If you look at media (social or otherwise) it would seem the world is coming to an end. All of the fighting, anger, division. "Never seen anything like it" - right? Nope - been around since the beginning of time. It is all the human condition, we just have it spewed in our faces and updated second by second on the devices that are now attached to us like superglue. It all can be overwhelming and downright depressing.
Yesterday I was reading, on social media, an account of little known facts about the Woodstock festival in 1969. Nearly half a million people gathered in a field and what chaos there was! It was a time of great social upheaval in our nation and world, and though most were aware of it, because we didn't have a running news feed instantly accessible most people went on with their lives until the evening news, had an hour of so of "oh no, what will we do!?" despair then they went on with their lives.
Like many of you, I am never far from my electronic devices. I do read and take in what is happening, but I also am fully aware that a great majority of the reports are distorted, slanted, written to incite anger or simply fake. What I do more than ever these last few days is make myself focus on the good. I started my day today reflecting, and here is some of what came to mind from my 60 years on this earth:
*I grew up in a small town, with a comfortable home and good friends. I didn't have all of the newest things. I had more than some, and less than others. I aspired to great things - but I was never quite good enough to make the tennis team, I wasn't the best scholar and I had big dreams that never quite came true. I just kept dreaming.
*I wanted to go to college - instead while my closest friends all set off to live in dorms or apartments I attended a trade school, and was soon working full time. Not too long after that I had my own place, paid my own bills and learned to really stretch every dollar I made. I had great friends, I worked hard and played hard too. I still dreamed of bigger things and never gave up.
*I watched friends go to Hawaii on college grad trips or honeymoons, I saw them buy new cars and start families, I dreamed of where I might travel someday, but mostly continued working and always trying ways to achieve success and help others. While my friends were on fancy trips and had college degrees (and debt) I lived in the most beautiful place I had ever been. Alaska - paid for by the government as I served in the Air Force. I drove a beat up rusted out car, I mainly wore fatigues and still worked hard, played hard and started college. I had BIG dreams and loved life. There was always someone to help and good to be done.
I could go on and on ~ life hasn't been how I imagined when I was a young woman. Yet each day I get up, I pray and I believe that I can still achieve the great things that I dream of. Some would look at me and think "she just fails over and over". I look at it as steps to success.
*Owned my first business at age 29, made a little money and sold it at a profit a few years later.
*Ran my own seamstress and alterations business out of my home for several years. I helped people and was able to be home with our daughter and make a little money on the side.
*Always had a 'side gig' with a direct sales company, my extra spending money.
*Completed my college degree at age 47.
*Established my own LLC (which is still in place) at age 57.
*Published a small book at age 59 that allowed me to express feelings I had kept inside for most of my life.
*Ran a successful business for 3 years - until I discovered a better opportunity that fit my personal viewpoint better. Closed that business and opened another.
*Work at a ministry position that helps women in ways that gives them hope and skills to discover their own success.
*Own a business that is everything I believe in: opportunity for young entrepreneurs or retirees that want a little extra freedom, and everything in between. Bringing hope and success in ways that people have only dreamed of.
My list could be pages long of what many would view as failed attempts at success or pipe dreams. I prefer to look at all that I have done and learned as steps leading to a full life that is blessed no matter how hard and ugly it may look to others. Our world is in chaos, but it has always been so - we just have a microscopic view in front of us at all times right now. I choose to look at the beauty around me, the people just like me that are enjoying each day, striving for good and helping others along the way. My bills are sometimes too big, I often give more than I take, but I am blessed - I have dreams and I will never stop working to achieve them.
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:19 NIV
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