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Have you ever thought about the importance of a name? The other day I came across a book that I purchased when we were trying to start a family, called The Name Book, by Dorothy Astoria ( Name Book, The: Over 10,000 Names-Their Meanings, Origins, and Spiritual Significance: Astoria, Dorothy: 9781556619823: Amazon.com : Books ) . When I stumbled upon the book again, I started thinking about the significance of a name, or each of our names. Although I’ve never been particularl

Yesterday I celebrated my birthday - I'm still in my mid-50's! LOL. Some may say that I am now an old geezer (but, not me), some believe birthdays are just another day (I disagree), some may say that I am wiser (Which I hope is true), while still others may say CELEBRATE YOU ! I truly believe that each of us deserves to be celebrated, especially on our special day. During my younger years, I recall my birthdays being purely celebratory. I enjoyed the presents, the cake and ic

Eleven years ago, my husband and I moved from Florida to California to be near our family. At that time, we owned a house and a few rental properties. However, we had to short sale all of our properties, due to the housing market crash of 2007-08, and as my company needed me to be permanently in California. When we moved to CA, we ended up renting a house. We had always planned to own our own house again and we had been looking on and off for the past few years. Although, we

During the course of our marriage, we have moved three times across state lines, and all of them were fairly significant relocations. We were also fortunate to have my company move us.  By the third move to CA, we had it down. We obtained the boxes from the moving company; packed each room and labeled each space; and we were ready for the movers to pick up everything. There were very few things that didn’t get packed into the moving truck, which were important house and movin

Do you live a repetitive lifestyle (or rat race) that leaves no time for enjoyment, or do you truly enjoy your life? Do you ever feel guilty about stopping your workday to take a break? Earlier on in my career I used to think that if I took a break during my workday or in the midst of a pressing deadline, that I just didn’t have time for it, not to mention that it would be difficult for me to get back to the task at hand. However, through the years, I’ve discovered that my th

Self-image, or the personal view or mental picture that we have of ourselves. I’ve heard it described as an “internal dictionary”, describing the characteristics of ourselves, like intelligent, beautiful, ugly, selfish, etc. These characteristics then form a collective representation of our strengths and weaknesses, as we see them. How many of us would honestly say that we have a positive view of ourselves?  For me, as a child, my self-image was not as healthy as it probably

Do you have people in your lives, who, to put it bluntly, bring you down? Even if we’re not always enthusiastic, those negative Nellies (as I like to refer to them in my blog on April 30th) can put a serious strain on our energy. If you’re regularly exposed to downer or negative influences, their attitudes and moods can easily weasel their way into your well-being and sense of peace.  Even your perspective can become skewed by their perpetual lack of joy and continual negativ

I have shared in a previous blog, that I have a soft spot for movies that involve a “Cinderella” type of motif or “turnaround story.” I love seeing characters (and humans in real life) start from one place and turn their lives around to become a better version of themselves. Inevitably this involves “change” - a change in attitude, mind, circumstances, etc. One of my favorite “rags to riches” movies is The Blind Side . If you haven’t seen it, it is a tear-jerker and an all-ti

In one of my previous blogs, I alluded to the fact that for many years, I didn’t feel comfortable in my own skin. In high school, I felt awkward and thought that I didn’t belong in any of the social circles. Let’s be serious, I think we all felt a bit awkward in high school! Although, I wonder if popular kids, jocks or cheerleaders felt awkward or if they truly enjoyed their time in high school?  I was reading a study in Yale News called “National survey: Students’ feelings a

I don’t necessarily think of myself as a feminist; however, lately I’ve been thinking about whether we as women, are mentoring and supporting to other women, both in the workplace and in our personal lives.  One thing in particular that I've been pondering, is do I spend more time “tooting my own horn” or do I live to lift others up? There is an article called "5 Reasons why women must support other women” by Renata Merino ( 5 Reasons Why Women Must Support Other Women ( link

Last week, I published a blog on “Do your thoughts to define you?” This one has a different twist but includes some overlapping sentiments. By now, you can probably see from the compilation of blogs on my website, that I think a lot. I’m an analytical thinker and planner at the core. And, I wonder, if we were to take a look at our thoughts and actions, from the time we get up to the time we go to bed, what would that look like? In this previous blog, I mentioned that as human

Boundaries mean different things to various walks of life. From parents setting boundaries for their kids for social interaction, such as “no hitting” or “don’t interrupt Momma” to various types of life’s boundaries including physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, sexual, time, non-negotiable, etc. Dr. Stephanie Dowd, a Clinical Psychologist, says that “Boundaries are essentially about understanding and respecting our own needs and being respectful and understanding of

Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong or that you were a mistake, (whether it was during an awkward moment as a child or as an adult)? Most of my life I have not felt like I have belonged, nor have I been completely comfortable in my own skin. Although I didn’t know it at the time, the thoughts that I had or the story I told myself, started during infancy, reared its head in high school, and carried on through adulthood. I am No. 3 (“mid kid”) of four girls. {I always fel