"Secretariat" my movie review... by Laurie Jackson

“SECRETARIAT” my movie review… by Laurie Jackson 10/23/2010

Watching the movie “Secretariat” was not just entertainment for me, it was therapeutic. I felt counseled by the wisdom of historical humanity.

I noticed three things, four if I include that the star looked like a splitting image of Mary Tyler Moore.

Because this was a true story, I valued the lessons of this journey and what I imparted from it. Firstly, I noticed she followed her intuition. When it “seemed” like she was wrong she chose to follow what was “right” in her heart. Love seemed to be at the root of this and not pride. Love for her father and belief in His wisdom.

Secondly, I really keyed in on how difficult it is to truly follow your heart. You don’t always get patted on the back. You don’t always “seem” to win right away. The only thing you have is the satisfaction that you felt you made the wisest and best choice you honestly discerned and for that you at least have no “deep” regret nagging at you.

Thirdly I could see that in this true story of a victorious person, like so many others, she was alone and isolated during her hardest season. People don’t want to support you when they don’t believe in you. They will celebrate later when there is evidence of your success. Most, even close family and friends, won’t back you up when your heart leads you to do something “different” or unconventional. All great leaders have this in common. Good leaders don’t need to use fear and manipulation to convince other people around them to agree with them. I believe it is because truly great leaders are motivated and empowered by Love.

I loved this story and I loved that she looked just like Mary Tyler Moore. This helped submerge my mind into the time and setting that the story actually took place.

The lady is still alive today and did a cameo in her movie; so don’t forget to stay for the very end.

IN COURAGE MEANT IN RELATED SHIPS: by Laurie Jackson

Today started out to be a very discouraging day. I immediately called on the loving, wise and trusted friends that I consider pure gifts from God himself. Of course they came through, they ALWAYS do. If I've learned one thing, it's to ask for help. We all need it. The rich and famous, the wise and learned need it just as much as the poor and desolate. I’ve tried to help numerous home-less people and I’ve learned so much from “all” types. One thing I’m realizing is that “Shame” or the lie that we are the only ones that ever feel bad is what disables us to ask for help. We are all in need of courage because we all struggle with FEAR. The opposite of fear is love and the only thing that counter- acts our fears and insecurities, is the presence of Love. A friend that can help you embrace "courage" while facing the fears that you may be struggling with on any given day is a must have! This is love in action or rather, in deed! Barbara Streisand sang it best…. PEOPLE… PEOPLE WHO NEED PEOPLE ARE THE LUCKIEST PEOPLE. In the world. I can’t help myself, I love her! I’m not talking about being codependent or having toxic relationships. I’m speaking from a healthy relational stance on all of this.

If I'm not in need of "encouragement," I end up being the encourager. Being an encourager usually inspires the very person dishing it out. So never feel bad for asking, because when people help people, this gives life to everyone involved. “Paying it forward” is really what's going on here. The energy of life or rather Love itself permeates everything and everyone. Vulnerability means you have the power and strength in you to be wounded. To be honest with yourself and a few others “that you can trust,” is so freeing. I’ve had to learn the hard way to not trust everyone. I believe if we follow our hearts in this area or our “gut feelings” we’ll usually be accurate. You don’t have to tell everything to everyone. Again, I’ve come from the school of hard knocks here. J

What are we afraid of? I'll name a few, and I'm sure I'll miss a bunch here. We are afraid of losing and or being less then. We are afraid of not accomplishing our dreams. We’re afraid of being sad and lonely. Everyone I’ve ever known is or has been afraid that they’ve messed up their future from their past mistakes. We all fear not having our needs met. Everyone is afraid of pain, failure or even being the cause of another person’s pain. We are afraid of being afraid!

About a year ago, I made a list of people that I believe God had “planted” to be an important part of my life. I wrote a note to myself and categorized them in groups. I know I know it's starting to sound weird here. But let me explain. My therapy program suggested this! You see, when we feel down, we don't think rationally and as clear as usual. So I had to "remember" who to call and that I indeed had a vast reservoir of friends whom I could trust my heart with. I also used this list to remind me to “invest” in these particular friendships. Sounds contrived and fake? Not my motive at all. I just kept getting in a slump and staying there. It works both ways. All my friends call me when they are down too, and or happy. J

We need a “variety” of people in our lives. The healthiest human beings have numerous connections to many different types of people. This doesn't mean to have tons of acquaintances or fans, but rather close friendships that you can honestly trust your heart with and invest back into their lives as well.

Another healthy aspect of relationships that I’ve been learning about is that you need more then one, two or even three good friends because “one” person can not meet all of your needs and vice versa. All of us have different gifts to offer each other. I have friends that I love to laugh with. I have certain people I can call on for wisdom. Some friends are more gifted in the heart issues of life and some are better at helping you with logical, more concrete problem solving. When I began to be mindful to the supportive community of people that were just naturally placed around me, I realized how good I had it. I think it’s important to start looking, investing and even asking God to show you who He has “given” you. Again this works “both” ways. I am much more “available” to these relationships now, from just simply being aware and more in-tuned to the others around me.

Having Healthy relationships doesn’t seem to be that easy for some of us. I think it is very similar to spiritual or physical health. You either learned it well from your up bringing, you didn’t learn it at all or you learned how to be “crazy as hell.” J At any rate, all types of health can be learned. We are amazing human beings. The more I know myself, appreciate my strengths and learn from my own weakness’, the more I adore and see how magnificent the people around me are. I suppose healthy relationships start with having a healthy one with you. Give yourself Love and the encouragement you need by asking others for help. This enables us to better encourage others as well. I LOVE PEOPLE!

Enjoying the Journey, the ride and sometimes what seems like a rickety old roller coaster. With love, Laurie

DON’T PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET…. By Laurie Jackson 10/9/2010

DON’T PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET…. By Laurie Jackson 10/9/2010

I’m getting so upset as I watch my friends and family members have cancer, get surgery and suffer in so many ways, just because we are not ASKING ANY QUESTIONS! We are just going along with the Emperor and not wearing any clothes, humiliating ourselves. Not to mention freezing our butts off.

Everyone knows the “Frog in the pot analogy” right? If you don’t, let me explain. You can put a frog in a luke-warm pot right on the stove without a lid. They won’t jump out because they like it there. The water feels great! Well, because they are cold blooded and stupid, you can slowly turn up the heat as there body temperature adapts they STILL will NOT jump out, hence killing themselves even though all along they could have jumped out! Get it? We are not cold blooded nor dumb. Or are we? As I grow-up and attain more wisdom with age, I become ever more aware of this mental health issue. (I so wish the grey hair and wrinkles were not included.) LOL… Anyway, I’m getting so aggravated with the many “Basket cases” in our culture. Let me explain.

You got the medical institution, I love the Doctors they save lives! If I had a severed arm I would go straight to the Emergency room. I have not heard of a better place to go for help in this situation. If you have, let me know and I will consider “OTHER OPTIONS.” If I had cancer, I would consider ALL my options. There is ALWAYS MORE then one solution to any given problem. I’ve read too much about health at this point to just sit through chemo. I would consider it, but I would also consider or at least ask some questions and not just take one person’s opinion. Isn’t this just basic wisdom? Here is a verse for all you scriptures huggers out there. (Proverbs 24:6)…there is wisdom in a multitude of counsel). BTW I’m a fellow “scripture hugger”. I love the scriptures. It can always back up pure truth. If it’s not pure, well, you’ll have to take it out of context first. Anyway back to the subject.

I’m just exasperated with how crazy everyone seems to be getting. It’s like we’re living in the Fricken Twilight Zone. Not thinking for ourselves, not asking any questions, taking one persons word for it. Come on people lets surmise a little. I love Martin Luther King Jr. He is one of my favorite people. He said:

"Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking.
There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked
solutions." ~Martin Luther King Jr.

So let’s talk about Theology. Oh yes I did write that. I used to think my pastor new all the answers, in-fact, when I was a newly wed; I used to think my husband had all the answers. I learned quickly that he did not. I believe Even Jesus Christ himself wants us to think, surmise and ask questions about the truth. All the Jewish people were trained to reason and think. This is the very culture Jesus chose to live in. I read a book called “Velvet Elvis”. It was phenomenal, and it covered much about the Jewish culture and how they were taught to reason together. I’ve learned more from the Holy Spirit asking Him questions then I’ve ever learned from a five- point sermon. Just saying! Now I’ve learned a lot from a sermon here and there but I always think about what is being taught, for myself, as well. The best teachers will encourage this. I posted this the other day on face book. I had so many amazing responses and met some new great friends.
ANY: institution that doesn't encourage you to "think for yourself" but rather tells you how and what to think is Occult and you should not give them that much control. This goes for the marriage institution, family, school, medical, your government and your church institution. Wow, I just had to get that out there......What does everyone “think” about this?~ Laurie Jackson
And my friend loved it so much that she translated it into Spanish:
Cualquier institucion que no te motiva a "pensar" por "ti" mismo, pero
al contrario te dice "que y como" pensar es un culto y no le debemos dar control. Esto incluye la institucion del matrimonio, familia, escuela,
medico, el govierno y hasta tu iglesia. Wow! solo necesitaba comentar
esto.... Cual es tu pensar acerca ...de esto? Por Laurie Jackson ☺
Thanks Cecilia! ☺
Then there’s the Government. America is based on people who wanted to serve the king of their choice. Need I go on here? There is a time for war and to fight for what you believe is true (proverbs: 24:6). I would not want to live in any other country. I believe we have the best government in the world. I hope we keep it a democracy. I really do. I’ll do my part and ponder. Oh and I’ll vote too. ☺ I used to just ask my husband, whom he was voting for because I was too lazy to think and research the issues for myself. Even though we still tend to vote the same, at least I know it’s my own vote now. ☺
The smart, wise and savvy business man/women will tell you NOT to put all your eggs in one basket. This is true for finances as well as community and even friendships. I took an amazing course from Britain called,” Uncommon Knowledge.” They taught about healthy community and relationships. It never dawned on me that I had all my eggs in one basket until of course I dropped the entire basket. Ooops! If you’re a work-a-holic… all your friends and support for life will be in ONE community. If you’re a church a-holic all your friends and support for life will be in one community. It is best to not be an “a holic” of any kind… lol. I’m learning that it is indeed healthy and wise to NOT have all your eggs in one basket.

Let us reason together………...

If the frog was “thinking” at all, he may say to himself. “I know I’m cold blooded and made to adapt my temperature to my environment, so I “think” I will jump out of THIS pot and check to see what’s going on elsewhere. If nothing is awry, then I’ll go back to my pot that I enjoyed.” But at least he checked it out. You see what I’m saying?

This mindset of “Not thinking for yourself” is permeating all of our institutions. Education becomes horrific, if the teacher does not encourage the student to reason.

To "put all your eggs in one basket" is to risk losing everything all at one time. Example: "My Husband is a very careful investor; he never puts all of his eggs in one basket." If you had a certain number of "eggs", it would be safest to put those eggs in different "baskets" and not "put them all in one basket". To "put all your eggs in one basket" would be to risk losing all of your "eggs" in case you drop that one "basket". Example: "The best way to gamble is to only bet small amounts of money and never put all your eggs in one basket." Example: "We know that you want to become an actor and we support you, but we still want you to graduate from college. Don't put all your eggs in one basket."

Another thought is: if one egg is “cracked”, all of its icky, gooey yokey stuff will get all over the other eggs. If you’re in that basket, just get out for a minute and get cleaned up so that you can help “Humpty Dumpty” get put back together again. ☺ (Matt 7:3-11)

I’m teaching my children to think for themselves. I give them my thoughts, sometimes weather they want them or not, but I still encourage them to think it through, ponder a little, see what others are saying. If it’s true now, it will be true later. If they are “truly” looking for the “truth.” they’ll “truly” find it. ☺

If the Doctor that is giving you an angioplasty has clogged arteries himself, get the angioplasty because he knows how to do that well. But DON’T ask him to help you keep your arteries from being clogged. ?? He obviously has not looked into all the solutions. You don’t have to stay in the pot people! I so admire my husband for looking into alternative medicine just after he had a minor heart attack. He is a wise egg! ☺ Get out there, ponder, cogitate and ask some questions for heaven sake!

One last great story and perrrrrfect example is this one. There was this young mother that was cutting off the ends of her ham before she put it in the pot. Her husband asked her why she did this. She said she didn’t really know, except that’s what her mom did. She then, asked her mother why SHE cut the ends of the ham off before putting the ham in the pot. Her mother didn’t know either and told her to go ask Grandma because that’s who she learned it from. You can only guess what Grandma said. Grandma says, “Because the pot was too small and we didn’t have enough money to buy a bigger pot!”

Hope you’re laughing and or at least “thinking” about it. ☺ I love you all, Laurie <3 <3 <3

DON’T PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET…. By Laurie Jackson 10/9/2010

I’m getting so upset as I watch my friends and family members have cancer, get surgery and suffer in so many ways, just because we are not ASKING ANY QUESTIONS! We are just going along with the Emperor and not wearing any clothes, humiliating ourselves. Not to mention freezing our butts off.

Everyone knows the “Frog in the pot analogy” right? If you don’t, let me explain. You can put a frog in a luke-warm pot right on the stove without a lid. They won’t jump out because they like it there. The water feels great! Well, because they are cold blooded and stupid, you can slowly turn up the heat as there body temperature adapts they STILL will NOT jump out, hence killing themselves even though all along they could have jumped out! Get it? We are not cold blooded nor dumb. Or are we? As I grow-up and attain more wisdom with age, I become ever more aware of this mental health issue. (I so wish the grey hair and wrinkles were not included.) LOL… Anyway, I’m getting so aggravated with the many “Basket cases” in our culture. Let me explain.

You got the medical institution, I love the Doctors they save lives! If I had a severed arm I would go straight to the Emergency room. I have not heard of a better place to go for help in this situation. If you have, let me know and I will consider “OTHER OPTIONS.” If I had cancer, I would consider ALL my options. There is ALWAYS MORE then one solution to any given problem. I’ve read too much about health at this point to just sit through chemo. I would consider it, but I would also consider or at least ask some questions and not just take one person’s opinion. Isn’t this just basic wisdom? Here is a verse for all you scriptures huggers out there. (Proverbs 24:6)…there is wisdom in a multitude of counsel). BTW I’m a fellow “scripture hugger”. I love the scriptures. It can always back up pure truth. If it’s not pure, well, you’ll have to take it out of context first. Anyway back to the subject.

I’m just exasperated with how crazy everyone seems to be getting. It’s like we’re living in the Fricken Twilight Zone. Not thinking for ourselves, not asking any questions, taking one persons word for it. Come on people lets surmise a little. I love Martin Luther King Jr. He is one of my favorite people. He said:

"Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking.
There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked
solutions." ~Martin Luther King Jr.

So let’s talk about Theology. Oh yes I did write that. I used to think my pastor new all the answers, in-fact, when I was a newly wed; I used to think my husband had all the answers. I learned quickly that he did not. I believe Even Jesus Christ himself wants us to think, ponder and ask questions about the truth. All the Jewish people were trained to reason and think. This is the very culture Jesus chose to live in. I read a book called “Velvet Elvis”. It was phenomenal, and it covered much about the Jewish culture and how they were taught to reason together. I’ve learned more from the Holy Spirit asking Him questions then I’ve ever learned from a five- point sermon. Just saying! Now I’ve learned a lot from a sermon here and there but I always think about what is being taught, for myself, as well. The best teachers will encourage this. I posted this the other day on face book. I had so many amazing responses and met some new great friends.
ANY: institution that doesn't encourage you to "think for yourself" but rather tells you how and what to think is Occult and you should not give them that much control. This goes for the marriage institution, family, school, medical, your government and your church institution. Wow, I just had to get that out there......What does everyone “think” about this?~ Laurie Jackson
And my friend loved it so much that she translated it into Spanish:
Cualquier institucion que no te motiva a "pensar" por "ti" mismo, pero
al contrario te dice "que y como" pensar es un culto y no le debemos dar control. Esto incluye la institucion del matrimonio, familia, escuela,
medico, el govierno y hasta tu iglesia. Wow! solo necesitaba comentar
esto.... Cual es tu pensar acerca ...de esto? Por Laurie Jackson ☺
Thanks Cecilia! ☺
Then there’s the Government. America is based on people who wanted to serve the king of their choice. Need I go on here? There is a time for war and to fight for what you believe is true (proverbs: 24:6). I would not want to live in any other country. I believe we have the best government in the world. I hope we keep it a democracy. I really do. I’ll do my part and ponder. Oh and I’ll vote too. ☺ I used to just ask my husband, whom he was voting for because I was too lazy to think and research the issues for myself. Even though we still tend to vote the same, at least I know it’s my own vote now. ☺
The smart, wise and savvy business man/women will tell you NOT to put all your eggs in one basket. This is true for finances as well as community and even friendships. I took an amazing course from Britain called,” Uncommon Knowledge.” They taught about healthy community and relationships. It never dawned on me that I had all my eggs in one basket until of course I dropped the entire basket. Ooops! If you’re a work-a-holic… all your friends and support for life will be in ONE community. If you’re a church a-holic all your friends and support for life will be in one community. It is best to not be an “a holic” of any kind… lol. I’m learning that it is indeed healthy and wise to NOT have all your eggs in one basket.

Let us reason together………...

If the frog was “thinking” at all, he may say to himself. “I know I’m cold blooded and made to adapt my temperature to my environment, so I “think” I will jump out of THIS pot and check to see what’s going on elsewhere. If nothing is awry, then I’ll go back to my pot that I enjoyed.” But at least he checked it out. You see what I’m saying?

This mindset of “Not thinking for yourself” is permeating all of our institutions. Education becomes horrific, if the teacher does not encourage the student to reason.

To "put all your eggs in one basket" is to risk losing everything all at one time. Example: "My Husband is a very careful investor; he never puts all of his eggs in one basket." If you had a certain number of "eggs", it would be safest to put those eggs in different "baskets" and not "put them all in one basket". To "put all your eggs in one basket" would be to risk losing all of your "eggs" in case you drop that one "basket". Example: "The best way to gamble is to only bet small amounts of money and never put all your eggs in one basket." Example: "We know that you want to become an actor and we support you, but we still want you to graduate from college. Don't put all your eggs in one basket."

Another thought is: if one egg is “cracked”, all of its icky, gooey yokey stuff will get all over the other eggs. If you’re in that basket, just get out for a minute and get cleaned up so that you can help “Humpty Dumpty” get put back together again. ☺ (Matt 7:3-11)

I’m teaching my children to think for themselves. I give them my thoughts, sometimes weather they want them or not, but I still encourage them to think it through, ponder a little, see what others are saying. If it’s true now, it will be true later. If they are “truly” looking for the “truth.” they’ll “truly” find it. ☺

If the Doctor that is giving you an angioplasty has clogged arteries himself, get the angioplasty because he knows how to do that well. But DON’T ask him to help you keep your arteries from being clogged. ?? He obviously has not looked into all the solutions. You don’t have to stay in the pot people! I so admire my husband for looking into alternative medicine just after he had a minor heart attack. He is a wise egg! ☺ Get out there, ponder, cogitate and ask some questions for heaven sake!

One last great story and perrrrrfect example is this one. There was this young mother that was cutting off the ends of her ham before she put it in the pot. Her husband asked her why she did this. She said she didn’t really know, except that’s what her mom did. She then, asked her mother why SHE cut the ends of the ham off before putting the ham in the pot. Her mother didn’t know either and told her to go ask Grandma because that’s who she learned it from. You can only guess what Grandma said. Grandma says, “Because the pot was too small and we didn’t have enough money to buy a bigger pot!”

Hope you’re laughing and or at least “thinking” about it. ☺ I love you all, Laurie <3 <3 <3