Silver Linings and the holidays…Why Now?


Southern Living Ornament at Dillards on over 50 Feeling 40

Happy Sunday, everyone!  I began celebrating the holidays 62 days out! So why the concentration on silver linings and the holidays for 2020?

I think you all know why….it has been a year which took it’s toll on our psyche and emotions…and, quiet honestly, robbed many of their joy!

Silver Lining quotes on over 50 Feeling 40

We must not allow these changes and stresses to defeat us.  Nothing can bring on age faster than bitterness, anger, stress, worry and depression. These kill emotional and physical health!

Seventeen years ago, I made a choice to always find the silver linings, the joy, and hope in every situation.  I stopped allowing the world around me to control my joy.

At that point when I turned 50, everything changed.  I found the silver linings everywhere…no matter what was happening and committed to a life of prayer.

My faith grew…my joy grew…my optimism grew and life became fun again. 

Family grows on over 50 feeling 40

Yes, 2020 has been the pits…but I look at my grandchildren (cousins) meeting our new addition and remember the silver linings in this year.

I know you all have them…and I encourage you to list them today.  Just sit down and write every silver lining you can from 2020…then sit back and smile.

Call it a Gratitude Journal…or Blessings Journal…nevertheless, it helps to switch your thinking in this way.

We need a little Christmas this year more than ever….so come along as we celebrate JOY until we bid farewell to this horrible year.

North Texas Sunset on Over 50 Feeling 40

This picture was taken from my daughter’s back porch.  I use it to remind us that beauty is all around us if we just take the time to see it.

Recipe Contest on Over 50 Feeling 40

In this recipe contest it is such fun to see what you are sending.  Please go HERE to read the instructions…and two of you are going to easily win a gift box with holiday tea towels, a holiday apron,  holiday spatula and beauty items!  It is a fun box!! Enter today!

Also, I have shopping links and sale information below!  Planning gifts for others is another way to focus on joy.  

Would anyone like to share one or two of your silver linings from the year?  Please do…it will bless others….and always

KEEP SMILING!!

Gift Giving on Over 50 Feeling 40

REMEMBER BLACK FRIDAY SALES ARE REALLY EARLY THIS YEAR!

Nordstrom Black Friday

Kohls Black Friday

Nordstrom Rack Black Friday Deals

Macy’s Black Friday Deals

Walmart Black Friday  

Target Black Friday

Home Depot Black Friday Deals

Lowe’s Black Friday Deals

Best Buy Black Friday Deals

Sephora Holiday Sales Event

Rack Room Shoes Black Friday

Williams-Sonoma Black Friday

JJILL

Chicos

Eileen Fisher

Black.co.uk

Aerosole

Naturalizer

Anthropologie

Madewell

Sephora

Ulta

DSW SHOES

Rack Room Shoes

J Crew Factory

Eloquii (for Plus Size)

NEST Fragrances

Art of Tea

Rugs.com

World Market

Kirklands

Ebay

Talbots

Etsy

Anthropologie Home

Crabtree & Evelyn

Artfully Walls

Overstock

Bed Bath & Beyond

Pottery Barn

West Elm

MY COMPLEXION LOVES CHAMONIX…KEEPING ME YOUTHFUL!  Currently, running a FALL SPECIAL, BUY TWO, GET TWO FREE!

All natural, plant-cell technology skincare

 

By Pamela Lutrell

20 Comments

  1. I agree with Linda, you consistently offer us ways to be positive and hopeful in spite of what might be happening around us. I look forward to your posts because your attitude is contagious and much appreciated. My favorite silver linings this year that I think about often are the special times spent with my family. We’ve been on trips together this year, several times, also my frequent stops for coffee and conversation with my sister that we’ve both enjoyed immensely. My youngest son and his wife just got a puppy who is bringing joy to the family. Trips to the park to spend time in the beauty of nature…there’s so much. I’m traveling this week to watch my grandson’s soccer tournament, he’s a senior this year so this is bittersweet, but I’m so thankful for all the times I’ve gotten to watch him over the years. This is a blessing! The love from and for family tops my long list!

  2. Thank you, Linda. This blog and its wonderful audience are definitely near the top of my blessings list.

  3. Thank you for sharing, Karen. Though we have never met…I consider you a good friend because we meet here everyday and that is a blessing!

  4. I appreciate the time and thought you put into this blog everyday. I always come away with a new bit of information. A long time ago, a counselor told me to work on mental gymnastics – in other words, turn thoughts around. It’s advice I’ve given others over the years. As you said, there’s a silver lining if you just look for it.

  5. Finding the silver linings this year has been a struggle. There are so many things I miss about my “old life” and feel down about the upcoming holidays. Nothing will be the same and traditions are cast aside. All the shopping to find the perfect gifts, enjoying lunch out with friends and going to and hosting parties won’t be happening this year. However! Things are not all dark and dismal. While the holidays, really a blip in time, will be challenging and not quite as merry, there are some positives that have emerged for us. We have started actively looking for houses in 55+ communities. We are hoping to retire and start enjoying what life has to offer. We were plugging along at our lives and jobs without much joy. While we do have family in the area, we haven’t seen much of them since March and being home alone has made us realize we want to be in a community where we can get involved with others. We realize that won’t happen right away with all the Covid restrictions, but we are hopeful that things will be going in the right direction for all of us to get back to some kind of normalcy. Having found hope and joy in the future has been a game changer! I wake up every morning with purpose and a sense of peace that the future will be bright and we have more blessings than we ever realized. Being thankful and not resentful makes all the difference!

  6. Yes, it does, Linda! Thank you for your honesty and how changing your focus has helped! I know your comment will encourage others.

  7. Silver linings are out there wherever you look. Not only does one need to do mental gymnastics but I’ve turned off the television, limited my computer time and stopped reading negative and sensationalist news. I’m blessed living on a golf course and I’ve had time now to learn the game and improve. I am now 2 months without alcohol which I thought was fuel for most of my anxiety. It was also affecting my health negatively so I needed to tackle that daily habit of having a few glasses of wine. Your blog is truly a ray of light and positivity. The reason why you have a following is because you successfully have made each one of us feel like we know you! I look forward to reading your blog each day!

  8. Thank you Pam, for being and bringing so much more to the table than what one might expect at first glance from a fashion blog. This is a community you have created, and you are most assuredly a cherished part of my days, a Silver Lining of the very best sort. 💖 Yes, 2020 has been filled with turmoil and terrible loss for our country, but in the midst of it all our family has grown closer still, launched our youngest son successfully, sold our ranch/moved back into and restored our cottage in town. I believe these to be my silver linings, even though I miss my boys, reminisce about life with the goats on our lovely property. THIS life here and now is wonderful, too, where I am able to visit and care better for my parents every day, and devote more time to my husband in our emptied out nest.

  9. Because of Covid my college age son moved back home. My silver lining – more time with my son before he fledges the nest.

  10. During a very difficult time when I was raising my girls on my own, I would often lie on the floor and view things from a different perspective. This enabled me to break out and see the positives that I had and push the negative aside.

    Still do this years later.

  11. I would like to echo the words of many others. I appreciate you & the effort you make to bring us positive & joyful thoughts each day. One of my Silver Linings was my younger granddaughter graduating from high school & starting college on her road to becoming a pediatric nurse. Although we didn’t get to celebrate as we would have liked, we still were able to gather in a small, mostly outdoor, celebration for this milestone. I have also developed a greater appreciation for the small things life has to offer.

  12. Thank you, Pam. I live in the Texas Hill Country and every day the deer come by. I see the birds, raccoons and other critters and find joy and tranquility in watching them go about their daily lives. It is amazing that a friendly wave from a dear neighbor can lift the spirits so much and remind me that every day is a blessing.

  13. One of our “silver linings” happened two weeks ago. We just happened to be spending a few days visiting our son’s family when the documents arrived in the mail informing them that the adoption of their two children, who moved in with them exactly one year ago today, was final! What a day of celebration that was! God has answered the prayers of a childless couple and given two beautiful children (a brother and sister, now aged 7 and 11) a forever, loving home.

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