Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - May 28th

Salt in the air, sand in my hair. – Unknown

A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. – James Dent

Summer is almost here.  What are you planning on doing?

We all know that summer months are completely different than September through May.  Our favorite television shows go on hiatus.  The weather is usually hot, but much better than the cold months of January and February (in my opinion!).  There are no holidays with a lot of presents to purchase.  Jenny Han’s opinion of summer is: 

Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. 

Researching various aspects of summer, the writer discovered a “summer bucket list” (listed in the resources) of various activities to do in the coming months.  Summer is a great time to spend with family, work on relationships, enjoy the outdoors, etc.  By creating a summer bucket list, it allows us to start thinking about what fun we want to do.  

Over the last nine (9) months, the writer has learned that to get energized to accomplish tasks there has to be something/someone on the other side of the tasks exciting or encouraging her to finish strong.  Having a reason to push forward (such as having fun) provides a purpose to accomplish tasks.

CHALLENGE: Create a summer bucket list to plan fun for the summer.  Also, work on any outstanding tasks so that June through August can be magical. 

Resources

http://uncustomary.org/summer-bucket-list-100-things-summer/

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - May 21st

America is hope. It is compassion. It is excellence. It is valor. - Paul Tsongas 

137 years later, Memorial Day remains one of America's most cherished patriotic observances. The spirit of this day has not changed - it remains a day to honor those who died defending our freedom and democracy. - Doc Hastings 

I have long believed that sacrifice is the pinnacle of patriotism. - Bob Riley 

On February 3, 1943, the U.S.A.T. (United States Army Transport) Dorchester had 902 service men, merchant seamen and civilian workers on board.  The 5,649-ton vessel had been a luxury coastal liner before being converted into an Army transport ship.  As the Dorchester crossed the icy waters toward Greenland from Newfoundland, the ship’s captain, Hans J. Danielsen, knew to be cautious of German U-boats in the icy waters.  Danielsen had ordered the men on the ship to sleep in their clothes and life jackets; however, many soldiers ignored the order due to the heat from the engine or because they were uncomfortable.  

At 12:55am, a German submarine spotted the Dorchester.  After identifying and targeting the ship, a German officer gave the order to fire 3 torpedoes.  One torpedo had a direct hit and struck the starboard side.  After taking on water, the Dorchester began to quickly sink and within less than 20 minutes the boat slipped beneath the Atlantic Ocean.  

Before the ship sank, some soldiers were rescued by other boats nearby, some made it to lifeboats and some made it on rafts.  During the mayhem, four chaplains spread out among the soldiers trying to provide a calming affect and assist the wounded.  The four chaplains also preached courage to the soldiers as they were trying to find safety.  When most men had made it topside, the chaplains started disbursing life jackets from a storage locker.  As the final jackets were distributed and more soldiers needed life jackets, the four chaplains removed their life jackets and gave them to four frightened soldiers.  

John Ladd who witnessed the chaplains removing their life jackets and giving them to other soldiers said, “It was the finest thing I have seen or hope to see this side of heaven”.  Other survivors saw the four chaplains arms linked together, braced against the deck of the sinking ship and heard them offering prayers. 

When the ship began to sink, those four chaplains did not look for someone from their own religious faith to give their life jacket to.  They gave it to the next soldier in line.  Those four amazing chaplains were: 

• Reverend George Fox was born in Lewistown, Pennsylvania and was a Methodist.
• Rabbi Alexander Goode was from Brooklyn, New York.
• Reverend Clark Poling from Columbus, Ohio was ordained in the Reformed Church in America.
• Reverend John Washington was born in Newark, New Jersey and was a Catholic Priest. 

Carl Sandburg said:

Valor is a gift.  Those having it never know for sure whether they have it until the test comes.

That night, those four chaplains showed their valor. 

CHALLENGE: Next Monday, take time to remember and honor the men and women who have died while serving our great country.  We can truly learn a lot from the sacrifices they made. 

Resources

·       https://wreathsacrossamerica.org/pages/19520/News/136/?relatedId=0&utm_source=waanewsletters&utm_medium=ontraport&utm_campaign=January&utm_content=1242019&utm_source=ONTRAPORT-email-broadcast&utm_medium=ONTRAPORT-email-broadcast&utm_term=Newsletter&utm_content=Wreaths+Across+America+Mission+Matters+-+January+2019&utm_campaign=01252019

·       https://www.cnn.com/2013/02/03/opinion/greene-four-chaplains/

·       http://www.fourchaplains.org/the-saga-of-the-four-chaplains/

·       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Dorchester

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - May 14th

Don’t base your worth off the amount of tasks you can complete in a day.  Base your worth off how you have grown and what you have learned. – Dr. Caroline Leaf

Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat other people. – Barbara Bush

We learn from failure, not from success! ― Bram Stoker, Dracula

Don’t waste a good mistake, learn from it. - Robert Kiyosaki

Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer. ― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

Having an apartment fire is the last thing that I thought would ever happen to me; however, through the process I made new friends, lived a very disrupted life even though I like consistency, learned how to stay calm while handling arduous situations and laughed in the difficult times.  All in all, I grew so much, learned so much and changed so much.  AND probably the best lesson I learned from the fire is to live life to the fullest.

Through one of my new friends, I was introduced to The Last Lecture, which was a lecture given on September 18, 2007 by Randy Pausch.  Dr. Pausch was a professor of computer science, human-computer interaction and design at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Dr. Pausch gave his last lecture because he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in September 2006 and in August 2007 was given the terminal diagnosis of living for 3 to 6 months.  Dr. Pausch died on July 25, 2008 at 47. 

Dr. Pausch’s ultimate goal of the lecture was to discuss everything he wanted his kids to know after the cancer took his life.  Throughout the lecture and the book, he discussed that everyone should have fun in everything they do and live life to the fullest because we never know when it might be taken from us.

Probably one of the most memorable points that Dr. Pausch made in his last lecture was:   

It's not about how to achieve your dreams, it's about how to lead your life.  If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, the dreams will come to you.

I could not control the fact I had the apartment fire; however, I could control how I lead my life and took advantage of this disruption to Live Life to the Fullest!

CHALLENGE:  Listen to The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch on YouTube or read the book.

Resources

The Last Lecture - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - May 7th

What can you learn from a statue? You can learn to stay calm whatever happens! ― Mehmet Murat ildan 

By staying calm, you invite others to stay calm; by panicking, you 

provoke others to panic! You see, you can design the world by designing yourself! ― Mehmet Murat ildan

When you stay calm, positive, and confident, life will open her door of abundance. ― Debasish Mridha

On a regular basis, I would stop by my apartment to check the progress of the renovations.  Towards the end of March, I was told that my apartment was ready to move back into.  As I viewed the apartment the day before I was supposed to move back in, I horrified by the number of issues I found with the contractor’s work.  Returning to the hotel, I talked with one of my new friends and he told me to delay having the furniture delivered and tell the apartment complex to fix everything.  After that conversation, I canceled the delivery of my furniture.  Thursday morning, I went early to my apartment and made a list of 50 issues that needed to be fixed.  After sending the list to a few people, I returned to the hotel to do work.

The following day I was told that all of the repairs would be completed on Monday afternoon and then on Tuesday I would be able to move in.  On Sunday afternoon, one of my other new military friends went with me to my apartment.  Walking around my apartment, he said, “You are not moving back in here Tuesday.  This place is still horrible.”  As we left my apartment complex, we ran into the maintenance supervisor and he asked how the apartment was.  My military friend said, “She is not moving back into her apartment on Tuesday.” 

After returning to my hotel room, I received a text from the contractor saying he would get everything done on Monday and I would be able to move back in on Tuesday.  Since there had been so many issues, I delayed setting up delivery of my stuff because I was not sure everything would be to my satisfaction. 

Once I was “ok” with the repairs, I called the furniture recovery company to have the furniture delivered.  After issues with them, those were resolved and I received a delivery date for my furniture.  The day before I was supposed move back in, I received a call from the moving company.  Since I had issues throughout the process and expressed my dissatisfaction, the CEO called to tell me that they broke my box springs for my bed.  At this point, I had so many issues with this fire and getting my stuff recovered that I literally laughed at the CEO when he told me.  Once I stopped laughing, we discussed how he was resolving the issue and I was satisfied with his solution.

Through this whole process, I learned to just stay calm and handle each problem as it arises. 

CHALLENGE:  Stay calm and peaceful!

Resources

Protect Your Peace - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enkTl55IyPk