What A Lions Win Really Means

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today after a week of work and writing. It has been a busy week and I’m excited about watching the Lions this weekend.

I haven’t watched them play in a long time. I’ve been busy with my writing, kids, and work, so football has gone by the wayside. However, my youngest has taken an interest in watching the games this season, and I’ve gotten sucked into watching them as well. They’re exciting. I’d forgotten how much fun they can be.

 

We started watching them as a family, and it’s a wonderful way to connect. I love the energy of the team and the way they stick together and back each other up. That’s one thing I’ve noticed in the sports arena. The comradery and the sportsmanship.

The relationships between the coaches and players is nothing short of amazing. It’s the stuff that companies should cultivate for their management teams and their employees. There’s a trust there that you don’t see in the corporate environment.

All the teams have this, not just the Lions, and I love it.

What I’ve also found and never expected was how the Lions have brought our world together again. I’ve noticed when I go to the grocery store, I run into someone wearing a Lions jersey or a Lions ball cap, and for a brief moment there’s a connection. Even though we’re strangers, we smile and nod or say, “Go Lions.”

I haven’t seen this since before the pandemic. This kind of connection and friendliness. I believe our whole state needed this to bring us together for a common purpose. I know it’s just a football game, but let’s extrapolate.

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Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could find a common purpose that’s bigger than a football game? What if we all came together to combat homelessness or to save our planet? Or how about strengthening our communities so there’s no more mass shootings? We could take lessons from the Lions.

So, today, I’ll be watching the Lions, and I hope you will, too. We need a win in this messed up world of ours. To give us hope.

If we were able to take this lesson from the Lions, and we were able to work for a common purpose in your community, what would it be? Would we fight pollution or combat homelessness? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!

Third Spaces: An Answer for Loneliness

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today after a week of work and writing and practicing my one little word appreciate. It has been a good week. It has turned artic here in the Midwest and I haven’t spent much time outside. I’ve hunkered down and gone into hibernation mode for the winter.

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But enough about that, today I want to talk about loneliness. According to experts, loneliness or isolation is as bad for us as smoking fifteen cigarettes a day. They go on to say that loneliness leads to increased stress and the risk of depression as well as a greater susceptibility to high blood pressure and poor health.

 

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The risk of isolation has increased with many people working from home and young people taking online classes. That’s why we need third spaces more than ever according to sociologists. What are third spaces? I’m glad you asked.

Third spaces are places of community. It could be a church, or a local café, or even someone’s front porch. Studies show that people live longer when they have a third space to go to receive human connection.

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When I think of a third space, I think of a community center. A place where people can congregate daily to chat or play cards. When a community center comes to mind, I think of retired people who’ve lost friends and loved ones, but what about our young people? They need a place to go and hang out, too. A community center where they can get together and commiserate with people their own age.

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I believe a community center for young people would alleviate some of the isolation that many deal with today. This could lead to deeper feelings of connection which could lower the rate of teen suicides and school shootings.

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I think we’re on to something.

Wouldn’t that be great if each town or burg had a community center for young people to go and hang out? I wonder how we’d get something like this started? Any ideas? Leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!

My One Little Word for 2024

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’ve been hunkered down this weekend because of a snowstorm. I planned to get more writing done, but we’ve been binge watching a new series that has caught our attention.

It’s a new series on Amazon Prime titled, “The Man in the High Castle.” I was watching a documentary when I came across this one and I quickly made the switch. I’ll keep you posted on the series. It is really good, but it did take me a few episodes to get hooked. I’ll probably write a post on it later. 😉

Today, I want to share my one little word for the 2024 year. In the past I’ve used words like, strive, and persevere and resilience. I feel those words are excellent words and they reflect my desire to move forward in my writing. This year my one little word is Appreciate.

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I want to appreciate my accomplishments more this year. Sometimes we forget to appreciate how far we’ve come. We’re so focused on reaching our goals that when life gets in the way, and we don’t reach them we become frustrated. So, this year, I want to appreciate how far I’ve come.

I also want to appreciate my family and friends more this year. I want to have more fun and create memories with them. I don’t know if it’s my age or what, but it feels important for me to do this more often. I intend to make a conscious effort to focus on the positive instead of the negative. Our brains are wired to focus on the negative as a survival technique, but now we don’t need to do this so often. So many times, a threat isn’t life-threatening, but our brains still react as if it is. So, I’m going to work on changing my thought process when I do this.

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It’s important to make people feel appreciated, so I’m going to express my appreciation more this year. To my kids for helping around the house and for striving to meet their goals in this uncertain world. To my husband for keeping our vehicles working and keeping our house operational. He’s the one who handles when the cars break down and when the furnace stops running. He makes sure we’re safe and warm, and I need to make sure he gets credit for that.

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I intend to express my appreciation to my co-workers and fellow writers as we all strive to meet our goals. I get excellent support and advice from them when I have questions or concerns, and I definitely appreciate that. It keeps me from spinning my wheels and helps me move forward toward my goals.

So, there you have it. My one little word for 2024. APPRECIATE. How about you? What’s your one little word? Leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!

My Thoughts on “The Boys in the Boat”

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you, and I hope everyone had a Happy New Year. I’m back today after the holidays, and I must say I’m glad to get a breather. This weekend, I was able to sneak away and see a movie. I strongly recommend you see this movie, too. It’s based on a true story.

 

The film is title “The Boys in the Boat.” George Clooney directed it, and he did a great job. It’s the story of the USA crew team that went all the way to the Olympics in Berlin. Click the link below to show the trailer.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfEA-udzjjQ&t=35s

It showed the teams humble beginnings and their journey to the Olympics. The main character is Joe. His father deserted him when he was fourteen, and he managed to stay alive at get into college. The film showed his determination and grit. I don’t want to give you too many details and ruin it for you, but it’s an amazing feel-good story, and I found it motivating. It’s the perfect show to watch when you’re struggling with your own personal goals. I strongly recommend it.

 

How about you? Have you seen any good movies or series lately? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope this is the best year, yet!