What if we made New Year’s resolutions that really stuck? What if we used every year as a learning experience? A launching pad into the new year, armed with all this valuable knowledge with which to make the upcoming year so much better?
With the transition into every new year comes a time of reflection. We look back on the year before. Sometimes we bid it good riddance. Sometimes we’re sad to see it go. Other times, we look back with a sense of satisfaction and an attitude that it was a solid year, had its ups and downs (but thankfully more ups), and we came away with some good thoughts and lessons learned, stronger and ready to embrace the new year. Continue Reading
We all (myself included) seem to try so hard to achieve perfection…perfect jobs, perfect marriages, perfect credit scores, perfect children with perfect grades. We see post after post on social media of friends jetting off to exotic vacations and earning job promotions, achieving dramatic weight loss or financial success, and sometimes we wonder what we’re not doing right. Why aren’t our lives perfect when everyone else’s lives seem so grand? Perfection is a delusion. Most of us have this vision of what a perfect life looks like and who has it. We may see this “perfect mom” who gets her kids everywhere on time, always dressed well with shiny smiles. She bakes for every bake sale, heads every committee, takes care of a meticulous home, and does it all while maintaining a slim physique and fabulous hair. While those attributes and accomplishments are all admirable, no one and no thing is perfect. What looks perfect never really is. Everyone has something they struggle with, some sort of battle. Some of us are just better at masking it than others.
Perfection is elusive. Happiness is not. We can do our best at everything we attempt (and we should) but trying to live up to the idea of some idyllic life simply isn’t realistic. It’s not human. The only true perfection we can ever hope to find is in the only One who is without flaw. Remember that YOU are capable and worthy of all good things.
“As for God, His way is perfect. The Lord’s word is flawless; He shields all who take refuge in Him.” Psalm 18:30
Welcome to the maiden voyage of my first personal blog! I say “personal blog” because I blog on Blogher.com and have guest posted on other sites as well. However, I have been feeling a tug to begin my own personal blog, one where I can share pictures, thoughts, and articles I write more freely. I’ve always had a deep love for writing, ever since I was old enough to put a pencil to paper…literally at age five I was writing stories on that giant lined penmanship paper we used in school. I wrote stories about anything that affected or perplexed me. The divorce of a friend’s parents (the first I’d ever heard of such a thing) and my tonsillectomy were some big headliners for me in the early years. I never lost my passion for the written word but for awhile, my writing dream got put on a shelf for safekeeping. In the most recent couple of years I took my dream down from the shelf, dusted it off, and began blogging for the public and writing for personal growth and satisfaction.
My professional background includes working as a Medical Language Specialist for nearly two decades. Now, I spend most of my days (and some nights and some middle-of-the-nights) writing, reading, reading about writing, and researching. I also do some housework, grocery shopping, socializing and taking care of my family in there too. I’m a mom to two fabulous children, a tween boy I call Bub and a teenage girl I call My Girl. I’m married to a man who strangers think looks at least ten years younger than he is (no one makes this mistake about me). This is an incredible boost to my self-esteem, as one can imagine. He’s not younger than I am. He’s actually three years my senior, though apparently it’s not obvious by looking at him. We share our lives and our home with our Beabrador Lillie and her boss, Gracie the Pug (adorably pictured below).
I imagine you may have stumbled upon my blog because the name looked or sounded intriguing when you said “Flying Blonde” in your head. I’m a huge fan of plays on words and double entendre. I chose Flying Blonde as a play on the phrase “flying blind” because that’s pretty much how I live life… by the seat of my pants without a master plan (God’s in control of that) and more or less availing myself to what God has in store. And I’m blonde. I hope you will visit again and often. I believe I have some good things to say and share. My mission is to encourage others. I’ve been through some seriously painful stuff in life and maybe I can encourage you through something you’re struggling with. Or we can laugh, because sometimes we simply must laugh so as not to cry. I believe in laughing out loud (usually at myself) and sharing quirky, weird things that happen in life as well as some deep thoughts. I’d love to have some great conversations with you as we all navigate through this ridiculous, beautiful mess we call life. Maybe I’ll even tell you about the time I met Adam Levine…
