Do you ever watch "American Pickers"? I sure like that show. Frank and Mike ventured out into Colorado on last night's edisode (we DVR'd it) and located a remote homestead where a brother and sister live. Their dad was an inspiration for them, a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy who did just about everything.
They told the story of the bobcat their dad found as a tiny baby and how they raised it, how it learned how to use the toilet, how it was famous all over town. Mike asked, "When did he die?" And the sister said that the neighbor shot it for its coat. Wow. So Mike and Frank figured that they harbored some hard feelings. But no, they didn't. The lady said that the high school kids toilet papered his place. That was that. Retribution was had.
Good attitude. I saw something or read something the other day about holding onto resentments and angers, how they eat away at us and rob us of the energy we could use on something much more positive. That's common sense, but the article put a little different spin on it, presented it with a statistic which of course I can't remember right now.
Oh my, what positive thinking can do!!! Like the great story we saw last night on the news about the former Browns coach, Sam Rutigliano. He is a class act and knows how to live, how to give, and how to find the joy in life. Modeled after his groundbreaking program to help football players who had gotten into drugs/alcohol, he started an afterschool program for kids. It's the Inner Circle Foundation's program, and was featured on TV 3 News -- Romona's Kids.
They read, read, read. Then they play, play, play. Plenty of rewards for their hard work. Plenty of chances to work with volunteering adults. They learn to love learning, because statistics, they said, show that when a child doesn't read well by the third grade they begin to fall behind. Falling behind leads to more falling behind and then that leads to dropping out of school. This program is working on breaking that barrier. The program is also working to help steer children away from the drugs that are so prevalent, including KIDS who are using heroin.
One young mother was marveling that her daughter is now making straight A's and is doing wonderfully in school. She is proud. Her daughter is happy and motivated to achieve. The girl sees herself moving onto high school at some point, and then maybe college. Being able to read well will continue to open doors for this young person for the rest of her life. What a gift!!
Let your charisms lead you toward activities that capitalize on these God-given strengths. Look up the charisms online and see what you find. Charisms are different than mere skills/abilities/talents. When you have a charism, you have a passion for it!! When we took the quiz to determine our charisms at a workshop I attended some years ago, it should have been no surprise that my strongest suits were in crafts, music, and writing. But realizing that these areas I'd already explored in life were far more than just something I could do, but something that I LOVE doing made a difference. It's changed the way I approach and use the charisms.
I did a quick online search and couldn't find a comprehensive list for you of the charisms, but I know there's something like that around the house. Maybe I can find it, and if I do, I'll share.
In case you are wondering, Blackie the cat is doing fine. She's already been around this morning and had her breakfast.
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