Rae's Craft

Stepping Up to the Plate "It is hard to fail; but it is worse never to have tried to succeed." - Theodore Roosevelt Failure hurts; it is hard to admit, and it sometimes embarrasses us. We all have been touched by failure, though, haven't we? And what happens after failure? We get up, dust ourselves off, and begin anew. Failure is a deflating feeling, but the worst feeling of all is coming to the end of our time on this earth and realizing we never went after our dreams be

Make Use of Your Talents "Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself and thus make yourself indispensable." -Andre Gide I truly believe that each of us has at least one special talent. It is up to us to discover it and put it to use. Once those around us notice our talent, we become an indispensable part of our community. Wouldn't the world be an amazingly beautiful place if we all reached our full potential? TODAY I WILL REFLECT UPON MY SPECIFIC TALENTS AND

Breathe Deeply "Encouragement is the oxygen of the soul." - George M. Adams When my son Michael made plans to attend a men's retreat at his church, loved ones were asked to write letters of encouragement for the men to read during the weekend. I wrote two pages single-spaced, and I could have kept going for many more pages. I wanted Michael to feel that whoosh of fresh oxygen sweep through his soul as he read my letter. I wanted him to feel encouraged. TODAY IF I NOTICE A

Moving On "They say that changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself." - Andy Warhol In 2006, my sister's only son was killed tragically in a plane crash. An 18-year-old aviation student, he was piloting the plane at the time of the crash. Losing a child is almost more than one can bear. Time did not ease this loss, so my sister had to muster the strength to change things herself. She thought a change of scenery might help, so she and her husband moved t

What Is Success, Anyway? "Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value." - Albert Einstein Many people can be considered successful, can't they? Some shady lawyers make as much or more money than the lawyers who work for years to reverse a ruling against the wrongfully accused. If you measure success by the type of car you drive or the house you are able to afford, both individuals are successful. Only one is a person of value, however. The real heroes

The Brotherhood of Work "Anybody can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend's success." - Oscar Wilde When a friend achieves sudden sudden success, it's tempting to feel left in the dust. Who wants to be the brooding, selfish person trying to hold a loved one back, though? Plus, who knows what's around the corner for us? Perhaps through our friend's newfound success we'll meet new people or encounter new o

Time in a Bottle "You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must it." - Charles Buxton How many times have you said to yourself, "I wish I had time for that"? If it is something you sincerely long to do, make plans to do it. Otherwise, it is easy to let your daily routine get in the way. Do you long to get into a good exercise routine but find it difficult to "find the time"? Perhaps get up a little earlier each day and take a morning walk or fit in a w

Come to Dinner "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." - Ronald Reagan Many family counselors stress the importance of family meals. It makes sense when you think about it- having children get used to sharing around a table fosters discussion and relationships. It is a regular time to share, feel heard, and enjoy each other's company. Turn off the TV, the computer, the video games, the cell phones, and all other distractions. It's dinnertime- all hands o

Think Before You Speak "If A is success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut." - Albert Einstein Our mouths have a capacity to get us into deep trouble, don't they? If we have a hard time keeping secrets, people lose trust in us. Or, if we tend to rant when we're upset, we may say things we wouldn't normally think, let alone say out loud. There are many times in life when it's better to keep our mouths shut. TODAY I

I'm All Ears "If we were supposed to talk more than we listen, we would have two mouths and one ear." - Mark Twain During a slightly rough patch in my ever-growing relationship with the love of my life, we both felt a little pressure from each other about expectations. We came to the conclusion that we both needed to listen more and talk less. We also decided to spill the beans each evening before bedtime to clear the air and say what's on our minds. We listen to each othe

School Daze "In youth we learn; in age we understand." -Marie Ebner-Eschenbach As a child, I wasn't always crazy about waiting for the school bus on those cold winter mornings. I would stand there, freezing in the northern Illinois wind and snow. And often it was a frustrating experience to sit in those classrooms, especially when there were 50 kids in the class and one-on-one attention was unheard of. but thank goodness I stuck with it. I went to school, sat still, studi

Perfection "I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for, perfection is God's business." - Michael J. Fox Excellence is a color quilt lovingly stitched by hand. Perfection is a sunset that mingles stunning colors of red, orange, yellow, blue, and turquoise among clouds of breathtaking shapes. Excellence is a well-crafted thesis. Perfection is a blue ocean with soft waves that lap against a majestic shoreline composed of fine white san

Jump Out of The Box "Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!" - Theodor Seuss Geisel Sometimes it's good to let your mind wander. Sure, there are times when we must be focused on a task, but we also need to set aside time to just be imaginative. Otherwise we may find ourselves stuck in the same uninspired routine day after day. The ideal time for letting our minds wander is while traveling to a new place. A

Strength of Purpose "It is wonderful what strength of purpose and boldness and energy of will are roused by the assurance that we are doing our duty." - Sir Walter Scott What is our duty, our calling in this world? This is usually found only after great reflection. Sometimes it takes years to determine our true calling. Some of us have a talent for sharing knowledge and passing on information, and we come to the realization that our calling is to teach. Others may realize

Ask Away "Judge people by their questions rather than by their answers." - Voltaire Our questions reveal our interests; they are topics we initiate, while our answers are about topics initiated by others. What kinds of questions do you tend to ask? Think of questions you've recently asked yourself, the ones you've posed to associates or loved ones, and those you've typed into a search engine. They reveal what you care about, what you hold dear. Obviously a mix of question

Philosophy of Life "An American Religion: Work, play, breathe, bathe, study, laugh, and love." - Elbert Hubbard Elbert Hubbard was an American writer. On May 1, 1915, he and wife boarded the Lusitania in New York City. A week later, the ship was torpedoed. During the panic immediately following the impact, one of the other passengers asked the couple what they were going to do. Hubbard smiled and said, "There does not seem to be anything to do." And with that he and his

Sock It to Me "Slang is a language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands and goes to work." - Carl Sandburg There are times for fancy language, and there are times to settle in and do the work that needs to be done. As we're working, we generally are not worried about appearances- we're focusing on completing the job at hand. When the job is near completion, there will be time for refinement. TODAY I WILL FOCUS ON GETTING THINGS DONE. #RaesBlog #RaesCraft #bookreadi

Doing What We Do Best "Genius without education is like silver in the mine." - Benjamin Franklin We're all born with a talent to do something amazing. One purpose of education is to help us discover that talent and make good use of it. We have to pull it out of the depths of our being, and then education will help us refine it and make it work. Only then will our lives sizzle with purpose and creativity . TODAY I WILL READ AN ARTICLE, WATCH A DOCUMENTARY, OR SIGN UP FO

Finding Answers in All the Right Places "The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer." - Henry David Thoreau We have all had the dreaded experience of being asked our opinion and begun our answer, only to quickly notice the asker's vacant eyes and realize his or her mind is a million miles away. This experience leaves us with an empty, pointless feeling. Why

Thorough The Desert "Hold no man responsible for what he says in his grief." - The Talmud What thoughts go through our minds when we are grieving? I'll never get over this. I cannot take this. These are cries of desperation and despair. An old Jewish saying about behavior during grief was "he tore his garments." I used to think this was saying was very odd, but how descriptive! When we are blindsided by grief, we do want to just rip something to shreds; we are not in o