I've Moved!

Yep...I've Moved!

I've decided to make another go at this over on WordPress for a more sophisticated look and options. It seems as though everyone worth reading is already over there!

This was fun and a great place to start but times change and so do we!

Just go to wheelzwithtraction.com and you'll find me at my new place. Sometimes it's just better to move! :-)

Warmest Regards to All!

Cindy Hurd

About Remembering

I was going to write about my ‘wins’ this week which were noteworthy, at least to me. First, I was able to catch and re-locate five adorable kittens that have been living in (and trashing) my brand new shed for over 3 months and now they have a wonderful new life in a dairy barn with lots of fresh hay, regular feeding and little girls to play with daily! Everybody is happy! Secondly, I finally was able to get my professional photos taken and, not only am I happy with the results so far, but it was a really fun session with Guen Egan of Guen Egan Photography and her adorable two-year old son! Lastly, I met a woman with whom I have made a commitment to read the chapter in Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill called Persistence. The deal is to read this chapter every night for 30 days straight and if one of us ever misses a night/day, we must begin our 30 days from the beginning! With two nights under our belts, and as long as it takes to read this chapter each night, I am quite sure we will be sticking to our commitment! ;-)

That’s what I was going to write about but I changed my mind after something I saw last night on Facebook.

As we just passed the iconoclastic date of 9-11, I doubt there is anyone in the world, let alone this country, that can ever forget what happened on that date in 2001. After all, it was the World Trade Center, not the American Trade Center!

I certainly will never forget the day. My only daughter had just begun college about a hundred miles away and I was scared for her safety. My oldest son was still in the Army and stationed at Fort Hood, Texas and I was frantically scared for HIS safety! My youngest son was in Junior High on that day. Simply because he was not with me, I was afraid for his safety. I was hysterical. I was crying; in a state that I would be stuck in continuously for over two weeks.

I remember I was having work done on my car but I don’t remember how I got it there. I think my neighbor may have helped me out that morning. I remember how awesomely beautiful it was that day in early September with the sky so brilliantly blue, the air crisp and dry with a hint of the fall season to come. I was feeling great because I had also just started school in an effort to further my higher education. In fact, I was excited to be sitting down to my first homework assignment that very day when I turned on the Weather Channel as background and saw my first glimpse of the disaster unfolding before my eyes. It was roughly 10 something am and just after the second tower had been hit.

Being totally alone, I got on the phone to my parents, the only people I knew who could be contacted at that time of day, and, being barely intelligible, I told my mother to turn on the TV. At first, downplaying my hysteria, she was reluctant to join me in my feelings of horror but finally got the TV on just as we watched, in total disbelief, the first building go down.

Although I screamed, my denial was also absolute. I kept thinking that since this is on TV, it must be a damn movie! I didn’t want to watch this! I wanted to watch the weather and baseball and Star Trek...not this!

But as the day wore on, the facts were undeniable. This was as real as it gets and it was widespread across the country and the fear was overwhelming and infuriating. I forgot about my homework and I could not tear myself away from the stories that were unfolding.

All of our lives were changed on that day. I grew up on Long Island. My brother used to work in one of the towers. My Dad was a firefighter and a Chaplain. We did not know anyone personally who died but it still hit close to home! The fact remains: WE ARE ALL HUMANS! It hit hard!

When I wasn’t crying, I was itching to get my hands on a gun and take revenge! I had never been, nor am I now, a war-mongering type or have even owned a real gun but I wanted REVENGE! I also wanted my oldest son to go AWOL and run off to Canada, a fact for which I was ashamed within the next day or two and for which I apologized to him soon thereafter. (Hey! I’m a mother...what can I say...it was instinct!)

I was so completely obsessed with this event that I recorded, on VHS tapes, the ABC news coverage with Peter Jennings, around the clock for two whole weeks. I still have those tapes somewhere with me but have never watched them due to the heartache that I would suffer from doing so. In fact, when the first anniversary came around, I was adamant about not grieving because I was so tired of the grieving!

I do believe, however, in remembering. It’s sort of like the Holocaust. You MUST remember or be doomed to repeat! That is why, when I ran across a post that a friend of mine put up on Facebook last night (thank you, Gary!), I clicked on it. It is a video report on an aspect of 9-11 that I had never seen and my guess is that not many of us have seen. It brought it all back, of course, but it is a heartwarming story and makes me very proud to be able to call myself a New Yorker!

Here is the link and never forget!

Have a great week!

Cindy Hurd

A Day at the Fair

Sunday was the second day of the Southeast Idaho Fair in Blackfoot, ID for 2014. I decided a week ago to attend the fair on this day because there was an Arabian horse show in the morning. Since I miss my Arabian horse and the annual fair of my previous life, I decided it was time to rekindle some of the spirit of ‘summers past’.

Although it was disappointing that my husband chose not to accompany me, even though he had said he wanted to go previously, I am proud to say that I remained undaunted in my determination to go...alone or not!

This was only my second trip to this fair, the first being 3 years ago but I was able to find my way easily by looking up directions on the web. I am still one of those throw-backs that does not own a GPS! Not knowing exactly where to park the car to get closest to the arena I wanted to see, I spoke to a few, very friendly and helpful parking attendants along my way asking for advice. I parked the car, walked a bit more than I usually do for having a handicap tag but I did park for free...always a cool thing!

It was a little breezy at times and the temperature was hovering at a crisp 60° but that beats sweltering in 90°!

I missed the morning horse show but I asked a woman who had obviously been in the show based on her attire (jodhpurs were a dead giveaway!) to learn that there was another show early in the afternoon. So now, just needing to kill a few hours, I began strolling around. I took over 90 photos and ended up saving 88. Not too bad for a horrible photographer! It's not really my bag so not exactly a career possibility!

At my age, I am always surprised when I see things that I’ve never seen before! One of the first treats in store for me was this new ‘ride’. Well, I’m not sure how ‘new’ it is but it was definitely new to me.

Here is this large, covered pool with no more than two feet of water and in it are these huge clear plastic bubbles and there were kids inside the bubbles and not getting wet! Oh, to be a kid now...romping around in one of those bubbles. Too much fun! 

Then I happened upon a reptile exhibit. I loved the Iguana and the turtles but snakes are not my favorite specie of anything!

Along the route I found my next ‘lawn chair’! This one is suspended like a hammock. Awesome! 

I did visit one of the horse barns and communed with a few of the horses that were not currently busy. I also found the inevitable goats and sheep. However, I did meet a couple of Longhorns that I’ve never seen in real life, either. Amazing. Here is a picture of one trying to get into a safe position to lie down with those horns! All I could think of was the headache I would have if I had to carry those things around on my head! 

I visited with my daughter on the phone for a little while and then went off in search of a bathroom and smoking ‘lounge’. ;-)

I had been at the ‘West End’ of the fair and took the tunnel to connect to the main drag. That’s where all the heavy action is located. You know...the honky-tonk, carnival stuff that your kids hassle you endlessly about taking them there until you can’t stand it anymore!

After ‘business’, I found the Needlecraft barn and took my time photographing everything I liked. The barn is mostly filled with quilts which are quite good and many are very large indicating a serious dedication to the craft somewhere nearby. The stitching was beautiful as well but sparse in comparison to the quilts. Here are a couple of my favorites. 

By the time I was finished seeing everything in that barn, it was time to make my way back to the West End Arena to catch the afternoon horse show but I must confess...I did have a few more minutes and so I indulged in a corn dog and lemonade before heading back to the tunnel!

Armed with my incredibly delicious junk food, I took a seat in a small grandstand and enjoyed watching the girls ride their gorgeous Arabians! It was good to know that I can still discern between the right ‘lead’ and when it isn’t right! ;-) One girl had a hell of an awkward moment at the ‘turn your horse and trot’ command. lol

At last I decided that my bones were getting tired enough and would be charging me interest tomorrow, so I strolled back to the car with one last look at the new-fangled, but very pretty, Ferris wheel and headed home. 

If there are any ladies out there who sometimes find themselves in a position of wanting to go somewhere, preferring to go WITH their significant other and end up not going at all because their significant other stiffs them at the last minute...DON’T! Do not NOT go! I know that is incorrect grammar but maybe you will remember what I am saying.

Go out! Have a good time and remember all the advantages of going without him. No having to listen to him tell you how to drive the car or where to park it. No listening to him complain that he is hungry or to hurry up with that Needlecraft barn. No listening to how he couldn’t care less about horses or how to ride them...need I say more?

I was certainly NOT lonely and... I had a lovely time alone!

Book Review

Book Review

I am currently reading Tony Robbins’ book: Awaken the Giant Within and I must write about it because it’s so phenomenal I can barely put it down!

I am only about halfway through with it, so I can’t really give it a full review. The reason for this is that this is really an interactive experience more than just a good read. There are thinking exercises to do and while they are fun and enlightening, they are also time-consuming. One could very well read the book in a day or two if one chose but then not reap the real benefits one gets from writing out the exercises and the personal thoughts that they evoke.

I am not only having a huge amount of fun with this book but it has actually taught me several coping techniques which have already benefited me in my day to day challenges.

An example of both is his chapter on the power of words, which ones we use and the fact that we only use a limited few available to us. He points out that words are used by us to describe our emotions and that we typically tend to intensify our negative emotions while diminishing our positive emotions. We can use our words to reverse those effects.

One of the exercises presented was to take three words you use on a regular basis to describe a negative emotion you feel. Here is what I wrote:

1.    Angry

2.   Frustrated

3.   Depressed

Next, he instructs us to replace those words with other words that have less intensity associated with them. Here were my substitutions:

1.    Angry...........irritated, peeved, not happy

2.   Frustrated......challenged, inconvenienced

3.   Depressed.....uninspired, can only go up from here!

However, I added a few more words because I have many negative words in my vocabulary that I use continuously without consciously being aware of the subtle damage being caused.

4.   oh shit..........poop

5.   pissed off.........whizzed

6.   exhausted........need to recharge, somewhat droopy

7.   overwhelmed....maxed out

As you read on, Tony goes through the same process with positive emotion words. We usually minimize the emotional impact in those words and he asks us to rev them up. Here are a few of mine:

1           1.    I’m doin’ okay.............Spectacular, Phenomenal, Jazzed

            2.   I’m great/good..............Dy-no-mite, Ecstatic

            3.   Motivated.......................Fully charged, Moving at warp speed, juiced

I think you get the picture!

Try to become aware of the words you use repeatedly in your day-to-day life and watch (or listen) to the emotional impact of those words. They not only affect you but also the people around you so the use of our words is more important than we realize.

Here is a humorous little story that Tony tells:

 “Chevrolet, mystified by the sluggish sales of its new Nova compact in Latin America, eventually discovered the Spanish translation of no va: ‘It doesn’t go.’”  lol  That would certainly do it!

Do me a favor and put three of your own regular use of words in the comment section and add replacement words that would be more empowering to your life! Let’s have a discussion!

Happy Monday!

Cindy Hurd

“What If?”

“What If?”

Have you ever stopped to think about how you spend your days and discover that there is something that you really do not like about them? Do you ever feel as though you wish you could change something about your habits that would bring a result into your life that you feel is ‘out of reach’? You probably have a fleeting thought periodically when you think of something you wish you did or had... something... and then you think...”aww...what’s the use! It’s not realistic anyway.”

Like most people, I have those moments...a lot! I know what my habits are and I recognize my ‘comfort zones’ but lately I’ve come up with a new idea that gives me a chance to expand my possibilities. It’s called the “What If?” game.

Actually, there’s nothing new about it! It’s been taught for many decades but this is MY concept for putting the theory into action. It is simply the act of thinking about what you want versus the time we waste thinking about what we don’t want, can’t do, shouldn’t, etc.

For example, there are a lot of people out there besides myself that are not ‘morning’ people, I’ve come to learn. lol. So, I’m not alone in my ‘suffering’ when I get disappointed with myself because I need more than 5 hours of sleep to be productive! I’ve spent quite a bit of time lately thinking about this situation so it’s only natural that I’d come up with an idea on how to ‘solve’ it. I began thinking, “What If?”. What if I woke up at 6:00 am? Then I just imagined what I would do with that bonus time and wrote it down. Working that bonus time into a daily schedule for, say a month, I could then see the sort of progress I could make on projects that I do not normally have time to do. The next step is, of course, ACTION, which is a subject for a future date.

The point here is getting to the realization that one’s life does not have to be a long series of days filled with mundane, repetitive tasks and chores where you feel as though there is no use, no point to your life.

It’s all about Visualization. You say “What if...” (I woke up at 6 am?; I had 2 extra hours in my day?; I had enough money to buy a new car?; my house was completely re-designed to my satisfaction?; I was at my perfect weight?). You get the idea! After you say those words your mind has the picture of what you want. Now all you have to do is ‘look at’ that picture until you have a super clear vision of what it looks like. The longer you stay with that ‘picture’, the greater you will ‘feel’ it somewhere inside yourself. That’s called ‘impressing’. If you do this exercise a lot, you know what? It will HAPPEN! It’s a Law of the Universe and that is the Law of Attraction.

Now, this law is not magic. It’s just a fact that when you want something and you spend a lot of time thinking about it, you just naturally begin to do things you need to do to get it into your life. This is a beautiful thing to know!

I have wanted an L-shaped desk with a hutch for many, many years. When I was planning the move to Idaho, I even contemplated buying a desk and having it shipped to the new destination before I arrived so I could have a fresh start. I opted to wait because I was unsure of the dimensions of the room and the coveted desk.

Eventually, my state of disorganization had become so unbearable that I decided I HAD TO HAVE this desk to make progress. So I began searching online for my dream desk.

I found the perfect desk and taking measurements of every wall, every surface of every piece of furniture in the room and planning all the angles and positions, I was satisfied that I had what I needed and wanted. There was only one problem...I could no longer afford it!

Mother’s Day was a few weeks away and it suddenly occurred to me that maybe...just maybe...my kids wouldn’t mind giving me enough money to purchase the desk. I asked. They each said ‘sure’ and I ordered the desk. I am composing this blog on my new desk at this very moment!

The whole process took about 5 months but...that’s a lot shorter period of time than if I had not played with the vision of what it was that I wanted!

So, take 5 minutes today and say to yourself, “What if...?” It’s the most productive game that you can play!

Have a great week!

Cindy Hurd