My Day June 28, 2011

I have been busy today. Busy doing nothing. I had a disagreement with Autumn on Sunday and my nerves have been upset ever since. She is so mixed up about so many things and usually she takes my word over others. However this time she said some things that I knew she had been brained washed with and I tried to help her see the truth.....Oh! well there are time you have to just let things go.

The baby was born (kelly's baby) on Sunday and she is beautiful. She was given my nick name, Lucy. Now I have a dog and a baby named after me. That is so sweet.

I am going to the hospital tonight and visit with her.

In Appreciation of My Body

Below is a wish for myself

It is the future of me, as I become.I did it for me. I did it for my daughters.
I stood before the mirror. Naked. I had scars and I still have scars. Scars that can be seen by the eye and scars embedded deep within.
The beauty was always there but my eyes could not always see it.It took love and it took time. It took acceptance. It took love.Love. Love for me. Love for my daughters.
But my weight and my rolls kept me at bay. I looked in the mirror. Naked. And I finally saw. Me. I am a spirit I have a soul and I live in a body. But my body is my home in this life. Its health, its strength, its vitality is paramount to feel joy, to feel pain, to be. It is the eyes through which I see, the hands through which I touch, and the mouth through which I taste. It allows me to see love, to feel love, to taste love.
In that moment I looked and I looked and I looked. I looked with love, with care and with compassion. I cried. I understood. No matter size, no matter shape, no matter moment, this body carries me. This body houses me, and this body deserves me.That was the moment it all changed. That was the moment I decided to feel love. To be love. That was the moment I first uttered these words aloud:

May I be filled with loving-kindness
May I be well
May I be peaceful and at ease
May I be happy
From that day forward, I began my mornings with those words, I ended my days with those words, and I repeated them in the moments of self doubt and in moments of pain. Slowly and surely I bathed myself in compassion, in the compassion I readily gave to others but rarely gave to myself.
Things began to change.No longer did food take mindless prominence in my life. It was integrated in a joyful and loving way. I took pride in my food and created meals with love. Gratitude and thanks were spoken before food was eaten. Farmers were acknowledged for their time and energy and my girls came to learn from where our food came.And I ran but no longer from myself.
I ran because it was love in motion. My heart beat loud in my chest. My breath strong, rhythmic, urging me forward. My legs slowly felt stronger, the jiggle dissipating. I felt strong and worthy. As I ran and as I nourished myself a strange thing happened. I realized it wasn’t about my weight. It was about my worth. I felt joy readily and I allowed myself to feel pain. And, the weight---it came off. And I walked tall and proud.The chip bag crinkles loudly now. No longer do I shamefully sneak cookies hoping no one will notice. No longer are candy wrappers hidden in bedside table drawers. I eat them, blissfully enjoying each bite. And yes, there are still moments of weakness, moments I am not mindful, moments I am not compassionate. But I acknowledge those moments now, and I repeat to myself:

May I be filled with loving-kindness
May I be well
May I be peaceful and at ease
May I be happy.

June 23, 2011

Nobody born automatically goes to Heaven. Instead, you were born traveling straight down the road to Hell. It is Jesus our Savior who SAVES us from that road to Hell and puts us in the direction of Heaven. That is why it is called "being saved." He is rescuing us from something. He is rescuing us from our sins which send us to that final destination of hell.

For example, let's say you are out in the ocean and drowning. Wondrously, you see a boat drawing near. The boat captain throws out to you a life preserver. You know that if you grab hold of that life preserver it will save you from your terminal destination which is drowning to death. It'd be a huge misconception if you thought you were already pre-saved and wouldn't eventually drown.

Grabbing hold of that lifeline of salvation is a choice that you and me and we all have to make. It is a choice, our own decision, on whether we choose God's eternal rescue or not. If you are swimming out in the ocean and you push the life preserver away, it is you who choose to die. It is you who choose to drown. It is your choice. Jesus in John 3:36 teaches this reality, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. But whoever rejects the son will not see life, because God's wrath remains on him."

If you haven't already, choose to be saved today. Turn to Jesus your Savior and ask Him to save you from your sins and the just sentence of Hell.

While there may be a lot of misconceptions about the afterlife and how we get there that are meant to cofuse the reality of it all, we can learn what the real deal is in the Bible.

CELEBRATE THE MAKING OF ME

A SIMPLE PATH TO THE MAKING OF ME



"I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day."

Abraham Lincoln



I was invited to play softball on our local team. I had played for years and always was the picture. This year was different. I had not played in a couple of years and did not know if I still had the edge.



I was nervous driving to my first game. Did I still have it, What if I can't pitch like I use to?

The questions buzzed my mind.



My turn up to bat, this was my weakest position. I got a base hit. Going for one isn't bad, but I would like to knock it out of the ball park one time.



After the game, I changed out of my uniform. Once finished, I tossed my bat and glove over my shoulder and strolled out of the dugout without much energy. I don't see the girl waiting for me.



"will you teach me to pitch like you?" the young girl asked.



I patted her on the head and said, "Sure."



On the way home, I thought about the game. I am a good pitcher, because I can consecrate but my batting was upsetting to me. Time to hit the park.



Larry, suggested to me that the reason the girl asked me to teach her to play wasn't because I had a great game, but because I was in the game.



CELEBRATE THE MAKING OF ME. Celebrate the long hours I had put into pitching. Celebrate how I hit softball after softball until my hands bleed. Celebrate the times I am on the practice fill instead of in front of the television. Celebrate how softball is making me into a lady of passion.



Sometimes the simple path to the making of me isn't defined by one great moment, but by all the moments when the more difficult choice is made.

Love Yourself Without Becoming Full of Yourself

I am beating the same old drum a little different
Do I know how to truly love myself?
Or am I so engrossed in myself to the point of being vain and arrogant?
There is this phrase – proud as a peacock, which is used to refer to someone who is excessively proud and full of themselves. Are you/am I a peacock.

Just how much one should love themselves.
The answer is there is no limit.
We should love ourself so much that you could eat ourself!
For years I did not understand this concept of self-love. I was brought up to believe that it’s not good or “nice” to put myself before others.
Louise Hay talks about this in her book You Can Heal Yourself, where as a child at parties, she would always let others get the cake first. And of course she would end up with none.
Self love is about putting yourself first – we can consider the needs of others too, but not at our detriment.
And we all do this – I am a classic case.
In the past, I have so often given my energy and time to others and there has been a huge imbalance. So no more.
So putting myself first is one aspect about self-love. But what if people go the other way? At what point does self-love become selfish and arrso full of themselves that you could hardly be in their presence for too long. I have a sister who believes that the whole world revolves around her– and that she is better and more beautiful, and above everyone else.
However, here’s the thing – such people are actually the ones who are really short on self-love. And that’s why they need to have external social indicators and all that peacocking to prove their worth to themselves and others.
“An empty man is full of himself.” – Edward Abby
There is this anecdotal story of the time when Gandhi met the King of Great Britain in London and he wore his simple wrap around cloth.
A journalist asked Gandhi, “Mr Gandhi, did you feel under-dressed when you met the King?”
Gandhi replied, “The King was wearing enough clothes for both of us!”
So I ask myself – am I so full of myself that I have covered myself with all this external clothing and peacock feathers?
Also, remember that self love is not about being narcissistic!
True self love means being totally comfortable in our skin and not ever wanting external vindication of our being and worth.
True self love means being kind and loving towards ourself no matter what.
It’s all about coming to the realisation that there is nothing wrong with me, and that we are perfect just the way we are.

Loving ourself is all about doing the right things for your mind, body and soul. Here are some simple ideas to get you started:-
Go for walks in the park. Even better if you can do in the early morning
Eat healthy food only – remember we are what you eat. So eat organic food as much as you can. Cut out junk food completely
Drink alcohol in moderation – or none at all
Pamper ourself daily and often – gentle massage, bath, whatever you fancy
I look for friends who energise me . We are who we associate with. AND THAT MY DARLING IS YOU.
I work at de-cluttering life. This is a big one for me.
I am very mindful of myself – I watch my self talk.
I Get plenty of rest. Listen to my body and accordingly sleep more or sleep less
I Cut down on late nights, I limit myself to 2 late nights a week
I am on alert fo activities that really make me come alive
I connect with my inner child – I am learning to chill out more and be childlike.
If you have additional ideas share with me.. I am Learning how to really pamper myself and to make myself feel good.
I Boost my self-esteem as much as I can – applying daily the 9 powerful ways to boost your self esteem I wrote about earlier this week.
An easy way of finding things I truly enjoy is to check in with myself. Pause and ask myself it it feels good or not.

When Enough Really Is Enough

When Enough Really Is Enough

There are times in my life when I have really gotten to the end of my rope, shouting out to the Universe, or whoever will listen, "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ALREADY!!!" One more "growth opportunity" and I'll just go crazy. When will it ever end so I can live in peace, happiness, and harmony?
Ever been to that point? I certainly have.
It is often during these times of feeling that we can't take it anymore that the grace of the Divine takes over and shows us the way.
When we finally get to the point of surrender, a release occurs. When the need to control has been exhausted, we let go. It is the letting go that creates the new opening.
Some of my most difficult trials provide the fuel I need to really begin to shift my lives in a new direction. If things always remained the same, stagnation would sink in. Growth cannot happen when things have become stagnant. A still pond begins to get stinky. The wind, waves, currents, and constant fluctuations are what keeps the flow going.
Although we need to be shaken up sometimes in order to wake up from our habitual state of sleep-walking, there does come a time when I have become paralyzed, unable to even move. It is during these times that our vulnerabilities surface and we have no choice but to allow Divine help to come in. Enough is enough and we just can't possibly go on the way we have been.
A blessing is occurring here.
The shift is happening.
It is a time to embrace rather than try to force away or get rid of. What we resist really does persist.
When things really have gotten to be too much to handle, I surrender to the divine within me, ask for help, open up to all the assistance that is right there at my side, just waiting for me to give the word. I will notice that people start to come into your life to offer guidance and help, I am led to the information that I need, and what once seemed to be too much to handle will begin to dissipate, allowing a brand new way of being to take place.
When I have lost touch with what matters most to me, I turn to the tools of Spring Cleaning, Bragging, Gratidues, favorite frames and desires and our wonderful world of Sister Goddesses,who offer support and sometimes just being there.