appreciating life Archives - The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally

Posts Tagged With: appreciating life

Day 1170: Live in your strength

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Ann Koplow

Yesterday, when I was having a grumpy day, I saw this on a teabag:

What does “Live in your strength” mean to you? Does the strength of that advice live, for you, with any of my live-in-your-strength guesses?

Appreciate what strengths you have.
Live in the moment.
Take advantage of what life gives you.
Find strength wherever you can.
Expand your understanding of your own unique gifts throughout your life.
Embrace what you’re good at.
Share your strengths with others.
Let go of judgment about your limits.
Challenge yourself, with kindness.

Which of my other photos from yesterday best illustrate “live in your strength,” for you?

On the strength of my including two photos of the same lively yellow moped, above, I now want to share these strong life memories:

When I was in my early 20s, I went to Bermuda with my friend Peter and rode a moped for the first time. That made me feel so alive, I bought a yellow moped when I returned to Boston, exactly like that lively one I saw yesterday. For years, I lived on that moped, riding it to work and all around town. After my lifestyle changed and I stopped riding it, I still kept that moped, no matter where I lived. When I moved to where I live now, four years ago, I sold that yellow moped to one of the lively movers. Ever since then, I’ve missed my yellow moped and I’ve envied the lives of scooter riders that live all around me. However, my cardiologist strongly advises me to live the remainder of my life off of mopeds and scooters, because of the strong anti-coagulant medication that helps me live a normal life.

Which “live in your strength” music would you choose for this post? I choose the strongest (or, at least, most popular) song from 1975, the first time in my life that I lived on a moped.

I now invite you to live in your strength by expressing any thoughts and feelings in a comment, below.

Live and strong thanks to Peter, to my cardiologist, to Terry S. at work (who owns the “Daily Bitch” calendar), to the Captain and Tennille, and to all those who live in their strength, here and now (including you, of course).

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: anti-coagulant medication, appreciating life, appreciating your strengths, forgiveness, letting go of the past, living in the moment, living with a congenital heart condition, living with cctga | 31 Comments

Day 1000: A Thousand

Posted on September 27, 2015 by Ann Koplow

A thousand days ago, I published my first blog post ever: “Day 1 in the Year of Living Non-Judgmentally.”

A thousand days ago, I had no idea I would:

blog a thousand days in a row,
get thousands of followers,
have a thousand ideas for blog posts,
grow and learn in a thousand ways, and
be a thousand times grateful, every day, for this blog.

There are a thousand different ways I could celebrate this thousandth blogging day. For example, I could write a post that contains exactly a thousand words. Or, I could share a thousand memories from over the last 1000 days of blogging. Or, I could include a thousand links to past posts. Or, I could quote a thousand favorite comments from you, my readers.

However, after a thousand thoughts and feelings about this, I’d like to use my tried-and-true formula, here and now.

Therefore, today’s thousandth day post will include sharing less than a thousand pictures. Yesterday, I took almost a 1000 (base 2) x 1000 (base 2) photos, when I went into Boston to see a matinee of A Little Night Music with my son Aaron and spent the evening with Aaron and my boyfriend Michael.

I hope this thousandth post doesn’t take a thousand seconds to load, with these all these images:

Perhaps you have a thousand things you might say or ask about those photos. No matter what number of words it takes, consider leaving a comment to celebrate this thousandth post.

I bet if you took a thousand guesses, you wouldn’t come up with the song I’ve chosen for this “A Thousand Days” post.

Should I wait a thousand seconds while you guess?

Times up! I’m sure you didn’t get it, because it includes a much higher number than a thousand.

“A Hundred Million Miracles” is the song that was in my head, yesterday, as I was thinking about this thousand-day post.

As that song says, a hundred million miracles happen EVERY DAY. Infinite thanks, to each and every one of you, for sharing some of those miracles with me.

Categories: blogging, gratitude, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: "A Hundred Million Miracles" from Flower Drum Song, a thousand days of blogging, accepting all feelings, adventure, appreciating life, appreciation, being in the moment, blogging, expressing gratitude, living day to day, living with a congenital cardiac condition | 75 Comments