Hope – Page 10 – Melissa Schlies

Spring Cleaning & Telling Stories P. 2

For the first part of this post, click here. I remember the feeling of the cold medal chair frame in my hands. I was holding onto the sides of the chair as if to keep me from running out of the room. I had just told my life story. People I barely knew were weighing in. They were told to. It was part of an exercise for our counseling class; each of us had to tell our story, then share what we observed in each other’s. Not a big deal. I didn’t have a tragic or sordid past. I had gone [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-17T00:31:20+00:00March 12th, 2018|Categories: Change, Courage, Freedom, Health, Hope, Mental Health, Story|3 Comments

Lead: How to Make 2018 Awesome

Early in the morning, on New Year’s Day, Tony and I woke to the sound of the alarm going off on my phone. Through squinting eyes, I looked at its screen, so badly wanting to hit snooze. Only I couldn’t; we had a flight to catch. I clicked, “Stop,” then laid in bed staring at the ceiling. “It’s 2018,” I thought. A minute later, I rolled over and nudged Tony to make sure he was awake. Then we got up to face our long day of travel home. We braved the negative six degree weather, and made our way to [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-17T01:31:42+00:00January 11th, 2018|Categories: Courage, Hope, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Mentoring, perseverance, Purpose|Comments Off

When Old Stories Become New

Have you ever heard a story so many times that you almost stopped listening whenever it was told? You knew the story, so why listen? You had it all figured out, so why pay attention? For me, I think there are many stories like that, and one of them is the Christmas story. I have heard and told the story of Mary and Joseph in the stable so many times that there’s been seasons where it almost lost it’s meaning. But interestingly, there has been other times, where the story came alive to me all over again. Surprisingly, for me, [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-17T23:58:31+00:00December 18th, 2017|Categories: Christmas, Faith, grief, Hope, Waiting|Comments Off

Peace on (our bleeding) Earth

Our country is bleeding. The first time I realized this, I was twenty. Two planes had just torn through the twin towers in New York City. I had come out of a class at college, and was walking through the student center, when I passed a classmate who looked like he had seen a ghost. He couldn’t tell me what had happened. I walked a little further down the hall and into a lounge where people had gathered around a TV. My sheltered belief that I lived in a safe country in a relatively safe world, was shattered. The news [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-18T00:24:45+00:00December 11th, 2017|Categories: Change, Christmas, Courage, Freedom, Hope|Comments Off

Learn: When Celebrating is Courageous

It’s November. Thanksgiving will soon be here. But have you ever thought about how interesting the timing of this holiday is? Growing up near Plymouth—the actual place of the first Thanksgiving feast—as kids, we learned a lot about the Pilgrims. We learned about why they left England (and Holland) to come to the New World. And how when they landed on the shores of their new home, winter was fast approaching. They didn’t have time to plant crops, let alone to reap a harvest. Food was scarce. That first winter, people died. Those who made it to spring, made friends [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-18T00:44:24+00:00November 16th, 2017|Categories: Faith, Hope, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead|Comments Off

In Search of the Perfect Picture

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” —John Lennon More than any other social media, Instagram is to blame for any amount of time I waste in my life. Ok, any wasted time is my fault—but Instagram is usually the cause. Photo’s of my friend’s adventures or Insta-stories of people living in cool places (check out @GirlinFlorence if you want a fabulous taste of Italy)—all of it, sucks me in. Almost daily I find myself mindlessly scrolling through photo’s I have already seen, and I have to tell myself to put the phone down. Beautiful [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-18T00:49:38+00:00November 6th, 2017|Categories: Courage, Hope, Identity, perseverance, Purpose, Success|Comments Off

Learn: How I got Unstuck

To best appreciate this post, read this first. The hot July sun tried to pierce through the trees, as we made our way down the trail, only the tree cover was thick enough to keep us cool. My sister and brother-in-law were visiting us from Massachusetts, and we were showing them one of our favorite places, Ricketts Glen State Park. At this point, we had hiked the trails that pass by the majority of the waterfalls in the park, but we wanted to make a stop at Adams Falls as well. We walked down the path to the bottom, where [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-18T00:56:04+00:00October 26th, 2017|Categories: Change, Courage, Faith, Freedom, Hope, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, perseverance|Comments Off

Stuck

Six years ago, on a hot, sunny Saturday over Labor Day weekend, I stood at the top of a waterfall. I stared at the cool pool of water collecting just before spilling over the edge, and debated sticking my feet in. I didn’t hesitate long. Tony had gone further down the trail with his camera, to try and capture the waterfall from the bottom. I could see him from where I was standing, and knew I had a least a few minutes before it would be time for us to head back to camp. So, I took off my hiking [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-18T01:10:40+00:00October 23rd, 2017|Categories: Change, Courage, Fear, Freedom, Hope|Comments Off

The Changes We Don’t Want

There are the changes in life that make our hearts feel like a firework soaring into the sky on the Forth of July, about to burst into flame. Tangibly, they look like acceptance letters, job promotions, marriage proposals, or even simply being asked out over text by that person you can’t get off your mind. These changes are the simple, sometimes long-awaited moments that send our lives into new and wonderful directions. But then, there are those other changes. The ones anxiety plagues us over. The ones we pray will never happen. Yet the ones that at some point in [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-18T19:24:30+00:00October 16th, 2017|Categories: Change, Courage, Faith, grief, Hope|Comments Off

Freezing Time

Have you ever had a moment you wished could last forever? A moment that couldn’t be better even if you had planned it yourself? A day or even afternoon, you wanted time to stand still? I know I can think of a few. Like the time our entire family, flew in from all parts of the country, to celebrate Christmas together. Or more recently, when I spent a slow afternoon, sitting outside in Tuscany with Tony, finishing a bottle of Chianti Classico. Such moments are never long enough. How about a season of your life? Have you ever had a [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-18T19:29:16+00:00October 9th, 2017|Categories: Change, Hope|Comments Off

Spring Cleaning & Telling Stories P. 2

Lead: How to Make 2018 Awesome

When Old Stories Become New

Peace on (our bleeding) Earth

Learn: When Celebrating is Courageous

In Search of the Perfect Picture

Learn: How I got Unstuck

Stuck

The Changes We Don’t Want

Freezing Time

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