Happy Friday, RISERS! I hope this week has been good to you. I have to say that my husband and I had a terrific getaway to the Caribbean. I actually got into the water in the Bahamas and at Half Moon Cay island. It was a bit like living life through my character, C.J., from Love, Caribbean Style. The only things I didn’t do were to ride the water slides on the ship or to beat my husband at basketball in the arcade—but I can beat him in real life! I hope you had a chance to relax over Fall Break and do the things that make you happy. Enjoy the coming weekend, and focus on whatever brings you joy.
Quote of the week: “Notice that autumn is more the season of the soul than of nature.” –Friedrich Nietzsche
Movie of the week: In keeping with an October “scary” movie mention, I want to introduce you to a movie from 1959 called The Bat. It stars Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead, and other famous people from that time. It is a black-and-white movie, but that just adds to its intrigue. The premise is that a serial killer known as the Bat is killing people in a small town. Agnes Moorehead plays an author who rents a mansion for the summer, only to find that the killer is interested in something inside that house. The movie uses tons of misdirection about who is really the killer, leaving you shocked when you discover the villain’s identity. It is available now on YouTube, and I hope you like it.
Joke of the week: Why did the scarecrow win the Nobel Prize? Because he was out-standing in his field.
Nugget of Wisdom for the week: Last week, I mentioned integrity. This week I want to talk about opportunity. Opportunity is defined as a set of circumstances that set up the ability to do something. We know what it’s like to have a lack of opportunity. Maybe a deadline was moved up, and as a result you couldn’t attend a school trip. Or perhaps you took a pop quiz and didn’t have time to study for it. Life throws us these things sometimes. But I want to talk about when you are given an unexpected chance to do something that you may or may not have been planning. For example, my first job was working in a video store when I was 19. My boyfriend (now husband) and I had rented movies for my birthday, and I was returning them to the rental store. The person behind the counter asked me if I was looking for a job. At the time I was in technical school to be a medical assistant, but I took an application anyway. I filled it out and returned it the next day. The following day I received a call to have an interview, and by Friday, I was hired. I had no intention of getting that job, but for the next year and a half it allowed me to work a few nights a week after school and on Saturdays. I later married and moved to California with my husband, who was in the Army.
Several years afterward, when my daughter was around age 3 or 4, I went to get my eyes checked and the optometrist asked if I wanted a job as the receptionist in her clinic. That was right up my alley, in terms of the work I trained for in technical school. But I didn’t have any reliable childcare for my daughter, so I told my mother-in-law about the job. She worked in that office for about four years, and it was a perfect opportunity for her.
I say all of that to emphasize this important point: Don’t be afraid to seize the moment when something you weren’t planning comes along. It could be just the thing you need. Just keep your head up and your eyes open. Something good might be about to come your way.
Have a great weekend. Remember, you are most awesome, and YOU ROCK!Marion Rhines is a foster-turned-adoptive parent. She lives in Knoxville, Tenn., with her husband and five children. She has written and published two children’s books as well as two foster-care-themed novels. She has a Facebook blog, Tips from the FLIP Side, and enjoys working with children of all ages.