Prayers for Haiti

My prayers are with the country of Haiti after the 7.0 earthquake yesterday.

It's a country of 9 million and 3 million are directly impacted by this earthquake.

God be with you, Haiti, and help you to get through this horrific tragedy.

THE PURPOSE OF LIFE BY STACY DUPLEASE OF STORIES BY STACY

Do you ever feel as though you keep thinking you know your purpose? Then something happens and it makes you re-examine your first premise?

As a child of God, I know my purpose is to bring God the glory. This doesn’t change. It’s all of our purposes. However, how we live that out differs. Our spiritual gifts are what makes this different for each of us.

The question of purpose is a question man’s been asking since the beginning of time and today is no differently.

I guess another question we could ask, rather than ‘What is my purpose in this world,’ is:

‘What is my niche in this world? Where do I fit in?’

As a writer, this question has been forever on my mind for years. I feel in many ways as though I’ve been blowing around in the wind like an old dried up leaf. I’m out of season and am trying to find the right breeze to catch me and make me bloom into a new tree. (Okay, leaves don’t grow trees. Seed do. But, pretend leaves do for the sake of my analogy, please.) I just don’t know what the tree is. I don’t know which breeze will catch me. And I sure don’t know what it will turn into.

The new year brings these questions out even more inside of me, I don’t know about you.

I know you’ve seen it in my writings over the last several months. I’m blowing all over the place.

I keep thinking I’ve found it. Then, no. That’s not it.

So, I’ve decided to go back to my first love and see what happens.

Journaling is my first love.

On this blog of Stories by Stacy 1, I’ll talk about life and writing.

On my other blog at:

http://www.rememberingyourpresentdiary.blogspot.com/.

I will talk about journaling, life, and how to get your life down on paper.

So, I guess I’m stopping fiction writing for a while. I’m going to try non-fiction.

On this blog, I’ll also include my memoir.

Welcome to another new beginning at Stories by Stacy.

Thanks for sticking with this blog and with me.

God bless you.


By Stacy Duplease
of Stories by Stacy

New Year’s Resolutions by Stacy Duplease of Stories by Stacy

I’ve always found New Year’s Resolutions to be a waste of time. We try to do them for a week or two and sometimes even succeed for a month. However, we usually revert back to our old ways that we had the resolution for to begin with and that’s a shame. But, it happens.


Therefore, I don’t do resolutions.

I do something else, instead. It’s far more effective, meaningful, and lasting. I set goals. I give myself milestones which let me know I am achieving the desired results toward the goal. I make sure the milestones are achievable as well and this is a huge benefit. I also try to make sure I give myself enough time to accomplish the goal.

I also try to evaluate and re-evaluate myself and my life at least every four months and always do it at the beginning of the year. I write it down and look at my last evaluation and make sure to look at the one from last January. I see what has changed, what hasn’t, what goals I’ve accomplished, what goals I haven’t, and I spend some time reflecting over the last year.

What do you do?


By Stacy Duplease
of Stories by Stacy

New Blog

Check out my new blog about journaling and Remembering Your Present at:

http://www.rememberingyourpresent.blogspot.com/

By Stacy Duplease
of Stories by Stacy

I'm Back from Vacation & Other News by Stacy Duplease of Stories by Stacy

Hello, everyone! I'm finally back from vacation. I hope to be able to start to write in this at least three days a week, if not five. We shall see.

OMAHA TO LAS VEGAS
My hubby and I, as you know, moved from Denver to Omaha in July. Then, his job moved us to Las Vegas temporarily. We'll be back in Omaha in July. So, greetings to you from Northwest Las Vegas.

Hence, I just moved twice in six months and across statelines. I never lived outside of Colorado until July 2009 and found this latest move much easier than the last. Thank God. But, that's not to say it wasn't stressful. I just adjusted much easier than I imagined and am grateful for that.

I never realized how much living with the mountains in the background was so critical in my life until now. My life is not the same without seeing them. Hence, the temporary move to Las Vegas is actually a huge blessing. (I won't rub it in how wonderful the weather is and how that helps, too.) But, in Omaha, there are no mountains and it impacted me more than I even knew.

HOLIDAYS
I hope your Christmas and New Year's were special and memorable. I sure enjoyed being able to celebrate both back at home in Denver. It was a huge blessing to me to be able to be there for the holidays. I'm ready for the new year and the new decade. How about you?

NEXT VACATION
I just want to give you some heads-up. I'll be going on vacation in May for a writer's conference and will head to Estes Park Colorado for the third year in the row. I can't wait. So, you're stuck with me until then.

NEW BLOG
If you want to learn about the following, check out my new blog. I'm writing a book titled,

"Remembering Your Present:
How to Live Fully & Leave Your Legacy
Through Journaling, Blogging, or Keeping a Diary"

The book goes with the blog. You can check out the blog at:

http://www.rememberingyourpresentdiary.blogspot.com/

It's about claiming the present moment as sacred and leaving your legacy for your family and the world through journaling.

I haven't been this excited about a project in a long time.

I'll write more tomorrow. Have a great day and evening!

Blessings.

By Stacy Duplease
of Stories by Stacy