"It ain't fittin'... it ain't fittin'. It jes' ain't fittin'... It ain't fittin'."

I came to the realization this weekend that I am too much like Scarlett O'Hara, well in some ways, and that could be a scary thing, ha!

Saturday night, I didn't have a lot going on, so I decided "when all else fails, watch Gone With The Wind", and I did just that (although, I didn't finish it until yesterday afternoon!)

Gone With The Wind has always been one of my favorite movies. I did finally read the book, once, and at some point need to do that again. This time, I decided to focus more on Scarlett herself and watch the movie in a different view.

I noticed how she was loyal to her family & her friends. She was protective over the things she loved most (ie: Tara and well, even Ashley). She loved money. She loved fashion & always wanted to stand out. She was fiercely independent and a very strong-willed individual. She shouldered the burden for too many things. And she also had a tenacious sense of jealousy that would only hit her surrounding specific things.

Am I like Scarlett in all those aspects? I certainly hope not. But I do see myself in her in a variety of ways. I like to think that I am loyal to my friends & family; I like to think I am protective (sometimes I can be overly protective). I'm not in love with money, but sure it's nice. I do like my fashion, but I don't always have to stand out (though many would say I am today with my huge pink flower in my hair!). I have a very independent and strong-willed personality; and do often shoulder the burden for too many things. And yes, I will admit I do get jealous at times. Everyone gets jealous over something ... no one can say they've never gotten jealous over something, that's just ridiculous. We may not stay jealous but you have gotten jealous.

Scarlett's jealousy was brought on completely by the relationship of Ashley & Melanie. I must admit there is the one main disagreement I have with Scarlett. Why in the sam hill was she so engrossed with Ashley Wilkes when she had Rhett Butler? Hello, Scarlett!, wake up & smell the roses!! Who had the looks, the charm, the passion for living, the money -- who had it all? It certainly wasn't poor little Ashley Wilkes. It was Rhett Butler.

Scarlett, my dear, you made a stupid mistake.

Sadly in Scarlett's case, it took her until the very end to realize that what she had desperately wanted her whole entire life was never going to happen. Even when she had the opportune time for it to happen (ie: Melanie's passing opening the door for her & Ashley), she finally realized that she would only be second-rate to Ashley. She FINALLY realized that it was Rhett who would always love her and would always place her first in his life. Yet she chased after a dream that would never be fulfilled.

Even today, we are often caught up chasing stars and dreams that we'll never catch or fulfill. Don't be like Scarlett and wait until the last minute to realize that you'll never have a chance. I'm not saying don't chase your dreams or reach for your full potential, but don't let that consume you. Maybe what you need or what you want is right in front of you. Don't turn your back on those around you because they could be the key to your life.

Even though Scarlett had her faults, I still admire her. She was a figher, she was courageous, she was so many things that many should strive to be. She was beautiful (even though the book itself does not describe Scarlett as a beautiful creature) -- but it's not all about beauty. It's what's on the inside & if your heart isn't clean and shining, then it doesn't matter what you look like on the outside.

So dream big and chase the rainbows but be prepared at some point to realize that you may not find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. We have to wake up and look at what is right in front of us & discern whether that is what is meant for us.


And as Scarlett herself would say ...

"I won't think about that today ... I'll think about that tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day"

He is always there ...

Times are really tough right now for many people and for so many different reasons. It's hard to face the situation in front of you, but you can. Don't get up, don't be intimidated by your circumstances. But most importantly, let God be the one to lead you. Trust completely in Him and everything will work out.

Listen to this song by the wonderful Janet Paschal. Take the words to heart and know that everything will work out.

Just some shots ...

Don't really feel like writing much -- too much on my mind to sort thru right now. Read the last post, which has re-appeared after blogspot had some issues late last week. But until next time, just enjoy some pictures.


Photo taken in Mystic, Connecticut


Photo taken on Bald Head Island, North Carolina

Photo taken at Babcock State Park in West Virginia


Photo taken in the Amish Country near Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Photo taken of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Photo taken of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Photo taken at Green Hope High School in North Carolina

Photo taken in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Photo taken at the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh, North Carolina

A Complimentary Sampling....

Don't you just love it when you go into a restaurant or even better, a delicatessen and they are offering samples of some type of goodies? You often hear "would you like to try a sample?" We see fudge, bread and beverage samples or one of my ultimate favorites, chocolate covered potato chip samples and our salivary glands go into overdrive. Walk into Jimmy Johns and after seeing their sign "free smells" and it causes our sensory abilities to go haywire.

Everywhere in life we are tempted with "free complimentary" products to sample. Each of these "complimentary" items only whets our appetite in the hopes of causing us to go deeper and buy a pound of fudge, a loaf of bread or a bottle of whatever. (And for the record, no, I didn't buy the bag of chocolate covered potato chips from that little store in Daytona, Florida!) At times, we get so wrapped up in these "complimentary" items, that we will spend tons of money buying the whole thing. Is there anything wrong with that? No, Lord knows I've done it before.

But what about those "real" complimentary samples? Why can't we, as humans, ever offer a complimentary sampling of COMPLIMENTS to our family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, relatives, etc?

So many times in today's world, we'll fuss with our closest friends or our parents or co-workers. We say hurtful things or have hurtful things said about us. Those comments stick with us, and you walk away thinking "wouldn't it be nice to have heard something NICE said about me for once?" And wouldn't that be nice? What if everyone could at least say one thing positive and nice about a person. Sure have an argument or disagreement with someone, but leave them with a compliment or something positive. Don't just walk away from the problem. The Bible says not to let the sun go down on our wrath. Too many times in today's world that is happening and that causes all sorts of problems for people - emotionally and physically.

I challenge everyone to offer a "COMPLIMENT-ARY" sampling to someone. When you do that, guess what? You'll probably get something nice said about you. People will gain an appreciation for you and then they might "buy in to you" (so to speak). Whet someone's appetite on occasion by saying something nice to them rather than something spiteful. Life is not fun when you have to live in pain -- whether physical pain or emotional pain. Say something nice to someone. Surprise them. Show them you love them. Some simple little thing you say, even if it's "I like your shoes" -- something so small can change a person's day, week, month or even life!

You never know how much you can affect someone by your words or actions. As one of my favorite quotes "To the world, you may seem like one person, but to one person, you may seem like the world."

Reach out, give some complimentary samplings & help make everyone better off, including yourselves.

Being on the summit doesn't change you ...

Life is full of ups & downs. Don't you just wish that sometimes we could be like Mary Poppins and snap our fingers and everything would fly into place? That would be lovely!! But as we all know, unfortunately, things don't work that way -- at all! Usually if someone snaps their fingers at us, we're probably more than likely in trouble!

Life throws tons of curveballs at us. We can either sit back and get hit with the curveball, or we can get out our bats and hit that curveball as far as we can and try to overcome all our obstacles. I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. We question everything that happens to us, but in the end, we need to realize that whatever the situation we're going thru, God has allowed this to come upon us. He is molding us into what He wants us to be like. He will teach us a lesson and help make us a stronger person if we allow Him to guide us throughout the journey.

Friday, I was able to attend the Chick-fil-A Leadercast. It was an event held in Atlanta but simulcasted all over the USA and several other countries. Chick-fil-A brought together a lot of well known speakers who each challenged us into being voices of change or being a better leader. I was really impacted by several of the speakers and challenged by several.

One of the neatest ones I remember was by Alison Levine, who was filling in for Robin Roberts whom I really wanted to see. Alison talked about her journey of climbing Mount Everest and coming within a few hundred yards of reaching the summit before having to return to base camp. She said she would never climb again because she didn't want to fail. But in the end, she did climb Mount Everest again and even with the bad weather looming, she still faced the challenge and reached the summit. But she made a great point:

"Being on the summit doesn't change you or who you are, rather it's what you learn all along the journey"

That was such a powerful statement. So many times we set goals and want to reach our highest potential and reach that ultimate summit, but what happens when you reach that summit and you're on the top? You've made it -- great job, but where do you go from there? Many times no where. So you have to reflect back on all the things you learned on that journey to make it to the top or to reach your goal.

So even in our darkest days when we feel that the our friends or even the world has turned their backs on us, we have to realize that the dark clouds are only temporary. There is always going to a mole hill, a foothill or a mountain that we have to climb. We have to be a risk taker and try to climb those hills and not be held back by any thoughts of failure. God is in control; He will help us along our journey.

Get yourself a journal and write about everything you do -- even if it's just note taking. Write about your daily experiences or just little things that happen to you. Write notes for a friend in a journal and give it to them as a present. Any little things will help us on our long and winding road. Just go at it full force!

Cross the bridge or mountain one step at a time ... you never know what may be awaiting you on the other side! Enjoy the journey!!