Tag Archives: Appreciation

Stop, Slow Down, or Go?

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STOP! Look, and Listen

Have you ever wondered why there are three settings on a stop light?  It’s because all three are necessary. Everyone needs to stop sometime.  You can’t keep going and going like the Energizer Bunny.  You’ve got to take time out to pause, reflect, plan, relax, and regenerate.

Green Lights Mean Go!

Now some of you have the opposite challenge.  You can’t seem to get moving, to get motivated, to get on track, on fire, and on purpose.  You are simply stuck.  Some of you are moving so slow that you’d have to speed up to just stop.  And, some people are sitting there with no plans while others with detailed plans are doing nothing with them.

What are you waiting for?

If you’ve gotten the green light in life, GO!  Is there an opportunity in your lap right now?  Are you procrastinating, doubtful and worried about failure.  No risk, no gain! Get going. You can’t stay in limbo forever if you wish to reach your goals.

“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”  Zig Ziglar

Remember we are not PROMISED tomorrow even though so far each day we awaken to the gift of another 24 beautiful hours.  Show that you value that gift each day by slowing down long enough to show your gratitude, by stopping to smell the roses, and by getting going to make the most of every single moment.

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.
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Are You On Purpose?

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“Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment,” wrote James Allen, author of ‘As a Man Thinketh.’  There have been times in my life that my excitement and energy were so pronounced that people have asked, “What are you on?”  I’d respond with, “I’m on purpose!” At those times I was undoubtedly thinking about things that excited me, motivated me, and uplifted me. My vision and perspectives were uplifting and clearly I was thinking about meaningful things, purposeful things, or things that brought me or someone else joy.   At those times, I tended to have absolute hope in the future, faith in people, and understood that divine grace was guiding and protecting me.

Elevate Your Thoughts and Elevate Your Reality

Eleanor Roosevelt wrote: “Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.”  I can say for sure when my energy, vision, and excitement are high that I am most certainly NOT thinking about events or gossiping or complaining about people.  When my thinking was skewed, I’d fear the future, distrust people and their intentions, and feel all alone and hopeless in my doldrums.  But when my thinking is right, that faithful feeling of knowing and of being connected sparks my creativity and solutions to whatever problems I have become clear.  The right person, thought, idea, or circumstances seem to appear before me.  I’ve learned that if I listen to my guidance and act immediately, that solving whatever problem is before me becomes an exciting journey rather than anxiety driven mission.  Even more importantly the “problems” are no longer debilitating but instead become opportunities for growth.  Just changing my perspective changed my focus and changing my focus changed my reality.   You are the driver and your thoughts can take you anywhere, so be careful and stay alert.

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

Listen for Your Inner Wisdom

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We each have an inner knowing that we must learn to trust and rely upon. On Sunday afternoon I got the inspiration to call my stepmother who is recuperating in a nursing home.  It was just a spark in the middle of the day, at a time that thought she’d be at the church service and I almost talked myself out of calling right then.  But the impulse was strong and I listened.  I called her and she didn’t sound good at all.

She said, “Make the nurses stop drugging me.  They are giving me too much medicine. They have me in the hall.”  I asked her did she want to be there and she said, “No.”  I told her my sister and I would work on it.  Then there was silence.  The last few conversations we’d had she’d fallen asleep in the middle of the conversation or just asked me to call back because she was tired or sleeping, no matter what time of day it was.  When I questioned the nurse I found out she was not in the hall at all, but something was wrong.  She was obviously disoriented.  I reminded them of her bad heart.  They ended up sending her to the hospital for evaluation and deduced that she had had a heart attack.  In addition as a dialysis patient she also had elevated calcium and potassium levels.  And if that were not enough, she had a bladder infection.  So many things were wrong and yet had I not called, they perhaps would have been calling me with that final dreaded call.

I am so grateful that I listened.  I had a few deadlines at the time and it was not the best time to stop and spend the afternoon on the phone with nurses, caretakers, doctors, and family.  But I’ve learned that when we care, we are guided.  When we listen, the eternal source of wisdom speaks to us.  When we are “interrupted from our mundane reality,” it’s because something MORE important needs our attention right then.  It’s so great to not have to live with, “I wish I would have….”  Today’s lesson is to listen, appreciate the intuition, trust it  and act on it.  Now she’s recuperating in the hospital and on the road to health, we hope!

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

Find Out What’s So Special About Today

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Today is a special day.  This hour is a special hour.  This moment is a special moment.  Why?  Because you are in it.  You are alive?  You get to breathe and see another day.  You have a mind and that makes you a co-creator in creation.  You have consciousness and you have another beautiful day to mold as you choose.  You’ll appreciate today even more when you realize that everyone doesn’t have that luxury. No matter what challenges you have in life, remember if you are alive you have a chance to fix them.  I just heard from a cousin today who lost her husband of 50 years.   And, even with such a heavy heart, she is choosing to focus on the fact that her soul-mate is no longer suffering and that is giving her the strength to make it to the next hour.

What’s So Special About Today? You Get To See It!

You are not promised today and you are not promised tomorrow either.  One of my father’s favorite quotes was, “It could be better, but it could be worse.”  That quote always puts things into perspective for me, no matter how bad things got.  There will always be things going wrong in your life, but at the same time, there will be things going right too.  We get to choose what we will focus on each moment and consequently what new tracks are being laid down in our subconscious that will become our memories and history.   Do you have sight?  Can you walk?  Can you speak?  Can you smell or touch?  Can you think?  Can you dream?  Can you believe?  Can you appreciate what you have? Today is special because it’s here right now and we get to see it.   You are special too so make today by appreciating and making the most of it.

’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

We Don’t Want Any Wedding Gifts

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Last night I had dinner with two of my sisters, my niece and her fiance.  Both my niece and her fiance are lawyers that have graduated from Georgetown.  They are both such unique young people, so much so that I awoke this morning and had to take some time to reflect on my thoughts especially their request to not give them any wedding gifts, but to instead give the money to charity.  And, they are not wealthy.  They are just starting out, have very few material trappings, and their share of college loans to repay and yet their thoughts are not on themselves but on the less fortunate.  In a sea of materialism,  and “me” mentality, they did NOT want gifts.  They wanted a simple ceremony so that their friends and family from around the world could share in their union.  And if it weren’t for respecting families and traditions, they wouldn’t have done a big wedding at all.  If the future has more young folks like them, then we have a bright future ahead of us indeed.

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.