January 2018 - Betty Streff
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January 2018

beauty on the Platte

Look Closer, See Beauty. New Eyes Lesson #6

“Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it”~Confucious   Our home is in the Midwest. The wide Platte River braids its way placidly through this part of the country. The river itself is fascinating and unique. There is only one other like it on the entire planet. Countless wagons full of wide-eyed pioneers journeyed across these open plains as our nation expanded westward. They knew this...

Wow

How to Know Your Wow. New Eyes Lesson # 5

“To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability.”~ Matthew 25:15   Life’s become a spectator sport. We’ve become wired for wow. We spend hours glued to the screen watching other people do all sorts of amazing stuff. For instance, my mom absolutely loves Dancing With the Stars. And, I have a good friend who’d never miss an...

sparkling smiles

New Eyes Lesson #4. Seven Reasons Why A Smile Makes Eyes Sparkle and You Shine.

“Smile. Your eyes sparkle when you do.”~Coco J. Ginger   I'm completely smitten by babies. Always was, still am. As a new mom, I rocked my newborns for hours, staring at their tiny faces as intently as a sailor watches the sky. I searched longingly for that first tiny smile, like the ones that flicker by as infants sleep. An old woman once told me a baby...

Five Ways to Use Five Senses. New Eyes Lesson 3

“Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air.”~Ralph Waldo Emerson   A very long time ago on a summer morning at the crack of dawn, I mounted my old blue Schwinn bike looking for adventure. I must have looked like a street urchin. I never stopped to brush my hair or give a thought to what clothes I threw on. Mostly I favored crop...

Four Reasons to Tame Your Complaining. New Eyes Lesson 2

“Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won't make us happier.”~ Randy Pausch   One beautiful evening when we were out for a nice long hike, a man pulled up beside us on the country road. He rolled down the window of his truck and asked...

wow look at that

New Eyes, Lesson 1: Be Wowed by Little Things

"Let the little things amaze you. That's how you'll remember life is a miracle" Alexandra Wolf   My husband is German on both sides of the family. Farm born and bred, he's never met a potato he didn't like. We've been married close to 50 years. Wow! (Yes, I was twelve.) And, I'm absolutely certain I've peeled truckloads of spuds in the course of holy matrimony. In fact, I...

How to See Life With New Eyes

"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”~Max Planck   I cross paths with lots of people on a daily basis. And, I love engaging in conversation with the folks I meet. I relish finding points of connection, common ground, similarities in thinking. The Gallups Strength Finder model calls this tendency WOO. Simply put, I'm energized by talking to strangers...