Beth Wilson

(Please leave a comment at my site link:  http://bheretoday.com/2012/04/want-to-know-how-to-mind-your-own-business-drop-the-kitty/)

As a kid, we heard our parents tell us to keep our nose where it belonged.

We heard our playground playmates tell us to mind our own bees wax.

My mother used to tell me to tend to my own knitting.

Of course, thanks to Twitter, we have MYOB.

In recovery rooms, we’re advised to stay behind our belly buttons, to not pay attention to anything beyond the end of our own nose, and my personal favorite:

Stay within your hula hoop.

I’ve been hearing that one a lot lately.

Seriously, do we not have enough going on in our own lives that we have to insert ourselves in somebody else’s business?

Like, who died and made us the be-all and know-all?  (Remember that one?)

I swear if I never hear the phrase, “If I were you, I would _______ (fill in the blank)” it will be too soon.

One day, my friend Megan and I were chatting about how all “those” people offer unwanted (and often uncalled for) advice.  We decided that “they” were determined to infringe on our right to make our own decisions.  We just knew that “those” self-righteous people were out to make our lives miserable with their so-called good intentions.

Megan said, “We should just tell them all to drop the kitty.”

Huh?

Here’s the story, as told by my wise and witty friend:

I started leaving cat food out on my front porch for a very small, bright white cat after a neighbor moved away and left it roaming the neighborhood. I named the kitty James Brown because every time he meowed, it sounded like the singer screaming his song, “I feel good!”

When I first saw he’d been abandoned, I told James Brown he was welcome to live with us if he could get along with my 90-pound dog, Jake. I let the cat in the house, and after several very fast and noisy laps of chase, we made the mutual decision that JB could not be in the house.  

James Brown returned outdoors and each day I’d fill the cat food bowl on the front porch for him. After a few days, I noticed a huge gray cat bullying James Brown off the porch to eat the food. I asked the bully cat politely not to do that anymore.

The second time I chased the bully cat away, I told him that if he didn’t stop, that my very large dog would do the honors next time.

The third day the bully cat was there eating the cat food, and simply wanting to scare him off, I  opened the front door and jokingly called,  ”Jake. Get the Kitty.”

Jake ran onto the front porch,  clamped his huge jaws around the bully cat and started shaking him side to side. A friend was visiting, and both of us yelled at the top of our lungs, “JAKE! DROP THE KITTY! DROP THE KITTY!”

Jake did drop the kitty and James Brown was never bullied again.

The moral of the story?

The next time you’re inclined to bully your way into someone else’s business, jump back in the circle of your hula hoop, mind your own bees wax and drop the kitty!

Well, at least it’s the first time for me and my blog B Here Today!

Here’s an excerpt from the announcement, posted on April Fools’ Day:

I always thought there was a better reason to celebrate April 1.

It represents the beginning of my birthday month!

This year, I want to celebrate my birthday month with ALL of  cyberspace!

And, I want to give YOU birthday gifts!

(I promise this is not an April Fools joke.)

Here’s the Scoop (Make it Baskin Robbins World Class Chocolate, Please.)

I’m starting a contest today and there are no fools allowed so there’s no way you can be foolish on April Fools’ Day!

Here’s how the contest will work:  When you subscribe to this blog site (by completing your name and email address on the home page), your name gets thrown into my baseball cap (in honor of the second best thing to happen in the month of April–the start of Major League BaseballSeason!).

Quite honestly, I’m really proud of the new look of B Here Today and I want more people to know about it.  The new BHT unveiling happens to coincide with my birthday month so I thought, why not share the news for a whole month? When you subscribe, the gifts automatically begin to hit your email box.

Birthday Gifts for You

First, you’ll receive my brand new, first-ever, e-book, B Here On Purpose, nearly 30 pages of how to apply mindfulness in day-to-day situations.  Then, for the first seven days after you subscribe, you’ll receive a special email about being present in areas of your life, like at work, in nature, with your finances and with your animals.

The contest itself will run throughout the entire month of April.   On May 1, I’ll draw the lucky winner’s name out of the hat and that person will win a $100 Amazon gift card!

. . . it is a re-birth.

I’m proud and pleased to announce that I’ve re-launched my blog, B Here Today, with the lofty goal of enlightening the universe.

Kidding, of course!

The new look is meant to invite readers to soften themselves a bit and settle in to a place where they can become more aware of each of the 1,440 moments that occupy their day.  Here’s a bit of the introductory post for the “new” blog:

Simply put, every day is filled with a whole bunch of choices unique to each of us.  Some of us are in recovery from addictions; some of us don’t struggle with addictions but do want to live a deeper, more grounded spiritual life.  Regardless, the consequences of our choices are determined by our ability to align our inner world with what is going on outside of us.

I don’t know about you, but for me, keeping my psyche in alignment is about as easy as keeping my spine perfectly aligned day in and day out.

Joining the B Here Today community is a much better return on your investment (since it’s free!):  I should know since I’m currently paying a chiropractor–albeit a holistic one–a significant amount of money to whip me into shape.  (Want to view more? Click link to the full post http://bheretoday.com/2012/03/ta-da-the-new-b-here-today/.)

Please visit, subscribe, leave a comment or all of the above!  http://www.bheretoday.com

My blog site, B Here Today, (http://bheretoday.com) now includes bi-weekly posts.  Mindful Monday is a first-of-workweek sharing of five inspirational quotes set against a nature photo.  The package is usually wrapped around a theme; one week the idea is “Five Mindful Ideas for Your Work Week” and another week it’s “Five Healing Thoughts About Letting Go.”

Whereas Mindful Monday is meant to be a short weekly kick-off, Thursday Thread is a longer, more thought-provoking post.  Recent subjects include “Balancing Grief With Love,” thoughts on the one-year anniversary of my mother’s death; “A Sober Horse Thief,” about random pieces of advice heard in 12-step meetings, and “Personally, It’s All Personal,” a collection of several of my favorite go-to words of wisdom channels.

Thursday Thread is also where I welcome guest posts like the first one, “Can We Learn to Live in the Moment” by Cathy Taughinbaugh of treatment talk.org.

My work has also been featured recently in two of my favorite places.  A post about being in love with yourself was the write-in anonymous guest on Mastin Kipp’s The Daily Love on August 30 and on September 1, my article, “Double Rainbows & The Present Moment” hit inboxes in the third issue of the incredible Wild Sister Magazine.

All in the same week I had my appendix removed!

It’s a great life, this writer’s life, and a great time to write.

September is National Recovery Month and since recovery from addictions is one of my passions, I’d love to write an article or blog post for you.  My email address is bheretoday.bethw@gmail.com.

I always knew this day would arrive, although at the age of 10 (or whenever a little girl first scribbles that little salutation, “Dear Diary,”), I sure didn’t think this day would take 40 years to arrive.

No matter.  Some would say the day arrived just in time, or just when it was supposed to.  I happen to be one of those people who believes timing is always just right.  And this announcement is fitting for the represented freedom of the July 4th holiday weekend.

I am a freelance writer and editor who has a passion for all things purposeful.  In other words, every piece I write will be created On Purpose.  I’ve said for years that words are my life and I’m excited to finally present my writing business, B Here On Purpose, to the world.

You’ll learn much more about me very soon, about my writing style, writing history and the writing services I can provide  today.  In the meantime, please see my personal blog, B Here Today at http://bheretoday.com for a glimpse into what drives me on my purpose as a writer.