Monday 11 February 2013

Let's reflect - February

All the best to Jen who wasn't feeling well this past week. xxx 

January has gone by at an amazing speed, we had some great challenges and I am so glad we could welcome some new members.
In case you just arrived and would like to participate from the start to my Let's Reflect Challenge, HERE is the January post that will give you a bit of explanations on the " why what when " and you also will get the 1st word.

So here we go, time to reflect again, but before I talk about the second word, I want to show you something. I almost missed it last time because it was posted after the January let's reflect week finished  but look at the gorgeous book April made for Silver Lining.


Today, our word starts with an I and I have chosen the word :

IMPOSSIBLE

When you Google this word, the most common definitions you will find are:

unable to be done or performed, incapable of being true . . . 

It makes Impossible sound like a very negative word, so why would I use it in our Silver Lining Challenge ?


Simply because I am not talking about "that" Impossible. In fact I am talking about the Impossible but . . .

In France we have this saying : Impossible n'est pas français ( Impossible isn't part of French language ).

Muhammad Ali said :
“ . . .  Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing . . . ”


So this week, that's what I propose we concentrate on : Nothing is impossible and even if it looks very bad, it IS possible to recover from it.

Positive things have happened in our lives or in the lives of our family and friends, things that were against all odds but still happened. I am not looking for miracles here ( although if you witnessed one, please talk about it ), just things that worked out although they looked lost in advance.

It can be you got the job against 200 candidates although you were sure you wouldn't. It can be you married the man of your dreams, although you thought somebody else was prettier and more intelligent than you. It can be you were in an extremely difficult situation but you made it out. May be you are a survivor . . .
It can be about anything.

I don't want to give you too many ideas as you certainly will find many by yourself, so I am just going to tell you a funny true story, because I believe it's from that day that I realized Impossible had no meaning.


When I was 19 or so, I was doing temp work during summer in order to finance my University studies.  That year, I met a great guy who became the older brother I never had. Many years later he left to go and live abroad but we always kept in touch.

Years ago I received an email in which he explained he had met such a lovely girl and they had gone on their first date. He had arranged a long romantic walk on the beach, followed by a candle dinner. As they were walking on that beautiful beach, a seagull passed by and had a dropping on him.

If you never experienced it, seagulls are big birds and they eat a lot of fish so their dropping are an absolute nightmare . . .  Surely not an ideal situation when you are on your first date, but he said after he cleaned up, they still had a nice evening and the girl had accepted seeing him again.


Now it would be reasonable to say that it would impossible to have the same thing happening again to the same guy, being with the same girl, only a couple of days later. 

Well . . . on their second date, they went to another beach and exactly the same thing happened.

The beauty of this story is that many negative things can be turned into something nice. This lady eventually became his wife and when you ask her, why she decided to marry him, she will tell you that she never ever laughed so much in her life than during these 2 dates with him and the fact he was still behaving so nicely though the world seemed against him made her think he was a fantastic guy. Isn't it sweet ?

Now, it's up to you. May be your story isn't funny, but more moving or scary or strange, may be it won't be one story but a series of small things that marked your life . . .

As always, you can add or not pictures to your story and you can share as much or as little as you would like, whatever makes you feel comfortable and happy. 


I am still pretty much busy unfortunately, but I won't miss your posts for the world, promised.

I wonder what you will come up with !

Anne xxx

 

16 comments:

  1. Nice one Anne :) really need to think about this one. x

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    1. Glad you like it Karen. Have a good week ! x

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  2. Thanks Anne xx Really missing your daily even ever few days blog :( Green 'mac' photo will be on my blog today!!

    As I sit here ideas are already forming in my mind for things we (Peter and I) have done which we never thought would be possible!

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    1. Sorry Lynne, I have been/am so busy ! The only time you can be sure I will be blogging is during my challenge week, so you should be fine this week, LOL.
      I am sure Peter and you both will come up with great stories, xx

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  3. Oh great challenge, I was intrigued by how you were going to deal with I, well I am intrigued with your whole challenge. I have just the thing and it might just be time to sit down and get it out of my system. Have a good week xxx

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    1. Thanks Jen, actually there are 3 "I" in Silver Lining, it was tough to find them all ! Looking forward to what you will talk about ! xx

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  4. Ahh Anne, just when we were all lulled into a false sense of security with the week 1 views we thought we had sorted, along you come and make us delve deep.. Good on you! Mmmm will be interesting.. ahh, another 'i' word! xxx

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    1. Kathi, you didn't seriously think your little grey cells were going to rest this week, did you ? LOL. xxx

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  5. Hmmm this will be a toughie but I am going to give it some serious thought Anne and Im sure I will come up with something. Still toying with making my book to hold all my pages for these prompts which I am hoping to do all art journal stylee

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    1. That's why we have a week Suzie, it leaves us plenty of time to think about this and that. No pressure at all. Art Journal is a great idea ! xx

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  6. I am busy with my album, it is definitely taking form but as the others have said...oops those grey cells are crying with pain!!!!!

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  7. Great challenge!
    I need more time, but I will with pleasure take part!

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    1. Thank you Borqna, can't wait to see what you will come up with. xxx

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  8. I've been working on my journal tonight, so hopefully will be able to show you my 'impossible' at the weekend.

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  9. Great Janice, I wonder what you will come up with. I like a lot your page for January. xx

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