"The lesson is don’t confuse living out 'loud',
with just being ‘loud,’"
— Elizabeth Skenes Millen —

I believe those who live the “loudest” are not “loud” at all; the most impactful people are those who are kind, humble, loving, giving and understanding, even when others are not kind, humble, loving, giving or understanding to them. Do you get how mentally strong and secure one has to be to do this? How much grit and grace it takes for restraint? Especially in this pitiful day and age when throwing the middle finger up, or yelling obscenities, is the norm.

You’ve heard it a million times:
Don’t sweat the small stuff. It’s easy to say, but sometimes,
the small stuff feels like big stuff. The key is to keep things in perspective.

A traffic jam is small stuff—really. A traffic jam when you need to badly go tinkle, and traffic is at a standstill with no exit in sight is a bit more dire. A traffic jam where the interstate is completely stopped because of a terrible accident, and a helicopter is landing in the distance to life-flight YOU or YOUR loved-one to the hospital is no longer small stuff—now enter some well-deserved sweat. See how perspective changes everything?

"Positive thinking will let you do everything 
better than negative thinking will."
— Zig Ziglar —

Why wouldn’t someone want to look on the bright side, think positive and hope for the best? Research has proven time and again that those who think positive thoughts achieve better health, greater prosperity, and more happiness than those who dwell in the negative. However, there are many people who still approach life with a grim outlook—always expecting the worst and even downplaying good fortune. In fact, some people can’t see the silver lining in anything. 

I can’t seem to win the battle against too much stuff. I am not only having a hissy fit
about it, but also a conniption, about clutter. Specifically, the clutter in my garage,
my office, my closet, my mail…ok, let’s just agree to say my life.

Though we have been roommates since I can remember, clutter and I do not get along. Nonetheless, clutter loves to infiltrate my personal space and truly overwhelms me. We don’t get along mainly because I am a Virgo, and Virgos demand order. In fact, according to parade.com, “Virgo energy focuses on control, purification, and organization.” Imagine a bookshelf that needs sorting, and you’ll find a Virgo categorizing by color, book title and author, usually just for fun.

"Summertime is the art of doing less and feeling more."
— Anonymous —

Have you ever noticed how summer seems to fly by? It feels like it’s almost over right when you’re just getting started. Maybe it’s because summer days are long and lush, and we stay active and sleep fast. On Saturday, June 20, we will experience the Summer Solstice, which is the day of the year that gets the longest period of daylight and marks the official beginning of summer. Get ready for a whopping 14 hours and 14 minutes of daylight that day. Sounds like a beach day and backyard cookout just waiting to happen. The days that follow the summer solstice will get shorter and shorter until December 21, when we will only have 10 hours and 4 minutes of daylight, which on the bright side is perfect for Christmas lights.