The New Year

Looking forward to the new year with hope, anticipation & excitement for what is to come!

Thin Places

Philip Yancey writes that "Celtic spirituality speaks of 'thin places' where the natural & supernatural worlds come together at their narrowest."  The sight of the sun rising over the rim of a sleeping world, the words of an old hymn, the birth of my child--these thin places can be as momentous as life & death or as tiny as a hummingbird.  For some people the veil seems to be thinner than others...

Favorite Tea

Wishing I had some of the wonderful peach tea from Tin Star.  My parents are shopping at NorthPark in Dallas today.  I told them to have some for me! 

Most Amazing Song

James Blake: There's a Limit to Your Love

I love this song so much and can hardly wait for it to be available.  As one comment said, "This song is only done justice on a system with a woofer the size of a small child." 

Path of Thoughts

"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives."

-Henry David Thoreau,  Transcendental man

Tshirt Quilt

I had this amazing tshirt quilt made for V from her favorite high school tshirts.  Such a fun way to save those memories! 

What. Is. This.

"What. Is. This. On. My. Hand? Oh. It's my. Ring. I. Thought. It. Was that. Bird. Again." --Rachel Zoe

This is our favorite line from The Rachel Zoe project.  We have quoted this so many times! 

Be Brave!

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." ~ A. Einstein

Leaving

It's always difficult to say goodbye.

It never fails to make my eyes fill up & my nose burn.

It doesn't get any easier. 

I'm ready for it to be over.

God Put You in my Path

"There are certain people in your life whose words consistently guide you toward truth and joy and love.  Be sure you make time for those people." --John Ortberg

Tears

"When tears come, I breathe deeply and rest. I know I am swimming in a hallowed stream where many have gone before. I am not alone, crazy, or having a nervous breakdown.... My heart is at work, my soul is awake." - thedailylove.com

Some experiences in life really push us to our limits. 

Bare Bones

“To succeed in life,



you need three things:


a wishbone,


a backbone,


and a


funny


bone”

—Reba McEntire
 
I have lots of wishes, I'm working on being more confident, but I'm only funny with "the fabulous V"! 

25 amazing years

Could it be that I have been married for 25 years?  In some ways it doesn't seem possible yet in others I hardly remember my life before this wonderful man.  I am so thankful for all the love, support & encouragement he gives me everyday.  These are the amazing flowers he sent me today.  It has all my favorites in this arrangement! 

There's Only Love

"When you judge you leave no room for Love - when you Love... you see nothing to judge." --thedailylove.com

I am feeling flooded with love right now!  My sweet husband left notes hidden all over the house when he left for work today, my mom brought me my favorite Godiva chocolates to get me through the next couple of days, and my precious daughter sent me these beautiful flowers.  The line on the card is one of the favorite quotes from the book The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. 

Salt Water

“The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.” -- Isak Dinesen

This is so true for me! 

Keep on Walking

"If one thinks of emotions as clouds that cross your path as you trudge through life you can rob them of their power. The shadows are temporary; the clouds are evanescent. And if one seeks shelter from lightning, it isn't because one is terrified, but simply because it's common sense. Once the rain ends, it's time to take up one's path again, and keep on walking. The clouds come and the clouds go. Your path remains..." --Doc Nolan on petermanseye.com

Interesting that this comment came up today.  My husband, who is my rock, just said to me last night..."Put your hand on the wall & keep on walking."  I think I need to take this message to heart.  It's coming at me from all directions. 

Anniversary Bands

My sweet husband wanted to get me another wedding band for our 25th anniversary that is coming up.  I couldn't make a decision between the Faith Hope & Love band or the Song of Solomon band, so he got both!  I love both of them!  The hard part will be deciding which one to wear....  

Happy Earth Day!

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” --John Muir

This is one of the most relaxing places I've ever been.  My heart was so at ease and open here.  I hope I get to go back sometime!

You Are!

My very wise beyond her years daughter posted this picture on her blog. 

We need to be reminded of this so often.  Find what is beautiful in yourself & others. 

Not Knowing

"Not knowing doesn't mean you're condemned to anxiety; rather, not knowing calls for trust, and trust is crucial to good performance.  Uncertainty is essential."  --John Ortberg

I'm not so good at dealing with the "not knowing" but I'm working on it.

Bird's Eye View

"From your limited point of view the comings and going of Life can seem chaotic, confusing and unfair. But if the ant could see the street from the bird’s eye view she would see the order of things. Think of your Heart and your Intuition as guidance from above and you’ll begin to see how EVERYTHING is in perfect order."
--thedailylove.com

I am trying so hard to believe this in all the craziness of my life right now!

Respect

"The value you receive is
equal to the value you give."
 --thedailylove.com

Peace

"May you trust your highest power that you are exactly where you are meant to be...

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.

May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you...

May you be content knowing you are a child of God...

Let this presence settle into our bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of you..." beliefnet.com

Easter thoughts

"When you can fully accept yourself and let yourself be and express who you really are - your life will come ALIVE! No apologies, no grievences... this is who you are... " --thedailylove.com

May we have the courage to be ourselves.  That is the person that others love and most of all that is how we fulfill our purpose that we were created for.  Let this Easter holiday bring us back to life! 

The Power of Hope

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” —Leo F. Buscaglia


We often do a pretty good job of this with the people who cross our paths throughout the day, but how often do we do it for our own family?

The Big Picture

"Because you can't see the bigger picture keep in mind that when you think something is going wrong is it actually going right. This is true 100% of the time. The Universe is always working on your behalf. Trust it." --thedailylove.com

It's so frightening when things seem out of control...like you are on a hamster wheel and you can't get off.  But remember that there is a big plan and you are part of it.  Just go with the flow!  The sun will break through the clouds.

Prayer for Passover

"Let all who are hungry come and eat. Let all who are in need come and celebrate Passover. This year we are slaves: Next year may we all be free."
Let this Passover season remind us how blessed we are and inspire us to drop the chains that bind us in our everyday lives.  We can be free!

Begin Anew

"For many cultures, the March equinox represents an opportunity for re-birth. For me, it’s a reminder that every day is a new opportunity to start over. To let the argument, sharp words, miscommunication, rushed encounter, lost moment or bad mood simply go. Poof!!
And to realize what a gift it is to be able to choose to begin each day with a fresh, more compassionate, kinder and loving approach to our relationships with ourselves, with our partner or kids, work, marriage, business partnerships, clients, etc. " --from The Journey

Why is it so difficult to let it go?  What do we think we will accomplish by holding on to the negativity?

Direction

God doesn't give you a map of your life and send you on your way.  Think of the difference between following a map and following a person.  It's so much easier if you don't have to study the map while you are in the process of traveling.  We are being led if we will just follow our guide.   

Making the World Better

"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark.... Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours."- Ayn Rand, was the best selling author of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged

You can make the world a better place by the choices you make! 

Ahhh...paradise

Just returned from a relaxing trip to La Amada Hotel at Playa Mujeres, Mexico.  It was amazing!  Looking forward to beginning a new yoga class at The Yoga Place in Longview this week! 

Believe

"The only difference I can see between people living a life of their dreams and people dreaming of living another life is their ability to believe (even in the face of massive resistance) that the life they want is possible for them and persist in that belief longer than anyone else. Inside you is a great expression dying to be heard and it shall be if you hang in there, keep going and don't listen to ANYONE who tells you it can't be done."  --thedailylove.com

Heartbeats

"Every heartbeat is not just the mechanism of a sophisticated plumbing system but the echo of God's voice, the murmur of His love." 

Don't take even one heartbeat for granted.  Each one is a gift. 

In Order

"Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money in order to do more of what they want so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do in order to have what you want."

- Margaret Young

Wake Up

"God is available to you and me all the time, welling up within us, quenching our unsatisfied desires, overflowing to refresh those around us.  He is in every place, all the time.  And every once in a while, somebody somewhere wakes up."    

--John Ortberg

Release the Attachments

"Enjoy everything that happens in your life, but never make your happiness or success dependent on an attachment to any thing, place or person." --Wayne Dyer

Oh, I have learned this the hard way.  And I hope and pray I learned it well because I don't want to experience it again! 

New Ad"ventures"

"When you want to do a big thing, get the mental pattern, make it perfect, know just what it means, enlarge your thought, keep it to yourself, pass it over to the creative power behind all things, wait and listen, and when the impression comes, follow it with assurance. Don't talk to anyone about it. Never listen to negative talk or pay attention to it and you will succeed where all others fail."  --Ernest Holmes


It's crazy when you dream something up in your head then God just drops it in your lap and makes everything just fall into place!  More details to come....

Have a Good Day!

"Live your daily life in a way that you never lose yourself. When you are carried away with your worries, fears, cravings, anger, and desire, you run away from yourself and you lose yourself. The practice is always to go back to oneself."


- Thich Nhat Hanh

Daily Goals

"Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is."

- Mary Anne Radmacher, inspirational writer and artist

Remembering

"Over time, I began to acquire the tools needed to live a better life. I didn't want a life of just survival; I wanted to thrive! But to get to this place where I wanted more I had to first hit rock bottom. There was a time in my life when I had worked and worked and worked and nothing worked. I never thought I would have success again, and I was getting the worst sleep of my life. Fear had brought me to my knees!
If you are letting your life be run by fearful thoughts, by a belief that you are lacking and that hard work is your only salvation, my guess is that you are probably not getting enough sleep, either. Let one of your goals for 2010 be to rid your mind of fearful thoughts and begin to replace them with thoughts of Trust, Abundance and Love. " ---Mastin Kipp, the Huffington Post

My daughter asked me if it was okay for her to write about my heart attack again. She has used this topic several times over the past 6 years. It made me pause and think about that time in 2003 when my world turned completely around, upside down and hit bottom. I had worked myself to death, nearly. But I got a second chance to make things right. So for the past 6 years I have been living a life of abundance and enjoying every minute of it. Oh, and by the way, I sleep really well now!

Grace to Defy Gravity

"Grace is mystical force, an intangible spiritual substance that intervenes in all aspects of our life. Certainly most individuals are completely intrigued by the power of this mystical energy. We want to touch it and we long to find a way to make it tangible so that we can know its real. But grace is real and in our “spiritual gut”, we know it. What most people do not realize, however, is how many expressions of grace there are and how truly potent this Divine force is when it sweeps through a person’s life like a transforming wind. Your own life, for example, has probably been saved from disaster more than a dozen times thanks to the intervention of grace, but you never thought anything about it because events seemed to unfold so naturally.
The human soul is blessed with numerous graces that a person is meant to utilize in life – not just in difficult times and not just for oneself. The signature of grace is that it is a force that by its own qualities illuminates your life as well as the lives of others around you, always transforming a situation toward a better place. How does a person awaken these inner graces? And how does grace become a conscious resource for personal transformation? In these chaotic times of great change, can relying upon grace really make a difference?" --Caroline Myss

Grace makes all the difference in the world in our lives. We can access that grace most through gratitude. Just take the time to be thankful for even the simplest things in your day.
I highly recommend Caroline Myss' book, Defy Gravity, for more information on this.

A Balanced Life

"There is nothing simple or easy about becoming a congruent human being. Yet, accomplishing inner congruence is the jewel around which spins all the other goals we associate with the reasons we pursue a spiritual path. You cannot be truly healthy if you are out of alignment; you cannot be truly honest with yourself or others if your head and heart exist as two separate forces within you; you cannot ever know what the fulfilled life is about if you are always compromising your intuition and inner guidance for fear of the consequences; you can never consider yourself a truly honest person if you live a life of continual compromise and self-betrayal. Nor can you fully heal when you fear truth and honesty. " -- Caroline Myss

Finding our balance is the goal of each day of our lives. When we are out of balance, we drive ourselves crazy and all those we come in contact with during our day. A book I read when I was much younger really drove this point home. In I Dare You, the author, William Danforth, states that only about 10% of the population will find that balance in their lives and they will be the most successful.

Transitions

"You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you."
--Brian Tracy

Transitions are so difficult, but we can't avoid them. We can only make the best of them.
We have V all moved into her condo and she began classes today. So many of the feelings I expected to have when she moved to the dorm did not occur at that time because it still felt like she was at home. But now, now that all her furniture is gone from my house, it has all come to the surface. I'm working through this.