I’ve added a few new names to our blogroll and I want to introduce these wonderful cyberspace locales!

Lorraine Cohen (www.powerfull-living.biz/blog) is an AWP member in Pennsylvania.  She writes great stuff with a broad brush that covers many subjects pertinent to us as we’re traveling the 2nd half of the journey highway.  Take a peek by clicking on her name at the side of our AWP Blog.

Another Lorraine!  This time, Lorraine Ball of RoundPeg (www.roundpeg.biz)  Lorraine is also an AWP member and successful marketing entrepreneur and networking professional.  She has great tips for making business networking ‘pay-off’ for us at the pocket-book level!

One of the most exciting things to me about the world wide web is the opportunities we have to meet new people and make new friends!  With folks we would otherwise never connect.  That just happened this past week with a woman in Georgia who responded to an email I’d sent months ago (does that tell you how busy she is)!  What an instant connection and great opportunities for us both.  That connection has landed me on a panel for the Lydia Conference in Atlanta on January 24!  How awesome is that?!

Anyway, I just added Margaret’s website for Christian women in the marketplace to our blogroll.  Click on her name and you’ll be transported to her site.

On a personal note, Margaret and I have exchanged our books with each other and I just learned that Margaret is a former Miss Maryland!  Oh and she’s a brand new member of A Women’s Place.

Check out these new additions and enjoy.  We’ll keep adding info we think you’ll like as we continue to search cyberspace and capture some of what’s there!

Have an AWESOME day!

  Linda

I hope all had an awesome weekend with the heavy hint of fall in the air!  I had the privilege of sharing a little time with youngest g’daughter and what a delight.  What a blessing to have such wonderful g’children to whom I can tell stories on their momma’s (how my daughter’s hate that)!  Truly hope each of you had something over which to experience great delight the weekend!

I attend church on the internet and am so grateful that I can get a number of different messages from several different perspectives while learning and being enriched from a number of different viewpoints - all well done.

Yesterday, I heard a man who talked about a number of different things of a prophetic nature that I’ll not go into here.  It was fascinating and I took copious notes (my way of saying I loaded a lot of paper with rapid scribbling in order to get it all down).

Guess what?  There they were again - passion and purpose.  I tell you, it’s everywhere!

It must the the season for development about and around what we have passion for and passion about.  Further, it must include developing from passion for and/or about to recognition of the skills and abilities to bring to our various passions - and then it must include discovering where they lead us in terms of the purpose for which we are here at this particular point in our lives!

That’s a mouthfull!  And I’m good at giving mouthfulls, however, when we break it apart, as we have been doing here - it becomes easy to reflect (by looking back at the patterns and processes) and then “get a handle on” (discovery process) what it is; where we’re headed with it and how to live it out during the 2nd half of the journey!

As we’ve already discussed here, there comes a point in our lives where we recognize that a ’shift’ or ‘transition’ is occurring.   It often comes when we wake up and realize that bodily changes are taking place and we are “not as young as we used to be”.  It may be when children leave home or marry and start their own families.  It may come when we wake up to realize that we don’t have to be victims of an environment that is not in our best interests and find the courage to move on!

Whatever it is, it usually has something to do with the recognition that we won’t live an earthly life forever and that if we are to do the things we want to do - we better “get on with it!”

That’s when we begin the search for our own meaning and purpose in life.  And that’s where all the hubbub about passion and purpose comes into play.

There has also been another popular phenomenon that has come into play over the past several years; and that’s about “multiple streams of revenue!”

We’ve heard it from such famous names as Paul Zane Pilzer, Mark Victor Hansen and Robert Allen, Ken Blanchard and others with less well known names.  All are saying that we must cultivate more than one stream of income if we are to accomplish our goals and maintain a lifestyle that suits us and that provides for the accomplishment of our life goals.

One of the wisest pieces of advice I’ve heard from this cultural ’shift’ is that once we discover what drives us and the skills for what we want to do match where we want to go - we shouldn’t suddenly ‘lurch out there’ until we know we can make the leap safely. 

In other words, if we work for someone else’s business now and we want to be our ‘own boss’ (develop our entrepreneurial skills into a business of our own); we should carefully plan for that kind of major transition while remaining another’s faithful employee!  It may be that we can move slowly and carefully into the place we want to go while remaining secure in the place where we are now.

I have always been told that before launching into one’s own venture, we ought to have at least six (6) months income in the bank!  But I’m here to say I think we need more - at least one year’s worth of ’stuff’ in a safe place just in case it takes longer than six months to establish ourselves and have a level of financial security for the times when business ebbs and flows.

How does all this fit into passion, purpose and position?

Passion is what will get us to the point where we start the process of moving from where we are to where we want to go.  Purpose is why we make that step from one to the next and position is where we ‘land’ once we’ve done our homework around ‘passion’ and ‘purpose’.

An example from my own experience!  I love to write, and I’ve always done some variation of writing.  From a P & P manual for hospital social service delivery to fundraising appeal pieces and capital campaign materials to a children’s book and film treatments!

I’ve known for some time that I would end up (purpose) writing, teaching and praying.  And I’ve been discovering that I can ‘teach’ when I ‘write’ and as I engage in my early a.m. quiet time of listening in my heart; I get insights into what and how to write in a style that teaches those who read what I put down.

See how a passion for which I have considerable skill is becoming my ultimate purpose!  And it appears that the position is from a tiny office tucked in the corner of my bedroom where my laptop sits commanding much of my attention! 

Over the years, I’ve been moving in the right direction, entering a number of detours along the way because I thought “now I’ve got a handle on it” - only to learn that I had a handle on only an aspect of the whole thing.

I share this today as part of Monday moments because it isn’t a whole lot different for each of us.  We ‘feel’ the ‘inner itch’; we start the ’scratch it’ process; we go this way or that thinking “now I’ve got it” only to discover that we have only a piece of ‘it’.

Let me encourage you with this thought.  What I’m hearing these days from very wise folks and discovering for myself is that we don’t get to the point of absolute assurance as to the passion that is the major motivator of that for which we are purposed until we move from the ‘old’ into the ‘new’ or into the 2nd half of the journey called ‘transitions’!

And we often don’t come to an understanding of the position we are to hold until we have reached an age where wisdom and maturity overcome youthful exuberance.  Because it takes an understanding of where we’ve been and how it fits into what is to come and that’s wisdom. 

And wisdom is the building-block of maturity.

Tomorrow I’ll take us further, but know (and I mean know) that coming into ‘new beginning’s via life ‘transitions’ has absolutely nothing to do with how old we are chronologically. 

Yes, the clock ticks, but we will have the time we need to make it happen - ONCE we make the choice to step onto the path that leads us there!

So my encouragement for the day is to “make a list” and “check it twice”!   In other words, make today’s goal “getting started!”

Have an AWESOME day!  Much love and many blessings!

  Linda

Over the past weeks, I have felt a need to resolve for myself who we are at A Women’s Place!  Because if I can’t resolve it for me, then I can’t make it clear to those who join us here.

It was never my intent not to honor who I am and who most of us are, who’ve shared leadership for bringing A Women’s Place to the world wide web.  But as with any worthwhile vision and project, different perspectives surfaced and those differences created a real tension in me during the past several months.

The differences surfaced around use of the word “Christian” as the identifier for the aspect of AWP that relates to spiritual growth and maturity.  Some felt we ought not to qualify spiritual growth and maturity in that way, thus offending some who would feel “excluded”.  Most of us felt otherwise - that we do bare the label “Christian” and to be anything else is to deny who we are and the vision-mission of A Women’s Place.  That to identify ourselves by our perspective was not to exclude all women who desire to connect with us and other women - around the world - who are maturing chronologically and share the same desires, challenges, dreams and hopes.

It’s been a ‘tightrope’!  Trying to walk a thin narrow line that doesn’t deny who I am, who we are and where we’re headed - without offending those who may not come from the same perspective.

I can’t do that any longer!  It’s isn’t a comfortable place to be.  And it’s not being true to myself - to you and to those who will join us in the future as we grow and mature.

Now, let me ‘unpack’ what I’m saying in an attempt to be as clear as possible. 

In the past month, I”ve encountered ‘Christian’ women from one end of the spectrum to the other.  Christianity covers a multitude of mindsets much as any other ‘religion’ does.  But what I’m talking here is not ‘religion’, but the expression of a relationship that has changed lives in the most dramatic and positive ways for the past 2000 + years. 

However, if our perspective is more focused on the outward expression rather than an internal state of being - then yes, we will view any attempt to define spiritual growth and maturity in ‘religious terms’ as creating an atmosphere or environment that is exclusive.

Let me say it clearly and without reservation:  A Women’s Place (www.awomensplace.org) is for ALL chronologically maturing women over 40 who know they’ve entered the 2nd half of the journey!  But know this, that my commitment is to speak from the open-heart that has been maturing in me since May 2, 1981.  An open-heart that came as the result of my personal ‘damascus road’ experience and a heart that belongs to a relationship with a Person who has changed my perspective over the years!

A changed perspective that openly and honestly welcomes all women, but especially women who have been hurt by ‘religion’ and it’s all too often rigid requirements that deny the very message about which it is to speak.

That’s as far as I’m going to go from that aspect!

What so often happens is that when we seek to express our spiritual natures (and we are spiritual by design), we end up in systems that want to design our ‘box’ according to their understanding - not ours.  And the very places we land in our search for expression of an inner understanding become ‘prisons’ rather than places of permission and enlargement.

I see it all the time and it grieves me!  I see women who truly don’t know who they are because they have not been given permission, or the tools, to discover who they are. 

Even in the most profoundly wise, well-balanced and mature settings - women have often gotten the ’short end of the stick’.

Now, in this day, I’m finding that my Heavenly Papa is equipping women who are saying the same message I say at AWP!  Women who talk about our roles as women of faith in the market place!  Women who talk about our need to learn, grow, develop, mature and come into our own - no matter our chronological age!  I just heard it in a message this morning at church on the internet!  That “age doesn’t have anything to do with it!”

It’s hard to walk a tightrope!  Especially when that’s not what I was designed to do. 

And even more so when it’s not what the vision and mission was designed to do. 

I - Linda Fitzgerald - want to see women in our genre and from our venue, come into their own.  I want to see them join us at AWP and link up with women worldwide from similar or same perspectives who have as much to offer as we do!  I want to see women who aren’t where each of us is because their experience of life has been different, but nonetheless as significant and important. 

I want them to bring what they have and offer it here.  I want them to reap value because they stopped by our ‘place’ one day and decided to stay!

I want them to come even if they don’t wear the same ‘label’ we do.  We may differ in concepts, expressions and understandings - but we share one thing in common!

We are human beings - female type and we experience joy, grief, pain, sorrow, exhilaration, excitement and delight the same as our sisters whose label is not ours - but who share common life experiences that have a unifying effect on us all!

Much of the wisdom I bring to AWP comes because of the life-changing moment of early a.m. on May 2, 1981.  And it’s not from any ‘religious’ perspective, but from how and what I’ve learned and been privileged to practice over the years.  Much of what others bring to this ‘place’ is from the same source and similar experience.

My part in this is to bring information out of experience which is very different from information from sources! Understanding that I have gleaned from life experiences that often has more meaning in it than what we read in books or hear others speak. 

But it will always come from and sit upon my life experience as a believing woman for whom relationship is far more important than the expression thereof.  Because relationship will make me a person who is open to all I meet in a warm and receptive way.

Relationship is how we engage others and why they often experience us as ‘different’ - different in a positive way!  If I am ever not that , please tell me so and keep me honest!

A Women’s Place is truly a safe place.  Safe for all perspectives, but especially safe for those of us who are believing women from one end of the spectrum to the other.

And in that there is much to be gained and much to be shared!

Thank you for allowing me to express my heart and get off the tightrope!

Have an awesome day!  Much love and many blessings!

  Linda

Well, it happened again!

Yesterday I skipped the conference and went to a meeting with our newest leadership team member instead.  As Mike McGlothlin, certified financial planner, and I discussed A Women’s Place; our vision, mission and where we are headed, he mentioned that word!

“PASSION“!  He must have said it a dozen times because that’s what he’s hearing as he and his referral partner, Jennifer Ruby (Ruby Law) work with women in the marketplace. 

But that isn’t the only place he’s hearing it.  It’s mentioned at every conference or workshop.  It’s mentioned in their sessions and sessions they attend.  It’s not just ‘our’ thing.  It’s a new thing that has hit our modern culture and society as more and more individual folk and corporate folks get a handle on how passion, purpose and what I call ‘position’ are part and parcel of what moves us, empowers us and brings about effectivity - personally and professionally.

I shared with Mike how I felt very ‘one-sided’ in my blog conversations here at AWP!  “I keep coming back to grease the same wheel, so to speak!”  But that’s where it is these days.

It’s EVERYWHERE!

Somehow, some way, even before Rick Warren; we glimpsed something that really isn’t ‘new’ and found meaning in it.  It has become a way at looking at ourselves in light of how we feel, think, act and make decisions.  Like everything else that seems to ‘catch on’ these days - it has its ‘down side’.  We can make mistakes and misinterpret a passion for our purpose; only to discover that it wasn’t our purpose at all.  In fact, it wasn’t even an aspect of our purpose.  And I mean that which is the ‘purpose’ in what I call our ‘destiny DNA’!

Now, I’m emboldened to continue this line of conversation because two things emerged from a delightful conversation with a man of integrity; (1) passion is on a lot of folks minds and hearts these days, and (2) faith is something at least 80% of the folks he talks with, meets with or encounters in seminars and workshops - something they WANT brought into the discussion.  He tells me he has noticed this in just the past couple of years.

And others are saying the same thing!  Could it be that when we discovered ‘purpose’ Rick Warren style; we discovered that it’s linked intrinsically with issues of faith?

When I say this, I’m not talking about ‘religion’ or the practice thereof!  I’m talking about something much deeper that is felt at a level within us that transcends weekend services.  I’m talking about the questions we ask ourselves in the quiet at night where and when no one can hear.

I’m talking about what appears to be - more and more - a desire to connect with something more meaningful than pat platitudes or “singing to the choir” experiences.

I’m talking about needing answers to life’s daily challenges that go well beyond the simplistic answers of well meaning folks who truly “don’t have a clue”.  We know this when we ask; hear the answer and walk away without receiving what we needed at the point we asked! 

Those moments are, for most folks, some of the saddest moments life has to offer!

It’s Friday and I don’t need to send us into the weekend on a ‘heavy note’.  But I do want to lay the groundwork for my weekend conversations.  I’ve been mulling some things in my heart and head for a couple of weeks and feel a need to share them with all of you - so I encourage you to drop by sometime over the weekend and read what I have to share.

Did you use the ‘passion tool’ I posted this week?  Have you made a list of what you’re passionate about - both passions ‘for you’ and those for others?  If you haven’t, you might want to!

I’m only going to touch on this briefly, but there’s a lot out there in cyberspace about “transitions” and “transitioning”!  It IS a phenomenon of moving into the 2nd half of the journey, regardless of what chrono-age we enter that aspect of the journey OR the season of life in which we find ourselves.  And when we come to that ’stage’, we often find that the road is cluttered with brambles and trash.  It’s hard to see where the path leads and confusion, doubt and ‘downer moods’ may set in for a while.

It’s important when you get to that point, to have someone or several close friends or trusted associates with whom to share - openly, honestly and transparently.  When we’re in the midst of the bramble bush - there ‘ain’t’ no way we can find the road that leads out without someone to guide us through.  Someone who sits outside the confusion and doubt and preferably someone who has been there (caught in the brambles); done that (found their way out with a little help from friends) and survived (stepped onto the path relatively unscathed) to tell! 

And ‘telling’ is an important aspect!  If I don’t tell you my experience, how can I guide you from where you are to where you are headed and where you want to go!  And how do you know you can trust that I know the way if I don’t tell you I was there - did that - and lived to share it for the benefit and health of another.

Well, enough for this day - at least this point in this day!  May I greet you and leave you with,

Much love and many blessings!

  Linda

Recently I attended a conference with one of the brightest heads and dynamic messages of our day - Dr. Lance Wallnau.  He is one of the nation’s leading voices on faith in the market place and his message is deeply spiritual, but practical and balanced.

He did a graph on which he put passion; purpose and “skills/abilities”.  His point was that passion without the accompanying skills and abilities do not equal purpose.  And without passion, there is little or no purpose.

We’ve been talking about passion and purpose as it leads to “position” or the “how” we live out passion-purpose in a practical sense.

Let me use the example I used a few days ago.  The one about my ‘passion’ for redoing old houses!  I have a ton-load of passion when it comes to re-doing, upgrading and generally restoring older homes to their former elegance.

But, do I have the accompanying skills and abilities it would take to practically do this in any credible way that fits ‘purpose’ and ‘position’!  Yes, I have a fair amount of skill and some abilities in this area.  And I absolutely love it!  Realistically, though I don’t have the skills and abilities it takes to make this my ‘life work’!

It suits me (well most of the time), but would it suit others?  Could I please someone who was paying me to restore their older home?  Probably not!

My passion in this area appears to be “for my own pleasure!”  As I look at the skills sets I possess, interior design and vintage home restoration aren’t high on the scale.  And that was the point Dr. Lance was making.

There is passion that is a gift to us - for us!  Like my love of landscaping.  For the most part, I satisfy me when designing the plots; digging the ground; choosing the plants and then setting them in place.  But I’m not an ‘expert’ and my skills in this area probably don’t rank much higher on the skill-set scale than do the ones in interior design.

This is an important distinction to make when searching our passion-bank and working with them to discover our destiny-design (major part of purpose) and then fitting both into the position that sets us into that for which we are destined.

When you’re doing the “Passion Test” from the Attwoods book or the variation on their theme that I gave you (at least I think I gave it to you); separate your list into passions that are FOR YOU and passions that are for OTHERS (family, community, market place, career, etc.).  The same should be true for those passions which appear to be for your personal pleasure and enjoyment.  You should discover that you have a skill-set and abilities in those areas that when engaging in them satisfies you (I call it the “stand back and admire one’s handiwork” routine)!

When you’ve done that, rank them from highest to lowest in terms of the level of energy each passion has for you and in your life!

Finally, list your skills and abilites (”skill-sets”) and rank them in the same manner (highest to lowest).  There should be an equal correlation between passions for OTHERS that rank high on your list and the skill-sets you bring to that passion.

Even if you’re not giving thought to making a career change or a transition from career-for-another (as a manager, executive or line employee) to career-for-you (entrepreneurial pursuit); give this exercise a try.  If you are perfectly pleased with where you are career-wise in this particular season of your life, then chances are what you have the greatest passion “for” matches with the skill-sets you bring to the “position” under which that passion and purpose ’sits’!

In closing today’s conversation, I want to add that as the seasons of our lives change, so do our passions, if they are what I call the ‘lesser’ passions.  And equally our specific purpose for that season may change from season to season.  It is also true that many of us don’t find our true purpose until much later in life (I call it the “Moses Model” since he was about 80 when he discovered his ultimate purpose). 

That’s why it’s so important for those of us who are ‘chronologically maturing’ over 40 to start the process now!  Each learning experience in each season of our lives is preparation for the time when we come into the full realization of our destiny-design - whatever that may be.  Some of the greatest accomplishments in family life; community life - nationally and internationally - have occurred when women reached what we call in the U.S. as “retirement age”.

Tomorrow we’ll look more at purpose and then move to putting it all together.

I’m at an early morning conference today and then off to a meeting!  Here’s wishing each of you an AWESOME day!

  Linda

I’m no technical whiz, but thanks to a comment sent me by a WordPress member, the ‘problem’ is resolved!!!

 Ah, I can bathe, wash my hair and go out to the local (and long-lived) drive-in burger joint and celebrate with a huge ‘Kunkel Burger’!

It’s amazing how brave we get as we grow more chrono-mature!  Although I approached the task of getting rid of that ‘widget’ script I’d added, with fear and trepidation - it was a breeze!

See, what I’ve been encouraging all of you to do worked for me as well - just “Face Your Fears” Fitzgerald!

I did and we’re back to normal!

Have an AWESOME evening!

  Linda

Yes, I made a mess!  Just goes to show you that I’ve not become as tech savvy as I thought!

I got this great sales info from an e-letter to which I subscribe about driving traffic to one’s BLOG.  The system is in beta mode (test or under construction) and “free” of course.

So I signed up, went through the tutorial, went to “WordPress” and followed the instructions, and added the “script” that the “free” system gave me.

Well, it did work - there on our blog was this nice fancy box of blogs that each of you could go to from here. 

Problem is, none of the listed blogs were one’s I wanted to recommend to our members or visitors.  The system (I won’t say what it is, but if you were here less than an hour ago, you’ll have seen the box on the right side bar).  That “problem” came about because the “free” system did not have a category that really fit for us - like “women’s issues”.

Here’s the big challenge now!  I can’t get the “default” side bar back!!!  It won’t ‘mess up’ your coming onto the blog or anything like that, but the archives and the blogroll are simply not showing!

I’m almost “distraught”!  And I can tell you why.  Remember I told you my primary motivator is “truth seeker”?  And that I like things that are “technically excellent”?

Well, now I don’t feel the blog is as “technically excellent” or as professional as I want it to be!

Help!  Does anyone know the solution to the situation?

If not, then we’ll just have to wait until Glenn gets back from the Big Apple to resolve this.

In the meantime, please forgive the ‘mess’ I made today!  I think I’ll leave the ‘heavy-duty tech stuff’ to Glenn from here on out!

Anyway, just goes to prove that even a chronologically maturing wise woman can turn Wednesday’s Wisdom into Wednesday’s Folly!

Have an AWESOME evening and think kindly of me while I try to straighten out my mess!

  Linda

The following link will take you (hopefully!) to a short, delightful video of animals - in the wild - at play!  Animals one would never expect to see enjoying each other’s company as they do!

Take time for this - it will bless your day!

http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/play/audiogallery/soundseen.shtml

Thanks to friend Linda at Miami University, Oxford Ohio for forwarding this today!  Aren’t friends wonderful!!!

Have an AWESOME day!

  Linda

Before moving to our series subject for the weeks, I want to say something that I feel needs to be said.

Not every woman who has entered the 2nd half of the journey, seeks change!  Many women are quite content with where they are and what they are doing.  Home life is great; marriage is good; children able to manage as semi-adults and parents are healthy and don’t require their kid’s intervention.

Many woman are living out what they are passionate about through a career that is rewarding, fulfilling and seems to fit the purpose for which they are destined!

And I don’t mean to ignore you in the conversations I pose here at Many Messages!  But I do think that no matter how idealic life seems - many women look down the tunnel and wonder what else is forthcoming as the years pass and life seasons change.

For that reason, I do a lot of ‘coaching’ to encourage women to get in touch with passions of which they may not have been aware and a purpose that may be eluding them at this point!

Change is inevitable and life circumstances do change and evolve as we grow more mature ‘chronologically’.

Now to another aspect of ‘passion’ as relates to purpose and to what motivates us.

Mike Litman, a very successful network marketer, publishes daily gems of wisdom as it relates to those who have home-based businesses based on a corporate network marketing model.

Litman periodically addresses the question of whether passion can be profitable.

Can what we are passionate about in life lead to a profitable endeavor that will support our financial goals?  I chuckle when I read his material because I love to do interior design and landscaping!

I don’t mean just interior design - I mean ’starting from scratch’!  When we moved to town from the country, we bought an old house (nearly 100 years) that’s in excellent condition considering its age.  But the colors were all wrong, including the very dark woodwork and the kitchen came straight out of the 50’s with little or no cabinet space and a very poor workspace design. 

So I redesigned it, finished the unfinished cabinets (with great fear and trepidation I might add), hung wallpaper and all the other things it takes to upgrade an old, but charming home!

What makes me chuckle is I am fond of saying, “if I could make a living at re-doing old homes, I’d do it in a heartbeat!”  However, I have serious doubts that my passion for upgrading an old home would lead to significant profit - in fact, I doubt it would yield ANY profit!

There’s a ‘hint’ in this that if you read between the lines you can begin to follow my train of thought on the subject of passion, purpose and position.

Litman’s premise is that what we are passionate about gets our focus, our attention and our energy.    I what we’re doing is what we are passionate about, we are more likely to be persistent in the face of all odds; willing to delay gratification; be patient with the process; and persevere, persevere, persevere!   It’s something we might do whether it is financially viable or not. 

I buy into his premise, with the following exception.

It’s true!  If we love numbers and working a calculator most of the day and an environment where we work with people and help them find solutions to financial issues - then that passion may find itself quite comfortable in a financial institution.  And if we’re really passionate about it, we’ll give it our ‘all’ and the “money will follow!”

But some passions don’t lend themselves to a life situation that results in financial rewards.  In fact, much of what we are passionate about is intrinsic.  The ‘reward’ the passion brings us is internal rather than something outside of ourselves - like a ‘fat’ paycheck!

How does all this ‘mesh’ with the outline I gave yesterday of the unique motivators that ‘drive’ us?

It’s a long-winded way to say that not every passion is part and parcel of our purpose!  Some passions are just that - a desire to do something that brings nothing more than a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day upon which we sleep soundly and peacefully!
Finding our primary motivation is the first step in a process that with careful consideration and reasonable consistent attention; will lead us to the purpose that fulfills our destiny-design. 

Tomorrow, I’m going to give personal examples that hopefully will be helpful to you who are looking at the multitude of options that are out there for us as we travel the journey.  I really think that the 2nd half of the journey can be and often is the most exciting season!

So let’s work our way through the process and have fun doing so!

Have an AWESOME AWP day!

  Linda

This is a beautiful tribute to women in general.  But I think it’s especially appropriate for those of us who’ve lived enough of life to realize we’ve entered another season or seasons we call the 2nd half! 

‘Tis true, we do have tender hearts!

“Why Women Cry
               
A little boy asked his mother, “Why are you crying?” “Because I’m a woman,” she told him.

“I don’t understand,” he said. His Mom just hugged him and said, “And you never will.”

Later the little boy asked his father, “Why does mother seem to cry for no reason?”

“All women cry for no reason,” was all his dad could say.

The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry.

Finally he put in a call to God. When God got on the phone, he asked, “God, why do women cry so easily?”
 
God said:

“When I made the wom an she had to be special.

I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world,

yet gentle enough to give comfort

I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times comes from her children.

I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up, and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue with out complaining.

I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances, even when her child has hurt her very badly.

I gave her strength to carry her husband through his faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart.

I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly.

And finally, I gave her a tear to shed. This is hers exclusively to use whenever it is needed.”

“You see my son,” said God, “the beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart - the place where love resides.” 

Thanks Willy for sending this!

 Have an AWESOME day!

  Willy