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Apr 7, 2022

Take Hold of The Flame Lyrics

Take Hold of The Flame and achieve your dreams because you deserve it!                    

A song dedication to ALL OF YOU GO GETTERS! 

This song is dedication to ALL OF YOU GO GETTERS! A reminder to take hold of that flame to be the light of this world while you achieve your dreams!

This song and band gets me energized every day I listen to them. Listen to this song while reading the lyrics. Very powerful song in my opinion.

Play it loud!

Feel it and believe it!

Interesting fact; the singer here Geoff Tate started out his career a young man who liked to hang out with his buddies that had formed a band.

One day their lead singer Got sick and couldn't make the gigs that they had lined up. Geoff was sitting there with his rocker friends listening to Rush, thinking about what they were going to do.

Geoff started singing casually. When the base player asked him if he "could sing this stuff?" Geoff said, "I don't know" and agreed to give it a try.

Turns out he's an excellent singer! In my opinion the absolute best in the progressive metal genre. Take a listen.

I absolutely love it!

The point is and the lesson to this story is that Geoff didn't even know he could sing, let alone be one of the best. But the opportunity was there and he gave it a try.

Then in the 1980's Geoff joined with four other guys and became Queensryche!  All together as a team these guys produced amazing songs that have stood the test of time. And in a lot of ways was ahead of their time.

Listen to these words and let his voice energize you as they do me.

Whatever it is you have set out to do. Just do it, start now, take the opportunity, learn along the way, run the race and take hold of that flame!

We are children of the light!

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Are you a fan?

Let me know in the comments 🔥

We are children of the light!


Queensryche live in Tokyo 1984.

                      

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We see the light of those who find

A world has passed them by

To late to save a dream that's growing cold

We realize that fate must hide its face

From those who try

To see the distant signs of unforetold

Oh oh, take hold

From a haze came a rage of thunder

Distant signs of darkness on the way

Fading cries scream of pain and hunger

But in the night the light will guide your way

So take hold of the flame

Don't you see life's a game

So take hold of the flame

You've got nothing to lose,

but everything to gain

Ride, to a place beyond our time

Reach, for the edges of your mind, 

and your are there

See, that the light will find its way

Back to a place where it will stay, 

make it stay

Throw down the chains of oppression that bind you

With the air of freedom the flame grows bright

We are the strong, the youth united

We are one, we are children of the light

So take hold of the flame

Don't you see life's a game

So take hold of the flame

You've got nothing to lose, 

but everything to gain


Source: LyricFind


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 Listen to this interview with Geoff Tate and how he got his start singing and with Queensryche. I enjoyed this interview very much!

I loved it and very interesting. I am a big fan of yours Geoff Tate! 

 

For information about Geoff Tate visit his site at GeoffTate.com 

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Apr 3, 2022

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Feb 21, 2022

Best Vegan Bluberry Muffins

The Best Vegan Blueberry Muffins Recipe I have ever made! 

Best Vegan Blueberry Muffins   I have made this recipe for my family. many times. This is the absolute best vegan baked goods recipe that I have found! My family is not vegan but I'm always looking for healthier vegan versions of the foods they like. If I can make something yummy without eggs, meat and dairy then that is what I want to do! 

I also believe making foods like this fresh from scratch at home is the best if you're going to eat it. That way I can control what is in it and what I am giving to my family. These have become my go to blueberry muffin recipe! Sorry the picture isn't too good/ I will replace it with a better one when I make these again. Taking imperfect action and getting this post done for you :)

  These muffins are easy to make and don't taste vegan at all. This is a recipe that everyone is sure to love. These are great for breakfast, or any occasion. For this recipe I didn't use the soy milk suggested in the recipe. I prefer to use other plant-based milks like almond milk and cashew milk. 

  My muffins turned out great using these nut milks instead. I stay away from soy and soy containing products if I can. This is another reason why you should always make stuff like this from scratch since most premade, packaged foods contain some kind of soy product in them. 

The recipe suggests using vegetable oil, which is actually soybean oil and another soy product that I try to never use. I used same mounts of softened coconut oil with good results. Coconut oil is much better oil to use, and it may have some health benefits that other oils do not. You can also use corn oil or a light olive oil if you don't like soy-based oils either.

  This recipe says to use fresh blueberries, but I have used the small size frozen blueberries right out of the freezer with good results. I usually have frozen blueberries on hand, so it was easy for me to use what I already had. 

  I want to try this recipe as a base for other variations. Instead of blueberries I want to try diced strawberry and maybe a shredded zucchini for another version of the best vegan muffins. I will let you know how that turns out. 

I also want to try using whole wheat pastry flour instead of the white flour another time too. Or even a good gluten free flour to make them gluten free. For now, give these vegan blueberry muffins a try using the recipe. I found this particular recipe at My Darling Vegan. You can print it out via the link.

I think you will love this recipe too! 

Let me know in the comments and as always God bless you wherever you are in your life! 


Feb 15, 2022

What kind of person do you want to be?

 I have often asked myself this question. 

What kind of person do I want to be? At times in my life, I don't think I lived up to who I wanted to be. I went along with my friends, or I allowed the world to tell me what to think. As I grew older and started to investigate things for myself, I started to become more of who I wanted to be. I think we all go through this kind of journey. It is how we grow up and become who we are meant to be. As we grow, I think we change a little every ten years. 

personal development

  The experiences we have in life also can change us for the good or worst. It is our choice how we allow circumstances to change us. We can regret mistakes and close our self-off to learning more. We can learn from our mistakes and discover ways that it can make us better. I have done both lol! But I keep coming back to that same person that I always was just a little wiser every year. I just turned 42 and still have a long life ahead of me even though I might be halfway through it lol! I don't know exactly where life will take me, but I know that I will keep growing into the person that I want to be. I am not going to just wait for life to happen to me anymore. 

  I want to make life happen for me. Do the best that I can with what I have right now! And never stop improving on things and making my life better. Every day is an opportunity to change something about your life. I see a post today and the women said to make three goals for the day and do it. I think this is a good idea and can bring us closer to our bigger goals in life. 

  For me every day my three goals are the same and I do pretty well at accomplishing them. I am not perfect but every day that I practice being the person that I want to be. I get closer every day to my bigger goals. Just got to improve a little every day. 

  What kind of person do I want to be? I want to make my own choices, I want to create an income from home helping others, I want to achieve my health goals, and most important I want to be happy. In the past I spent too much time eating like crap and being unhappy. Not anymore! I had to nearly lose everything to get this. Sure, some days I get angry because I wish some things were different, but I do believe that everything happens for a reason. I had to learn, and I keep reminding myself of that. Then just do what I can and don't worry about the things I can't control.

  Anyway, that is my 15 minutes today and a short post. These are my thoughts for the day. I hope that it can be an encouragement for you. I know it is for me and a reminder to keep moving forward. Life is what we make it, so let's make it a good one!

By Joanne Utke

What do you think? 

Are you the person that you want to be? 

 Let me know in the comments.


Feb 13, 2022

Love and Hate

 Martin Luther King Jr

 I started writing this after I seen something about stopping the hate of a specific group. I was inspired to write something about that. St. Valentine's day, or Valentine's Day is coming up this week and love is in the air. Hate is the opposite of love so I'm calling this Love and hate, These are both strong emotions we are all familiar with as humans.
love and hate

  There's not a day that goes by that we as intelligent sentient beings don't experience these two emotions. Depending on what your life experiences are you may feel more of one or the other. Sadly, for many the experience is all too often hate in their life. And no matter how loving you are, you have probably hated someone or something at some point in your life too. I know that I have loved as passionately as I have hated at times in my life. How about you? 

  Love is what we feel for those closest to us in life. We love our children because they are a part of us, we see ourselves in them. We are partly responsible for the people they become. Because of this we try to give them a loving and safe home. Writing this part makes me acknowledge that sadly many children don't grow up in a loving and safe home. 

I think why will be explained further in this article. My heart goes out to these people and children who desperately need love. 

  Hate is a very strong emotion that I unfortunately know too well! Not that I am a hateful person, because I'm not. I don't really hate anyone and I know we are all on a unique journey through this world. All of us for the most part are doing the best we can with what we have. This is why I am big on personal development, health and wellness. No matter who we are or where we are at in life we can get better and do better. 

  With hate comes anger and maybe it would be more accurate to say of myself that I have known anger all too well at times in my life. Hate breeds anger and we usually get angry when we feel that we have been done wrong in some way. These emotions exist in the natural world among all sentient beings and has a place. We can defend our self or our family when the need be. These emotions bring on adrenalin and this is useful in the natural world for self preservation. It is also useful in times that we find a need to protect our self and get out of a dangerous situation. 

  But it is a problem when it's used in everyday life for reasons that we should not. We should not hate others for race, or a belief system. In other words we shouldn't hate others for being human! Some would say that we should hate murderers or rapists. I think we should never hate a human being for being a broken human being. Instead we can hate the sin but we should love the sinner! No one who is broken is going to be better as long as they are hated. Love begets love and we are all broken on some level. Certainly some are extremely disturbed, and confused but hate is still not the answer. 

 I think hate in society happens when people don't want to acknowledge their own imperfections and brokenness. Instead of that reflection, and growth they turn on, what they believe is imperfections in others. The interesting thing is the hater only grows more imperfect and broken themselves. We cannot love others if we hate what is human about ourselves. I believe is has very little to do with race, religion or lifestyle choice and everything to do about one's own brokenness. People fear what they don't understand and what they hate about themselves. No one wants to admit their own imperfections or what they don't understand. So they point the finger, hoping that if they point out what they believe is wrong with others their own brokenness won' be found out. They may blame race but that is just a scapegoat. I think it is more about the hater, than the hatee. Whatever the reason hate has no place in a society that desires to be better today than they were yesterday.


 The answer to this I think is acknowledging that we are all in this world together. We are all the same as much as we are different at times. The energy spent on hate is a wasted energy that could be used in the form of love and compassion. We understand that we are all broken in some way and that personal development is what is needed. That way we can move past focusing on what is different and start leaning how to become better people in this world. 

  Now a little bit about love. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. probably says it best. "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend." That is a powerful thought! In Christianity there are examples of this. Jesus loves every one no matter what. He certainly did not support or condone their sin but He loved the sinner. We can look at the conversion of Paul (Acts 1) as an example of this. Paul was the worst sinner, killing Christians but Jesus loved Him enough to impart His love and mercy. And Paul turned into the greatest Saint and Martyr because of it.

  In conclusion I think most of us can agree that hate is useless unless it is a life saving anger. If we wish to create a world that we can be proud of there is no room for hate. For the last words I will leave you with the words of St. Paul the Apostle who was bought out of that darkness in his letter to the Corinthians. Timeless words that are just as true today! 

"If I speak in the tongues a of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 
(1 Corinthians 1-13)

By Joanne Utke

 I hope you have a happy Valentines day! 

Feb 8, 2022

Master your day to live your best life!

 Master your day to live your best life now! 

        I have found that it is often difficult to even master the day, let alone the week or month. This can be really discouraging but it is all a matter of planning and discipline. I touched on this a bit in the last post about living your best life. Having a plan is key to mastering your day so that you are ready to face the next one. Discipline is really the key here! A good plan is only has good as the discipline to carry it out. When it comes to discipline, practice makes perfect, 

First you got to believe that you are worth it! You deserve to be more in control of your day and your life. Every day when you wake up say "I deserve the changes that I am making" or "I deserve to live my best life."  What ever it is, being positive and saying empowering things to yourself is a great start. You can't wait around waiting for people to cheer you on. You need to be your own cheerleader! This is something that I have learned in my life, if you don't take yourself seriously, no one will. 

Focus on what you can control first hand! You have more control over your life than you think. When you wake up put on your shoes and get dressed. Don't go straight to your phone! Spend time having a morning routine to freshen up and set the stage for the day.  I know from experience on the days when I stayed in my pajamas and slippers, I was lazy most of the day. Likewise when I get up, get dressed, freshen up, and put on my shoes, I am ready for the day. Bottom line is you need a good morning routine that gets you ready for the day. 

I mentioned in my earlier post about having a plan that way there are no surprises. You take the guessing out and know exactly what you need to do. I do well when I get up, and get started. I usually have the most energy in the first part of the day. So that is when I do my food prep for the day if I need to. I like to plan what it is I am cooking for my family this evening. For me the morning is a great time to prepare my salad and my dressing that way my meal is done before any one else's is. I fast for the first part of the day. That helps me because my morning is not wasted on eating a meal. It allows me to have more time in the morning for a good morning routine. It is also part of my healing plan so a win, win! 

Then around 12 noon every day I make smoothies for myself and my husband. This is easy and my first meal of the day. This frees up a lot of my time and fruit makes an excellent first meal. The point is it's my plan and it takes out all of the guess work. As well as gives me lots of time to get other things done. Every day we take my son for a good walk, that is a priority, and part of the plan for the day. And I set aside some time to get on the computer and do my online stuff. My point is make a list of your must do's actives and DO THEM! Yes it is going to take some discipline but this is how you master your day. 

I am not saying that I am perfect at this but these are all ways that I have learned to master my day. I am sure you do all of this already every day. You at least know how things go when you don't lol! I have learned a lot from my failures as well as my successes. I have already covered my top three practical ways to live your best life now in the past post. I don't want this post to be too much like that one. But these are just simple things you can practice daily to master your day and live your best life now!

More practical ways of Living Your Best Life NOW! 

4. Use your time wisely

Both successful and unsuccessful people alike have only 24 hours in the day. The difference is the successful people use their 24 hours more wisely than the unsuccessful people. There is certainly nothing wrong with relaxing and doing nothing for awhile. We need that time too! But we need to learn how to manage time wisely. For example I can't stand to watch movies during the week. Just takes so much time that I could be using for writing for my blog or planning my next day. Use your time during the week in a way that fosters success and allows you to get everything done that you need. I personally like to save any entertainment for the end if the day when I'm ready to relax. Relaxation and entertainment makes a good rewards for a productive day. Getting healthy and staying that way is a full time job in it's self. And you have to work on your business, take care of your family, run arands and sleep at night. There's no time to aimlessly scroll down social media or watching hours of television. Ask yourself if there are any unhealthy habits and activities that you can cut out in the name of more time and a better life? Set a standard for yourself and follow through. That's discipline! 

5. Keep educating yourself

Read something on time management to enrich your knowledge on the subject. The more you know, the better choices you can make. Watch YouTube videos, follow people on LinkedIn that know what you want to know. Also the best way to learn is too teach! That is why I suggest starting a blog or write articles on LinkedIn. Choose topics that interest you. Study it, talk about it and write about it. You will become even more knowledgeable about the subject. 

6. Write it all down! 

I mentioned this before but keeping a journal can serve as an important tool of success. Everything from meal planning, task organization, daily journaling, favorite quotes, blog ideas, book titles, I could go on. You get my point! Writing it down is a great way to remind yourself of what needs to be done. It also is a tool that can help keep you on track. Or take a step back to see where you need improvement. Like keeping a food journal so you can step back and see where you need to be making changes. 

Anyway these are all things that I do. I am a big believer in getting better every day. Always improving on things. As long as we do this we can be at peace knowing we are on the right track that leads to personal greatness! 

I hope you enjoyed this post! Thanks for taking the time out of your day to read it. I pray this was a reminder to you and help along your life journey. 

By Joanne Utke


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