Dear Reader:

I had almost forgotten about this word, pluck, until a movie I was watching, a western film this weekend, featured an older cowhand telling a young boy to “pluck up” and do what was right for his family before he left on the next cattle drive.

It was then that I  remembered it was Uncle Herschel who loved using this expression. Whenever one of us young cousins got down in the dumps over anything… trivial or not…Uncle Herschel reminded us to “pluck up” to the problem …because then everything would sort itself out in good time. (And it always did!)

“Pluck”- Used as a noun, means the trait of showing courage and determination during hard times

“Pluck Up”– Used as a verb means to become brave enough to confront a situation

I think it is time for all of us to “pluck up” and make the very best use of this pandemic time…because no matter how we cut it…time is time and it is wasting if we put everything (dreams, goals, etc) on the back burner until it is over.

I think my second Covid vaccination, not only was a shot in the arm, but it was also a shot to my re-thinking or re-booting how I want to spend the time left in the pandemic.

It kind of scared me, with wet wintry weather we had combined with the pandemic, how slovenly I felt I was becoming….so content to stay in my pj’s and “Pinkie” robe using the cold, wet weather as an “eternal” excuse…to get by with as little “doing” as possible. Not healthy physically, mentally, or emotionally.

I was starting to feel like a zombie (Is it just me or have zombies made a come back in popularity…never seen so many zombie movies, shows and even zombie gatherings?) I think I would have fit right into a zombie convention just the way I was…no make-up, wearing my oldest most comfortable clothes…not for viewing outside the house look…I would not have had to dress up at all! 🙂

But those strong women ancestral genes were not about to let me lie around the house for long…and with the sun out yesterday…so came me, myself, and I.

I was checking on the garden, feeding the birds, waving at neighbors I haven’t seen in weeks…hearing the sound of children’s laughter as they rode down the street on their bikes. Yesterday “Life” resumed again for the first time in a long time.

I was listening to a dynamic young speaker the other day, Devon Franklin, who was raised by strong women…his mother, grandmother and aunts…who taught him what a “resilient mindset” is and when to use it for best results.

A “resilient mindset” declares courageously that “I will make it through this, I don’t know how or when but I am going to make it.” People with a positive attitude realize that the only way out of a tough situation is going through it.

He mentioned the scripture in Matthew that reads “Rain falls on the just and unjust.” The rest of the scripture could conclude with the idea that the “just” however, use this miraculous rain to plant the vegetables and trees that one day will keep them in abundance when the rains don’t fall. Time is a gift, no matter the circumstance, if we just see it as such and take advantage of it for the future.

No doubt we are all being transformed from this pandemic…we are history in the making simply by being alive during this time in world history. Yet…if we are honest many of us can admit that we are closer to our families and friends while calling in and checking on each other more frequently than if we were still on the same crazy daily treadmill, as before.

So until tomorrow…

Franklin ended his talk with a quick upbeat exercise that he does every day and it is something we have spent a lot of time discussing on this post…called the Sixty Second Gratitude Count-down.

For sixty seconds you have to name everything you are grateful for…it can be something as trivial as a new flavor of toothpaste, a new shade of nail polish or hearing your favorite song on the radio to the sun returning, spring flowers starting to bud and bloom and the continued good health of loved ones.

The secret in this exercise is that you simply can’t be down and filled with gratitude at the same time. Try it. It’s fun!

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

*Thank all of you for sharing so many comments about yesterday’s blog post with “Can’t” ….so complimentary of a creative teacher taking a grammar lesson and turning it into a life lesson.

I loved Honey’s mother’s advice which was: CAN’T NEVER COULD!” You had a wise mother Honey!!!

One day of sun and look what Mother Nature was proudly displaying…Gin-g’s daffodils and Mollie’s potted surprise buds in a pot.