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Browsing Tag

stories

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Abundance is Found in the Stories We Tell Ourselves

LiaMarch 18, 2022
Windmill with sunset in the background.

If I could name one thing with the potential to bring inner abundance to every human being—that thing would be the stories we tell ourselves.   It’s past midnight and, thanks to your thoughts, you’re still not asleep. Passport.…

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  • Home
  • Bio
  • What I’m Reading
  • Writer’s Corner
  • About
  • Contact
Blog Categories
  • Abundance
  • General
  • Grace & Grit
  • The Journey
  • Writing Craft
Recent Posts
  • Abundance is Embracing Who You Truly Are — An Exquisite Masterpiece

    • May 31, 2022
  • Abundance is Found in a Mostly Empty Four-Bedroom Farmhouse, the Title ‘Mom’, AND Hope

    • May 1, 2022
  • Windmill with sunset in the background.

    Abundance is Found in the Stories We Tell Ourselves

    • March 18, 2022
  • White Jeep underneath a full rainbow

    Abundance is Found in Surrender

    • February 26, 2022
  • Lia stands in front of a large wooden door with her hand on the handle.

    Abundance is Found Within

    • January 16, 2022
Don’t Miss To Follow Us On Instagram liakcook

liakcook

I consider myself doubly blessed to have had an am I consider myself doubly blessed to have had an amazing Dad who loved with his whole heart and who showed me how a woman should be treated, and to also have a husband who loves our kids with his whole heart and treats me like a queen. 

Happy Father’s Day to this two great men! 

#greatmen #happyfathersday
Happy Happiest of Birthdays to my first born! He i Happy Happiest of Birthdays to my first born! He is a blessing with his easygoing spirit, gentle nature, big heart, and sense of humor. I couldn’t be prouder of him and all he has accomplished. I’m praying this trip around the sun is full of blessings upon blessings, and even more blessings. 

#hemademeamom #firstborn #myson #birthdayboy #anothertriparoundthesun
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟 I’m giving ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟 

I’m giving this one six stars!

Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe’ has it all: Secrets; Complex characters; Grief and emotional wounds; Mystical passageways, a cat, and blackbirds; And a small town cafe’ with pie that brings messages from departed loved ones while you sleep. Then if that wasn’t enough, I learned from Heather’s website that her inspiration for this book came from the Beatles’ song “Blackbird.” 

I’m in a state of book euphoria from this book, and sure to read more of Heather Webber’s books. Which is why I highly recommend this captivating book!

#ilovereading #booklover #womensfiction #greatbook #heatherwebber #midnightattheblackbirdcafe
She did it!! 🎓 We are so so proud of this girl! She did it!! 🎓 We are so so proud of this girl! Congratulations, Addie Rose. 💕

Behind you, all your memories. 
Before you, all your dreams. 
Around you, all those who love you. 
Within you, all you need. 

We can’t wait to see where your dreams take you. Go do great things. 💫. #mygraduate #classof2022 #graduation #shedidit #woohoo
My NSHS grads. ‘07, ‘18, and after tomorrow ‘22. ❤️❤️❤️

#mygraduate #myheartbeats #dontblink
You get to choose your thoughts. You even get to c You get to choose your thoughts. You even get to change them.

Some circumstances are out of our control, but our thoughts are NOT. 

Understanding ourselves—our beliefs, our social conditioning, the stories we tell ourselves, and how our past experiences impact our present-day life—helps us claim states of peace & ease. 

Pay attention to your thoughts and the stories you are telling yourself. Uproot and discard any misbeliefs, disempowering conditioning, and outdated stories that keep you from living into the beautiful masterpiece you are. 

#mindset #mindsetmatters #peace  #ease #abundance
I don’t want to be the woman worried about what I don’t want to be the woman worried about what someone else thinks. I don’t want to be the woman who strives for the idea that we have to be perfect and anything less makes us flawed. 

I call bullsh**t on the lies that tell us: I’m supposed to have sixpack abs, and flawless makeup and hair; I’m supposed to drive a certain kind of car and live in a certain kind of house, and have a list of acronyms after my name; I’m flawed if my marriage isn’t perfect, or my kids don’t fit society’s standard mold of achievement.

I don’t want to be the ideal version of me that the world classifies as good enough. I want to embrace the evolving version of myself that my heart knows is already enough.

Who I Am Is Enough. Who You Are is Enough. 

I’ve heard that our flaws make us beautiful, but I think the problem is that we view the unique authentic pieces of ourselves as flaws to begin with, and especially if those unique authentic pieces don’t fit with society’s standard of perfection. 

I’m talking about this mindset on The Grace & Grit Blog. I’m getting down and dirty about how I use my gray “Angelia” binder (in the picture above) to keep me focused on being a confident woman who gives herself grace and celebrates her efforts of learning and growing and evolving as she engages with life in order to discover what she desires and needs on the journey to becoming who she really is.

What if you allowed yourself to be the fullest version of you? Would your life look any different?

#grace #doyoubooboo #youareamasterpiece #selflovejourney #selfcompassion #selftrust
I met this girl in Kindergarten. She became my bes I met this girl in Kindergarten. She became my best friend, my sister, my family. Her mom became my other “Mom.” Our boys became friends. And our husband’s are fishing buddies. 

Today I was blessed to see her and celebrate her son’s wedding with her. Thank God for lifelong friends. 

*My other Mom took this first picture and captioned it, "I'm telling you Christy, I know that girl over there is flirting with Dwayne and Tony!" 😂 This sounds just like something we would say. 

She also took the second picture and captioned it, " Oh hey Mama. How long have you been standing there?” #bestfriends #lifelongfriends #mysecondfamily #mysecondmom #goodtimes
My editor has mentioned this book several times as My editor has mentioned this book several times as being her favorite book. Being that I’ve liked every story she’s ever recommended, and the fact that she knows the elements of what makes a good story I wanted to read this book for myself. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

LEAVING TIME is a masterfully woven tale about grief, love, and our innate desire to belong. Jenna Metcalf lost her mother in a tragic accident when she was only three. Now at thirteen, Jenna longs to know the truth about that accident and why her mother would have abandoned her. Jenna enlists a private detective and a Psychic to help her piece together the detailed memories she has as a little girl, the personal knowledge she’s gained about her mother from her mother’s journals, and the hard evidence Jenna has so keenly obtained about that mysterious night. In true Picoult fashion, you will go on a journey with these characters as you learn about elephants and Jenna’s mother’s grief research with elephants, and relationships and motives, and hard evidence and unexplainable evidence, and how grief and a mother’s love are intertwined in Jenna’s journey to discover the truth.  #iamreading #ilovebooks📚 #jodipicoult #getlostinabook
I got outside of my comfort zone today—Waaaay ou I got outside of my comfort zone today—Waaaay outside of my comfort zone by participating in the MudGirl Race with my daughter and all the other badass women who showed up and challenged themselves. There were 17 obstacles with mud galore. We crawled through mud, and climbed over mud, and when I reached out for Addie’s hand on one of the slides she tricked me and pushed me into the muddy water waiting below. I love my girl!

Here’s a shoutout to the lady with the prosthetic pushing forward on that muddy trail; that lady beside me on the muddy crawl who pointed out that “we in the military now;” all the amazing volunteers cheering us on at every station; and the guy in the pink tutu leading the warmups and inspiring us all to go have fun. #pinkarmy #pinkarmy5k #pinkarmystrong
These were the only images I captured for Mother’s Day. I missed the opportunity to snap a photo of my mom with my boys (My daughter worked a double yesterday serving other moms and their families since she was off Saturday for her senior prom), or a photo of Dwayne with our boys, or even myself with the ones I love—because I was so in the moment with them. Which is a good thing, right?

Asheville was cool and damp yesterday. The low clouds that hung over the tops of the mountains lifted as the sun rose higher in the sky. 

Lunch with my family was full of conversation and good food and laughter. And the ride along the parkway and the moment we pulled off to find @thebandwatkins and his guitar and his lyrics about ‘this time being different’, along with the woman doing yoga, the view courtesy of God’s great hand, and my people were and always will be enough. 

Still the feeling of lost opportunity over the uncaptured photos dawned on me when I logged on to social media and scrolled through all the smiling faces of moms and families. I even saw photos and heartfelt posts about individuals missing their moms and grandmas, and posts about fractured relationships that make Mother’s Day difficult for others. Again, I had moments and experiences with my people but these posts only heightened my regret over not taking a picture of these snapshots in time. 

Why? Do I really need photos to prove to myself or anyone else that I had special moments with my 83 year-old mother, my husband, and my sons? Or was this desire of capturing these moments on film really about a fear that one day these moments, these people won’t exist and these photos will be the only reminder of this time with my loved ones? 

Social media, the fear of missing out (FOMO), and Comparisonitis can all steal our joy if we forget that our real happiness is found living in the moment and savoring our experiences and the time we have with the ones we love on the real-life side of the screen. 

#fomo #comparisonisthethiefofjoy #joyfulmoments #liveinthemoment #soakitallin
Senior prom. ❤️ #mysenior #seniorprom #isntshe Senior prom. ❤️ #mysenior #seniorprom #isntshelovely #dontblink #timepleaseslowdown
Happy Mother’s Day Weekend! Being a mom is a b