The VMA's

It is my blog so I am going to talk about Miley Cyrus.  I don't watch the VMA's and I have only seen the bits and pieces of the performance that have been blasted all over the news.  Not to long ago my baby girl was a Hannah Montana fan.  She was wholesome, cute, and the program the few times I could bring myself to watch it seemed harmless enough.  I took her to the movie and even I begrudgingly liked it.  Of course now Victoria is over Miley,  Hannah,and Justin Bieber. She has never liked One Direction.  I remember being a little older then she is now and having little crushes on the teen idols of my time.  It is shocking to a parent of any age and any generation when a teen idol falls from grace.  You think we would have learned by now that they quite often do fall from grace.  So many young stars are on the news not for their talent, or craft, no they make the news for the train wreck they have let their lives become.  We are just as guilty, because we watch it.  We love watching these young people make complete fools out of themselves which in turn sells, making them very rich and increasingly very troubled.  It does seem that if these stars have parents they do nothing to help their children, they defend their hideous choices.  Billy Ray Cyrus has been on the news defending his daughter's behavior.  It is sickening!  She used to be a darling girl, very pretty, but somehow, somewhere, being a hero to little girls wasn't enough and desperate to grow up she has made some horrible choices.  She dresses and acts like a tramp.  Ladies listen please if you walk around being provocative you will get lots of attention, a lot of negative attention.  You might attract men for sure, but they won't treat you like a lady they will treat you like meat.  Young girls everywhere need to know you are so much more then this.  There are good, kind, decent, men who want more then a sex kitten.  Good, decent, men want a lady they can talk to, be friends with, a partner in life.    

   Miley wasn't alone on that stage she was with a guy that should have known better, but didn't his songs are filled with sex and innuendo.  I heard he was married, I don't know if he has children yet but I sure hope they never see that performance. Ironically his dad played a dad to my teenage crush Kirk Cameron, now there is a teen idol that to this day I like.  A decent, Christian, family man.  A man who has devoted his life to Christ.  

   Men is this want you want, women who think nothing of ripping off their clothes and grinding over anybody.  If you think for a moment I think you don't.  You want a woman who treasures you and herself.  I have sons also.  I am doing my level best to teach them to respect themselves and women they might date enough to save themselves for marriage.  It is a really hard sell these days when the media glorifies everything opposite of that standard.  Pregnancy isn't seen as bringing forth a life it is portrayed as a problem, you can easily solve.  So many shows on TV bring forth the unintended pregnancy story line.  It cheapens the whole experience, even the most powerful man in the nation talks about a baby as a burden he does not want his daughters to have to bear.  But yet the act that starts a life is seen as fun, and harmless.  My boys were born out of love to a man and a woman committed to a life together in the covenant of marriage.  I know so many people  who are going to get angry about that statement but that is the truth, it is the ideal.  I want that ideal for my boys.  I want them to find a woman who will treasure my son's as I have.  I dearly hope and pray that one day someone that cares about Miley Cyrus the person will talk to her about her choices and maybe she will return to the beautiful young woman she once was and the performance at the VMA's will be a a memory made in bad judgement.  I pray that Robin Thicke will apologize for his part.  Of course it is hollyweird and they have a bad habit of just dishing out more of what sells and who cares who gets hurt in the process.  The whole mess is sad. 

Perseverance

 perseverance : continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition : the action or condition or an instance of persevering:steadfastness.

 This is my favorite word, my favorite theme, and the title of my favorite painting.  The late Thomas Kincade has a painting that shows a sailboat being tossed around in the waves.  The painting speaks to me.  I have often felt like that sailboat being tossed about by life.  This week was the first week of school, and I was not ready.  I love summer, the lack of a schedule, sleeping in.  I am an insomniac and many nights I didn't get to sleep till 3 or 4 am.  This really doesn't work well when you get up at 6:15.  So everyday this week I awoke with Persevere on the brain.  Just put one foot in front of the other.  I enjoy reflecting on the many heroes in the bible.  Many of those people faced incredible odds and put their faith in God and persevered.  I do not even put myself in the same boat as them but everyone can identify to being tossed around by life.  I have had some real lows this week, and some incredible highs as well.  We can handle and rejoice the highs so easily but those little pesky lows, they really throw us for a loop.  My low this week was writing down my measurements, to make this worse I had my husband help.  There I was with nowhere to hide.  I hated those numbers they seemed to mock me even though I know I am a beast in the gym.  The truth is my diet needs some altering or nothing will change.  I am not any good at restrictive diets.  I usually don't make it one day before I messed it up and then it just doesn't seem worth the trouble to continue.  This time I have decided to try something new, no restricting, no forbidding certain foods.  I am going to eat and drink what I enjoy and know I will not give up I am just going to cut back, slowly.  Eat less, be sensible.  I am pretty sure this will make the process much longer but I am hoping it will help.
   I love the idea of this blog, I have no hopes of being discovered and don't really check to see how many times the blog has been viewed.  I don't write for anyone in particular.  The dream is that someone stumbles upon it and sees that they are not alone.  We all feel alone sometimes, and the funny thing is even with all this technology we feel like we are the only one in the entire world to feel the way we do.  Maybe there is someone in the world who shares some of my struggles.  That mysterious person is who I am trying to reach.  Maybe I have a friend who reads this out of curiosity and  they may have similar struggles that they hide within and this helps them know they are not alone.  We all must persevere everyday even if that means getting out of a warm bed, and put one foot in front of the other.

The Cabin

It was a small cabin hidden in the mountains.  It was rustic with an outhouse and no running water.  A place where someone could hide out when the pressure of the fast-paced life becomes to much to bear.  To Alexis Montgomery it was the perfect place to recover.  A friend happened to own it and had graciously offered it to her as a place where no one would bother to look.  It was perfect.  It had been a hellish few months.  Six months ago everything was different.  She married her high school boyfriend when he was home on leave from the Army.  They spent one idyllic weekend together before he returned to Afghanistan with his unit.  She found out she was pregnant a few weeks later.  She was thrilled, this is the life she dreamed of.  They talked via Skype as often as they could so bubbly with excitement.  Then the unthinkable happened his vehicle hit an IED on a mission and he wasn't coming home.  Then with the stress she lost the baby.  She felt that God had taken everything away, and she couldn't understand why.  It was bad enough to lose the love of her life but their baby too was almost more then she could bear.  Her parents and friends tried to help but there was nothing they could do to relieve her pain.  So when the cabin was presented as a retreat she accepted she wanted to be left alone for a while to grieve and hopefully regain her life and begin the next chapter of her life though she couldn't imagine what if any life that would be.
    Alexis was young and pretty with long brown hair and piercing green eyes that sparkled when she laughed.  At 22 she was to young and vibrant to give up.  It was late September when she arrived at the cabin, the leaves had started to change, and there was a chill to the evening air.  The friend had stocked the cabin with everything she would need for a couple of weeks before she would need to shop for anything.  She settled all of her belongings and had started the kettle on the stove for some tea and decided curl up with a good book in the old wooden rocking chair on the porch.  She lit a lantern so she would have good light.  She never imagined there would be anyone around now that the summer tourists had left.  That misconception vanished with the appearance of another woman.  She had no-one with her but Alexis feared that maybe she was there with a loud and rambunctious family, all she wanted was peace, not laughing and people having fun.  The stranger approached her sitting on her porch and introduced herself as Lacey.  She was here alone also at another cabin about a mile away.  She said she was a writer who came to her family cabin so she could write in peace.  She seemed so friendly and open that Alexis couldn't help but like her instantly.  They moved indoors when it started to get chilly and they shared a pot of tea together.  Alexis shared why she was here and without really intending to broke down with the whole sad saga to this stranger and afterward she felt slightly lighter.  Lacey listened, she was glad to have happened upon Alexis, she had been suffering from writers block and had the strangest feeling she was here for a reason but had no idea what that was until this moment.  Two strangers happened to upon each other by fate.  Lacey was a Christian woman with a heart of gold.  She was only 30  and she always felt she had a gift of compassion.  So before her was this lovely young woman who was so hurt and broken.  Lacey wasn't sure she would be of any help but she did understand loss, she was also a young widow and maybe the shared knowledge of loss would help both of them.

This is as far as I got with this story maybe I will add to it and finish it.  If anyone wants to add to it or alter it in any way feel free.

Marriage

In the beginning he was her whole world.  He was everything she ever wanted and didn't know it.  The man she found when she really wasn't looking.  Now life has provided ups and downs,and he still gives her a thrill when he kisses her before he goes anywhere.  Not to say marriage has always been rosy, it never is.  They have had some times when they floated that fine line between love and hate.  Marriage is risky, there are so many couples that started the journey with such love and  promise only to fall apart later.  To give your heart away, and in her case so young, seemed to many to be a recipe for disaster but through thick and thin here they were.  His parents had weathered storms and came through it together, hers were not so lucky, torn apart by secrets.  What makes it work?  She really didn't know.  All she knows is that today so many years and three children later, he understands what makes her tick like no other.  He is the other half that makes them whole.  She believes in soul mates.  She believes faith helps bind a couple during storms.  She believes in one true love.

Visualizations

Money, bills, jobs, school
to little time, pressure builds
conflicts, relationships, cleaning, cooking
to little time, pressure builds
Time Out!
Emerald green water
squeaky white sand under your feet
waves gently rolling onto the shore
sun caressing your skin.
Complete peace.
1,2, 3, breathe in, breathe out
return to life with new perspective.


I am no poet, just something to think about as the new school year approaches and life brings ever increasing pressure.  Before your pressure cooker explodes.  Take some time to go to your "happy place"  breathe in, breathe out.  Persevere!

In the Beginning

  When I was a girl I dreamed of becoming a writer, I started and stopped the next great American novel so many times.  I told myself stories all the time but never really got to the point of finishing all the starts.  I was young and had so much time I figured I would get to them later but never saved them and life went on and like so many childish fantasies the stories I told myself stayed just that. The wonderful thing about the internet is that now I have a place to put those musings, those thoughts.  People can choose to read them or not.  I have always been very opinionated, and not afraid to share those opinions whether asked for or not.  It gets me into trouble especially when I encounter someone whose opinions differ from my own.  Maturity and wisdom bring insight and regret.  There is so much to learn when you listen.  I may not agree with everything others say but life would be very boring if everyone agreed.  I am also very political, I am proud to say I am a Christian, Conservative, Republican.  I usually view most things through that lens.  This new blog which I have created will be chock full of lots of musings, all the thoughts in my head will be written down.  I may get political and for those that may read it who lean left may find much to disagree with me about, you are entitled to your beliefs, and I will not argue with you.  I enjoy working out and if you followed my last blog you may find more musings from the fitness quest here as well.  Finally I may write a story or poem whatever strikes my fancy at the time.  My dream in life from the time I was young until now was to make a difference.  I believe in God, I believe he guides my steps, maybe something that I write about will make a positive difference for someone somewhere.  In the beginning was Helen Melissa, this is me, welcome to the musing of my mind.