Tag Archives: Self Esteem

How Often Do You Eat Dinner with Your Family?

Posted on by
2

Could you use a little more connection, love, or understanding?  If so, it could be as close as your kitchen table and a family meal.  Want to get closer to your teens?  The family dinner might be the place to start.  While some say the family dinner is dying out,  a Time Magazine article says it is coming back. Think back to your past, the family dinner was one of the few rituals that a family could count on.  It was a time when the children knew they had the undivided attention of their parents and siblings to share or consult about issues going on in their lives.  Unfortunately, research shows that the institution of a family dinner is dying.  I know personally, we have a lot less dinners together now that we did years ago.  I got tired of cooking after 40 years of preparing meals for my family.  But, after reading the articles linked to this post, I’m rethinking the whole  thing.  I realize that I am not the only one who can cook.  I spoke with my family and we’ve promised to take turns cooking and bring the family dinner back. I like that!

Let’s Do Our Own Research

So which is it; is it dying out or coming back?  What about you; Do you have regular family dinners?  I mean dinners where you are all seated at the same table at the same time, with no phones and no TV on? Do you talk to each other and if you do, do you have meaningful conversations?  What do you remember about family dinners growing up, the cooking, eating,  and then cleaning up together? Please post your reply to the question: Do you still have family dinners?  How often? Do you miss them?

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out my promo sheet or visit  my website.

Don’t Stick Your Head in The Sand.

Posted on by
Reply

You Can’t Hide from The Truth

Closing your eyes doesn’t make your problems go away, neither does ignoring them.  If we are to be sane, successful, or of service to ourselves or others, we must operate around truth. We must pray for certitude and strength.  We must make the hard decisions that need to be made and change the things we can and let go of the things we can’t.  Even though it may be hard, we must learn to let go of dreams, relationships, or even jobs when it’s clear to everyone that they are no longer nurturing or sustaining us emotionally, mentally, or financially.  We can’t stick our heads in the sand and pretend that everything is okay.

Face and Handle the Truth

On the other hand, we also must hold on to our dreams and visions when our heart and faith tells us to, even if the whole world is against us.   Instead of abandoning our dreams, we might just need to change our perspective,  strategy or environment.  Be true to yourself by facing and handling the truth wherever it may lead you.  Look at the man or woman in the mirror and see what changes need to be made and change them.  Last year about this time I shared Five Changes That Will Make a Dramatic Difference. and How Are You Handling Change? I offer them to you in spirit of service as we take this journey together.

I’m Barbara Talley, The Poet who speaks and inspires.   To find more about me, check out my promo sheet or visit  my website.

The World Is Our Mirror

Posted on by
Reply

What You See Is What You Get.

Although the world is our mirror, we decide what elements in the mirror to focus on.  There is so much out there that we can’t control and so much that we can.  We’ve got to decide which is which.  We can see light or can see darkness.  We can see hope or we can see despair.   We can see unity or we can see separateness.  If you see beauty you get beauty.  If you see love, you get love.  If you see hated you get hatred.  If you see lack, you get lack.  If you see abundance, peace, and opportunity, that’s what you will pursue.  What you see is what you get.   What do you see in the mirror?  Is the person happy or sad, kind or angry, full or fear or full of faith?

We Are Co-Creators of This Drama Called Life

Our free will and ability to make choices makes us a co-creator in this drama we call life.  We connect with, focus on, and are influenced by what we chose to see, believe, think, feel, and do.  And the clues for our search within are reflected back to us from every person, challenge, triumph, or situation we encounter.  Our oneness makes it possible to learn from others, but our uniqueness makes it necessary to do our own searching.

I’m Barbara Talley, The Poet who speaks and inspires.   To find more about me, check out my promo sheet or visit  my website.

The Tree Most Pruned Bears the Best Fruit

Posted on by
1

When I was growing up in upstate New York in the late 50’s and 60’s, we did a lot of migrant work on farms.  During the summer and fall we’d pick various fruits and vegetables and in the winter we’d trim trees.  We sat a ladder on the tree, climbed up with a saw, and cut off all the limbs that were growing in the wrong direction.  It was always freezing cold and the days were long.  It also wasn’t the most pleasant way to spend your weekends, yet that’s what we all did.  The entire family worked and we did whatever work we could find and we worked together.  Most saw it as menial labor and often we were kidded and looked down on, but as my dad always said, “It’s an honest living.”

Today as I was thinking about why we are forced to face so many challenges in life,  I reflected back on my childhood experience of trimming trees.  I thought about the life of a tree.  Through this personification I got a totally new perspective about why I should view life’s natural changes not as challenges, but instead as new growth opportunities.  For surely if the fruit tree never sacrificed her harvest and was unwilling to be stripped of her leaves and pruned, she would never see a new harvest that was more abundant than the one before.

A Harvest or Letting Go Is Necessary

In the summer the branches of the trees were abundantly filled with fruits.  The tree was as a mother giving birth. We’d come and take the harvest that she’d created.  Although the trees looked picture perfect with their fruit,  if we didn’t pick the fruit in time, they’d rot on the trees.  Others would drop off by themselves giving back to the earth that gave it life without asking.  In the life of a fruit tree a harvest and a letting go is necessary.  In the life of a human letting go is also necessary.

It appears that planting seeds of faith, fertilizing and protecting them, harvesting our fruits (dreams, goals, vision, ideas, service, calling, talents, and relationships), and then being willing to let go when it’s time is the natural order of life.  I reflected on how many of my new dreams would have gone unrealized if I had not had been willing to let go of the past or detach myself from the way things were. Ecclesiastes 3 sums it up.  (Continue to part 2)

3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

I’m Barbara Talley, The Poet who speaks and inspires.   To find more about me, check out my promo sheet or visit  my website.

3 Steps to Move from Mediocrity to Meaning (part 2)

Posted on by
Reply

  1. Dig Inside (from part 1)
  2. Discover Your Greatness. Discovery is a process, not an event and it requires faith.  “Mining to discover your true reality is hard work.  It’s even harder if, 1)you don’t have the faith that you’ll really find anything of value, 2) you don’t know what you’re mining for, or 3) you are mining in the wrong place. Only those who dig in the right place and who also have that child-like unwavering faith to persist against all odds will ever find the object of their quest.” [From Miner Miracles]     It also  takes time, effort, and focus. Everyone has something great inside of them waiting to be discovered. We are made from greatness for greatness.  We were created noble.  We are like mines “rich in gems of inestimable value.1″  Ultimately you will find what you are looking for, but only if you are looking for it.  If you are looking for mediocrity, you will find it.  If you are looking for greatness, that will become the essence of your dreams and your reality.
  3. Dazzle the World with Your Brilliance– Oprah once said to a person she was interviewing, “Your future is so bright that it’s burning my eyes.”  Your future too has the potential to be just that bright!  Now this is the part where you figure out how to shine, excel, and radiate with joy and happiness.  That’s the goal of life, to do something so exciting that the deed is its own reward.  We were not created to be bored, dreamless, desperate or depressed.  This life is a gift to each of us and digging within and finding our own jewels is the most exciting journey from mediocrity to meaning that you can imagine.

*1 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings CXXII

I’m Barbara Talley, The Poet who speaks and inspires.   To find more about me, check out my promo sheet or visit  my website.