Rae's Craft

Stargazing "Too low they build who build beneath the stars." - Edward Young Why not shoot for the highest? What is your dream? Start toward it today. Have you always wanted to be a great actor? Start taking acting lessons and going out for auditions. You may or may not ever make it to Broadway, but at least you'll be living your dream. TODAY I WILL TAKE STEPS TOWARD FULFILLING MY DREAM. EVEN IF THEY'RE BABY STEPS, I WILL BE THAT MUCH CLOSER TO ACHIEVING MY GOALS. #RaesB

Confidently Speaking "I've played golf all my life so I've had lots of practice. But so have all the other pros. The difference between good golfers and great golfers is confidence. You've go to believe in yourself if you're going to win." - Lee Trevino Nerves get us nowhere. We have to prepare and then believe in our capabilities and ourselves. If we have prepared properly, why should we be nervous? We are ready. If we let nerves take over instead of confidenc

Let's Start Now "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." - Anne Frank Look at the world around you- what needs to be done? Are there people in your community whose basic needs are not being met? Volunteer at a soup kitchen or donate money or goods to a shelter. Is your neighborhood park or community center looking a little worse for wear? Research ways to help. Perhaps you can set up a cleanup day on which voluntee

The Economics of Trust "If a man empties his purse into his head no one can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest." - Benjamin Franklin Money is important, but knowledge always takes us further. We need money to live, but knowledge enriches our lives. We can have all the money in the world, but if we don't know anything what good will the money do us? Maybe we

Life by Example "Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing." - Albert Schweitzer I have always admired my dad's example. He is now in his 90's, but his life has been one consistent example. If he sees a scrap of paper on the sidewalk, he picks it up and tosses it in the trash can. In the summer, he'll bend down to pull a stray weed from a sidewalk crack. If he sees a project that needs doing, he's the first to volunteer. If some

Kindness Matters "Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless." - Mother Teresa Compliments make you feel good, and giving them feels just as good as receiving them. For example, if you compliment someone's cooking, seeing their pleased reaction leaves you with a good feeling. Compliments are contagious; after someone receives a compliment, he or she feels good and is more likely to compliment someone else. And the more you compliment othe

Turn the Corner "It is good to embrace a hope." -Ovid Hope is what keeps us going when things are at their darkest. Hope can get us through all the hardships of life-stress, disease, disaster, a tumbling economy, and war. How do we find hope when all seems dark? We think over past experiences. Anything can happen, right? Haven't we all had times in our past when everything seemed dark, but then something wonderful happened? We know there's every possibility that that c

Giving Wings to Wishes "Don't make a wish-make a life." -Sonya Friedman It's important to have wishes and dreams, but sitting around wishing and dreaming does not accomplish much. We have to give out wishes and dreams wings. We need to go to school, then to meetings, social events, and trips. We have to mix with people who have similar wishes and dreams and learn how much hard work goes into making those dreams and wished come true. TODAY I WILL MAKE PROGRESS TOWARD A WISH

The Badge of Courage "I gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which I must stop and look fear in the face." - Eleanor Roosevelt When we are faced with difficult circumstances, our instinct is often to try to avoid them. Why use the energy to deal with them if you can just avoid them, right? Often, though, the circumstances keep coming back at you in different forms until you deal with them head-on. And difficult circumstances are often the ones that

How to Manage Life "Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute." - Gladys Bronwyn Stern This world needs the daring people and the careful people- the person who invented the bicycle, and the person who invented helmets, the person who invented the car, and the person who invented seatbelts. With both of them around, the world is kept in perfect balance. TODAY I WILL ENDEAVOR TO BE BOTH DARING AN

Natural Talent "The job of an educator is to teach students to see the vitality in themselves." - Joseph Campbell If a student learns everything about the universe but nothing about their own talents, what is use would it be? If they don't get the connection that they can actually apply all that they learn, all the years of education will just add up to wasted ( though intriguing ) time. TODAY I WILL BE USEFUL AND PRODUCTIVE. #RaesBlog #RaesCraft #blogreaders #blogreading #

What Would You Do in This Case? "Advice is seldom welcome, and those who want it the most always like it the least. - Earl of Chesterfield Most of us want to do things our own way. We make our own mistakes, and we learn from them- this is what makes each life different. It is important to learn from the experiences of others, though, because this is what creates progress. It would be silly for all o

The Measure of Life "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." - Albert Einstein If we tried to count all the inconsequential things we came across each day, it would drive us batty. The number of cracks on the sidewalk; the number of beige cars we encounter- these are all countable things, but it is not worth our time to count them. There are other things, on the other hand, that really do matter, but it is impossible to cou

Dare to Be Childlike "Only the most mature of us are to be childlike." - Madeleine L'Engle Children see everything with new, unbiased eyes. The world is magical to them. Children are not self-conscious, and because of this, they are quite free. They do and say what is on their minds, with little thought experience, we become like little children again in that respect-suddenly we are confident and free to follow our dreams, with little thought of practicality or worry about

The Big Goof "Make the mistakes of yesterday your lessons for today." - Theodore Roosevelt I was recently on my way to an event at a large retirement facility. I was to be the keynote speaker, and I was going over everything in my mind as I drove to the event. I had remembered everything: my suitcase full of props, books to sell, a tablecloth for the book table, price signs, dollar bills for making change, flyers, business cards, and a bottle of water. The one thing I forg

Now and Ever After "The average man, who does not know what to do with his life, wants another one which will last forever." - Anatole France Many of us live our days in fear and hesitation. We talk ourselves out of taking chances because we are afraid of all the things that might happen. But we are also afraid of death and what may come after, so we want our lives to last forever, even though we spend our live

Lighting Each Other's Way "We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own." -Ben Sweetland Sometimes we spend so much time and effort helping other people that we worry we are nearly ignoring our own needs. Certainly this can become a problem, but in general, we need not to spend too much time worrying about this. In helping others, we often find that we ourselves have learned something or benefited as well. Perhaps we go out of our way to help

Glorious Possibilities "The moment when first you wake up in the morning is the most wonderful of the 24 hours. No matter how weary or dreary you may feel, you possess the certainty that... absolutely anything may happen. And the fact that it practically always doesn't matters not one jot. The possibility is always there." - Monica Baldwin Today is a new day-it's a powerful statement, isn't it? It is simple, yet powerful and full of hope. Each new day is a do-over- a chan

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