so much love.

Friends, I will be very vulnerable with you this week because I believe that I am not the only one with a tender heart today, and if I can lift another up by these words then I am glad God has given me the ability do so.

I didn't want to venture into this as I feel so inadequate to even comment on such an event but I have felt very fragile these last few days, like my heart may literally break. At the same time though I have this incomprehensible peace over me.

Like many of you I'm sure, your heart has been hurting this weekend as a very hurting event happened last Friday that has thrown so many emotions into chaos.

One thing I can’t help but think today is that there is so much love in this world.

At first glance that does not make sense, as many have sorrow, anger, confusion and bitterness (to say the least) coursing through their bodies these last couple days, but it must be realized that all of these extreme emotions stem from love.

If one does not love someone, they do not feel the extreme pain when they are taken from them.

If one does not love someone, they do not try and protect them with their life.

If one does not love someone, they do not rush to where there is danger to try and find their child, sibling, wife, husband, or friend.

If one does not love someone, they do not rally together to support one another and lift each other up in a time of need.

If one does not love someone, they do not weep for strangers in hurting times.

There is so much love.

Events happen that we do not understand, and never will on this earth. I wish we could find the answers we so desperately need but it is not possible. To try and understand causes such great inner turmoil that you lose sense of the present and your ability to love for tomorrow.

To try and live again after such a hurting event has thrown your world upside down is not an easy task nor a sign of forgetting the past, but an incredible testament of the heart wanting to live and love again, inspired by the one you have lost.

You were made to love. The devil tries to steal, kill and destroy it, but you were made to love.

Friends, I encourage you to hold tight to love today, tomorrow and for forever.  

A full heart is a brave heart

let's be brave and love

Excitement. Lots of it.

"WHO'S EXCIIIIIITED?!?!??!"

I just had to get that out there. Most likely you did not read it the same way I typed it sounding in my head... but here let me help:

(as loud as you can aka screaming) "WHO'S EX-CITE-EEEED!!!!!!!" (Now hold an expectant look on your face as you watch your audience, even if it's just the mirror.)

Before we jump in on something life changing, I will just tell you now that I got that quote/saying from a motivational CD that I keep hearing. It's such a good one. This dad wakes up his kids like this in the morning, and the kids, being used to such extreme excitement, do get excited to live that day!!

AHHH I'm excited just thinking about it.

"Sherylynn... calm yourself, what in the world are you excited about!"

To which I respond... everything! Because everything has a purpose and set by a God that loves me.

Someone said something today about it being a Monday and how they hated it but once I realized that it was indeed Monday guess what, that made me excited!! I was full of joy over the fact that it was Monday because that means God gave me a whole new week of being with Andrew, meeting people, going to gatherings, hanging out with my family, eating food, writing, reading, baking, working, organizing, dreaming, chasing goals, encouraging, inspiring, being artistique, planning brunches, catching up with old friends, looking at wedding photos, and a million more things! Monday is a brand new start, why oh why in the world do people hate on Monday so much!
Monday, I thank you for your representation of a new week! Hoorah!

Now if you were peering into my window right now (creepy, please don't) you would think that perhaps I am leading you astray because I am just sitting here typing, looking like the average woman. Wrong-O, my friend.......O. There is so much ambition and excitement that is growing within me everyday to be the best I can be and become the woman God wants me to be that sometimes I honestly think I make my heart skip a beat. Other times I'm so overwhelmed with joy I start tearing up in my office. It's fantastic!! I hope I am contagious!

Contagious indeed. To bring in current events today... the Christmas season is not about "ugh, I have to go to this party", "Ughh I have to go to the mall." "Ugh, I'm whining about something Christmas related." Be excited about everything the season represents and how many opportunities become available for you to meet new people, create amazing heart felt gifts with eco-friendly wrapping, be with family and/or friends that love you, and just cherish the moment and the days as opposed to trying to hide until the 'busyness of the season' has passed.

Challenge for you my dear friend: Wake up tomorrow morning and as your brain is figuring out what's happening, who you are, what day it is, etc., start telling yourself how excited you are for the day. Pray for your day to go well and the joy to multiply. Start pumping yourself up that you have so many opportunities to excel right at your fingertips today. Tell yourself how incredible you are and the potential you have to accomplish the impossible. You are going to have a great day. When you're ready... jump out of bed and scream:

WHO'S EXCITE-EEEEED!!!

Marriage: Christmas Decision Making Surprises

Hi Friends!

If you were unaware, about eight times a week I get the question, "How's married life?" so today I thought I would give you an update on said married life. So to catch you all up, Andrew and I are coming up on our one year anniversary of when we started dating... technically it won't be our anniversary since we aren't dating anymore but let's not get all caught up on that... basically what I wanted to highlight is the fact that we started dating at the end of December last year. This means that we have never been together for a Christmas season. This then makes it so much more interesting that we are married this year and are decorating our home and planning for our christmas holidays together.

The best part about our first christmas together is the unveiling of differences that we were unaware of. A few weeks ago Andrew and I ventured out to get our first stockings... (awwwww).... and it was going pretty well, except Andrew pointed out all the stockings he liked which unfortunately happened to be most of the stockings that I didn't like and all the ones I pointed out he considered to be too girly (I will admit, that was quite true). A couple stores later and we found a stocking we both agreed on, so I said perfect, grab two of them... At which point I realized that Andrew had never considered the idea that we would have matching stockings. Ooops, bad communication on my part.

Since we had some figuring out to do with the whole stocking situation I decided we could grab an angel for the top of the tree while we were already in the christmas section. This is when I realized that Andrew had been thinking of getting a star, not an angel, for the top of our tree the whole time. Oh my my, what a surprise. Basically we realized that many elements of our upbringings were completely opposite when it came to Christmas, such as when we open christmas presents (christmas morning vs christmas eve), different christmas traditions, different tastes in christmas decorations, Andrew's love for nutcrackers, my joy of singing Silent Night to any light in a dark room, and many others.

Now as I'm writing all of this I think it's quite humorous just how opposite Andrew and I are in our view of Christmas traditions as my house was typically quite Martha Stewart perfection compared with his home's cozy traditional memories collected. Neither is better than the other but they are just quite different. I also have the thought in my mind that at the end of the day none of these are big issues. The adventure of just finding out these different preferences of ours has been quite fun as well as finding solutions for how to bring our two visions together. Marriage life is so fun as you continually just learn more about each other and what different experiences you have had that makes the other person so unique. My husband is a very unique individual and I am so glad that we get to squish our Christmas traditions together and make compromises to create brand new traditions to decorate for our very first Christmas together...

 

Sometimes when you allow another viewpoint to come into your life, you see the world from a whole new fantastic level. Andrew Smith... I love that man.

B Words

Today I have on my mind what the world would look like if we could eliminate two B words:

1) Busy
2) Bored

Yes, there are other B words and some of them would be good to be eliminated too, but we are sticking with only these two for today.

Oook, so busy and bored, these words keep coming up because they are the two most common B words used. Oh fine, I made that up, but it's probably close to being true don't you think? How often do you get one of these words in response to "what did you do yesterday?" At first glance these words appear to be opposites, since if one is busy they must not be bored, and vice versa, but I believe society today has mixed up what these words mean. Now it's time for "Sherylynn Dictionary". I just made that up too.

Busy: A word that has come to mean an unproductive or overusage of time. A word used in response to get out of something, to cover poor planning, to accomodate unproductive tasks, to use in replace of "I'm not sure what I have accomplished in the last week because I spent a lot of time doing things I don't remember" or a 'go to' word used to explain that you don't know your limits and have over committed. Lastly, this word can be used without realizing the power it holds to make a person feel unimportant.

Bored: A word that has come to mean an unproductive use of time. A word used when one doesn't know how to be productive, when one doesn't know their potential, when one doesn't know their self-worth, when one doesn't know how to set goals. A word used when one has forgotten how to dream dreams.

I hope I am not being too harsh today but I think these words reveal so much about a person that they should be re-evaluated. To put everything together in a way that makes sense seems quite difficult but I will give it a try with the example of cell phone games:

For me, if a person tells me they were busy yesterday but then in the next sentence mentions that they played a new game on their cell phone for almost two hours I question their 'business' and what they value as a good use of time. This is where bored comes in, if one is 'bored' and therefore feels justified in playing the same unchallenging game over and over again, then passing it off as being 'busy,' this worries me. Friends, have you forgotten your potential and creativeness for accomplishing incredible things?

I am not saying don't have jobs, classes, church involvement or other commitments that fill up your schedule, but be aware of the fact that the time you spend being 'busy' and not productively building relationships, pursuing your dreams, goals, and developing as an individual is simply time wasted. You were created for incredible things and not rushing around without an exact task in mind beyond knowing that you are 'busy'.
Furthermore, boredom is not a part of who you are. You are not a boring individual and you never have been. Boredom is a frame of mind that is a bad habit, occurring when you forget your potential. Boredom can also be used as an excuse to not do something, in which case you are not actually bored you are delaying and distracting yourself from tasks at hand. Friends, you were made with a purpose and dream in your heart. And to add to that, you were wonderfully made with gifts and talents that are not being properly used when the only two things you know in life are being 'busy' or 'bored'.

You were made for so much more!

I hope something in there made sense and that you don't leave feeling offended... I just see so much potential around me everyday, waiting to be set free to fully develop into a masterpiece.

Have a great week friends. Hugs to all!

Dentists & Attitudes

ahhhh I don't want to write this blog... I've delayed it... I talked about it instead of writing it... I've done other things... I watched a youtube video about a sweet flash mob aaaaand now here I am. Whew deep breath: Today is a Confession time of sorts in the hopes that I may become a better person and somehow inspire others to face their fears as well.

Confession: I dislike the dentist.
(Just so you know, I refrained myself from using the word 'hate'. It was tough. Please read on.)

Now you may all be thinking "pffff big deal, nobody likes the dentist it's just something you have to do."
In which case, call me nobody because I do not like the dentist. When I think of the dentist what I feel is great fear, as well as a feeling of panic and dread and self-pity and dentist focused anger and wanting to bite people, etc.... it is many things I assure you that you do not want to feel.
I'm not sure where the fear came from but most likely from the fact that the dentist is linked with pain and feeling sick. I will share some stories, this is embarassing, but I'll tell you. Ay yi yi. When I was a younger person I never liked the dentist either, I recall getting brave enough to go to the dentist (since my mother made me) but then would refuse to open my mouth once sitting in the dentist chair. Then I would leave. Then I would get brave enough and return... and then yet again refuse to open my mouth. Yes, laugh away, hilarious. I don't know how often or how long this went on for, it's called mental blocks. Many a story I could share with you such as being allergic to products the dentists use and losing my voice as a result, feeling super sick, weak enamel, getting crazy teeth surgery and the numbing coming out before they were finished, retainers...retainers...retainers.. I'm getting all crazy just thinking about this and writing it down. ahhhhh dentist.

Let's find a point to this. Ok, so to recap we are talking about dentists. What always follows when I think of the dreaded word 'dentist' (think Lion King and the hyenas: "mufasa") is my attitude. Because this is usually how my visits go.
Step 1: Dread dentist appointment
Step 2: Force myself to dentist appointment, if extended wait period in waiting room, consider running away.
Step 3: Let any dentist personnel know that I do not want to be there by stating, "Just so you know, I have a really bad attitude about being here and don't want to be here."
Step 4: Refuse to make any follow up appointments then get a lecture on the importance of oral health.
Step 5: Plan to never return to the dentist.

That's not even exaggerating. Overdramatic yes. I mean even reading that seems crazy to me!! Who does that?!? That's embarassing to read and moreso when you realize it's yourself. Sherylynn why in the world are you telling people this!
Now here's why... I have to make a dentist appointment soon and it's become quite apparent that if I let myself continue the way I am; this fear, panic, self-pity, and HORRIBLE attitude towards the dentist, is just going to expand to the point that I might actually never return to the dentist and will end up wearing dentures by the time I am 30! Panic! Furthermore, as you can tell from my prior words, I have a very engrained bad attitude towards the dentist, however, this does not mean that it can't be changed. And that is what I intend to do. And do you know how you change an attitude? You catch yourself when speaking negatively and find the lies within it.

For example:

1) I hate the dentist!! LIE... I don't hate the dentist as a person, I dislike the pain that dental work causes me.
2) The dentist hates me. LIE... The dentist is there to protect my chompers and keep me healthy.
3) I have a bad attitude towards the dentist. LIE... I have an improving attitude towards the dentist.

If I let my fears get the best of me, I will not make the effort to make another dentist appointment and in the end will cause more damage to myself. If I stand up to my fear, choosing to have an attitude of overcoming, then I can pick up that phone and make myself an appointment. It starts with choosing which attitude you will take on and the appropriate actions that suit that attitude will follow. Which will you choose?

And lastly, here is what was stuck in my head the whole time I was writing:

"FISHY... WHY IS YOU SLEEPING!!"

Storytime: Debbie Discourager

It's been a while, time for a Storytime Monday inspired by recent thoughts. Let's jump in shall we.


Debbie Discourager was a typical human being named Debbie Discourager. She thought a lot about working out and eating healthy, but never doing so, she worked a 9-5 job, never really loving it, and had a full head of hair, but always wishing it was curly.

Debbie Discourager typically started her day by going to the local coffee shop and grabbing a coffee before heading to work. Today Emma Energy was in line ahead of her and struck up a conversation...
____________________________________________________
"What a gorgeous day outside, eh?" said Emma Energy excitedly, a die hard Canadian, "I woke up this morning and just had to get out there for a jog."

"You went jogging this morning..." Debbie Discourager replied with a look of disgust, "why the heck would you get up early to do something like that, wouldn't you rather sleep in and enjoy your day."
_____________________________________________________
Emma Energy had now grabbed her coffee and gave a quiet good bye to Debbie Discourager as she made her way out the door. Debbie Discourager thought nothing of it.

Once Debbie Discourager got to work she made sure everything was as she left it and went forth in her day. At break time her sister, Susan Sews, texted her a picture of the latest outfit she had just sewn for her child's doll...

______________________________________________________

"CHECK IT OUT DEB, JUST FINISHED THIS MORNING. SUPER CUTE!" Susan Sews texted.

"STOP WASTING YOUR TIME ON STUPID THINGS LIKE THIS SUSAN." Debbie Discourager replied in outrage that her sister had put time into yet another pointless thing for her child to play with.

_______________________________________________________
Debbie Discourager went back to her job without a second thought. Her sister never texted back a reply.

Come lunch time, the many employees began flooding into the lunch room to heat up their frozen entrees. Debbie Discourager was amongst the typical employees with her frozen lasagna dinner to be heated. She looked to her coworker beside her and realized that he had home made lasagna, actually made from scratch.
_______________________________________________________
"Pff why do you bother wasting time making that from scratch when you can quickly just buy it like this." She informed her coworker, showing him the cardboard container of frozen lasagna.

"My wife loves cooking and I think home made is a lot healthier and tastier," he replied then returned to his meal he was clearly enjoying.
_______________________________________________________
Debbie Discourager figured his wife must be one of those house wifes with nothing else to do but make her husband food and thought it was such a ridiculous idea to make elaborate meals for no reason.

The day ended and Debbie Discourager went home to watch TV and scoff at the people on the news that were trying to raise money by biking across Canada, clearly an unproductive use of time to just bike around like that.

Storytime Statement: Do you realize that in everyday situations you have the ability to encourage another human being simply by not discouraging them or making them feel ridiculous for going outside the 'norm'.

The difference from negativity to positivity is as simple as this:
"You went jogging this morning! Wow, good for you!"
"Oh my goodness, Susan, you amaze me with your sewing talent!"
"What a blessing your wife must be to you!"

Be a simple encourager this morning by being aware of your discouraging statements and flipping it. Similar to 'turn that frown, upside down'.

What a Mess: Confessions from a Neat Freak

Yes, mess. A delayed mess.

I will show you right from the get go what I am talking about:

Oh the horror.
Now this may not be considered that huge of a mess... I mean really there is only a lamp, lamp shade, jumbo fabric cutting board, box of old clothing, and random jackets and reusable bags (saving the planet... hollah!), but the horror of it all is that this is all in the backseat of my car. And to make it even worse... it's been there for the last month and a half since I went on strike from moving. Ohhhh the shame!! The shame!! My internal neat freak has revealed the worst of herself. I wish I could tell you that I have now cleaned this all up. That would be false. Double shame!

I'm rambling. I will tell you the point of exposing my vulnerable neat freak heart today. Speaking of heart, (brilliant segue Sherylynn) the backseat of my car got me thinking about how easily it is to just carry around junk with us. Worse than that, it's super impractical and a lot more complicated to carry this junk around. (In response to my mothers thought she is thinking as she reads this: Of course I don't consider that lamp to be junk. Also, I love that fabric board, that is not junk either but in the grand picture that's what it all looks like from an outsider. Clarified.)

In a literal sense, when I have a backseat full of junk my daily living gets a lot more complicated than it needs to be. For instance, I have to maneouver all of my daily items to fit around the existing junk, I can't just place my purse in the back seat, no I have to balance it on top of that box, and then sometimes I turn the corner too sharp and it falls down and squishes the lamp shade and I worry that I ruined it. Furthermore, when I carry all this junk with me I cannot transport friends, family members or strangers in need of a ride, my services to others becomes a lot more limited. Lastly, with all this junk in my backseat, I have to depend on others (aka my husband's car) to use their vehicle if we are going somewhere or doing something that requires space to transport or pickup items. And all this could be resolved if I just looked back there and sorted it out! My Andrew keeps telling me that eventually I am going to have to look back there, but I have been in complete avoidance because I'm on strike from moving. The picket signs are going to come down soon though.

Now driving point the life changing comparison, stay close, it'll be good... when we have issues in our lives that have not been dealt with or emotions from our past that are lingering about like a crazy freaky stalker, it is just the same as carrying around piles of junk with us everywhere we go. In this situation I consider the junk to be damaging emotions about or torwards elements of your past (bitterness, frustration, anger, sadness, etc.), as well as damaging memories that replay actions that stir up those bad feelings over and over again. Your daily life becomes a lot more complicated as you place in new emotions or thoughts around the existing 'junk' in your heart and brain but eventually just get absorbed into the bad emotions. Furthermore, your relationships with friends, family members, and strangers can begin to be cutoff as you will not be able to supply the physical, emotional, or mental support required to maintain that relationship as that space normally reserved for them within you is overflowing with 'junk'. And lastly, as some relationships are cutoff, your dependence level on other relationships will grow. You depend too heavily on another person, a TV show, game, movie, book, etc. to enable you to feel happy again. Where your head feels too full with 'junk' you can put your attention elsewhere for a time being and escape to a place where there is not necessarily no 'junk' but that junk is a welcome change from the misery you carry with you on a regular basis.

Friends, I encourage you today to start working towards a drama free life (no no drama... no no no no drama, you'll get it or you won't..) and that basically just means start resolving things!! As hard and time consuming as it may be to go through all the 'junk' in your 'backseat' to figure out what is there, why it is there, and where it should go the rewards of doing so are endless. Who knows what opportunities may arise if you have space for them to go!