Accepting Bags of Rocks

Everyone has his or her own bag of rocks.  I love this way of describing all the unseen things that each of us deals with every day.  It's perhaps, just an updated version of the concept of walking a mile in another's moccasins.  We all have our public personas and our private selves.  Regardless of how carefree we are in our public appearances, we are all vulnerable in various ways.

When we consciously try to embrace the possibility that others we encounter are dealing with their bags of rocks, to the best of their abilities, we can be more accepting of small slights or things done differently than our way.

Putting Our Best Hand and Foot Forward

We've always heard we should put our best foot forward.  Many things come in pairs. Perhaps we should add "hand"to that conventional wisdom of making a good impression.  Putting our best hand forward can have many positive connotations including:

• friendly - wave
• supportive - pat on the back
• attentive to detail - well manicured
• helpful - helping hand
• confident - professional handshake
• handy - tactically adept problem solver
• trustworthy - seal the deal handshake
• uniqueness - fingerprints

Give Yourself a Break

Those who know me well, realize that I'm writing this as a much-needed self pep talk, as well as for anyone else who pushes too hard. 

When we give our best to every other effort, we owe it to ourselves to consciously schedule "me" time.

How to Be a 10

There are many ways to be a 10 including:

• Do the work
• Create the scale
• Change the parameters
• Find someone who thinks you are a 10
• Vary the field
• Limit the field to 10

Crazy, Best...

It's clear why Jeff Bridges won the Oscar for Crazy Heart.  Regardless of our intentions, our best self sometimes only reveals itself in between crises. Only God and we know how committed we are to doing what is expected and required.

Chipped Polish

We always want to put our best (hand and) foot forward. How many women don't polish their nails because they don't have time to deal with chipped polish?  I don't have a statistic to share, but I'll bet the % is high. Kudos to those who don't want to appear in public with chipped polish!  Even when I go to get my paws and claws done, (manicure and pedicure) my fingernail polish doesn't last long.  We may remain healthy from frequent hand-washing and other cleansing routines, but theses activities wreak havoc on nail polish.  Clear polish and polish remover are necessities to always put our best paws forward.