A New New Year’s Eve

I was diagnosed with breast cancer on New Year’s Eve of 2001.  I won’t bore you with the details, but if you choose to search in my posts for those key words, you will find my story.  Much has happened since that fateful day and for many years, I felt downtrodden by the reminder of my cancerversary on New Year’s Eve.

Finally, I no longer hold that diagnosis in my heart/mind/soul as I used to in the past.  The cancer diagnosis was the beginning of my spiritual journey which has led me to this day, today, for which I am ever grateful.  My life hasn’t turned out as I’d planned.  Instead, I’ve endured a plethora of losses and yet, I remain grateful for each experience.  I see now that all of those life lessons have led me to today and the spiritual knowledge which I would have never received had my life been easy and cancer-free.  I have acquired so much depth of understanding which I would have never grown if I hadn’t had to endure so much pain in my life.  The experiences reminded me of how innately strong I am and how even though my life went through periods of darkness, my heartlight shines even more brightly now because of what I’ve endured.  Isn’t that always the way?  Do you feel the same way?

My heartlight dimmed at times of great stress, disease, fear and grief, but the innate sparkle never left me.  My faith has grown stronger.  My commitment to being me in all my quirks and glory, has only increased in strength and commitment.  My supply of self-love and love for all mankind has increased exponentially.  I love from the depths of my soul and have learned to receive healthy love as well.  I no longer worry about acceptance.  I am who I am and I am not afraid anymore.

I wish you all a lovely New Year’s Eve!  Let go of who and what doesn’t serve your spiritual growth.  Leave the past hurts behind.  Enjoy The Presents of Presence and may all unfold in 2018 with love, light and peace for you!

Shine On!

xo

The Shack

Last night, I curled up on the couch after eating a warm bowl of homemade chicken soup that I had made for my family yesterday while the temperatures dropped into the single digits outside.  Cuddled under a big, fluffy, warm blanket, almost falling asleep, instead I turned on the movie The Shack.  Years ago, I remember reading the book which I found confusing.  So as the movie began, there were parts that I remembered from the book and much that I had forgotten.

I’ve told you about a few movies which I’ve found to be keepers – ones which touched me spiritually and this one, I need to add to that list for you and for me to watch again.  You see, after I finished watching it and dried my tears, I knew I would have to sleep on all that I’d just experienced along with the lead character in order to absorb what I could.  I also know that I will need to watch it again to absorb more, but that I will know when to watch it again – when my mind and body are receptive.

Click here or on the photo of the book to check it out on Amazon.

Have you ever read the book The Shack or seen the movie version?  The book came out in 2007 and the movie in March of 2017.  I would love to hear from you if you’ve already read the book or seen the movie.  I admit that it can be confusing at times and one needs to keep an open mind.

It’s the reminder of God’s presence in all of our lives healing us in a storytelling way.  The theme of love and letting go of the past are such strong universal truths that those are the additional reasons why I recommend reading and watching The Shack. 

Forgiveness is part of letting go of the past and as the end of 2017 is upon us, perhaps it’s time to let go of 2017 in order to begin again, our next year, with a clean slate and love in our hearts, minds and souls for all.

Shine your heartlights dear friends.

The time is now to heal our wounds and to be at peace.

Shine On!

xo

 

Planetary Healing

Good morning dearest friends.  I read another chapter from the book I shared in this post this morning and the following was channeled to me afterwards so I thought I’d share it with you.

It is written to hold sacred and pure the oneness in our world.  Too often we dismiss the light in the darkness, the stars nestled in the night sky, to instead focus upon our suffering.

Enlightenment forms upon our life path.  We may curiously begin to pick up the tidbits or carelessly trod upon them, unaware of the beauty nestled deeply with our souls.  That choice, my dear ones is free will.

I believe information is laid upon our paths when we are ready to welcome the God and Universal teachings into our lives.  We reconnect when Divine Timing and Source come to us.  We reawaken our souls’ ever-present love and shine our heartlights – filling ourselves and the world around us with love, understanding and forgiveness.

Our everpresent rays of starlight twinkle brightly in the darkness when we tap into our inherent goodness and knowledge.  We peak with clarity and assimilation with Divine Order.  We restore peace unto ourselves and others.

Prayer, meditation and stillness catalyst the necessary understanding in fulfilling our Divine Purpose. 

Oneness with our world sanctifies the holiness in our beings, washing clean the suffering we once believed was ours to endure.  Our being present in this moment of stillness shines healing energy and love throughout the Universe.

How lovely are we to be here together in this shining moment of love and tranquility!

May you have the best Monday ever!

Shine On!

xo

via Daily Prompt: Planet

 

My Sunday Prayer

Years and years ago, I began a nighttime ritual of prayer.  I made up the prayer below which I say nightly.  It may not work for you, but it does for me.  I just thought I’d share it today since it was Sunday.  I find peace in my life through prayer.  I think the power of prayer is great for all who find strength in praying.

Dear God,

Please keep all of my friends, all of my relatives, the people I like, the people I dislike, the people I know and the people I don’t know, happy, safe, healthy and alive, blessed, loved, wanted, taken care of and cared for through today which is Sunday, Sunday night, Monday, Monday night, Tuesday, Tuesday night, Wednesday, Wednesday night, Thursday, Thursday night, Friday, Friday night, Saturday, Saturday night and next Sunday and next Sunday night.

Please forgive us for all of the sins we have done, we are doing and we will do.  God I love you with all of my heart.  Dear Lord please watch over us all and guide us and bless us.  Help us to be better Christians.  Help us to love, honor and obey all of your commandments.  If any of us should die, please let us go to Heaven to be with you.

Thank you for all of the blessings you have bestowed on me, my family, my friends and my loved ones.  Please continue to bless us all.  Please continue to watch over us and guide us.  Amen.

Shine On!

xo

Prayer Does Not Change God

but it changes him who prays.

– Soren Kierkegaard

Do you pray?  Do you meditate?  Do you have faith that there’s a Higher Power in your life that guides you when you listen to your own inner voice?  What are you beliefs?  Do you even know what you believe?  Have you thought about it?

Perhaps now’s the time if you haven’t already thought about your beliefs.  Spend some time today quietly, perhaps surrounded by nature, and ask yourself what you believe in your heart and soul.  Allow the answer to come to you in the stillness of the moment.  Listen carefully and notice what you’re thinking and how you are feeling.  Many times the answers to our innermost questions are revealed when we allow our souls, hearts and minds to speak to us.  Listen with an open heart.

For me, prayer is peace.  Perhaps it was the way I was brought up or how I’ve evolved over the years.  I find when I give my worries up to my Higher Power, Inner Spirit, Universe, God, answers come to me.  Ways are made clear and my Divine Purpose is revealed to me with more detail.  Prayer stops my monkey mind (you know, the anxiety of what to do, the mind that perseverates over problems over and over) and allows me to be at peace.  Not always are the answers to my inner most questions revealed after praying.  But in time, I trust in faith that because the questions have been asked, answers are delivered with Divine timing.  It’s just the peace in being in the Presents of Presence.

How about you?  How do you feel about prayer?  What do you believe?  On such a beautiful peaceful Sunday, I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject!

Please Share!

Shine On!

xo

 

The Benefits In Troubles and Challenges

If you read the title of my post today and scoffed, I don’t blame you.  When I wrote it, I scoffed a bit too because frankly, who wants to be grateful for troubles and challenges?  Heck, those are things we shy away from, even run from as fast as possible!

Who is their right mind would say there are benefits in troubles and challenges?

Me!  And maybe even you?!

Because I’ve endured quite a few, (cancer, divorce, family with Alzheimer’s and Dementia, death of family, just to name a few), I can attest to their benefits (of course, this is AFTER they happened).  After the fact, we can see how individual challenges make us grow and strengthen us.  The challenges force us, sometimes unwillingly, to look at our lives with a different perspective.  They inspire us to deep deeper into ourselves to find the strength, the courage, and the inspiration to get through the difficult times.  We find out what we are really made of when we have challenges in life.  We are offered choices on life’s path and the beauty that we can choose again at any time makes life interesting.  Challenges and growth opportunities allow us to see how far we’ve come in our lives.

We can see troubles and challenges as building blocks on the road to life.  Our ability to endure them and to triumph over them (or to not) shapes us in different ways.  We enable our innate personality traits to be tweaked.  We learn new ways of coping.  We tune our minds into new avenues of solutions.  We can make new friends who open our eyes to finding peace in stressful situations.

The potential for growth, mentally, emotionally and psychologically during troubles and challenges can be exponential.  True, it can be maddening and frustrating as heck to have to deal with difficulties, but the benefits in the end, can outweigh the discomforts.

I know, you are probably thinking that I just don’t understand your troubles and challenges and you are right.  We all have our own path, but as I have found, they sometimes intersect and we can walk a path together with a friend (or a stranger who becomes a friend) and we can help each other, and support each other as we move through the tough times.

At least that’s been my experience throughout this lifetime.  I find that the higher power in my life, call it what you may, God, Universe, Infinite Spirit, your own higher power – helps me along the way through the hard times by planting strangers disguised as angels, friends, synchronizations, coincidences, etc. in order to help me overcome whatever is holding me back.  These in turn encourage me to grow, to learn and to accept what previously I may have deemed unacceptable.  But in the long run, I know that they were necessary growth spurts to get to me to where I am now.

It’s hard to believe for some of us that there’s a light at the end of a dark tunnel and that in the end, all the hard times were worth the changes that were hard won.  It’s mind-blowing at times that we can see in hindsight the benefits that come after enduring these life lessons.

But they are there.  Truly, they are there.

So please, if you are wondering if it’s karma or back luck or whatever you are thinking in order to blame the bad that’s going on in your life right now, just stop.  Accept it.  Keep going through it and move on.

That light at the end of the tunnel is beckoning you with sunshine!  Come on, hold my hand.  I’ll walk the path with you!

Shine On!

xo

 

 

Cancer Changed Me

Hope ~ Strength ~ Power ~ Belief ~ Courage ~ Honor ~ Determination

I have been told that cancer changed me.  Indeed, it wasn’t said it in the nicest of ways.  In fact, it was taken as a disparaging comment and I was appalled by the off-hand comment.  My first reaction was to defend myself at the time, to show how cancer didn’t change me.  But I left well-enough alone and decided to say nothing.  However, I was hurt by the retort.

Had cancer really changed me?

The question mulled in my head for days and many sleepless nights, more than I’d like to admit, but it’s true.  I’ve written how cancer changes you enough times in this blog to know that the reality is – YES, cancer changes most of us.  It has to, or we wouldn’t still be here.  For we have seen into the yawning mouth of our own demise, endured the most feared emotions and have come out of it alive, so far.  Looking at your own potential death does change you.

It makes you more aware for the most part.  Some of us now see with finite definition that life is short and there are no guarantees how much time we have on this earth.  We become grateful for the beauty in nature, for the simple pleasures that kindness brings and for a real, loving hug which can cure many ills.  We look to connect with others more because we know what it’s like to feel alone.  We share our stories, encourage each other and find the courage to be who we authentically are!  We smile when we are tired.  We work hard to overcome obstacles and to be there for others, even when we feel depleted.  We take that extra moment to smile and to enjoy goodness when it comes into our lives.  We are grateful for the support that we have been given and we look to support others to continue the flow of goodness.  We share tips to help others and happily receive tips to make our lives easier.

We know that all the money in the world, with all the frivolities are fleeting and really don’t mean a damn when death comes knocking at our door.  It’s that silence between ourselves and our maker (or our beliefs) in the quiet of the night that counts.  It’s regarding peace within as a precious gift, time spent with loved ones and a centered calm in which to retreat when life becomes hard.  It’s the voice within the stillness which speaks of love, gratitude, peace with ourselves and others and God.

Yes, cancer changed me.  That’s for sure.  Perhaps it was the misunderstanding of me that caused this person to spout the ‘dig’ as I took it.  Sometimes it takes a loss for us to be humble and perhaps there will be people who simply never understand.  And that’s ok with me.

I am me, authentically me.  I make mistakes, I ask for forgiveness and I forgive.  I choose to live in a state of peace within when I can, but I am always evolving, ever growing and yet, trying to do all things with love.  I intend to do my best, at any given moment, but I’m human.  I’m a work in progress.  Aren’t we all?

What’s precious to me in my life is love, kindness and connections and I strive every day to live with those three precious gems in my life.  Cancer made me a better person by giving me so many lessons in my life.  I’ve learned so much from cancer, even though I never wanted to endure that disease.  Looking back on my life, I realize that I am who I am today because of cancer.  Even if others don’t understand me, it’s ok now.  I’m at peace and I’m ever grateful for the peace within me.

Shine On!

xo

The Gifts In Surrendering

Sounds like a strange title for a blog post, huh?  Well, I guess it is, but a comment from this post made me feel like I wanted to write more about surrendering.

To surrender is to allow the Universe to have a hand in life.  Surrender isn’t a negative as many of us deem it when we hear the word.  Surrender is simply presence during whatever chaos surrounds us.  It’s not picking up the karma of chaos, but simply allowing it to swirl around us while we stay peaceful, centered and present.

Surrender isn’t allowing the past to whip our emotions up into a frenzy of negativity, of hurt, or of resentment.  It isn’t allowing the good of the past to be lost, but instead to hold it tenderly in a place of peace.  It isn’t allowing the loss of the good to overshadow the present good with bereftness or grief.  It is being in the present moment, truly being in the present moment with peace – no past – no future – just now.

And if that sounds hard to do, well, by golly, you’re right!  (Sorry, I needed a giggle to break the seriousness.)  Because many times it’s not easy, otherwise we’d all be doing it and be like Eckhart Tolle or the Dalai Lama without straining to stay present.

Surrender isn’t giving up or giving in or allowing others to control you.  It isn’t being a doormat or losing the battle.

Surrender is breathing in the gratitude for what we currently have at this very moment and acknowledging it.  Surrender is faith in integrity.  Faith in ourselves.  Faith in the Universe that all arrives with Divine Timing.  Surrender is letting go and letting God.  Surrender is putting the desired outcome out there and taking the baby steps that we can in order to accomplish whatever it is we want without putting restrictions, nor past or future limitations on ourselves and our situation.  It’s stillness and prayer.  It’s a loosely built plan of what we’d like ultimately, but with the caveat that somewhere close in that vicinity would be fine as well.  It’s allowing the Law of Attraction, the angels that are friends and strangers or maybe, actually angels, to help us.  It’s continuing to do our best daily, with integrity and lay our worries on the bedpost as we sleep in peaceful slumber, knowing we have done our best today and have earned a restful sleep.  Surrender is  allowing the freedom of peace to envelope our souls.  To find the peace in the current situation, no matter how bleak it seems and to remember that tomorrow is another day with a new dawn and the possibilities of miracles abound.  It’s reaching out to others when times get tough, for more often than not, they are waiting in the wings to comfort, to help and to encourage.

It’s finding The Presents of Presence, unwrapping the peace and being grateful for what is in this very moment.  It’s finding the good now.

Have you every surrendered?  What was the outcome?

Shine On!

xo

Begin Again

A friend gave me a magnet awhile back in anticipation for all of the changes that were in store for my future.  At the time, I didn’t want to Begin Again as it was daunting for me to think about all that would be changed.  Regardless of how much I didn’t want the changes, they happened anyway, out of my control.  Instead of accepting that my life would dramatically change in all ways – divorce, moving, financially, health-wise, etc., I fought like a tigress to remain in that stagnant limbo of wanting no change, all while change happened anyway.

Finally, I surrendered.

Broken, exhausted and drained, I surrendered.

It’s not that I didn’t agree that the changes were imminent and necessary.  It was that I was fearful of how I would continue on in this uncharted territory for my journey and the journey of my children, for it wasn’t where I wanted to be.  But when I stopped fighting against the rising tide and began to doggy paddle to keep afloat, I received help through the transition.  Angels disguised as friends and strangers reached out to me with kindness.  I began to see the future as a new chapter in my life, a new book on which to write my story and a fresh clean slate which I controlled (for the most part) of how I am the captain of my own life’s ship.

I began planning what had to be done and like a sergeant, began the transition with what I hoped would be military precision.  But alas, I may have had a plethora of military family members, but precision has not been a characteristic blessing unto me.  And so it was, I surrendered.  I did my best daily, fell asleep on my pillow with a bone tired body and rose up the next morning to do it all again.  And finally, it was accomplished, through the help of my angelic human angels.

Now we begin again, in a new home with new challenges.  Regardless, I have surrendered what was and I embrace what is and I plan for what I would like to be.  To Begin Again requires letting go of the past and staying in a peaceful present and allowing a hopeful future to blossom, petal by petal.

I am grateful for the peace within now.  Although transitions are often fraught with wiggles and compromises, I knowingly stand with peace in my heart, grateful for the lessons and learning which have come with the experiences I’ve endured.  I’ve learned so much about people, about myself and about love.  Life lessons have been tough at times, but well-worth the growth that came out of them.  Sure, it’s easy in hindsight to feel this way, but I guess I wanted to share with you so that you can remember that there is light at the end of the tunnel.  We just have to keep walking towards the light.

I’m here for you if you are going through any transitions as I’ve been through a bunch of different ones:  cancer, multiple surgeries, chemo, radiation, divorce, selling a house, finding the right rental, starting over at 50, death of family, family with Alzheimer’s and Dementia, etc.  If you need a friend, here I am, with my arms wide open for a hug.

Shine On!

xo

 

 

How To Find Your Way Home – Prayer Request

If light is in your heart,

you will find your way home.

~ Rumi

My heart is filled with light as I release our family home with gratitude for the happiness and blessings it gave us for many years.  I humbly ask that if you feel led, that you please send prayers for a new home in which my children and I can rest our weary souls, shine our heartlights and be happy.  I know we will find our new place with our faith of Divine timing, but a few extra prayers from you would surely help our situation.

Thank you for reading and for thinking of us.  As always, I appreciate our connections.

Shine On!

xo