My Bakery

When I saw this weeks topic for GBE 2-BAKERY, I wasn't going to participate. I couldn't think of one thing to come up with. Then it hit me this morning. I wanted to share a story of a bakery in my minds eye. I have recently been witness to many friends "coming out of the closet" so to speak in sharing struggles in life they are about to face or are going through. How my heart aches for these friends and their struggles. So this story shall be a "coming out of the closet" so to speak for Taina. I will allow my fingers to do the typing and we'll see where it goes.

Recently my life went from content, happy and looking forward to a bright and promising tomorrow, to I'm not sure what tomorrow holds or where I'll be. Each day has been a struggle. Through God, close friends and family support, I am taking life day by day and sometimes moment by moment. It's been tough, I've gone from smiling and seeing the glass overflowing and able to always be the person to tell those around me to "hold on, the sun will come out brightly soon", to only having gray skies in life.  But enough of that, let's talk about my bakery.

I do have to start this tale out by saying I've started a new journey with God, getting to know Him much better, understanding the Bible and what it says to me, and trying to rearrange my life by praying daily to have eyes, ears, heart, hands and a mouth that are full of compassion, fairness, love and grace. So in putting together my basic recipe, God would have to be the top ingredient, with compassion, fairness, love and grace following. Each day as I start to put things together, thoughts of sadness, being vengeful, bitterness, despair and unforgiving things pop in my bowl (head or mouth) and I have to start anew on my dough. We can't put out baked goods with contaminated dough can we? It sounded like such an easy recipe, but gosh my hands are tired already from kneading, my arms tired from stirring and it seems my day has just begun.

Then of course there is the business itself. There are days when my sign says OPEN-COME ON IN, yet there are days when I will flip that sign to CLOSED-BE BACK SOON. Some people say "it's a choice" and yes it is..but for right now, it's a struggle and that is my truth. I'll be in a good place and then a thought will come to mind, I'll read, witness or I see something on the TV or hear a song on the radio that will just burst me into tears. I have thoughts that I'm not able to be a good pastry chef so why in the world try to bake anyway? Why would God entrust me with my own business to run? But I know that it's okay to feel that way. He loves me and He knows I can do this. What's important is to keep trying. Even those tiny steps help..they mean you moved forward.

Now to talk about customers. Oh yes, there will be those that come in with their noses in the air, ready to judge, thinking my shop's business would be much better and fun smoother if only run their way. My decor isn't fancy enough, my pastries don't look as good as the ones in the shop down the road. They might even throw an insult or two my way. I have to call to mind a saying I've tried to live by..."whatever floats your boat and makes you happy is okay with me, but please show me the same courtesy and allow my boat to go it's way as well". I have to allow these customer's not to detour me from my course, but allow them leave my shop, sending them on their way with love and light.  That isn't always easy. But it is the right choice to make for me and how I want to treat all customers that enter my shop. As for my regular customers, that's easy! They would forgive me if my cookies might be dry one day, or my loaves lumpy. They would be happy for me and how I'm trying and would stand beside me in love and support and want what I want in life.

Chef hat on-check! Apron tied around waist-check!  There might be flour flying all over the place, the kitchen is a wreck, you may see smoke (and possibly flames) coming out of the windows at those times when I loose track of the baked goods because I am feeling overwhelmed. But I will try to put that OPEN-COME ON IN sign up every day and keep it there. One day at a time, one moment at a time. Have a great week my friends and remember, you are important and you are loved.

100 things to say

Love each other with all you have.

When you make a promise, keep it.

Don't let others view cloud your focus.

Try to do the right thing.

Apologize when you've done wrong.

Forgive when needed.

Have faith in your life, it is much more important than religion.

See the heart, not the package.

Validation is important in life.

Set your priorities in life in the correct order.

It's hard to face the clouds and see silver linings at times.

You aren't weird if you don't fit into that hole, the hole was carved incorrectly my friend.

We are all uniquely special.

Remember, you are loved my friends.

GBE 2- Week 2- Success

Well here we are with our second topic on the new GBE2 group and it's SUCCESS! I almost skipped out on this one, but those who know me, should know by now that I will usually take on a challenge. So here we go...no thoughts in mind. I'm just going to let my little fingers tell a story.

It seems today's society is obsessed with SUCCESS. We live in such a fast paced world, everyone wants to be the big dog, rush, Rush...RUSH get to the top! Well I say slow it down a pace or two. It's nice to be at the top of your game...the game of being a good person. That is how my eyes view success. How about you?

I need to be able to look in the mirror and realize I am human. I am a work in progress. I will screw up, sometimes in a big way. The important thing to gain success to me is to see those lessons, apply those lessons to life and try not to jump off the same ledge again. Doesn't that sound so easy? Learn, apply, don't do it again. But it isn't always so easy is it? To succeed, we have to keep getting up, sometimes not ignore the scraped up knee, but apply some soothing ointment and allow time for it to heal a bit before we restart our task in life.  But ALWAYS restart the journey. And at times, we ought to be able to turn off the "noises" of life and just listen to our inner self and what WE need for ourselves to succeed on this journey we call life. For myself, I am a success if I smile at someone and get a smile in return, give a friend a call to tell them you love them or send a little note. Trying to remain a good person in a world full of folks telling you to retaliate, make em pay, give it to em good....it isn't always easy. I'm taking it one day at a time, doing my best to do one of those things above and just be true to me, whether everyone likes that or agrees with my decisions. I have to be true to me to have success.

So stop beating up yourselves because you aren't the boss at work, or you aren't the President of the PTA,  you don't know how to cook, you aren't the best of housekeepers, or you can't find a job at the moment. That doesn't have anything to do with YOU being a success. Know that you were made with love, you were given the right to choose in life and that we screw up sometimes...but each of you is a winner...you truly are.

Have a great week my friends and remember you are loved.

Expectations.GBE 2

I first have to say when I logged on and saw what this weeks topic would be...I had no doubt Ms. Nerd Words had me in mind! What can be said about expectations? Should we even have any of them? If we do, do we limit them to ourselves only? What if we PUT expectations on those around us? Is that playing fair? The questions in my mind on this topic could go on for quite a long blog my friends.

Let me tell you what my life lessons have been on this topic of "EXPECTATIONS" for me, and me alone. Limit them to ourselves. Yes of course as a parent, you will have expectations that your children bathe, eat the right foods, are polite, do well in school, etc. I speak of expectations on an adult level. I have found through experience that placing expectations on someone else in your life can and will probably lead to disappointment. Sometimes those disappointments are huge and can change the course of a life, or many lives.

Life isn't always fair...even when you go about life trying to be a person doing their best to survive in it. We don't always get a great car, that's where lemons come into play, our homes don't always end up being the "dream house" we envisioned in our minds. They have termites, warped wood, cracked foundations, gosh that particular list could be endless! Relationships no matter how strong they seem to be to your eyes or even to those eyes looking in, can crack at the seams and do what you least expected.....fall apart.

So for this girl at this time in my life...I will "expect" the sun to come up each day. I will give thanks that it has and I was around to see it. I will expect Taina (for those of you new to me it sounds like China!) to do her best to put one foot in front of the other and I expect her to be nice to those she encounters. I expect her to always keep in mind we never know what a person's walk in life has been and to not judge a book by it's cover. You'll miss out on a whole bunch of wonderful things if you go through life with expectations that life itself will let you down on a continuous basis. So for you folks out there, chin up, eyes forward and keep putting one foot in front of the other...the important thing is that I expect myself, is to keep going. Have a great week and remember...you are loved.