I recently struck up an extended conversation with a man I barely knew.  He was eager to talk and almost seemed as if no one had asked him how he was doing in years.  The conversation actually broke my heart.  At the beginning of the chat, the man was jovial and energetic—he was really putting on his best face for me (a stranger).  Then, as I continued to ask questions about his life and respond to his tales, he became increasingly melancholy.  I soon realized that this man was completely weighed down by regret.  He spent his days looking back at the past instead of looking forward.  I hoped that our conversation would help relieve his burden and put some of his pain behind him, but as it came to a close he began to apologize for having had it at all.  Sadly, our conversation had just become one more thing that he regretted.   I reached out and touched his hand and told him that I didn’t regret our chat at all.  He smiled at me, but I could still see worry in his creased, aging eyes.  I would have loved to have lightened his load, but I realized that life is about our own personal journeys and only we can decide if we want to look forward or look backward.  We are all human, and we will inevitably make mistakes.  I guess the key to happiness is whether we choose to learn from our mistakes and move on or let our mistakes dictate how we live our lives and think about ourselves. 

Beth

I laughed out loud when I read Kristy’s last blog entry. She is a funny lady and I adore her, but Kristy and I view wrinkles a little differently. I am sure she would say that our views differ because I am 32, and maybe she’s right (I hope she’s not!). I am definitely showing signs of aging, but I am growing fond of these “expression” lines! I consider them to be the road map—if you will—of the life that I have lived! The parentheses around my mouth, the lines at the corners of my eyes, and the deep lines in my forehead clearly show that I have expressed every emotion inside of me often and with gusto! I am a firm believer that the life you live on the inside shows on the outside. We will all age and I think it’s important for us to accept and embrace that as a wonderful gift that comes with wisdom, clarity, and calm (and a few wrinkles). Plus, trying to fight wrinkles with procedures like face lifts and botox doesn’t seem to be working on anyone–just take a look at some of the faces in Hollywood! The thing that we should do as a society is promote aging (especially in women) as a beautiful thing! Have you ever noticed that leading men in Hollywood are still playing sex symbol roles well into their sixties—and even into their seventies (just look at Sean Connery)? But, how many older women do you see on the big (or small) screen who are still being portrayed as sexy and beautiful? And you can’t answer that question with someone like Demi Moore, in my opinion, because she spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on plastic surgery trying to make herself look 25. There aren’t many on your list, are there? We can change that! Let’s all start valuing aging in our society as a beautiful, natural thing! To me, passion is what makes someone beautiful! Here’s to being passionate about a life well lived! And, Kristy, I think you’re gorgeous…inside and out!

Much Love,

Beth

It’s time for the holiday season once again! This is the time of year when families come together to celebrate. I am very blessed; the members of my family love to spend time together year round! I really think that my family is truly remarkable and I love them dearly. We do things together that most people don’t have the opportunity to do. My grandmother has done an incredible job of keeping this family very close and making sure that we spend fun, creative time together. Every Easter, Grandmother dresses up like the Easter Bunny and hides eggs for our family. And it isn’t just an ordinary Easter egg hunt! No, she plans several different themed hunts that involve money, bible stories and prizes! A few days before Christmas, we all dress up in matching sweatshirts, ride around town in a trolley, and take gifts to different families while singing Christmas carols (in four part harmony, no less). On Christmas Eve, we all come together for dinner and Santa even comes for a visit! We always celebrate birthdays, special events, and even not-so-major holidays together. This past year, we all came together for lunch on Father’s Day. We then formed two teams and played an awesome game of softball in my grandparents’ yard (yes, my family is big enough to form two teams). We had such a blast and played until we were all dripping in sweat!  It is a memory I will always cherish. Anyway, here is a picture of the entire Troutman family! It was taken on Easter Sunday of this year. I am crazy about my family and consider myself very lucky. I’d love to see your family photos and hear about your family traditions!
Beth

I don’t know about you, but I am a BIG fan of journaling! I have 12 Composition notebooks completely full and sitting on my bookshelf. I’ve been writing in my journal—coffee cup in hand– since I was about 22. I find that it helps me solve problems, it (now) keeps my husband from having to listen to me vent (a thing most husbands don’t do well), and it’s an emotional snapshot—if you will—of a particular day in my life. However, just the other day, I decided that I needed to change my approach to the entire process. I realized that most of what I have been writing over the last decade had to do with negatives that pop up in the course of a given day or week—relationship troubles, work troubles, family troubles, friendship troubles, confusing situations. There was very little about all the great things that happen in my daily life. I am a firm believer in the power of positive thinking. I think that our minds are capable of far more than our modern culture has us believe. I have always been very positive and extremely focused when it comes to the big picture (mostly my short-term and long-term goals). But, I didn’t realize that I wasn’t doing a great job of focusing on the positive when it came to the day-to-day chronicling of my life in my journal. So, I decided to do something about that; and as a result, I’ve started something that I absolutely love! I write about my day, my thoughts, and my emotions. Then, I write down the situations that occur during the day that made my thoughts go negative. I come up with solutions for dealing with those situations more positively so that I’ll be prepared the next time something similar occurs (life’s all about self improvement, right?). Lastly, I list (at least) 10 things that went really well, made me smile, made me laugh, or just gave me a good feeling deep inside during the course of my day. I list things big and small—my awesome morning cup of coffee, the sweet phone message from my husband, the jokes that Kristy and I share on the set, or the fact that my sister-in-law is pregnant! It has made a HUGE difference in my everyday life. I am actually even surprised at what an impact it has had on me. The more often I do this, the easier it is for me to find (and focus on) all the great things that happen. I find that I feel anything is possible! It has literally helped my life skyrocket! We have so many wonderful things that go on in the course of our days, but we have been trained to focus on the negative—the drama! If we focus on the drama, the more drama we will attract. Have you ever noticed that? The same is also true for the times we focus on happiness. Anyway, this was just something I wanted to share. I would love for you to try it out and let me know if it changes your life!
Much Love,
Beth

Hi, Everyone!
I wanted to send my first post out into the great void that is cyberspace. This is my first Blog experience, believe it or not! I sometimes feel like I was born during the wrong time period. Technology often baffles me and often makes me feel like we are losing that personal touch that face-to-face communication provides. We could technically go through our entire day without REALLY having to interact with another human being. We hop in our cars at the beginning of the day perfectly protected from other commuters by glass and steel. Then, we stop at the gas pump and fill our tanks by simply inserting a credit card. We leave the petrol station and head to the bank to deposit some cash. All we have to do is insert the bills into a slot and somehow our money ends up where it is supposed to go. Now, it’s off to the office! Yes, there are lots of people there whom we call co-workers, but most of our communication happens over email and instant messaging—even if the guy we’re emailing is in the cubicle next to us, right? Somehow the art and joy of real communication is getting lost in the mix—AND, lost in translation! Have you had that experience where you send an email or a text that you intend as positive– or, at the very least, neutral—but the recipient misinterprets the tone and suddenly drama ensues? It can be quite frustrating and can take hours to resolve. That’s the trouble with this “short-hand” version of human interaction. I love living in a world (and having a job) where I get to engage people in conversation! But, “they” tell me I also need to (at least) try my hand at the communication styles of the twenty-first century—so, let’s get some interesting blog “conversations” going! I also challenge you to reach out to as many people as possible today in a face-to-face scenario. Go INSIDE the gas station and pre-pay. Ask the store associate how his/her day is going and REALLY make eye contact. Strike up a conversation with the lady (or gent) in line in front of you at the grocery store. Take that co-worker you always email (but don’t really know) out to lunch and find out about his/her life. You’ll be surprised by how wonderful you will feel—and by how wonderful you could make someone else feel. It’s a simple way to make your mark on this planet AND make a mark on the life of another human being. I’d love to hear your stories after you try this—especially if you live in a big city! Here’s to trying new things!

Much Love,

Beth