Sharing Our Story

Written By Don Shetterly

Sharing our story helps heal us and empower others.  While our knees may shake and our voice may tremble, the act of vulnerability we offer to others does so much for us.  In our moment of being vulnerable, others will feel empowered because they identify with us, knowing that they are not alone.

Writing From My Experience

I try.  Some days I think I make it more than others.  I try to write from my experience and from what I've learned.  I try to not share things that I have not been able to prove in my own life.

In what I write, I try to share the struggles I face and pull out the vulnerability stops so you get to see my struggle exposed.  My goal is to share where I've come from but also focus on how I healed or how I found ways to take the steps forward.

My experience is all I can prove.  I can't tell you with 100% certainty that x, y and z are absolute facts.  Yes, we have learned that they are the last three letters of the alphabet, but I have very little to scientifically prove that they are.  I can use examples of the alphabet charts and probably look at history, but again, I know what I've been taught.

One of the things I see the world do and it makes me shudder, is we rely to much on what we've been taught without questioning it.  We fail to realize that our experience is a much better teacher.

When we are vulnerable...

For it is when we are vulnerable that we become more connected to others.  It is at that moment that others can connect to us through our own vulnerability.

The connected part is the support we crave from one another.  It is where we feel that humanness between us and others.  It is the point where we open up and through sharing our path of healing from our own pain, that we find others see their pain in a different way.

They become truth...

I've seen things happen on a treatment table not only in myself, but in others.  Some of them have been things that blew my mind because I did not think that was possible.  In those moments, they become truth in myself because I am able to see them repeated over and over.  For if they only happen once, we have to be leery of what caused them, but if we see them happen again, then we know we are on to something.

I've learned too that just because I have found truth in my own healing, others may not see it that way.  They have not had the same healing experiences I have had.  I try to be patient and understanding.  I try to hold judgment at the door.  For each one of us has our own path we must travel and we're not all at the same point at the same time.

Writing from my experience allows me to be at one with myself and look at things in ways that I may never have seen.  It allows me the option of going deeper and further into it so I can look at all sides, not just the ones I want to allow myself to see.

Writing from my experience is what helps give me hope and sustenance.  Knowing that I am not only finding a way through my own trauma and healing, but that I'm being there for others.  Through my own pain, I'm allowing myself to be there hoping that my flashlight burns bright enough on the path behind me so someone finds their own footing.

#Sharing

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Social Media Drive- By

Most likely we've all seen this happen and more than likely we've done the same thing ourselves at some point.  I call it the social media drive-by.  It happens far too often by far too many that claim that all others do this, but not them.

It is when someone responds to a social media post without reading the whole thing and begins preaching to you about what you need to do.  It is when someone shares something, but has no idea what was in the social media post they share.  It is when someone shares something that is sensational but doesn't fully check it out to make sure it is true.  Since others share it, they might as well too.

No one uses an ounce of common sense it seems or stops to think about something.  They just willy nilly share the darn thing because it might be the most vital piece of information the world will ever know.  Unfortunately, most of the time with about 5 seconds of a google search, you can see how untrue the "greatest information piece" actually is.

When you can barely wait to tell the person how they should live their life and what they should do and who they should base their life beliefs upon, there's something a little off here.  After all, do you really know that person in one small little tweet or Facebook post? Do you really know them?

I honestly don't understand because I do try hard not to share stuff unless I've read it.  I try to make sure it is balanced and fair and as factual as it can be.  I try to make sure it adds value to the overall conversation of the day, rather than just inflame and sensationalize a topic.

Too many of the drive-by social media postings are so one sided and off balance that it is just sad.  They don't try to see the whole thing as they just click that mouse and go on to the next social media posting.  In many ways, it forms a picture of ignorance.  We are what we say and share to the world whether we realize it or not.


What if for one moment, you took a brief second and thought more about a response to someone on one of their social media postings?  What if for one moment, you considered what you were posting and asked yourself, "will this really enhance the world or just be more noise in a day?"

There is so much noise in a day and the social media drive-by adds to that.  We've already got enough of this on every TV news channel, radio station, and internet video.  Do we really need to add more to that?  Do we really need to be more of the problem than the solution?

A social media drive-by does very little in my view to help advance humanity.  It just continues the spreading of stuff that has no nutritional value for the mind or body.  It is just more of the same noise that has become a nuisance.
 

We need to engage our brain cells more.  We need to engage our hearts more.  Spewing words for the sake of spewing words, does very little to help one another.  In fact, I think it not only hurts the mind and body, but I think it hurts the heart and essence of our souls.

Find a way to be balanced.  Find a way to be real.  Make your life count for something good, not succumb to the meaningless information that flows at a constant rate on the internet.  The world will thank you for it and if they don't, I will definitely thank you for it.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Sharing Personal Insights With The World

I'm often taken by surprise at some things in life.  When someone or several people start sharing with me just how my words impact them, my heart feels so alive and warm.  Lately, I've had several unrelated comments sent to me about things I have written and my book.

One reader told me in a review that my book was like I was just writing to them.  This is not the first time I have heard this but it always warms my heart to hear these things.

When I started writing, I just wrote.  At first, no one hardly saw my blog or the words I wrote.  I was getting discouraged when my good friend told me to not give up.  It would take some time.  So, I continued to write and share my heart and my thoughts.

Look for lessons that I can learn...

In all that I write, I try to write about the things that impact me or bring out various emotions.  The things that hit me the hardest are the ones I try to write about on my blog or in my book.  Instead of just writing about the negative, I look for lessons that I can learn and pass on to others.

Sharing the raw thoughts and sometimes the very personal things is not always easy.  It makes a person vulnerable.  There are times that I question myself why I am sharing such an intimate part of my life.  Yet, when I read the wonderful comments I get on how something I wrote has touched someone, I know it was worth me stepping out of my comfort zone.

Make it authentic...

Regardless of what you or I do in life, make it authentic.  Make it real!  Make it who you are and part of your own journey.  If you try to create something for people because you think that is what they want, you will most likely miss so much.  If you write or create that which inspires you, hurts you, and helps you, then most likely others will connect.

We've got plenty of fake people and fake things in this world.  The world needs more authentic people that are willing to create from their heart.  For the ones that create from the heart are the ones that truly help others and the world in ways they most likely don't even fully know.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Sharing Appreciation With Those You Love

Today's topic is one that I struggle with in a big way.  So, as you read this, just realize that I'm writing it to myself.  If you connect with it, you most likely struggle at sharing appreciation with those you love.

Sharing appreciation is something that should be normal, but it isn't.  At least for me, it doesn't come easy.  I want to be able to do this more, but for some reason, it slips my mind.

Growing up, I didn't get many words of encouragement.  My dad was highly critical.  My siblings were often jealous and so they didn't give any words of encouragement.

Teachers were highly critical...

Teachers were often highly critical of everything I did.  I still remember those book reports in second grade where the teacher belittled me in front of everyone.  I struggled writing them and instead of working to encourage me, she did just the opposite.  In first grade, it was math.  In college it was that I was too shy. 

There were many bosses that were critical of everything I did, but very seldom ever said a nice word that you're doing a great job.  They just figured I knew that I guess.  They were more generous with the negative criticism then praise or appreciation.  The bosses I've worked for who understood how a little appreciation could go a long ways were the ones that got 1000 times more out of me.

Relationships can end up sometimes taking everything for granted.  Its easy to do.  You see each other day in and day out.  You get to the point where you just know what the other person will do and what they are thinking.  It seems that way.  However, taking the other person for granted is really degrading to them and the relationship.

A spark that ignites something new...

We all have had our trials and tribulations, but sometimes when another person shares appreciation with us for something we did, it can be a spark that ignites something new.  It can turn a day from a horrible nightmare to one of hope and possibility.

Sharing appreciation with those you love can be the difference between going to bed after a day gone bad, to one of more restful sleep.  It can be a moment where it helps propel tomorrow to new heights with just one little small act of appreciation.

Simple but powerful...

It does not have to be elaborate.  It does not need to be grandiose and for all the world to see.  It can be very powerful even if a very small thing that hardly is noticed.

Sharing appreciation does not have to stop with only those that we love.  We can extend it to strangers that cross our paths, fellow employees at work, or someone random we interact with in a day.

(click image to read)

We can spread the appreciation and it will multiply around the world.  One little act that we do can have such an enormous impact upon that person, the world they interact with and the world that all those people interact with in a day.

Sharing appreciation can be far reaching, but the act begins when we share it with another.  Until that point, it doesn't exist.  Go ahead, share your appreciation with someone today and see just how it changes their life and how far it ripples out.

Question Of The Day

Did you share appreciation with someone you love and if you did, what did you observe?

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Clean Your Own Windows First

I read something on a Facebook page recently of someone I don't know.  While I'm not going to reference the Facebook site that they shared, it was a religious one.  Actually this site looked to be a little more balanced than most, but the person sharing it had all kinds of JUDGMENTAL posts on this page.  It is funny to me that people will share things that are so good, but they don't even take to heart what it is that they share.

In the shared item, the story went something along the lines of a person who was critical of the neighbors.  In fact, it was about the neighbors laundry on the clothes line.  The person in this story constantly complained to her husband that the neighbor did not know how to do laundry.  For every time the neighbor did the laundry and hung it on the line, it appeared dirty.  It was not until one day she realized that the neighbor's laundry looked clean and exclaimed to her husband, that they must have figured out how to do laundry.  It was not until her husband told her that he got up early that day and cleaned their windows that she understood who it was that had the problem.

You see, it is easy for us to point out all the things wrong that other people do.  A funny thing happens when we do this though.  We usually are pointing out our own short comings and failure, only we can't even see beyond our disdain for others that we are doing this.  It isn't until we clean our own windows first that we begin to see more clearly in life.  If you think this is not rampant in our society, just read the daily news or look at a comment section on a news website.

The Gratitude Jar

I ran across this site the today and was really impressed with what they were doing. I had done something similar and posted about my own gratitude jar but it didn't go as far as this one went. Hopefully they will keep the web page up but in case they don't, I'm copying the text of what there gratitude jar is about. If you want to read their site and it is well worth a moment to check out, go to http://www.gratitudejar.com


From their website:

Every time something good happens to you or you
feel grateful for something in your life, place some
change in a jar. When this jar is full, give it away
to someone in need!

With each jar we include a card that reads the
following:Gratitude Jar This jar represents abundance and our gratitude
for all the blessings we have received recently.
Every time something good happened to us we
would place some money into the jar as a symbol
of our gratitude.

True abundance comes from sharing.

Take this jar and enjoy its contents and know that
it was filled with love and gratitude.

Our intention is for you and your family to
experience true happiness and abundance in all
areas of your life.