How A Ripple Becomes A Legacy

Ripples are the affect of an object being dropped into a body of water and creating ripples.  As the ripple begins to span out, it creates additional ripples.  We have the potential as individuals to create ripples.  Our actions can have an affect on others.  I can help out a friend by giving them a ride to their job.  They can then help out someone at their job that can affect that person.  We each have the potential to affect other people.  We don't always know the affect of our ripple.  I can start a business and someone can read my story in the newspaper on online and be motivated and inspired to follow a dream of theirs.  A simple act like a compliment or a thank you can have a ripple.  We have the ability to change a bad day into a good by changing the way we look at the day itself.   

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We are looking for 300 ways we leave a legacy. How do you want to be remembered? What has the legacy of someone else done to inspire you? As a blogger yourself, we want to add you to our blog roll which will allow everyone to link over to your post. Write about what a legacy means to you and then add the link code found by clicking through the link at the bottom of this blog hop. Thanks for participating. We look forward to learning more about what a legacy means to you.

Paving the Way

Some careers are not particularly woman-friendly. Yet there are women who venture into male-dominated fields and make their mark and leave their legacy. One such woman that comes to mind is Sally Ride. At the age of 27, having earned her PhD in astrophysics, she applied along with 8,000 other people to become an astronaut. Thirty-five people were selected and only 6 of those were women. In 1983, Sally ride became the first American woman to go into space. She was aboard the Challenger space shuttle when she made history. It wasn’t too many years earlier that girls who said they wanted to be an astronaut when they grew up were made fun of by their classmates. What a wonderful legacy women who are the firsts in their chosen fields are to young girls and grown up women alike. There should be no limit to doing what you love. Gratitude is due to those who made possible what today we take for granted.

The Legacy Of A Wish

Thirty years ago the Make A Wish was started by a group of individuals that wanted to grant a wish to a child with a life threatening disease. Today the organization has granted thousands of wishes. While this is amazing, the thing that amazes me the most are the recipients of the wishes. These children that are granted wishes and go into recovery then ask to help make other children's wishes come true.  From making bracelets, to have carnivals in their backyard there is no limit to the drive of these young individuals to make a difference in others lives.  When we think about the power of a Legacy, consider if we could impact our youth.  If we could inspire them at a young age to want to make a difference in our world what they can do in their lifetime the number of individuals they will be able to affect.  A Legacy can be created while we are young and expanded on.  We all have within us a Legacy to leave.  A purpose to fill.  What is your Legacy?  What change or affect do you want to have?  Never be afraid to pursue your purpose.  If a child can after being face with a life threatening disease then you can to..

What Legacy Do You Want to Leave Blog Hop

Posted in IE Mommy by The IE Mommy

When I saw this Blog Hop in my mailbox I knew that I had to post about it. You see, the term “legacy” has meant so much to me since my father passed away 5 years ago.

Upon his passing…I had to reflect on what was left behind? As a Christian, I have the hope that I will see him again one day but what about the “here and now”. What is left on this world? In one word his… legacy.

His love for music and family. His willingness to laugh, his ability to put his emotions into song and word. I remember looking around at my family during his service and realizing that everything he was and has done of importance was right here. His family….his legacy.

So what do I want to leave my girls? What legacy do I want to live? I need to be working on it daily. For myself I think often of Proverbs 31. The story of the most gracious, close to perfect wife and I remember that at one part..the reflection is that her children call her blessed and she is a jewel in her husband’s crown. I want to leave a legacy of virtue, strength, humility, gentleness and love. A love and desire to know and walk with the Lord daily. A kindness that hurts when others hurt but a strength to stand close to God and travel the journey of life behind him. I want to know that my legacy is that my girls and my grandchildren will all be walking with the Lord and living a life glorifying to Him. All else in my life pales in comparison to reflecting Christ to my daughters, to my husband and my family.

Yes, that’s the legacy I want to live…what about you?

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What Legacy Do Want To Leave Blog Hop

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One Legacy Leads To Another

Throughout time there was always a first. However, sometimes there was a first before that first that inspired the way for others that went before us. I had never heard of Kitty Wells until I wanted to write a blog on Taylor Swift. I wanted to know the first female country singer to top the charts and did some digging and found Kitty Wells. In 1952 her hit “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” hit the charts. Another hit “The Wild Side of Life” and its controversial pre-feminist lyrics was said to pave the way for singers like Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette and established Wells as the first major female country star.

Taylor Swift debut song “Tim McGraw” was released in 2006 and she was one of country music’s youngest faces. Her first album was released in late 2006 and had 5 consecutive top ten singles a new record for a female solo artist. Swifts debut album made her a titan in the country world; however in 2008 Fearless positioned her as the year’s biggest star on any genre.

On Saturday night I was at the last concert of her Fearless Tour along with 55,000 other fans. As the young Taylor took the stage and throughout the performance shared some of her journey and I was inspired. While I have no desire to be a singer I as do most of us have dreams and being around individuals that have made a dream a reality I felt inspired. Only 6 years earlier this was a dream. A young girl with her guitar sitting on her bedroom floor dreaming of being able to sing her music was now a reality. I wonder if during her dreaming she imagined she would be the first female singer to be the main performer at Gillette Stadium to a sold out crowd of 55,000 fans. As these thoughts danced through my mind I wondered if possibly the only difference between individuals like Taylor and Kitty was the passion and drive to see them through. So I will continue to search for Legacy’s that have made a difference that have had an impact and by doing so maybe someday become my own legacy and inspire someone.

A Legacy Not to Be Taken for Granted

As we think about the legacy empowering women have left behind, not all of them will be famous. Some will be known only to a few. Some will have left a great legacy but not be remembered by name but for what they left behind. Josephine Cochran is one of those. She is the woman who invented the first feasible mechanical dishwasher. It was a man by the name of Joel Houghton who came up with a wooden version, but it was Josephine’s patented design that ultimately was picked up by a manufacturer known today as KitchenAid. I imagine that back in 1886 when the patent was issued, Josephine had no idea that she would have made something that most people can’t even imagine living without. I will think about Josephine each day as my life is made a little easier by her legacy.

We Can Learn From The Legacies Others Have Left Behind

Throughout history there are women that followed their hearts and their passions. These women are an example of what we can accomplish in our own lives. Those that have gone before us can be our inspiration. We can learn from what they have accomplished and gain insight into what we are capable of accomplishing on our own.

There is no need in life to settle when it is possible to reach our full potential. Individuals like Erma Bombeck are examples of women that followed their passion and lived a life doing what they love. Their lives are their legacies.

Erma Bombeck said “When mothers talk about the depression of the empty nest, they're not mourning the passing of all those wet towels on the floor, or the music that numbs your teeth, or even the bottle of capless shampoo dribbling down the shower drain. They're upset because they've gone from supervisor of a child's life to a spectator. It's like being the vice president of the United States.”

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The Type of Legacy We Leave

A legacy can be a part of many different compartments in our lives. We can create a financial legacy, a legacy of character, and even a legacy of attitude. Any of these can be good or bad, positive or negative.

I once read a book by financial guru, Suzi Orman. She targets her financial advice toward women. Once she spoke of how her parent’s attitude about money deeply affected her buying attitudes. Her mother spoke of never having enough money. When Suzi grew up she went on shopping splurges and then had to face the dept. It was a negative financial legacy she had to redirect for her own life. On the other hand, she learned that she could be financially savvy, have the things she wanted and gain financial security. She didn’t have to carry the negative legacy of financial worry.

Our legacy of character and attitude has the ability to shape not only how we are remembered but how those affected by our example live their lives. Are we leaving a legacy of determination, honesty, and hard work? Will our positive attitude and spirit of hope trickle down to the character and attitude of our family members, friends or colleagues? There is more to a legacy that genetics or inheritances. How we view the world and how that shapes our character is leaving a legacy of spirit.

We Leave Our Legacy One Ripple At A Time

Legacy: [leg-uh-see] anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor


Ripple: [rip-uh l] to undulate or rise and fall in tone, inflection, or magnitude

A man is the sum of his actions, of what he has done, of what he can do. Nothing else." Mahatma Gandhi

The month of June is dedicated to our Legacy. How each action we take impacts our lives and the lives of those we encounter. If I awaken late and decide to take the approach there is a purpose to being late and not become stressed by the situation. As I go about me day my interactions with others will reflect this.

If I then compliment someone that was otherwise also having an off day I now have the potential of impacting that person as well. If today were the only day we were to examine as how to measure my legacy then I could potentially summarize the following.

I awoke late and rather than being upset was grateful that I awoke. As I went about my day I decided to spread the same attitude to those I encountered. They then were affected and decided to spread the same awareness of possibilities they had experienced with others.

My Legacy would be that of taking a negative and creating a positive and then sharing that positive with others. Until eventually we had created a Ripple. Each one of us leaves our legacy one ripple(action/encounter) at a time. What is your legacy?

Hope Comes Full Circle

As May comes to a close we reflect on the value of hope in our lives. If there is anything we wish to accomplish in our lives we typically begin with hope. It is the core or all that we set out to do. In reflection of our first day of May our goal was to demonstrate how hope is to purpose as air is to life. Hope breaths air into our dreams and allows them to come to life.

Hope offers us the belief of possibilities in things that have yet to happen. It enables us to overcome our fears and face odds others thought impossible. Hope is the seed that is planted in our thoughts and allows us to pursue our hearts content.

Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tunes without the words, and never stops at all. ~ Emily Dickinson

Hope...is the companion of power, and the mother of success; for who so hopes has within him the gift of miracles. ~ Samuel Smiles

Hope Found In A Fortune Cookie

Today was my mothers 65th birthday. For her birthday she went to the casino and played slots. While there she won over $3,000 which was at the perfect time considering she just had to have eye surgery that cost $5,000. This is always the way it works with my mom. If she gets a good fortune in a fortune cookie then it is going to come true. She creates her own good fortune. Whenever something happens that knocks her down she goes to the casino and for her she is able to turn $50 into $1000 or more.
The key to her success is she always goes there with a mind set that she will find her lucky machine and it is going to be her lucky night. Although she has her nights when luck isn’t on her side, there are more nights she wins then nights she doesn’t.

Our mind set helps us to create our opportunities to look for the yes instead of the no to seek possibilities and discover our potential. Sometimes the power of the fortune cookie isn’t so much the ability to create or predict the future as much as it is to empower us with hope. It opens our minds to the potential of what can be and for us to start looking for it that potential. That to me is the power of hope in a Fortune Cookie…

Hope's Balancing Act

Sometimes life is like a balancing act between the good things and the bad that happen in our lives. We are challenged to remain hopeful when it seems that Murphy’s Law has tipped the scales of justice to the bad side. It is at these times when we need hope the most. We need to have a bright hope that there is more good to be found than bad and that if we did not experience anything disappointing, difficult or unpleasant we would never have on the other side the experience to know the difference when life is going smoothly and all seems good. The forces of nature or the universe are not out to get us when things don’t go as planned. It is these experiences that let us realize the fullness of hope and happiness.

Hope Transforms

Just when the caterpiller thought the wold was over, it became a butterfly ~ Unknown

There are moments in life that it appears things aren’t going the way we had planned. If we look at history there are numerous examples of individuals that transformed from failure into success.


Henry Ford In 1899 the young mechanic and engineer started the Detroit Automobile Company with the backing of three prominent politicians. Ford hadn't quite mastered the innovation and production techniques that would eventually make him rich, though. Over the next two years, Ford proved to be too much of a perfectionist, and his plant only produced 20 cars as he painstakingly tinkered with designs.

The enterprise went bankrupt in 1901 and reorganized into the Henry Ford Company later that year. Ford eventually left that group and finally got things right in 1903, when he founded the Ford Motor Company.

Walt Disney His name may be a stalwart brand today, but early in his career, Disney was just a struggling filmmaker with too many bills. In 1922 he started his first film company with a partner in Kansas City, Kansas.

The two men bought a used camera and made short advertising films and cartoons under the studio name Laugh-O-Gram. Disney even signed a deal with a New York company to distribute the films he was producing. That arrangement didn't work out so well, though, as the distributor cheated Disney's studio.

Without the distributor's cash, Disney couldn't cover his overhead, and his studio went bankrupt in 1923. He then left Kansas City for Hollywood, and after a series of increasingly successful creations, Disney debuted a new character named Mickey Mouse in 1928.

Sometimes we have to be willing to keep trying to risk everything to discover success. As the butterfly leaves behind what is was in order to become a butterfly. We must sometimes let go of what we have to get what we want. Hope transforms.

Optimism & Hope

Hope and optimism go hand-in-hand. The dictionary.com definition of the word optimism is as follows.


op•ti•mism op-tuh-miz-uh m

–noun

1. a disposition or tendency to look on the more favorable side of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome.

2. the belief that good ultimately predominates over evil in the world.

3. the belief that goodness pervades reality.

An optimistic approach to all problems can keep us in a state of hope. If we can search for and find goodness in all situations we can find hope.

There is a fable about a set of identical twins. One finds hope in all things, the other is the opposite, a true pessimist. The worried parents took the twins to a psychologist and followed his instructions. On their next birthday they put the twins in separate room to open their presents. The optimist was given a box for manure. The pessimist was given the best toys and gifts – a computer, toy car, etc. When the pessimist opened his gifts he was sure the computer would just break and the car wasn’t as good as the one his friend had. They looked in on the optimistic child and found he was thrilled with his huge box of manure. When asked why he was so happy with that gift, he replied, “Where there is this much manure there must be a pony!” Hope is being able to find the source of every good gift.

Remembering Hope

History can teach us so much.  The one thing it can teach us the most is that hope has power.  Throughout our own history there are moments when life wasn't going according to plan. When we had doubt over how a situation would work out.  There are periods of time that we doubt we will ever be happy again.  That life will offer some ray of sunlight behind the emotion we are feeling at any given moment.  However, if we move forward and have hope it always does. 

If we move on to history we again see hope.  In almost every battle there are periods of doubt will we win?  Periods of time when the economy seems to be at its worst.  Then there is a shift and things swing back around to the positive.  Life teaches us if we have hope and move towards that hope there is almost always another path to take.  A new opportunity.  So in moments of doubt, reflect on your history.  Realize that things can always get better if you remain hopeful. 

Our Purpose, Our Hope

Earlier this month we compared hope to our purpose and recognizing that purpose as being as vital as the air we breathe. When I was reading a magazine article about Mike Rowe who started the series “Dirty Jobs” I learned that he began exploring the dirty jobs other people did to make everyone’s lives more pleasant. He decided to do this because his grandfather was one of those men who could do anything. He could fix what needed repair whether it was electrical, mechanical, plumbing related or all of the above. Mike Rowe felt that this kind of honest, hard work so important to us all, and the people who completed it, were not given the credit they deserved. Talk about purposeful work! Where would we be without the sewer repair guys or the chicken farmers of the world?

Our own work may not be as dirty, but we all hope it will be as meaningful. Mike Rowe talked about his own transition from working for a paycheck to loving the work he does so much that he rarely takes a day off. May we all find meaning in our work – our vocation or our mission– and have hope that our purpose for doing it has an equally meaningful place in the lives of others.

Hope To Find Our Own Greatness

“How do we inspire ourselves to greatness? We must exceed our own expectations.” ~ Invictus

As children we are taught to believe. Believe that reindeers fly and elves build toys. Believe in the Easter Bunny, Fairy Tales and that someday we could be anything. It is possible to be a famous actor, the president or a major athlete. We aren’t given limitations; instead our dreams are encouraged through stories, movies and dreams.

Somewhere this all disappears. We are taught about limitations and are flooded with news about what is wrong in society. We begin to doubt what life has to offer and even worse we begin to doubt ourselves and our own potential.
“I am the master of my fate the captain of my soul.” ~ Henley, William Ernest

However, there is hope. Inside every successful person is a person that overcame their own doubt. They realized they were the master of their own destiny and the captain of their own soul. They focused on what was possible not impossible. They took action toward attaining their dreams and with each action a new opportunity was born.

Our success is within our own hands. It is up to us what we do with it, the choice to pursue our dreams with all our heart. To be open to the potential opportunities that arise or to find reasons we must settle. To find opportunities or to look for what is wrong instead of what can be. Hope inspires us and enables us to become the person we are meant to be.

The Tides of Hope

Hope may come in cycles like the tide.  Sometimes it seems far off and there is a stretch of beach between it and the waves that it seems out of reach. Other times hope is high on the shore and catches up to us like the incoming tide that encroaches on the dry beach.  But just like the beach we may have to walk out a little further to reach the waves of hope and sometimes it finds us.  Whatever the case, hope is within our reach and that which gives us despair can be washed away if we find the hope.

positively present

positively present

Hope Illuminates

In every life there are moments of darkness and doubt. There are minutes, hours or days that we may be faced with fear. Like darkness that weights us down and keeps us from seeing. Every life, ever moment no matter how dark it may seem has the potential to touch a life. A flicker of hope can illuminate something larger than anyone could have ever imagined possible. Organizations like Make A Wish and Susan G Komen were born from someone finding hope in a moment of darkness. Today these organizations have illuminated millions of lives. Hope is that flicker when you wonder how I will do that says “you can do it’. Hope is that flicker that when you are scared says “you are not alone” Hope is that flicker that if given a chance grows into a flame. Hopes smallest flicker can illuminate and encourage others. Hope is that flicker that enables you to pursue a dream. Hope is that flicker that lights life’s path and upon reflection we see the power of hope to illuminate.

Hope To Inspire

One of my favorite things is movies.  I love them, especially the ones that take me away and enable me to believe in something we may have otherwise lost hope in.  Movies can inspire us to believe in love and hope to find the love they have in the movies.  Movies can capture a sensation of victory at the potential and hope for victory.  Movies can inspire us to believe in our dreams and create hope for the potential for our dreams to become reality.  Then if we look at the movie itself.  Long before there is a screen play there is an individual or individuals that hope to see their ideas on the big screen.  They take an idea and follow their hope until they make it reality.  The writer had an idea of a movie that could make the audience feel, laugh or cry.  They had hope that what they had in their minds could be translated to paper and then through actors and actresses to film.  Movies begin with hope, they can give hope and they can create hope.  That is why I love the movies. 

Enough Hope to Laugh

Hope is when you can laugh more than you cry. They say that laughter is the best medicine, but I believe hope lets you have moments of that all-healing laughter. There was a transition to my grieving the loss of my husband when people would ask me how I was doing. At some point I was able to realize I had happy moments where I could laugh again.

The opposite of hope is despair. Despair is a natural feeling to have when your whole world gets turned upside down. I have a good friend who refers to her life as a snow globe and when something traumatic happens it’s as if someone picked up her world and shook it. Then, just as the flakes settle, there would seem to be something else that would shake it and turn up the calm blanket on the bottom of the globe. With hope, we see the shake ups as disturbing our world but know that there will be a peaceful rest when the dust settles.
The real milestone I reached in my personal global shakeup was when I reached the point where I realized I was laughing more than I was crying. Hope in a future that can be as good as the past and hope in today being better than yesterday is how we heal, grow and ultimately thrive.

Hope From Letters

Today I was doing some spring cleaning and came across a box with hand written letters. Some of them were 15 years old and written by my grandmother. I spent the majority of my childhood with my grandmother. My grandparents adopted me when I was 11 years old so they were my parents. As I removed the letter from the envelop and read her words I felt as if she was there with me, her letter filled me with sadness that she was gone and hope. I wonder if 15 years from now we will open an email and have that same nostalgic feeling. We all know the answer to that question, of course not. There is an art to letter writing. It allows us to reflect on days that have passed.
There were receipts, words of encouragement and the simple tone of her letter. As I read them I felt blessed to have her in my life and to have her letters with me. I appreciate the time she took to send them and I am grateful to still have them. If there is someone in your life that you love and have something you want to share, consider a hand written letter. You never know, years from now those words may offer hope and inspiration.

Symbols of Hope

Symbols have played an important role in people’s lives since the beginning of time. In Old Testament times there were frontlets worn on the forehead or arms to remind the people of covenants. Modern Christianity uses the symbol of the cross for a hope in Christ.

There are symbols throughout nature that give us hope: sunrises welcoming the new day, flowers and trees blooming in spring to let us know the winter is past, a baby being born with hope for a new, exciting life.

Symbols of hope come in many forms and are personal expressions of what we hope for in our own lives. The engagement ring is symbolic of hope in a wonderful life with the one we love. Our Branches of Hope is symbolic of the strength and beauty of women similar to that of the Cyprus tree that has weathered the elements and emerged stronger and more beautiful. Whatever symbol of hope you have, look at it often, touch it and remember that there is much to be hopeful about.

Silent Hope

Hope can be the sole purpose of an action that we aren’t even aware of; it can be completely silent. Recently I was listening to a high school senior explain her dream career. She had every detail planned out, from the college she would attend to her graduate degree in 5 years, to her intern positions and the first step she would make towards her dream career. Her inspiration was an individual that was a VP at 26 and she had researched his path, his degree program, intern positions, and promotions. He had supplied silent hope.

Have you ever heard about something on the news, in the newspaper, or in a conversation and thought, “I could do that?” It may have been a place to vacation, a promotion, or investment. Have you ever watched someone do something, enter a marathon, change careers, or start their own business and been inspired to considered it for yourself? Buying my first home was a risk I took after an acquaintance who was also a single mom purchased her first home.
People, their stories and life offer silent hope to other people they are not even aware are watching. Individuals witness events, or hear about them and are moved to try something they have only dreamed of and consider a change they may have never considered. Have you ever asked yourself what silent hope your life demonstrates to someone else? What dreams have you inspired? My daughter’s base line for marriage is our close friend’s parents. They embody her dream of what marriage after 50 years is. The love, respect and appreciation they have for each other after all these years instill a hope for a life she wants to have.
We may not be aware, however, our lives are an example of hope to our children, friends, family, and beyond. We buy a new car, redo a room, take a vacation, or get a promotion. These things are examples to others of what is possible. This is silent hope.

What Children Teach Us About Hope

There is something about the way a young child sees the world that can make us believe in anything at all. Children seem to believe in miracles even before they happen. They believe that if they wish for something hard enough it will come true. Children have hope that when they blow on a dandelion or see the first star at night their wish will come true. Children know in their hearts that if they find a four-leaf clover they will have good luck. They put faith in the results of blowing out all the candles with one breath. Don’t stop believing just because the there are more candles to blow out.

Hope and Faith Go Hand in Hand

Faith is believing in something where there is not hard evidence. Sometimes the proof comes in a tangible form at some point, but often it is more obscure. Hope on the surface can seem like wishing for something to be true or happen a certain way. Deeper down, hope is more like faith– knowledge in your heart that things will be the way you want. George Iles is an author, editor, biographer who said, “Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark.” Some people refer to is as taking the first step, a leap of faith, or stepping off the edge. What ever way you see to it, it is still all about believing and then acting upon that belief.

When we started Waves of Gratitude, there was faith in the good we could provide, hope in each piece falling into place as needed and then there was taking those steps to achieving what we believed could happen. We are still in the process and hope is still as strong as in the first days of development. There were times when hope waned and it took faith in what we were doing to push through the fear. Today hope prevails. Hope will always prevail and turn believing into knowing if we don’t let the hope slip away.

Hope Is Our Heartbeat And Our Breath

May is the month of commencement speeches which are typically given by individuals that have achieved some level of success in their life. The commencement speak is meant to acknowledge the work that has taken place in order to graduate while still inspiring the audience of what lies before them. At the heart of these speeches lives “Hope” for what the future holds.

Every time an athlete steps into the game they are filled with anticipation of their opponents. They are ready to meet the challenge and do what is necessary to win the game. What sets the best apart from the rest? What propels the underdog to win? What enables a grown man to pursue the dream of his youth? Again one word “Hope”

May is the beginning of what many refer to as the wedding season. Brides have dreamed of this day from the time they were little girls. They have planned the perfect dress, the most beautiful cake and the most charming and honorable husband. They are filled with fear and happiness of what is to be and what they are leaving behind. They have rehearsed every detail and calculated exactly how the day will unfold into the perfect day. What motivates this effort and planning besides love? “Hope” that this is only the beginning of the beauty and love their life will hold.
Hope is at the root of every thing we do. It enables us to move forward and take risks. It inspires us and those around us. It lifts ours spirits when life knocks us down. “Hope” is our core in life; it is our heartbeat and breathe wrapped up together.

Hope Floats

“Beginnings are scary. Endings are usually sad, but it’s what’s in the middle that counts. So, when you find yourself at the beginning, just give hope a chance to float up. And it will!” - Hope Floats -1998

I recently heard a speech in which the speaker was saying that sometimes we just need to “let it go.” It was intended to remind people that they need to not get caught up in petty grievances and let the hard feelings go. I took it a little differently, probably because I didn’t feel like I was holding on to any kind of grudges or feelings of being wronged. Instead I took it that when we have things happen to us that are beyond our control, we need to feel what we feel and then move on.
It can be scary to start new and let go of something that is familiar, even if that something is a negative feeling. If we are used to harboring those feelings, then they are what feel normal and right. On the other hand, we do find it sad when a good thing comes to an end. Hope can pull us to begin something new and helps us better handling the end of something good. With hope, ever ending becomes a promising new beginning.

Hope For Forgiveness & Second Chances

There isn't a human I know that hasn't made a mistake. Done the wrong thing, said the wrong thing, it is part of life. The key is to know when we make a mistake and then hopefully have a way to make up for it. Hope motivates us to take a chance and try to correct the mistake. That by making an effor to do the right thing we can restore what has been hurt by our wrong. If you are the person that has been wronged forgiveness is a very important part of life. To acknowledge none of us are perfect. If you are the person seeking forgiveness then we have to be patience. While we may want to correct our mistakes and move on sometimes we need to step back and allow those in our lives time to determine how they want to move forward. However, niether party had the right to make the other person feel like less of a person.  We must stay hopeful that if not now sometime in the future we will be able to rebuild what is lost and hurt.

When Hope is Needed Most

Hope is needed most when we feel the most hopeless. I got a letter today from an old college friend that I hadn’t heard from in more than 2 years. She had just gone through a bad divorce (is there really any other kind?) and with the stress and pain of it all she had actually gone into a comatose state for 3 days last summer. I can only imagine that kind of pain. I have suffered loss, but not the pain of someone I thought was completely devoted to me choosing to leave. What makes the difference between being able to cope or not? I believe it is hope. Believing in or having a hope in the future being better and that one day merely surviving will turn into thriving is the catalyst to overcoming our toughest trials. Have hope in the future, believe with all your heart in our own abilities to overcome and take their first steps toward making whatever changes in your thinking is necessary.

Hope ~ For Hope In Return

We often reach out to others to help. We offer to be there to assist people that we feel can use some help. Sometimes this is to a total stranger sometimes it is to close friends or family. We open ourselves up and give without any expectation except that we hope. We hope that if someday we need something they or someone else will be there. We hope that if someday we need a big hug someone will give us one. We hope that our willingness to be there for another person to care and put their needs on our list will enable us to matter to them. In essence we give hope in exchange for hope. Hope propells us to take risks, to put others first to care when otherwise we may not have. In the ends sometimes our hopes with those we give to so willingly are not fulfilled. My suggestion, hope that instead of passing that hope back to us they passed it on to someone else and keep hoping. Hope is like a big hug, it lifts the spirits of those that give and receive.

The Need for Hope

“All I need is the air that I breathe and to love you…” I have always loved this song by The Hollies. It implies that the most vital needs are both the physical need for air and the emotional need for love. I might add that we also need hope. Hope helps us get up on the morning after a long, dark night. Hope allows us to see a future that is better than our present. Hope keeps us motivated to see past the obstacles and work through the challenge. Hope recognizes that everyone can change for the better.

Some things to remember when you feel hopeless:

• The only person you need to compare to is your past self.

• Effort counts for a lot more than you may realize in most situations.

• The world will never run out of hope; we can always find more if just one person believes something is possible.

Basic human needs for air, love and hope are what make life not only possible, but worth living.

Hope Provides Us Purpose

I remember hearing Wayne Dyer speak about not letting yourself die with the music still in you.  I remember when I heard it a conversation I had with my grandmother years earlier about our calling, our natural passion for something.  She had always felt her passion was to go abroad and help others.  To be a type of Mother Teresa.  Instead, she had done the normal thing, get married and have kids.  She did pursue her mission to help others by becoming a minister.  However, in the end she felt she had missed her purpose.  I remember her telling me to never think it was too late.  If there is something in you that you know you were meant to do go out and do it.  Life is funny, it doesn't have a rule book or a step by step guide for assembly.  However, there is one main secret I have seen through the years.  That is the pursuit of ones passion or purpose.  For Randy Pausch it was to share his life with as many people as he could while he still could.  For Lance Armstrong it was to win the Tour De France.  For Mother Teresa it was to help those in needs.  While living a life of purpose we find the work we are doing to be are passion and it seems less like work and becomes more fulfilling.  I have always felt blessed.  Behind every obstacle there is a lesson, an opportunity or something that upon reflection benefits my life.  My gift is to find the solution, the opportunity that lies within the mess.  For me blogging, find inspiration on a daily basis is something I could do forever.  In order to do this we have to have at the core of all of it Hope.  Hope that our purpose or our passion will have value.  Just as the void between the notes makes the melody, hope within our purpose connections us to why we are here and allows us to fulfill our place.  To find our music and not take it with us when our time is done.  Hope is at the core of everything.  If is the heartbeat of our lives.

What is my purpose?

Why am I here? What is it I am supposed to do? What is my purpose? These are questions most of us have asked at one time or another in our lives. Alfred North Whitehead said, “Our minds are finite, and yet even in these circumstances of finitude we are surrounded by possibilities that are infinite, and the purpose of life is to grasp as much as we can out of that infinitude.”

We may not fully understand our potential because the mind can only think in finite terms of a beginning and an end. Because of this we may be putting limits on our purpose. A purpose in life may have finite moments. We may be called upon to fulfill a need at a particular moment and once that is done, our purpose in that role is too. Maybe we are meant to move from one purposeful act to another, one after another until that moment of infinitude.

There has been research over the years that indicates that older people who still feel useful and needed live longer and happier lives. In a 2009 interview with Barbara Resnick, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, FAANP, professor in the Department of Organizational Systems and Adult Health at the University of Maryland School of Nursing in Baltimore, she states, “I think we often push older adults to do mindless activities when we should be encouraging activities that help them live in communities. People want to feel needed, so the idea is to give people jobs and responsibilities that they can feel good about when they complete them successfully. You might give a patient the job of clearing the table in his or her assisted-living facility. Or you might encourage a patient to deliver the mail or take the dog for a walk, whatever it is that can make that person feel needed — and that they're completing meaningful activities.” We all have seen both sides of it. There are those who retire from their job and no longer know what they are supposed to do and basically sit back waiting to die. There are others like my grandma Francy who at age 93 still volunteers, participates in clubs, finds ways to cheer others up with cards and phone calls.

We can find purpose in our lives on large and small scales every day. It does not matter how old we are, where we live, if we are married or single, have children at home or live alone. What is your purpose for today?

Hope In Every Situation

Hope is the ray of sunshine around a cloud promising to peak through so your BBQ goes according to plan. Hope is planning the perfect prom day and waiting for it to go according to plan. Hope is forgiveness when you have said words that hurt. Hope if the offer for a new job that you aren't sure about. Hope is the baby that is on its way of and the dreams for their future.

Hope is the morning when you have lost a loved one. Hope the big win that gets you noticed. Hope is front of stage for your favorite band. Hope is that time heals all wounds. Hope is the championship for your home team. Hope is the all is clear test when the treatments are through. Hope is the that she will say I do. Hope is their happiness when your child moves out. Hope is the memories when your parents are gone. Hope is the stillness before the dawn. Hope is the food on the table to eat. Hope is a night without bombs. Hope is a home with heat. Hope is the dream you finaly pursue. Hope is that life always has you. Hope is the storm doesn't ruin the crops. Hope is the flame the ignites the fire. Hope can move mountains and make mircles happen. What are your HOPES??

Finding Hope

There may be situations where we tell ourselves it is "hopeless" or we have no hope that it can be better. With hope being as necessary to our lives and well being as air, we must find the hope or we couldn't go on very long. So take a deep breath and realize there is always hope.

Hope has the power to create a change when all seems all. There is no better example than the Red Sox and their 2004 which that had not been able to do since “the curse” was placed on them. They had not won a World Series since 1918. The Red Sox were down in the 2004 series 3 games to 0. They came back to win 4 games straight and their first World Series win since 1918. What changed? There were no major changes in the line up. The coaches were the same and despite a tough Boston fan based they started winning when many thought there was no hope. Somewhere in the course of or prior to game 4 there was a shift. Could it be that an entire team of grown men collectively decided they would not give up? Could their mindset really affect their performance? I believe so. The power of the mind and the willingness to have hope against all odds really can change bring a change in the air.

If the Red Sox can do it, then why couldn’t each individual make such a shift in their own outcomes? So take a deep breath and realize there is always hope.

We are dedicating May to Hope.

Hope:  [hohp] the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for; to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence; to believe, desire,

Pur·pose: [pur-puh s] the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc. ; an intended or desired result; end; aim; goal; determination; resoluteness.
Each of us has a purpose a reason for being. For some of us we know that reason early on for others of us it is a gradual discovery. Regardless of when this realization happens in order for us to fulfill our purpose we begin with hope. That feeling that we can and will fulfill that purpose.
Hope is to Purpose
As Air is to Life
Air allows us to breathe, to live to experience life. Hope allows us to know, to believe that what we are meant to do we can do. Hope gives us the strength to fulfill our purpose, to pursue our dreams.

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Some of my best moments were in a single breath, lost swept away. ~

Cheryl Nordyke

Cheryl ~ Day 116; 249 to Go

Sometimes life takes us down a path we never intended to go and what we find as we travel this path are opportunities we never expected. Introductions to a world we never thought possible. I know sometimes it may seem as if life isn't moving as we want it, yet if we keep our minds open we may be surprised to what life presents us. I never would have planned the last 30 months of my life would go as they have. I have experienced more moments of facing my fears than ever before in my life. Yet I have also had some of the best moments of my life. I have learned to appreciate that true value of time. To understand that the sand never stops moving through the hour glass and this moment right now this breath will never be mine again. Breath in life breath out love. Breath in appreciation breath out gratitude. Breath in the gift of life and breath out the memories of the moments. These are my daily inspired thoughts.

Respect our Earth.

To me, nature is an obviously omnipotent force with the upper hand, and we are guests. As long as we are graceful, appreciative lodgers, the earth remains healthy and wondrous.

KT Tunstall

Cheryl ~ Day 112; 253 to Go

48 years ago the idea of Earth Day was born. Until then there was no organized day to dedicate the appreciation of our planet. Of all the things we have to be grateful for I think one that we all tend to take for granted is our Earth. It isn't until nature reminds us of it's power do we even recognize that we are on this big beautiful ball traveling through space. We have deserts, valleys, mountains, rivers, waterfalls and oceans. We have sunrises and sunsets, rainbows and rainfall. Our Earth is so much apart of our lives and I am very grateful today and everyday for all the Earth provides us. This is my daily inspired thought.

Gratitude Wave Necklace

Today I wore the Gratitude Wave made by Waves Of Gratitude. Everytime someone complamented my necklace or I looked down at it I thought of all the things to be greatful of. Wearing this necklace truly reminds me to smile and find the positive in life and what it has to offer.

Cheryl ~ Day 111; 256 to go

So there is this website I discovered a few weeks agot called 1000 Awesome Things and the persont that wrote it has a book out called "The Book Of Awesome" and just the cover makes me smile. Basically his site is dedicated to finding the awesome things in life. So today I run into the supermark to pick up a few items like bread and milk and there in the front of the produce section are these BRIGHT RED STRAWBERRIES! One of the downfalls to moving from California to New England was the limited access to fresh fruit and produce all year like I had there. However, the site of those STRAWBERRIES made me smile. I immediately thought of his website and that made me smile even more. Then my daughter and her boy friend come home and he's like "guess what I did today?" I'm like okay "what?" He said "I sharpened a pencil and the first try it came out perfect, and I thought AWESOME." I realized this one man with this one blog has created a ripple. I had shared the site and some of his blogs with my teenage daughter and now not only was I noticing what was AWESOME but them as well. He started a Ripple of appreciation and gratitude and it has spread to me and then down to my daughter and her boyfriend. Never under estimate the power of one positive action in this great big world. This is my daily inspired thought.

“Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live.”

By unknown

Cheryl ~ Day 110; 256 to go

There is something to be said for laughter. I know I have talked about this before, however, I must say it again. Tough day, didn't go according to plan at all. Had a very long to do list and barely made a dent. Then decided to be completely honest and lets face it nobody wants anybody to be completely honest. Then my evening ended at "Young Frankenstein" broadaway. Needless to say 3 hours latter there is a smile on my face and the reality is that my to do list not getting done didn't stop the world. However, the 3 hours with my daughter and her boyfriend laughing at totally inappropirate parts of the play made me realize that this moment 10, 15 or 20 years from now will make me smile when I think of it. The reality is our lives are woven over time with a combination of laughter and tears and those are the things that matter. This is my daily inspired thoughts.

Friendship with ones self is all important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.

by Eleanor Roosevelt

Cheryl ~ Day 109; 256 to Go

Sometimes there are moments when we try to analyiz a situation to understand it , or to find out what we have done to cause a change. At work, in a relationship with family members. There are times that no matter how much we try to understand why things are changing or what we have done wrong it isn't about us. There is nothing we have done wrong. The truth is we seldom know the entire story to things that happen within our immediate circle let alone understand those outside that circle. We have to sometimes put ourselves first. Do what is best for us and if those in our life or situations come back around again to where they once were then they were meant to be that way. However, we each must respect ourselves and not allow ourselves. In doing this we will attrack those to us in our lives that will also respect us.

Cheryl ~ Day 104; 261 to Go

There are times in our life we are required as a friend to be the person that listens and allows them to vent. To not judge or input our opinions. To be supportive and understanding. Then there a moments we see the person we admire slipping away. We see the turmoil they are going through winning and taking them with it. It is a tough call and doesn't always work out for the best, however, there are these moments we need to stand up and point out some tough things. Typically friends in this position have slipped into the role of the victim. They have given control of their lives over to the situation. All they need is a hand out reached to say own where you are. When you own your problems you give yourself the power to fix them. When you are the victim the outcome is dependant on factors outside of your control. Having come from a family that had playing the victim down to a science I knew I didn't want to be a repeat of history. So I acknowledged early on that when we own where we are in our lives then we have the power to change where we are in our lives. Once given this power we then need to change our thoughts and see the life we want. Visualize your life and then you can begin to create it. These are my daily inspired thoughts.

Cheryl ~ Day 103; 262 to Go

Dishes, why is it a great meal has to come with dishes. It's part of our life. We have a great meal wth friends and family and when it is over there they are the dishes. There are many things in life like dishes, they keep coming back. However, the key to dishes is to tackle them early and get it over with. That is the key to many other things in our lives. The things we hate that we want to aviod, just because we don't deal with them doesn't mean they will go away. They actually just pile up and create a mess. So like dirty dishes face them head on clean it up and when it is all done there is nothing like a kitchen that sparkles. The same is true for our hearts and minds, clean out the dirty dishes and there is a sparkle where once there was greasy build up. Under there is hope, inspiration and creativity.

Cheryl ~ Day 102; 263 to Go

There are moments we all face that it seems as if we are barely hanging on . That life seems to want to smack us around just to see how much we can take. Then just when we think it's going to get better here comes another smack. Here it is we all get smacked around, some of us more than others. However, here is what I know. My dear friend is approching the 2 year mark of the loss of her soul mate to a heart attack prior to the age of 50. I can actually see the pain in her eyes when she talks about the plans they had. I watch her struggle with defining the rules as a single parent in a role not made by choice and wish that I could somehow help. Then there is that light, that shins when she talks about the love she had for him and the memories of him. That love that she had for 14 years. I know I have never known the love of spouse that they had and realize that pain that deep can only come with love that deep. Within the hurt was the blessing of the love. Our lives all end in death, what matter is what we do with the living part. Are we going to just hang on, is that what our loved ones would want for us is that what we would want for them. Part of the healing process however, is accepting that today, it hurts to much and I am going to honor this loss and tomorrow I will begin again the living.

There are little signs of light that can guide us if we are attentive enough.

Monday's Inspiration

The Edsel was introduced by the Ford Motor Company in 1957. The sales goal for its first production year was 100,000 to 200,000 cars. Falling far short of this, Ford sold merely 100,847 cars over the entire three years of Edsel production. While fewer than 6,000 Edsels survive today, Ford reamins teh second largest automaker in the world. "Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently." ~ Henry Ford

73 YEAR OLD RECIPIENT OF EXPRESSIONS OF GRATITUDE AWARD ANNOUNCED

At Waves of Gratitude, we accepted nominations from December 16, 2009 to January 15, 2010 for the Expressions of Gratitude Award designed to recognize individuals that express gratitude in their lives with extraordinary personal style. We are still accepting nominations for the second Expressions of Gratitude Award through April 30 and are pleased to announce winner Pat Wharton of Edmond, Oklahoma. Pat, age 73, was nominated for the Expressions of Gratitude award by her granddaughter Brandi Brown, also of Oklahoma. Congratulations Pat and Brandi.

Pat Wharton, Expressions of Gratitude Award Winner

Waves of Gratitude founders Cheryl Nordyke and Kim Wierman deliberated between many deserving nominations to the Expressions of Gratitude Award and selected the winner, Pat Wharton, for maintaining an unwavering focus on gratitude through many losses: her home at age 6, her older brother at age 10 and her father at age 30. Brandi wrote of her grandmother Pat,

“She is the truest definition of gratitude with grace.
It is from her that I have learned what it truly means to
 be grateful everyday for even the simplest of life's blessings”.

Pat, the Expressions of Gratitude award winner, received a stylish solid sterling silver Branches of Hope Pendant with a Swarovski clear quartz crystal on Genuine Black Leather, a necklace to honor her lifelong commitment to expressing gratitude. Inspired by the strength and magnificence of the Cyprus tree, the Branches of Hope pendant by renowned jewelry designer Jessica Fields is the signature piece in the collection of Inspired Jewelry by Waves of Gratitude. The jewelry is designed to give people the opportunity to wear symbols of gratitude that are both beautiful and meaningful.

We’d like to thank participating individuals who nominated someone special for expressing their gratitude with extraordinary personal style and invite everyone to visit our Inspired Thoughts blog to join Waves of Gratitude founders on their journey of 365 days of uninterrupted blogging in 2010 to share everyday joys, challenges, struggles, and triumphs while striving to find gratitude and inspiration through it all.

Don't forget to nominate someone special for the second Expressions of Gratitude Award before April 30, 2010.