Quote Day Number One

Hello, folks! I have decided I am going to randomly have quote days on my blog. Sometimes I will post two pieces; one being a quote with an explanation of the origin and quote author accompanied by my posting for that day. Other times will just be quote days.

For my first quote I have chosen Claudia "Ladybird" Johnson, wife of President Lyndon Baines Johnson.

"Become so wrapped up in something that you forget to be afraid."

"Ladybird" was born in Texas in 1912. She married Lyndon seven weeks after meeting him, and kept his congressional office running after his heart attack. Ladybird stumped for Democratic candidates and visited thirty three countries as Lyndon's emissary. She was one of the original environmentalists. Ladybird founded the Wildflower Research Center and it was because of her that the Highway Beautification Act was passed. She resided in Texas until her death in 2007.
Ladybird was courageous and determined. Her belief that it was important to "feel the fear and do it anyway" kept her going through whatever she faced in life. She is a personal heroin of mine. Thank you, Ladybird, for bringing so much into this world, for making us think, for being strong and persevering...and lastly, thank you for being the inspiration you are, even now. It is my fervent hope that more young women will come to know this fascinating woman. For a brief time, she held the reigns. She deserved so much more credit, so much more thanks.

There are times when all of us face life situations with a bit of trepidation. Life can be a scary thing. At times we have to pull ourselves together and just belly up to the bar.

I have always found, in my life, after something I feared has come and gone, that it wasn't nearly as bad as I imagined it. Life changes at any age can be frightening. In middle age, they can be downright terrifying. It takes courage to make decisions that affect not only yourself, but your family and lifestyle as well. I have a deep and abiding faith that helps me to get over the humps. That doesn't mean I'm fearless by anyone's stretch of the imagination. I just don't get paralyzed by my fears anymore. I simply give myself twenty minutes of worry time and wash my hands of it. Worry is non productive and wastes valuable time. Worry also breeds negative thought, which in turn causes discouragement, more fear, even more worry, and a vicious cycle begins. What we put out in the universe is what comes back to us...in abundance. While this is not such a hard concept to grasp, it is a difficult one by which to live. It takes time and patience to get to a place whereby you can snatch yourself up by the scruff and mentally prod yourself into a place of lightness and being, a place of positive energy. It takes guts to stay there. Negative is easy. Positive takes a lot of work. Positive requires removing negative influences from one's life. This can be in the form of a spouse or significant other, a friend, in short, anyone or anything that brings with it negative energy. I could go on ad infinitum on this subject. Suffice it to say that reminding ourselves to be grateful for what we have because there are those that are the have nots, really trying to keep positive energy flowing, and doing so in a world that sometimes swims in negativity is worth practicing not only in theory, but in life.

Backsliding is a part of the game. When your faith waivers, renew it. When you feel negative, change it, even though it's like climbing out of a foxhole with two broken legs...just do it. When you're feeling old or tired or you're hurting, remember Mother Theresa, who pushed through it all. If she can do all that she did, can't we put just a modicum of that effort into staying positive? Let me know what you think. I've missed writing, and I've missed all of you.

Much Love,
Deborah