Why I haven't been around much

I haven't been blogging here a whole lot yet due to the following factors:

1. Life has been getting in my way
2. Part of life is adulting which involves running errands for other people
3. Been getting distracted by a cute puppy (I do love puppy sitting!)
4. Trying to catch up on recorded shows so the DVR doesn't reach 100% and explode deleting shows others have recorded
5. Bookish stuff (bookish Twitter chats, giveaways, reading, blogging on The Procrastinate Reader [shameless plug haha])

Speaking of my other blog...

• Been lining up interviews
• Lined up a few guest posters
• Have 3 posts up and hopefully more soon
• It's making me anxious
• I want to post at least once to twice a week
• I want the posts to vary (review, book hauls, author interview, blogger interview, other interviews) but I'm finding I have more interviews than anything ATM (I really don't want to post all the same type all at once)
• I'm stoke because I just scored an interview with my first BookTuber!!!!
• Bookitcon is tomorrow- hoping to put up a review of the event within a week following!

Oprah Talks About Life Lessons

The day has finally come. Today marks the ending of an era and the turning of a page. The Oprah Winfrey Show is ending. She talks to us about about life lessons and "Callings" and "Worthiness." In my personal opinion, today's episode is the most poignant and prominent, special and inspiring episode of all. I am proud to say I am truly a fan of Oprah and I recognize that while I may not have seen many episodes she has somehow still managed to reach through my tv screen over the years and touch me and change me for the better. Thank you Oprah. This blog entry is dedicated to you and the lessons you have taught us all and will continue to teach us. Here are some of the words of wisdom the great Oprah Winfrey shared with us today as she called it a "love letter" to us, her fans. Enjoy everyone and feel free to comment even if you are not a member of this blogging platform. This will also get posted to networkedblogs, my facebook homepage and fan page, and my twitter too.

As she came out on stage, Oprah said "After 25 years, I am still saying thank you America. Thank you so much. there are no words to match this moment. Every word I have ever spoken from the stage of The Oprah Show...is what this moment is all about... When I came here I was about to turn 30 years old. I didn't have a vision, or a lot of great expectations that we talk about all the time. I didn't have one. I just wanted to do a good job and cause no harm... I wanted to encourage you to be yourselves just as you all encouraged me and cheered me on... Soon after I started this show something shifted for me. I started this show as a job. It was not long before I understood there was something else going on here- more than just job satisfaction. Something in me connected with each of you in a way that allowed me to see myself in you and you in me. I listened and grew and I knew you did too. Sometimes I was a teacher and more often, you taught me. It is no coincidence that I always wanted to be a teacher and I ended up in the world's biggest classroom. And this, my friends, will be our last class from this stage.

"This last hour is really about me saying thank you. It is my love letter to you. I want to leave you with the lessons the have been the anchor for my life and the ones that I hold most precious." She explains how she never missed a day in 25 years simply because it is what she was called to do. "Every day that I stood here I knew that this was exactly where I was supposed to be... I showed up because I knew that you were waiting- you were waiting for whatever we had to offer. That is why I never missed a day in 25 years, because you were here."

Even if you never read another blog entry of mine ever again I hope you find something you can learn from this. I just want "to do a good job and cause no harm," as Oprah said.

LIFE LESSONS
(Oprah's commencement speech to Standford U-quotes)

“Walk through life eager and open to self-improvement,” she told the audience. “I believe that there’s a lesson in almost everything that you do and every experience, and getting the lesson is how you move forward.” She advised graduates to follow their “emotional guidance systems” and to trust their hearts. At 22, Winfrey endured a news anchor job that left her feeling miserable. A forced move to talk show hosting, she recalled, was like coming home.“The moment I sat down, doing that talk show, it felt like breathing,” she said. “It felt right…When you’re doing the work you’re meant to do, it feels right and every day is a bonus, regardless of what you’re getting paid. You want your work to be meaningful,” she said. “Because meaning is what brings the real richness to your life.”

Winfrey’s second lesson to graduates emphasized learning from failures. She described her founding of a school for girls in South Africa last year. Heralded by the media upon the school’s opening, Winfrey’s hopes were dampened when one of the dorm matrons was charged for sexual abuse last fall. Winfrey said she was devastated, but took the setback as a lesson to reassess her priorities. “I understand now the mistakes I made, because I had been paying attention to all of the wrong things,” she said, citing her focus on the school’s physical appearance. “I’d built that school from the outside in, when what really mattered was the inside out.”

Finally, Winfrey implored graduates to stand for something larger than their individual selves in order to find happiness. "To move forward, you have to give back. And to me, that is the greatest lesson of all,” she remarked. Whatever the graduates’ callings, Winfrey emphasized, operating from the paradigm of service would bring more value to their lives. “If you choose to offer your skills and talents in service,” she said, “it turns everything you do from a job into a gift. And I know you haven’t spent all this time at Stanford just to go out and get a job.”

CALLINGS

Oprah talks about having passion and everybody having a calling. "What I learned from this experience with you is that we all are called- everybody has a calling- and your real job in life is to figure out what that is and get about doing it...That is what a calling is. It lights you up and lets you know that that is exactly where you are supposed to be, doing exactly what you are supposed to be doing. And that is what I want for all of you- and hope that you will take from this show to live from the heart of yourself. You have to make a living, I understand that, but you also have to know what sparks the light in you so that you in your own way can illuminate the world."

Her "Live Your Best Life" pitch continues: "Each one of you has your own platform. Do not let the trappings here move you.Mine is a stage and a studio, yours is wherever you are- within your own reach...[We can influence co-workers, friends, etc.] Wherever you are that is own platform... That is your talk show and that is where your power lies. Every way and everyday you are showing people exactly who you are. You are letting your life speak for you. And when you do that you will receive in direct proportion to how you give on whatever platform you have. Of course, I know the circumstances are all different for all of us but the power I know is all the same."

So, I thought to myself, is this really going to be an hour of Oprah giving an empowerment seminar? Personally I'm kind of glad that this is how she ended it. Truthfully, I may have been hoping for more of her usual...but it was after all just about her embracing her fans.

People don't have to do things that make them famous to be of service, she notes. "We're all confused about fame versus service in this country," she says. Don't waste any more time, Start embracing the life that is calling you, Oprah urges.

I Appreciate You

MountainWings       A MountainWings Moment
#10253         Wings Over The Mountains of Life
-------------------------------------------------

I Appreciate You
=================

I recently received an email from a friend. The email only contained three commonly used and familiar words, yet these three words from my friend had a different feel. This simple powerful phrase shook me. It was a MountainWings Moment.

"I appreciate you" is what the email read. I gazed at this short sentence and read it over and over again. I could feel the transforming, uplifting power of these three words.

I have been thanked countless times, which is always proper and in order when someone does something for you. It is simply showing gratitude or giving credit for something that you are
responsible for.

To appreciate means to recognize the significance, quality, or magnitude of. (Appreciate freedom) To be fully aware of or sensitive to; realize: (I appreciate your problems) To be thankful or show gratitude for: (I appreciate your help) To admire greatly; value  To raise in value or price.

My friend was not appreciating me for something I did or said to or for him personally or professionally. He was not appreciating a particular problem that I had or appreciating my help on a matter.

I appreciate YOU is what the email read. That means I am appreciated, I am admired greatly, I am valued, and I am raised in value. He recognizes the significance, quality and magnitude of me, and who I am. He is thankful and shows gratitude for me.

As I absorbed the power of these three words and allowed them to penetrate and saturate my inner being, I considered whom the email was from. One of the many life lessons is to always consider the message and the source of messages that enter into your life constantly. Could this be just careless from the hip speaking? Did he have any idea how powerfully profound and life- changing this one short statement would be? Well, consider the source of the message.

The email was from a man who gives so much of himself, so much of his resources, his talents, and abilities to help and uplift others. He is not only my friend, he is also my Pastor of the local church, the Pastor of a worldwide church called Airjesus.com, and he is also the writer of MountainWings.com. He voluntarily receives no salary from the local church or the worldwide Internet outreach ministries in which he funded from his own resources. He is truly a Pastor in the true sense of The Word.

Yet, he says to me, "I appreciate you."

That also means YOU (The one reading this issue). Remember the definition of appreciate. You tend to invest in the things that you find value in, and he invests heavily in you and me. Our Heavenly Father also invests heavily in us.

Feel the power of "I APPRECIATE YOU." Tell someone or many, and mean it.

Dip into your rich resources and invest in them; whatever those resources may be.

Most of the MountainWings.com subscribers will never meet the founder, creator and writer of MountainWings. Yet, he sees value in you, me, and all people. Just click on any of the links and see for yourself.

My Pastor and friend

I APPRECIATE YOU.

~A MountainWings Original by Wesley Shorter~


from The Mountain: Wesley Shorter wrote this to me in July 2006, more than four years ago. I hesitated to publish it and even now I had made edits to remove all references to myself. I put them back. Not for self glorification but for you to understand that I do appreciate YOU, the readers of MountainWings.

Tell someone soon that you appreciate them, and mean it.

Thank you for inviting MountainWings into your mailbox.
Change a life, give a friend MountainWings.
See you tomorrow.
====================
TO MY FRIENDS AND FOLLOWERS:

I APPRECIATE YOU! I appreciate your patience in waiting for new entries while I deal with my computer issues. I appreciate your open-mindedness while you read my ramblings of randomness. I appreciate you following me along my journey of randomness and self-discovery. But most of all I APPRECIATE YOU for who you are and what you do for me! Thank you!

Tell someone that you appreciate them, and mean it!

Mistakes & Rakes

This is a poem I wrote in August '05.
==============
Mistakes I have made,
this is true;
but how in the world
am I to know what to do?

I'm so scared;
I feel like I'm lost,
like I'm all alone.

How come it seems
so easy to just
dial a # on the phone?

Why can't I do it?
Instead I just wind up
throwing a big fit.

Confusion and animosity
are all that surround me.
There isn't even a peaceful
place to take a pee.

How is anyone supposed
to think in this mess?
There's nothing left to do-
nothing except stress.

No one to turn to,
nowhere to run;
there's not even 
time to have fun.

So many things have
changed. Lately it seems
from all my friends I've
become astranged.

Seems like trouble
is always around the bend.
Sometimes I just wish
I had that one special friend.

We'd laugh, we'd joke, we'd
even call each other dorks.
Sometimes we could even
stab each other with forks.

I seem to make the
stupidest mistakes-
like hitting my little
brother with rakes.

It seems like everyone
around me knows
my weaknesses.
At least this time
there were no witnesses!

I'm such an idiot sometimes.
I just can't get away from it.
Please excuse me now while
I sink in this bottomless pit!

Rewind

Today's blog is based upon the video below:  

What would I do if life had a rewind button?

hmmm. Well I guess first I would want to see my early childhood that I don't really remember very well like all the time I spent with my grandpop before he passed away when I was just 3. Then I'd go to the times I spent with my best friends as a kid and I'd slow that down if there was a button for that. I'd rewind back to the times when I let people use me and change that around. But I guess it's all kinda relative too cos what use is it if there's a rewind button but no fast forward or pause or slow motion or anything else.

What would you do if you were handed a remote with a rewind button? Would you accept it? Would you go back and change things? What would you do?