Pursuing Excellence

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Make a Difference Day

This information was taken from our local newspaper.  It is a national, annual thing.  So, if you don’t catch it this year, look for it the next.  I’m sure the prize money is specific to this year.

Start a project. Volunteer. Make a difference.
Join us for Make A Difference Day on Saturday, October 24th when millions across the nation will unite to improve the lives of others.
You can register your project here: makeadifferenceday.com. You’ll have the opportunity to receive 1 of 13 $10,000 donations from Newman’s Own.
In its 24th year, Make A Difference Day is a USA TODAY initiative and is the largest national day of community service. Whether it’s cleaning a local park or working with your town’s animal rescue center, you can serve your local community and make a positive impact on Make A Difference Day.
You can choose to start your own project or work on one that’s already been established – every contribution makes a difference. Many projects also need volunteers to support their efforts. Search on makeadifferenceday.com to find one near you.
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Be-You-tiful

Mirror 01
If you’re like I was
you won’t have a clue
how to live up to
your most beautiful you

But you have what it takes and
you won’t build alone
as you discover yourself
you’ll find you
have grown

DarEll S. Hoskisson
March 2015

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Project Sprouts

This came as a personal request through email. I know the Rogers family. If you’re looking for a way to help, this could make a difference right away. They are working on providing educational opportunities to all. I hope you look into it. Love, DarEll

Family and Friends,

Thanks so much for the generous support of this effort! We’ve raised $3,547 as of this morning, well on our way to the first phase needs of $5,000.

We’d really like to hit $11,000 to enable the small construction projects as well (building latrines). Please consider going out to this link to see pictures of these kids and their villages, and know that your contribution is being used almost 100% toward their welfare.

To you who have donated to date, thank you, thank you. A broad base of contributors is what makes this platform opportunity so effective. If there are friends or family you could bring in to this effort, that would be much appreciated.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/project-sprouts-education-for-all

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Eliminate maternal/neonatal tetanus with Kiwanis and Unicef

I was just walking out of Sam’s club when someone asked me if I’d like to save a baby’s life.  Well, of course I would. 

They gave me information about the “Eliminate Project”.  Preventing MNT, a completely preventable disease that kills 60,000 mothers and babies a year.

For more information, you can check out their website at http://floridakeyclub.org/the-eliminate-project/

It only costs $1.80 to vaccinate one mother and her future babies. http://floridakeyclub.org/online-donations/

The Fledgling
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The Fledgling

I stand high, free
The sun rains down on me
as I open my arms, palms to the sky
I already know I can fly

I’ve seen you soaring
high above the trees
Your mighty wings overshadowing me,
I’m nurtured, protected

So often, you let me ride on your back
You’ve made it easy
and I see
I’m still standing on your shoulders.

dsh

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How can I study quicker and learn more permanently? How can I get my child to remember the times tables?

I recently discovered anki, it is essentially a flash card program but much better. It has decks of cards already pre-loaded so you can start your child off on times tables right away. Or make your own specialized cards/decks.

It is set up so that you can use it on your phone or mobile device.

It is free.

It syncs both directions so you can practice on your computer, phone, tablet whatever.

You can make your own flashcards with voice/pronunciation and pictures also if you like.

It asks you both directions so that you not only practice knowing what something means, but also recalling it.

SRS stands for spaced Repetition System. It is scientifically set up to ask you and re ask you the questions or meanings at longer and longer intervals just before you might forget– helping you get the info into your long-term memory. You can do this yourself using the game schedule in the book cited below, or the computer does it for you with the help of the anki website.

An EXCELLENT help for language learning and anything you learn worth remembering permanently. There are tutorials on youtube.

The website is Ankisrs.net

It is described in detail in the book Fluent Forever by Gabriel Wyner

My son is already doing much better at his times tables in just a few minutes a day and it is a fun game.
I’m being able to use the Sanskrit yoga terms with more confidence.
This is just the system I was looking for to keep from wasting time and studying with confidence! Good luck to you.

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How can I write a book?

A friend told me about NaNoWriMo, an online non-profit that helps you set a goal and gives you a deadline, a way to chart your progress, pep talks from other writers and a certificate when you complete your rough draft with a goal of 50,000 words.

So, I tried it. It was a lot of fun to know that you are in the company of a lot of other crazy people all over the country trying to type yourself into oblivion, or get that novel out.

I type tested myself and I could meet the daily goal of 2,000 words per day in less than 2 hours, maybe even 1 if I knew exactly what to say and could continuously just say it.

The first week went okay. The second week I hit several bouts of writer’s block and it seemed like every night I was going to bed with a question I couldn’t answer that would keep the ball from rolling.

Finally I was getting so behind on my count I made myself stay in my chair and type for an entire day. I didn’t catch up, in fact, I made less progress than I hoped, but I was moving forward again.

I learned to keep pushing through writer’s block and not let it stop me.

By the end of the second week I was getting near the midpoint, 25,000 words.

Quite a fun thing to get to half way through the book, but half my story wasn’t out!

I kept going and the next week I could smell the end. When I could smell the end I lost all balance. Who needs to shower, exercise, or cook meals? Well, at least it was only 3 days and I did fit in that shower–finally but the last 3 days that is all I wanted to do every second I had–mostly ’cause I didn’t want to be doing it again next week.

So, here I am in the fourth week–DONE! and a Winner with a certificate from NaNoWriMo to prove it. I know I can write a novel length in 3 weeks–something of a miracle.

And, I have confidence that if you want to and it is the right time for you, you can do it, too.
November turned out to be a good month for me because the calendar actually was calmer than usual.

I think the hardest thing for me was giving myself permission to be that lazy (not so busy helping others) while I accomplished it. I was worried I’d ignore my children (but my youngest is 8, so I figured, I could give it a try).

As it turned out, my family was fairly supportive, I could usually do it when they didn’t notice or care (minus those last 3 days) and maybe because it was fiction, I didn’t take it too seriously and was able to keep balance and perspective most of the time.

So, if you want to write a book, I highly recommend it. Happy Writing…
https://nanowrimo.org

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Griefwork resource: Notes from How to be an Adult by David Richo

A Mourning Resource: How grief is part of growing up

personalabridgements's avatarPersonal Abridgements

I am really enjoying this book.

In the first section, he points out how every hero story starts out with a disaster of some kind– a loss, rejection, mistake, illness, disaster or even attack.

This first part points out how we all have things we needed in the past that we didn’t get–even though it is not necessarily anyone’s fault but of course it could be. These we carry around with us now–as a wound or an unexplainable longing, big feelings, beliefs or attitudes and these affect us now.

So, the first part, surprising to me, is learning how to mourn. It is grief work. Because I recently lost my Dad, I’m more familiar with grief and interested in grief than before. But, accepting what we don’t want is a loss–it is grief. Accepting anything in the past we did not like–is grief. If we can work through it instead…

View original post 109 more words

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Assertiveness Skills from How to be an Adult by David Richo

Assertiveness resource: avoiding aggression and passive victimization

personalabridgements's avatarPersonal Abridgements

Several years ago I noticed that so often we can turn into a victim/martyr vs the bully/needy one battle. This dog eat dog world, I’ve never bought into—consciously, but often I play the role. I read another book that described 3 roles–the victim, the bully, and the hero. But, what if we didn’t play those games?

I realized that another option had to be the right one. What would that look like– to not be the victim, the bully or even the hero? (Of course with only those 3 options, who wouldn’t want to be the hero?)

I wrote it this way:
Plan A–Ate (I am the winner/bully)
Plan B–Bait (I am the victim/martyr)

What could be plan C?
I wrote Charity

I have been personally trying to discover my way out of all those other roles. How can we just be free and let others be free as well?

View original post 535 more words

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Everyday Courage

I was walking out of Walmart the other day and happened to see an elderly man at the check out counter.  A hanger fell to the ground and he was struggling to bend his knees and hips enough to pick it up.  I paused and watched him for a moment.  This, in all the commotion, caught my attention and I paused. 

He could have ignored it.  No one may have noticed or cared.  Someone else could have picked it up.  Doing it was so difficult it attracted attention and could have been very embarrassing to him.  

I’m sure my stopping to stare may not have been helpful.  But, if he could have read my thoughts, he would have heard several things.  I teach yoga and would have loved to be able to gently help him improve his range of motion over time.  I wondered what his circumstances where that made such a normal movement so challenging.  Maybe he had arthritis or a joint replacement.

But, most of all, I call it courage.  His example burns in my mind as a triumph.  He would not avoid trying it even though it was incredibly difficult, even though he had a big audience, and even though what was hard for him would be easy for most other people.

He had the courage to do it anyway.  And he did it his way.  Speed was less important than trying and succeeding at long last. 

And he did succeed. 

I don’t know what conditions he may have that limit his movements, but in most cases movement improves movement.  Trying makes possible what was not possible before.  And, even if physically he is no better off for reasons beyond his control, I am better off–

because he dared to do it –Anyway. 

dsh