It's Grey Cup weekend. Tailgate parties, lots of celebrating, family and friends joining together to watch the big game....
Traditions are such wonderful events for some people.
Thanksgiving has just come and gone, Christmas is fast upon us.
What traditions do you hold dear? Do you get a Christmas tree that's fresh from the bush, do you put up an artificial one, do you put one up at all?
I heard today that the city of Boston was considering changing the name of the tree they get from Halifax, Nova Scotia every year to A "Holiday Tree" instead of a "Christmas Tree." The tree farmer was very insulted and said a Christmas tree is a Christmas tree...any other time of the year it's just a tree, but, tradition is tradition. What are your thoughts on this?
What traditions do you hold onto, what ones don't you like and what ones have you started on your own?
Living la vida fearless, Jan

Oh the places you'll go
And the wonders you'll see
Won't be half as much fun
As the things you could be....

You could be a this
You might be a that
You may even, my gosh,
Be the Cat in the Hat....

But what's this I'm seeing
Are you shedding a tear
Tell my why you have water
All over your ears...

What set that off
Is the question my dear
You can't be a anything
Til you've faced all your fears....

Your mom or you dad
or the bilbobigman
Told you you couldn't
But I say you can

Oh yes you can
my little friend
From the start to the middle
and Up to the end....

But....you have to quit fearing
and wondering if
The top of the mountain isn't always a cliff...

Her'e how to do it
I'll give you the plan
Take one step and one breath
And then you've began....

The road will be twisty
and bumpy and curvy
You'll fall on your face
You'lll tip topsy turvy

People will tell you
that's never been done
Kepp quitting those fears
and laugh when you've won.....

One step and one breath
Keep quitting those fears
and when it's all over
You'll have lived all your years......

Living la vida fearless, Jan

I had a friend. I could tell this friend anything at all and I would know that there would never be any repurcussions from my talks.I could yell, I could cry and I could laugh. Mostly we just sat together and she listened to me, no questions asked. This was a loyal friend indeed. She never asked anything back from me except my love. I was happy to oblige. I had this friend for more than seventeen years. Today we said goodbye for the final time.
I am talking about my faithful and loyal dog Mackenzie, whom we called Mickey. We had to put Mickey to sleep today. She was in pain and she could not walk anymore. She was just not living any more. So, I called my children and asked them to come home to say goodbye. No questions asked they were home within hours. My husband was already home so there we all were consoling Mickey while consoling each other. The vet was so kind to us and agreed to put her to rest at our house so that she would be more comfortable. I was so grateful for that. I was also grateful for his offer to leave us alone with her for a few minutes after she had passed. It was a gracious gesture. There was not a dry eye in our house. Afterwards I had to take myself out for a walk to clear my head. As I walked up my driveway I was expecting my old puppy to come running toward me, tail wagging, face smiling, greeting me in her usual way....then I remembered...and cried again.
Mickey was a great dog. She cared for us and she taught us so much. Compassion and sympathy and loyalty and trust and so much more. Pets are great teachers for the rest of us souls on this earth.
Rest in peace Mickey. You are in a better and more comfortable place. Blessings, Jan
www.tobeyourbest.net

Claude Monet is born on this day....November 14, 1840. He died on December 5, 1926.
Monet is considered to be among the best painters in the world.
His impressionist paintings are stunning pieces of art and they
are held by musuems world wide.
Monet studied art with many people including Manet, Courbet and
Renoir.
Impressionism was not a well received art form during it's
inception. The artists themselves believed in the structure of the
art and so they continued. They would make very little money for
many years, but they faced their personal fears and pressed on
with their work. Lucky for the world that they did.
Monet lived to the old age of 86. A fine age for that time of the
world.

Did you know that he began having problems with his vision at the
age of 67? It was detected that he had the beginning stages of
cataracts? Can you imagine how fearful that must have been, how
devastating the diagnosis to a man whose life evolved around
"seeing?"

Did he stop painting? Did he give up? Not Monet, the impressionist
painter, the man who would not stop. He continued to paint until
the final months of his life many years later. We are all blessed
for his persistence.

That story got me thinking about "seeing" and "perspectives." Do we always have to see with our eyes? One of the most famous people I read about as a child was Helen Keller. Here was a person who could neither see nor speak. Indeed she could not even hear. Her parents were told to give up on her but they would not. They persisted. They faced the fear of the unknown future withtheir daughter and worked through it. It was hard, it was messy and it was tough...no doubt....
To quote Helen Keller "Life is either a daring adventure or
nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of
men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the
long run than exposure." She faced her fears, her parents
encouraged her to live a life full of herSELF and we are all the
better for it.

It's all perspective. How you see the world is how the world sees you.
Are you a Monet or a Helen Keller? Are you facing your fears? Are you dreaming your dreams higher? If not why not?
I promise you if you choose to live a fearless life you will never be the same again.
Living la vida fearless, Jan
www.tobeyourbest.net

If not for them there would be no us....

Remembrance day is fast approaching. What will you do? Will you spend some time reflecting? Does it mean anything to you at all? I was brought up in a culture where we honoured Remembrance day with a true day of honour. We had a day off school, the businesses were closed, the banks were shut down and everybody went to the celebrations. Then when I had children it was different....the schools were open but the kids honoured and reflected and stood quiet for a minute at 11am. Now, it's just another day to some people. A generation has grown up hardly knowing what it is we who are older understand. And my generation is losing our parents and grand parents who fought in the Great War for which Remembrance Day was created.

That got me thinking. I had dinner with a great bunch of ladies tonight. It's a networking group I belong to called the Company of Women. There are at least 150 members and the feeling is that of just going home when we get together. We all catch up and talk about families and life and then, work, if there is time. But the relationships are created and the connections are made and people do work together.

I sat at a table with a lovely group of women. One of them was telling me about her family and Remembrance Day. The town she lives in now is the town she grew up in. It was farm country then...The farms are long gone, the families spread around the globe or further. My friend told me about a monument that was created for the people who fought in the Great War who had come from her town. She was asked if she knew anybody who might have had some connections to this monument, whose name should be included....

Her family...her very own family had been involved. He had been a pilot. He had fought and he had come home. His name went on the monument. She went to see it etched in the stonework. She cried. She didn't know she would feel like that but it was ok. When she told us the story I wanted to cry too. There is something about the honouring of those who have done great work for others that is worthy of remembering. A monument, a letter, a song, a poem...whatever it takes.

Then I realized something else as the evening passed and the laughter intensified. Were it not for him I would not have met her. Had her relative not faced his fears to protect what he thought was precious we would probably not have met. The world would have been different. We wouldn't have shared our little chuckles together, admired each other's little bits of shiny jewels on our wrists, told stories of our aging dogs and our traveling children.

Honour those who have gone before. Were it not for them facing their fears we would not be here now to face ours. As for us....face your fears with courage and conviction and know that it is right. It will be hard, it will be messy and, I promise you, things will never be the same afterwards.

To all who go before me...my gratitude. To the families who have lost loved ones, I honour you and your sacrifice and am grateful for the freedoms offered up by those you love. When Novemeber 11 arrives take a few minutes to give thanks. It's a small sacrifice compared to what others have done for us.

Living la vida fearless, Jan