betha@bterryinternational.com, Author at Beth Terry ~ Page 2 of 2

Belief: Your Best Friend or Your Worst Enemy

Posted on February 3, 2016 by — 5 Comments ↓

Belief defines us

Belief Beth Terry Events, @2015 — What we Believe in affects our success or failure in life

Belief defines us and gives us direction. It can help us or hinder us. If we believe we have possibility, we will move in that direction. If we believe we have no choice, we’ll be stuck.

We can change our lives by paying attention to our Belief System. It’s not that we can magically “decide” that we are Superman or Batman and fly through the air. It’s that when we believe something’s possible, we energize every cell in our bodies to do what’s necessary to increase the chances of making it come true. We see things we ignored before, we allow ourselves to take risks that will help make it happen, and we make choices that aid in the achievement of the goal.

Conversely, if we live in fear because we believe everything is bad and wrong, we shut down. We close our minds and bodies to experiencing innovation, creative problem solving, possibility, and… most importantly, happiness.

A few years ago, Pharrell put a video together called Happy! This one video has 794 MILLION views. Thousands of other YouTubers have copied it and have several million more hits on their sites. If you need a pick me up, click on that Happy link and see if it doesn’t improve your mood for the day. Even on a bad day, with clouds looming on the horizon and stress hovering around me, this song lifts me up. Thanks Pharrell!

Here’s another hint to feel better: sit up straight, put your shoulders back, take a deep breath and smile big. Something interesting happens. It’s as if you just sent a telegram to every cell in your body that things are going to be OK. This isn’t magical thinking, it’s supported by some very interesting science from cell biologist Bruce Lipton. In his book, The Biology of Belief, he says your cells like you. They want you to continue to operate and function so they can survive, too. As silly as it may sound, sometimes the act of believing you will survive, or you will be happy again someday, and a solution is on the horizon, is all it takes to get your cells (your internal army) moving in the right direction towards health and happiness.

Bruce Lipton, PhD in Biology of Belief has this to say:

“… In all of its elegance, nature employs very simple operating principles…You may consider yourself an individual, but as a cell biologist, I can tell you that you are in truth a cooperative community of approximately fifty trillion single-celled citizens. Almost all of the cells that make up your body are amoeba-like, individual organisms that have evolved a cooperative strategy for their mutual survival.” (and this means YOUR survival as well…)

Bottom line? Pay attention when you’re feeling down. What Belief is getting in your way? What can you do to either solve the situation – or change your belief to move in a more positive direction? We all win when you get that figured out! Take care of yourself, we need you and we need you healthy!

Cheers,

© 2016 Beth Terry • All Rights Reserved

Being Thankful and Mindful

Posted on December 2, 2015 by — No Comments ↓

Be Mindful – the Holidays are “the heavy season” for some…

© 2015 Beth Terry EverybodysLost.com — Beloved gathering place burns on Thanksgiving Day

Ah, we have survived the first weekend of the holiday season. Most of us ate too much, shopped too much, and watched too much football (protests from my sweetheart notwithstanding that “there’s no such thing as TOO MUCH football!”) If you went to your family’s home, you spent time with people you loved and tried really hard to love some of the people you were spending time with. As Johnny Carson once noted, “We visit family during the holidays to remember why we live so far away from them…”

There IS another side to the Holidays, though. As we move forward towards Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Festivus, let’s be thankful for what we have while being mindful that not everyone finds this time of year wonderful.

Dad was a pastor and always called the Holidays “the Heavy Season.” Every year his calendar was packed with those struggling with pain and loss that became more heightened in comparison to the frivolity bursting from every radio and TV.

It’s not that we shouldn’t celebrate. It’s that not everyone is in a “happy happy happy” frame of mind. If you greet someone with a hearty, “Happy Holidays!!” and they don’t return the enthusiasm, just bless them and let them be. If you have friends who have lost someone this year, or who have had a financial or health setback, see if there’s something you can do within your means to assist. You can’t “fix” loss, but you can lend a hand, a shoulder, or some of that green stuff.

We had a heartbreaking event on Thanksgiving morning as we learned of the fire that consumed a landmark in Cave Creek, AZ. Our beloved gathering place, historical museum, Friday Night Fish Fry hangout and favorite place to dance, The Buffalo Chip Saloon, burned to the ground by an arsonist. Treasured displays of cowpokes past, autographed boots and hats, artwork and memorials enshrined on the walls and ceilings of this 65 year old tribute to the Old West turned to ashes. With it, the jobs of 160 people disappeared, some supporting entire families. The whole community struggled to find something to be thankful for that morning.

Then we all came together. Parkway Bank set up a donation account for the employees. Neighbor businesses put on fundraisers. Leads started coming in to help the sheriff find the arsonist. People set aside differences and got to work.

While there’s an overarching sense of loss at the intentional destruction of this beloved institution, we are thankful no one was hurt and mindful of the needs of those who lost their jobs and livelihood… temporarily. Larry Wendt has said he will rebuild. We will be with him all the way.

Keep your wits about you this holiday season and remember what it’s really about. Take care of each other. Be mindful of those in situations that are different from yours. Always be thankful for what you have and for what you don’t have…

Happy December!

And please keep the families of the Buffalo Chip in your prayers.

Blessings,

© 2015 Beth Terry • All Rights Reserved

Someday Comes Very Fast

Posted on November 1, 2015 by — No Comments ↓

Suddenly you’re lumped into “elderly”

© 2014 Beth Terry, Everybodys Lost photo of grandmas — Grandmas Watch the wedding of two millenials (Mom on Left)

Loneliness in the elderly is a growing concern. Most of us think we will be elderly “Someday” but don’t realize how close that is exactly. I’d bet there’s someone living in your building or on your block that matches the woman in this Documentary by James Darby about the life of a 98 year old woman.

Our culture has made much of “feminism” and freedom for women – many women who were homemakers during the 60’s were the first to be “free to live on their own and do their own thing.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m an independent woman and I love my freedom to choose my career and make my own life choices. As someone from the 60’s I fought for equality for all. But legal equality doesn’t guarantee equal results.

Legal equality doesn’t guarantee equal results

This video shows the double edged sword of a cultural change and philosophy that left out some important pieces to the puzzle. When the family began to fall apart, most people advocating for this lifestyle didn’t think very far into the future. This woman in the video was probably on the forefront of that sea change in the way the family was organized. Her mother probably lived with the family until she died. Nuclear families were the norm until the 60’s.

Too many women, especially in the WW2 generation, were ill prepared and poorly trained in things like investments and late life planning to know what to do about their lives past retirement or post-death of a spouse. What kills me is that the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of this woman are probably on Facebook or Pinterest 10 hours a day making thousands of “friends” instead of accessing a wonderful resource through grandma.

What’s her story?
What did she see in her life in those amazing years since 1917? She’s a walking history book!
What are her beliefs? Where did she get them?
What accomplishments does she have in her past?
What mistakes did she make that would be wonderful lessons for today’s Millenials?

I love the programs where they pair a teenager with someone like her. Even for an hour a day it would make a huge difference in the lives of both people. The teen could help with physical things as simple as washing the dishes, and this woman’s life experience could enrich that teenager’s life forever. I would love to see some high school take up a project of recording the memories of their 80 and 90 year olds in their communities.

My mom is 93 and still looks purty good as you can see in the photo above! (Yay for my genes!) She still works in the garden, she goes down to the historical society and volunteers, and she belongs to a church. Mom says she’s blessed, too. And like the woman in the video she doesn’t want to move, she’s been in her home for decades. It’s familiar and with her sight failing, familiar is a good thing.

Beyond connecting with older relatives and neighbors, we Boomers sneaking up on retirement should think about downsizing and creating “living compounds” while we are still ambulatory and have full use of all our senses.

It’s true that we don’t age much in our self-assessments (and I didn’t realize it till the gray started sneaking into my hair!) When someone asks, “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?” My answer is 42. What’s yours? Are you shocked by the face that greets you in your mirror? Days go by, the minutes pass, choices and decisions are made, and suddenly a much older face stares back at you…

What do you do?

Find your older neighbors and make an effort to bring them a little sunshine from time to time

If you are getting older, “Someday” comes up real fast, so take some time to plan for your life 10-20-30 years from now. There are a lot of people who do investment counseling for a living! Find them!

Learn to dance, take up a hobby, plant a garden, get a low-maintenance pet, go for walks, meet your neighbors, be involved with your family, love people and forgive them. All that will go a long way to mitigating the loneliness that comes with getting older.

In other words – take some responsibility for making your “golden years” as golden as possible. If you are 55, you have around 13,000 days before you celebrate your 90th birthday. How will you use them?

Have a wonderful November!

© 2015 Beth Terry • All Rights Reserved

Garth Brooks Connects in Phoenix!

Posted on October 19, 2015 by — No Comments ↓

It was a wild and wonderful crowd @TalkingStickArena

I love country music because the lyrics are easy to understand and you can sing along. Sing along they did – all 17,000+ fans at the Talking Stick Arena on Saturday night when Garth Brooks brought his high energy concert to Phoenix. We were lucky: there was no second show that night, so Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood and the band had the next several days off. Our concert ended around 10:45 and the crowd wanted more!

We had great seats eight rows up behind the stage. At a Garth Brooks concert, there are no bad seats. He and his crew run around the whole stage all night, with their antics projected onto giant screens visible from every angle. We were on our feet for the whole concert, laughing, stomping, singing along, crying when a cowboy proposed on the big screen to his cowgirl… it was a memorable evening.

Garth Brooks hasn’t been to Phoenix in 17 years. The audience was hungry and they got what they paid for. If you’re a Boomer like me, you remember how we used to click on our lighters to show appreciation. It’s now updated to lighting up your cell phone flashlight. Here’s what it looked like:

© 2015 Beth Terry, Garth Brooks concert — The audience was on their feet all night at the Garth Brooks concert

As a singer, you know you’ve hit a home run when the audience knows all the words. On several occasions, Garth and Trisha stopped singing and let the fans take it away. Hearing 17,000 people singing together and swaying to the music gave me chicken-skin (as we say in Hawaii.) It was connection: tangible evidence of the resilience of the human spirit. We were all in this together and, for a moment, there were no differences. *

From my catseat I could see this was not just a regular “redneck” crowd (whatever that is.) There were Baby Boomers, Millenials, and Gen X’ers. There were people of all races. There were rockers in ripped shirts, George Strait cowboys rockin’ black cowboy hats, and bandana-wearing bikers with tats; there were folks all dressed up who looked like they came from church. We had cute little cowgirls in tiny shorts rockin’ high heel cowboy boots, and the Millenial guys smart enough to be there and watch them. 😉 I even saw a couple of burkas.

Garth Brooks and his wife Trisha Yearwood define “crossover music.” If you like to sing along to music that makes your day, this is one to check out. She has always been a favorite of mine; I originally wanted to go because she would be there. I love watching them sing together.

You still have next weekend in Phoenix to see this show. They will be in Utah, California and Kansas next. Here’s the Tour information

Happy Connecting! I hope you get to see this!

Cheers!

© 2015 Beth Terry • All Rights Reserved

[I wanted to show you a 30 second clip of that, but got my hand slapped. Sorry about that! I thought since he wasn’t singing but 17,000 people were it would be ok…]

Catch the Promise of the Week

Posted on September 21, 2015 by — No Comments ↓

Happy Monday!

Mary Strong, photo by @Beth Terry — Catch the Morning breeze!

I love Mondays. The promise of each new week and new day is that anything can happen; opportunities abound; we are able to start fresh with new slate, new possibilities, and new ways of solving old problems. If you are lucky enough to take off the weekend, Monday morning can be a huge opportunity to see with fresh eyes.

One of my old mentors used to tell me to take my biggest problem and write it down just before I go to sleep. He would urge me to get as clear as possible about the actual problem. “Always ask yourself at least three times: ‘What’s the problem?’ And then don’t even try to come up with a solution. Just sleep on it.”

Amazingly, some of my best solutions have come to me in that liquid space between dreaming and waking. I have heard that great composers wrote complete symphonies upon waking. I have written some of my best speeches that way, and a novel I’m working on almost wrote itself one clear morning after a solid sleep.

So make sure you are taking care of yourself. Get enough sleep so you have a fighting chance. And enjoy your Mondays – they are filled with opportunities if you will just let yourself see them.

Blessings,

© 2015 Beth Terry • All Rights Reserved

Eclipse of the Moon

Posted on September 13, 2015 by — No Comments ↓

Partial Moon Eclipse Today in some parts of the world

@2014 Beth Terry photo of moon not eclipse — Carlin on weather at night

People were talking about the partial eclipse that’s taking place at 9:40 pm Phoenix time, so I was looking through all my photos for a moon picture. Of course it’s cloudy tonight so I can’t give you a real photo. But the above is the same moon from my back yard on an entirely different night.

So I go and look this thing up at Time and Date.com and come to find out it might be happening at 9:40 pm my time, but I won’t be able to see it unless I grow legs that are thousands of feet long. The Penguins in Antarctica and a few folks in South Africa will be able to see it.

So – eclipse or no eclipse, George Carlin’s weather report above is spot on.

Sleep well!

Beth

What’s the Real Reason You’re Upset?

Posted on September 8, 2015 by — No Comments ↓

It’s not what you think

She was really irritated. Everyone was telling her what to do about her cold. I listened to her rant about it for awhile, then asked her, “What’s this really about?” She stopped and looked at me like my dog does when I’m talking to him. “What do you mean, ‘what’s this really about?'”

“I don’t think you’re upset for the reasons you think you are. I think there’s a back story here. What’s the real reason?”

She laughed for the first time, “Yeah. How come all these people care more about my health than my husband does? I mean, I’ve been sick for days and he hasn’t even offered to make me soup! And here people in the store want to bring me soup from home!!!”

“Ah. That makes sense. Did you tell him?”

“Tell him?! He should just know!“

“Nah. He can’t read your mind. He’s a guy. You’re upset because he can’t read your mind. You should be happy that he can’t read your mind, especially since you’re so angry right now. That’s a scary proposition for a man. Maybe you haven’t clicked on the ‘help me’ button in his brain yet. You know all of us need to be taught to understand our Beloveds. You haven’t been married that long. It takes years to figure this stuff out. Teach him. Don’t be mad at him!”

“How?”

“Try this: ‘Honey, when I feel like this I really need to feel protected and taken care of. Would you please make me some soup or that cool ginger/lemon/honey drink you made last time? Thank you. Love you!’ ~ You know, it always helps to be appreciative and not demanding. Let him know what you need … and then when he’s sick, show him how to take care of someone you love. What goes around..

~~~~

What’s the real reason for your upset? Have you assigned reasons without thinking it through? How can you solve this if you don’t know what it’s really about? No one else can read your mind. Once you understand where the pain is coming from, you might be able to communicate what you need to the other person, or at the very least do something to fix the situation.

I wasn’t always this smart about how our brains work. I was having a rough day many years ago when a friend slipped me a little book called, “Love is Letting Go of Fear.” It was a life changer. Highly recommend it. OH! I’m upset and I’m picking the first thing that comes into my little brain to explain it! Maybe it’s a chemical reaction to food, maybe I just have a headache, maybe I said something that confused the other person and they are acting on their best guess! Hey! Maybe I should check with them!

Life’s hard enough without jumping to conclusions about what other people are or are not thinking. Work on this little gem and your life will get easier. Promise.

Cheers,

Craig Ferguson’s Three Questions

Posted on August 31, 2015 by — No Comments ↓

Three Important Questions

Craig Ferguson 3 Questions — Craig Ferguson

Comedian and satirist Craig Ferguson is known for his candor. As an observational comedian, he has said a lot of outrageous things on stage and on the Late Show that got him into hot water. Some of them are amazing and brilliant. Ferguson is also not known for clean language. Just be warned. He makes some very good points… but don’t watch this if the “F-bomb” bothers you. Here’s the YouTube link below where he gives you the back story on his Three Questions. Again, it’s NSFW (not safe to play at work – in case you’re new to Text-Speak.)

Craig Ferguson on 3 Questions – caution, explicit language

If you’ve ever heard Ferguson and you don’t want to listen to the above video, you know he has a thick Scottish accent and always speaks with a mischievous glint in his eyes. To get the full effect of his questions, read it with his accent in your head. You know you did already!

Ferguson makes a good point about how easy it is for people to post mean and unthinking things on YouTube and on blogs. He says they do it because we are anonymous and we can get away with it. What I found amusing while searching for this video was the number of unthinking and mean things that were posted on his YouTube video that talked about NOT posting mean things! Some people’s children just never learn…

The point? Think before you post. Don’t be mean. The world is tough enough as it is, don’t add to it!

Cheers,