Have You Got What It Takes?

Today’s word is: moxie \MOK-see\, noun:
1. Vigor; verve; pep.
2. Courage and aggressiveness.
3. Skill; know-how.

Moxie enters common speech from the 1908 Moxie, a trademark name registered 1924 for a bitter non-alcoholic beverage; it was used as far back as 1876 as the name of a patent medicine advertised to “build up your nerve,” and it is perhaps ultimately from a New England tribal word.

It takes moxie to start a business, to keep it going AND to keep the rest of your life running like clockwork!

I started doing a Word of the Day thing on my facebook page. It’s been fun, not only do I learn something, it gives me a chance to exercise my silliness muscle. Well when I picked today’s word I was originally thinking about the old movies when you’d hear lines like “you got moxie kid.” It was tied in with some daring act.

But as I wrote my usual follow-up sentence, my mind immediately went to business and life. Because no matter what your life situation is, it takes moxie to run a business, go to work, have a happy relationship with your spouse/family AND work around any illness you may have.

So, here’s to:
Moxie
Vigor
Courage
Skill

I wish all of that for you my dear readers. I also wish you fun and your chance to work your “silliness” muscle.

Hmm, what could be my silliness for moxie? How about: Abbott and Costello had a lot of moxie(?) when it came to Frankenstein or the Mummy.

Spring Beauty

Yes, Spring is here! Here in Michigan some folks are afraid that it’s already come and gone (that weird couple of weeks of seriously unseasonably hot weather), but the plants are blooming.
As you can see, the moths are happy with my lilac bush. I’ve had this bush for a few years, and one on the other side of the house since we moved in (16 years ago), we’ve never had that many moths flitting around – 10 at one time. Plenty of bees though.

I was told that all those moths were there to bring blessings to my home and surroundings. Another told me this is a blessing of my life. I can live with this. I simply thought it was great seeing all those creatures enjoying the lilacs.

People say it’s good to count your blessings. Me, I’m just happy to have blessings. The blessing of being able to work – in spite of my health. The blessing of my husband beating his cancer. Basically, just the blessing of being alive is making me happy. Some of the challenges aren’t any fun at all, but those can be blessings in their own unique way. If one doesn’t have challenges to learn from how can one improve and learn to be a better person?

So dear reader, I hope you enjoy this season and the beauty that’s all around. (hopefully those with allergies – like me – can enjoy too!)

Finding the RIGHT Thing for YOU!

Have you ever tried something you thought would work? Actually went along with what someone was selling you about this idea/program because you felt in your heart this would work?

Well, I did.

I had been in a job I HATED!! It was making me physically sick (my record year of seizures was while I was at that job), I dreaded going in – every day. So when this great (I thought) opportunity came along I jumped on the band wagon. It was one of those MLM companies, you know like: Herbalife, Avon, Mary Kay, Party Lites, Tupperware, etc. (it was one of those – I won’t say which) the products were GREAT. But they were/are expensive – compared to what one can buy in a store for a similar product. I did everything my “upline” told me to do. I made all the calls to people who’d expressed interest. I was on every learning call, and took all the courses they offered. The results? I fell off the wagon. I couldn’t even sell anything to my own family and because I kept pumping money in, we had to file for bankruptcy.

OUCH!

All during this time, I had a former boss who’d gone out on his own occasionally asking me to help him with his projects. “Liz you know how I like my proposals to look, you know how I think, would you help me with this project?” Well, yes – extra money and it was fun. Why wouldn’t I do this?

I finally realized that this MLM thing wasn’t for me. You see it takes someone with selling skills to do that. When I was working retail (part-time) I couldn’t even suggestive sell additional products! Where did I get the idea I could do the MLM thing?

Doing the virtual assistant thing – YES, I can do that! You see, I love this type of work. I especially love when I can take someone’s reports/presentations/blog posts/newsletters and make them look better. You know, dress them up, and give them pizzazz. I enjoy editing. I enjoy helping my clients. (Did you notice that the creative stuff is listed first? Did I mention I really, really love that stuff?)

So, I had started the idea that I needed my own business. I needed to get away from the job I was in and do what I wanted to do. The sad, rotten thing was doing that expensive step first. But because of that MLM, I at least knew what company to contact for creating my website. So I did learn something.