it's all about all of the reasons that we should ALL share what we are learning, what we have learned, what we want to learn and what we have yet to learn....the biggest reason is that we have a responsibility to do it....the biggest challenge is that it is never easy to do.

I have started that book and went for weeks and months writing it...then quit...thinking...who really wants to read this stuff...then started up again for a number of reasons...then quit...........thinking 'WHAT RIGHT DO I HAVE TO WRITE A BOOK?" and today....someone posted on this blog and asked me in a really confusing and hurtful way why I do this blog.....and, I tried to really think about that question....and then I remembered.....and I went back to my manuscript for the book....and, I started reading what I've been writing for the last year....about telling each other about our lives....and I remembered how important it is....and, I'm going to start up on the book again. So, thank you to that person who posted as "are you for real?" because you shot me right back to where I needed to be...........Because, right after I read that comment right here on the blog, and it made me question AGAIN "melody, why ARE you putting your life and yourself out there like this, when people can crush your heart like that?"....right after I asked myself that question, I was handed some mail, from a beautiful woman from across the country who I have never met, who told me that because I shared my very personal, very painful story...it kept her going another day...because she is dealng with so much of the same stuff, and she thought she was alone, but she wasn't...and that happens at least once a day......and, because SO MANY MANY MANY times, I have gotten up in the morning and checked this blog, and read your comments, and YOU said just the words I needed to hear to go another day.....

SO, here's a little list, straight from my manuscript.....of all the reasons WHY we need to keep telling each other our stories...why I'll continue to write mine on this blog, why I'll continue to ask you for yours, and why miracles will keep happening in tiny and in huge ways..........
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THIS IS THE LAST PART OF THE INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK.....MY NEW GOAL IS TO GET BACK INTO WRITING THIS BOOK AND TO GET IT FINISHED AND PUBLISHED ASAP............SO, thanks "wondering" I will thank you for the rest of my life for asking me that question.
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Every story told from every person, when told with complete and raw honesty, gently removes the masks that cause us to believe that we are completely different from each other.

So, again, WHY should we tell our stories? Surely you see how the telling and the listening of true stories will make the dreams come true of beauty pageant contestants everywhere! They all want world peace, right? When we realize how much we humans are the same, so much more than we are different, each conversation, each relationship, each family, each community gets more and more and more peaceful. We internally become more peaceful as we piece our own story together…”piece-full?” Ok, so maybe it won’t bring about total world peace, but a peaceful and loving family is definitely the next best thing, and I know for sure that this kind of communication is the long awaited peace-maker in many bitter family battles, and the bringer of deep love, understanding and patience to families, friendships and organizations that already get along. Stay with me, you’ll believe me by the end of this book.

If you’re not already convinced to at least give me a shot at continuing to convince you, here’s a list of just some of the real reasons to find some of your stories, ask for them, listen deeply as others tell theirs, gather them together and start telling them.

Why Does “Remembering the Why” Create Miracles?

• Because for some reason, we all seem to forget how great our life really has been, and that the best things in life are rarely about any ‘thing’ in life. (see the photo album on page 16 and Tina’s story on page 48)
• Because remembering good times together can get almost any relationship through the inevitable rough patches. Hearing about other people’s similar good and tough times can get us through rough patches too! (See the “I will love you” album that I made for my husband on page 71)
• Because finding out how everything really is connected to everything else is really magical, and we all want to know where we fit in the world.
• Because each time we find, share, remember or write down a piece of our own life story, we realize once again that we all have a very unique purpose on the earth that we are responsible to make the most of.
• Because remembering what we’ve been good at and what we’ve wanted from the time we were very small helps us figure out what we really want to do and really should do with the rest of our lives.
• Because life is fragile and you never know if this might be the last chance you get to tell you stories. (see the sisters project on page 36)
• Because we may think that people really know how we feel about them, but in most cases, people have absolutely no idea how much we love, admire and cherish them.
• Because we don’t take the time often enough to breathe in the good things.
• Because we don’t take the time often enough to find the lessons in the hard things.
• Because if it was fun, exciting, scary or life-changing when it actually happened, it’s going to be twice as great to tell about it.
• Because humans are all pretty much the same when it all boils down – we all want to be understood and we all want to understand.
• Because there’s a lot of people who probably have no idea what a huge impact they have made on our lives, and knowing would make an enormous difference in their lives – and hearing how others help others makes us want to figure out how to be the one who helps others.
• Because we’ve probably accomplished a LOT more than we give ourselves credit for.
• Because all that we have now has come from hundreds and hundreds of years of documented and shared progress.
• Because usually the very best thing you can do for someone who is struggling is to tell them about a time that you struggled, and what you did about it.
• Because it’s therapeutic, and you might think you’re over some of the painful things you’ve been through, but when you revisit those things, you realize that you’re not, and it affects you on a very deep level…and you’re finally able to forgive…yourself and others.
• Because unearthing and documenting your story can be a really rewarding and fun family or friend activity.
• Because we really have a responsibility to our ancestors to move their work forward, or at least appreciate that we wouldn’t be here if they hadn’t been here before us.
• Because you’ll find that difficulty in life is not negotiable, it is not the result of failure or mistakes that only you have made, but that difficulty happens to everyone who is trying to make progress.
• Because we all really need each other so much, and we’ll never realize that more than when we start sharing and listening to real life stories.
• Because history repeats itself and we need to figure that out and act accordingly.
• Because people really love to listen to or read about stories that are similar to what they are going through.
• Because stories help us realize that the good stuff is always worth fighting for, and stories help us keep on fighting.
• Because no matter how you judge others, when you truly examine most situations, you realize that almost everyone did the very best they could at the time, even ourselves.
• Because we don’t want the next generations to endure some of our past pains and mistakes, so we have to take the time to educate them by telling our stories and sharing our feelings
• Because there are a lot of really fun and creative ways to document and archive your photos and stories, and sharing them is even more fun.
• Because we really have more blessings than we could ever possibly count, and happiness comes from counting them up, every single day.
• Because one story can make all the difference in the world to the right person at the right time.

Easy Ideas to help you Remember the “Why?”
(don’t get out of you chair…all you have to do is think…)
2. Think about a story in your life that you have told a million times, whether it directly involved you or not. What is it about that story that compels you to keep telling it? Do you have different stories for when you are you’re your family than you do for when you are with friends? What does it do for others when you tell it? What does it do for you? Is it funny, inspiring, amazing, painful? Have you written it down?
3. Think about a time in your life when someone shared a personal story with you and it changed your course in a way that nothing else could. Was it someone you knew or someone you were close to? What was it about that story that you related to in such a powerful way?
4. Think about friends or siblings from your childhood. What would you talk about if you were all sitting in a room together? What stories would come up first and who would tell them? What stories would you want your children to hear and not to hear?

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OK....That's all for now....but there's hundreds of pages more...and I'm going to finish this book!

I want to thank the thousands of friends I have made on this blog. I hope you understand WHY I am doing this now...I hope you understand HOW you have enriched my life now, and HOW you have the potential to enrich every life you come into contact with.

I am so happy right now!
Love to you all...
Melody

Yeh, Right.....

July 31, 2006
Success & Goals That Matter

Yeh, Right..... Did you know that there was a time in my life when I thought that Wonder Woman existed.....like, last week? Or...on and off for most of my life?

Last October, I started going to a therapist because I thought I was losing my mind....(you know what, I have already started the process of bearing my whole entire soul to the whole world on this blog...might as well not stop now!) Anyway...about that therapist (which, by the way, I am now convinced that EVERYONE needs a therapist) Well, I just about stormed out of her office the first day because she told me that I needed to start shooting for average....that that was the key to a happy life.....I was absolutely FURIOUS! SHOOT FOR AVERAGE???!?!??? WHO DOES THAT??!!!??!

Why shoot for anything if you are just going to shoot for average?

Well, because that is what was making me lose my mind....this belief that Wonderwoman exists....and that we are all expected to be her....and I fall so ridiculously short of that.....and maybe that average just means REALISTIC and everything that I believed was absolutely, in all of the world, thoroughly and without question IMPOSSIBLE to achieve.....and then she told me that I was a perfectionist, and that it was going to kill me.

Me? A perfectionist? No. No no no no no no. I am the most easy-going person alive...seriously. I do not expect anything or anyone to be perfect....I accept things as they are...I love people exactly as they are....I do not expect things to go perfectly......"yes, you are right...." she said, "you are very accepting of others and of life...you just can't accept yourself unless you are doing everything perfectly...."

What? NO. no no no no no......
well.
Ok.
Ok, yeh, maybe.
Well, ok, yeh.
Oh my gosh...I am a perfectionist.

I am very very very hard on myself. I go on and off......I have 3 WonderWoman t-shirts that are gifts from others who mock me......I am NOT Wonderwoman...I am so far from it....so far. And, even though I can tell you with a 100% guarantee that it is not possible for anyone to be Wonderwoman...there's still this mean voice inside of my head who says....."you are not right unless you are Wonderwoman...."

I KNOW you know what I mean, don't you? Are you trying to be a superhero, too?

Maybe, if things never went wrong....I could have 1/2 of a day once in a while that felt like I was her...but kids get sick and deals fall through, and husbands have accidents and boobs sag and cellulite sticks and stock prices crash and gas prices soar and LIFE HAPPENS to everyone.....

......and it is still so good....SO good...so much to be thankful for. SO MUCH.
And, what's so bad about average? Can we live with it? Of course we can!!! You win some, you lose some, and it all washes out in the end....and, really...I can always, always ALWAYS be #1 at being me...especially if I stop competing with myself and start cheering myself on.

Wonderwoman?????? Yeh Right....

That's what I have to say....Yeh, Right!!!!

I love you guys. I love you all SO MUCH. You can not believe the emails and messages and flowers on my desk and cards in the mail and words of kindness and mercy and comfort that you all give to me. I don't get out much...I don't have time, fighting crime and all.....and you all have been the greatest blessing to me....just look, this morning i asked for ideas for comfort....and it flooded in from all over the world......this beautiful army of your average super-hero women from all over the world....sending recipes so I can slash my grocery bill and sending prayers so I can stay sane......I had no idea that this would all be such a huge blessing in my life....you just never know where the answers to your prayers are going to come from....but, I want you all to know that you are enriching my life more than you will ever be able to understand.

New goal for today.....redefine Wonderwoman......into #1 WonderfulWoman.......and, you get to decide what that means....it just means that you are #1 at being you.

Thanks for all of your love and support and for hanging out here with me and trying to figure all of this out......we'll crack the code someday, ladies.....

Lots of Love,
Melody

After You've Done All You Can Do.....

So, I'm here to report on my goals....
1. I got my guitar fixed, then went out of town, then went out of town again....I sure would like to say that I've learned 4 new chords and that my fingers are already used to the strings, but I can not say that...I can tell you that I did my best, so far, where that goal is concerned....and, that I will continue to do better. This week I'll spend at least 15 minutes each day with my son, so he can teach me the basics.

2. I have done really well on my eating...I am quite sure I've lost at least 5 pounds....though I refuse to have a scale in my house...my clothes are fitting better, and I'm fitting into my smaller clothes. I haven't been eating sugar, I've been drinking lots of water....I didn't work out even once while I was in Chicago, though...early morning meetings to late late night meetings....I am getting ready to head out for a run when I am done here. I am going to exercise every day this week and get at least 8 hours of sleep,

3. I have been spending a lot of time thinking about how to enrich my marriage. We are in a rough spot right now and it is completely worth it to me to do whatever it takes to get a firm footing again....again the depression is such a horrid thing to overcome every day. I need to focus more energy and love in that direction....though most days I really do my very best.....we had a nice time last night after I got home, and I want to build on the happiness that we were feeling together....we have such a rich and incredible history together...such a love story....it is worth fighting for every second if that's what needs to happen.

Those are still the 3 things I am working on. I am realistic and I know that I can't keep changing my goals...not until I reach them...and that is ok. It is ok for you, too.

When my kids bring home their report cards, they all have different kinds of grades. They all have different strengths and different weaknesses...I always ask them, and look them right in the eye...and then make them look me right in the eye....and I say "DID YOU DO YOUR BEST?".....and, if they can say yes...no matter what the report card says..........I am so happy about it.....

I think that's just how we have to approach every day. Some days we have the capacity, physically, emotionally, chronologically, to achieve so much more than other days....some days doing our best just means getting out of bed, getting dressed and keeping a smile on our faces...right? We all have those kinds of days, and we should just pat ourselves on the back for doing our best........

So, here's a little ribbon for you.....because, in spite of what you may see as something else, I know most of you are doing your best....and if you think about it really honestly...you really know you are, too....if you're not, just try a little bit harder...don't kill yourself or kick yourself over it.....just do your best.

Ok...I gotta run, literally.....we'll see how weak my body is after not doing it for an entire week....if I get too tired, I'll walk a little bit, then start running again....I'm just going to do my best!

I'll end with a nice quote from our friend, O...
"Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment."--Oprah Winfrey

I hope you'll comment on how YOUR goals are going.........next post coming soon!! Thanks for your patience!!!

I missed you guys!
Melody