Author Archives: Dee Clark

how i won’t be suffocating my confidence this year

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deeclarknz.com

have you got a great pair of sunglasses in hand?

you know, so that you are ready for your bright future in 2014?

the new year’s celebrations and hype are complete.

they inspire us to look forward, renew our hope for the future and say goodbye to all the gut wrenching pain experienced in the previous year.

we set goals, make ourselves promises and aspire to greatness.

after a few days, we wrestle with the continuum that is all too familiar and assume…nothing is going to change expect the date.

i decided that this year i was not going to set myself up for failure by creating a noose that would sit around my neck suffocating my confidence.

i do not like to fail!

do you?

i didn’t think so!

i’m not alone, then.

therefore, i am not going to promise to abstain from chocolate.

nor am i going to promise to get up at 4:30am every morning and run 10 miles.

it’s blowing up a storm outside as i’m getting ready for bed…so an early morning run in the pouring rain and hollowing wind during the darkest part of the morning does not appeal to me much less motivate me.

20140104-001952.jpgi have decided that i will continue my journey, a step at a time, following my plan of action(s), using my developed skill sets, and applying gathered Wisdom.

each day will be different.

if i am unequipped in an area…i will train, learn and up skill.

if change is required, i will use my courage (great or small) and work toward change.

i do not know what is on the horizon. sometimes, that makes taking a step frightening.

for those times i will lean on faith.

there will be imperfect days.

i may shed tears. i don’t relish that thought…but i may.

i will laugh.

and celebrate…YAY!

20140104-011237.jpgi will waste some time.

or sleep later than my husband who wakes at the crack of dawn.

i will have productive days like today when i reorganized my entire house.

20140104-011925.jpgalong the way,

i’ll meet you here for a heart to heart about issues important to me and common to women…

i’ll bring encouragement with me…

and leave encouraged that you came.

365 days to work with and grow in.

C’est la Vie = It is the life…the life journey i have been blessed with…

a life designed with plans for peace, …a future filled with hope. (Jer. 29:11)

if you are making resolutions, make them attainable and realistic…expect the unexpected…and always remember…

You ARE more than capable of making this year everything it should be and more!

D

The Journey of Friendship

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deeclarknz.com
there are many routes into a person’s heart

which makes you a treasured friend.

each act of kindness.

each moment shared.

each word of praise or comfort.

these are the ways-

the paths, which through time become highways, along which lie

the journey of friendship.
-Stuart and Linda McFarlane

Beginning Anew in 2014

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deeclarknz.comisn’t it amazing how fresh a new start feels?

there can be a feeling of trepidation as well…but closing a chapter and beginning a new one offers new hope, new creativity and new opportunities.

i enjoyed 2013 and the journey i made through it. one thing i truly learned this year is accepting each step of the journey as being exactly what i have needed at the time, has helped me know that my life is right on track…even when it’s not a celebration.

i’m looking forward to this new journey.

we live in an amazing time in history.

we are blessed beyond many if our ancestors wildest dreams.

it’s great to be alive!

it’s great to be well and able to face any challenge!

it’s great to have opportunities sitting before me!

i am planning to live my journey to the full…

and my hope is that you will join me!

Happy New Year, readers!

make the most if every minute!

D

how to judge success

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deeclarknz.com

i made my first attempt at making a carrot cake yesterday.

major fail.

i burned it. it didn’t cook in the middle and burned on the outside.

i was so hopeful when i started.

when i removed it from the oven, it did not resemble my hope. it was a mess.

funny thing is that it’s just a cake but failure in any form brings disappointment.

a friend of mine shared recently that when she went back to college after being out of school for several years, she made a 12 on her first Algebra exam. yet, she completed her degree and reached her goal.

many great successes occurred through a journey of failures…

and questions of whether or not time, energy and efforts were being wasted.

the key is that nothing is ever wasted unless you stop trying.

my husband always tells me, concerning his research and development project with oysters, “the problem always points you in the direction of the solution”.

failure can show us what can be improved; what didn’t work so that we can move onto what will.

it is important to believe in who you are and the value of what you are doing.

it’s easy to think that giving up leaves little consequence…sometimes that may be true…but really, no one can do your part and the world needs your great and the small victories.

the world will not be changed by the fact that i successfully make a carrot cake…but it will delight my husband’s heart to be presented with his favorite cake as a gesture of love.

my friend works as a counselor helping people through their dark hours.

the business, my husband and i have been working to build, is an important piece of a puzzle that the the aquaculture industry in NZ is missing. no one sees all of the struggles and failures we have walked through. no one will ever fully understand what it has cost us to keep going. what has become apparent is the “need” it is meeting and who can benefit as we keep going.

what we can’t see is that somewhere in the future someone’s job, business, and future could be forming by what we are doing today. someone who will benefit by the charitable kindnesses we give is waiting out there in the “one day”…people i do not yet know…who will cross my path and need what will be within my ability to give.

the people we admire who seem to have impacted the world in great ways could never have imagined the faces of the multitudes who were impacted as they began by reaching out to one.

you, dear reader, can change the world…

by being who you were created to be…

by getting up when you fall down…

by using the talents, resources, and energy you have within your hand right now…

by reaching out for one…then another…

success for you will look different than it looks for me, or than it looked for Mother Teresa or Nelson Mandela…

but it will be success nonetheless…

and the value of that success can not be measured or judged by conventional standards of greatness…

it is judged in the heart by those it touches…helps…and rescues…

i burned a cake yesterday, but my husband hugged me and thanked me…because it touched his heart.

D

What Nelson Mandela Believed About Love and Hate

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20131206-160616.jpglove!

i love this!

it’s so true.

no one is born filled with hatred…we teach it to one another.

love is powerful.

love is healing.

love answers so many if life’s dilemmas.

as my friend, Jeannie, posted today on Facebook with this photo:

R.I.P. Nelson Mandela.

You taught us much about hope, perseverance and forgiveness.

Thank you.

i quoted Jeannie because i couldn’t have said it better myself. (Thank you, Jeannie, for your thoughtful heart, encouraging spirit and inspiring life! you cheer my heart almost daily…and you should know that you make a difference in my world!)

it’s the Christmas season and we are focused on an atmosphere of love…

may we all look beyond the outer package and see the heart with eyes of love…

and honor the examples that have gone before us to show us the way (even in the face of much adversity).

D

(i could not find photo credit. as always, if anyone can provide information…i will be happy to provide appropriate credit).

The World Needs Heroes and Leaders

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20131206-112447.jpgi woke to the sad news today that Nelson Mandela had passed away.

what a sad loss for earth.

i realize that this year many a hero has left their earthly home…whether a world reknown hero or a less well known but family or friend kind of hero.

our heart aches at the loss of those we love and those who have touched the world with their specialness.

as i thought about Nelson Mandela and all that he accomplished, it made me think of how easy it can be to sit back in comfort knowing that someone else is changing the world for the better.

however, the world needs heroes and leaders. hearts need someone to rely on, to help, to encourage, to strengthen…

i suppose as we loose and miss the great ones…it’s our turn to step up…

to do our part…

to be…

and live…

in small and great ways…

that make a difference to the world.

i give honor to the life that Nelson Mandela lived, i pray for comfort for his family, and pray he rest in peace (he’s earned it!)

Now…

it’s your turn!

and mine.
D

Christmas in the heart and Christmas in the air

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It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air. ~W.T. Ellis

I can hardly believe another year has nearly gone by. It just seems like yesterday that we were gathering the family together around the Christmas tree. Yet, Thanksgiving is behind us (I hope that you had a great Thanksgiving. Mine was lovely), my Christmas decorations are up and I have heaps of shopping yet to do. Honestly, I promise myself every year that I will get a jump on my Christmas shopping …but this is one area that I do not over organize.

Christmas is my favorite holiday. I love Christmas movies, Christmas music and the hustle bustle of shoppers. I enjoy sitting with the Christmas tree lit and my cup of spiced tea in hand…even though it’s not usually dark enough in NZ until well after 10 pm.

I hope that you and your family will have the loveliest of holidays this season.

It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air. Mr. Ellis had that so right.

So, don’t stress. Relax. Enjoy. Celebrate.

Do you have a family Christmas tradition that makes the holiday special in your heart? I’d love to hear about it if you wouldn’t mind sharing it with me and my readers.

My daughter and I like to spend Christmas Eve together in our new Christmas PJs and watch White Christmas.

It is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas in my heart…how about yours?
D

i suffer with you

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20131116-234031.jpgempathy is the ability to step into the shoes of another person, aiming to understand their feelings and perspectives, and to use that understanding to guide our actions.

expand empathy by gaining direct experience of other people’s lives, putting into practice the Native American proverb, “Walk a mile in another man’s moccasins before you criticize him.”