Good to be back!

Hello blogging world! After 2 long weeks I am back! Don't get me wrong...I loved having my dad and his girlfriend here with me. We had a wonderful time!! I think they really enjoyed their China adventure and I was delighted to share my life here with them. We travelled, did the "tourist" things, and shopped A LOT, so after they left I took a few mental health days to rest and have some time to myself. Now I'm up and running and counting down the days until my next trip -- our summer R & R at home in the U.S., only 55 days to go!

Today, I thought I'd share a few things that I came across during my 2 week break:

1. Since I love great quotes, I am always looking for them. I came across these 2 and thought I would share them with you. Hopefully they will encourage you today!

"Fearlessness may be a gift but perhaps more precious is the courage acquired through endeavour, courage that comes from cultivating the habit of refusing to let fear dictate one's actions..." - Aung San Suu Kyi

"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble." - Helen Keller, letter to a 5 yr old.

2. Remember to appreciate your surroundings. I didn't realize how mundane my surroundings were to me until I started sharing it with others. I have seen these sights, the same buildings, gates, and towers before, day after day, for the past 8 months. But as I told the stories and the history behind them, it all became beautiful to me again, just like the first time I had seen it. And I thought to myself, why do I let myself get so bogged down that I don't see my surroundings each day as if it were the first time? If I did, how much more would I appreciate them? I have been here for less than a year, but what if I lived here 5 or 10 years? I hope my awareness and new found appreciation will spur me on to spend each day looking at my surroundings with fresh eyes for as many days as I have left here.

3. Don't let time, or your lack of it, keep you from what you enjoy. Spring is in full peak here in China. The flowers and trees are blooming and each day brings new colors that paint our community with beauty. Like many of you, this is my favorite time of year. I love to visit the nursery and pick out an assortment of flowers to decorate my walkway with. Sometimes I buy potted plants or sometimes I buy those that need to be planted. Before my company arrived I bought 3 beautiful potted arrangements, and found a few others that I would like to plant in a great spot in my yard. But rather than going ahead and purchasing those I would like to plant, I let my brain talk me out of it. This was my thinking: I only have 8 weeks left, why bother planting them when I won't be around to enjoy them? Needless to say, my thinking win out. But then it dawned on me, why rob myself of that enjoyment just because I only have a short time? Isn't 8 weeks better than nothing, which is what I have right now? And although I won't be able to enjoy them beyond the 8 weeks, couldn't others in my community enjoy them while I'm gone? Not only that, I am denying myself the joy I gain from actually planting them -- I love digging in the dirt and taking something that is overgrown and shabby looking and transforming it into a thing of beauty. So, after much better thinking, I've decided to go to the nursery this week, buy those plants, and give myself some joy for the next few weeks. I refuse to let wrong thinking, excuses, and lack of time rob me of my Springtime pleasure!

Sorry, this post is longer than I expected so I'll stop here for now. I have a few other "thoughts" to share, but I'll save them for another day. Glad to be back with you...I missed you!