For Lent this year I am doing Pray40, which is on the Hallow app. On Sundays, Father Mike Schmitz gives a Bible reading and homily. Yesterday, the theme was “Looking for Joy.” Father Mike mentioned the following quote:
“Suspicion often creates what it suspects.” C.S. Lewis from the “Screwtape Letters.”
My major takeaway was that if we often find what we’re looking for. If we’re looking to be disappointed, most likely we will be. Distrust can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I realized that life truly is what we make of it. It’s was a reminder that our attitudes can be our destiny. If we look for joy, we can find it.
I’m sharing some bits of joy I had this week, birdwatching at home:
The joyful couple together at the Bird Buddy AI feeder.
I watched as Red fed Mrs. and then gave her a turn at the feeder, but I wasn’t fast enough with the camera to capture it. It was heartwarming though!
Quail Egg Update:
I’ve only peeked a couple times on our quail nest. Last week I said we had four eggs. We’re now up to a dozen! I wrote about our quail nest HERE.
While I’m resting and recovering from a bout of COVID-25, I discovered writing isn’t that easy. My head feels stuffy and thick. I’m doing better sitting inside the casita photographing my bird buddies. Instead of focusing on my cardinal couple Red and Mrs., I felt it was time for the ordinary guys to have their day in the sun.
The photo above is a House Finch munching on a sunflower seed. (Please feel free to correct my bird identification.) I like the wings of a dove behind him.
Papa quail and a teen in front of a Barrel Cactus.
The baby quails are growing into awkward looking teens.
A House Finch on top of a Barrel Cactus.
House Finch on Beavertail Cactus statue.
I liked the angle of the finch and a different cactus.
We have an abundance of White-Winged Doves. Here’s one in a tree.
One not so ordinary guy:
Last but not least, our resident Roadrunner, getting ready make his move.
Do you have a favorite bird photo? If so, which one?
I caught my favorite model taking off in flight. That was exciting for me. Much more so than PT.
I’m going to a Physical Therapy place twice a week. In the beginning, I was fine with it. But by the time I’d get home, which is 20 minutes away, I started to hurt. I didn’t ice the first couple visits because the appointments were during my husband’s work hours and I didn’t want to take up more of his time (which he said didn’t matter.) Oh well.
Now my appointments are in the afternoon, and I’m asking for ice. It’s helping. But what I really miss is the Game Ready machine my physical therapist had back in the Palm Springs area. The Game Ready is a game changer!
My husband asked if they had one and they said they aren’t very common here as they are in California. What’s a Game Ready you ask? It’s an ice machine that pumps cold into a sleeve you wear and it also adds compression. It is amazing. I used one after I fell skiing and had my ACL replaced.
Mrs. in our backyard enjoying bird seed.
I had a bad experience Monday when my assigned PT guy wasn’t there. The PT works my ankles with massage and stretches. I got a sub who did just as fine. When the PT is done, I get passed off to an assistant to guide me through exercises. The day which wasn’t so great, I got passed off two times to assistants and landed with one who was working with five patients at once. Needless to say, I did a lot of sitting, trying to get attention, and not getting any corrections or anyone watching me.
Back at “home” in Palm Springs, my PT office was owned by two former collegiate athletes — swimmers and women — who watched me every moment. That’s my comparison.
And they invested the money to have a row of Game Ready ice machines. Oh yeah.
Red striking a pose.
I was frustrated when I got home. I called two friends and asked about their PT, thinking I might need a change. I called the kids, as well. Anyway, before calling my surgeon to complain, I decided to keep my Wednesday afternoon appointment and go with an open mind. (She had said to let her know if there were any issues with PT). Maybe my Monday appointment was a one off and Wednesday would be fine.
We have two new families of baby quail visiting our yard. They have six babies each!
Fortunately, it was a good appointment. I got attention, corrections and wasn’t left alone. I believe it’s essential to face something with a good attitude and open mind. I could have gone to PT with a negative point of view and my outcome would most likely have been bad.
What are your thoughts about point of view, attitude and keeping an open mind?
My kids learned perseverance and to never give up from swimming.
Recently I lost an entire manuscript that I failed to back up. I was devastated. My computer was randomly deleting files and the automatic backup I thought was going on — wasn’t.
It’s been a longtime goal of mine to have a book published. I’ve written several manuscripts, but so far the goal has been elusive. When my latest attempt disappeared I was tempted to quit altogether. I’m not getting any younger and maybe I’m wasting my time.
But I got over myself and I am enjoying writing the manuscript with a fresh perspective and new POV.
This incident reminded me of a post I wrote several years ago when I was disappointed and almost quit. Here’s a bit of it:
I got an unfortunate email yesterday. It was from an agent, who was reviewing my mid-grade novel I’ve been working on for years. Long story short, it was a no.
This is a big goal of mine, to get this book published. Finding an agent is one step along the way, and I had glimmers of hope when a couple agents were truly interested and one in particular, wanted eight weeks to take a deep dive.
When my husband consoled me I said, “I have two choices. I can quit or keep going.”
Four times since that email, I ran into messages like someone was placing a big neon sign in front of me with specific directions.
Dad fishing at Big Bear.
One
Dad shared that he spent almost three hours fishing yesterday. He was ready to give up, but decided to cast one more time in the last few minutes before he was due to return the boat. Yes, he caught a fish!
Two
I was looking at FB and a writer friend posted how lucky she was to find several four-leaf clovers yesterday after hours of looking. She said to never give up. Never!
Three
On Twitter, I saw from bestselling author Brad Thor a book recommendation for #Grit, a book about passion and perseverance. Yes, I’ll order it from Amazon today.
Here was part of his advice to get in touch with your feelings when you started on the journey:
“What are the reasons that I want to achieve this goal? List 2-3 reasons for why this goal is important to you. This is the simplest way to get in touch with your original set of motivations.
How will you feel when you push past the resistance you are feeling now? Think back to the last time you kicked down the wall of resistance that was in front of you. Yeah, that time. How did you feel afterwards? Proud? Like a certified O.G.?
Will you regret giving up a year from now? Imagine yourself a year from now. A year smarter, a year older, and hopefully a year further along. Is “Future You” going to be pumped about you having quit today?”
I got the message loud and clear. I’m not giving up on my goals or dreams. This is all part of the process, and yes there will be some ups and downs. It’s so cliched, but it’s also true.
Update:
I decided to put away the mid-grade novel after I submitted it to an editor who was a speaker for a webinar. For a fee you could get a critique. He gave me the snottiest, most hurtful critique. I’ll admit my feelings were hurt. Perhaps it was more of a reflection of his personality than my writing. I’ve started other projects including the manuscript I’m working on now. In the future I may get the mid-grade novel out and take a fresh look.
Yes, getting a rejection letter and a nasty critique are not great. Quitting on a dream would be worse.
How do you handle disappointment? What goals have your given up on? What goals are you still pursuing?
We had a great weekend celebrating our anniversary in Flagstaff, despite the hail that scared me to death and damaged our car. I definitely want to return to do more exploring. Plus, I loved the hotel the Little America. We stayed at a Little America in Salt Lake City for all the swim meets during my daughter’s college years at “the U.” Go UTES!
We visited a meteor crater, the hotel had two and half miles of hiking trails, I swam in the pool, the food was great. Here are some pics from our trip:
The pool at the Little America hotel where I swam.The nature walk at the hotel.At the Meteor Crater.Cliff dwellings at Walnut Canyon.National Monument.Flowers on the nature trail. Anyone know what they are?THE Little America ROLLS! Boy, I missed these from our Salt Lake City trips. Light, piping hot, filled with butter! View of the meteor crater.Sunset from the hotel parking lot.
Yesterday I had a breakthrough moment. During the endless hours of unpacking boxes, I realized I could let go of stuff. Lots of stuff. We are setting up our new home in Arizona after escaping the high cost of living in California. This wasn’t easy because my husband is third generation and I’ve lived in CA for 36 years after leaving my home state of Washington.
I got rid of sweatshirts that I’ve had for years, including ones from my kids momentous swim meets and a trip to Ireland. My biggest breakthrough was letting go of my DVD player and hundreds of DVDs and VHS tapes. I called my daughter and asked her if she minded. We have the complete Seinfeld and I Love Lucy DVDs. She looked it up and they are all on Hulu. “Let them go,” she said.
I had second thoughts of tossing my videos from ultrasounds of my babies in the womb. But, I haven’t looked at them in twenty plus years. There are also Nutcrackers when my son and I performed, plus underwater swim videos of my kids at USC swim camp. But I tossed them all. After all, I don’t have a VHS player and forgot all about these tapes.
I texted my son and asked if I could toss a stack of awards he had from St. Theresa’s, his elementary and middle school. “Please!” he texted back.
I’ve put away plenty of things that we need and will make life comfortable. Then I looked at all the boxes and wondered how will cluttering up a new house going to feel? Today, I’m elated I could finally let go. I’ve got more to toss today and tomorrow. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted and I feel 20 pounds lighter.
The view of quail from the Casita window this morning. Earlier, I watched a huge coyote stop outside the fence and we stared at each other for a few minutes.
Do you still own DVDs and VHS tapes? If you do, do you ever watch them? Do you have trouble letting stuff go?
