Life lessons

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Lessons from Finding Dory

Finding Dory was awesome!

This is one of the few times when I think the sequel is better than the original. 

The journey of Dory, Nemo, Marlin, and the gang was quite epic. 

I knew it would have a happy ending, but Finding Dory really stuck the ending–I didn’t see it happening that way!

Plus, it tied in really nicely with Finding Nemo. I loved how Pixar weaved the two stories together. 

Here’s some of the lessons I learned from Finding Dory:

  • Family is #1
  • Life lessons are truly unforgettable and will always guide you to make the right decisions
  • Always be yourself 
  • Don’t say things you don’t mean
  • Just keep swimming (couldn’t resist!)

Go watch the movie. It’s super cute. 

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Not quite a chef

I learned a new skill today. 

I can now slice up a watermelon–and it doesn’t look like I’ve hacked it with a sword!

My cooking skills are slowly developing…

(Anyone can learn how to slice up fruits and veggies pretty fast.)

Planning out menus and such does not come easily to me. Honestly, I’ve kept my meals simple enough to be sitting down and eating within 30 minutes. 

But I have a crock pot now, so I want to utilize it and make yummy foods that just need to be reheated. 

Pretty sure that when I have kids they will spend a lot of time with me learning how to cook.

Assuming that I figure it out myself…

I didn’t pay attention to that growing up and, if I had an opportunity to go back in time, that’s one thing I would change. 

Learning to cook while you’re young is much easier than figuring it out later. 

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Not-so-fun lessons

IMG_1566If you know me, you know that I like when things are fun. The more fun something is, the better! 

And, today, I had to learn a not-so-fun lesson…

 

I had to bite my tongue and walk away from some unnecessary rudeness that was directed towards me. 

What I wanted to do was react–I was angry!

What I chose to do was to walk away and to forgive.

Everything within me wanted to lash out. The words were right there, aimed and ready to be fired.

Honestly! I’m a student at Rhema! I sit under the Word for 3 hours a day. And I can’t control my tongue? 

It was this thought that stopped me from doing something stupid, from tearing someone to shreds over nothing, really. The lady was being herself and I know her heart was not to send me into a frenzy. 

Why am I sharing this story?

Because words matter and reputations are ruined in minutes. 

And here’s a reason even better than not making yourself look like a fool:

Every person matters. Tearing someone down is destroying what God says is most important. 

This is why the Bible talks a lot about how to interact with others–and giving someone a piece of your mind is not one of God’s instructions.

Now, let me throw the grenade, the thought that had me repenting pretty fast: 

How many times have I been forgiven for being careless with my words? 

BOOM!!!!

Put down your weapons, Audra. This is no time to attack.

Some lessons are not fun to learn. The sooner you learn them, though, the sooner you can get back to helping and loving others, which is the most fun you and I will ever have. 

 

 

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The Overcommitment Trap

It is really easy to overcommit, especially if you’re a person like me. 

I want to help people. 

I want to encourage them in all of their endeavors. 

I want to not say no…

And here is the rub: I can’t say yes to everything. 

Overcommitting stresses you out and it guarantees that your best intentions will fall short because of other spinning plates. 

So, how do you keep yourself from overcommitting?

By keeping your priorities straight. 

My first priority is being a student at Rhema. 

I didn’t move out to Tulsa, Oklahoma for any other reason. There’s nothing wrong with helping, volunteering, and working–I just can’t lose my focus. 

Everything else I do can’t take away from my training or else I’m missing out on why I came. 

I’m primarily reminding myself of these truths tonight because I have already been tempted to overcommit.

Though, I hope my personal reminder will encourage you to make wise choices with your time as well. 

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Movie Review: The Age of Adaline

Imagine having the wisdom of age while standing at the cusp of youth.

It’s hard to believe, isn’t it? We’ve been told–especially us girls–that you can’t have both.

Enjoy youth and beauty while you can because it’s fleeting.

Here’s a short synopsis of The Age of Adaline:

Adaline Bowman experienced a weird scientific phenomena that stopped her aging process.

She was forever 29.

Of course, she couldn’t explain what happened, so Adaline spent the next 60 years hiding in plain sight.

No one really knew her and she preferred it that way.

On New Year’s Eve, Adaline meets a charming young man named Ellis. Everything changed for her on that day.

And that’s all I’m going to say.

age of adalineThere are some twists in the plot that I want you to discover on your own.

Now, I want us to talk about the meaning of life–in 150 words or less.

Let’s give it a shot.

Adaline spent her whole life running.

Running from her past.

Running from love.

She didn’t know how to live when she would never age, never die.

The line that stuck with me most was:

“All these years you lived, but never had a life.”

Wham!

How many of us are living, but have no life?

We’re so busy running that we forget to enjoy the present, to dream about the future.

Meanwhile, time is slipping through the hour glass.

Age and wisdom are normally synonymous, right?

Not when you refuse to move forward.

Not when you refuse to be known.

Time is slipping through the hour glass….and you’re stuck.

The Age of Adaline is really about getting unstuck.

I find the premise of the movie fascinating and it’s one of the best movies I’ve watched in a while.

I encourage you to watch the movie. Let me know what you see, what you learn.

 

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Don’t Skip A Step

I played softball last weekend and learned a valuable lesson.

Before the game started I noticed that everyone was stretching. I remember thinking to myself that stretching wasn’t that necessary. This week my left leg has been a little sore, but I didn’t think anything about it. The other day I noticed some swelling and that’s when I got a little concerned.

A friend of mine runs a sports medicine clinic so I stopped by her office. Turns out nothing is seriously wrong with my leg—just a little soreness and inflammation from not stretching before the game.  

This lesson only reinforced what I’ve been learning: You can’t get to where you’re going without working hard where you are.

Students today are disillusioned by this notion they’ll be making a triple digit income straight out of college. They want to be paid as an expert while having the experience of an amateur.

That’s as absurd as me thinking that I didn’t need to stretch when I hadn’t played softball—or any sport for that matter—in over a year.

There are a lot of things I want to do. I try to take positive steps every day to reach my goals, but I am nowhere close to where I want to be. So I read books and follow blogs and talk with people who are a few steps ahead of me. When I’m at work I do my best because I can learn from every job experience.

Do you see where this is going?

I am by no means trying to reinvent the wheel.

Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A, once said that when you make a product better, the people will demand that your business gets bigger.

I think this is true of individuals as well.

As I work harder to become better, other people can’t help but notice.