Bethisms Archives ~ Page 5 of 8 ~ Beth Terry

Your Social Media Detritus

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Beth Terry — No Comments ↓

What happens to your social media accounts when you die?

SEE UPDATE BELOW

social media, EverybodysLost.com — Social Media tracks are left behind when we go

I wrote yesterday about my good friend and colleague Ted Rogers who passed away. In searching for his photo to include in the blog, I realized his website was still up. Curiosity got to me and I looked up several of my other professional colleagues who had passed on. Surprisingly, several of my late colleagues are still in “active” status on these social media sites.

So here’s a question: Do you have someone in your life who will take care of your social media sites, your website and any store or products you have when you pass away? Do your loved ones even know what sites you have? How to access them? Are there clients or people in your life that need to be contacted when you’re gone? Is there a contact list somewhere that is easily retrievable for your Executor or family?

Some of my more famous speaking colleagues had huge staff that took care of their social media accounts and have successfully continued to market their worthy content and products long after they left the planet. Most of us don’t have that luxury.

Perhaps it’s time to make a list of all the above and put it in a safe place for those who need to look after your affairs when you’re gone.

Here’s a handy social media checklist:

User Id’s and passwords for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, and any other social media
User Id’s and passwords for any chatrooms
List of email addresses, user Id’s and passwords
Passwords to all retail sites: Amazon, ebay, store sites, purchasing sites like paypal
URL’s and Log On information for all your blogs and websites
Any gaming or special sites you belong to
List of clients, contracts, contact information and relationships with you

Write in and add to the list…

This, of course, is in addition to information on your bank accounts, medical accounts, professional service providers and any rental or mortgage accounts you may have. Many people think of the financial checklist, and they forget about their social media presence.

Protect your family and friends from all the downsides of being contacted by people who don’t know you’ve passed on long after you’ve left. Hopefully they will miss you when you are gone. Don’t make it too hard on them to figure out your online life story. It’s just the right thing to do.

Take care of yourself, we need you!

© 2016 Beth Terry • All Rights Reserved

Update: Here’s a great article on Thrillist on What Happens to Your Facebook account when you die?

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

Belief: Your Best Friend or Your Worst Enemy

Posted on February 3, 2016 by Beth Terry — 2 Comments ↓

Belief defines us

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.

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…)

Cheers,

© 2016 Beth Terry • All Rights Reserved

New Years Day – an Eternal Truth

Posted on January 1, 2016 by Beth Terry — No Comments ↓

On New Years Day we are reminded we CAN begin again

New Years Day Sunrise Clouds photo ©BethTerry.com — New Years Day: That magical day when we begin again.

New Years Day is a funny thing. In reality, it’s just another day. You went to sleep last night (or in the wee early hours of this morning) and you woke up again. You will gather with family today, or un-decorate the house. Some of you are at work. Some are spending the day getting over a hangover. But it’s still just another 24-hour period of time that you have the freedom to do what you choose to do.

So, what makes it so different in our minds? We humans need demarcations: birthdays, anniversaries, year endings and beginnings. It helps us keep track of time. As I posted in another blog, one of my brand new stepkids once asked me on Christmas morning, “How many Christmases have you had?” (Yeah, smart kid. She was guessing my age!) I told her, and she thoughtfully asked, “Well, how many do you get?” Even at the ripe young age of five she was marking time.

So – it’s New Years Day. How will you mark this day? How will you begin again to be who you were called to be? What will you let go of from 2015?

Don’t just indulge yourself today in recovering from last night. Give yourself a gift today, the gift of reinventing your future.

Begin again. Write new goals that fit your dreams. Toss out what didn’t work. Reconnect with people you love. Renew friendships with people who have fallen away. Consider forgiving those who harmed you. Make a list of things that bother you, cross them off, take the list out to the hibachi and set them on fire. You deserve a fighting chance! Give it to yourself!

And have a delightful, wondrous, beautiful 2016!

Cheers,

© 2016 Beth Terry • All Rights Reserved

Drink Yourself Healthy – Tea Recipe

Posted on December 16, 2015 by Beth Terry — No Comments ↓

My Gift to You: My Delicious Healthy Tea Recipe

Healthy Tea Ingredients, Beth Terry — My Favorite Healthy Hot Tea for Cold Winter Months

Last winter when everyone in the house was coming down with colds, I looked in the fridge to see what ingredients I had on hand to make a healthy tea packed with Vitamin C, healthy minerals and, of course, Deliciousness. You can use fresh or dried ingredients. The fresher the better. Each of these ingredients has nutritional value and great taste (and tastes good enough to convince little kids to drink it!) I made up this recipe from what I had on hand. Make your own adjustments to fit your own tastes and available ingredients. Feel free to add more or less of each ingredient until you find the combination that fits you. I wait to add the honey just before serving it, which keeps the tea from being too sweet.

Use a reusable cloth tea bag (available at most cooking and tea stores) to gather all the ingredients in a nice neat package. You can slice the lemons and put them in the bottom of the pot if that’s easier than putting them in the bag. The tea bag keeps it from getting messy, so no straining is necessary. Each ingredient has a link to its nutritional values.

RECIPE

1 fresh Lemon – washed and sliced thin (leave skin on)

1 sprig of fresh Rosemary – washed and used whole

1 teaspoon of ground Cinnamon

1 teaspoon of dried whole Cloves

1 tablespoon of fresh grated Ginger

Place all these ingredients in the cloth tea bag and secure it tightly. If you prefer, the lemon slices can be left out of the bag and put in the bottom of the hot pot.

hot pot for healthy tea — This kind of hot pot will keep the tea hot all night

Put the cloth bag and lemons into the hot pot and cover with boiling water. Let stand for anywhere from 20 minutes to 8 hours – if your hotpot is the kind that will keep it at near boiling temperature that long. (I make this the night before in my hotpot and have a refreshing cup of tea for breakfast.)

Serve with 1 tsp (or more) of fresh raw, organic Honey

ENJOY!

(PS – Don’t tell your kids, but this tea is a rich source of: calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorous, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, selenenium, Vitamins K, E, A & C, B6, B2, thiamin, choline, niacin, and pantothenic acid. More info in the links to each ingredient. Also, honey, in addition to making this drinkable, also has Vitamin C, Calcium and Iron. It also has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. So it helps make this tea healthy as well. Just be sure you get the good stuff. Some “honey” in the stores is made up of a lot of corn syrup and other masking ingredients.)

Holiday Blessings,

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and Happy Festivus!

© 2015 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

Being Thankful and Mindful

Posted on December 2, 2015 by Beth Terry — No Comments ↓

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

Happy December!

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

Blessings,

© 2015 Beth Terry • All Rights Reserved

Your Legacy: What will they say about you?

Posted on November 14, 2015 by Beth Terry — No Comments ↓

In 200 years we’ll all be gone… what’s in YOUR legacy?

©2008-2015 Beth Terry, EverybodysLost.com — What will our descendants think of our choices?

Right near the now-closed Greasewood Flats northeast of Phoenix is a place called Reata Pass. I took the photo above sometime in the early 2000’s, before the rich and famous co-opted it and turned it all into “Troon North.” In the early days of the southwest, it was the place to stop if you were a rider for the Pony Express. The Old West couldn’t have survived or thrived without these cowboys delivering the news from far off lands.

Much has been written about the romance of those Old West days. Today across the country the Cowboy Mounted Shooters and the Single Action Shooting teams gather to re-enact what was an everyday occurrence for the cowboys of old. The best place to catch this is in Arizona at Winter Range in February.

It’s fun to reminisce about “the old days.” But in doing so, think about this: what seems quaint and old-timey to us, was just an every day occurrence for them. Ask your teenager what they think about the 70’s or 80’s — to THEM your old photos and nostalgia about Betamax, 8-track tapes, Pong and stories of one phone in the house are quaint and old-timey. You were just living your life, much the way you are living it now. While we are in it, it doesn’t seem ‘historical’ or ‘quaint’ or ‘old-timey.’ With some hindsight, we review some of our choices, and more than a few Baby Boomers now mutter to themselves, “What the hell was I thinkin’?”

While we are living our life, it doesn’t seem ‘historical’ or ‘quaint’ or ‘old-timey.’

In 100 or so years, when there are no survivors left from today, what will historians piece together about our choices and our legacy? Will they wonder why we gave up our privacy so easily? Will they wonder why preserving our eco-systems wasn’t a primary concern for all of us? Will they marvel at our obsession with taking selfies? Will they thank us for the amazing innovations and the plethora of blogs on every topic from cooking to politics to relationships? Or will all our words crumble like so much dust inside King Tut’s Tomb?

Think about it. In less than 100 years, we’ve gone from a few lone traveling photographers making people stand still for minutes at a time, capturing stiff people on a daguerrotype … to everyone from age 5 to 95 taking pictures of themselves with a cell phone! Will that fad last? Will we finally get tired of photographing ourselves? Is that our legacy?

If not, what IS your legacy? What are you leaving behind? Will your life choices make sense in the lens of the year 2115? Does it matter what you are doing now? Is the world a better place because you were in it? What one thing can you leave your descendants to help them make sense of your life and theirs?

Food for thought on this beautiful Saturday in Phoenix.

Just because the world is crazy doesn’t mean YOU have to be!

Blessings,

Thank you Veterans

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Beth Terry — No Comments ↓

Thank you Grandpa, Dad, Uncle, Cousins, Strangers and Friends for your Sacrifice

My Uncle is on the Viet Nam Memorial wall, in the earliest of the panels. Dad was on a submarine. Other relatives and friends have sacrificed much to keep this country free. Like many other “thank you” holidays, we need to be thanking these people daily, not just once or twice a year. It doesn’t matter what the politics are or were behind those wars. What matters is they were willing to go put their lives on the line because this is a country they believe in. What you do with that freedom is up to you.

So, thank you Veterans. I’m sorry we didn’t treat a lot of you very well when you came home. We just didn’t know. I know I didn’t understand. I was angry that my friends were coming home in body bags – I lost eight friends in the Viet Nam war when I was in college. I didn’t know what they were up against until I sat in the front row at the theater and watched Apocolypse Now.

It’s not that I bought the movie as 100% true. It was just the first time I was face to face with the insanity of war and the courage many bring to those situations.

I still believe in the idea of the USA; in what she stands for and what she has been able to accomplish in a very short 229 years. I don’t know if some of our wars and skirmishes were right. History may answer that. What I DO know is that men and women put their lives on hold and went out to do a job most would avoid.

Thank you to all the veterans who thought this was important enough to write that blank check to America. I appreciate you.

Now, dear reader, how about going out and buying some meals for those Vets we see on the streets. I’m headed out now… Join me?

Blessings and God Bless America,

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!