Rae's Craft

A Friend in Need "A friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be anywhere else." - Len Wein Imagine it is a Friday night; it was a long week at work, and you are about to crawl into bed for a long night's sleep. Your phone rings- it is your dearest friend, and she has fallen and injured her ankle. She asks if you will take her to the emergency room. What do you do? You help her, even though the ER on a Friday night is the last place you would choose to be.

Rounding Home "In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back." - Charles Schulz We find ourselves on our own a lot in life. That can be scary, but it also can be beautiful. I choose to see it as beautiful. I run through life- arms flailing, laughing, kicking up my heels, skidding into the answers as they hit me smack in the face. Sure, I make mistakes- but I learn from them, and my performance on the next task is all the better for it. Bring it on. I WILL EMBRACE T

Always on the Lookout "The intelligent man is always open to new ideas. In fact, he looks for them." - Proverbs 18:15 TLB New ideas are energizing, aren't they? Doing the same thing the same way all the time can be comforting, but it does not energize us. New ideas give us that " Aha!" moment that is so invigorating. if something works, don't fix it, but don't close yourself off either. New ideas lead to growth, and growth is always a positive thing- for an individual an

How Do You Do? "You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist." - Indira Gandhi The first step in forming a relationship with someone is openness, isn't if? Just like your heart and your head, your hand must be open, palm touching the of the person whose hand you're shaking. It's a sign of a willingness to be vulnerable. It's a simple thing, a handshake- given in peace and accepted with anticipation. TODAY I WILL BE OPEN TO ALL I ENCOUNTER. #PositiveQuotesforEveryDay #Patri

Go- for- It Greatness "A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties." - Harry S. Truman When was the last time you got discouraged? Think of all the great people in history. There were probably times when they could have given up, right? Frederick Douglass could have just lived a quiet life as a free person rather than travel the country speaking out against slavery. But he likely noticed

Try, Try Again "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." - Albert Einstein Most of us could make a long list of things we've tried that didn't quite work out. I've made mistakes as a child, a student, a wife, a parent, a friend, and a soul mate. But I'm happy to report that every one of those mistakes taught me something that helped me to do better on a later endeavor. TODAY I WILL NOT BE AFRAID TO TRY SOMETHING NEW. IF I FALL DOWN, I WILL HAVE A

Follow Your Heart "If you let people follow their feelings, they will be able to do good. This is what is meant by saying that human nature is good." - Mencius I will never understand parents who try to persuade their child to follow a career that is more to the parents' liking than the child's. When one makes a career out of a dream or passion that's been nestled in one's heart, it's easy to look forward to going to work. Feeling fulfilled by our work fosters a more posit

Less is More "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." Antoine de Saint-Exupery As I learned to write, I was always instructed to reduce my written words to the bare minimum. Why repeat something that's already been said, even if you are using different words? In Stephen King's book On Writing, he states that the second draft equals the first draft, minus ten percent. Less is perfection. TODAY-INSTEAD OF B

Kindness Is Strength "When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people; as I grow older, I admire kind people." Abraham Joshua Heschel When we are young, it is easy to be amazed by how much older people know. As we grow older, though, we come to realize that knowing a lot comes from study, experience, and years. Kindness is harder to come by. It takes determination to remain kind. To be kind after being forced to wait in a long line because of a systems problem takes

Rock Your World "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." - Eleanor Roosevelt We really are all equal, aren't we? We are not the same- we all have our own unique talents- but we are all equal. The eloquent senator may have a firm grasp on the politics of trade in the global economy, but when his care breaks down at the worst moment, he is in awe of the skills of the mechanic down the street. We all have different strengths and are good at different things.

Never Give Up "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." - Thomas Alva Edison One of Albert Einstein's teachers described him as "mentally slow, unsociable, and adrift forever in foolish dreams." Good thing Einstein didn't take those criticisms to heart, right? Henry Ford went broke five different times before he succeeded. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. Success comes through per

Communication by Silence "Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech." - Martin Fraquhar Tupper Years ago-when I was struggling with what to say to a friend who had just been diagnosed with cancer- I was particularly attentive to the sermon at church one Sunday. Pastor Bill was focusing on "communication by silence." Pastor Bill explained that he'd visited a member of the parish in the hospital. The man was recovering form serious surgery, and it was very difficult

Making Our Own "Happily Ever After" "To live happily is an inward power of the soul." - Marcus Aurelius Our lives are not perfect. We need to be mindful of the elements that are working, though, and then work on the rest, bit by bit. What makes you happy every day? Maybe you are thankful that you have a wonderful family, or great friends, or the best dog in the world, or a challenging job that offers interesting opportunities. On the other hand, what are the things you

How to Be Memorable "The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering." - Augustine of Hippo Think of all the memorable people throughout history- George Washington, Susan B. Anthony, Vincent van Gogh, Martin Luther King Jr. They all worked toward different goals, but they were all dedicated to those goals and worked hard to achieve them. think of the memorable people in your own family and community as well. The ones we most admire were the ones who, over

Shake Things Up "As long as you live, keep learning how to live." - Seneca We live our lives a little differently with each passing year, don't we? Often the changes are subtle, so we may not notice the impact they have on our lives. Change is invigorating and inspiring, and each new experience opens more doors. TODAY I WILL SHAKE UP MY ROUTINE IN SOME WAY. PERHAPS I'LL TRY OUT A NEW RECIPE OR GIVE MY CAR A BREAK AND RIDE MY BIKE TO WORK. #RaesCraft #encourage #Post #Patri

Say " Aaaaahhhhhh" "We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insolvable problems." - Benjamin Franklin When I hear the phrase "insolvable problem" these days, health care is the first thing that comes to mind. It is such a huge issue, but we have conquered bigger problems in the past, haven't we? I know if we all come together, we can come up with a better system, and future generations will marvel at our ingenuity. TODAY I WILL DO MY PART TO

Best Foot Forward "We shouldn't want to look like anybody but ourselves, because we are the people we were intended to be." - Dixie Carter I've got age spots, gray hair that I color blonde, and wrinkles around my eyes. I've earned each and every aspect of my growing-older face. I like my face. It's the only one I'll ever have. I am not going to lift it, stretch it, or make anything smaller or bigger. I just want to be me-nobody else. I'm not aiming for perfection, and

All Aboard ! "Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere." - Albert Einstein Getting from A to B can be boring and routine, or it can be magical and memorable. Take a cross-country trip to see Grandma, for instance. Wouldn't you rather be in the car that takes some detours and sees some sights along the way? Sure, there will be trips that have to be more rushed and time won't allow for it, but where possible, it's healthy and fun to stretch our m

When Tragedy Strikes "Courage is grace under pressure." - Ernest Hemingway How do you react in a time of emergency? Do you keep your head, or do you completely lose it? Once, when I was spending time with some family members at my condo, one of them was looking out the window and spotted a woman lying on her in the middle of the parking lot below. One of us called 9-1-1, and two of us raced down the stairs. Once we made it over to the woman, we cradled her head, and she

Becoming Whole "Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize." - Henry Ford We each face a different set of experiences, and this is what makes our life uniquely ours. This is an amazing thing to ponder-all the different experiences, all the different lives. Each experience we face makes us stronger and more prepared for the next experience. This is true even when at first an experience appears to be a nega