The pandemic leaves me with three choices. Grow from it, learn from it, or fear it.

How was your week?

This week, someone whom I have known since a teenager lost his wife to cancer in Toronto. What do you say? How do you say it? I called him, and we had a good 30-minute chat about how life has taken us from teenagers to now.

Another friend who was junior to me at university is now going through cancer. I had to make that call. Seeing my own wife battling cancer, I knew what he was going through.

A classmate from university, we were chatting, and he is going through a bitter divorce. I was grateful that a dear friend reached out to me and encouraged me for nearly two hours. I needed that after those three difficult conversations.

I still have a couple of voicemails to return. People are asking for emotional, mental, financial, and business help. So many WhatsApp group messages to read, emails, and then social media.

Not another lockdown during the pandemic 

I was looking forward to Easter. I had bought a new BBQ and was going to grill fish, chicken, and enjoy Easter with my parents, whom I have only seen twice in more than 12 months.

Another 30-day lockdown was announced. OUCH.

A friend posted on social media ‘Are you fearing, learning or growing from the pandemic?’. It hit me.

The growth phase

Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny – C.S. Lewis

All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my trouble and obstacles, have strengthened me – Walt Disney

I am finding the growth phase difficult.

A vaccine aids the body in fighting germs that could harm us. Adversity and challenges inoculate us from dealing with stress.

I have written about the challenge that a butterfly has to go through to become so beautiful. How about an oyster who because of one piece of sand makes a gorgeous pearl? One piece of sand inside the oyster makes it uncomfortable and it reacts by creating something beautiful.

Adversity is the fuel for greatness. I personally hate pain. However, it is pain that is shaping me into who I am. It is giving me the confidence that I will overcome this pandemic. It is building my character. In my weakness, I am a broken, recovering perfectionist, control freak, emotional, and private school brat. I am learning to deal with adversity and it is creating resilience. I am learning from being uncomfortable. Adversity is drawing out my compassion and my writing skills. I am learning to accept the pandemic.

Yes, I have a purpose but executing it needs so much more time and resources.

Go ahead and find a purpose. This is the defining moment for our generation.

Find a way to help others. So many people who we did not know helped us through Debbie’s cancer. I am doing the same. Sometimes just a call or listening to someone. My biggest weakness is listening. But I need to do it.

Practice peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and compassion with others. We all need it at this moment.

Focus on faith, hope, and gratitude.

We all have to adapt. We are all in this boat together. Storms come; the waves become 20 feet. We have to change our sails. I admire Henry Ford who said that ‘When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.’

The learning phase

There is also the learning phase.

Adversity can be personal, discriminatory, failures or setbacks in a career.

I am learning to become more compassionate, self-aware, with limits of control, and flexibility. I find myself drinking more coke and eating more desserts.

I have to let go of things I cannot control. The government, the media, the vaccination, and everything else I cannot control. I am focusing on stuff I can control.

I am aware of everything going around me and am trying to control my emotions. There is so much pain, suffering, and loss out there.

It is important to accept that every human being is doing their best. There are no conspiracy theories. The Americans did land on the moon.

I am not letting the pandemic be everything. I am connecting with many friends. I am not ashamed of being an extrovert and that the pandemic is making me struggle.

The pandemic creates fear

It is easy to embrace the fear stage. It has been more than a year. It is easy to go to the supermarket and hoard stuff we do not need. It is easy to complain (I am guilty of this), get into arguments on social media about the actions or inactions of the government.

We all have a choice

History will judge us by our actions.

The post The Pandemic: Grow from it, learn from it, or fear it appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.

In a world that often celebrates perfection and conformity, the most profound strength lies in embracing your true self. “Just Be You” is a gentle reminder that authenticity is not only enough—it’s everything.

This post delves into the transformative power of self-acceptance, encouraging you to shed the masks and expectations that society places upon you. By embracing your unique qualities and quirks, you unlock a life of genuine connection, inner peace, and fulfillment.

Join us as we explore the beauty of living authentically and the profound impact it can have on your well-being and relationships.

Please tell me what is Debs Decorative Life all about? Who is the audience? Why should we visit it?

Deb’s Decorative Life is about helping busy moms to be less stressed by offering household and life hacks so they can spend more time with their families.  Deb’s Decorative Life inspires and encourages you to “Just Be You, Your Own Unique Self”. I want my busy moms to lead their own decorative life whether it is trying a new recipe or DIYing their own party decorations.

My audience is mainly busy moms with kids.  The single, millennial working woman also follows Deb’s Decorative Life for fast, practical, easy, simple ideas to help get her in and out of the kitchen faster.

You should visit Deb’s Decorative Life if you want to be less stressed in the kitchen and in life.  Anyone can lead their own decorative life if they apply my tips, tricks for DIY, recipes, gift ideas, and family fun. 

How did the blog come about? How is everything going so far?

After years of everyone asking for my household advice, I decided to share my expertise with the world.  If I can lead a decorative life, then, you can too!  People are too stressed and I want to lessen the stress of running a household.

I am happily experimenting with ideas and projects to help run your household in a simpler effective way.  I love it when I get an email from my readers asking me for help.  I am so happy to support them. 

Explain to me the challenges of blogging?

The challenge of blogging is coming up with more new, easy, simple, innovative ideas to keep your household running smoothly.

I am also working on a book or two while I am blogging.

I am also a busy mom and my family depends on me.

I am also a VIP Juice Crew Brand Ambassador for Old Orchard Brands so I always trying to come up with new ideas and recipes to share with my audience.

My website loves to give me tech problems that started over the last 4-6 months.  Updates can cause images to disappear.  There are days when I can barely work on my website and it jumps all over the place when I hit the enter key.

I am determined not to let that challenge get to me!  Somehow, I always manage to get posts on my website.

What does women empowerment mean to you?

When I think about women’s empowerment, I think about strong, confident, determined women who are willing to learn how to run a business.  These women offer help and support to other women in business so that they can both succeed.  Women’s empowerment is about women putting themselves out there so that they can lead, achieve and thrive in business and in life.

We all go through challenges in life. Name a specific life challenge you have been through and how you dealt with it?

I remember, last summer, when our college son got severely sick with migraines that made him sick to his stomach every day for a little over a month.

He was in and out of urgent care about 3 or 4 times a month.

I also had to re-schedule his graduation party because he was so sick.  He even almost missed his 2nd graduation party because he was still sick.  He refused to let me cancel his party and re-schedule again.

My blog suffered!  I was barely paying any attention to my blog.

My son needed me and I wanted to be there for him.  He was miserable, in pain and vomiting every day.

After he got better, I refused to look at my blog stats and my social media followers.

I just concentrated on getting myself back on my feet with the blog and social media.  I wrote blog posts, social media posts and concentrated on getting followers.

I was super focused for a month and wore myself out trying to play catch up.  After a month, I finally went back to my usual schedule.

How do you come up with ideas for your blog?

I picked 4 areas of concentration for my blog DIY, Recipes, Holidays/Events, and Family.  I give household and life hacks for these topics in my blog posts.  I also share my experiments, hints, tricks, and tips in a blog post to help lessen my audience’s stress of running a household.

I want you to give yourself some advice on 26 36 and 46?

At age 26, I would say that if you are living with your parents, follow their rules but go after your dream now.  The risk isn’t as risky because your parents are providing you with a roof over your head and will always have food for you.

At age 36, I would say that you shouldn’t let your kids or family life hold you back from doing something for you.  In the long run you loose yourself and end up feeling empty with regret and anger.

At age 46, I would say that it’s never too late to just jump in and do what you want to do in life.  Go after it!

I want you to give 5 pieces of advice to women under 35?

The sooner you follow your dream, the better.  Don’t wait so you don’t regret it.

You have a lot of time ahead of you.  If you fail, get up and keep trying until you get it right.

Don’t overspend. It only hurts you in the long run and the challenge of paying off debt weighs on you until it is paid off.

You are going to attract or repel people, either way, there is nothing you can do about it. Accept it.

Practice getting out of your comfort zone. That is the key to a more fulfilled and successful life.

How has food, faith, finance, and family made an impact on your life?

I find myself taking pictures of what I eat or make for social media or the blog.

I have a lot of faith and I believe you are on the path that you are meant to be on in life.

My family survived when my husband was unemployed 3 times in 2 years.  It was extremely rough but we got through it.  My household hacks, couponing, DIY, and budgeting really helped.

Family time is important to me and I enjoy coming up with lots of ideas for family fun.

The post Just Be You appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.

What is Advent?

Advent is derived from adventus which in Latin means ‘visit’ or ‘coming’ of something very important. Christians focus on the advent of Christ when He was born in Bethlehem and the second that is yet to come.

Advent Calendar

The start of Advent is exactly four Sundays before Christmas and it ends on Christmas Eve. Christmas starts on Christmas Eve and ends on January 6^th.

The themes of advent

Advent has purple, dark blue, and pink themes attached to it. The purple or dark blue represents royalty, nobility, repentance, and seriousness. Jesus was of royal lineage from the house of King David. Joy is a small motif in Advent and is represented by pink. Red, green, white, silver, and gold are linked with Christmas and the weeks leading up to it. White represents holiness, joy, and light and is the correct liturgical color for Christmas.

For Christians who follow Advent, the first, second, and fourth Sundays of Advent are purple and blue Sundays. The third week is pink Sunday. The jubilant color of pink is a reminder that Advent makes Christians eager for Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came to us the first time in the flesh.

Christmas is the celebration of the humble birth of Jesus Christ to the Virgin Mary in a barn in Bethlehem.  The angel appears to the astrologers and tells them to visit the newborn king. They bring gold, frankincense, and myrrh as gifts. Therefore, at Christmas in churches, you will see a barn, with Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus in a cradle, animals, and the three wise men. On top of the Christmas tree is a star. The angel that appeared to the wise men told them to follow the star and that will lead them to Jesus.

The time-honored customs of Christmas that include feasting, lights, mistletoe, giving gifts, and the Christmas tree have no biblical roots and are secular. Santa Claus comes from Saint Nicholas of Myra, in Greece who was known for his generosity towards the poor people.

The look of Santa Claus comes from Germanic folklore and Scandinavian religions that existed in Northern Europe. The Dutch pilgrims who came to the United States in the seventeenth century brought Sinter Klaas the Dutch legend and this became the American version of Santa Claus. Americans adopted this concept into Santa Claus, who comes from the North Pole on a sleigh and gives gifts to good boys and girls on Christmas Eve.

For Christians, Christmas embodies the spirit of giving. It is a time to celebrate with family, and friends and to give money and time to charities.

Advent Wreath

The artifact that represents Advent is a wreath. It is a circle of evergreens. There is one white candle in the middle, surrounded by four candles, three purple, and one pink. The wreath is in the shape of a circle that reminds Christians about the unconditional love of God and his endless mercy. Hope is represented by the greenery of the evergreens.

Advent Candles

The purple candles are lit on the first, second, and fourth Sunday. The pink is lit on the third Sunday. The white is lit on Christmas Day. Once the candle is lit, then certain scripture is read from the bible about the coming Messiah. The previous candles are also lit. So, on Christmas Day all five candles are lit.

Origin of Advent

The historical origin of Advent is from the fourth century. The Bishop of Turin in 415 AD and the Bishop of Arles in 502 AD mention preparation for the birthday of Jesus Christ. It became official when a synod was held in 581 AD at Macon in France. The synod proclaimed five Sundays but was reduced to four Sundays by Pope Gregory VII. Various synods came later regarding rules and regulations and the final one restricted the celebration of marriage during this time. In 1720 AD at the council of the Ruthenians, a fast was ordered for Advent.

Christmas

Christmas is Christians celebrating the all-powerful enigma of God coming to earth in human flesh.  God becomes a man and dies to save mankind from sin and death. Christmas is twelve days to focus on how Jesus Christ revealed Himself to mankind.

December 26^th, 27^th, and 28^th are called witness days. In Acts 7:54-60 St. Stephen is the first Christian Martyr. He was stoned by a crowd. December 26th is in honor of St. Stephen. December 27th honors St. John who was an Apostle and Evangelist and who wrote the Book of St. John in the Bible. John was the closest friend of Jesus and the disciple who was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write the book of John. December 28th is in memory of the baby boys killed by King Herod in his endeavor to kill Baby Jesus.

The three do not have anything in common but help Christians understand Christmas better. St. Stephen died willingly to defend and preach the gospel.  Apostle John endured hardship, exile, and persecution because of the gospel. Innocent kids were killed by King Herod. These three days remind Christians that we live in a broken and sinful world. Christ was born to save mankind. He suffered, was crucified on the cross, and died for the sins of mankind. It is also a stark reminder of how powerful and dark Satan is.

The Eighth Day of Christmas is a tribute to the circumcision of Jesus Christ as per Jewish law. It is at the circumcision that he is given the name of Jesus formally. This is important for two reasons. In the Book of Genesis 17: 1-13, circumcision is a clear sign of God’s promise to Abraham and his progeny. When the flesh is cut and blood is spilled it is a prediction of Jesus Christ dying on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. The second is in Matthew 1:20-21 where the angel tells Mary that her son will ‘save people from their sin’.

The birth of Jesus is mentioned in two of the gospels and by the 4^th century was celebrated on December 25 in the Julian calendar and January 6^th as per the Gregorian calendar.

Photo Credits:  Waldemar Brandt Vidar Nordli-Mathisen Julian Hochgesang  Kelly Sikkema Debby Hudson Carolyn V Jon Tyson Mateus Campos Felipe  Sandra Grünewald  Gian Reichmuth Max Beck Dan Kiefer Nine Köpfer  Ben White Jude Beck  Aaron Burden

The post What is Advent and Christmas appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.