The Classic Pamela Positive: The Grass Is Greenest Where You Water It

“The grass is greenest where you water it. Successful couples have learned to resist the grass is greener myth – i.e. someone else will make me happy. They have learned to put their energy into making themselves and their marriage better.”

– Mitch Temple

Blogger

Let’s be focused on how green we can make our grass!

Truly wouldn’t that be lovely? If we all focused on what we have — the wonderful family or our friends who are like family; the job, or the opportunity to explore something new; the husband or the opportunity to date and find the right person – what a joy-filled world we would have! And a joyful world starts with each one of our own little worlds.

So this isn’t restricted to simply appreciating your marriage. This is about any relationship or circumstance in life. If you want to be happy, appreciate the parts that are good — and invest in them.

If you want to see something to grow, water it! Let’s look at some practical ways to do so.

Love him. If it’s your husband, love him. Don’t focus on his faults. Well, his clothes might not match. But, he empties the dishwasher. Let’s water that. Remember, there are millions of women… simply wanting to be married. You have a lifelong committed partner, and that is a very green blessing.

Appreciate your business partner’s strengths. If it’s your business partner, appreciate their vision even if they miss the details. Or, appreciate their attention to detail, if they are missing part of the vision. Work with who they are, and find some quality of value. Let’s be grateful for the partners we have in life.

Love your roommate. If they don’t take out the garbage, value that they are nice companions to speak with when you get home at night, pay their rent on time, or like to water plants.

Appreciate your teenager. Maybe they aren’t so talkative right now. But they get B+ and As, are good people, and don’t get in trouble. We definitely want to put the sprinkler on that.

Value your co-chair. Maybe they’re brusque. But they deliver value and care a lot. Fertilize and nurture the value they are giving. Don’t criticize what they don’t have; be grateful for the strengths they bring. Supplement them. If they are stunning roses with thorns, then plant your gentle daisies. That’s why you are there!

Be Grateful for the Weather as it Keeps the World Going Round. It’s cold. I know it’s Minnesota, or Hanover. It can be brutal! But it’s also beautiful. Nature and greenery are gorgeous…droughts are not. In colder climates, strong, tightknit communities are the norm. Families bond together. It’s green in the land, and in your heart.

So dear Leaders… Water It… Wherever You Are!

Mitch Temple serves as the director over marriage programs at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He represents Focus at national events, seminars, media interviews and radio programs. He has served for 23 years as a pulpit and counseling pastor, specializing in crisis, business and marriage- and family-related issues. He is a published author in various professional journals, and co-author of four marriage books such as The Marriage Turnaround. His website Mitch Temple Online offers individuals, companies, and churches information on services, articles by Temple, and contributions by many members. Mitch has been married to Rhonda for 30 years, have 3 grown children and one grand baby.

Bio sources: Focus on the Family and Mitch Temple Online; Quote source: Ten Secrets to a Successful Marriage

The Classic Pamela Positive: “Life Is 10% What Happens To You And 90% How You React To It.”- Charles R. Swindoll

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“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.”

— Charles R. Swindol

Christian Pastor, Author, Educator,

and Radio Preacher.

So your roommate left. The head of your soccer team left. Your husband left. Your children left for college. Your dog left and wandered away from home.

Those are events……. You aren’t responsible for them.

But… you are responsible for how you respond. Not even react – but respond… with

grace,

love,

and poise.

There is an answer.

And the answer is not “why?”

It is not about complaint.

And it’s not about smashing rackets.

There is a peaceful, calm solution to what Life throws at you.

You’ll find it, and respond with a positive solution.

That’s the only way,

Charles Rozell Swindoll was born on October 18, 1934, in El Campo in Wharton County, Texas. After graduating from high school, Swindoll then fulfilled his military service obligation with the United States Marine Corps, first in San Francisco, then on the Japanese island of Okinawa. After his honorable discharge in 1959, he attended Dallas Theological Seminary, where he graduated with three major honors and magna cum laude four years later. Swindoll was ordained into the ministry in 1963 and served in Dallas, he has since held senior pastorates. He has since received four honorary doctorate degrees from varying universities in honor of his dedication and contribution to ministry work. In July 1994, Swindoll became the president of the Dallas Theological Seminary and now serves as its chancellor. He is the author of more than 70 books, most of which are based on his research and preparation for sermons preached each Sunday.

On June 18, 1955, Swindoll married Cynthia Ann Parker, who used to be the pianist at a Baptist Church in Galena Park, Texas. Together, the couple has four children, ten grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. In 1998 Swindoll founded Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco. The church first held services at Collin County Community College (now Collin College), then moved to its permanent home on Legendary Drive. The congregation grew rapidly from a few hundred members to several thousand in the first few years and this growth has necessitated major expansion of the current facility. He’s been honored in numerous ways including Clergyman of the Year in 1988 and second most influential Christian preacher in 2009. Many of the pastors at Stonebriar are graduates of Dallas Theological Seminary, and the church is known for its missionary work in India and in other countries.

Image: Fig ¹. Photo by Simon Davis/DFID, Fig ². Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash, Fig ³. Photo by Nick Dunlap on Unsplash, Bio Photo at Insight.org

The Classic Pamela Positive: “We Need Each Other” – Sue Monk Kidd

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“When a suffering is shared, its weight is divided; and when a joy is shared, the delight is multiplied. We need each other.”

－ Sue Monk Kidd

Writer, Novelist, and Memoirist

Oh, the joy of those words!

We need each other!

What a balm to the heart… we have to help each other, help each other through each step of life, and to care.

How love, companionship, and togetherness keep us all together!

Let’s Cherish It,

Sue Monk Kidd is a writer, novelist, and memoirist. She grew up in the Southern United States and her hometown of Sylvester, Georgia influenced her first and best-known book The Secret Life of Bees. As a worldwide acclaimed author, her fictional works are concentrated on the oppositions and successes of women. Kidd is inspired by Henry David Thoreau, Kate Chopin, Thomas Merton, Martha Burke, and Carl Jung as role models. Kidd is married to Sanford “Sandy” Kidd. The couple has two children, Bob and Ann. She has lived in Charleston and Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, Florida, and currently resides in North Carolina.

Bio Source: Wikipedia Fig¹. Photo by Ivana Cajina on Unsplash, Bio Photo by Wikimedia

The Classic Pamela Positive: “Sail Away from the Safe Harbor” — Mark Twain

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“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

— Mark Twain

Writer, Humorist, Entrepreneur, Publisher, and Lecturer

People who are safe

It’s okay to feel safe. In some ways, we need to feel safe as a launching pad, knowing that someone believes in us.

A supportive familiy,

an encouraging great uncle.

Sisters and brothers that make us laugh.

Perhaps a great education.

From that harbor, we can and should launch into spectacular venues where we push ourselves out of our comfort zone. Start a business. Take a job that challenges. Visit a foreign country and try to learn a new language.

You will grow and be inspired in ways you could never imagine. You inspire.

People Who Have Less Support.

For those of you who dream and discover starting from shaky ground, you have a courage that will carry you through to new heights and insights.

You might not have had that family support.

You paid your own education.

Your best friend – is your family.

You love your dog, another best friend.

You might at times feel alone.

But still, you push yourself to discover.

You go on a volunteer trip to help save elephants, by yourself. You pay for your education on your own. You eat foods you’ve never thought you would. You step on stage! You start a soccer club, or attend a UN meeting, write a CEO, become a CEO, or join a movement

You still put yourself out there. You inspire!

Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, in Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835. He was the sixth child in his family. In 1847, his father died, which caused his family to fall into poverty. This would shape Clemens’ writing and how he viewed the world. To help support his family, he began working as a printer at age 12.

In July 1961, he headed out west where he would eventually find steady work as a reporter for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. In his writing, he presented an honest, yet satirical portrayal of the antebellum south. His criticisms of the south, such as in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, cried out against racist attitudes. He led an exciting life as a ferry boat driver and a prospector during the Gold Rush; his experiences enhanced his understanding of the American culture which he wrote about.

In 1870, he married Olivia Langdon and the couple settled in Buffalo, New York with their four children.

Bio Source: Wikipedia Fig¹. Photo by Bobby Burch on Unsplash Fig². Photo by Erik Dungan on Unsplash, Fig³ Photo by Jarad Rice on Unsplash, Bio Photo at Wikimedia

The Classic Pamela Positive: “Today Is Filled With Opportunity To Do Good, And To Be Your Best Self. – Khalil Gibran

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Every day we have a chance to give our all. It’s not always the big presentation or the graduation day, however. It’s not always the first day on the job, the day we get married, have a promotion or have a child!

“Today is filled with opportunity to do good, and to be your best self.”

－Khalil Gibran

Lebanese-American Writer, Poet and Visual Artist

So how can we do that?

It can be in how you treat your co-workers. It can be how you enter a room. It can be a simple smile as you pass someone in the hallway. It can even be in how you say “Good morning”!

Gibran encourages us that the legacy we are leaving as individuals starts today. It’s not something that shows up 60 or 70 years later down the road. Legacy and your temple of living begins now.

So start building your temple. It’s in how you greet each person, help each person, in every activity, every day. That’s a calling!

Love To You Today As You Build Your Special Temple,

Khalil Gibran was born on January 6, 1883, in Bsharri, Lebanon. He immigrated with his mother and siblings to Boston in 1895 – his father remained in Lebanon to address financial matters. Gibran would return to Lebanon three years later to continue his education but returned to America after illness took the life of one of his sisters. He met Mary Haskell who encouraged his artistic development. During his life, Gibran was a prolific artist who created hundreds of paintings and drawings. In 1920, he was a co-founder, along with other poets of Arab and Lebanese backgrounds, of The Pen-bond Society, a literary society, also known as Al Rabitat al Qualamiya. Gibran’s works, written in both Arabic and English, are full of lyrical outpourings and express his deeply religious and mystical nature. The Prophet (1923), a book of poetic essays, achieved cult status among American youth for several generations. In 1928, he published Jesus, the Son of Man. Gibran died in New York City on April 10, 1931.

Bio Source: Wikipedia Fig¹. Photo by Rohan Iyer on Unsplash

The Classic Pamela Positive: “The Future Will Belong To The Nature-Smart…The More High-Tech We Become, The More Nature We Need.” – Richard Louv

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“The future will belong to the nature-smart…The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need.”

– Richard Louv

Children’s Author

We email, text, tweet, and then buy on Amazon. We’re involved in technology almost every day.

Do we see Nature every day?

Even if the nature immediately around you isn’t as beautiful as above, there is still so much glory. The sun, green grass, fresh air, a cool breeze, rain that refreshes all and cleans the earth.

Look up to the sky.

I remember as a child, one of my favorite things was playing outdoors in my backyard. I’d be in the sandbox, gazing at the glorious California blue of the sky, and the tall, green trees for which “Palo Alto” was named. The very tip tops seemed to frame in their own haphazard way, a fringe around the sky. And seeing that medium dark green up next to a beautiful heaven blue, was a bit of perfection. It was a peacefulness in my childhood.

So technology does seem to reign at times. It’s what life has evolved to, and we shouldn’t stop it. It allows us to stay in touch with people we love, and to get certain things done quicker. Yet, we can take steps to ensure balance in our lives. Balance for engaging with the natural world just as much as we do with gadgets.

Join Me In Appreciating Whatever Nature Is In Front Of You Today,

Richard Louv is a journalist and author of books about the connections amongst family, nature, and community. He is the founding chairman of the Children & Nature Network, an organization that helps to connect today’s children and future generations to the natural world. Louv is also the Honorary Co-chairman of Canada’s Child in Nature Alliance; a part of the board of directors of ecoAmerica and the editorial board of Ecopsychology. Previously, he was a columnist for The San Diego Union-Tribune and a columnist and member of the editorial advisory board for Parents magazine. Louv’s accomplishments include the 2007 Cox Award for “sustained achievement in public service,” the highest honor of Clemson University. In 2009, he earned the International Making Cities Livable Jane Jacobs Award.

Louv is married to Kathy Frederick Louv and the father of two sons, Jason and Matthew. Although an author and journalist, Richard Louv has said about himself that “he would rather fish than write.”

Bio Source: Richard Louv Official Website Fig¹. Photo by Herr Bohn on Unsplash Fig². Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash Fig³. Photo by Luc Dobigeon on Unsplash Fig⁴. Photo by Leo Rivas on Unsplash