Author: Jennifred Jones

Who Says I Can’t?

Jennifred Jones

Can’t do something fulfilling and meaningful?

Can’t work on a job I enjoy?

Can’t be my best self at work?

Can’t speak out my creative ideas?

Can’t find people who like what I like?

Can’t find what I like to do?

Can’t live where I want to live?

Can’t make a change in my life?

Who said these things? Is it really true? Do I have to believe it?

…or could there be something better…some other way?

Am I powerless over my own life, to cherish and challenge it, to develop it and succeed?

Is it pride to think or desire to do these things, or is it my fears trying to hold me back…keep me safe…and from what?

Because if I hold back, not only will I be held back, but by my example I hold others back.

I believe we need to think forward and move forward, constantly getting better, making better and doing better.

They said the Golden Gate bridge could not be built, but there she stands…decades later, the result of one man’s turning others ‘can’ts’ into ‘I can’!

Where do we need to take away the ‘t’ in our lives?

The Little Boy

Jennifred Jones

A little boy comes up to the counter where I work with his mom and dad.

He’s probably 5 and has the sweetest smile. His parents and their parents and grandparents have all lived hard lives and are still struggling, yet this little boy seems so full of energy and happiness.

So I thought, ‘What can I do to help him find a different path arriving at a different destination than his parents’…because the childhood often determines the adulthood.

I give fun colorful stickers to girls and boys who come in and several times he has gotten a race-car sticker which really excited him.

The other day I gave him a shiny silver trophy sticker and told him I was giving it to him because he was a winner, and a good little boy.

I don’t know what his home life is like but his father made some comment to him after I said that. I thought, ‘I hope the little boy can remember the words I spoke over him.’

As he left with his parents, I spoke again to him, ‘Tell people, you are a winner!’

I haven’t seen him for a while now, I hope all is well with him and my words settled inside him somewhere.

I want to use my words to encourage as many little people as possible. Growing up, the good words by adults spoken to me are still remembered and cherished.

How can our words bring life to the children we cross paths with today?

It’s a Contest!

Jennifred Jones

Who will you let win?

We really can control the outcome!

We don’t have to allow another’s bad choice to to cause us to make bad choices.

We are only responsible for ours. Let them be responsible for theirs.

They hate, we maintain love.

They control, we keep our peace.

They yell, we keep a calm voice.

They destroy, we build up.

They pull back, we lean in.

They accuse, we bless.

They speak lies, we speak truth.

They divide, we multiply.

… and really, these voices are not just those of others; we hear them shouting in our own heads. Are we going to let them in….let them win?

Steer yourself the direction you want to go.

Stay on the path.