Small Things Count

Today, on my weekly summary of my book The Women in Me: How They Helped Me Survive and Thrive, I give a glimpse of Ch. 5 Romantic Interlude:  Before her eighteenth birthday, she fell in love with her father’s drinking buddy and gave up a full scholarship to marry him. She had moved out of the control of an alcoholic father into that of an alcoholic husband. Soon, she had two children and felt totally trapped. Thanks to strength drawn from her Influencers, she fought her way out.

Learn more about the book and where to find it at  www.smthingscount.com/women-in-me

I just read about a great new safety feature in cars—it automatically calls for help when you’re in a crash. But you’re charged a $100+ yearly subscription fee by many carmakers for this life-saving device. Read more it and sign Consumer Report’s petition at https://action.consumerreports.org/nb-em-20230523cars-crashnotification?utm_campaign=nb_em_20230605cars_crashnotifi&utm_medium=email&utm_source=cr.

July 22, 2023, at 1PM I’ll be at Booksmart, 421 Vineyard Town Center, Morgan Hill 95037 for a signing of my book The Women in Me: How they Helped Me Survive and Thrive. If you live around or are visiting Morgan Hill CA, come visit me at this delightful, family-friendly community bookstore, hear excerpts from the book, and chat awhile. Hope to see you there!

When people refer to others as being too soft-hearted, they usually mean it as a fault, not a compliment. Today’s Thursday Thought quote offers a different perspective:

“Having a soft heart in a cruel world is courage, not weakness.” (unknown)

On to the next chapter of my Wednesday peek into my book, The Women Within Me: How they Helped Me Survive and Thrive. Ch. 4 Schooled in Becoming Me: This chapter follows the author’s school years. They were rough, as she dealt with an alcoholic father, unstable mother, frequent moving, feelings of isolation, and scant friendships. As an adult, she saw that she got through those years because of tools her Influencers instilled in her. Later she came to understand that how people handle problems are largely based on previous experience.

Did you hear about the researchers in Boston who watched 55 people as they ate in a fast-food restaurant?  They were adults with young children.  Researchers observed that 75% of the adults used their smart phones while eating, and some didn’t put them down even once during the meal.  The kids?  They were acting up, trying to get some attention.

Maybe the lesson is that we should spend more time ignoring our phones and paying more attention to our kids, especially during meals.

Sometimes–often, actually–I’m proud of and grateful to my fellow human beings. I left my ill husband on a bench in front of Armadillo Willy’s and went to get the car…which had a flat tire. Along came a woman who had been in the restaurant with us, saw what was going on, and insisted that she pick up my exhausted husband from the bench and drive him to me. Then a man wandered by and offered to change the tire, saying he could do it before AAA could even dispatch the call. He couldn’t do it with the tools we had, so he drove my husband home, then came back.  He found me waiting for AAA, who was due in another 15 minutes.  Instead of leaving, he hung around and talked with me. Meanwhile, several pedestrians and drivers offered help. Their kind actions, which seemed small to them, were large to me.  With so much animosity and negativity in the news, it felt good to be the recipient of the kindness of these strangers.

If you’re going out to eat but want yummy, healthy, & Earth-friendly food, first go to www.eatwellguide.org. Enter your zip code to be directed to nearby restaurants, farmers’ markets, and stores which offer sustainable foods.

[For more easy, money-saving, Eco-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7000, choose a format, and download to your computer or e-book device. For a description of the book go to My Free Books).

I just saw the new San Francisco Chamber of Commerce ad showing how wonderfully inviting and welcome that city is. It shows ecstatic people having fantastic fun…starting with a guy twirling around in his wheelchair. Mmmmm…steep hills, shops with steps, crowds blindly rushing about (focusing on phones, of course), uneven sidewalks, crossing spots with chewed up pavement…in a manual wheelchair with skinny tires?! I seldom try it–and only some areas–once in awhile in my heavy mobility scooter.

The author of this short Thursday Thought quote is unknown, but the idea makes a lot of common sense:

“The most  significant change in a person’s life is a change of attitude.  Right attitudes produce right actions.”