SHE SAID... GOOD SEX INVOLVES A CAN DO ATTITUDE!

Barbara Ward-Finneran

There is something to be said of acting twenty-something to feel twenty-something.  It may not take pink pills or pink stilettos to do so!

It is working in many areas of my life.  I have embraced my forties by being active in MY OWN LIFE, rather then treating it more like a spectator sport, as was common in the previous decade.  In my thirties there were no 5Ks, running shoes, rock climbing walls, bikram yoga, owning an LLC, writing at DRL. There was no blonde wig, little black dresses, shopping at "Vickie's", or stilettos.  (I do credit my thirties with becoming a mother  - that I affirm, as the most amazing "accomplishment" then and now - everything else pales in comparison!) I feel better then I have in as long as I can remember - and it's because I have made the choice to act and do as I did in my twenties.  In my twenties I created dreams instead of just sleeping through them. I put in the effort and worked hard to make them happen.  I PARTICIPATED IN MY LIFE!

I have banished the "I can't do that!" or "I'm not an athlete!" thoughts and in recent times replaced them by only positive affirmations or at the very least the thought, "What have I got to lose?".  Truth is I lost a lot, and I'm not just talking pounds!  I lost; fear, embarrassment, "sitting on the side lines", apprehension and anxiety among other things.  The more new activities and ventures that I have encountered and dared to try have made me embrace things like confidence, success, stamina, endurance, etc... Even "failure" is sweeter when it's because it didn't work rather then because I didn't try!

Why not apply the same "Can Do Attitude" to your personal and intimate parts of life?  For me it spilled over with out any extra effort.  Stepping up to participate in my life in small ways created a catalyst that make me want to do more and more.  Every time one part of life feels better it makes you hungry for more of that "endorphin high"!

Feeling good.  Feeling confident.  Creating dreams.  They all empower you.  They will also awaken your libido!!! Too often as we age - we lose ourselves.  Find yourself.  Rekindle your passions and what makes you happy - in all aspects of life.  The bedroom will follow.

If you want your sex life to feel as good as it did in your twenties - then act like you are in them. Wanna feel like a sex kitten, be one!  Fancy that blonde wig, fashion on some lace and strut your stuff in the stilettos!  That's all I'm telling Tony........

POST HOLIDAY RE-RUN: What Matters?

Barbara Ward-Finneran

What Matters? What really matters?  What matters today and right now, can change in an instant.  No matter how hard you try to live a good life, follow your conscience and consistently do the right thing, bad things happen to good people.  We have personal failures, relationships implode, people get sick, suffer and die, people die tragically, accidents happen, disabilities exist, people disappoint us, hearts get broken, jobs are lost, finances go to ruin, foreclosures run a muck, the list goes on and on.  WHY?  WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE?

Life can be trudging along of so happily and then in an instant the life that you knew and embraced ceases to exist.  My first taste of this was when my grandfather died.  I was twenty-three at the time and it was the biggest loss of my life.  Little did I know at the time that it was nothing in comparison to what would follow about 18 months later, a few days after my wedding shower, when my Dad went to sleep and never woke up.  The shock was so horrifying

POST HOLIDAY RE-RUN: Jillian Hart

IF I COULD WAKE UP DREAMING

Ms. Jillian B. Hart

He will forever be the one that got away.  The one that slipped through her fingers.  The thing that movies are made about and that words are helpless to describe.  The emotion that has to be felt to be known.  Felt to be understood - and feeling it, only leaves the soul hungry for more.  

A love that was so right - it was almost incomprehensible and seemingly was always just within their reach.  The awe of it being unnerving, until it became unattainable.  She didn’t find someone that she love that much only to let it go.  She held onto it.  Even all those years that he was gone, all those years her life went on, knowing the love never left her.  The memory of it dwelled within the fibers of her being.  It became part of who she was and she was never quite the same.  It always existed, locked away in her heart like a box with a missing key. 

SOUL FOOD

Barbara Ward-Finneran

"Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around."   
-- Henry David Thoreau

The power of your thoughts can overshadow everything.  Harness the magic of their energy to promote all that you want and desire to be.  Focus on the positive.  Believe that you are worthy and deserve it.  You just need to begin. You just need to believe!

Just start.... The rest will follow...

Keep the promises that you make to yourself!

Photo Courtesy of Barbara Ward-Finneran and Drawn 2 Designs, LLC

All Rights Reserved

SOUL FOOD

Barbara Ward-Finneran

Rather then list reasons as to why it can't be - 

focus your energies into finding reasons that it can. 

Believe enough to make it happen. 

That which may seem like an end can easily become a beginning. 

The only time it's ever over is if you let it be - 

the greater the challenge the sweeter the reward. 

Push forward... It's worth it, you're worth it

Keep the promises that you make to yourself!

Photo Courtesy of Barbara Ward-Finneran and Drawn 2 Designs, LLC

All Rights Reserved

SOUL FOOD

Barbara Ward-Finneran

Not every action will produce the desired results. 

Experimenting and making mistakes is part of the process of realizing your potential and dreams. 

Power through the challenges melding your unique talents with that desired purpose.  Be convinced in thoughts, words, and deeds that every task brings you closer to that personal victory and the rest will follow.

Keep the promises that you make to yourself!

Photo Courtesy of Barbara Ward-Finneran and Drawn 2 Designs, LLC

All Rights Reserved

LUNCH TIME POLL

Dawn Boyle



I had a crazy dream last night.

Have you ever felt like your dreams are so real that they must really mean something? Have you ever made contact with someone that has passed in your dreams? Do you ever have reoccuring dreams?

Tell me about them and help me feel like I am not going crazy!!

SAMMY HAGAR... HE ROCKS, HE ROLLS, HE INSPIRES TOO!

Tony Walker

This is a picture of me with the one & only Sammy Hagar from a few weeks ago.
No I am not the scary looking guy in the middle.... You see the guy with his back to the camera? Right next to his neck you can see my nose! It's me & Sammy Hagar!!!

This may sound a little weird but Sammy Hagar has been a major inspiration to me for a very long time.
When I was a kid.... I still am a kid.... when I was a teenager I saw some of Sammy's videos on MTV, back when MTV played music videos. I became a fan of Hagar's music. Once he joined the mighty Van Halen I became an even bigger Hagar fan. I am one of the few who like Sammy better than Dave.
There was something about Sammy that caught my attention. To me he seemed like a real person. He didn't appear to act like he was a hot shot rock & roll star. All the messages in his music were always upbeat, positive, & fun which I really dug.

WHAT DO YOU WANT...???

Barbara Ward-Finneran

When you  know what you want and want it bad enough you find a way to make it happen.  You can't just follow or chase your dreams but, rather, you have to create them.  

Just because women desire to be wives and mothers does not mean the rest of what we dream should lie dormant and unfulfilled. These aspects of our lives does not overshadow that in addition to being wife and mother, we balance our personal lives with professional ones.  Sometimes out of pursuit of professional success, sometimes out of necessity, often a combination of both.  

We manage households, care for family and children, be the evening sex kitten, manage corporations, be an always available BFF, start and or manage small businesses, educate the world, care for the sick, I could go on and on --- the list is endless!  We carry more weight on our shoulders with each passing year to be successful at a laundry list of endless tasks, obligations and labors of love.  

SOUL FOOD

Barbara Ward-Finneran

Nothing great will ever be achieved unless you relinquish your fear of change. For everything you lose is counterbalanced with a gain. Without risk there cannot be accomplishment. You must be willing to die a little to who you are right now, to live in the limitless potential of all you are meant to become.

Keep the promises that you make to yourself!

Photo Courtesy of Barbara Ward-Finneran and Drawn 2 Designs, LLC

All Rights Reserved

IF I COULD WAKE UP DREAMING

Ms. Jillian B. Hart

He will forever be the one that got away.  The one that slipped through her fingers.  The thing that movies are made about and that words are helpless to describe.  The emotion that has to be felt to be known.  Felt to be understood - and feeling it, only leaves the soul hungry for more.  

A love that was so right - it was almost incomprehensible and seemingly was always just within their reach.  The awe of it being unnerving, until it became unattainable.  She didn’t find someone that she love that much only to let it go.  She held onto it.  Even all those years that he was gone, all those years her life went on, knowing the love never left her.  The memory of it dwelled within the fibers of her being.  It became part of who she was and she was never quite the same.  It always existed, locked away in her heart like a box with a missing key. 

WHICH COMES FIRST...
THE ANSWER OR THE QUESTION


Tony Walker


One of the first things I do when I get on the computer is see what's happening at the Delayed Reaction Lounge. I have to tell you a secret... I have no idea why this site is called Delayed Reaction. But when I read Barbara's "How's Your Hump" I started asking myself some questions about this blog, this site, & my life as a whole. 

Barbara thinks that Wednesday... or Hump Day.... is a middle of the week reminder that the weekend is coming but first you must finish out your chaotic week. She asks where is the living in a life of an over scheduled existence. In a world of so many responsibilities, where are the responsibilities to ourselves? Excellent points Barbara. 

That's when I started thinking about the name of this site. Does Delayed Reaction mean we lost ourselves in our thirties so our dreams were delayed? Is it time to revisit those dreams? 

Barbara's question of what about a responsibility to ourselves struck a chord with me. I definitely forgot my dreams for many years. It was a battle with cancer that made me realize

HOW'S YOUR HUMP?

Barbara Ward- Finneran

Mine often finds me exhausted.  Hump day hangs in the middle teasingly reminding that the weekend is approaching yet, reality says you are only half way there.  So much chaos of the everyday life left in the week.  Everything so important that it can't be postponed, put off, or pushed aside.  Often finding ourselves going through the motions of an over scheduled exsistence.  Where's the living in this life? When it comes to following our dreams why do they fall to the end of the priority list?

It's all to easy to let life get in the way.  Wife, mother, daughter, teacher, friend, artist, designer, runner, business owner, (insert your own agenda here) all come with a lengthy list of responsibilities.  None of which are easily overlooked.  But where is the responsibility to ourselves?