Mary Pierce

TODAY’S LAUGH: Ooh, ooh! I’m SO excited. I just got this email (as is):

“Greeting to You Respectful, sorry if this mail will come as surprise. I just felt like empting myself to confide in you, my father die two years ago. He keep $14.5M. US dollars deposit on financial institution, help me transfer this money in your country. I offer you 25%. Please I need your reply. Ernest Prayer hopes you good Health and Blessings.”

Wow. Confided in! Empted to! AND I’m going to be RICH! How lucky can I be? And I’ve never even MET “Ernest Prayer”!

TODAY’S ENCOURAGEMENT: Silly, isn’t it? You’re too smart to fall for this kind of scam. But what about the other “scammers” in this life, closer to home. (You know who I’m talking about.) You’re too smart to keep falling for them! Make these promises to yourself:

Promise #1: Today I will expect people to keep their promises. I deserve to be treated well.

Promise #2: Today I will trust my instincts (I know lies when I hear them) and stop believing lies about myself.

Promise #3: Today I will respect myself and expect others to do the same.

If you need encouragement from somebody else (friend, counselor) to keep these promises, get the support you need. Today.

Now imagine someone sending you this message: “My friend, you are worthy of respect. You deserve to be treated well. You are loved.”

Now that message–the truth about you–is worth getting excited about!

It is my earnest prayer that you will be blessed today with courage and the respect you deserve!

///////

AND SO GOES THE NOSE: The first batch of noses are blowin’ outta here, on their way to all who’ve asked for one. Wear them in good health. (Send me a picture of you in your nose for my Facebook “Nose Nation” album!)

SPECIAL NOSE OFFER CONTINUES: Help me change the world, one nose at a time! Contact Mary with “Why I Need a Nose” in the subject line. Tell me your story and be sure to include your mailing address. Your nose is waiting for you!

Take a little laugh break! Listen here (~4 minutes)…

TODAY’S LAUGH: I read this advice on a blog: “Can’t afford a vacation? Let your mind wander.” Hmm. No airfare. No vacation wardrobe to buy. No expensive diet plan trying to lose weight to look good in vacation wardrobe. No huge restaurant tabs (after I realize I’ll never see these people again, so who cares how I look in the vacation wardrobe).

I realized that the cheapest vacation ever is letting my mind wander. Then I realized that I’ve been “vacationing” like that for years - every day!

TODAY’S ENCOURAGEMENT: We did take a real vacation awhile back to Honolulu. Anytime I want to, I can open the photos of that week and let my mind wander back to those blue skies, sandy beaches, and swaying palms. In an instant, I’m there. Paradise. My Happy Place. And it’s an instant lift for my winter-weary spirit. A wandering mind can be a wonderful thing!

So where does your mind wander when you give it free rein? Find the photos, or close your eyes and remember. Let your mind wander to that happy time in that special place. Give your weary spirit a lift today.

Or maybe you need more today than a little mind wandering. Maybe you’re overdue for a real vacation. What step can you take today to make it happen? Maybe a little online research? Asking for the time off from work? Just taking that step will lift your spirits.

Gotta run now–my mind is wandering off without me. Mmm, that pineapple! Ahh, the waves…the warmth…Aloha, paradise…

////

SO GOES THE NOSE. Last week’s special offer continues! Just CONTACT MARY with “WHY I NEED A NOSE” in the subject line. Tell me your story (get silly if you wanna), your mailing address, and your nose will be on its way. (Do it now, before your mind wanders!)

Life is serious. Having a clown nose handy helps. Join me: LET’S CHANGE THE WORLD, ONE NOSE AT A TIME!

Take a little laugh break! Listen in… (4 minutes)

Today’s Laugh: A picture is worth a thousand words, or in this case, a thousand clown noses. Well, 960 of them to be exact. Talk about fun! How often in life do we find ourselves up to our necks in noses?

Today’s Encouragement: Those who’ve heard me speak know the story of my BFF who had cancer, and how we went together to her first chemo sessions wearing clown noses. Wow! What an impact we had! Like I told you, some of them had not laughed in a long, long time–we could tell. (And that one lady laughed so hard I’m pretty sure she wet herself.)

The bottom line is this: Life can be pretty serious. Having a clown nose handy helps. That’s why I ordered so many. I plan to change the world, one nose at a time. (Mwah, hah, hah, she laughs evilly. And nasally.)

ODE TO A NOSE

Life gotcha down? Feelin’ blue?
You’ll be amazed what a new nose can do!
Let it give your day a cheerful start,
Lift your spirits and lighten your heart.
Here’s a new motto to end this rhyme:
“LET’S CHANGE THE WORLD, ONE NOSE AT A TIME!”

May you be blessed with joy today as you lighten up!

P.S. SPECIAL OFFER (don’t blow it!):  CONTACT MARY with “WHY I NEED A NOSE” in the subject line. Give me your story (get silly if you wanna) and address. I’ll pick a nose just for you (sorry) and mail it.

Once you get it, send me a picture of freshly-nosed you and I’ll post the picture on my Facebook. We’ll start our own Nose Nation, get group insurance rates, lobby Congress… Today the nose - tomorrow the WORLD! (I’ll probably have to limit this - I only have so much postage…I’ll let you know.)

IF YOU WERE AT THE JOY CONFERENCE IN APPLETON LAST SATURDAY, I made you a promise. Ask and you shall receive…your nose.

P.P.S. The BEST gift EVER: Send someone who needs a lift a bouquet of a dozen long-stemmed red noses! (Happy Valentine’s Day, Jonesy!)

Take  a break, listen and laugh along (4 minutes)…

TODAY’S LAUGH: I mentioned to DaMama that Groundhog Day was coming. “What? AGAIN!?” she said, as if it was just Groundhog Day yesterday. I told her about the Bill Murray movie, where he keeps reliving February 2nd in Punxsutawney, PA.

Then, hoping to trigger some fond memories (like the day I was born maybe?), I asked her, “Is there a day you’d like to keep reliving, over and over again?”

“Yes,” she said. “Tomorrow!”

TODAY’S ENCOURAGEMENT: Two questions come to mind: (1) Is there a day in my past that I’d like to live over again?

Maybe reliving those precious baby days of first smiles and wet kisses. Or the day I first met DaHusband. (Mmm. That leather jacket…) Or maybe just one of those October days with an impossibly blue sky and trees afire, when all feels right in this warm and wonderful world.

How about you? What day(s) would you choose? (Comment or send an email and I’ll post for you.)

On the flip side, we all have those days we would NOT want to repeat, don’t we? Life is too short to dwell on those! Forgive yourself and move on.

The second question: (2) How can I make today a day worth reliving?

What makes a day worth living? Not its activities, but the attitude with which I live it.

So for today, I begin with a prayer to trust God for the courage to do right, to be kind, patient, merciful, forgiving, loving, faithful, gentle, joyful, peaceable and self-controlled. And pray that I am granted the grace to relive that,  tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.

May you be blessed with a day worth living today.

P.S. I’m expecting delivery of 960 clown noses on Wednesday. Can’t wait to see what that looks like!