At times when I've been looking for a lost item, I have found if I stop, walk away and distance myself from the cycle of looking-where-I-have-already-looked, it freshens my perspective.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of when I return, I have new ideas of where else I could be looking. It doesn't always work but it has worked enough times to remind me this is a good strategy.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of

I have many hitting-a-wall moments in my numbers work. The best thing I can do is to walk away and take myself out of the cycle of thinking-the-same-thoughts and doing the same thing over and over again, hoping to come up with the answer.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of definition of insanity? All the above. My solution at times like this? This could be a good time to look for that item I couldn't find earlier.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of

When I have been hurt by words that someone has said, I try not to add fuel to the fire by reacting in kind. I say very little to nothing in those moments.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of but my thoughts fester when I cannot react. In the moment or after the fact. Pausing is okay. Stifling one's thoughts in the hope that there won't be a repeat offence takes me back to my days of being married.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of by not taking a stand, my actions were misunderstood as acceptance and I laid the groundwork for the scenario to replay time and time again.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of

The day gained momentum and moved on but the feeling remained. I woke up saturday morning and simply thought to myself " I miss missing mom ...".Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of then I spotted two rabbits in our neighbor's "rabbit garden". An overgrown area in my neighbor's yard seems to attract rabbits - I would like to grow a garden such as this.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of rabbits make me think of time spent with mom.

I felt a feeling of missing mom wash over and through me, then went to my library of mom's books.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of I felt the strong urge to simply lose myself in a book I didn't want to put down. A lot of mom's books are biographies, non-fiction, historical and basically educational.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of I wanted something to grab my interest and hold me still. I found the book "half broke horses" by jeannette walls. She had me at " those old cows knew trouble was coming before we did ..." - the very first sentence of her book.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of

I kept mom's scrap of paper as my bookmark. It was comforting to think she had read the pages I was about to read. There is something about opening a book and feeling her presence that is akin to the breathlessness poignancy I have felt after separating myself from my siblings.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of I just breathed in the moment, was grateful for the sensation of mom's presence and savored the story within the pages of the book.

The next morning, I was eager to reread "the glass castle", also by jeannette walls.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of I had bought this book myself and offered to give it to mom but she said she already had it. "Half broke horses" was the story before the story which was told in "the glass castle".Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of I sat down with a renewed appreciation of the book, knowing the history which preceded it.

I have noticed myself feeling this way when I butter toast.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of I have a crystal clear memory of the way mom buttered toast. Her goal was to take enough margarine the first time, so she didn't end up with toast crumbs in her margarine container.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of she meticulously buttered her toast to the crust. I feel me in her/her in me when I watch myself do exactly the same motion. Suddenly, I am standing at her kitchen island, reliving the many times I watched her care and precision as she buttered her toast.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of

I attempted to take a mini-break from technology this past weekend so my promise (to myself) to blog regularly suffered in the wake of my weekend off.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of nothing stopped me from grabbing a pen and paper to write regardless of my internet disconnection, except for a lack of words. Writing without purpose is equivalent to speaking when you have nothing to say.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of perhaps I should take a break more often.

Instead of wasting a day on the computer, I opened a book. Actually two books. I read. All day. It was wonderful.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of I think I need to do this more regularly, to regain a longer attention span. The computer, the internet, social media and the instant communication devices we have in our possession these days have resulted in my attention span being equivalent to that of a gnat.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of my thoughts flit, flop and fly away. I can't hold onto what I was thinking a moment ago and little things are escaping me on a regular basis.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of something has to change.

My enjoyment of the day I was living resulted in me turning down an invitation I had time to over-think. I know I should have accepted the invitation for what it was and simply showed up.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of the more I lost myself in my day, my book and the moment I was in, the less desire I had to pry myself out of the house and interject myself in an uncomfortable social setting.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of I took the easy way out. I backed myself out of the commitment and stayed home.

How does it feel to make plans to be with a life long friend for an upcoming date but that friend dies before you make it out to see them?Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of you do all the right things, you keep in touch with people who are part of your life, but life and death happens. You must learn to follow your instincts, to follow through with hope but be prepared for anything.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of

As I live my quiet little repetitive life, I hope I never ever forget to be grateful for each day that unfolds much like the day that preceded it.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of minor inconveniences, mood swings and unexpected twists and turns are much like the weather. Life happens and there is little one can do to control the outcome of the "big stuff".Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of we just need to remind ourselves to be grateful for an unremarkable day.

By "ourselves", I mean "me". I have had some pretty minor inconveniences taking up space in my brain lately.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of I feel pretty fortunate to have what I have. For as long as I get to hold onto "this", I shall come back to this thought and remind myself of the options.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of as my wise mom once said, "things are never so bad that they couldn't be worse".

My siblings will soon be busy with their summer schedules but this spring has brought several opportunities for us to get together.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of in fact, one of my sisters has staked claim on one of our beds and said, " don't wash the sheets yet - I'll be back!". I told her she should have picked a better bed if it was going to be hers, but I simply smile and think of my thoughts of mom and "her room" here.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of I have a feeling there may soon be a " donna's room" in our midst. When my finances recover from our outdoor maintenance expenses, I must attempt to make her room/bed more comfortable.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of

A tentative october gathering-of-the-siblings is an idea that is brewing. We got together last year, after the busyness of summer was behind us and before winter settled in.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of this was the first time all four of us gathered in mom's home territory since her house was sold. We rented an airbnb and simply enjoyed being together under one roof, as a family.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of something we thought may never happen after mom's house was gone.

My aunt is convinced I should have been a teacher. While that profession has its merits, I'm not entirely sure it would have been a good fit for me.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of I know who I was, how I managed my daycare family and how often I fell short of my own expectations as a daycare provider. I know how I felt when I worked within the offices of the school system.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of I don't regret not becoming a teacher. Teachers have my respect and admiration for the work they do but I don't believe I could have become the teacher I would have wanted to be.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of

If I had chosen a career path to follow directly out of high school, I have a strong feeling I would have become an accountant. I'm a number person and derive great satisfaction from the perfection one can attain in the numbers field.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of that very quality is almost bringing me to my knees at the moment. I am so very grateful I didn't become an accountant.

I have always aimed for 100% whenever possible.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of this quality made me the perfect candidate for the career path I fell into. I worked in the banking industry for 20 years. It was a good run.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of it was a good mix of human interaction and numbers. I gained a lot of satisfaction from the job I did, simply by treating people the way I would want to be treated and "balancing to zero" at the end of the day.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of

Good things often seem to morph into not-quite-as-good as time goes on. As long as the focus was on excellent customer service, attention to detail, the ability to work on my own and as part of the whole, I was in my element.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of it was when sales targets, marketing goals, referrals and always striving to bring in more new money superseded what I liked about the job, when my desire to look elsewhere for a pay cheque took over.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of

My daycare days were subsidized by working at the bank on saturdays, followed by taking on a bookkeeping job I could squeeze into my work week.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of there were several tweeks and adjustments to this mixture of income sources but there always seemed to be a mixture of numbers plus human interaction which turned out to be a very good balance of what I did best.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of add a little writing into that formula and life was pretty good.

Our home is my oasis, my source of comfort and strength. I know very little right now but I do know I want to find a way to make our home work for me again.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of I look at our freshly renovated main floor, recognize my weaknesses in the area of tolerance and I know re-opening my daycare is not an option.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of I do know I want to earn a living from home.

The wonders of nature have been forefront in my mind this year as I have travelled through the months.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of I've spent a fair number of miles behind the wheel of my car and the landscape around me has evolved from frozen and white to the various stages of spring.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of my last trip, mother nature was really outdoing herself. The trees had come back to life, the grass in the ditches was waving in the wind and the birds were out in full force.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of

I was reminiscing about an unfortunate incident from last year when I was driving home on a busy summer sunday. I was going highway speed when I noticed something long and low to the ground in the distance.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of it looked like something akin to a big garbage bag wafting across the highway when I first noticed it. By the time I drove up and saw it was a mother duck and her ducklings crossing the highway, it was too late to do anything about it.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of I had cars coming up behind me and the only thing I could do was take my foot off the gas and not make any sudden moves.

I was thinking of this little family on my quiet morning highway drive when I noticed something on the highway ahead.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of having the highway to myself, I had the luxury of slowing down before I approached whatever it was. Sure enough, it was a pair of ducks. Two adults this time.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of they were walking along the highway in the lane I wasn't in, so I had the opportunity to appreciate them as I coasted past them. As I got close to them, they simply flew away.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of they flew.

Yes, of course! Ducks can fly. When these two adult ducks had no one else to consider but themselves, they simply flew away. My mother duck from last year didn't fly away.Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of she didn't abandon her family to save herself. She stayed where she was, at the head of the line of her family and "took the hit".Cognitive learning involves the acquisition of she sacrificed herself for her children.

I was telling my mom this story and we both marvelled at the wonder of motherhood. As our visit progressed, we started talking of mother cats and mom mentioned that the tom cats will kill the kittens. "Once the mother has kittens, she will have nothing to do with the male so the tom will try to kill the kittens to get her attention again." "hmmm..." I replied. "I'm even more like a cat than I realized."