Daily Ramblings – Ted Talk Tuesday – Black Friday

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Black Friday, family, Happiness, Holidays, Love, Origin, Sales, Shopping, Ted Talk, TedEd, Tuesday

Here is one person’s take on Black Friday. A day that marks the beginning of Christmas shopping in America. I do not go out on Black Friday, because it is so insane, but many people, like my stepdaughters, live for this day. They get up before dawn and head to their favorite stores.

In this short 3-minute (+) video, Black Friday’s origin is explained. You’ll be interested who came up with the idea. I hope you are as excited about the holiday season as I am. It’s a great time of year. In fact it is my favorite time of year. I get in a lot of reading, writing, and of course, video game playing in, during the winter months, because in Michigan, there is nothing else to do, simply because it is snowing outside and cold, and all the rest. Yes, there are many who ski, hunt, and do a lot of outdoor things. For me, my 20 years of service gave me all the outdoor living I’ll ever need to experience. Now it’s a cup of hot coffee, a good book, and looking at the snow, thanking God I do not have to live in that anymore.

Well, that’s it for today. I hope all of you have a great Tuesday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Persistence

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Australia, K.M. Allan, Love, passion, Persistence, Struggle, Writer

I recently read a blog posting my friend in Australia wrote. In a nutshell, she did some edits on her manuscript, sent it out to her readers, and discovered she did not fix any of the problems they identified earlier. She simply added more problems.

Have you ever had something like that happen? It’s at these times when many would just throw up their arms, have a temper tantrum, and quit. This is where persistence comes in.

Persistence means we do not quit. We keep pushing forward. We continue to move forward, despite the difficulties.

Many of you have read my thoughts on giving up on goals we have to struggle to do, but here’s the caveat–even the things we love to do and focus on can cause frustration or problems. You need this love or passion for a thing to push through these hard times. If you have to fight against yourself every time you have to do something you’ve set a goal for, stop doing that goal. You see?

Anyway, my author friend in Australia loves what she does, and has the ability to push through these tough times, because of that love. I bet if she really didn’t enjoy writing or working on this book project, this latest round of feedback would have caused her to quit. This is the best example I can give about loving what you do, and letting go of things that you thought you loved, but discovered weren’t your cup of tea. (Are you tired of all my trite expressions yet? HA!)

We got our first snow in Michigan. Wow, was it beautiful! My sister came in for Thanksgiving, and it was great. Good conversations, plenty of movie watching, and great food, courtesy Mom and her. We had a smoked turkey this year. Have you ever had one of those? Smoked turkey is delicious, and makes one hell of a sandwich!

Well, that’s all I got for today, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Funny Friday – Black Friday

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Black Friday, Corn, family, Friends, Good times, Gravy, Sweet Potatoes, Thanksgiving, Turkey

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving. My hope, is for those of you that celebrate, as some of my readers do not reside in the United States.

That being said, we had a great time yesterday! We had smoked turkey, sweet potatoes, baked corn, and apple pie for dessert. We had a small gathering this year. My sister is here visiting, so today I am only posting this, so I can hang out with her, while she is visiting.

If you are out participating in Black Friday events, please be careful. There are always a lot of incidents involved with Black Friday. Well, that’s it for now. I hope you have a great weekend. Tonight, we are having leftover turkey and gravy open-faced sandwiches. Yummy!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – TED Talk Tuesday –

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Cranberry Sauce, family, Friends, Gratitude, Happy, Holiday, pumpkin, Thanksgiving, Turkey

Here’s another Ted Talk with a Thanksgiving feel! I hope you enjoy these neat little facts about pumpkins. Have a great Tuesday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Rest, Relaxation, and Celebration

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Achievement, Contemplation, family, Friends, Goals, Monday, motivation, Rest, Strive, Thankful

This week the United States celebrates Thanksgiving. As we approach the holiday season, it is a good time to talk about taking a break. You’ve worked hard all year. You’ve put your efforts into personal goals and are beginning to look at what you would like to pursue in the new year.

Take that time. Enjoy your family. Recharge the batteries. Have fun.

The year is almost gone. You still have time to knock out the rest of your goals, but if you didn’t make it, don’t sweat it. Goals are voluntary. We set them and strive to achieve them, but things change. One of the revelations I had a few years ago was the need to drop a goal if I felt like I was pulling my own teeth to work toward it. It didn’t mean that the goal was a bad one; it merely meant it wasn’t the right goal at the time.

I’ll be posting this week, even though my sister is here, but will be less active in this and many of my online accounts, because it’s time to enjoy the family and friends that come over to hang out. Take advantage of this time. It’s once a year, and it is a great time to contemplate what you want to do next year, and how you did this year.

With that, I’ll wish everyone a terrific Thanksgiving, if you celebrate the holiday. I can’t wait!! The food will be awesome!

Have a great Monday, folks.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Funny Friday – More Funny Dog Videos

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Chuckle, Dog, Friday, FriYAY, Fun, Funny, funny dog videos, Funny videos, Giggle, Laugh, Smile, Snicker

These are just terrific and a great way to close out your week, or as one of my readers does, enjoy them during breakfast, Saturday morning. I hope these brighten your day a little as we ramp up for the weekend!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Grateful I Am Vaccinated

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Consequences, Covid, family, Freedom, Friends, Grateful, Gratitude, vaccine

The folks got their COVID booster shots yesterday and today they are both sore. I’ll be getting mine when I am eligible. Friends of ours had an encounter with COVID recently. The husband was hospitalized and the wife tested positive as well. Both of them are vaccinated. Thank God they were vaccinated, or they may have joined many who have succumbed to this nasty thing.

My view on COVID is this: Each of us is an individual and we have the right to choose what is best for us. If we choose to get vaccinated, so be it. If we choose not to, that’s ok too.

The thing for me is that each individual has the freedom to do what is best for them, but whatever decision they make, they have to live with the consequences. My brother is the only one in our family that chose not to vaccinate. My sister’s boyfriend has also chosen not to get the vaccine. The consequences of these choices is that both have to get tested before they visit us. This is for our protection.

The point I am making here is that you cannot make a decision without consequences–good or bad. If you do not want to get vaccinated, then deal with the limitations on where you can work, where you can travel, and the risks associated with that decision.

Today, I am thankful I got vaccinated. I did not buy into all the conspiracy theories out there about being “chipped” and all the rest. I also continue to live the way we all lived in 2020. I realized during this time that going out to dinner or to a movie were nice, but not necessary. We can order in. We can stream most movies now online, even the ones that are in theaters, which are coming out more quickly than before. When I’m feeling particularly lazy, I even get my groceries delivered.

I hope all of you have a great Thursday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – William Blake

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Painter, Poet, Printmaker, Quotes, Wednesday, William Blake, wisdom

No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.

William Blake

Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.

William Blake

To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower Hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.

William Blake

A truth that’s told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent.

William Blake

I am in you and you in me, mutual in divine love.

William Blake

For more information about William Blake, here’s a link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Blake

All quotes from BrainyQuote.com

Have a great Wednesday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Ted Talk Tuesday – The Amazing Effects of Gratitude

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Benefits, effects, Gratitude, Life, Looking at the bright side, TedEd, Thankful, Thankfulness

I figured since we are so close to Thanksgiving, this would be an appropriate video for those of you may not keep a Gratitude Journal or practice counting your blessings each day. It is a wondrous time of year!

A good friend of our family provided a quote that I’ve kept close to the chest since hearing it. He said, “When things go bad in your life, you have to remember that these things are not done to you, but for you.”

This quote is all about turning a sour note to a wondrous melody. Sure, we all have our relationship, financial, health, and other problems, but in the end there’s some lesson to be learned. We learn how strong we are. We learn how loving we are. We learn how resilient we are. I think we learn the most when times are tough. What a gift, right?

Gratitude is about looking at every situation with a sense of thankfulness. It’s being thankful for what we have, not what we do not have. It is realizing that we have all we need. Perhaps it isn’t all we want, but it is what we need.

I hope you enjoy this video.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Motivating Video

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Attack, Drive forward, Eric Thomas, Expect Setbacks, failure, Get at it, Monday, motivation

Here you go, folks!

Have a great Monday!

Until next time…

Dave