February was a challenging month. Early on February 6, my father-in-law, Doug, passed away. He’d been dealing with declining health for a few years and was hospitalized with a further illness at the time. I was able to talk with him by phone a few days before. He knew he was loved. We knew we were loved. Still, it’s strange not having him around now as we live on the same property.
Our faith in God helps us live out 1 Thessalonians 4:13 – we do not grieve as those who have no hope. It helps to think of him no longer suffering, and I’d like to think he is enjoying time with my father, who passed away in July of 1998.
One of my tasks for helping my mother-in-law was to cancel Dad’s phone account on our family plan. When I logged in, it said, “Nice, this line is ready for an upgrade.” It was comforting in a unique way. Yes, yes, he was. The best upgrade of all.
Honorable Living
In the aftermath of loss, as many of you have experienced, you learn to adjust to a new normal. But is life ever really normal? One of the never-changing things about life is that it changes regularly. We go through many seasons in our journey on earth, and reflection can become nostalgic. We live on the same property owned by my in-laws, and it was once occupied by my parents, too. So sometimes, when I go on walks, I remember what it looked like when everyone was living here, and am reminded of how different it is now.
But different isn’t always bad. Honorable living includes the qualities of accepting the impermanence of this life and the faith that God knows best. One thing that can be a constant is that hope in Someone greater than us. It reminds me to have faith in the plan God has for me. I invite you to learn more about such lasting hope here.
Organized Productivity
I’ve been adding some national “holidays” to my own calendar in case I want to use them as prompts for content. I was frustrated because I wanted to add a holiday that happened on the first Saturday of February, every year, but it didn’t seem that Google Calendar would allow for that.
So I did what most of us do – I “Googled” and found this site that walked me through it! It was a change in context to using “every 12 months” instead of “yearly.” Thanks, Karen.
I also made a video on my YouTube page to demonstrate. Click here for that!
People Skills
One of the ways you can learn to interact with people in a more effective way is to understand your temperament. Here is fun quiz to help you see what your creativity temperament may be. Let me know what your results are! Mine is “visionary.”
The book I finished this month (a habit I’ve had for many years) is Good Comes First, by Mark Babbit and Chris Edmonds. Our team has been working with Chris for several years. It’s a detailed, helpful book providing a plan for building a more respectful culture in the workplace.
Enjoyment of Life
Our winter season has been a wilderness of sorts. However, we have found time for simple joys, like
- Crumbl cookies
- Taco “Twosday” on 2/22/22
- A walk on wooded paths at a local park
- Watching the deer that show up in our yard
- Enjoying our more spacious living room now that we finally got rid of a big piece of furniture
- Family time
- Our comical cat, Turbo.
- Savoring delicious meals provided by caring friends in our time of loss.
It’s important to make sure to stop and enjoy life, not just survive.
Freebie Focus
Download your March Hope Hints Tip Sheet here.
Check out this Workspace Evaluation Sheet to see if your workspace is working well for you.
Free book: My book 52 Tips for Pros on the Go, will be free on Amazon March 3-7!
New! Coffee Club
“This is so cool! Hope it works out for you. It looks like a nice way for your community of social media friends to support you. Happy to be among the first, Beth!”
“This is so freaking cool, I absolutely will be part of this.”
“I love it.”
These are some of the messages I received within the first hour of sharing my new Ko-Fi page with an initial group privately. It was very encouraging prior to making a public announcement and new members continued to join!
Here’s part of the story behind creating this …
As a writer and content creator, my goal is to bring HOPE to you on topics such as
- Honorable Living
- Organized Productivity
- People Skills
- Enjoyment of life
with a commitment to writing and content with flavors of
- Humor
- Optimism
- Practicality
- Encouragement
I’m involved in several channels and use various methods, and have built up a circle of friends online that are precious to me.
As many of you know, I’ve also written books, that I regularly offer for free.
But here’s the rub. Unless an author is a best seller or has cultivated a lot of consulting/speaking engagement opportunities, it’s not easy to make much of a living sharing our art, and it does take time and tools to produce it consistently.
I don’t look to content creation as the major source of my living – my virtual assisting is my primary income. At the same time, I love to regularly coach/encourage people and feel I make a difference in this sometimes toxic online world.
So I’m looking for some people who might agree and might be willing to “buy me a coffee” either one time or monthly. My new Ko-Fi page lets me offer that opportunity with no pressure and in a simple, fun, customizable way.
I know that many readers of my content won’t be interested, and I completely understand. I don’t support every writer I enjoy either! But if you feel so inclined after reading this post, and would enjoy an extra private message or two a month sent just to coffee club members, please click here to join in.
Thanks so much!