Choosing joy

Grateful for my husband who makes me laugh, gives the best hugs, and puts a smile on my face.

Grateful for friends who listen and love and accept me just as I am.

Grateful for family, who always make time to listen, help or hang out, even if is just on the phone.

Grateful for my passion for teaching, film music, and musical expectation, regardless of other's opinions.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Patience, and learning from our (my) mistakes

Today is Father's day.
I must admit, I am a very blessed woman in that my father is a really great dad.
(side note, my mom is a really great mom as well)

My dad and I definitely didn't always see eye to eye growing up, and still today don't see all things the same way.
But today on father's day, I am reminded of, at least, in my memory, the amount of patience and encouragement my dad always portrayed almost all of the time.

As well as, when I get frustrated with others, even still today, he is always mindful of the other point of view.  Not so much in a devil's advocate way, but simply to remind me, that I don't know the other person's perspective, or what they've been through.

So I try to be that person, who instead of getting angry, or just disregarding the other person's perspective, listens, and at least tries to compromise, or understand at least a little part of their reasoning and logic.

I definitely do not succeed with this as often as I'd like...but hopefully, the older I get, and the more opportunities that occur for me to remember that not everyone sees things the way I do...even if I disagree...maybe I will take the time to hear them out, and relate to them.

Happy Father's day to all out there.
Sincerely,
Sarah Mac

Reflective, sad, and blessed.

This evening, I sit here, and think about various things in life.
I am so grateful...and I know that I don't show that enough.
Grateful for my husband, family, friends, and opportunities.

But at times, I am also sad...sad that I can't be in 5 different places at once.  Life limits us...or at least, this life limits us.
When we want to spend time with friends, we sacrifice other things.
When we want to be productive, we sacrifice spending time with friends and loved ones.
When we want to spend time with parents, and family.... the list goes on.

Unfortunately, we can not be everywhere all of the time.

And at the moment, that makes me sad.

But I suppose another way to think about it is that I am blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life that I WANT to spend time with and who WANT to spend time with me...even if they or I can't always do so.

Here's to making the moments we have/get with those we love memorable and full of joy.

Happy Friday!!

People, time, life.

"Come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest."  Matthew 11:28.
"Be still and know that I am God."  Psalm 46:10

It's been a week since we've gotten back to Texas.
Grateful for the opportunity to research and be productive.
I'm struggling with my tendency to focus on people and life instead of focusing on work.

Now don't get me wrong - I'm not some great person who always does the right thing by others, or invests her time in the right ways.

And while I'm admittedly a hermit, and not big on huge social settings, I am also a people person in that I am very much invested in the people in my life.

Perhaps sometimes too invested, and perhaps, sometimes my priorities or perceptions are skewed.

I suppose sometimes you just have to choose to trust that everything is ok.  Or perhaps, more to the point, you have to admit that the only thing you have control over is what you say and do and think - and for all the things that stress you out or give you a spirit of fear, you have to give to God.  Cause otherwise, they come back to haunt you or poke you or infect your thoughts again.

So here's to doing my best every moment of every day, not being lazy/wasting time, but knowing when to stop obsessing and stop worrying about things beyond my control.

Slow but steady

So, as I've started my journey towards 70 miles of jogging in June...I've discovered that I can go farther longer when I take it all very slow.

I am therefore wondering if I can apply this logic to my dissertation as well.  Instead of feeling like I have to blaze through every book and every article, maybe I should work through what I don't understand, and take the time to fully comprehend what I am reading and find the answers to questions that arise as I read.
Maybe slow and steady really will win these long races of life that I am currently in right now.

Here's hoping!

Back in Texas

Almost a year ago, I moved away from Texas.
Today, I am back.  I have been blessed to have numerous opportunities while living in Indiana, and meet many wonderful people.

While there are many fears waiting to fill my mind and keep me from being productive, today I choose to focus on things that make me smile and give me encouragement:
1.  my husband who has chosen to do many wonderful and kind things for me the past few days.
2.  the encouragement and accolades I have received from multiple people in my previous job at Biomet.
3.  The opportunity to get back into my field through research, and through conference attendance.


I am also looking forward to the challenge of running (or rather jogging) 70 miles this month.

So I suppose if I am going to accomplish that goal, I should get going :)

Happy Tuesday to all!