I have a mate who would say “it is good to have a party at your place, as you spend time getting the yard good and getting ready.”
I can only agree with that.  We are having friends over for Christmas and Merril and I spent yesterday doing phase one of getting ready.  We spent most of the day doing bits and pieces in the shed where we are going to have Christmas dinner.  After that we went and picked up a few things which we added to our set up.
Today is a big day too.  I am having breaky early (Tuesday not Thursday) with a mate.  Merril will be doing some banking and grocery shopping. After that we will both get some other things for Christmas dinner.  I have some more mowing to do which I will do late in the day when it is cooler.  Merril will be cooking.
We were blessed yesterday as we were working out the back.  I went in to get a drink of water and saw our neighbour from across the road wipper snipping our front paths.  They needed it.   What amazed me is I went and got another drink later and there he was on his ride on doing our front verge.  I just need to blow the grass cuttings from the front paths now.
We had raided our Christmas box in the shed and found some cards.  I filled one out and went across the road and said thank you and gave them a card.  We had a nice chat and I came home. 
What amazes me in a good way is they do stuff without drawing attention to themselves.  I find that really unusual.  Many like to blow their own trumpet when doing favours.  Of course, when I go and see them the guy likes to tell me how powerful the likes of his wipper sniper is.  That is ok as it is a small price to pay to see things done.
So here we are bright and early.  I notice Merril is up and we both have a big day planned.

The ol brain to me plays a huge roll in what I can and will achieve.  It seems right that as I think of myself, I am.  It really seems to me to be like the old saying, ‘two men looked through prison bars, one saw mud, the other stars.”
I remember hearing a story that went something like a guy was bed bound in hospital.  Each day his mate in hospital in the same ward would go to the window and describe what he saw.  Gardens, people, traffic, shops, houses. Eventually he died.  As a matter of interest, the bed bound guy asked someone to look out the window for him.  Turned out the first guy was blind.  There was just a wall.   He was simply painting a picture of what he saw in his mind’s eye.
For me it really matters what I see in my minds eye.  That determines how far I can go or if I see myself as domed to a life of drudgery.  The way I see myself matters.  It can seem fanciful, or a bit out there, but it works.
It is one of the reasons visualization has taken on a key role in achieving these days.  I knew someone who had a mental issue, and they would visualize the worst.  No matter if their experience was positive, they would visualize something that never happened that was guaranteed to take the gloss off the event.  It was around that time I learned the brain cannot distinguish between what is real and what is imagined if it is associated with strong emotions.
I do not adhere to imagining I am the best in the world as, unless really talented, that may be a bridge too far.  I do adhere to imagining me being the best I can be.
I have a fairly simple roll but I imagine being the best I can be.  I welcome people to our church.  To me rocking up to a new place can be a daunting exercise.  I admire those that do it.  My role I feel is to make people feel welcome.  To make a fuss of them.  It is not a persona I take on and take off.  It is a part of me.  I feel to improve my abilities.  That involves visualizing before hand.  It involves praying before hand.
Having done that, I feel what I do is just an extension of what I already do and my aim is to take it further so that others have the best experience they can when coming to our fellowship.
So for me it is a matter of being the best I can be and employing any workable caring means to achieve it.

I hear it a lot.  Being stretched.  I thought of that when I read this in the James Clear email. “You should attempt things that are difficult enough to guarantee some early embarrassment, but important enough that long-term regret is unlikely.  Trying something difficult will usually make you look foolish or inexperienced. That’s fine. That's the cost of learning. But if it's important to you, then you'll work through the early failures and — even if things ultimately change shape or don't work out — you'll never regret going for it."
They reckon such things are good for the brain.  Often older folk are doing cross words and taking on new tasks.  Not just because they enjoy such things but often just to exercise the brain.
I feel the line “You should attempt things that are difficult enough to guarantee some early embarrassment…” is something since my stroke is an ever-present reality.  I do public things like speaking or getting to know others and the whole time I know I am vulnerable to embarrassment.  It can be emotional or physical, but it is an out there thing.
But it is what the email goes on to say that for me makes it all worthwhile.  “…but important enough that long-term regret is unlikely.”  When I speak in public it is not for the sake of talking, or hearing my own voice, or trying to impress others.  It is because I feel I have something worth saying that will help another.  Others of course may dispute that, but it is why I am willing to suffer potential embarrassment.
For me it is always a case of “it is better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all.”  That matters to me a lot.  So often I feel like I am “out there.” Yet there are few better feelings than to be out there and it comes off.
The only “bad” experience is one unlearned from.  Even embarrassment is a potential learning experience when I am open to it.  Never enjoyable but so worth it.  No matter what, being stretched is always potentially valuable.