Many, many years ago, when I was in elementary school, I had a teacher who had the following recommendation posted on her wall: Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. I didn’t think about this quote very much when I was in her class, but I’ve thought about it a lot in recent months. As is often the case, experience is … [Read more...] about Kindness: A Boost Amid the Battles
Reflecting on Life
1,000 Posts and Counting
Though last week’s post was pretty ordinary, it was special for me. When I published it, I reached a milestone: 1,000 posts! When I began Of The Hearth nearly a decade ago, I had no idea what the coming years would hold. I knew very little about blogging or HTML code when I began. As I’ve learned and as my life has changed (having 3 … [Read more...] about 1,000 Posts and Counting
Today is Special Enough to Use the Special Things
I pulled a storage tub of old clothes out of my closet last week. These clothes have been in the tub since we moved into our current home two years ago. They’re in the tub and not hanging in the closet because they are too small for me to wear. When I packed them in there, I was hopeful I would eventually lose enough “baby weight” to fit in … [Read more...] about Today is Special Enough to Use the Special Things
How to Get Up the First Time Your Alarm Sounds
I frequently find myself reexamining content contained in blog posts I wrote years ago. During the past few weeks, the post I’ve been considering is about getting up the first time your alarm goes off. I wish I could say that I mastered this after writing about it seven years ago. It seemed that I had—I did quite well for years. … [Read more...] about How to Get Up the First Time Your Alarm Sounds
How to Process Our Suffering When We See That Others Have it Worse
When I see my troubles juxtaposed with the struggles and challenges being faced by others (for example, the missiles being hurled at the people of Ukraine), I realize that the things I face barely qualify as “challenges.” Others have it so much worse. Though this is objectively true—hardships like noisy neighbors and minor illnesses are … [Read more...] about How to Process Our Suffering When We See That Others Have it Worse
Your Suffering is Valid, Even When Others Have it Worse
Like many of you, I have sat this past week and watched the horrors being perpetrated on the people of Ukraine. It’s depraved. It’s horrifying. It’s heartbreaking. I’m struck by how interwoven yet independent our lives here on earth are. What happens on the other side of the world absolutely impacts us. However, unlike for the people of … [Read more...] about Your Suffering is Valid, Even When Others Have it Worse
Multitasking: Constructive or Destructive?
Whether it is in the workplace or the home, multitasking is something we all feel the need to do on occasion. Sometimes it’s even a necessity! With so much to do, why wouldn’t we benefit from completing more than one task at once? In recent years, many researchers have studied multitasking. Their findings are interesting and are … [Read more...] about Multitasking: Constructive or Destructive?
5 Strategies for Creating Effective To-Do Lists
I wrote about workload paralysis a couple of weeks ago. Workload paralysis is when the weight of having so much to do leaves us feeling powerless to act. When we feel this way, we tend to freeze and avoid getting started on tasks. As I noted in that post, one of the reasons we sometimes feel workload paralysis is because we have far too much … [Read more...] about 5 Strategies for Creating Effective To-Do Lists
