Prayers Requested

To all of my blogging friends,
You know, you never know what life has in store, and as luck would have it, this is the week I have a ticket to fly to Chicago to babysit for our grandsons while our daughter in law takes our son to Utah to ski for his 40th birthday. Unfortunately, fate had another plan.

Yesterday our youngest grandson went in for emergency surgery at the U. of Chicago Childrens' Hospital. He is doing ok so far but I am still going to fly up there to help out. Our son and wife are totally spent, emotionally and physically as his illness has gone on for enough days that they have had no sleep and are totally sleep deprived. Her mom arrived last night and is taking the first shift, I will come in and take the second one.

All in all I wanted to inform you as I will be absent from the scene here for at least a week and will no doubt not be commenting on your blogs as well. As soon as life returns to normal (is there such a thing?), I hope to be better at commenting and visiting.

Meanwhile, if you feel so inclined, please say a little prayer for our grandson, his parents and brother and the entire medical team who has done a superb job of healing this little body.

Blessings and thanks to all......

Sunday's Tidbit: Relationships

You don't have to worry about what their vibration is if your vibration is one of connection. Because if your vibration is one of connection -- you're going to dominate the vibration. This is the way you learn your relationships. The thing that most people do not understand, is that you get to control the way you feel, because you get to choose the thoughts you think. Most people think that they only have the option of responding to the circumstances that surround them. And that's what makes them attempt the impossible, which is to control the circumstances around them, which only feeds their feeling of frustration and vulnerability, because it doesn't take very much life experience to discover you can't control all of those circumstances. But you can control your vibration. And when you control your vibration, you've controlled everything that has anything to do with you.

--- Abraham

Excerpted from the workshop in El Paso, TX on Thursday, March 28th, 2002 #266

Totally Useless Information

photo courtesy of: www.freshwap.net/forums/ e-books-tutorials/311...

I often try in this blog to give you interesting, usable information but decided today to bring in some fresh breezes and light air! Probably because I woke up in the middle of the night laughing. Oh yes, I do that. Drives my husband crazy.

Anyway, I have two tidbits of useless information that I thought were fun. I found these little known facts in a great magazine called The Week. I love that magazine because it is short, it provides several views of the same opinion piece, it gives an overview of world news, US news, art and book news, QUOTES (for you quote lovers out there!) etc. etc. etc. I love it.

So here are the two facts I found in it this last week that I thought you might enjoy:
1. Feng Shui related: Our ancient ancestors, Homoheidelbergensis lived 800,000 years ago in Israel. Archaeologists have unearthed evidence that they, like us, divided up their living space into functional areas. Instead of houses, they lived in caves, but they had separate areas for cooking, sleeping, tool making, hearth and community. Being able to organize life this well tells scientists that our "primitive hominid ancestors" lived at a level of sophistication once thought to be exclusive to Homo Sapiens species of 40,000 years ago. Pretty cool, eh!

2. Color fact: At New Year's in Mexico it is traditional for the women to buy colored panties to symbolize what they want to bring in for themselves for the year. The traditional choice has been red which is said to assist the wearer in finding love for the New Year. THIS year, the choice was yellow, which represents a new desire for the women: yellow is for gold/money, and tells researchers (underwear research? Hmmmm.) that the economy is now their prime concern. And Mexico's economy is the hardest hit of all Latin America. Now we'll see it this novel approach works. I've always said "never underestimate the power of color"! Can't hurt can it!

So go out and wow all your friends with this wealth of TUI (Totally Useless Info). And have fun!

Sunday's Tidbit

photo courtesy www.carlosweb.net

"What we think determines what happens to us, so if we want to change our lives, we need to stretch our minds."

Wayne Dyer

Have a great day!

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

Everything that I think that I need to do is all only in order to propel me to some place that when I get there, I think I will be happier. So, everything that I am doing, no matter what it is, all of my lists of rights and wrongs... are all about me getting to a manifestation that I believe I will then be happier... So, why don't I take a short cut and just go get happy?

--- Abraham

Excerpted from the workshop in Washington, DC on Saturday, May 1st, 2004 #325 (Esther and Jerry Hicks)

I love these excerpts from Abraham. They are all so simple and direct and to me are like those moments in the V-8 commercials, those "duh" moments I call them. As another Abraham (Abraham Lincoln) said,
"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

Of course, this doesn't help much when one is in the depths of depression. Enter suZen's wonderful video post for this week. This video is a great description for what ails us when we are depressed over our own situation, whatever it may be. Please do yourself a favor and watch this video.

And then, if you still have questions over how to overcome depression and unhappiness, take a look at some of these quotes for inspiration. You know how I love quotes!:

What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I'd realized it sooner. ~Colette



There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. ~Logan Pearsall Smith, Afterthoughts, 1931




Most people would rather be certain they're miserable, than risk being happy. ~Robert Anthony






The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up. ~Mark Twain




If only we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time. ~Edith Wharton


Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne




Forgiveness....again!

image courtesy www.wikihow.com

“Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much.” Oscar Wilde

“When a deep injury is done us, we never recover until we forgive” Alan Paton

This morning I had a wonderful phone conversation with a friend I have

known since we were 14. That is nearly 50 years. In a few months it will be. That’s a long time to have a friend. She and I both went to a school for girls for high school where we met. She and I both were goody two shoes in our previous schools, honor role students, (she is truly smart, I just worked hard), and she was also a good athlete, while I was, again, a hard worker, but without many results in this field!

She and I both also came out of this experience very damaged. It took us both a long time to realize that those 4 years were not meant to destroy us but to release us into our true selves. And today we talked about how we are both-FINALLY-ready to release our hatred for the headmistress, the teachers, the people who made our lives so miserable for those long 4 years.

The details are not relevant. Suffice it to say we both turned away from our goody two shoes personalities and became “bad girls” from the standpoint that we took to smoking and drinking to prove they couldn’t destroy us. Little did we realize at the time that we were only hurting ourselves. Ditto carrying a grudge for all these long years. Most of those “wicked people” are long gone and who is hurt by carrying grudges other than the carrier of those grudges? They become a heavy burden that slows down our progress and since both she and I are soul seekers, having that burden shadowing our every move has been yet another challenge.

Coincidentally, just before Christmas I received a plea for money from the school. That has happened at least once a year since the day we graduated, 46 years ago this June. It just so happens, though, that this year instead of throwing the appeal into the recycling bin unopened, I chose to open it, read it, and respond by writing a check. This sounds like a small thing, and indeed in some sense it was. The check was for a small amount, but it has been a HUGE step in my development. It wasn’t until I talked to my friend this morning that I realized what this step meant.

It meant that I was finally able to put this all behind me. It meant that I finally realized that this adversity was only a way to teach me lessons, ones I learned layers of over and over and over through my life. (I am after all a very slow learner!!!! Remedial life lessons I call it!) It meant I finally forgave the “offenders” who were really OK people after all is said and done. It was my attitude that demonized them. It meant that I could, after too many years, move on.

I truly believe in the power of educating women worldwide. Looking at the school which is so different from the one I attended, I made a conscious decision in December to support that belief by donating a few dollars to their mission of educating women. They are truly doing some amazing work with women. So why not support it?

It’s a small step in the whole scheme of things. But a big one for me. To forgive is sometimes the best hardest thing to do. To let go of those horrid memories and release them to the balm of forgiveness has done more for my soul than I can say.

I hope you can move ahead much more quickly than I did. To be honest, I have put so much focus on healing other issues this was kind of on the back burner for many years…..but believe me it never stopping simmering there!

What is on your soul’s mind that needs releasing? What is your plan to do so?

“When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free.”

Catherine Ponder

Here are a few more quotes I found on forgiveness that I thought you might enjoy:

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”

Lewis Smedes

“You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well.” Lewis Smedes

Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” Mark Twain

“To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness.”

Robert Muller

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

Mahatma Gandhi

Colors of Winter

photo from dsh archives

Each season of the year is associated with different colors either through systems like feng shui or through our personal associations. Feng shui winter colors are blue or black. For me personally I associate winter with white, red, black, gray and muted greens.

My own winter color palette has white as the main color. You can tell I live in the far north where it starts to snow November 1 and stops about May 1. Between these two dates the ground is generally covered in a blanket of white snow that sparkles in the sun, blows up into your face, and softens all sounds. White is associated with purity, with a clean slate, and new beginnings. It is light, airy, untouched, virginal. Looking out on a new snowfall you see possibilities and so it is with the color white.

Black is probably the color I next associate with winter. The crisp black outline of trees is so clearly visible when placed against this white backdrop. There is a play of light and dark, of light and shadow, of illumination and secrecy, of yang and yin. White is revealing while black can hide. Black is that yummy darkness in which seeds rest and absorb nourishment for new growth in the spring. Like white, it can represent new possibilities: those things that are hidden and getting ready to be revealed!

One sees little pieces of red in the form of cardinals and fruits like crab apples that remain on the trees for much of the winter, or at least until the birds have picked them all off. The red with the white and black is striking. It is new energy, hope, and just that counter point that we need in the winter to bring us a feeling of warmth and wellbeing.

Gray, too often the color of our skies up here, is another color that hides or keeps things behind a fog so that we cannot clearly see. So much of winter is like that. We know intellectually that seeds are in the ground and they will sprout in the spring with vigor and force but we can’t see them. We know that the snow will eventually melt and give way to spring but we can’t see that happening. We know that the hibernating animals will come out again in the spring, that the grass will become green again, that the ice will melt….these are all the promises of spring that are hidden from us in the winter.

The muted greens we have are the colors from our evergreens: yews, pines, firs, cedars, holly….but the vibrancy of the green which comes with spring is toned down in the winter, as if even it is taking a break, a rest if you will, waiting for that surge of growth to come in the spring.

And the blue that is found in feng shui for the winter is more of an icy blue, the color our lake becomes when it freezes over, its turquoise waters turned solid with white cracks and a dusting of snow on top. It always reminds me of those icy blue drinks sold at convenience stores!

All the winter colors are so beautiful and quiet. The riot of color that comes in the spring and summer is loud and noisy and like a fiesta. But this, these winter colors, is all about resting, pulling back in to re-gather our strength and ideas. It is about trusting in the future and the promise of spring. It is about going within in order to emerge with a burst in the spring with new ideas, new energy, new ways of being.

Let the colors of each season help you with the rhythm of the nature, the going in and the coming out, the resting and the doing. And enjoy the winter spectrum!

Achieving Goals

Complaining about anything, holds you in the place of refusing to receive the things you've been asking for. Justifying about anything holds you in the place of refusing to let in the very things that you've been asking for. Blaming someone, holds you in the place of refusing to let in the things that you've been asking for. Feeling guilty, feeling angry, it doesn't matter what you call it, it is a refusal, not a conscious one. You're asking; you can't help but ask. The Universe is yielding; it must yield. It's a big question, folks: why aren't you letting it in?

--- Abraham

Excerpted from the workshop in Los Angeles, CA on Saturday, March 10th, 2001 #306

The preceding quote from Abraham states clearly how we hold ourselves back from achieving those things that we seek. My wish for all of us is that we each find our way through whatever blocks us from moving forward. Happy New Year to all. May love prevail…..