The Ring With The Blue Stone

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children, Dad, death, Diana Schwenk, family, foundation, gift, good character, grief, growing up, History, Hump Day Chronicles, lessons, life, Life's like that, love, memories, Mom, parenting, safe, Stuff my parents used to say and do, values

My parents in 1960 and the ring with the blue stone

When you want to build something, you start with a good foundation. When you want to understand something, you start with the fundamental pillars of the subject. In other words, you learn the history, the mechanics of it, the whys and whats and wheres.

In the same way,  when you feel lost, it helps to go back to where you began so you can remember where you came from, what you have learned about this business of living, what you truly long for in life, and how you can get it and how you can share your gifts with the world. Sometimes you grab onto a symbol of the past and carry it with you like a talisman that you can look at, or touch when you need to be grounded.

Since Dad passed away, I’ve been in kind of a fog. I got the basics covered, you know…  I wake up, brush my teeth, shower, dress, exercise, go to work, eat, go to bed and start it all over again the next day. 

But I’ve lost a bit of my oomph.

A bit of my zest for life.

Dad was always my rock.

He had this way of making me feel secure and letting me know that he was there for me, no matter what.

My Plan B, if Plan A should fail.

Although I rarely resorted to Plan B, I knew I could if I had to, I knew it was there if I needed it.  

This past New Year’s Eve, as I was deciding which piece of jewelry to wear for an event I was attending, I came across the ring with the blue stone. The ring that cost forty dollars in 1960 and took Dad several weeks of saving so he could buy it for Mom to celebrate their first anniversary.

Dad was so upset when Mom gave me that ring almost thirty years later. But I’m so glad she did, so I could find it on the last day of 2016 and slip it on my finger. And with the wearing of it, remember the values he taught me and the traits he exemplified; like a good work ethic, empathy, diplomacy, loyalty and strength of character.  

What a gift!

What a great foundation from which to find my way again!

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~

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Happy Thanksgiving From The Middle of Nowhere!

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Alberta, attitude, blessings, Canada, daughter, disappointments, family, farming, food, grateful, Gratitude, Happy Thanksgiving, harvest, Relationships, Rosalind, thankful, values

If we magnified blessings as much as we magnify disappointments, we would all be much happier.

~ John Wooden

Well…not exactly nowhere. But when you’re an urbanite like me, driving on a handful of secondary highways to get to Rosalind, Alberta feels a lot like the middle of nowhere.

Me and Michaela Sept. 2016

I gladly drive those lonely highways though, to spend Thanksgiving with my daughter, her boyfriend Werner and his family.

That’s right. Here in Canada we celebrate Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October. My guess is, we pushed it up to line up with harvest time north of the 49th.

Speaking of harvest, that’s what my daughter, Werner and his parents have been up to on their family farm the last few weeks.

What’s more Thanksgiving than that?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I’m going to practice magnifying my blessings instead of blowing up my disappointments into massive proportions, how about you?

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

Have you hugged a farmer today?

This post has been scheduled to publish on Sunday. When you read this, I will already be in the middle of nowhere cherishing wonderful people. I hope you are also with those whom you love. ❤

Diana xo

What is Done in Love is Done Well

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caring, community, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, family, friends, generosity, happy, helpful, integrity, kindness, laughter, life, listen, love, mission, Purpose, Relationships, service, teaching, values

Justine Waddell by Vincent Van Gogh

Whoever loves much, performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well.

Vincent Van Gogh

Love is a word we don’t always feel comfortable using in North America. It’s a word that is limited to how we feel about our lover or our family. To use the word love with any other person can be awkward at best.

Sure we use it as in loving humankind or nature or science or a cause or for activities like bowling, cycling, reading, running, or whatever you love to do. But you won’t catch us referencing it about the letter carrier, a co-worker or neighbor.

And that’s too bad really.

Because even if you have a degree, or years of experience, or you can do whatever it is you do while blindfolded with your hands tied behind your back, it’s just a lot of noise if it’s done without love.

And every time we interact with someone, whether teaching them, listening to them, helping them we can accomplish so much more and make them and ourselves feel so much more valued, if our motivation is love.

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

What Do You See?

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200 words, community, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, gifts, goodness, health, inspiration, joy, kindness, laughter, passion, Personality trait, Relationships, values

When we seek to discover the best in others, we somehow bring out the best in ourselves. – William Arthur Ward

In my professional life, one of my responsibilities is to proof written materials. In this role, I look for mistakes and fix what is wrong. In other words, I see what I’m looking for.

That’s my job.

But I try to be mindful about not looking for mistakes in other areas of my life.

When it comes to people, I work hard to look for what is right and good.

I am moved by their passions.

I spot the traits that I aspire to, and try to incorporate them.

I focus on their strengths and value the gifts they bring to the table.

And find joy in encouraging them to use their gifts.

There’s nothing more beautiful than watching someone shine in their natural abilities.

Bringing out the best in someone else brings you joy.

And it’s possible to do, even with people you may not particularly like!

It’s rather amazing how looking for the best in others can bring out the very best in you.

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

What do you see? What are you looking for?

Learn to see the extraordinary in the ordinary

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200 words, common, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, extraordinary, memories, Purpose, taken for granted, thankful, values

“Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great.” – Orison Swett Marden

The common things in life are really quite extraordinary.

Most of us take every day things for granted and don’t even notice their value until we lose them.

When I was 19, I thought it would be a great idea to play two-on-two tackle football in a parking lot.

I may, or may not, have been a tad tipsy at the time.

Doug was on my team. He weighed about 130 pounds in wet clothes.

Our opponents weighed 200+ pounds each.

Long story, short; I was charged as if by a raging bull.

My body flew into the air like a cannon ball.

And I landed somewhat sideways on my right bent-in-an-unnatural-way leg.

Thankfully, I didn’t break anything.

But I tore some ligaments, and bruised some muscles and my knee swelled up to twice its size.

I wanted nothing more than to be able to run through a field of flowers.

Our bodies are amazing, no?

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

Walking and dancing and running and even brushing my teeth seems so common yet they are extraordinary activities if you really think about it.

A Lesson from Star Trek

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200 words, caring, collaboration, community, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, hatred, integrity, love, power, Relationships, survive, thrive, true to yourself, trust, values, world issues

There’s another way to survive. Mutual trust…and help.   ~  Captain Kirk in ‘Day of the Dove’

Kirk laughs with McCoy and Kang, and the alien eventually departs.

In the ‘Day of the Dove’  Star Trek episode, Kirk and his crew find themselves in an intense battle with the Klingons.

Each side suspects the other of sabotage.

The more they fight, the more their hatred grows, all the while they unwittingly give up who they intrinsically are; feeding an alien entity exactly what it needs to grow stronger.

The stronger the alien becomes, the more it is able to cause dissention between them.

Eventually, they figure out what is going on and cease their warring. The alien (Hatred) loses its power and hope for mutual trust is restored.

Sometimes we find ourselves fighting so hard against something that we forget what it is we stand for.

If we clue in to what is really going on and strive to work together, we too can find common ground and build trust, not only surviving, but actually thriving.

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

 Can you think of a situation that would benefit if you shift your approach?

Leaders of Change

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200 words, change, children, community, courage, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, dreams, fame, family, followers, kings, leaders, mission, pawns, Purpose, recognition, together, tradition, values

At the end of the game, the Pawn and the King go in the same box. ~ Italian proverb

I saw this quote on another blog the other day. It was one of 15 points to encourage readers as they move into 2014.

It got me to thinking how we sometimes believe that only the leader (king)  makes a difference. It is (s)he who sets the agenda, calls all the shots and leaves their mark.

The rest are the followers (pawns),  the ones who fulfill the wishes of the King.

Do we associate leadership with recognition and fame?

Does ground-breaking change only happen through those in high power or does it also start with someone on the ground floor who knows the lay of the land?

Sometimes those who change the world do so in secret. No red carpet is rolled out for them. No News team is dispatched to cover their story. No one even speaks their name when they’re gone.

Their work takes a life-time; one person at a time. Their values, dreams and traditions are passed onto their children.

And in the end the King and Pawn go in the same box.

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~