Category Archives: Affirmative thinking and living

Tis the Advent Season

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Tis the Advent Season! Advent means “the coming of the greatest gift of all, the birth of Jesus.”

Traditions in many households include the use of an Advent Calendar to mark the days leading up to Christmas. Typically, these calendars, which date back to the mid-19th century, include paper doors that open up to reveal an image, a piece of chocolate or other little token or a Bible verse. Some advent calendars have become more creative and are not just made of paper. Want to know more about the history of the advent calendar? Please visit this link. http://www.gotquestions.org/advent-calendar.html.

On All Things Fulfilling, we have created our own form of an advent calendar. Each day from now until Christmas we will be giving you a little gift from the award-winning anthology Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected. Each day will be like opening a door on an advent calendar – a glimpse inside the book cover.

We have a little catching up to do, since today is the 4th of December. Here marks the beginning!
Day #1 Opening the Cover

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Twins….one very weak and one very strong. What will become of the little one?
Day #2

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Enter into the story two “pioneers” in pediatric heart surgery. A valuable gift.
Day #3

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After a brush with death for the little one, another “saving grace” arrives at a door.

Advent Door Day #4   Friendship or Foe? Which brings lessons that build skills of survival for a lifetime?

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For more information the memoir Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, which has won 3 book awards,  please visit these links:

How To Order:
Audio Book  http://amzn.to/1trrTl9
Paperback  http://amzn.to/1qmcEHI
e-Book  http://amzn.to/1lx7oRh
This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard.

Holiday Gift for the Family

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There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all. —Jacqueline Kennedy

book cover with two award stickers

What makes for good stories that families can read together?

One or more memorable characters

Writing that paints a picture

A unique voice (audio books hold the best treasures!)

Messages that make us either groan or laugh, reflect or ponder

Cause emotional reaction from the reader (feelings of sadness, love, hope, compassion)

Leaves the reader changed in some way (i.e. attitude or understanding about something)

Themes that are relevant to family life and are age appropriate

Topics that lead to engaging discussion for family members

Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected contains all the elements of a good story for family enjoyment. Here are the words of some book reviewers ~

“This is a story of trust, faith, friendship and deep love for one another.” ~ Barbara Gueldner, Ph.D., MSE, Licensed Psychologist.

“Gift of a Lifetime is indeed that…a story of how the simplest words can have the most impact on our lives.” ~ Salley Gibney, You are Never Alone Foundation

“Sue’s ability, through dialogue, to share Fanny’s voice and powerful role in Sue’s developing years is a gift to readers.” ~ Mary B Kurtz, author

Share this warm hearted story with your family this holiday season!   It is available in the following three reading choices. How To Order:

Author Sue Batton Leonard has won three Book Awards for her debut publication.

  • Merit EVVY Award – Anthology
  • 2nd Place EVVY Award – Audio Book
  • Winner of Harvest Book Contest – Young Adult Category

Sunday’s Blessing

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 It takes hands to build a house, but only hearts can build a home. ~Author Unknown

Happy Sunday, everybody! I hope those who traveled a distance over the Thanksgiving weekend arrive home safely and are filled with fulfilling memories of the good food and good company they shared over the weekend.

Here on All Things Fulfilling I had a nostalgic recollection, and Sunday is an appropriate day of the week to share it. Normally on weekends,  I regroup and abstain from blogging.

Who among you can relate to this picture and this hand-sign diagram? If you know what it is, who taught you how to do it ? Your parents, your siblings,  friends or in church or at school?What are these two children saying about faith through their actions?

If you can’t figure it out, scroll to the end of the blog and I will give you the answer.

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This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard. For information on her newly-released memoir, Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, please visit this link.

http://amzn.to/141aW6S. The book is available in audio, book in print and e-book.

Answer:  “Here’s the church, here’s the steeple, open the doors and see all the people?” That’s what the two above images are showing.

 

Upping the Happiness Level

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A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing with him the image of a cathedral. ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Did you know that there is scientific evidence that you can increase your own happiness level just by being grateful? Want to know more? Read this article. http://bit.ly/1yvpdSx.

Turns out all this talk about being thankful, is not a lot of bunk. There really are psychological and emotional benefits. Learning to appreciate the small things, rather than big things is even more important.

Today, I’d like to challenge you to start a year-long, daily list of small things that you are grateful for. The smaller the better! Why? Because that means you are paying attention to the little yet, important things in life.

My happiness quotient rises when I see things like these when I least expect it.

whiskers on a kitten

frog

different colored eggs

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heart shaped cloud

dandelion

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hot chocolate

Doug Adams Studio Commercial Photographer,Redmond, WA

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What tiny things turn you inside out with glee when you encounter them?

As we end this week of Thanksgiving go into the next holiday of the year with your heart wide open looking for the little things that mean a lot during the Christmas season.

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, and her award-winning memoir Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.

 

 

 

 

 

A Multitude of Blessings

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thanksgiving quote It’s been a very exciting and busy year. Publishing an award-winning memoir has been just one of many things I am grateful for this day. And for family and friends and so many others who have been so supportive of my efforts.

Thank you readers, I appreciate your interest and patronage! See you back here on All Things Fulfilling on Friday – tomorrow! This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard.

 

Integrating Gratefulness

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Does this simple prayer sound familiar to any of our readers? It is one of several easy to remember prayers that my brothers, sister and I said around the family dinner table. If you are interested in integrating more “gratefulness” into your family life or having a conversation with your grandchildren about being appreciative, here is a good article.http://bit.ly/11kgIPd.

 

We are living in an age of consumerism so teaching children to be grateful for all they’ve got is an especially important concept. The most meaningful prayers for children are those that they can relate to. The exercise of going around the table asking children what they are thankful for is a good practice. Warning: be prepared for some very endearing responses!

As we age, we see loved ones passing. We become acutely aware that taking time to be grateful for our lives and all it’s blessings is important. If you can instill this concept in children, they will live with greater purpose and meaning. Gratefulness is defined not by religion but by an individuals value of life. Have the conversation, it is never too early or too late!

prayer 3This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of the award-winning book Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected. For more information on the publication, please visit this link. http://amzn.to/141aW6S. The audio book enables families to read together as a family. It humorously and warm-heartedly gets across the concept of thanksgiving.

 

Keeping the Child Inside Me

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 “The soul is healed by being with children.” ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky 1821 – 1881

If you are a mom with an adult child you will understand what I am talking about. Frequently I see an image, a word, another child’s actions, a book or a song that reminds me of when my son was little. It fills me up! There is no telling what will set off my flashbacks, but I am grateful that the memories keep coming back.

fairy talesThe other day, I saw this image and thought of all the books my son and I read together during his growing up years. He devoured books of any kind as quickly as the food I put on his plate. To him, it was all good, every kind of food and all books. Greek mythology and Indian lore were some of his favorites.

“Read me a VERY tale tonight, Mom, please!” he used to say. That was an instance where I never bothered to correct him. A VERY tale, I thought worked quite well to describe what was inside the book cover of “a children’s story about magical and imaginary beings and lands.”

Just sayin’……..kids, “they be so very dear!”

hold onto whatever keeps you warm inside

If you love kids and books, check out this TED talk about the entertaining world of books brought to you by Greystroke Creative.

http://www.greystrokecreative.com/greystroke-theatre.html.

This blog is brought you by Sue Batton Leonard. For more information on her memoir, an anthology of stories, please visit this link. http://amzn.to/1vDFUMt. Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected is available in the award-winning audio book, paperback and e-book.

 

Aired at the Farm, Refreshingly

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 “Feed your faith and starve your doubts.” ~ Kenneth E. Hagin Sr.

A few weeks ago my sister-in-law, Grace, and I visited the Prigel Family Creamery http://www.prigelfamilycreamery.com/ in Glen Arm, Maryland to pick up some of their award-winning “Best of Baltimore” ice cream. The farm is located in horse country, near My Lady’s Manor, Maryland in Baltimore County, north of the city. It’s in the area of the state where the notable “steeple chases” take place every April. For those of you who are unfamiliar with that term, think fox and hound hunts. http://www.marylandsteeplechasing.com/main/mlm/datetime.htm

As we drove up to the farm, I was surprised by what I saw. A business that unabashedly shares their belief on a sign etched in stone right on the foundation of the building. You can’t miss it.

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“How refreshing is that?” I thought. So many businesses and individuals in this day and age would rather not display signs of the American values and principles that our country was founded upon – a sad state of affairs, I think, if I can be honest.

As everyone knows farming is one of the most difficult occupations there is. Hard work, unforeseeable challenges and the unrelenting task of finding ways to be a sustainable business is all part of the job. It also takes faith to be a farmer because they are constantly at the mercy of unpredictable weather!

Today during this week of gratefulness, I’d like to dedicate this blog on All Things Fulfilling to farmers and ranchers everywhere who keep us fed with fresh produce and other “fruits” of their labor and production – meat, eggs, grains, cheese, poultry, maple syrup and so much more. When we sit down to the Thanksgiving table on Thursday, let us remember where the food we eat comes from and those who produce it.

Here are a few more photos from my quick stop at Prigel’s, along the trail of my East Coast book tour, which I am so very grateful for.

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This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard. For information on her memoir, Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, which has won three awards, please visit this site.http://amzn.to/1vDFUMt.

 


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Film Friday: Sleep Walk with Me

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“The greatest enemy of the spiritual life is the human tendency to sleepwalk through life.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

sleepwalk-with-me-blu-ray-cover-99From the producers of This American Life comes a film that has been critically acclaimed by some of the top film festivals in the country. Released in 2012, Sleep Walk with Me, a film from Mike Birbiglia, is about a stand-up comic whose anxiety causes a sleepwalking habit that becomes both a problem and a source of hilarity.

The film is a Sundance Film Festival top favorite among the audiences. And also a “Winner” in the SXSW (South by Southwest) Film Festival a few years back.

To watch the trailer and to read more about this film, please visit this website http://watch.sleepwalkmovie.com/

To learn more about the radio show This American Life, which is broadcast in more than 500 stations around the country, and has a following of 2.1 million listeners,please follow this link http://www.thisamericanlife.org/listen/stations. You can find information on how to tune listen in from your area on the website. Archived broadcasts of this American Life radio show are also available to download through podcasts or  on an phone app. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/listen/mobile.

What are you doing this weekend? How are you living this American life? Going through the days sleepwalking or fully engaged in all the good things life has to offer? See you back here on All Things Fulfilling on Monday. Until then, check out these sites:

http://personalexcellence.co/blog/sleepwalking/

Are you Sleepwalking through life?


http://bit.ly/1uJBTGy
This blog is brought to you by the award-winning author, Sue Batton Leonard. For more information on her memoir Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, please visit this link http://amzn.to/141aW6S.

Mr. Twains Angels

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I have been on the verge of being an angel all my life, but it’s never happened yet. ~ Mark Twain’s Autobiography

twain_bedDid you know Mark Twain slept in his bed backwards? According to an article in Yankee Magazine by Amie Seavey, she says it’s so. It is an unexpected and little known fact of the fabled author’s life.

He slept with his pillows at the foot of the bed so he could see the guardian angels that decorated his headboard. The carved angels on the dark walnut bed he and his wife purchased in Venice for $200 ($4600 in todays market), spanned across the headboard and atop each post. He said he liked to sleep in the bed backwards to “see what he had paid for.” The bed was, according to Mr. Twain”the most comfortable bedstead that ever was and enough space in it for a family.”

Clement’s bed, which was left to his daughter Clara was given to the Mark Twain Memorial and Library in 1940. The Hartford, Connecticut museum http://www.marktwainhouse.org has the bed as a showpiece for Twain enthusiasts.

Sweet dreams, Mr. Twain. We will always remember the important contributions you made to this world with your fulfilling words about life.
twain on life

This blog is brought to you by the award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard. For more information on the award-winning audio book, paperback or e-book Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, please visit this link.