WHAT A GRIP

WHAT A GRIP

Family love and loyalty is what holds humanity together.

what a surprise I got when held my baby for the first time, after looking him all over to see that he was perfect, and thank the good Lord, of course, he was.

The thing that struck me was #whatagrip he had. He held onto my finger so tightly with his tiny, perfect fingers, and the strength of his grip astounded me.

If you are fortunate, as I am to be a parent, I am sure you would have been stuck by the strength babies have. One of the sisters in the hospital told me that babies are much tougher than they look and not to be scared of holding them or bathing them. It was such good advice for a new mom.

We soon are able to pull them up with them grasping onto our fingers. It must be a primal instinct for them to hold on as tightly as they possibly can.

This is the grip that family ties hold us in. The overwhelming love for one another. This does not mean can’t get annoyed with one another now and then, but there is always deep love. And respect we feel for one another that wins out in the end.

Family love and loyalty is what holds humanity together.

Have you noticed how many people take so much trouble looking into their ancestry?

As my husband’s sister and her family could not join us in a family Christmas at Greg and Kelly’s house, when Hazel invited us to visit with them the next day, this is what we did.

Our extended family had a great get-together at Riebeek Kasteel with my sister-in-law, Hazel, and her family, on Boxing Day (the day of Goodwill).

It was so relaxing and great to get to know the newest members of the family. Hazel’s son Jaques brought his lovely wife Jane and dear little daughter Abi to meet us. They live in the United Kingdom so we hadn’t had a chance to meet them before.

How lovely to spend this memorable time with family and friends.

IN THE GRIP OF LEARNING

Our entire life is spent learning new things, and sharing what we have learned with one another. This is one of the very best things I found when I had the joy of joining Wealthy Affiliate. Although I joined in my retirement years I was not ready to retire my mind and wanted to learn as much as I could about the internet, and what earning possibilities there are.

My goodness me, they are countless. Naturally as with all things in life, one has to work and that suits me just fine.

When I look back on how clueless I was it is quite embarrassing but as I go through the training am I learning more and more, and earning while I do so.

Knowing the opportunities my beloved grandchildren have before them is so exciting. They will be learning about things I could not even dream up.

But life is a joy when one has the opportunity to keep getting to grips with new things to learn.

For all the older people who bemoan their age, think back on all you have achieved, and what they can still do to keep their minds active.

KEEPING ALL THE BALLS IN THE AIR

The problem with taking on too much is being able to keep all the balls in the air at once.

It is so easy to agree to everything for fear of hurt feelings and end up with so much on your plate that you begin to feel absolutely swamped.

One needs to learn to say no, without hurting the other person, but honestly say, “I have too much on my plate at the moment to take on another thing”.

Especially as a young mother who has the responsibility of running around after their family. Keep in mind, that they are your main priority, and have the first call on your time.

The love and concern for your family is not the ball you want to drop but to keep a firm grip on what is most important in your life.

Our children are small for such a short time.

It might not feel like that some days when you are tired and they are squabbling, but believe me, they are grown up before you know it.

The things that they will recall are the time you spent with them doing things, not the things you bought for them.

 

WHAT TO DO WHEN COLLECTIONS GET YOU IN THEIR GRIP

For many years I collected rare books. I was fortunate to have found some very valuable first editions and rare books and treasured them.

My house was filled with bookcases and my lovely collection of books.

The buzz I felt when I found a book, especially on a Church Sale for next to nothing. I recall seeing one and not sure of its worth, went home to check in my First Editions’s Book. When I realized it was worth it, I called my husband who was just across the road from the sale, and asked him to get it for me.

It cost me 3 Rands, please don’t ask me what that is in dollars, I have not a clue. The value of the book was 8000 Rands. What a find.

I may tell you that the best thing about collecting is collecting not even the value. it is the excitement when you find something worthwhile.

When we had to move, due to my husband’s failing health, I sold some of the books and gave the rest to a Charity.

I did give them the heads up about the worth of some of the books and advised them to sell them on the Internet if they wanted to get the best price for them.

Whether they did or not, I have no idea and just hope the next person who buys whatever book gets as much pleasure as I did in finding it in the first place.

One has to learn to let go.

TIMES WHEN YOU REALLY NEED TO GET A GRIP

During my first year of boarding school, at St, Dominic’s Academy in Newcastle. At the age of six.

My parents and little brother went to live in Namaqualand, where my father had a job. They had the idea that if all went well, and they were able to settle there, then we would join them.

The biggest problem was the schooling, so they decided to leave us where we were.

It is a great distance from Newcastle and with no direct train line, we three girls were left as boarders for the year.

No going out for holidays. We and the poor Nuns looking after us were the only people there.

Well, we got up to all sorts of pranks as children do. Making tents with our bedsheets etc.

One of the things that kept us busy was playing on the boat swing, this was a favorite.

Years later, after leaving Newcastle and moving, first to Durban and then to Rhodesia,(Zimbabwe as it is now), we returned to Newcastle on a holiday.

We went up to the Academy and played on the boat swing, but being the daredevil I was, I didn’t hold on and came a cropper.

Right onto my head and ended up with a concussion. I don’t know if any of you have had a concussion, but I don’t recommend it to anyone. I was gloriously sick over everything. Yuk!

Most of my holiday was spent in bed with a really bad headache.

So please remember to, “get a grip”, when you need to.

KEEP TRACK OF YOUR HEALTH

So many people battle with all kinds of illnesses, especially in their later years.

If diagnosed early on, what a grip one could have on the outcome.

Not always, but many times, their suffering could be alleviated by taking care of themselves when they discovered they had a dread disease.

• Oftentimes, they are given a diet to stick to but don’t.
• Advised to exercise, but don’t.
• Check on their blood sugar, but don’t.
• Need to check their blood pressure, but don’t
• Should be taking their medicine regularly, but don’t.

This is so sad, unnecessary, and detrimental to their overall health.

Believe it, or not, exercise is fun. There are so many choices to be had.

Now, I even know how to check these out on Google. This is a big plus.

GET A GRIP OF YOUR FINANCES BEFORE YOUR HEAD IS UNDERWATER

WISE UP – RETIREMENT AROUND THE CORNER

Don’t wait until you are drowning in debt.

Now is the time to take action.

Whatever age you are, time runs out so quickly. It is amazing that one day you are young and carefree, and the next you are thinking,

WHAT HAPPENED?

WHERE DID THE YEARS GO?

WHY DIDN’T I TAKE ADVICE ABOUT MY FINANCES?

You may think that it is too early in your twenties to think of retirement planning but believe me, it isn’t.

When you begin to earn a living, it is very wise to go to a Financial Planner and ask for advice.

Learn early on in life about saving and which type of saving is the best option for you. As you begin earning more, increase your savings.

Having the biggest and best of everything will not be of any use to you when you retire unless it’s a bank account of course.

If you begin saving early, the interest that accrues is amazing.

Many of you won’t feel that this is for you, but believe me, those of you who are older and reading this post, will agree with what I have written.

Perhaps you didn’t take advice about saving and are battling.

Don’t you wish you had those opportunities now?

I would love to hear WHAT A GRIP you have in your life.

Did you make any of the mistakes I did?

Are you willing to turn your life around, as I did by joining Wealthy Affiliate?

If I could, so can you. Besides the opportunity of learning, and earning, it is the sheer joy of taking control of my life that has made this journey so worthwhile.