Hip~Tripp~Hooray!

It’s day thirteen of the rebirth. The restoration of my right hip joint!  Thanks to the Grace of God and the skills of my wonderful surgeon, the-faithful-but-worn-out-old hip-joint, that has served me well for 69 years, is laid to rest. A “bionic” joint now resides in its place, eagerly promising to serve me well as I go forward into the next chapter of life……..
Continue reading →

A Forever Kind of Love

Forever and a day – that’s the relationship I envisioned!  I know ~ I’m a confirmed romantic but come on folks, fess up – I know most of you are too!! 

AntheaBeachOh to find the kind of love to last for eternity and beyond. To fall in love passionately and live happily ever after! That’s what dreams are made of, right? Of course I am realistic enough to understand that love and marriage are risky and not all couples stay together due to unforeseen circumstances, but let’s just say it’s what I hoped and prayed for as a young woman.  Continue reading →

If a Child Lives With ……

If a Child LivesThe longer I live and the more I experience and reflect on life, the more I understand it is an absolute miracle that our children have grown up to be such “normal, happy, healthy, productive” adults with such a capacity for love and a deep regard for others, as well as a having self esteem, confidence and belief in themselves {and God}. I admit it has to be more by the grace of God they turned out so well, than for any other reason! Heaven alone knows, as a Mom I’ve made many parenting mistakes and I can truthfully admit that raising children is one of the most challenging experiences I’ve ever faced, but it’s also been one of the easiest and most rewarding!

Continue reading →

Fright Week SCREAMS in at Tripp Towers!

OMG! Scream #1. I can hardly believe I gave myself permission to procrastinate on writing in my personal blog posts for so long! Horror of horrors! What was I thinking? FIVE months since the last one? Shame on me! But my excuse is really a good one {you may have heard it before or even used it yourself!} I’ve been busy …. busy living life, instead of recording life’s activities. Never been one for spectator sports – get me in the game as a participant – the thrill of giving it my best shot on the playing field! But I HAVE been legitimately creating stuff – writing in my business blog at getsuperhealthy.com Adding pages, beefing up the content and posting in THAT blog!   Continue reading →

We Don’t Know if it’s Good or Bad Yet!

Have you ever stressed over life’s circumstances and made a judgement that what happened was either good or bad? Have you noticed that perception is everything? That what at first appears to be good may NOT be so good! In the same way something may SEEM bad, but morph into something amazing! Ever lost sleep worrying about the circumstances at hand? I know I have, and this thinking has caused me to ride the emotional roller-coaster of life – many times! Not fun! Can anyone relate? Continue reading →

Bottle of Alfalfa Saves Western Boot

October 2011 was a great month in so many ways, but one of the highlights was a visit from my cousin Dawn from Canada whom I had never met. We had SO much fun getting to know each other, sharing family stories and of course exploring the Austin area, which meant seeing some sights, snapping pictures, eating specialty foods at restaurants with atmosphere like the Salt Lick BBQ, and a visit to downtown Austin which included a Trailer Food crawl. Continue reading →

One Dead Frog – One Deaf Frog

Happy New Year to all my amazing friends and family!  2011 was the year of the “Traveling Tripps” – we were gone a lot and loving everywhere we traveled. 

Now that we are into 2012, it looks very much like we will be doing more of the same – by choice of course. We are so blessed to have this ability to travel, run a successful business no matter where we are, and spend valuable time with close friends and family.

Tripps2011
 

Enjoying life and making a difference is something I’ve always dreamed of and it’s wonderful to live that dream.
Continue reading →

S.O.S. Shut Out Static ~ Slip On Some Solitude

Do you remember when solitude was once enjoyed and appreciated? Not so very long ago, everyone knew a little solitude. We didn’t have to schedule it, or write it into our planner to block off time to enjoy some.

It was simply there … naturally woven into the spaces of time throughout the day. In fact sometimes we would intentionally seek out human connection to escape long stretches of solitude! Imagine that! It was there in abundance and while for some there was too much of it, for most of us it was a blessing.

So what is solitude? It’s spending time by oneself, apart from other people. It’s taking intentional time alone – away from the madding crowds of people, the demands of work and family, the cell phone interruptions, the emails and texts, the social networks, computers and TV’s. It’s less about doing and more about being.

As a race we humans have scheduled out solitude and replaced it with a plethora of activities that permits no room for anything but work and continuous go-go-go. Cell phones are permanently plugged in our ears, or eyes cast down at the device, and we never log off them or our computers and iPads. People are always around us and we get next to zero time alone.

We fill in the spaces of time where solitude once lived and we’ve replaced them with work, play and people … endless activities and distracions!

We used to get a little alone-time in the car … not anymore … the incessant beeps of emails, texts and FB posts take care of that; or we fill in that opportunity for a little thoughtful silence with annoying talk radio….or some other noise …. and the never-ending static energy that transforms us into “energizer bunnies” – when all the time our thirsty soul cries out for some peace and quiet!

In today’s world solitude, silence and serenity are almost non-existent because we have chosen to push them to the back-burner of life. We do it to ourselves! Nowadays most people don’t know what solitude is or where it went, and maybe they don’t care, but I do!

Solitude is valuable for so many reasons – including our sanity!

It’s in our solitude, lost in the quiet moments of the day, where we find ourselves. In our alonenness we’re better able to think, to dream, to plan and to recuperate from the busyness of life and all its earthly demands. It’s where we gain perspective on life and relationships and where we determine direction.

In solitude we are more spiritual, we develop appreciation for all we have. We become more aware of our surroundings. We can dwell on gratitude. It’s where we learn to be comfortable in our own being, to seek courage and encouragement. In solitude, we gain strength of resolve, inspiration meets us there regularly … and we find our sense of purpose.

It’s also where we connect with God in all his magnificence … alone on a mountain top … adrift on a great expanse of water or lost in the beauty of the woods. More importantly, in the quietness of our solitude we hear Him whisper to us.  That still small voice of God. We hear His message, His assurance and we learn His plan for us. Most of all we feel His love.

And we discover while we are most alone, we are not alone at all.

The place of solitude is a special place for each of us to rediscover, protect and visit often. I encourage you to find those spaces of time in your life. Shut out the endless static that deafens and dulls your senses, or stimulates you into oblivion. Instead, take time and space for some solitude and while you’re there together, may you be the best of friends.

“In solitude the mind gains strength and learns to lean upon itself.” Laurence Sterne (1713-1768) British writer.

“Conversation enriches the understanding; but solitude is the school of genius.” Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) U.S. poet, essayist and lecturer.