Three steps forward, two steps back …

Posted on January 18, 2011 by Virginia

QVMRF955EQCQ (please ignore the numbers … it’s my Technorati claim # and I’ll delete this once I’m verified)

I apologize (and forgive myself) for allowing so much time pass without publishing anything new here.  Although it FEELS like I’m standing still, in reality I am moving forward (and back) … then forward (and back) again repeatedly … making progress toward specific goals as I hold the intention to publish my first Labyrinth Journal and see what happens.   I’m exceedingly grateful to friends who have offered encouragement, support, and useful suggestions to make the project better. You know who you are and I’m excited to share what I’ve written about your assistance in the ‘acknowledgment’ pages … but not today.

The whirlwind pace of December’s activities left minimal time for the computer, and I’ve been digging myself out of the seemingly endless abyss of email … wondering if I’ll ever empty my Inbox(es) even as I systematically unsubscribe to lists … limiting future incoming information as I repeat to myself … simplify … simplify … simplify … meditatively.

A few constants remain no matter what. I arise early (around 4am give or take an hour) and light a candle then write in my journal (after feeding the fur-kids and making coffee) … listening to classical music or an inspiring interview … reflecting on passages from a book (currently The Book of Awakening: Having the Life you Want by Being Present to the Life You Have by Mark Nepo) before I consult my calendar to see scheduled activities. I’m relaxing gradually into a sense of trust that what I need comes when I need it so there’s no need to hold on to everything all the time.

Serendipitous practical evidence (in the form of remembered experience) abounds in my life to support this truth. I know that I am safe in the world and supported by forces in the Universe when I’m clear on the WHAT of my intention even when I have no clue HOW to proceed. I believe that we ALL are safe and supported in this way. When we slow down and breathe, clarity emerges and help arrives in the most unexpected ways. There’s no need to exhaust myself by trying to do anything (or everything) all at once perfectly. Remembering that my best is always good enough and any mistakes I make along the way become opportunities to learn & grow helps me relax and trust in ‘Divine’ timing.

If you’ve been spinning your wheels on something you really want to do, I highly recommend you set aside time to listen to this call.  If you’re busy today and can’t listen, sign up anyway and you’ll receive a recording of the call in email so you can listen later … repeatedly as needed.

Procrastination Is Genius In Disguise – 2011 Edition
Free Teleclass – just call in from wherever you are!
Thursday, Jan. 20th
9:45am-11am (Pacific Time)

You can register for the call and  get free copy of the recording by going HERE: www.GetItDoneTeleclass.com

You you’re correct if you think I’m a Big Fan and an affiliate of The Organized Artist Company.

Earlier this week I had an informative phone conversation with Samantha about web development and account management … specifically Infusionsoft as it compares with other options like Aweber, Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, etc. … and she suggested several other resources … PDF Pen (which seems to be a Mac product) and Blurb (another self-publishing company) for me to check out as I move ahead.  I signed up for today’s free call the minute I learned about it (and her next round of online sessions too) because the work I did with her last Fall was tremendously helpful. I’m sure I’ll get more done in the next two months with her in my corner.

Yesterday I talked with Sandra Herkowitz of Authentic Web Creation on the phone about getting my Labyrinth Journal website up & running with a ‘personalized & professional’ appearance and an automated system for email marketing, customer relationship and a shopping cart.  It seems I have lots of decisions to make in the days ahead, but I really enjoyed our conversation and expanded my awareness of resources available for WordPress customization.  I experimented a bit with 2010 Weaver at my Labyrinth Journal site and explored various plug in options for ‘SEO’ and ‘auto responders’ and installed a few, but I haven’t activated them yet because I didn’t have any more time to play there yesterday.

I thought I’d never take the plunge but I have a Twitter account as of yesterday afternoon (thanks to Anita Crawford Clark who led a wonderfully informative ‘webinar’ about Social Media & Marketing for the members of the Get Your Book Done group) so if you’re on Twitter you can find and follow me.

There’s more to share but I’m out of time.  Since I started this draft yesterday and didn’t get back to it until today, I’m going to let this be ‘good enough’ and hit the publish tab as soon as I add a link to some beautiful sunrise photos I captured on 1-11-11 with my Nikon D60 and shared recently at Facebook along with a ‘quote’ below … just because.  I hope all’s well with you and yours and I wish you a delightful day.

Thought for Today
“Go as far as you can see; when you get there you’ll be able to see farther.
Thomas Carlyle

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My Thoughts at Christmas – 2010

Posted on December 25, 2010 by Virginia

My Christmas card this year ended up a ‘mini-book’ comprised of six labyrinth pieces and I share the pages here today along with audio recordings of me reading them aloud … just because 😉

Today’s world calls for our conscious attention and creative ideas leading to unique solutions to existing problems. This past year I’ve used the following words (spoken by Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek: the Next Generation) at the end of my emails as a reminder to myself:

“Things are only impossible until they’re not.”

I offer it here as a thought to carry with you in 2011 along with my heart-felt encouragement to do what you love each day ‘forcing nothing and holding nothing back’ … because I believe it’s important for each of us to remember who we are and why we’re here on earth right now … then ‘show up’ and BE uniquely ourselves … just as we are … while encouraging others to do likewise … celebrating our differences even as we appreciate the shared characteristics of being human. A Course in Miracles teaches that the thoughts of God are 180 degrees from the thinking of the world. Since we see what we look for, let’s choose to seek and find what we really want.

May the Spirit of Christmas
be with you all year long!
Hugs and blessings,
Virginia

Thought for today:

“When in doubt, show up early.

Think less. Feel more. Ask once.

Give thanks. Expect the best.

Appreciate everything.

Never give up. Make it fun.

Lead. Invent. Regroup. Wink. Chill. Smile.

And live as if your success was inevitable,

and so it shall be.”

– Notes from the Universe
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Standing Tall and Sunrise at the Beach

Posted on November 27, 2010 by Virginia

Ooops! My bad! Thanks to Kara for sending email to let me know the audio and labyrinth piece don’t match. I’ll fix that as soon as I get back to my Dell Laptop where the audio files and images are stored.

Time has a way of getting away from me. It’s May 1st and I’ve finally followed through with my promise to fix the audio file. I’ve also added the visual piece for the audio file mistakenly shared, so there are two labyrinth pieces and two audio files that should be correctly coordinated at long last. I apologize for neglecting this task for such a long time and hope everything now works as it should.

Click the play button to hear me read this piece. It’s 1:50 in length:

Click the play button to hear me read the piece. It’s 2:03 in length:

 

Thought for today:

“Though you don’t always have a choice what you experience, you always have a choice how you see it and whether or not you grow from it.”

Marianne Williamson

 

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Remembering how labyrinth writing came to be …

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Virginia

Press play to listen to me read each of the three pieces below:

Audio is 2:43 in length:

Audio is 2:26 in length:

Audio is 1:44 in length:

 

Thought for today:

“The soul intuitively seeks the perfect circumstance and situation now needed to heal wrong thought and bring you the rightful experience of Who You Really Are. The soul understands what the mind cannot conceive.”

Neale Donale Walsh

 

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On Transitions and Listening Within …

Posted on November 10, 2010 by Virginia

Here are three pieces I created on the morning of October 21, 2010 and recorded to share.  Press play to hear me read the first one to you …

Press play to hear the second piece …

Press play to hear the third …

It seems that my body needed to get sick for me to S L O W  D O W N enough to return my attention to Giraffe Journal.  By deciding to stay home from my planned retreat, I have the gift of a few ‘free’ days I hope to put to good use while taking time to rest and regain my health.

I apologize for taking so long to publish anything here.  Yesterday (with help from Canon tech support) I managed to get my ‘all in one’ printer working as it should in conjunction with my laptop (finally).  My ’30-day trial account’ at Audio Acrobat is over and I’m a paying customer now … so I should be able to keep a steady stream of ‘flo po’ going on a more regular basis from this day forward.  These pieces are a few weeks old, but I continue to write daily and am working on my ‘official’ Labyrinth Journal site.  I appreciate you sharing whatever feedback or responses in comments or email.  Thanks for dropping by …

 Thought for today:

“Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is … the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts. Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is the meaning of life. Meaning does not lie in things. Meaning lies in us.”

Marianne Williamson

 

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Experiment with Flo Po Images and Audio Files

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Virginia

I originally created this post on 10-10-10 using a free account at Audio Acrobat Dot Com for sound … but (alas) there was no way for others to listen. I’ve been seeking answers to this problem but have found none within my free Audio Acrobat account yet … but I’ve not stopped trying either.

In the meantime (as an alternative) … this morning I’ve created and added an audio link using Free Conferencing Dot Com and methinks sound IS possible now … but only by using your own computer’s Media Player. Methinks you’ll need to right click on the audio link to open it in another window where you’ll need to click on it again. Then click back on THIS original window to see the visual images of my ‘flo po’ pieces.

If you click on the images themselves, they should ’embiggen’ so you can read the words, but following along with my voice on the computer may be challenging. So … (if you wish to follow along more easily) it might work better to print the two single pages below the double one on paper so you can turn the pages in your hand.

I’m UPDATING this post on 10-22-10 at 11:30 using an Audio Acrobat MP3 file and hoping for the best.  Please let me know how this works for you … or doesn’t.  It SEEMS to work just fine for me.  I’m tempted to remove the awkward links below and may do so eventually, but perhaps it’s good to leave a trail of my journey to adding sound after all.

Further update: The audio file is now hosted here on my WordPress site, no need for the AudioAcrobat intermediary:

Scroll down for larger ‘clickable’ views of these two pages if you want to try to follow along.

5-27am Fri 10-08-10 continued 1272795
 (This file was created with Free Conferencing Dot Com and uploaded from my computer)

If you have a moment and are willing to provide me with feedback, I’d like to know how this works for you. I’d appreciate knowing what type of computer you’re using (Mac or PC) … which browser … and any other relevant info you’d care to share. This is a work in progress and I’m learning on the go … doing the best I can with what I have available to me currently.

Thought for today:

“To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.” 

Elbert Hubbard

 

Posted in 'flo po', graphic doodles, labyrinth journal writing | Tagged , | 8 Comments

A quick update …

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Virginia

… just so you’ll know I’m still alive and well.
If you click on the ‘flo po’ image above it does get large enough to read, but you’d have to stand on your head or turn the screen repeatedly to do so.

I’ve tried (unsuccessfully) several times to add an ‘audio acrobat’ link to a draft with some ‘flo po’ pieces.  I’m hoping I’ll eventually figure this out … or that someone will step forward to help because I know it can be done.  I sent Samantha email this morning asking what program she uses and perhaps she’ll be able to point me in the right direction.  I’m beginning to think I need a ‘virtual assistant’ to take on some of these ‘technical tasks’ but I’m not sure just how to go about finding one.  If anyone has suggestions, please leave a comment or drop me an email.

Fortunately, I did figured out how to add a ‘follow’ widget and RSS feed link to the top of my sidebar finally … and if you scroll down to the section entitled ‘Meta’ there’s a link to subscribe to both the blog and the comment RSS feed separately.

It took me several days to decide, but I did sign up for Samantha Bennett’s Get It Done online training course that I wrote about previously in a post.  Hopefully her strategies will help me manage everything else while remaining focused and calm.  I highly recommend Samantha’s poetry and just purchased 4 copies of her book & CD for the price of 3 … taking advantage of her generous offer.  They’ll make lovely gifts for friends.

Our first class is tomorrow from 9:45 to 11am … followed by Vrinda’s 3rd training session from 12 to 1pm and a conference call with my ‘tribe’ members from 1-2pm. Today I’m finishing up ‘homework’ assignments … stopping to BREATHE and RELAX … letting go of tension … reminding myself to have FUN with all of this and taking a break to write this update!

Hope you’re all well, happy, healthy, and living with ease.
Hugs and blessings,
Virginia

Thought for Today
“Prepare for the new; expect the new; embrace the new. Otherwise, you’ll just repeat what’s old.” Marianne Williamson

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Oh my Lord! There’s so MUCH to do …

Posted on October 6, 2010 by Virginia

Thinking of Eloise this morning as I listen to the steady rain outside … wondering what happened to Fall after having no Summer this year.  Such STRANGE weather everywhere!

For those who may not recall:
Eloise is a six-year-old girl who lives in the “room on the tippy-top floor” of the Plaza Hotel in New York with her Nanny, her pug dog Weenie, and her turtle Skipperdee.

I’m not planning to pour a bucket of water down the mail chute, but the lyric of the song I learned as a child about this 6 year old character in a series of children’s books (written by Kay Thompson and illustrated by Hilary Knight) darted through my mind as I look at the ‘to do’ list on my desk (leading to the title of this post) … then a quick Google search led me to the Eloise Web Site (I had no idea this was out there!) where I reminisced a while before returning to the present post and the day at hand.

Such DISTRACTIONS in the face of feeling OVERWHELM reminds me of Kara’s recent posts at Creative Dawdling.  Remembering Conditions of Enoughness Jen shared at both retreat experiences in Taos while internally processing the clarion call of her post You Are Called at Comfort Queen (after finding Sharon’s link at Facebook this morning) … I’m aware of the regular effort I’m making to S L O W   D O W N to listen within these days.

Breaking old habits and establishing new patterns is challenging, but I’m doing what I can with what I have where I am …. asking myself ‘what will help me GROW forward’ into my life’s purpose joyfully. I’m taking wobbily baby steps with eyes, heart, mind, and spirit wide open … trusting that curiosity and love point the way to those I’m meant to serve.

This morning I shared the following thoughts with Isabel Parlett-the Soundbite Shaman while responding to a survey she emailed yesterday.

My biggest challenge in telling people what I do is finding & maintaining clarity within myself first, then finding the right words to convey my vision, purpose or message in ways others understand and perceive to be of value.

The cost of living with this challenge is that I can’t fully step into this new venture of my Life Purpose without finding the words to spread the news of services I offer to those who would benefit most … nor am I able to receive payment for the work I feel called to do in the world right now.

Personal frustration with my current difficulties translating my vision into tangible products and services people want and need … along with the sense I don’t yet know enough about marketing to take advantage of interest others expressed in my Labyrinth Journal products at the Your Purpose Summit and since I’ve been home as well.

I want to discover meaning filled words to keep my purpose clearly alive within my own mind so that I can talk about my services and products with joyful confidence, energy and excitement … attracting the kinds of people I want to work with who are willing to spend money to achieve desired results.

So … that’s where I am this morning. I need to publish this so I can listen to a ‘free call’ with Samantha Bennett of the Organized Artist Company entitled ‘Procrastination is Genius in Disguise: Five Surprising Truths about Getting Unstuck!’ scheduled to begin in about 7 minutes. I’ll be multi-tasking as I listen … stopping to take notes occasionally … working to create the ‘comfortably clear, clean, inviting surroundings conducive to creatively GROWING forward into my true life’s purpose and work’ that I’ve envisioned for my home environment 😉

Here’s wishing all of you a delightfully fun and productive day doing what YOU love!
Hugs and blessings,
Virginia

PhotobucketPS at 12:15pm
The call was well worth the time to listen and I have ideas to use immediately … some new and a few nifty things I knew already and appreciate being reminded of. I sent her this in email:

I loved this morning’s call and got a LOT from it that I’m sure I’ll use. I love your energy and the way you cut through resistance quickly in simple ways … so I’d love to work with you because I’m sure your ideas will be helpful. I’ve been a happily retired public school educator for about a decade, pursuing a wide variety of interests just for fun. In the past two months a series of events has led me to believe it’s time for me to move ahead into a newly discovered Life Purpose. I’ve made significant progress.

In trying to decide whether or not to sign up for your training, I’m concerned that I may be over-committed at the moment … wondering if adding one more thing might push me over the edge into total overwhelm or pull me in too many directions. I’ve paid to work with Vrinda Normand during the next 8 weeks to write ‘Irresistible Website copy that Sells’ … to work with Lynne Klippel & Christine Kloser in their LIVE 6-month Get Your Book Done program starting the middle of this month … for daily coaching calls with Lynne Brodie from October 18-27 to tackle clearing clutter from my home, I’m part of Isabel Parlett’s R&D group for a new program she has under development and I’m working with Vervante to get a different book published.

I know I need to make the decision for myself … and perhaps I just need to hold this all in mind as I go through my day … listening to my gut, but I decided to send this note to say THANK YOU for the call. I’m glad to know you’re out there. Do you know when you might next offer this training?
Hugs and blessings,
Virginia

and she responded:

Hi Virginia!
So glad you wrote and thrilled you got good stuff from the call.
You are certainly signed up for a bunch of stuff right now (I love Vervante, too!) and whether Get It Done would be the clarifying lens that pulled it all together or the straw that broke the camel’s back (or at least sent the camel back to bed feeling totally overwhelmed), I honestly can’t say.
Sleep on it.
Thanks again –
Best,
Sam
Samantha Bennett
The Organized Artist Company

Methinks that’s exactly what I’ll do 😉

Thought for Today
“It is not how many years we live, but what we do with them.” Evangeline Booth

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Oh, the Places You’ll Go! (… or thank you Dr. Seuss)

Posted on October 3, 2010 by Virginia

I can’t believe how quickly time passes these days, but won’t complain about a thing because life’s busy and filled with lots of stimulating activities and marvelous moments. Most recently I’ve:

~listened to inspiring, informative ‘free calls’ & ‘paid for webinars’ online
~taken copious notes to help me remember powerful ideas shared
~made time to write for my own reasons each day
~dined out with friends & taken myself out for meals alone with my journal
~bounced ideas off of fellow writers on the phone
~walked & played with Molly
~shopped for groceries & cooked delicious meals at home
~enjoyed gardening and sitting on my front patio reflectively
~devoted time to ‘decluttering’
~responded to comments left by visitors & sent emails too
~published at each of my old blogs
… and kept up with my sidebar gratitude list at Small Reflections

Of course I’ve done other productive things as well in a light-hearted spirit of creative play. Most importantly, I’ve begun to …

~figure out who might be my ‘ideal client’
~clarify just what my ‘niche’ is
~identify my own gifts and talents specifically
… and create a ‘vision’ of possible futures for myself.

I’d like to be able to create and share MP3 files of me reading ‘flo po’ pieces regularly here and in email. I’ve used Google to do some preliminary research into how to begin but found choosing among the multiple possibilities a bit confusing. After devoting time to considering whether learning to do this myself is a ‘distraction’ …(as in a minimum wage job I could delegate to free up my time for more important tasks) or not … I believe this could be a necessary basic skill worth cultivating since I’d like to create regular ‘flo po’ posts with audio accompaniment. So, tomorrow I plan to call the folks at the Adult School to see whether anyone might be able to point me in the right direction and/or ‘mentor’ me.

What follows here today is a piece I wrote about my brother on May 8th of 2008 and shared at Small Reflections in response to a ‘prompt’ to write about a ‘hero’ in my life.
I offer it here to continue setting forth ‘ground work’ revealing a context for the ‘places I’ve been’ thus far in life while exploring the ‘places I’ll go’ next.’

My brother was 9 when I arrived on the scene in 1945 … so he would have been in 4th grade. Having taught kids of that age who experienced ‘a baby entering the family’ gives me a ‘frame of reference’ to understand what that must have been like for him from his perspective. I suspect he took it ‘in stride’ without being ‘interested or involved’ any more than necessary.

I recall watching (and eventually helping) him fold newspapers to deliver each morning before school. He was an ‘asthmatic’ kid who tried not to let ‘breathing problems’ slow him down … and in those days we had no ‘medicine’ to assist … so he learned ‘mental methods’ on his own and kept going no matter what. It was ‘the family way’ of dealing with life … do what you can with what you have where you are and never give up.

Dave was smart … but ‘bored’ with school most of the time. He did ‘enough to get by’ … earning Cs unless he was intrigued by the subject matter (or teacher). Then he ‘excelled’ earning As. As things had been for my dad, there wasn’t much ‘middle ground’ in his view. Issues were ‘black & white’ and his ‘positions’ on them ‘clear-cut’ with no room for ‘shades of gray’ … leading to many a ‘heated’ discussion with others (including myself until I developed some perspective of the ‘process’ and ‘disengaged’ emotionally during such ‘academic’ discussions).

When I was 12, he taught me to play tennis and to water-ski … mainly so he’d have someone to retrieve the balls on the court and to ride ‘observer’ in the boat with his friends; however that’s how we became ‘friends’ for life. I’ve written before of his experiences in the Air Force at the age of 17 which compounded his ‘health’ problems and his adult life … (#61-64 in 101Things About Me). He married in his 30s … had two boys … moved to Arizona for his health … worked as a Civil Engineer even though his education focused on Electrical Engineering … and eventually returned to Southern California in the mid 1980s.

Throughout our lives we spent ‘quality time’ together on a regular basis … because ‘family’ was important to us all. His presence in my life helped me become who I am today … doggedly determined in the face of adversity … undeterred by ‘distractions’ when I maintain my ‘focus’ … doing my best consistently and always trying to improve. Of course, I’m still ‘who I am’ … the eternal optimist looking for the good in all things … but in a bit more ‘grounded way’ because of his ‘reality based’ approach to life and living. I miss him every day … even as I’m grateful he isn’t ‘suffering’ any longer.

As a post-script, I’ll add that Dave died 15 days before his 65th birthday. My brother outlived everyone’s expectations (except perhaps his own) through sheer determination
& strength of will and is survived by his widow, two sons (both married with families),
5 grandchildren (all born after his death), my sister and myself.

Thought for Today
“Remember pain. You pain is your key to freedom…and when we speak, the pain dissolves into a river of tears where it belongs.” SARK

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The Law of Unintended Consequences …

Posted on September 26, 2010 by Virginia
or … ‘If something can go wrong, it will!”
but hopefully I’m learning all the time!

PhotobucketI’m fully aware that being a perfectionist creates problems and limits productivity.  Knowing this truth, I’m trying to lower my expectations and allow things to be ‘good enough’ … however doing so with any consistency has been far from easy. I suspect that trying to explain my recent actions here today will be confusing to most readers (who don’t get into the technical side of blogging), but I intend to try … perhaps simply to make sense of it all for myself and ‘fix’ the lessons in my mind so I won’t repeat these mistakes any time soon … yet I’m aware that this post may be yet another manifestation of my perfectionist tendencies.  Such is life!  Giraffes must think while they’re ruminating, right?

Animated Giraffe

Returning visitors might notice there’s no longer an ‘s’ in the name of this blog. That’s because I’m the ‘giraffe’ here and this is my journal.  I’m pleased to say I managed this name change all on my own just a few minutes ago … albeit, the hard way I might add because methinks I’ve discovered a simpler way just now.  To continue with my story, a few days after starting this blog I realized there could be some confusion down the line once I get my Labyrinth Journal website & blog up and running because Giraffe Journals ended in ‘s’ while Labyrinth Journal did not.  In retrospect, the simplest solution would have been to purchase the domain ‘labyrinthjournals.com’ and have it ‘point’ to labyrinth journal.com … (leaving Giraffe Journals as it was).    Photobucket
I wish that had occurred to me sooner since I believe there would have been no ‘unintended’ consequences to that option since the website isn’t yet available … yet since I’m the only one ‘journaling’ here, the ‘singular’ title does feel like a more accurate choice … so perhaps all’s well that ends well.

What I did instead was purchase the domain ‘giraffejournal.com’ to match the original (singular) labyrinth domain name.  Then I changed the original ‘giraffe’ URL with an ‘s’ to the new one without the ‘s’ … and had the domain with the ‘s’ redirected to the new ‘singular’ URL.  That SHOULD have been the end of it.  Trust me … I fully understand if you’re thoroughly confused at this point, but I thought I knew what I was doing at the time, and Lisa at GoDaddy tech support assured me people made these types of changes all the time.

MY confusion (not to mention panic) started later Friday afternoon when I realized the blog was visible and accessible to visitors, but I had no administrative access … so I couldn’t publish anything or approve comments.

Initially, I assumed that GoDaddy tech support would help me work through and resolve the problem, but unfortunately the first guy I spoke to at tech support (who shall remain nameless) didn’t know much about WordPress hosting and (with hindsight) I realize he didn’t fully understand what had happened let alone how to fix anything.  His only suggestion was to uninstall and reinstall the WordPress hosting for the new URL, but I knew enough to realize I’d lose everything I’d already published along with the associated comments if I followed that course.  I hung up the phone with a heavy heart, kicking myself for foolishly pushing the edge of the envelope to make things perfect yet again. (I know that no one treats me as badly as I treat myself at times, and I’m working on THAT too!)

To shift gears, I decided to take Molly for a walk and mull things over on my own … a habit I’ve perfected over time when confronted with seemingly impossible challenges.  Eventually it occurred to me that changing the URL back to the original domain with the ‘s’ just might put things back as they’d been and give me access again.  When I returned home, I called GoDaddy tech support hoping someone there might remind me how to make that change.

Fortunately I encountered Rick who not only listened to my request but understood clearly what I’d been trying to do.  He went the extra mile (using considerable resourcefulness and uncommon patience) to walk me through the lengthy, complicated process which ultimately restored my administrative access at the new URL, encouraging me all along to just stay with it and not give up.
I am grateful!!!Photobucket

Asking for help has never come easily to me. As I share the details of this experience, I’m reminded that I need to continue to ask for what I need for as long as necessary … believing I’m worthy and that help IS available. I do wonder if I’m the only one who falls into these obsessive kinds of traps, and when I’ll be able to release the need to be perfect … because I do know that ‘Perfect is Boring’ … thanks to Stephen Manes who wrote a delightful children’s book entitled How to Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days, illustrated by Tom Huffman.  I used to read it aloud to students each year while I was teaching.  If you’re not familiar with the story, methinks you can read it online here.

Thought for Today
(found in my online Page-a-Day Women Who Do Too Much calendar)
“I’ve always grown from my challenges, from things that didn’t work out. That’s when I’ve really learned.” Carol Burnett
“Success may not always look the way we thought it would.
Gleaning the learnings can make every failure and success more successful.”
Anne Wilson Schaef

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