Sunday, January 17, 2010

Yay Words!

In today's blog post by author K.M. Weiland she pens:
"Words have ever been and always will be the most forceful catalysts in the world."
I'll let that sink in..
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Wars have been fought, tears have been cried, the strongest emotions have been felt all because of Words.

And we have the power to wield them! That pen, the ink, those WORDS, are mightier than swords. They can call for a ceasefire, make peace, or change someone's mind.

It is said the Word of God is a double edged sword.

Words can stop a human from taking a life, or even their own; ask a hostage negotiator.

In marriage, I say communication is key.

Learning new words is key to becoming more mature, whether you're a child or an adult. Just yesterday I put my foot in my mouth by not understanding words, and had to use words apologize for my blunder.

Words are important. They hold memories, share secrets, and make predictions.

So when words are not enough, you know the situation is grave.

I love words. Powerful, beautiful, all-encompassing Words.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Friday, January 15, 2010

De-ja vu vs. Pre-ja vu

De ja vu (Day-zha-voo) is when you've experienced something before. True De ja Vu is when you return to a place you have been and do the same activity over again. The time between occurrences could be days, weeks, hours, years. Some miniscule detail about the event or place will be unique and exactly replicated, like a coworker wearing a red scarf, or a piece of dust flying just so.

Pre-ja Vu (Pray-zha-voo) is when you've never ever ever been to a place or even met a person before and when you experience the tiny moment, you KNOW you've been there before, seen that before, and you KNOW you dreamed it because there is NO WAY IN HEAVEN you've could have ever known these things.

For example, I must have dreamed vividly of holding my newborn son in my arms just so, seeing his face, wearing that exact outfit, because when I glanced down and the lighting was just right, I was holding him exactly like this, and he had been born not a few days before. How could I have known what he would like or how I would sit here at this moment or what he was wearing?

I also had the same occurrence in the van with my boys the other day, where I was climbing through, they were strapped in, sitting just so, wearing their winter gear and the same items were on the center console.

Pre-ja-Vu happens more often than De-ja-Vu for me. I dream vividly, especially when something stressful is going on. Moving to a new house, starting a new job, having a baby, are all triggers for incidences like these. I can usually remember the last three dreams or the last longest dream I had when I wake, but I never remember these special Pre-ja-Vu moments until they happen, so they must be deep REM sleep dreams.

Do you ever have occurrences like this?

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

How To Get Things Done Instead of Procrastinating

Well when I have a pending task to accomplish, from cleaning house, to editing a book, to running errands, I follow the same format to motivate myself to stop procrastinating.

I begin by centering my mind on the task at hand and sort of procrastinate by making lists.

1.
Make lists I make lists of EVERYTHING! Post-its are my friends. Make lists of the things you want to do. List long term goals, short term goals, and categorize them. Often when I am writing a list for one thing, another thing pops into my head and I make a new list for that topic. If I have it all written down, I don't have to waste so much energy remembering it all day in and day out. This does take time, but it is well worth it. You feel like you've gotten some direction when you are finished. The bonus to list making is the satisfying check marks you can place beside completed items. And the greatest reward is beign able to throw the list away when it is exhausted.

2. Prioritize Once you have your lists, put them in some sort of order. Maybe star the items that you need to do right away. You most likely already have them in long term and short term categories, but some of the short term goals are most likely steps toward a larger goal. Those steps can be prioritized or ordered into a very workable schedule.

3.
Clear your schedule For me, that might mean removing my kids from the hem of my skirt! It also means giving yourself a block of time to achieve your goals. The ways I suggest doing so, are as follows:

4.
Remove your distractions Turn off the ringer on the phone, turn off your cell, turn off the tv or radio or ipod. Do not open an internet window unless your goal is internet related. Gather whatever you need to achieve your goal and ONLY what you need to achieve your goal.

5. Say no If someone asks you to something when you are trying to accomplish a task, tell them you are busy. In the case of my children, this teaches them patience. (Though you have to address their needs, not ignore them forever!) Don't overbook yourself, or take an offer from someone to avoid doing whatever it is you need to do. If you've set aside time and planned this far in advance for the task, you'd better follow through!

6. Do it! Now that you've cleared your calendar and removed the distractions and have your space all set up, get going! There is no time like the present.

7.
Reward yourself! Goodness knows we wouldn't do anything for nothing, we are human after all! You'll never get anything done if you are not giving yourself some sort of treat when you are done. You can choose an intrinsic reward like satisfaction, or an extrinsic reward like food, an event (shopping counts), or a glass of lemonade on the porch.