The Resolute Woman

Author: resolutewoman

  • The dog days of summer

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    resolutewoman
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    It’s hot in Dallas. The dog days of summer—“the hot, sultry period of summer between early July and early September”—aptly describes the season in Texas. My dog Ginger understands perfectly how to survive in the dog days of summer. She’s up early and ready for a morning walk, but she’s content to spend most of…

  • Christmas in August

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    resolutewoman
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    I am a bit embarrassed to admit what I found in a back corner of my closet. A stack of Christmas cards from 1998. Yes, 1998. Surely, I’ve cleaned that corner of my closet since 1998. Perhaps, I cleaned my closet, discovered that stack of Christmas cards, ran out of time and stashed the bag…

  • Wisdom from Sally Ride

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    resolutewoman
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    Sally Ride, who died on July 23, 2012, was this country’s first woman in space. She also started a foundation to promote science education and to encourage young women to study science. “All adventures, especially into new territory, are scary,” she once said. I read this quote in the August 6, 2012, issue of People…

  • Contemplation and action

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    resolutewoman
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    When we found out that my daughter Ranna was going to the hospital for treatments every afternoon for two months, my first reaction was panic. How could I change my business schedule so that I could take Ranna to the hospital every afternoon? After a few minutes, I calmed down and thought about the five…

  • Accepting life as it is

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    resolutewoman
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    I have good news. My daughter who has been struggling with breast cancer and its complications for 1-1/2 years is now getting a series of new treatments. We have hope that these treatments for two hours a day, five days a week for two months will be a turning point and that they will help…

  • Ready to make a change?

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    resolutewoman
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    If you want to change jobs or change a habit, first take time for precontemplation and contemplation. That’s the lesson I learned recently during a presentation about James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente’s Trans-theoretical Theory of Behavior Change. Prochaska and DiClemente outline five steps to making changes. Precontemplation—which involves becoming aware that you need to make…

  • The struggle for dignity

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    resolutewoman
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    Horton Foote won an Oscar for Best Screenplay for To Kill a Mockingbird and wrote many plays about the struggles of ordinary people. In his biography Horton Foote—America’s Storyteller, author Wilborn Hampton explains that, while he was growing up in Wharton, Texas, Foote listened and “stored away all of the stories that would one day…

  • Another year, another birthday

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    resolutewoman
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    My birthday is approaching. “I can’t believe I’m this old,” I told my husband the other day. However, every time I start to feel a bit depressed about the inevitable, I remember my wise friend Jane, who was my roommate the summer I worked in Boston. It seems amusing now, but back then I was…

  • The power of fantasy

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    resolutewoman
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    When my children were younger, they sometimes asked for the impossible. I remember one summer when they both decided that they wanted to go to Six Flags Over Texas and they wanted to go immediately. Because I was a single mother on a limited budget, my first reaction was to feel sad. I don’t remember…

  • Why do people love you?

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    resolutewoman
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    When Eleanor Roosevelt died, the United Nations held a memorial service, and representatives from 110 countries stood for a minute of silent tribute. The New York Times pronounced this remarkable woman “one of the great ladies in the history of the country.” However, Roosevelt, the only daughter of an alcoholic father and a beautiful, aloof…