Image by Denise Green, an artist friend of mine.
Read MoreGrace
Today I want to talk about grace. No, not your Grandmother or Great-Aunt, or the prayer you say before a meal. I mean the grace of “beauty or charm of form, movement, or expression; good will” (Webster’s English Dictionary).
When you’re dealing with crisis or advocating for yourself or a loved one, there is a certain amount of grace that you must have. Difficult situations call for reaching beyond our normal selves and our regular reactions. They require us to find that extra special something hidden deep inside: our Graceful part.
Grace is that finesse or tact that you have. The way you carry and handle yourself when faced with adversity. Some have it, some do not. It’s a blessing not to be taken for granted. If you have it, it’s likely you’ve been told something like: “you have such grace about you;” “you really have grace under pressure;” or “that was a graceful way to handle that sticky situation, well done!”
Grace is something to be proud of and thankful for. It’s also something to strive for.
It’s how we behave when we are coming from our kindest inner being. It’s when we can see past the difficulty of the immediate situation to the greater issue. It’s when we can see the good in things and lead others toward it.
Grace is a special time and place all its own. It’s a kinder gentler way of being.
It’s that beauty that you see in people or things that defy description but you feel it none the less. It’s illusive, yet real.
If we could all strive to find this place more often what a wonderful world this would be!
One of the most remarkable times to find it is in crisis. It’s scarce and yet, strangely enough, that is when many of us do. Once we transcend past the lower emotions of anger and fear and we look toward positive resolution and making lemonade out of the lemons we can act from a place of grace.
I challenge you, for just one day, to pay attention to the little acts of grace around you. Pay attention to simple acts of grace you can contribute and to point out to others the grace they display. When we pay attention to it, it becomes more real. When we draw others to pay attention to it, they are awakened to its presence.
One by one, we can shake things up, encourage grace in ourselves and others and make this world a better, kinder, more gentle and loving place.
With that said, I’ll include a “Grace” here that is the type you can use before dinner or a meeting where you share an invocation. It goes along with what’s written here and sums up a beautiful place to be. I’m not sure where it came from, so if one of you does know where, please let me know and I’ll be happy to give the credit for this beautiful grace to the one who so deserves it. Here you go:
“May today there be peace within.
May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others.
May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content with yourself just the way you are.
Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.”
If that doesn’t say grace, I don’t know what does!
May your God bless and keep you, until we meet again.
Fondly,
Donna
Some Thoughts on Unconditional Love...
What is unconditional love? On the surface it would appear to be love that has no conditions.
Sounds pretty simple, right?
Well, for most it is not that simple.
Why is this? Well, you see, we all come with programming that is running in the background of our minds. Sort of like your computer. You see what you think is going on, but behind the scenes there are cookies and things tracking stuff, reporting stuff and moving things around on you.
Well, our minds work like that too. We have things going on in the background that we aren’t always aware of.
How did that get there? You may ask. It comes from a variety of sources. Some are from our parents and other family members. Some are from classmates, roommates, friends, bosses, coworkers and so on.
Read MoreAdvocacy: sounds easy, but really, doing it well is hard to do!
The Webster’s definition of Advocacy is: “the act or process of advocating: support.”
The word Advocate is defined as: “1. One that pleads the cause of another; one that maintains or defends a cause or proposal; and 2. To plead in favor of.”
As our parents and loved ones age, we come to a point in time where we become their “advocate.” This means it is our duty or task to help insure that their needs are met in the manner in which they would have wanted them to be – a.k.a. “to plead the cause of another.”
By definition, according to Webster’s, advocacy sounds pretty straight forward.
Now, throw a little bit of family pattern and human dynamics into the mix and there’s where it all goes from easy-peasy to “what just happened here?!”
Read MoreHow Do I Help?
Everyone has been asking me what my new business is all about, well here goes!
It's about helping others. "Service Above Self" as we say in Rotary. It's about taking the trying times of having loved ones in crisis and giving you ideas and help to make it through those tough times.
It's not about me being the one to come in and do it all for you. It's about me helping to empower you, your friends and family, and your loved one so you can make the most out of the challenging situation.
I can come and help coach you through it personally if you like, but of course that costs more! A lot more. ;D
All kidding aside, I've been where you are at - or very close to it. I know how difficult and stressful it can be. So, I've taken my experiences and those of thousands of other people I've helped over the years and created programs you can watch or listen to while you're sitting at the hospital bedside, your loved one's home, or really anywhere. They are geared toward letting you know what to expect and provide you with lists, tips and ideas to somehow pull it all off as best as you can.
Plus, I hope to create a community where we can gather together and support each other as well.
You're not alone. We're here to help.
That's what Donna Deos, LLC is all about!
Aren't you glad you asked?
Rotary? What's that?
I'm glad you asked.
Rotary is a world service organization whose goal is to promote world peace and understanding.
We are the ones who originally set out to eradicate polio! Yes, it was started by a Rotarian long ago (in 1979, actually). For the whole story on that click here: Rotary International Polio Page and here: Rotary Celebrates three decades of polio eradication.
We are over a million people in over 200 countries and territories around the world. We work locally to strengthen our own communities and collectively world wide to help the world community as well.
How can you get involved? Find a local club to go check out. Feel free to tell them I sent you. Don't know how to find them? There is, of course, an app for that! It's called Rotary Club Locator.
Rotary is based on fellowship and high ethical standards in business. We get together weekly to have meetings. At our meetings we have fun with each other, update each other on club projects and have a speaker so we stay knowledgeable about many things in our communities and beyond.
We have fun working on our service projects as well. My club, for example, holds a car show, a concert series, an auction, a day of winter fun for kids and families called "Winter Fest" and we sell Christmas Trees. We also have a slew of programs in the schools that help kids of all ages in a variety of ways. The money we raise through our various efforts supports those in need in our community and helps knit the community together. We work with other community groups to maximize all of our efforts.
The key is to love what you do, help others and have fun doing it. That's exactly what we do.
If you're interested in joining us, and being "of service," let me know. Or, like I said earlier, find your local club and tell them I sent you. When I said "International" it really is. Rotarian's everywhere welcome other visiting Rotarian's. It's a family of sorts - kind of like the TV Show Cheers - we may not all know your name, but we will sure welcome you like you've belonged here all along!
I'll close this blog like I would close my own club meeting (yes, I'm club President of Bow Rotary until June 30, 2015) with a toast to Rotary the World Over!