Live the Joy
JOY ~ Journey of You                                     July 16, 2010
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Past joy droppings feed the soul.
 
 
 
 
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Relax.

 I've got to practice what I preach. A lot of things have been stirring me up lately. As I very well know, I cannot change circumstances, but I can decide how I will react.
 
 It's so easy to get caught up in the undercurrent and get carried away. I'm an emotional girl and sometimes I let my emotions rule me. Sometimes it ain't pretty.
 
 I hesitate to divulge too many details, but I'm reminded that we all have life challenges. My happiness resources and all I have learned tell me: This too shall pass. 
 
 Low moments come. Or as I've been told, I've simply plateaued for the time being. Nowhere to go but up. When I look at the big picture of my life, I am incredibly blessed. So I listen to the voice inside me saying, "Stop being such a big cry baby and get over yourself."  
 
 Even if you have been training your brain to get happy, you'll experience sadness, disappointment, envy, etc. Don't beat yourself up over it. (I've done that enough for all of us.) Chin up, shoulders back. I feel better already.
 
Words to Ponder: 
 
Have you ever seen...
 
Bowling alley couches....
 
 
 
 
 
 
Picks this week
  
Book Pick -       summer break - old favorites
 
 
Flick Pick -     summer break - old favorites
 
 
 
            
 
Your JOY assignment this week:
  
When something gets you frazzled, give yourself pause. Take a moment to breathe. Take another moment. Take another moment. Breathe. Search for perspective. Relax. Will this matter in five years? Will this matter tomorrow?
 
 
 
 
What brings me JOY lately?
 
* pomegranate popsicles
 
* FlowerBomb perfume
 
* new friends who make me cool French CDs and meet me for crepes
 
* old friends who fill my mailbox with surprises that make me laugh out loud
 
* sunless tanning lotion - bring it back Avon!
 
* electricity and A/C
 
* wind chimes on my ceiling fan
 
* the blueblue color on my tall bedroom wall
 
* Angie Scordato who paints for me
 
* hugs. and endless embracing
 
 
 
Just let me hear some of that rock and roll music
any old way you choose it....
 
   WHAT I LIKE ABOUT ME:
You doing this still? Do it! 5 things!
 
* I put words on my walls.
 
* I've started walking every morning for an hour. Good for my bod and my brain.
 
* I make my bed every day. Almost.
 
* I'm still friends with my childhood best friends.
 
* I've got style, baby! (Style is so subjective.)
 
Why I should always have camera with me
  
I went to the laundromat today to wash my comforter.
The dryer instructions read:
Check inside for children, pets, and foreign objects before loading and starting. 
 
Birthday Love
 

  HAPPYHAPPYJOYJOY BIRTHDAY WISHES TO:

 
VALERIE STOUFFER
SHARI SMALLWOOD
ED MILLER
ANN KASER
 
AND to
 ALL who are celebrating this week!
 
MICHAEL BOLTON is singing for YOU. and you know who you are! 
 
(Send in your birthday. Each month a name is drawn for a JOY prize delivered via snail mail.)
 
 JUNE winner -
Nancy Flanagan
 
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Lyrics to love
 
Have you ever been touched so gently you had to cry?
 
Songwriters: Mann, Billy; Moore, Alecia B
 
 
Kelly's newspaper column -     UNPLUG  
 
 
Kelly's blog for healthyrockford.com -   KNOCK KNOCK WHO'S THERE 
 
Quote Junkie

"First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do."

~Epictetus

JOY Engagements
 
 
 July = vacations.....Indy......Hawaii......the moon.....
 
 
 
JOY boys
LOVE when sons/their friends change the chalkboard quote in the bathroom.
No one will take credit for the RickyBobby line that appeared the other day: I'm too drunk to taste this chicken. Colonel Sanders
 
 
 
Sage Advice
 
  
"Your living is determined not so much by what life brings you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens." - John Homer Miller
 
 
 
all a girl needs....
 
Chicago....
 
lunchtime....
 
cupcakes....
 
 
 
 
 I got the McDreamy! 
 
 

UPCOMING JOY EVENTS

   
**JOY Dance Party!** 
 FOR EVERYONE!!
(tentative Oct 1)
 
 
**JOY One-Day Retreat**
OCTOBER 9
ANDERSON GARDENS, Rockford IL
 
 
**Joy: A Luncheon**
December 2 
Briggs Mansion, Rockford, IL
 
 
**Meet your Muse on Lago Maggiore**
A week of creative expression in northern Italy
Poetry, Prose, & Joy
May 5 -11, 2011
(Details coming soon!) 
 
 
 
 
HAPPINESS CLUB, LOVES PARK, IL
 
(first Thursday every month)
 
You can learn how to be happy!
 
  
NEXT MEETING:
Thursday, August 5 
6:30 - 8:15 pm
North Suburban Library, 6340 N. Second St., Loves Park
 
 
 
 
Word Nerd
   
 

brannigan \BRAN-i-guhn\, noun:

1. A carouse.
2. A squabble; a brawl.

 
I never knew "carouse" was a noun.
I wonder what carousing with Laura Branigan would bring? Especially in the bright orange ruffle shirt.
 
I know her big hit was Gloria (or Self Control), but sappy drama is more fun.
 
 
one youtube leads to another ----
No disrespect intended. I just learned she passed away in 2004, at age 47, from brain aneurysm.
Beauty's where you find it...
 
 
 
 
 on my bathroom wall
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Breathe in. Breathe out. Relax. 
 
joyfully,
xxkelly
 
 
THANKS THANKS THANKS to all who have donated so far to my MDA bail!
Checks and online donations have me halfway to goal. YAY!
I HAVE UNTIL JULY 28. YOU CAN SEND A CHECK TO MDA TO MY PO BOX OR DONATE ONLINE AT https://www.joinmda.org/rockford2010/kel_epperson.
THANK YOU!
My column on MDA.  
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parting shot...
 
 

"The most important thing about goals

 

 is having one..."

~Geoffrey Abert

 
 
 
 
Kelly Epperson
Writer, Speaker, Listener
www.kellyepperson.com
kel_epperson@yahoo.com
PO Box 2324 Loves Park IL 61131
 
Member AATH - Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor
Member AHA - American Happiness Association
Founder - Happiness Club of Loves Park, IL
Member NSNC - National Society of Newspaper Columnists