Secret Treasures

By Jade Archer (Guest Blogger)

Hi, Everyone! It’s wonderful to be here and once again heartfelt thanks to Lisabet Sarai for inviting me to post here today.

Today I thought I might share with you one of my life long addictions. And before anyone gets the wrong idea, I’m talking about quotes. Yep, quotes. For as long as I can remember I’ve collected them. I don’t know how strange or unusual that is, but I have quite a few books and journals full of “words of wisdom” I’ve jotted down over the years. I’ve found them hidden in a calendar, secreted in books, and the internet has certainly been my friend.

To me, finding a good quote feels a little like uncovering a secret treasure. Mostly I collect them because they mean something to me at the time. Or, if I’m really lucky, one will give me a light bulb moment—helping me to understand something about myself or the world I hadn’t appreciated before. Some have even inspired me to write stories.

Recently I rediscovered one I’ve loved for a very long time. One I thought I knew all about. And this brings me to the real joy I find in quotes and inspirational phrases. Sometimes I’ll come back to one I thought I understood and something will have changed—usually about myself and where I am in my life—and it will mean more than ever before.

Anyway, this is the particular quote I wanted to share with you today:

Hold tenderly that which you cherish ~ Bob Alberti.

As I said, one of my long time favorites. When I first stumbled upon it I think I was about six months pregnant with my second child, so for obvious reasons, I’ve always thought of it in terms of how precious my children are. I think of how blessed I am to have them in my life and how I want to end each day knowing I’ve done my best to love and care for them when I read this quote. I want each one to know by my actions that they are adored.

I know this all sounds like a fairly average sort of goal for a parent. The reality and practicalities can sometimes be more of a Herculean task in a busy working mother’s life, but really it’s pretty standard stuff. Recently, however, I began to think a little more deeply about this quote.

While it will probably always inspire thoughts of family and children first and foremost for me, I started to wonder what else it might encompass, or more specifically, whether my application had been too limited. I started to think about what are some of the other things in my life I cherish, and more importantly, how I might hold them tenderly.

To be honest, once I started thinking about it lots of things started springing to mind, making me realize just how blessed I am in my life. But there was one thing that occurred to me, one thing I cherish which I probably haven’t been doing a very good job of “holding tenderly” recently that I wanted to share with you. It’s me, or more specifically my health.

It’s not something I’ve ever really thought a lot about before. As I said, I’m a busy working mum and I don’t often find the time to focus on myself. But I’m beginning to think that might be a mistake. And quite possibly not one I’m alone in being guilty of.

I’ve blogged briefly before about having difficulty sometimes finding a healthy balance between work and play. I think I’ve finally figured out I need to start cherishing myself a little too. I need to be healthy, strong and balanced or not only am I not likely to enjoy what I’m doing, but I’m probably not going to be able to continue to do them for any length of time either!

So, I guess that’s what this blog is all about. What things do you cherish and what do you do every day to hold them tenderly, to show each and every day that you acknowledge how precious and blessed you are to have them in your lives? How much you appreciate them?

For me this year is about spending more time with each of my kids one-on-one. Writing from my heart and enjoying the process as well as the finished product. And finally…and don’t laugh…I’ve started karate lessons with the kids. A little down time for my overactive brain and a little up time for my body.

Bio: Jade Archer was born in 2010, after a prolonged pregnancy and labour of over 34 years! I’ve decided she’s about 24, enjoys long walks in the country because she doesn’t have five kids and a husband to care for, eats as much chocolate as she wants because she never has to worry about putting on weight (must be all those long walks!) and can often be found planning her next whirlwind world tour or endlessly typing away (without any interruptions) on another hot and steamy erotic romance. It might be space pirates; it might be shifters or a lonely vampire with a hunger for the girl next door, one thing’s for sure, she loves variety and can’t wait to meet the next characters destined to fall in love.

www.jadearcher.com