Day 151: Oh my gosh! I hope I know what I'm doing!-- Bernard

Oh my gosh! I hope I know what I'm doing!-- Bernard, The Rescuers Down Under

This comes to us when Bernard gets a crazy idea to help Cody, Marahute, Miss Bianca and Jake. Bernard is normally one who does not go out on a limb or his comfort zone to do anything.

Normally for this Saturday's post there would be a song. However, The Rescuers Down Under has no lyrical songs, only the score, even on the soundtrack. The 3 songs on the soundtrack are actually from the 1977 The Rescuers. So I picked this rather fitting quote.

Have you ever been in a situation where you've said this? Perhaps it was when you were learning something new. Have you ever felt like you were thrown straight into the fire and had no training? I can't tell you how many times I've said this particular quote. Sometimes it's when I'm placed in a new job location that uses some of my previously learned skills. Other times, it's when I'm trying to make something. Even when it comes to my blog and YouTube channel I've said this. I've had periods where I'll start something then back off because I don't see the results I need. Then I'll take it from a new angle, hoping something will work. I also hope that I look like I know what I'm doing because I don't always know what I'm doing. Have you ever felt like that?

Sometimes the best outcomes have come from taking a chance and a leap of faith. When I started my blog and YouTube channel 4 years ago I never thought I would be able to say I'm a blogger and a YouTuber with a Patreon page. All I have is a dream, a bunch of ideas and even more prayers to hit my goals. There's so much information nowadays on how to have a blog or a YouTube channel or a Patreon page and more. Yet there's no clear set of rules to follow. Sure there's the community rules set forth by the main website's owners of what the content can be, but there's no one way to make it. You just pick a topic that you know, make a plan and dive right in and hope it all works out. If it works great, if not look for a new angle and try again and hope you know what you're doing.

Until next time, Keep Cooking with Character!

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Day 150: Now, now Cody, we mustn't lose hope.-- Bianca

Now, now Cody, we mustn't lose hope.-- Bianca, The Rescuers Down Under

This reassuring quote comes to us when Cody, Marahute, Bianca and Jake are being transported to McLeach's hideout. Miss Bianca keeps holding onto her hope that Bernard will find some way to free them.

One of my most favorite things in the Disney animated feature films is that there is always that underlying theme of Hope and holding onto it when things look their darkest. I know it's also hard to find when things look so  hopeless, such as when it looked almost certain that no one would free Marahute, Cody and the little mice or if you look at any newspaper today.

How do you look for hope? Do you look for it in a movie that deals with a situation similar to your own? Do you look for it in others? Have you had someone ask you to give them hope? Did you give someone hope without realizing it? Have you ever given yourself hope without realizing it?

One of my most favorite things is when I'm not looking for hope, yet I find it. Last year when I started to continue my DisneyQuotes365 project, I was going through a real rough patch in my life. I turned to finding different quotes and speak about each one. As I did, some days I would sit outside under the oak tree by the house to work on them and have a beautiful red cardinal or his equally gorgeous mate. I also saw this beautiful cardinal family when I'd leave for work or come home. Sometimes I'd get lucky and see a blue jay or two. Just seeing those birds kept me going and keep the hope that my situation would get better. Thankfully it did. I was able to move away and get into a new place with much better roommates. When I was in the middle of moving, my car starter fried so I had to take the bus from my old place to my new as my car was getting fixed. As I walked from the house to the nearest bus stop a mile away with a duffel bag full of my things, my little cardinal friend kept flitting from branch to branch as if he was trying to guide me along and say "Keep going you can do this". Then after I got off the final bus to walk to my new apartment, there was another little red cardinal that flew right along side me the entire way and didn't fly away until he saw I was safely inside. In the year since, I've seen my little cardinal friend and some beautiful mockingbirds from time to time. I don't always go looking for hope, yet every time I see my little bird friends, I have it. It's almost like they know I need it, even when it feels like I either don't need it or I can't find it. Have you ever come across an animal that always seems to cross your path when you need hope the most?

Until next time, don't lose hope and Keep Cooking with Character!

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Day 149: Gotta learn to be more assertive. No is no is NO!-- Wilbur

Gotta learn to be more assertive. No is no is NO!-- Wilbur, The Rescuers Down Under

This comes to us when Bernard tries to convince Wilbur to sit on and protect Marahute's eggs. Bernard gives Wilbur a look that causes the bird to try and object. In the end, Wilbur ends up protecting the eggs and he makes this observation.

Have you ever had someone ask you to do something but you really didn't want to do it? Perhaps they asked you to do something you couldn't physically do. Did you tell them yes or no? If you told them no originally, did you cave and tell them yes under pressure or stick to your guns?

As Wilbur found out the hard way he needs to stick to his guns, it's really hard to say no to a friend and stick to it. Sometimes it's easy to say no. Other times it feels down right impossible since people love to please others. Yet it has to be done sometimes. Have you ever felt like "No" or "not now" is impossible to say? They always say the hardest thing to do is not always the easiest one. I myself struggle with when to say no and when not to. I've also had trouble sticking to my guns. I've also lost friends over saying "no", "no more", and just sticking up for myself. It was really hard to deal with at first, then I realized that those friends kept doing things in a pattern after they left and things started to get better after they left. I don't like that I lost some friends I thought I was close with, but I realize that it had to happen for a reason. I recently came across an internet meme that says "I want to see you eat, just not at my table".  It sums up how I feel about things now. Yet I've also said no and I've not lost friends. So I've seen both sides of it and understand it a little more.

So until next time, don't be afraid to stick up for yourself  and as always Keep Cooking with Character!

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Day 148: Has anyone considered trying "open sesame"?-- Jake

Has anyone considered trying "open sesame"?-- Jake, The Rescuers Down Under

Later on in their quest to free Cody and Marahute, the golden eagle, from the evil poacher McLeach, Miss Bianca, Bernard and Jake come to McLeach's hideout. The three tiny mice tried to open the massive door. Since nothing they tried worked, Jake made this observation.

Have you ever said "open sesame" when you were trying to open something? Did it open when you said it. Perhaps it stayed stuck tight. I always get a good laugh when I say it and it opens since I don't expect it.

The phrase "Open Sesame" has been around for several hundred years. It is the book "One Thousand and One Nights" in the story "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves". In the story, there is a band of 40 thieves who have a massive amount of gold and treasure hidden inside a cave that is magically sealed by a rock that can only be opened by saying "Open sesame". Ali Baba, a common woodworker, finds out about this cave and the password as does his brother Cassim and chaos ensues. What kind of chaos you may be wondering? You'll have to pick up a copy of the book to find out. I will warn you it's no Grimm fairy tale!

So until next time, Keep Cooking with Character!

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Day 147: If I were any more relaxed, I'd be dead!!!-- Wilbur

If I were any more relaxed, I'd be dead!!!-- Wilbur, The Rescuers Down Under

This stressed-out zinger comes to us when Wilbur is in an old ambulance a bunch of mice are using as a hospital. He managed to throw his back out while he was picking up Miss Bianca and Bernard's suitcases. In this scene we find out that Wilbur has a terrible fear of needles and doctors. The doctor tells him that he needs to relax and Wilbur tells him this in reply.

No matter how you slice it, this quote is one that suggests you're not as relaxed as you could be and feel like the only time you'll be truly relaxed is when you're dead. Have you ever been told to relax when you felt like you couldn't no matter how hard you tried? How do you cope with trying to relax in a stressful situation? Perhaps, like Wilbur, you're being forced to confront a fear or two and you can't get around it, like say going to the doctor. Do you stay wound up tighter than a buffalo drum or can you hide how nervous you are long enough to get through things?

I'm not going to lie. I'm a lot like Wilbur in the sense that going to the doctors makes me more nervous and jumpy as a pole cat. So does being around needles that aren't sewing needles among other places and times. Weird I know. I've found that if I need to relax or calm my anxieties about things, I use the 5-4-3-2-1 method of calming down. I'm pretty sure if Wilbur knew this method, he would have been calmer. It may help you as well. What you do is find 5 things you can look for, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell and 1 thing you can taste. I've had to use this on multiple occasions. So I know it works. I usually end up forgetting the actual 5-to-1 things and end up finding 5 things I can see, 4 things I can touch, 3 things I can hear, 2 things I can smell and think of 1 positive thought.

Another thing I use, especially if I'm driving and stuck in rush hour traffic, is putting on Billy Gilman and Mattie J.T. Stepanek's 2003 song "I Am/ Shades of Life" and focus on looking for the diffrent colors and singing along to the song. The chorus is perfect for recentering and de-stressing because it has the perfect melody (upbeat yet relaxing) and tells you where to look with a wonderful message.

This is the chorus:

"The color of sky

Is blues and grays

The color of earth

Is greens and browns

The color of hope

Is rainbows and purple

And the color of peace

Is people together

Shades of life"

As I look to the sky and the earth, I can almost always find those colors. If I'm really lucky, I get to see rainbows and double rainbows! That song, written by Mattie J.T. Stepanek and sung by Billy Gilman, has a great message that we as people are many things and the only way to live in peace is if we all come together as one. I'm not sure if, when Mattie first wrote I Am/Shades of Life, he knew that it would help people in the way it has. It's not a well-known song, yet it's one that I feel more people should hear. If you'd like to watch it, the video is here on his mother's YouTube channel. Hopefully it will help calm you as it does me. Are there any types of music that you listen to that helps recenter and relax you? 

So until next time, try to stay as relaxed as you can and Keep Cooking with Character!

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Day 146: That's all I need, five more minutes.-- Wilbur

 That's all I need, five more minutes.-- Wilbur, The Rescuers Down Under

This gem comes to us when Miss Bianca tries to wake Wilbur the Albatross so they could continue their trip from New York City to Mugwomp Flats, Australia. He fell asleep on the "connection with a bigger bird", which was a plane to take them across the Pacific Ocean to the Sydney, Australia airport. He did not want to wake up but eventually did.

Do you wake up easily? Perhaps you're like me and need "5 more minutes" of sleep. Are you more of a morning person or a night owl? Do you need just 1 alarm to wake up or do you need several "wake up calls"?

I myself am a "5 more minutes" night owl. I cannot stand waking up early and function better later at night. I've always been that way ever since I was a little girl. I usually set about 5-10 alarms give or take and depending on how early I have to get up. If I have to wake up before 11a it's usually close to 10 alarms and I sleep through over half of them. If it's anything after noon usually 3-5 will work. If it's after 3p I can wake up naturally, though I'll set an alarm or two if I just need a post-lunch nap for whatever reason. I've also found that if I fall asleep too early I'll wake up an hour or two later then have a hard time getting back to sleep. Sometimes I will sleep for a majority of the day and I'll admit I've slept between 20-24 hours before. Usually I would battle my depression with sleep. Lately my sleep has been a mix of sleeping most of the day and having so much energy because my inner batteries have been fully recharged and I want and need to move and do things. Gotta love the "safer at home" orders!

Would you look at the time? I'm going to need another 5 more minutes if I don't get to sleep soon. So until next time, Keep Cooking with Character!

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