Bloom Where You are Planted

Bloom where you are planted - 

seems easy, right?

I married my sweetheart the day after

our High School graduation.

7 months later, we started a new military life in NM.

Our first Christmas was the beginning of a new life as a Military wife.

I had to learn one thing - 

Bloom where you are planted!

I grew to absolutely love our NM life.

Balloon Festivals - Old town -

Indian Fry Bread sold on the side of the road -

camping trips

in the Jemez Mountains

and SO many more beautiful memories were made.

11 years there -

Also where our son was born

I was thriving and blooming! 

Soon, it was time to uproot our lives and move again.

We were transferred from our home in NM to Hawaii.

*I know, how could Hawaii be bad, right? Bear with me*

I had a 4 year old that I was moving across an ocean

to a new life for four years.

I must admit -

that could also apply to his momma! 

I felt like a scared 4 year old -

my son however was super excited to live by the ocean! 

I had to learn to embrace our new world once again.

While talking to a friend from church -

she wisely told me to

"Bloom where you are planted"

Even my son's school lesson after that meeting was a story

about a flower that was not happy with where it lived.

It really was a shift in my world.

Hawaii was by far the best of all the places we lived.

My son and husband loved the sun and the water -

I watched them while in the shade...

but I embraced the world we now lived in.

Four years later - it was time to move again -

time to embrace another new world.

Hawaii to Texas -

now if there was ever a polar opposite -

that move sure was!

I remember it being so blisteringly hot -

we'd sometimes wait until 10pm to go to the park!

The sunsets - the 4H events - the homeschooling adventure- lifelong friends -

buying our first home -

the lasting memories we'd carry forever.

I was pushed and I was pulled and

not always in a great way...

I again learned to bloom where I was planted!

5 years comes - and we're getting ready to retire.

20 years actually went really fast!

However, Evil crashed into our worlds on  9-11 

Such a terrible way to see lives lost and forever changed!!

Our country needed their military forces strong

so, we waited until they let my hubby retire.

Nearly a year later-

we were headed back home- 

back to where our lives first began.

Rocky Mountains again - yay!!

I knew I'd be okay - but my teenage son?

I wasn't so sure he'd embrace the new life

He wasn't embracing the move at all!

It was a struggle at first -

I focused on making his world okay.

Eventually he soared -

found new friends and HE bloomed.

This was 15 years ago that we came back 'home'

You know Miranda Lambert's song 

'The House that Built Me'?

I think of that often since we came back 'home'

Family and Friends have come and gone

Sometimes you can go home again -

but it's not what it was 20 years later -

or even 35 years later for that matter!!

I was thinking about all this today

If I allow it - discontentment can creep in -

I won't allow it!

If I allow it - disappointment can creep in -

I won't allow it!

If I allow it - fear and doubt can creep in -

I won't allow it!

My husband has worked hard
for the last 36 years to ensure
we were well taken care of -

He does a fabulous job.

Our comfort and joy has always been
his first priority.

When I start speaking discontentment words
and doubting the next step...

I make sure and let him know it's not a 'lack'

it's just a feeling I fight even now.

I know first hand -

Feelings will trip you up EVERY time!

I refuse to let those feelings rule!

 I WILL allow....

Joy

that I still have my wonderful life.

Joy

that I am blessed  when I think of all my life has given me.

Contentment

that I am not alone in any of my adventures.

Contentment

in the knowing that once again....

I WILL

bloom where I am planted!!

Fail Often

Fail Often

Inside each of us, there is an element of fear.

Fear of failing.

Each individual will have a different view of what failure is to them.

Each person has a different perspective of failure in their life.

Mine lately has been fear of criticism.

Not criticism of my life, or my home, or even my husband.

The criticism I speak of is from those who criticize for a living.

I love poetry 

I love to write about how I see the world

I love writing on my blog (although I've not for some time).

I have the awesome privilege of attending a writers conference.

I have read each of the speakers bio's

I've checked into their world of writing.

It's different from mine.

I have second guessed whether I should go to a conference of writers.

Am I a writer?

Am I good enough?

Am I enough?

Self doubt leads to a fear of failing - many times before you ever actually begin.

Self doubt can derail even the most talented writer.

Will someone see the value in what I am passionate about?

Will someone see me, hear me, like me?

Yes, these all go through my mind.

I wonder......do published authors still have those thoughts?

I am eager to experience all that will be offered to me.

I want to soak it all in and meet some new friends.

I am looking forward to learning how to present my work

 I am excited (and yes a bit scared) to meet publishers, authors, writers and more!

As the days dwindle down 

and the moment gets closer that I will leave for a few days to learn..

Learn how to write better

Learn how to talk to others who write

Learn how to present myself to a publisher

I'm ready to let go of the

Fear of Failing.

Speaking of failure -

I saw this great video that Will Smith put out.

It made me think that the Fear of Failing 

isn't such a bad thing.

If you don't fail early - you won't learn what not to do next time.

If you don't fail often - you won't understand the successes in life.

If you don't fail for ward - you will continue not try to do better.

Failure -
It's like the saying....

Practice makes perfect, right?

Failure is a valuable part of living a successful life - 

I'm ready to fail early,

I'm ready to fail often,

I'm ready to fail forward!

Are you?