Can’t Stop the Feeling

This is exciting. What a night to be alive. That comment came from a young relative celebrating the Survivor season premiere and the Big Brother finale airing on the same evening. Although I enjoy the shows, I can think of at least several more exciting scenarios. I’m sure you can, too. Maybe they include one of these suggestions: 

                                     https://youtu.be/QIfvyXczhWo

 A castle, a digger, a dragon… The wish lists go on and on. Christmas is still a couple of months away, so I hesitate to mention it so early, but there’s no time like the present to begin thinking about how to make the season extra special. Your giving doesn’t have to be limited to friends and family, offering charitable assistance to any one of the many organizations that do good work will cause you to celebrate simply because you’re healthy and alive. What type of charitable organization would you consider supporting?   

More Than a Survivor

Survivor’s season finale aired this week. After watching several episodes, I understand why the show draws large audiences. Beside the exotic locations, the competition, the health challenges, and the gamesmanship, each episode showcases regular people striving to complete extraordinary tasks. Fans relate to the show because the cast, on one level or another, reflects our struggles. Whether it’s at school, work, home, or with family and friends, we’re navigating obstacles and managing responsibilities that shape our views of who we are and what we can do. Watch how these workers let attitude drive outcome:

                                     https://youtu.be/494dUevcqJM

We don’t have to be confined to a secluded island to find out how far we can push ourselves or unleash our best selves. Life offers that opportunity every day. What’s the one thing that will help you to not just survive, but thrive?  

Time of Our Lives

Maybe we should call 2015 the Year of Catastrophes. It’s hard to name a crisis that hasn’t happened in the last eight weeks. Scanning the country and the world, we’ve seen everything from outrageous terrorist attacks to train derailments, from gas explosions to twin typhoons. Add in seventy car pile-ups, and non-stop, massive snow storms and you get a sense of how things have been going.

Daily news stories create fears about walking outside and apprehension about staying inside. A random vehicle could come crashing through our wall at any time. That’s already occurred this year, too. Regardless of the potential dangers, we glide through life not expecting a major crisis to directly impact us. And if it does, we’ll hope for a miracle.  For many of us, miracles defy logic, and stir up both curiosity and frustration. We’re always wondering how miracles occur and if we’ll experience one. Figure out how these people survived:    

                                         http://youtu.be/wm0ywsD9V88

I’m sure my blood pressure rose after watching that video. Every day we live life on the edge hoping to avoid one of 2015’s catastrophes. Like a dark cloud of danger hovering above us, the present and the future can hound our thoughts. In perilous times like these, what keeps your blood pressure stable?           

 

Survivor

When do talcum powder and goldfish go together? Never! Several years ago I opened our child’s bedroom door and discovered one little person pouring powder into the gold fish bowl.  What a cloudy mess!  I never learned the reason for that experiment, but the fish survived and lived to swim again. Have you ever purchased a goldfish that expired the next day? Not ours. I had grown tired of changing the stinky water in the huge snack bowl-turned-filterless-fishbowl. Week after week I poured out the dirty water and poured in clean water and that little goldfish lived on and on and on…. Our fish was a survivor, much like this girl:

                                              http://youtu.be/6C3CJX1-d_8

She identified the oncoming tsunami and survived it. It does pay to listen in class. Not only did Tilly save herself, but her quick thinking saved her family and several other vacationers. If you were to wear a T-shirt that read, “I survived (blank), how would you fill-in the blank? What did you learned from the experience?    

 

Survivor!

Was our beautiful plant gone, gone, gone? When we left for vacation last month, our potted plant’s lush red flowers made me smile. Upon our return, we witnessed the damage the horrible heat had caused. Dry soil and barren plant stems replaced the beautiful, red blooms. Darn that Feels Like one hundred four degree weather!

You might be wondering if I dumped the plant or gave it another chance? How could something so dehydrated live again? I flooded the pot with water and the plant survived! The green stems have a few sparse leaves, and one tiny bud popped out, the early stages of a flower. I’m eager to see the plant bloom again. I just hope they come before the temperatures drop. This plant is a survivor. If you want to see extraordinary survivors, take a look:

                                         http://youtu.be/gj1iKGydXk8

 

         

                                             http://youtu.be/8pIgBhPrsSI

Miracles can happen anywhere, anytime. What miracle have you experienced?