Rae's Craft

Spend Your Time Wisely "Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you." - Carl Sandburg Your boss, your kids, your spouse, your mother, your friends, the neighbors, the PTA, your kids' teachers-they all want a chunk of your time. Being busy is good; it keeps us social and connected. Just make sure things are in balance. There are times w

A Beautiful Life "Beauty is but a flower, which wrinkles will devour." - Thomas Nash I was recently standing in line at the grocery checkout, feeling glum about my crow's-feet, gray hair, and my gone-with-the-wind figure, which had gone from Scarlett to Mammy in the space of a decade. I picked up a magazine with alluring headlines: "Get Gorgeous!" "Look 10 Ibs Thinner!" "Fabulous at 50! I opened the magazine and flipped through the pages: " Amazing diet turns ugly fat into h

All the Big and Little Ways "There is no point at which you can say, 'Well, I'm successful now. I might as well take a nap.'" - Carrie Fisher No matter how successful we are, there's always more to be done, ins't there? Even if our career has been a success and we are nearing retirement, we still want to be of use. We all take vacations or days off, but those days usually just recharge us; soon we are looking for meaningful work again. Everyone wants to be of use, whether

Friendship Sparklers "At times, our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person." - Albert Schweitzer Once my children were grown, I decided I didn't like cooking anymore. I worked out a nice arrangement with my friend Jack, who lives just 57 steps from my condo. He agreed to cook once or twice a week if I cooked once or Twice a week; the other days we would fend for ourselves, eat leftovers together, or go out to eat. Then I met Surinder, a delightf

The Ultimate Test "The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely go good." - Samuel Johnson Networking is big these days. Business professionals get together at seven-too-early-o'clock in the morning to strut their stuff. They pass out out dozens of business cards and relate how their business can help your business. But the real test of what we're worth is how we treat the janitor, the cashier at the grocery store, the little children on our

Little Things, Big Results "The smallest fact is a window through which the infinite may be seen." - Aldous Huxley Have you ever noticed how pondering one thing leads to pondering numerous others? Take the time to really examine a beautiful flower, and your mind will come up with one question after another. What components came together to create this beautiful plant? Why does it look the way it does? It is amazing. Small things enlarge and excite our world. TODAY I WILL

Hear, See, Do "I hear and I forget. I see and I understand. I do and I remember." - Confucius Many years ago, a friend told me how much she enjoyed painting ceramics. It didn't sound that interesting to me, so I forget about it completely. Years later I wandered into a ceramics place with another friend, and we saw dinner plates made out of greenware. Now I began to understand how I could have fun painting ceramics. A few years later, I finally decided to give it a try.

Thrill of Discovery "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust Preconceived notions are dangerous, aren't they? When we have them, we miss a lot. Take your ride to work, for example. Do you look around on your way, or are you just focused on your destination? Do you have the mind-set of "Oh, I see this every day-it's nothing special"? Take time to look around you with the eyes of a newcomer. You will be a

The Blessing of One True Friend "If you have one true friend, you have more than your share." - Thomas Fuller Do you have one true friend? A person you just know you can count on no matter what? Someone you know would be there for you at your darkest hour or during a time of desperate need? Acquaintances come and go, but the spark and dedication of a true friend is a treasure. TODAY I WILL CALL MY TRUE FRIEND AND THANK HER FOR ALL SHE ADDS TO MY LIFE. #RaesBlog #RaesCraft

Clearing the Mind "Rest in not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time." - Sir John Lubbock A beautiful summer's day is the perfect time to just be outside and enjoy it - just look around you and smile. Do not make a mental note of your grocery list; do not thin

Professor Experience "Trust one who has gone through it." - Virgil If you're about to embark upon significant work on your house, whom do you call for advice? A friend or neighbor who has had similar work done recently, right? It should be the same way with any project or problem we face. If we are sick or grieving, wouldn't it help to go to a friend or family member who has gone through something similar in the past? We don't have to confront every problem alone. It is

Sticking to It "Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength." - Arnold Schwarzenegger Think back over the times when you have really noticed your own strength. It wasn't from winning, was it? Oftentimes we win because our opponent is simply not very good. The times we witness our own strength is when we are pushed very hard. When I first became a single parent, thin

Pleasing All the People "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." -Bill Cosby We all have different opinions and ideas, and that is what keeps the world so interesting. Trying to be a people-pleaser is a no-win situation. First of all, in doing so, we find ourselves rolled so thin it becomes difficult to hold ourselves together. Also, if it becomes clear to others that we are only aiming to please, people lose respect for us b

The Power of You "Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do." - Benjamin Spock How is it that a mother can look at her child and know if he or she is really sick? How is it that a person can sense when a loved one is happy, sad, or angry without a word being spoken? Instinct- the power we all have within ourselves. Trust yourself. You know what to do. TODAY I WILL HEED MY INSTINCTS. #RaesCraft #RaesBlog #blogreaders #PositiveQuotesforEveryDay #Blog #encourage #

All Used UP "I want to be all used up when I die." - George Bernard Shaw Are we too careful? Do we save too much money? Squirrel away too many nuts for the winter? Do we put things off until "later"? If we really want to be all used when we die, we need to take chances and have more adventures. We need to start doing the things we plan to do "someday". TODAY I AM GOING TO PONDER MY DREAMS AND START WORKING TOWARD ONE. #RaesBlog #RaesCraft #encouragement #Readings #book #

How to Get Stuff "The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this:Decide what you want." - Ben Stein Many of us run around in circles all day, and then complain that we never have time to address our needs or our wants. What is it you want or need? More time with your kids or time to take classes to pursue a dream? Do you desire more time for travel, or to work out, or to get a mas

What We Don't Know "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Arthur Schopenhauer We can be cynical at times. We live in such a modern age, and we have all kinds of information at our fingertips; sometimes we forget that there's actually a lot we don't know. Are there planets that ate capable of sustaining life? Who knows, maybe future generations will live on other plane

Practice Makes Perfect "It's a funny thing, the more I practice the luckier I get." - Arnold Palmer Some people don't believe in luck, and it seems that Arnold Palmer is one of these people. He knows how hard he has worked, and he credits this with his success. Luck may be the reason behind some things ( winning the lottery, for instance ), but those glories pale in comparison to what hard work and practice can bring us. TODAY I WILL WORK HARD, AND I WILL IMPROVE. #RaesBlog

Find Your Why "He who has a why to live for can hear almost any how." - Friedrich Nietzsche Life is hard, isn't it? Even if our basic needs are met, there are other circumstances that make our lives difficult. Perhaps we hate our jobs, so we feel all our time is spent doing tedious or pointless things. Or perhaps we live stressfully from paycheck to paycheck. But isn't there some bright spot in your life that makes it all worth it? Maybe you're lucky enough to be a talen

Anger Danger "Speak when you are angry and you will make the speech you will ever regret." -Ambrose Bierce I used to think the person who walked away from a good argument was a fool, but I now know the person who walks away is very wise. When you feel the blood rushing to your face, think very carefully--the words that come to your mouth may be life-altering. Do you really want to blurt out what you are thinking at that very moment? Aren't your thoughts more akin to those