Erma Bombeck...If I Had...

This is one of my all time favorites and I make sure to read it regularly...just as a reminder that I need to count my blessings and live in the moment. Love Erma Bombeck, may she rest in peace.

If I Had My Life To Live Over

by Erma Bombeck

The following was written by the late Erma Bombeck
after she found out she had a fatal disease.

If I had my life to live over, I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television - and more while watching life.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."

There would have been more "I love you's".. More "I'm sorrys" ...

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute... look at it and really see it ... live it...and never give it back.
© Erma Bombeck

Con un pan y cafecito,
seguimos adelante
Zulmara

Win a Copy of Chicken Soup for the Latino Soul

WIN!!! Celebrando la vida Latina!!!

The first 3 people who respond to the Proust Questionnaire will win a copy of Chicken Soup for the Latino Soul. All you have to do is answer the Proust questionnaire and follow my blog, and I will send you a signed copy of this wonderfully inspiring book, for Latinos, by Latinos.

Con un pan y cafecito, seguimos adelante.

Disfrute!!!

Zulmara

(PS You can see my responses in a previous post).

This is a questionnaire that allows us to look deep into ourselves and see what resonates with us and what makes us tick. Take a minute to answer some of most of the questions.

The Proust Questionnaire

http://www.chick.net/proust/question.html

• What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
• Where would you like to live?
• What is your idea of earthly happiness?
• To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
• Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?
• Who are your favorite characters in history?
• Who are your favorite heroines in real life?
• Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?
• Your favorite painter?
• Your favorite musician?
• The quality you most admire in a man?
• The quality you most admire in a woman?
• Your favorite virtue?
• Your favorite occupation?
• Who would you have liked to be?

Ann and Abby

For years, these were my most favorite New Year's column and I would read them to my kids on each New Year's day. What traditions do you have in your family around the New Year?

Ann Landers New Year’s Resolutions

http://www.operationlettertosanta.com/new%20years/ann_landers.htm

Let this coming year be better than all the others.  Vow to do some of the things you've always wanted to do but couldn't find the time.

Call up a forgotten friend.  Drop an old grudge, and replace it with some pleasant memories.  Share a funny story with someone whose sprits are dragging.  A good laugh can be very good medicine.

Vow not to make a promise you don't think you can keep.  Pay a debt.  Give a soft answer.  Free yourself of envy and malice.  Encourage some youth to do this or her best.  Share your experience, and offer support. Young people need role models.

Make a genuine effort to stay in closer touch with family and good friends. 

Resolve to stop magnifying small problems and shooting from the lip.  Words that you have to eat can be hard to digest.

Find the time to be kind and thoughtful.  All of us have the same allotment:

24 hours a day. Give a compliment.  It might give someone a badly needed lift.

Thing things though.  Forgive an injustice. Listen more. Be kind.

Apologize when you realize you are wrong. An apology never diminishes a person.  It elevates him. Don't blow your own horn.  If you've done something praiseworthy, someone will notice eventually.

Try to understand a point of view that is different from your own.  Few things are 100 percent one way or another.  Examine the demands you make on others.

Lighten up. When you feel like blowing your top, ask yourself, "Will it matter in a week from today?".  Laugh the loudest when the joke is on you.

The sure way to have a friend is to be one. We are all connected by our humanity, and we need each other.  Avoid malcontents and pessimists. They drag you down and contribute nothing.

Don't discourage a beginner from trying something risky.  Nothing ventured means nothing gained.  Be optimistic.  The can-do spirit is the fuel that makes things go.

Read something uplifting.  Deep-six the trash.  You won't eat garbage - why put it in your head? Don't abandon your old-fashioned principles.  They never go out of style.  When courage is needed, ask yourself, "If not me, who? If not now, when?"

Walk tall, and smile more.  You'll look 10 years younger. Don't be afraid to say, "I love you". Say it again. They are the sweetest words in the world.

© Ann Landers

Dear Abby's
New Year's Resolutions

http://www.alighthouse.com/happynewyear.htm

Just for today, I will live through this day only, and not set
far-reaching goals to try to overcome all my problems at once.
I know I can do something for 24 hours that would overwhelm me
if I thought I had to keep it up for a lifetime.

Just for today, I will be happy. Abraham Lincoln
said, "Most folks are about as happy as they make
up their minds to be". He was right. I will not
dwell on thoughts that depress me. I will chase
them out of my mind and replace them with happy thoughts.

Just for today, I will adjust myself to what is.
I will face reality. I will correct those things
that I can correct and accept those I cannot.
Just for today, I will improve my mind. I will not
be a mental loafer. I will force myself to read
something that requires effort, thought, and concentration.

Just for today, I will do something positive to
improve my health. If I'm a smoker, I'll make
an honest effort to quit. If I'm overweight,
I'll eat nothing I know to be fattening and
I'll force myself to exercise ~ even if it's
only walking around the block or using the
stairs instead of the elevator.

Just for today, I will make a conscious effort
to be agreeable. I will look as good as I can,
dress becomingly, speak softly, act courteously,
and not interrupt when someone else is talking.

Just for today, I'll try not to improve anybody
except myself. We know so much more about nutrition
and how much exercise and sensible living can extend
life and make it more enjoyable; so just for today,
I'll take good care of my body so I can celebrate
many more happy new years.

Just for today, I will have a program. I may not
follow it exactly, but I will have it, thereby
saving myself from two pests: hurry and indecision.
Just for today, I will gather the courage to do what
is right and take the responsibility for my own actions.

© Abby

Celebrating 100 Fans

Celebrating 100 Fans on My Facebook site

Guided Journals

Buenos dias, mis amigas y amigos,

I just hit 100 fans on my Facebook Fan Page and I want to celebrate by posting my guided journal. Many of us understand the importance of journaling and writing to help us focus our vision, hone in our passion, and harness our creative energy, however, many of us have trouble getting started with what to write, especially when it is not clear to us why we are writing every day.  I have posted 15 prompts from my Guided Journals, My Life is My Message  on my blog. Each posting is designed to inspire a response from you. You can answer with a picture, a few words, a quote, a gratitude, or a long answer, whatever comes to mind, whatever was inspired in you when you read the prompt.

As you work on responding to these poetry prompts, feel free to use them in your own blogs or posts. All I ask is that credit be given for the poem and the prompt and a link back to my page as the source. Remember, it only takes 30 days to build a new habit. If one of your goals for 2012 is to SOAR…start now…by getting in touch with your inner voice.

Any one who answers all 15 prompts...here, on FB, or on your own blog, will be entered into a drawing for a signed copy of the My Life is My Message Guided Journal or a copy of Chicken Soup for the Latino Soul.

Graicas, mis amigas y amigos…y disfrutan.

Con un pan y cafecito,

Seguimos ADELANTE!!

My Answers to Proust Questionnaire...

My responses to the Proust Questionnaire (See Previous Post)

• What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

To lose a child

• Where would you like to live?
• In Los Angeles, where I am living
• What is your idea of earthly happiness?
• Living in such a way that I do what I love and love what I do—living the writerly life
• To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
• Chocolate
• Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?
• Santiago from The Alchemist
• Who are your favorite characters in history?
• Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Antohony
• Who are your favorite heroines in real life?
• My mother—a beautiful soul who graced this earth for a short period of time
• My Aunt—a deep soul who graces this earth still
• Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?
• Scarlet O’Hara from Gone with the Wind
• Your favorite painter?
• Frida and Deigo
• Your favorite musician?
• Gloria Estefan
• The quality you most admire in a man?
• Creativity, ambition, motivation
• The quality you most admire in a woman?
• Intelligence, creativity, motivation
• Your favorite virtue?
• Justice
• Your favorite occupation?
• Writing, Inspiring, Motivating others
• Who would you have liked to be?
• Me, Myself, and I

Proust Questionnaire

In her book, "Stepping Out of Line"  Nell answers the Proust questionnaire with her own answers as a way of discovering insights into her personality. I am reprinted here the Proust questionnaire with Proust’s answers. (To see Nell’s answer you will have to look into her book.)

This is a questionnaire that allows us to look deep into ourselves and see what resonates with us and what makes us tick. Take a minute to answer the Proust questions, your answers may surprise you and offer some insights into your nest steps, overcoming obstacles, understaning what makes you tick, or just be a reflective exercise helping you get in touch with the inner you.

The Proust Questionnaire

http://www.chick.net/proust/question.html

• What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

To be separated from Mama

• Where would you like to live?

In the country of the Ideal, or, rather, of my ideal

• What is your idea of earthly happiness?

To live in contact with those I love, with the beauties of nature, with a quantity of books and music, and to have, within easy distance, a French theater

• To what faults do you feel most indulgent?

To a life deprived of the works of genius

• Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?

Those of romance and poetry, those who are the expression of an ideal rather than an imitation of the real

• Who are your favorite characters in history?

A mixture of Socrates, Pericles, Mahomet, Pliny the Younger and Augustin Thierry

• Who are your favorite heroines in real life?

A woman of genius leading an ordinary life

• Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?

Those who are more than women without ceasing to be womanly; everything that is tender, poetic, pure and in every way beautiful

• Your favorite painter?

Meissonier

• Your favorite musician?

Mozart

• The quality you most admire in a man?

Intelligence, moral sense

• The quality you most admire in a woman?

Gentleness, naturalness, intelligence

• Your favorite virtue?

All virtues that are not limited to a sect: the universal virtues

• Your favorite occupation?

Reading, dreaming, and writing verse

• Who would you have liked to be?

Since the question does not arise, I prefer not to answer it. All the same, I should very much have liked to be Pliny the Younger

http://www.amazon.com/Stepping-Out-Line-Lessons-Women/dp/0767924843/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324008477&sr=1-1

Book Recommendations!!!

Books Recommended by Nell...

Julie Stav...our own Suzie Orman...
http://www.amazon.com/Get-Your-Share-Striking-Market/dp/B0042P58CO/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323458752&sr=1-1



The One Page Business Plan-
Before you can make it happen, you have to create it...
http://www.amazon.com/Page-Business-Plan-Creative-Entrepreneur/dp/1891315099/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324008438&sr=1-1

Stepping Out of Line:
Nell's great book on making it
http://www.amazon.com/Stepping-Out-Line-Lessons-Women/dp/0767924843/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324008477&sr=1-1