Thursday
Consider Organizing Your Family History - A Personal Experience Putting Together Family History Tree
Researching family history can be
a bit spiritual at times. This was true for me. I felt as if it was
something I had to do for years before I actually started researching
and preparing items to share with other relatives. My desire started
when it was suggested I write a family book. Then the motivation
followed wanting to leave something special behind for my children.
Followed by more inspiration when I heard of "kissing cousins"
in the family, I didn't want my sons to encounter that issue in the
future since the family is very large with hundreds in one city
alone--that was enough for me to keep seeking family history.
If you are a spiritual believer, you might experience many emotions including feeling like it is your calling or duty to expose lies and share truth about relatives. Most likely, you or someone you know was moved to initiate the family project after any one of the following or something else like: a traumatic experience, much idle time, something you saw or read, or someone being a beacon of light for you. But whatever your reasons for wanting to learn more about your family, remember these three Ps, remain Positive, Pure, and Persistent.
1) Be positive. The good, bad
and ugly about the past might cause problems for the family. Keep
the love flowing for yourself and others even if you have to distance
yourself from negative kinfolk during your time of self-discovery and
family history exploration. Safeguard your heart and mind concerning
them and don't be discouraged by the naysayers and liars.
2) Stay pure. You work on your family history project like an innocent child seated at a table drawing a picture. He or she periodically says, "Look what I have drawn...Could you help me with...?" Like the youngster, you have no ill intent when you create and aren't trying to hurt anyone; therefore, don't be tempted to spread your own personal hate or revise family history, because you (or someone else) doesn't agree with something or don't like someone. Avoid the temptation to take what you have learned and destroy someone else with it.
3) Remain persistent. You just want answers to your questions--nothing wrong with that. Be like a child in your quest for understanding and truth about ancestors and other kin. Children won't always accept, "No" for an answer. So keep asking and searching until you find what you are looking for.
No one could have prepared me for the myriad of emotions I felt while preparing a fifth family book at the time during 2013. A particular family story left my head spinning because there were smaller stories that branched off of that one coming from so many relatives which provided details that were quite sad and also made me angry. Around the same time I was engrossed with those family stories, too many stored files and images caused my computer to crash (I had forgotten to free hard drive space, so you will want to remember to do this or hook up a backup server to your computer--mine had failed back then.) The questions I asked of relatives awakened the ghosts of the past and during that time; I saw my share of visions and received visitations. It might be hard for some skeptics to wrap their heads around spiritual experiences so I won't go any further, but for those who have experienced strange occurrences during the gathering and recording process of family documents and relics, I validate you.
Excerpt taken from Genealogy X: What to Do When Researching Family History by Nicholl McGuire
If you are a spiritual believer, you might experience many emotions including feeling like it is your calling or duty to expose lies and share truth about relatives. Most likely, you or someone you know was moved to initiate the family project after any one of the following or something else like: a traumatic experience, much idle time, something you saw or read, or someone being a beacon of light for you. But whatever your reasons for wanting to learn more about your family, remember these three Ps, remain Positive, Pure, and Persistent.
1) Be positive. The good, bad
and ugly about the past might cause problems for the family. Keep
the love flowing for yourself and others even if you have to distance
yourself from negative kinfolk during your time of self-discovery and
family history exploration. Safeguard your heart and mind concerning
them and don't be discouraged by the naysayers and liars.2) Stay pure. You work on your family history project like an innocent child seated at a table drawing a picture. He or she periodically says, "Look what I have drawn...Could you help me with...?" Like the youngster, you have no ill intent when you create and aren't trying to hurt anyone; therefore, don't be tempted to spread your own personal hate or revise family history, because you (or someone else) doesn't agree with something or don't like someone. Avoid the temptation to take what you have learned and destroy someone else with it.
3) Remain persistent. You just want answers to your questions--nothing wrong with that. Be like a child in your quest for understanding and truth about ancestors and other kin. Children won't always accept, "No" for an answer. So keep asking and searching until you find what you are looking for.
No one could have prepared me for the myriad of emotions I felt while preparing a fifth family book at the time during 2013. A particular family story left my head spinning because there were smaller stories that branched off of that one coming from so many relatives which provided details that were quite sad and also made me angry. Around the same time I was engrossed with those family stories, too many stored files and images caused my computer to crash (I had forgotten to free hard drive space, so you will want to remember to do this or hook up a backup server to your computer--mine had failed back then.) The questions I asked of relatives awakened the ghosts of the past and during that time; I saw my share of visions and received visitations. It might be hard for some skeptics to wrap their heads around spiritual experiences so I won't go any further, but for those who have experienced strange occurrences during the gathering and recording process of family documents and relics, I validate you.
Excerpt taken from Genealogy X: What to Do When Researching Family History by Nicholl McGuire
Monday
Sunday
Don't Let Messiness or Laziness Get the Best of You This Week - 7 Thoughts to Consider
When you have those unwilling participants at home, work or elsewhere that just don't want to keep anything organize and could care less about your feelings, you can do the following:
1. Stop cooking in a messy kitchen. They don't want to help, they don't eat.
2. Enlist the help of others and reward those who help for their efforts initially then gradually cut back. They need to learn to do things without expecting rewards.
3. Argue until you are blue in the face with Mr. or Ms. Lazy to the point that he or she moves out.
4. Face the fact that you might be over-the-top with your tidiness and begin to scale back.
5. Enjoy your dwelling the way it is and maintain it without complaint.
6. Maybe it isn't the mess that is the problem, but the person. How about re-evaluating the relationship.
7. Say a prayer and watch for signs that God is about to turn your residence upside down--order out of chaos. However, if you are not ready for change, then keep quiet.
Nicholl McGuire
Thursday
Tuesday
One of the Most Important Things You Need to Know about Organizing
If the container, box, furniture arrangement, or new tool isn't meeting your expectations, it's not a total lost (you can always use it for something else), but the plan is a fail. Always do what you can to appease your innate desire otherwise you won't ever feel like the space is truly organized. Rework your original plan or do away with it and come up with a new one. -- Nicholl McGuire
Thursday
Thoughts on Organizing
Without motivation nothing will get done. Without a plan you can only hope and pray all will go well as you go along. Get the job done, do it right the first time and then sit back and admire the results! You can do it! If you really want whatever task to get done, you will do something to ensure your goal is met. Envision what the future will look like after you have put the time in? Make what you most want to do a priority--right now, today! Don't let me, the Internet, and nothing else hold you up, just do it!
