On Life and Words

The United States Government has decided that it's time to reform the SNAP Program. Known as "food stamps," the Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program has long been under fire as being a form of "welfare," with many opponents of the program arguing that SNAP is just another over -budget program that is being exploited by those committing fraud to receive benefits. So, there are some in government who have proposed giving recipients a box of of food each month while slicing monetary food purchase benefits by half of their current rates. They are suggesting this would be a cheaper option that would better help recipients than the ability to purchase their own food with their own and their family members' dietary requirements and desires in mind. Many, who are unfamiliar with the program, current struggles in the low and middle income bracets, are arguing that this is just the boost that our government budget and national economy need to help force those ...

https://youtu.be/ujvUR1jGcUg

I'M A MOM. Those 3 words by themselves,  not such a big deal, there are lots and lots of moms in this big world of ours.  So, let me add to that. I'M A MOM... WITH 9 KIDS. There. That's the short and simple of my complicated reality. I have 9 awesome children... who might just end up being the death of me.  9 kids is a lot. I mean, a lot. There's never a moment of quiet in my house... if it's quiet, the kids are either gone or sick or something.  We're always overrun with kids and chaos. There's always something going on and something needing to be done.  Life with kids is messy. Life with 9 kids, even messier. There are 9 amazing human beings that I'm responsible for raising into responsible, compassionate, productive adults. That's a huge undertaking, and it can be overwhelming at times. .. especially when everything happens all at once.  9 kids means dishes and laundry are constantly piling up, there's clutter everywhere, no one has enough spa...

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As moms, even when we're doing everything "right," we tend to feel an irrational "guilt" that we're not good enough. It's tragic,  really, that most poor parenting comes from our own insecurities and unreasonable guilt.  Even when there's truly an issue with our parenting,  that irrational guilt or thinking we're the worst will keep us from seeking outside help. Not just from fear of being judged, but because we're already judging ourselves.

When I was a little girl, I believed in fairy tales and happily ever after. I suppose, most of the time, that little girls are taught from a young age to believe in their knight in shining armor on a white horse coming to sweep them off their feet and then live happily ever after. After all, isn't that the stereotypical fairy tale?  The problem lies in the fact that fairy tales, at least the Disney version, don't really exist.  So, women grow to become disillusioned, while still searching for their happily ever after.... often in the form of their knight in shining armor. But what happens when they don't show up? For years, I believed in the fairy tale ending and kept thinking that if I were just with the right man, it would become easy, that I'd find my happily ever after... and my knight would come rescue me.  After 3 failed marriages and a couple of dating relationships gone badly, I'm now a single mom with a lot of stress and a lot of happiness in my life. Don...

http://authorjuliemichael.tumblr.com/post/143607903155/faith-vs-truth-vs-opinion

I have been a horrible blogger lately. I know I have. I think that sometimes, we let life get in the way of living life or of doing those things that we enjoy. I'm also horribly behind on my second book right now. I have been slowly working on it here and there, but just now finally getting truly motivated to get it finished. My second book is called "Finding Your Place in Life," I am hoping to have it completed by the end of the first week of March.  It's been a long time coming, considering I started working on both of my book manuscripts a long time ago. But, I wanted to make sure that I said what I wanted to say and that I expressed myself appropriately. It takes a lot of time and effort to write, especially when one has to go back and edit and re-edit or delete entire paragraphs, just to get one point across the right way. I'm not so certain that I've managed to do this correctly, but, I'm a work in progress, and so is my writing.

You know, it always amazes me when others deem their lives to be much more important than the lives of others. I'm not talking about literal lives, as in living and breathing,  the functioning of a human being. Not at all.  I'm talking about the daily act of living  .. one's hopes, dreams,  goals, doing that which you love or want.  I'm talking a LIVING.  But what astounds me the most, is the fact that so many people are preoccupied with their daily routines and their own wants and desires... which makes it difficult for us to actually SEE others and the struggles they go through. Sure.. I have problems.  Everyone does. But that doesn't mean that anything going on in my life is more important than what is happening with someone else. The truth is... we all struggle along and we all have demons to fight.  Such is being human. Instead of solely focusing on ourselves and our problems... perhaps it's time to focus on others and what they need to be...

     Here's what I've learned about life and relationships. Whether it's a significant other, parents, friends, kids, etc... relationships are unpredictable. You never know for sure what's going to happen, no matter how committed you might be to a person or that relationship. The truth is, you cannot control anything or anyone else... you're wasting your time trying. I don't think the solution to this is to avoid loving to avoid being hurt... I think that all we can do in this life is to love the best we can, even when it results in us being hurt. Through pain comes personal growth... even if it's at the temporary cost of our sanity and our heart. We almost always heal from heartache.      If you close your mind, heart and spirit to love and the experiences that come with it... you'll never be able to love fully, openly and honestly. But, it scares us to be that vulnerable to another person. Yep. We would rather judge another or express our disappoint...