Tag: Motivation

Amy Grant Shares Powerful Update Following Open Heart Surgery

Ten days after undergoing open-heart surgery to correct a heart condition, singer Amy Grant took to social media with an update on her “miraculous” recovery.

In her message, Grant, 59, thanked her friends and fans for their prayers and compared the experience to being “a non-runner who was signed up for a marathon.”

“I just want to say, from the moment I went to the hospital, if it really were a marathon race, I felt like I got into that runners block and as soon as it was time for the race to start there was this massive West Texas wind at my back… just pushing me through. Even stuff I was really scared about felt like nothing more than just a deep breath and something supernatural pushed me through it.”

Grant concluded the post with a call to action and a reminder about the power of prayer.

“My recovery has honestly felt miraculous” she wrote. “And so, I want to say thank you to each person who said a prayer for me. Prayer changes everything. Let’s keep those prayers going for our country and let’s turn all the brokenness into love and seeing each other. I love you.”

Well said, Amy.

This article was written by Meghan Overdeep for Southern Living

Photo credit: gma©

The Habits of Highly Successful Women

I have found that successful people and specifically successful women have certain defining characteristics.

Let’s take a look at some of these telltale signs of successful women.

Successful women are self-aware

Successful women are self-aware.  They are in tune with the inner workings of their minds, their strengths, and weaknesses.  They know what they are capable of.

Success women have goals

Success requires goals. How else would you know what you are working towards?  Successful women set up goals that drive well-placed actions. They implement SMART GOALS. Success requires well-thought action plans. Goals help you forge a path toward something. A successful woman formulates her goals and works on them. She sees them through.

Successful women write things down

Think for example how many times you go to the store without your list, and you come home with a basket full of things you didn’t mean to buy? But you forgot the one thing you were going to buy. Okay, maybe I am the only one. 

They keep distractions to a minimum

We are living in one of the most distracting times in human history. While technology has opened up the world of communication, distractions have also become part of our daily lives.

They are always learning

Successful women never stop learning. They are lifelong learners. They know they need for learning because life is not static. Business practices are not static.

Do you see these habits in you?  Read all 21 habits that make some women more successful than other women.  You might be surprised to learn that’s it not rocket science, not being lucky, or not being born with a silver spoon.  These are realistically possible habits to start that can define what success means to you, and help you achieve it.   

Article from thrivewithjanie.com

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid, but Do It Anyway

A song for our times by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit Lyrics

 

“Be Afraid” © 2020

We’ve been testing you
And you failed
To see how long that you could sit with the truth but you bailedI don’t think you’d even recognize the loss of control
And I don’t think you even see it in yourself
See every one of us is counting dice that we didn’t roll
And the loser is the last to ask for help

Be afraid, be very afraid
But do it anyway
Do it anyway

The stage belongs to you
And you feel like a star
And you can bark and snap like a dog at the man who just tuned your guitar
And I don’t think you’d even recognize a kid in the wings
And I don’t think you even see her in yourself
She looks to you for what to do with all her delicate dreams
But you’re too terrified to be of any help

Be afraid, be very afraid
But do it anyway
Do it anyway

Be afraid, be very afraid
But do it anyway
Do it anyway

We don’t take requests
We won’t shut up and sing
Tell the truth enough you’ll find it rhymes with everything

We’ve been testing you
And you failed
To see how long that you could hold it in before you screamed
But you only exhaled
And I don’t think you even recognize the sound of your voice
When it’s blasting through the speakers in the sky
And if your words add up to nothing then you’re making a choice to sing a cover when you need a battle cry

Be afraid, be very afraid
But do it anyway
Do it anyway

Be afraid, be very afraid
But do it anyway
Do it anyway

Be afraid, be very afraid
But do it anyway
Do it anyway

From the album: “Reunions” (2020) ©

When Fear Creeps

When fear is stoked within us, our innate and natural response alerts our nervous system, signaling that something is wrong and we must react. Sometimes, that reaction could be coping by reaching for that half-empty bottle or withdrawing from others.

Laurie McBee has a solution.

Creeping Fear

Laurie McBee Writing Stuff

Danielle Steel Just Published Her 185th Novel—and Has No Plans of Slowing Down

What does it take to be the bestselling author alive? Danielle Steel opens up about typewriters, 20-hour workdays, and the secret side of her no one knows.

  • Danielle Steel’s 185th novel, Spy, came out on November 26.
  • Steel, who has been writing novels on the same typewriter since she was 19 years old, has sold over 800 million copies and is the bestselling author alive.
  • In this candid Q&A, Steel opens up about her legendary career, her beloved brood of nine children, and the secret side of her no one knows.

The events of Danielle Steel’s life read like a modern-day fairy tale. Or perhaps they read like the plot of one of her own bestselling books—sagas about ordinary people whose lives turn sharply in the direction of adventure.

After her first book, Steel’s next five books didn’t sell—but the sixth one did. “I always say to young people who are writing: If I had quit after three, I wouldn’t have the career I have today,” Steel says.

She adds that as much as her jet-setting life seems glamorous, there’s also an isolation that accompanies literary fame.

I got hooked on writing books. I love it. Now, it’s my dream job. I can’t think of another job I’d enjoy as much. Writing books makes you more interested in people’s problems, because we all have those problems. It doesn’t matter who you are—you’re subject to the same worries and problems and illnesses and losses.

I try to be in my office by 8 every day. If I’m in San Francisco, I meet with my staff. If I’m not working on a book, I answer emails, work on an outline, do research. I pretty much stay at my desk all day. I eat at my desk, which I’m sure is very unhealthy and uncivilized. If I am working on a book and haven’t had a chance to write that day, I usually start writing around 8 pm and go until about 3 am. But if I start writing in the morning, whenever that is, I’ll start on the book and keep going through the day. I work on average, 20 hours a day. Sometimes 22. Occasionally 24. And then whatever time of day it is, I sleep for four hours, then I go back to the book. I think my body is used to it.

So, after 179 books, you’re still not satisfied?

185 books.

Sorry, 185 books. Will you ever be able to rest?

I hope not. I can do that when I’m dead.

Article by Elena Nicolaou.