Fruitful Life

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Welcome to the Blaising View blog, where I share treasures I find to enrich your life now.

Dump Everyday Doldrums With a New Song for Joy

Posted by Steve Blaising8 Comments

Add joy to your soul with a new music venue.

I ordered a Jean Paul alto saxophone a week before Thanksgiving, wondering if I would remember the keys, let alone read and play music.

But, the spark to play was ignited by a desire to do something new and fresh for myself, my family, and my friends.

Through an app called Tomplay, I found terrific music and accompaniment for a holiday playlist.

  • What a Wonderful World
  • Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
  • Never My Love
  • Swan Lake-Tchaikovsky

Merriment surrounded us before Thanksgiving dinner.

My 18-month-old grandnephew was swaying while family and friends were smiling.

Then, I started thinking about how joy is launched by playing a new song.

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Dump Everyday Doldrums With a New Song for Joy

Boost Your Infrastructure This Holiday Season With Two Words

Posted by Steve Blaising4 Comments

The President signed a $1,200,000,000,000 infrastructure bill into law.

Why not sign your own “roads and bridges” bill?

Infrastructure for the soul
Under the Morning Glory Natural Bridge near Moab, Utah/Photo by Bridget Guthrie

Two words build bridges into the richest resources.

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Boost Your Infrastructure This Holiday Season With Two Words

Before you quit: Remember three keys to breakthrough

Posted by Steve BlaisingLeave a comment

Face it. Sometimes you wanna quit.

Ever feel like you’ve solved a problem and it pops right up again?

survivors don't quit

Bob Wieland’s disability is obvious.

But, he doesn’t quit.

Mine is not so obvious. A nerve issue.

Two years ago I had a neuropathy flare-up and I thought, “What else can I do?”

Reminds me of three keys for triggering breakthroughs.

We need them so we don’t lose heart.

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Before you quit: Remember three keys to breakthrough

Golden advice hiding at your great-great-grandparent’s grave

Posted by Steve Blaising8 Comments

Imagine your great-great-grandparent’s ghost giving advice at their grave.

Advice like . . .

  • cheating chaos
  • capturing happiness

Walking up to my great-great-grandad’s tombstone, I imagined the Civil War veteran whispering.

A time travel tour ensued in Austin’s oldest cemetery.

His tombstone nudged me to Google his name, Alpheus B. Nuckols, Austin, TX.

One search shows he . . .

  • was a confederate veteran from Virginia
  • moved to Texas in 1891 and opened a photography studio
  • bought a house on Eighth Street in 1898

How do you go from defeat as a Virginia confederate soldier in 1865 and grow a photography business in Texas a few years later?

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Golden advice hiding at your great-great-grandparent’s grave

Like Tom Brady, Answer 7 Questions Before You Die

Posted by Steve Blaising4 Comments

Tom Brady just answered seven questions anyone should before they die.

Tom Brady answers questions
Tom Brady Super Bowl LV/Mike Ehrman/Getty Images

In a Wall Street Journal Magazine interview (9/29/2021), Tom Brady mused over life’s biggest questions.

Here’s my take next to his condensed answers.

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Like Tom Brady, Answer 7 Questions Before You Die