C, You Can Do It!

Lynn Frances

Description

Do you know why a golf ball is totally covered with dents? I didn't, but my friend Suzanne did; she explained all those dents make the golf ball aerodynamic. Those many dents make it go straighter, higher, and further. Upon hearing her explanation, I knew that my many life changes were really dents that made me more aerodynamic in my personal growth! Divorce turned my world upside down, but by continually embracing eighteen words that, coincidentally, all begin with the letter c, I am healthier emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. My analogy is as follows: the word golf has four letters in it, and the game consists of navigating eighteen holes through treacherous territory. The word life has four letters in it, and in my book, I present eighteen words to help readers navigate life, which, like golf, involves treacherous territory. I believe that we are in this together, and we should share our hard-won wisdom with each other to lighten our loads in life. Choose Growth. Gain Peace.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Alternative medicine

Informations

• Publié par: Inspiring Voices
• Date de parution: 13 mai 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781462409655
• Langue: English

Extrait

Copyright © 2014 Lynn Frances.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
 
All epigraphic definitions are taken from Webster’s II New College Dictionary .
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.
 
ISBN: 978-1-4624-0964-8 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4624-0965-5 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014908357
 
 
Inspiring Voices rev. date: 5/12/2014

Contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction
Credentials
Create
Cassette
Cultivate
Covering
Commitment
Compass
Centered
Conviction
Cherish
Children
Church
Compliment
Christ
Courage
Confidence
Composure
Compassion
Conclusion

 
 
To my dear daughters, Elizabeth and Patricia, you are my treasures from my heavenly Father to nurture and love. Because of you, I persevered and learned of my strength and courage. Thank you.

Acknowledgements
M Y HEARTFELT THANKS TO MY MANY FRIENDS WHO encouraged me to write this book! You have been my gentle critics who have continually supported me over the years with sincere pride, honest critiques, and genuine enthusiasm along the way.
My sincere gratitude to my friend Claudia Plumley, who enthusiastically agreed to be my editor—although it remained to be seen if I could write a book. Claudia spent hours reading many drafts and she provided thoughtful guidance and solid advice which, indeed, helped me to complete my manuscript. Claudia and I reconnected recently and what a thrill to finish the book together—which is life coming full ci rcle!
Nicolette Novarro, a friend with a journalism degree, provided insightful and honest reviews of my final rewrites. Nicolette never tired of reading and re-reading my edits to ensure that my voice remained authentic and consistent throughout the book, an important nuance for a memoir. I am very thankful for Nicolette’s enthusiasm and pati ence.
Thank you, my Lord and my God, for carrying me o ften.

 
 
I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or af raid.
John 14:27

Preface
“L IFE IS CHANGE. GROWTH IS OPTIONAL.” THIS MESSAGE was posted on a coworker’s office bulletin board. Reading that quote enlightened me. I had discovered that truth on my own within the last several y ears.
In life, peaks and valleys represent our personal highs of great joy and success as well as our personal lows of great sorrow and loss. The way we cope with our individual peaks and valleys enables us to live the best life possible despite our trials and tribulations. My deepest valley was the pain of losing my marriage, a demise that created a mountain of changes in my life. I endured the changes resulting from my dissolution because I chose to be a survivor—not a victim—during this very dark period in my life.
As I recovered from the emotional turmoil of my dissolution, special words aided me in my daily tasks and counteracted the negative feelings. And those words continue to help me. They were not unlike saying a prayer or mantra for support each day. I realized the vocabulary of my special words all began with the letter c , and all the words were positive and empowered me to be able to attain whatever goals I had set in my new life.
I have discovered that life presents changes constantly, and it is crucial that you learn to appreciate these changes as challenges each and every day. To appreciate these daily challenges, you must learn acceptance in order to effectively deal with them. By accepting them and saying, “This is reality and I cannot change it,” you can then develop good coping skills in order to deal with each change properly. Some changes are positive; some are negative. So developing the correct perception in regard to the challenges is critical to resolving them in the most proactive and yet comfortable ma nner.
Only when you have acceptance of reality, that is, everyday challenges, you can become proactive and have peace. I wrote the following prayer poem to guid e me:
C, You Can D o It!
With Christ, †oday I have the Courage and Confidence
to do what I need t o do,
Composure from Mary, to use good coping sk ills,
and Compassion, to be caring, not critical
When I completed my list of “C” words, I discovered there were eighteen of them. Immediately, I thought of the game of golf, a sport I am taking up again with lessons. My analogy is such: • GOLF has four letters in it, and eighteen holes constitute this game, which is played over treacherous terri tory. • LIFE has four letters in it, and I present eighteen words to navigate life, which, like golf, has treacherous terri tory.
The following sentence incorporates all of my “C” words: I have the Credentials to Create a mind Cassette to Cultivate a Covering for a Commitment with a Compass that is Centered on a Conviction to Cherish Children and Church and to Compliment Christ with my Courage, Confidence, Composure, and Compas sion.
On his inaugural address on January 20, 2001, President George W. Bush said, “Today, we affirm a new commitment to live out our nation’s promise through civility, courage, compassion, and character.” President Bush used four elementary, principled words beginning with the letter c to express his beliefs and vision for America’s integrity during his presidency. Upon listening to President Bush’s address, my mom said I’d better get my book written, as “C” words are powerful terms being used more and more, even in the president’s mes sage.
My goal is to highlight the guidance from the Lord and His strength, comfort, and peace that He willingly and graciously blesses on all of His children each day. The Word of the Lord is written to aid His children, so I’ve added a Proverbs quote to end each of my chapters. I consider Proverbs highly underrated. I find them to be extremely revealing as they deftly target our weaknesses with directives on how to straighten up. Each quote reveals a meaningful message giving easy directions to implement the righteous way of living. The book of Proverbs illustrates God’s wise steps for godly living, and some of them are so direct and even funny that I consider them to be God’s one-liners for His children to easily get. Armed with His Word in my mind and my heart, I am fearless with the Lord. Al ways!

What dainty morsels rumors are—but they sink deep into one’s h eart.
Proverbs 26:22

Introduction
“C , YOU CAN DO IT!” WAS MY INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT when running an errand to the post office before work one morning in August 1997. My life was very busy and complicated as I was on a new path after having my twenty-six-year marriage dissolved in March of that year.