U is for Unity

I was watching the news, and a reporter pointed out the wisdom of the late Fred Rogers. He was the host of the long-running program on the Public Broadcasting System in the United States called Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. The reporter was thinking of the sad events in Manchester, England, but it could also applicable to other tragedies, personal or collective.

Mr. Rogers said:

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'"

From Vox:

"Though Rogers was deeply religious, he never attempted to argue that tragedy was part of God's plan for the world or anything similar. Instead, he aimed to keep our eyes turned toward the good things humanity is capable of, which are often in much greater evidence than the bad."

In the midst of the bad, we need to stick together for the good.

T is for TRUST

Trust is the intersection of the past and the future.  It takes evidence from the past and analyzes it into the future.  Then you apply the facts within the context of risk.  To trust a human being is to be able to anticipate generally how they'll behave in most of the future situations in which you might encounter them, and to feel comfort in taking an (often emotional) risk based on that.  If you trust someone, it means you're willing to deliberately put yourself in a situation where that person could hurt you by doing the "wrong" thing. Trust is a balance. Trusting people too much makes you vulnerable, but on the flipside, not trusting people enough makes cooperation difficult or impossible and also severely harms your odds of building meaningful relationships.

Have any of you ever had trust issues? Has a friend betrayed your trust by gossiping about a "secret" you have divulged? Have your children betrayed your trust by disobeying or flagrantly ignoring your expectations of them?  Has your spouse betrayed your trust through lying, cheating, or abusing you or your family's finances?  Has your employer betrayed your trust by prioritizing their personal interests and needs above the team? 

I'm sure we've all experienced the loss of trust in a marriage, a job, or a friend.  There are ways to rebuild that trust, but usually the relationship dies a miserable and irreversible death.  You try to move on, but just as you think you've succeeded, along come bitter and vengeful thoughts.  Trust me! I've been there!  In the space of three years, trust in a spouse, a +20-year friendship, and a family member have been totally annihilated. 

Do you go grovelling back to them?  Never!  Once it's done, it's done and there's no going back.  You move on, move forward, move to channelling your thoughts to what is right in your mind.  Let go of the hideous memories, forgive yourself for either being part of the problem or being blind to someone's character.  Remember that song from Disney's "Frozen"?  "Let it go!"

One thing in which I am placing my trust is the new (and maybe improved) form of ABC Wednesday, which will be administered by our trusty Melody.  She has already lined up two assistant administrators and a group of excited current ABCWers to help her with keeping up with commenting on the participants' contributions.  So TRUST IN THIS!  Let's keep ABCW going!  Only a little over 6 weeks until the new ABCW begins so stay tuned.

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20-S = Signal

Hello and good morning, -afternoon, -evening, dear people who all participate is this wonderful photo-meme, which is a joy to me, week after week, after week.
I’m always curious to what you come up with!

 The challenging letter of this week is S and I've chosen for the word: Signal

 Not as dangerous as the one on the photo but still a signal is what I want to give all of you

 In 8 weeks from today ABC_Wednesday will be moved to another url and I sincerely hope to may welcome you all at ABC-Wednesday in its new home.

 I am very much looking forward to the move and to may keep on visiting all of you to see what you have posted for the individual letter prompts.

 Thanking Mrs. Nesbitt for the first rounds and her team of course because without her, without them we would never know on and other and would also have missed out on lots and lots of beautiful entries during the 20 rounds we almost have completed!

 

Have a nice ABC-Wednesday-day / - week ~
♫ M e l o d y ♫ (ABC-W-team)
(preview Round
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R IS FOR REFLECTION

As I ponder what to write  about,  I'm sitting here reflecting on the last few weeks/months/years and thinking about the wild  rollercoaster  that has been my life.

They say that the windshield is so much bigger than the rear view mirror, because it is more important to look ahead, but my truck has one windshield and 7 mirrors, so I guess it's important for me to know where I have been as well.

Remember, when you drive into the dark night, the sun cannot rise in front of you, until after it has set behind you

 And the longer the rain falls, the brighter the rainbow appears when it is all over.

I like to look back from time to time, but it's important not to get so caught up in the reflection that you forget to look ahead.

I'm looking forward to seeing which way everyone else is looking.

Keep your eyes on the road, your hands on the wheel, and a song in your heart.

ROLL ON!

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Q = Qualify

Hello and good morning, -afternoon, -evening, dear people who all participate is this wonderful photo-meme, which is a joy to me, week after week, after week. I’m always curious to what you come up with!

 The challenging letter of this week is Q and I've chosen for the word: Qualify

Trying to live as 'mindful' as possible I regularIy find myself wondering about what exactly is it that qualifies my life to be 'good', good enough to be able to call myself a happy person, or at least a content one.

Like every other person I have wonderful things to talk about and lesser nice things. We all live the 'game of life' and have to deal with the 'cards' that that 'game' has handed out to us.

 What qualifies my life?
Thinking about this question I can not come up with many answers because all the answers that do come up can be categorized under the denominator Love.
Love for life with all its wonderful things in it.
Also, however difficult that is sometimes, love for the miserable things, because they have taught me so much.  Being surrounded by people I love, nature, animals. Doing things I love. Enjoying wonderful moments, however short they are. Keeping that all in mind and pulling it to the front of my feelings and thoughts, to get courage and strength from at the non-desired moments which force me to put up a fight and not give up.

Quality of life... is, to me at least, not dependent of the numbers which tell me how much money I (don't) have. Ofcourse, I sometimes wish to have some more, but don't we all wish for that every now and then? I love people, animals, nature, blogging, music, photographing, reading and movies; scifi, horror, crime and fantasy being my favorites. I love going out with my camera but at the same time I love to be a couchpotato , whatever that certain moment requires.

 Do I long for an 'excellent' life as the image suggests? No I don't. I am quit content with "Good".
It is good enough for me. Some days are 'average', 'poor' and 'very poor', although we don't want moments like that, they should be experienced because they show us the true value of 'good' and teach us to appreciate the 'good' much more.  To never reach 'excellent' means, at least to me it does, never stop dreaming, never stop reaching for new goals, never give up to try to make things (life... your life....) better.

 How about you?

 Have a nice ABC-Wednesday-day / - week ~
♫ M e l o d y ♫ (ABC-W-team)
(preview Round 21)
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