The 5-5-5 Plan

Week 38 – 5-5-5 Plan – Theme – Truth

 

Monday:

This week the theme is truth and it was interesting reading the quotes – and asking myself at the same time – do I believe this, is it truth?

One thing I’ve learned that seems to hold truth for me around the topic of truth is this:

When I get my feelings hurt because of something someone says – it’s usually my ego talking – when I can think about it and learn I usually feel it’s truth – so my choice is truth or ego – truth, even if I disagree is better than ego –

 

            Quote: Today’s quote goes along with this, it’s by Tennessee Williams, the writer, he said, “All cruel people describe themselves as paragons of frankness.” This affected me in several ways – first – I don’t want to be cruel, and second, we don’t have to be frank when we can be gracious – so let’s all watch our words and truths this week and be kind as well as truthful.

 

            Word: holistic – there’s no “w” at the start of the word, but the meaning has to do with “wholes” not “holes.” A holistic approach emphasizes the overall quality of something, the interdependence of its parts. It’s a truth that we are all interdependent on each other.

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

Tuesday:

            Quote: George Washington gives us today’s quote and it’s fun to quote our first President during this election season: “Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your reputation. Be not apt to relate news, if you know not the truth thereof. Speak no evil of the absent, for it is unjust. Undertake not what you cannot perform, but be careful to keep your promise. There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth, and pursue it steadily. Nothing but harmony, honesty, industry and frugality are necessary to make us a great and happy nation.”

 

            Word: epitome – This noun refers to a typical representative or example of some category. Dictionaries are just beginning to recognize it as a synonym for “embodiment,”

When someone tells the truth continually they are the epitome of high moral character.

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

Wednesday:

            Quote: Frederick W. Robertson said this about truth, “It is not the number of books you read, nor the variety of sermons you hear, nor the amount of religious conversation in which you mix, but it is the frequency and earnestness with which you meditate on these things till the truth in them becomes your own and part of your being, that ensures your growth.” This really hit me because I read books in the numbers, and listen to a variety of sermons and have deep conversations – and the call is not that but how I mediate on all of these things that determine how they affect me. Wowzer!

 

            Word: Conundrum – a conundrum is a challenging puzzle, a dilemma, a riddle. Even the origin of the word is unknown. – sometimes we get into a conundrum when it comes to the truth.

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

 

Thursday:

            Quote: Nathaniel Hawthorne shared this wisdom, “No man can, for any considerable time, wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which is the true one.” So being true, and truthful is the only face we ever need and will prevent us from stumbling.

 

            Word: Belie- This verb refers to misrepresentation, to self-contradiction. Although it’s based on the word “lie,” it isn’t used to convey a sense of deliberate deception.

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

Friday:

            Quote: Our last quote on truth is from Winston Churchill – who said, “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.”

 

            Word: embellish – The verb “embellish” means “to decorate,” presumably with the end of making something beautiful. A speech that is appropriately embellished is effective, but if the number of embellishments is too great, bombast (another great wording meaning to pad) may be the result. The use of “embellish” is not limited to language.

 

 

Joke of the week:

 

A 50 something woman decided to introduce her mother to the magic of the internet. The first move she made was to access the popular Ask Jeeves site, she told her mother it could answer any questions she had. The mother was very skeptical however the daughter insisted, “It’s true, Mom,” she implored, “Think of something to ask it and I’ll type it in.” As she sat with fingers poised over the keyboard the mother thought for a moment, then responded, “Ok, find out how Aunt Helen is feeling?”

 

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

 

 

Week 37 – 5-5-5 Plan – Theme – Manners

 

Monday:

            Quote: Our first quote for and about manners is from Lord Chesterfield who said, “Prepare yourself for the world, as athletes used to do for their exercises; oil your mind and your manners, to give them the necessary suppleness and flexibility; strength alone will not do.”

We must oil our manners – by knowing them, using them and having our manners be of benefit to others.

 

            Word: Panache – From the Latin word that means “plume.” This noun means a touch of added style or dash. Just picture a brilliantly colored feather emerging from a Roman helmet, and you’ll get the idea. People with manners have panache.

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

Tuesday:

            Quote: Today’s quote is a favorite and moves past the situations of our days, it’s from George Bernard Shaw who said, “The great secret is not having bad manners or good manners or any other particular sort of manners, but having the same manner for all human souls; in short, behaving as if you were in heaven, where there are no third-class carriages, and one soul is as good as another.”

 

            Word: esprit – from the French word of “spirit” this noun means “liveliness of spirit” or “sprightliness”. – Usually meaning a common spirit of enthusiasm.

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

Wednesday:

            Quote: Today we have another great quote on manners from George Bernard Shaw who said, “The test of a man’s or woman’s breeding is how they behave in a quarrel.”

This got me to thinking – how am I in an argument? Am I fair, do I listen? – One thing I’ve come to realize is that I am hurtful when I am hurt – and recognizing that helps me be less so -

 

Roll call

 

            Word: Brio (BREE oh) From the Italian word for or “life” this noun means “vivacity” or “spirit”. It is generally used to describe a way of doing something. It may have entered the English language from the musical instruction “con brio” which means “with energy”

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

 

Thursday:

            Quote: Ralph Waldo Emerson said this, “Manners are the happy ways of doing things; each one a stroke of genius or of love, now repeated and hardened into usage.”

It made me happy to read – Manners are the happy ways of doing things – isn’t that a great way to look at it – saying “Please” and “Thank you” are the happy ways of doing things – what other happy ways of doing things can we spread today?

 

            Word: Flair – This noun means a distinctive elegance or style and comes from the Middle English word for “fragrance.” It can also mean a particular aptitude or talent. Some people have a flair for finesse.

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

Friday:

            Quote: To end our week on manners we go to Wendell Willkie who said a great truth, “The test of good manners is to be able to put up pleasantly with bad ones.”

 

Roll call

 

            Word: Charisma – this noun, which comes from the Greek word for “divine favor” means “personal magnetism” or “charm.” It’s used to describe someone’s personality rather than their fashion sense. The adjective form is charismatic. To have good manners and use them consistently is charismatic.

 

Joke of the week:

 

A family was celebrating their daughter’s fifth birthday at a local restaurant when the little girl’s father noticed her looking sadly at a moose head on the wall. Someone had placed a party hat on its head. Her father knelt beside her and explained why some people hunt animals. “I know all that,” the child sobbed. “But why did they have to shoot him at his birthday party?”

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

 

 

Week 36 – 5-5-5 Plan – Theme – Loyalty

 

Monday:

This week we focus on loyalty – and interesting word and I find a different meaning to many – there is loyalty to ones country – that came up several times in the quotes I read – loyalty to each other – my call to you is to think about what loyalty means to you.

 

            Quote: Philip D. Armour said this, “There is one element that is worth its weight in gold and that is loyalty. It will cover a multitude of weaknesses.”

What I took from this is with humans – with each other – when your friends are loyal you forgive them much – when your lover is loyal – it’s wonderful and can make even not the ideal more wonderful – knowing that another is loyal to you is a gift – and we can get that gift best by showing loyalty to others.

 

            Word: Snippet – a bit, scrap or morsel. It is occasionally used informally to describe a small or mischievous person, usually a child.

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

Tuesday:

            Quote: Maurice R. Franks said this, “Loyalty connate be blueprinted. It cannot be produced on an assembly line. In fact, it cannot be manufactured at all, for its origin is the human heart – the center of self-respect and human dignity. It is a force which leaps into being only when conditions are exactly right for it – and it is a force very sensitive to betrayal.”

When I was a young girl and making first friends – it was vital that my friend would keep my confidences – those fears I shared in secret – and when another betrayed my faith – it was such a painful act of disloyalty – however it was the training ground of the character we build from being betrayed and from not being and how we decipher our friends.

 

            Word: Iota. This noun is not only the ninth and smallest letter of the Greek alphabet; it also connotes “a very small amount.” The Latin spelling of the word is “jota” and gives us a different word with the same meaning; “jot”

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

Wednesday:

            Quote: Because of all the political upheaval I thought this quote from John A. Hannah was interesting, “No citizen of this nation is worthy of the name unless he bears unswerving loyalty to the system under which he lives, the system that gives him more benefits than any other system yet devised by man. Loyalty leaves room to change the system when need be, but only under the ground rules by which we American live.”

 

            Word: Modicum – From the Latin for “moderate” or “measure,” this noun means “a small or modest amount.” Of course that amount changes, depending upon what you are meting out.

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

 

Thursday:

            Quote: Socrates gives us some great advice on loyalty, he said, “Think not those faithful who praise all they words and actions, but those who kindly reprove thy faults.” And isn’t that what good friends are for?

 

            Word: dram –a noun for “a tiny amount” that has a specific weight. A “dram” is “a unit of weight equal to 1/16 of an ounce – it is often used to mean a small amount however it does have actual weight value.

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

Friday:

            Quote: The last quote on loyalty is from Seneca and it is also a good call to action, “It goes far toward making a man faithful to let him understand that you think him so; and he that dose but suspect I will deceive him, gives me a sort of right to do so.”

 

            Word: Dollop – This noun probably comes from the Norwegian word for “lump” and means “a small quantity” or “splash,” usually of a liquid of soft solid.

 

Joke of the week:

 

One day at a meat-packing plant where they wrap hams and other assorted meats – a rather rotund woman came out to walk to her car. Just as she passed the guard shack, a ham dropped out from under her skirt. Before the guard could react, she wheeled around, shouting, “All right, who threw the ham?”

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

 

 

Week 35 – 5-5-5 Plan – Theme – Mind

 

Monday:

This weeks theme is The Mind – a gift we all have, each person, every one – and the quotes about the mind were mind-boggling! This is a fascinating topic to me since I was not raised to use my mind is the best ways – I only remember my dad saying, “Use your head Shawna!” usually when I had done something stupid – however there was never really a call to think and so I seek it now – I realize that how I use my mind – how I think is everything – so it’s a great focus for a new month.

 

            Quote: Today’s quote comes from George Matthew Adams who said, “One reason why men and women lose their heads so often is that they use them so little! It is the same with everything. If we have anything that is valuable, it must be put to some sort of use. If a man’s muscles are neglected, he soon has none, or rather none worth mentioning. The more the mind is used the more flexible it becomes, and the more it takes upon itself new interests.”

 

So my call to us this week is to use this valuable gift we are all given and to expand our mind!

 

            Word: Obstinate – stubbornly refusing to change one’s opinion or chosen course of action, despite attempts to persuade one to do so. Open minds are not obstinate.

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

Tuesday:

            Quote: Today’s quote comes from James Lane Allen who said this about the mind, “ A man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must and will bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seed will fall therein and will continue to produce its kind.”

What I loved about this quote is that we are all cultivating our gardens by being on these calls each morning – we are gaining new thoughts simply by listening and thinking about the great thoughts of others. How great is that?

 

            Word: obviate – I was unfamiliar with this word which mean to remove (a need or difficulty) – the Venetian blinds obviated the need for curtains. – also – avoid; prevent – a parachute can be used to obviate disaster.

Not like the word under it – Obvious – which means easily perceived or understood – a big difference between the ate and ous endings!

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

Wednesday:

            Quote: For this hump day of Wednesday I am sharing several short and powerful quotes on the mind with you:

Christian Bovee said, “Mind unemployed is mind un-enjoyed.”

 

Napoleon Bonaparte said this, “There are but two powers in the world, the sword and the mind. In the long run the sword is always beaten by the mind.”

 

And lastly a quote not attributed to anyone however great advice none the less: “It is well for people who think to change their minds occasionally in order to keep them clean.” Sort of like underwear I figure!

 

            Word: Odoriferous – what a great sounding word – it means – having or giving off a smell, esp. an unpleasant or distinctive one – they used it with odoriferous herbs – I use it with odoriferous dogs! Much more fancy word that odor

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

 

Thursday:

            Quote: Eric B. Gutkind once said, “People are afraid to think, or they don’t know how. They fail to realize that, while emotions can’t be suppressed, the mind can be strengthened. All over the world people are seeking peace of mind, but there can be no peace of mind without strength of mind.”

I loved that – since I seek peace of mind – a peace that passeth all understanding – well now I have the call to strengthen my mind and it may be easier to gain that peace –

 

            Word: Onerous – a task, duty, or responsibility) involving an amount of effort and difficulty that is oppressively burdensome – sometimes using our mind can be onerous – and well worth it!

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

Friday:

            Quote: A.J. Nock said our last quote of the week, “The mind is like the stomach. It is not how much you put into it that counts, but how much you digest.”

 

            Word: Onyx – which I thought meant black – the color of onyx – my mother had black onyx earrings I remember fondly – what onyx really means is: a semiprecious variety of agate with different colors in layers. So onyx is any color of agate or a lot of colors – learning something every day is good for our mind!

 

Joke of the week:

A sick little four-year-old boy was rushed to the emergency room with a terrible cough, high fever, and vomiting. The doctor did an exam, and then asked the little boy what bothered him the most. After thinking it over, he said hoarsely, “I would have to say my little sister.”

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!