Samantha Pierce

Thankful Thursday! Shout out to my fellow imperfect people making their way through life. # thankful   # thankfulthursday   # everydaythankful

Today I'm thankful that I recorded this video. It's summer in a city with a mayoral campaign going. The city has been in decline for decades and everyone is angry. I'll have plenty of opportunities to practice what I preach. Give thanks for every biting comment you keep to yourself. We live in the era of clap backs, shade, and general outrage. It takes courage to turn back from tearing others down. Especially when you really want to give as good as you get.   But we know how wretched it feels to be on the receiving end of the kind of vitriol we're capable of dishing to each other. When you hold yourself back from that, from hurting someone else with your words the same way you may have been hurt, that's an opportunity to rejoice. You have mastered yourself and you have shown compassion to someone else. That's spectacular. 

This really seemed to hit a nerve for people when I shared it on Facebook today, “ 20 Diversion Tactics Highly Manipulative Narcissists, Sociopaths and Psychopaths Use to Silence You ”. It seems quite a few of us have crossed paths with highly manipulative self-centered people in the flesh. People who try to control us, make us over as they see us, distort our sense of self-worth, lay waste to our character, and leave us questioning our sanity. Some of us have been broken by the slow seeping poisoning of our lives by these people. Some of us have been broken and made whole again. Some of us are still a work in progress. Some of us are just beginning to realize the truth of what we have been living with. Wherever you are in the process you are clearly not alone.

I couldn't help it, I thought of the TSA while reading this. It wasn't for their resemblance to wisdom. I wonder if I'll get banned from flying for making this observation? Proverbs 1:20-33 20Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; 21at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: 22"How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? 23If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you. 24Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, 25because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, 26I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, 27when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upo...

As summer break winds down we're staring down the barrel of the start of the fall semester. Students living off campus are starting to trickle back into the neighbourhood. My advice to these returning students is simple. Cheerfully wandering through the neighbourhood during daylight hours smiling to others on the street and admiring gardens and such will get you a warm welcome and maybe a dinner invitation or a batch of homemade cookies. Wandering the neighbourhood after dark, especially way after dark, in a noisy and possibly chemically enhanced state just might get you on the business end of a super soaker that may or may not contain water. I'm just sayin'.

Don't put off until tomorrow what you should do today. Any parent trying to get their teenager to clean their room. I still need to work at putting this particular saying into practice. Sometimes it's so nice to sit still and do nothing though.

It is never a good idea to stash you crochet or knitting gear in your back pocket. Especially the small sharp pointy metal implements of the craft. And don't leave them sitting around on chairs, benches, couches, etc. either.

Disagreement is not evidence of ignorance on the part of an interlocutor. Me On more than one occasion I've had someone imply that I was ignorant or uneducated about something because I did not agree with their conclusions on the matter. Such a presumptuous declaration definitely leaves me with a substantially reduced opinion of a person's intellectual abilities.

"Calling people names because they're different is wrong. That's why we need to look on them in love and sing this song, I can be your friend." Jimmy and Jerry Gourd, Are You My Neighbor?:The Gourds Musts Be Crazy Such simple wisdom that adults and children alike need to remember.

Life is full of trouble enough, you don't need to go looking for more. My Dad. This is the reason why I don't jump out of moving airplanes, jump off of very tall buildings or rock formations, or otherwise seek thrills. The twists and turns of everyday life is enough to keep me wired.

Someone else acting the fool does not give you free license to act the fool. Me. I've been saying some version of this to Sis3 since she learned how to walk. She's about to turn 16 and it hasn't quite sunk in yet. Someday it might.

Alliteration can be so much fun! Anyway: It's not about you. Sherry A. mother of some refreshingly thoughtful and responsible young adults and teenagers. Hopefully more to come next week.

Just because someone sneaks into your house, takes a picture of you in the shower, and posts it on the internet doesn't mean you have to walk around with out any clothes on.