Tag: dailyprompt

19 April 2023 Never Visit? (Daily Prompt)

by saymber, posted in history, Home, human rights, In the News, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

What place in the world do you never want to visit? Why?

Hello to you. How is your week so far? In a couple hours I’m going in for an MRI of my head to see what’s going on in there. I’m not really worried about it. If I in fact have Mal de barque syndrome the scan will not show anything. If the scan is negative that means whatever is going on is something I’m just going to have to learn to live with.

Todays prompt is about deciding on a place I would never want to visit and why. I honestly can’t think of just one place! Any place that has high gun violence and that could be any place in the states. The same for overseas – I wouldn’t want to visit Russia or the Ukraine with what is going on there right now. The Middle East always seems to have something going on so I don’t think I would want to go there either. Like I said, it’s hard to choose just one place. When I was stationed in Europe I felt safe to travel but I have heard things have changed since I left.

Here is a beautiful and popular psalm for travelers:

Psalm 91New International Version

Psalm 91

1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a]
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refugeand my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angelsconcerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

18 April 2023 Positive Thing (Daily prompt)

by saymber, posted in animals, Bipolar life, Health, Home, human rights, Leading Life by Example, Mental Health, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Describe a positive thing a family member has done for you.

Hello there. How are you? Todays prompt is a good one. It gets me in a gratitude space in my mind. When I think about this I have trouble limiting to just one family member. It has taken a village of family and friends ( and a dog) to get me safely to where I am today! The area of most help looking back over the past couple years is with panic attacks and anxiety.

When I was still in Texas I experienced some of the worst panic attacks and anxiety I have ever had. Some of that carried over to Idaho for a time. My cousins wife, my cousins, my Aunt and Uncle all helped me via telephone and with their actions. It’s been going on four years this coming a July that I’ve lived here and they continue to help me! My ex and his family have helped me too – when Link got loose from the dog sitter and was in the shelter, they helped us get him out.

It’s hard to break the help down into just one thing! My cousins wife really helped me a lot when I was in Texas. I would have panic attacks and severe anxiety and she would talk me through it on the phone. I can remember all the times she helped me with just eating a meal. I would talk to her while I ate shaking the whole time. If she wasn’t able to talk, my Aunt or another cousin would. I can remember my cousin Laura helping to get me to the grocery store- talking to me the whole way! I use to walk and talk on my cell phone for hours to work through the anxiety I was feeling. I’m so grateful for my family and friends! So much patience!

Here is a little passage about helping the weak:

Acts 20:35 NIV35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive. ‘ “

26 April 2023 Ten years – A Time For Everything

by saymber, posted in animals, Bipolar life, Health, history, Home, Leading Life by Example, Mental Health, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Todays prompt is making me do something I don’t normally do anymore and that is predicting or and projecting my future. Ten years is a long time! If time goes at the rate it’s going I see myself still here in Idaho and possibly having met a nice man for companionship. I am a little slow when it comes to doing things! Sadly I will have to deal with the heart break of Link probably passing on in that time and I don’t know if I will want to go through another life cycle of a pet. Not something I’m looking forward to! I can’t even really talk about it without getting upset. He’s the first dog I have known since he was a newborn puppy.

There are other potential losses I may experience in a ten year life span – it will be crushing. My generation is one where the generation ahead of us, Baby Boomers, are aging out. I think of family photos where so many of the people in them are no longer here with us. God willing, what is coming in the next years will be bearable and not all at once. When I get overwhelmed with grief is when I have had my breakdowns in the past.

A interesting passage from the Bible about time and being human:

Ecclesiastes 3New International Version

A Time for Everything

3 There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
4     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.15 Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account.[b]16 And I saw something else under the sun:In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
in the place of justice—wickedness was there.17 I said to myself,“God will bring into judgment
both the righteous and the wicked,
for there will be a time for every activity,
a time to judge every deed.”18 I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath[c]; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?

15 April 2023 Happiness

by saymber, posted in animals, Bipolar life, Food, history, Leading Life by Example, Mental Health, Nature, Spirituality and Religion, trust, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

What are 5 everyday things that bring you happiness?

Hello to you. How are you? I hope your doing ok. The world is kind of crazy! Todays prompt is a good one. When the world around you is seeming kind of chaotic a good way to get grounded is to focus thoughts on what’s good in your life – gratitude. Something I’ve done ever since I was in rehab many years ago was a mental gratitude list. Rather than sit and complain pull out your gratitude list. What’s fun about doing it is how quickly you go from just one thing your grateful for to a whole bunch of things.

I have many things that make me happy and that I’m grateful for. At the top of my list is family and friends. My family and friends have gotten me to this day! True examples of unconditional love. Next is of course Link. I love waking up to his sweet smile and wagging tail. Number three is good food – I enjoy food too much lol! Number four is my connection to God – having a church home has really been helpful to keeping that connection strong. Number five is nature – seeing nature wake up this spring just really makes me happy! The best florist in the world is momma nature!

My Uncle Bill shared a couple pictures this morning of a beautiful California poppy bloom. The rains made it happen! Something good out of something that has caused a lot of people trouble:

Poppy bloom picture from my Uncle Bill- what a beautiful sight. I can remember last year asking God about orange flowers and the first ones he showed me were these types of flowers growing here!

6 April 2023 Community

by saymber, posted in history, Home, human rights, In the News, Leading Life by Example, Money, Politics and Government, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

How would you improve your community?

Hello to you. The prompt for today is a good one. How would I improve my community would be mainly doing a better job with growth planning. Our state is experiencing extreme growth and is scrambling to keep up with it. There are so many new houses being built and the infrastructure is tough to keep up with it – primarily roads. Traffic at certain times of the day is horrendous! We have a lot of people who moved here from California and they left behind traffic jams hoping it would be different here and it’s not. Where you go there you are! You may have left California but you brought who you were when you lived there with you to Idaho.

I can’t really complain too much as I moved here from Texas. Texas was experiencing a lot of growth before I left and that continues since I’ve been gone. People can’t afford to retire in places like California or Colorado so they move to places with lower cost of living. The sad thing is like for here all those people coming here have priced out natives trying to retire or get their first home. The new transplants have made it almost impossible for people to afford a home here with current wages not keeping up with the cost of living. So they are building lots of apartments that the average Idahoan can barely afford to live in. I was looking for a place to rent but couldn’t afford it so I was fortunate to find the tiny home I’ve got.

5 April 2023 Adaption and Covid-19

by saymber, posted in Health, history, human rights, In the News, Leading Life by Example, Nature, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

How have you adapted to the changes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic?

Hello to you how are you doing? This day finds me well. It’s a beautiful sunny day. The trees have started budding and flowers are beginning to push up. Definitely feeling like spring!

The prompt today is kind of interesting. I went to the grocery store today and it felt normal. No one wearing masks like before. I think, speaking for myself, unless I’m going to a medical appt, I have adapted back to nearly pre-pandemic behavior. I don’t even really think about Covid or catching it. To me it’s become like the flu – another variation of the flu.

I feel like I have adapted to the changes easily because, like I said, the only place I have to go that reminds me of the pandemic is hospitals. When I go to the VA, for example, they require you to wear a mask. Which makes sense because you can get exposed to people with Covid or other stuff like the flu. When I’ve been to the VA there have been some really sick people there.

2 April 2023 Namesake

by saymber, posted in history, Home, Leading Life by Example, Nature, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

If you could have something named after you, what would it be?

If I could have something named after me it would be a park that people could access for free. When I lived in Colorado I used to love to visit Garden of the Gods – it was a beautiful free park. I have always said that if I ever came into a lot of money I would buy a plot of land and make it a park.

Today was Palm Sunday. I got out of bed late but still made it on time. I almost went back to sleep but something inside me decided to rise up and go. I think it was partially because the people at my church are so nice! I love to see their smiles and feel so welcome. I miss them when I don’t go to church.

1 April 2023 Laughter

by saymber, posted in Bipolar life, history, Mental Health, Short stories, Television, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

What makes you laugh?

Todays prompt is pretty simple for me to answer. I love stand up comedy. My favorite comedienne is Gabriel Iglesias. I can watch him do his thing, even the same thing, over and over and it still makes me laugh. A quick laugh for me comes from what’s called potty humor like farts and stuff. When I get to scrolling my phone that kind of thing will get my attention! I love funny pet videos too.

As I’ve gotten older and have been through some tough spells I feel like I don’t laugh as much as I used to. I’m not as quick to laugh as I once was. If you asked me to tell you a joke I wouldn’t be able to. I could tell you a funny routine from one of Gabriel Iglesias shows but that’s about it!

https://youtu.be/sqAx7Xba7AM – I’m not fat I’m fluffy full show 2009

31 March 2023 What I wanted to be growing up

by saymber, posted in Art and Poetry, Bipolar life, Health, history, Home, Leading Life by Example, Mental Health, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

When you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was five or so I wanted to be famous. I used to sing to the neighbor kids using a jump rope handle. I wrote stories to include one about vampires when I was in kindergarten. I also wrote stuff you might see in the Bible at a very young age. It was so good people didn’t believe I wrote it. I had that dream for many years beyond being five! I liked to draw, write, sing and dance. My Mom used to read my stories and something she said always stuck with me, “You don’t have to be famous to be somebody.” Her saying that truly helped me keep things in perspective! She was so right!

I grew up in the late 60’s and early 70’s. We didn’t have The Voice or America’s Got Talent. We had stuff like Solid Gold – I loved the dancing and would try those moves in our living room when I had the house to myself which was quite often as my parents both worked a lot. The other thing I spent a lot of time doing was drawing my favorite musicians like David Bowie for example. I can remember spending hours on just one drawing.

My dream to become famous never happened. I’m glad about it as I don’t think I would have survived to the age I am now! I see what fame does to a lot of people and it’s not pretty most times! With how sensitive I’ve always been I would have been a wreck. I look at people like Michael Jackson, Prince and Chris Cornell to name just a few. Their fame was a source of severe anxiety and public scrutiny.

30 March 2023 Understanding

by saymber, posted in animals, Bipolar life, Health, history, Home, human rights, Leading Life by Example, Mental Health, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

What’s something most people don’t understand?

Mental healths connection to spiritual health.

It’s important to attain balance in all things. Too much of anything can offset balance. I think it’s possible to be over religious and as in my case that can create imbalance. I think you need a healthy spiritual life to have a healthy mental life. I believe there is a void in each of us that only things of the spirit – of God- can fill. I believe there is definitely a connection – at least for me, can’t speak for everyone.

This past hospitalization to a mental hospital occurred because I was tired of waiting for Jesus’s second coming. I got too much into religion. I took it upon myself to initiate it and ended up getting tased by the police and sent to a hospital! The spirit world was talking through me and I enjoyed it but it messed up my mental health. It took over again like what happened in Texas a couple of times. The anxiety attacks were the worst part.

Thankfully I have loving family that have a balanced spiritual and mental life that are there for me. I don’t know if I would have made it in Texas if my Idaho family hadn’t been there for me. My cousins wife confided in me recently that before she and my cousin came and got Link and I, the prepared themselves spiritually as it seemed like other spiritual forces were at work with me. They put on their holy armor!

I think a lot of people try to get through life without a healthy balance of belief in God and self. There are things that nothing of this tangible world can fix. My ex and I learned this especially when we had to let our dog Sam go to the rainbow bridge. There was nothing that could fill the void his passing left inside of us. It was like losing a child! Even as much as Link’s arrival helped, only Gods unconditional love has really filled the void. Sam’s love and behavior towards us was like I imagine Gods love to be – unconditional. Our pets teach us so much that can’t be taught, and learned, any other way.