Spirits in the Night…

While we are mourning the loss of our friend,

others are rejoicing to meet him behind the veil. – John Taylor

Years ago, I awoke from a dream that was so real that I called my parents to tell them.  My Mom’s brother was like another father to me growing up.  He was a special man in my life and I loved him very much.  My dream was brief, but I saw him as clear as day in my dream and I heard his voice which I hadn’t heard in over 20 years.  I knew the voice immediately and recognized him in my dream as well as he looked ‘fit as a fiddle’ and happy.  I spent many weeks visiting him in South Carolina as a child and he always made a big deal of my visits.  When I told my parents about my vivid dream, my Dad told me that it was my Uncle’s birthday (which I didn’t know).  I felt very blessed that he had come to visit me and I was smiling all day thinking of him.

Truth be told, I thought it was a strange coincidence, but went on with my life, never thinking another thing about it.

Then a few nights ago, I awoke in the middle of the night, startled from a dream that was so real that it took me a few minutes to shake the cobwebs from my brain and realize that I was in my own home, in my bedroom and it was 3am.  In my very vivid, realistic dream, I was talking with my Dad and my Aunt Gloria.  We were in a house which I know I’ve visited before in my dreams and we were in the kitchen, talking and laughing.  It felt so good to see the two of them looking healthy and happy.  They looked as I remembered them 20 years ago and not as I had last seen them which had been at their recent deaths.  I remember that there were others milling around, but the three of us were talking in the kitchen of the home and we were teasing my Dad and laughing heartily over something funny.

My Dad passed away 6 weeks ago and Aunt Gloria passed away 6 months ago, but they were great friends and I can easily see the 2 of them whooping it up in Heaven together.  In fact, the more I’ve thought about my recent dream, the more I suspect that perhaps I did really visit with the 2 of them for the duration of my brief dream.  Now I just wish I could remember what we had been talking about as it was very funny.  Surely they shared a dilly of a joke or story with me because I remember feeling so lighthearted when I awoke.

Whatever happened that night, I know that it was a confirmation to me that they are doing well on the ‘other side of the veil’ and I am happy to see it.  I am just so grateful that the two of them found each other and deigned to visit me.  What a beautiful memory to enjoy for days to come!

Has this ever happened to you?  Am I the only one?  Have you ever gotten a visit from someone who’s passed?   I’ve never told anyone but my family about these dreams so I’m interested in knowing if I’m just delusional or if you’ve had similar experiences?  If you would, please let me know…

Happy August 1st to you!

xo

5 Minutes of Solitude…

It is only when we silent the blaring sounds of our daily existence

that we can finally hear the whispers of truth that life reveals to us,

as it stands knocking on the doorsteps of our hearts. K.T. Jong

For those of you who are energized by a challenges, I challenge you this week to give yourself 5 minutes of uninterrupted silence a day ~ not multi-tasking silence where you turned off the radio while driving to work ~ that doesn’t count nor does taking 5 minutes on the toilet and instead of reading, you sit quietly ~  nor does the 5 minutes before you actually fall asleep and have your head on the pillow ready for sleep to envelope your mind ~ but 5 minutes where you are conscious, quiet, without doing something else and you just sit.

I recently started doing this myself and at first it was hard for me as I like to either zone out in front of the tv if I’m going to be quiet or I like to read if I”m not chatting.  However, sitting quietly for 5 minutes without doing anything is a challenge.  I started making lists in my head of what I needed to do, wondering what the noises I heard downstairs were (did one of the kids drop something?) and the continuous thought of  ‘oh man, is 5 minutes up yet?” looped in my head.

So what I’ve done is started free writing during my 5 minutes which is akin to meditating, but offers my busy body a way to keep quiet for 5 minutes while doing something.  I am not quite sure if 5 minutes of solitude allows for free writing, but for now it’s working like a charm for me and perhaps it will for you as well.

Free writing for me has been me typing on my computer for 5 minutes uninterrupted, just allowing whatever words that begin to show in my head, a space on paper.  It’s just typing (or writing if you prefer) the stream of consciousness or unconsciousness that exudes from my fingertips without constraint.  And boy oh boy has it been interesting to read.  In fact, there have been times recently that I’ve gone over and beyond the 5 minutes as the words simply type themselves on the paper and continue to roll out in long, waves of sentences and paragraphs.

Sometimes it’s been just drivel that my fingers have typed, but some of the words/meanings that have come to fruition have been quite meaningful to my life and present situation.  The thoughts have had insight to my experiences and have been able to give proper responsibility where its due.

My Monday post today is simply to TRY for 5 minutes to be quiet and just listen to yourself…take a few moments for you.  Use it as an experiment.  You have nothing to lose except 5 minutes of worry, work or multitasking…give it a week and let me know how it goes…I’d love to hear if you already do this as I’d love the feedback…and if you’re just starting, let me know if you’d prefer I keep my challenges to myself!  Ha!

Happy Monday to You!

You’re worth 5 minutes…and more!

Be good to YOU!

xo

GROW through Life…

Don’t go through life. Grow through life.

Sometimes I think we mindlessly go through life, continuing the habit of work, eat, sleep, awaken repeat…we get into the routine of doing what needs to be done during each day because it needs to be done.  Taking care of ourselves sometimes gets pushed aside in order to take care of everyone else’s needs and we allow routine and the easy thoughtless unmindful ways to take over.

Being that it’s Sunday, I thought this was a good time to broach the subject of taking care of ourselves ~ “the Sabbath is a day of rest” as my Mom puts it ~ is just the ticket to change the routine.  If it’s an excuse you need to use in order to allow yourself some time to just ‘be’ and relax, well, then here it is!

Let me remind you that there are 24 hours in a day…and you can spare 10 minutes for yourself.  The idea is to start at 10 minutes for you and then add minutes as you go.  Perhaps a little meditation could be in order…or some free writing where you can just allow your thoughts some flight…or just taking a little time to look up at the sky and notice the beauty in nature that surrounds you.

Just going through life isn’t a life…you need to GROW through life so that you can experience all that life has to offer!  I don’t want to look back at my life and wonder where the years went…I want to stroll down my own memory lane with many stops along the way, enjoying the laughter and even the tears of moments which impact my life and my family…I want to remember fun times and silly moments…I want to smile and feel peaceful for how I lived, how I treated others and even how I treated myself.  I want to remember stretching out of my comfort zone to breathe happiness into my soul.

Enjoy this Sunday!

Grow through your life!

You are worth it!

xo

Embrace your Uniqueness…

Unique. Embrace your uniqueness.

Time is much too short to be living someone else’s life.

~ Kobi Yamada.

I think as we get older, it becomes easier to be ourselves.  Perhaps it’s just me, but I feel that there’s an awakening, a releasing of caring about what someone else’s thoughts are about me and a freedom which makes life so enjoyable!

I spoke with CAngel yesterday whom I only just recently met.  She was very open in telling me about her life and the recent events which had changed her life so dramatically.  Instead of being negative about the events which changed her entire life recently, when I asked her how she was, she answered, “I am well.”  She went on to tell me that she was not going to succumb to negativity in thought nor in word.  She would accept the growth that the experiences were giving her and she would take this opportunity to get to know herself better.  She looks up, reads scripture and is delving into knowing herself better in order to strengthen herself.  She even shared with me that she has intuitive skills with spirits which I found fascinating and I loved that she was embracing her uniqueness in such a grand way.  Good for you CAngel!

We all have a UNIQUENESS that is OURS ALONE!  We all have talents, strengths and weaknesses which make us ourselves.  We can live our lives covering up what makes us unique or we can celebrate our uniqueness and strengthen it.  It’s all up to You!

For me, I love my Uniqueness ~ I’m not quite sure what makes me Unique though…

Do you know what makes you Unique?  Do you celebrate your Uniqueness?

Embrace your Uniqueness!

xo

Key to Success…Key to Failure…

I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. ~Bill Cosby

Happy Monday to You!  I found this card this morning and just knew it was for today’s message.  In digging through my Dad’s personal items, I’ve found a ton of keys ~ most of which I have no clue as to what doors they open, but I find it interesting that there are so many doors that they could open and I wonder if I’ll ever find them.

On my own keyring, I have a key which I can’t figure out whose door it opens.  It’s been on there so long that I am afraid to throw it out for fear that it is a key I need.  Do you have any keys which don’t serve you anymore because you don’t know to which door they belong?  Have you thrown them out or are you holding onto them like me?

I feel like many of us hold onto keys in hopes of finding the doors to which they belong and in doing so, we somehow hold onto that ‘key of failure’ in the process.  Trying to keep the peace, helping to keep everyone happy and perhaps not keeping ourselves happy in the process is a key to failure.

It’s Your Life…it’s My Life…and I’m a guilty as the next key holder when it comes to trying to please everyone from time to time.  I’m not advocating not smoothing the road of life from time to time for others, but living your life to please everyone is not a life to live.  Giving yourself up in order to make others happy doesn’t allow you to be happy nor to grow by experiencing life as it could be.

As for my dilemma with an unknown door key ~ I’m going to take my own advice today ~ for the next week, I will truly try to figure out to which door it belongs and if at the end of a week I am unable to find it, I will simply take it off my keyring and put it away in my desk.  It’s not serving me and I feel like it’s weighing me down.  Perhaps it’ll be my symbolic key to failure that I’ll finally lay to rest.  I’m still unable to throw it out, but I think there will come a time that I will simply throw it away knowing that the door to that key is permanently closed…and I’ll feel good about it.

Do you carry keys to success on your key ring?  Or do you carry keys to failure?

xo

Summer ~ Today’s Gift to YOU!

Summer. Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability. Sam Keen

Happy Saturday to You!  I hope you are enjoying the warm summer weather which seems to seep into my bones whenever I am outside in the sunshine lately.  I thought this sentiment was perfect for today because I think with the hustle and bustle of life, we sometimes forget to simply enjoy the weather, the season and nature.  It’s important to get off of the hamster wheel for awhile and just ‘be’ for a bit.  Many of us feel guilty (myself included) when we’re not doing something and we let our minds race with all of the woulda-coulda-shouldas instead of just breathing, observing, enjoying what is offered in The Presents of Presence (my FB page).

In fact, even in the card, it’s described as laziness finding respectability when it’s not that at all, but in our frenzy to continue to be busy, laziness is how we explain our doing nothing for awhile and enjoying it.  How sad that we need to label being present and just enjoying the moment as laziness.  Is that a label you use as well?  Or are you comfortable just being able to take time to be?

Even for a moment today, my challenge to you is to find 5 minutes in the sunshine ~ drop your burdens, your cares, your woes ~ allow the beauty, warmth and happiness of sunshine to seep into your bones for a bit, soak up some of the sun’s vitamin D (with sunscreen of course!) and take a break from that hamster wheel.   Hum a little tune, sing a little song, notice the sky, the sun, the world around you…take a moment to breathe in nature today and be grateful for this moment in time.

Time is all we have and it is limited.  None of us know when our time is up, but I can tell you that the clock is ticking…who’s life is this anyway?   It’s YOURS!  So enjoy it!

Happy Saturday!

Happy Summer!

xo

P.S.  And if it’s cloudy where you are today, look at a peaceful scene of sunshine and imagine what the sun feels like on your face…and if you can’t imagine that feeling, then we need to talk…you need sunshine! xo

I Am…who I want to be…

I Am…who I want to be

So I’m sticking with the latest theme…probably because today marks 2 weeks since my Dad died.  Wow…it’s been 2 weeks since I stood by his bedside while his heart ceased beating on its own ~ even though his breathing was being done for him by the ventilator.  It seems like years ago and in the same breath, it seems like just moments ago.

To me, this whole experience has just reinforced my determination to be able to say the above sentence with courage, with happiness and without regrets. Do me a favor, go to the nearest mirror in your home and say to your eyes which stare back,

“I AM who I want to be.”

How do you feel?  Can you say this truthfully?  And are you happy with who you are?

If you felt great with it ~ Woo Hoo!  I am so happy for you!  Now your job is to go spread your sunshine to others!

However, if you have trouble saying the above, then there’s a bit of work to do for you.  I think we are always evolving as we are always learning.  I know that I feel that I am who I want to be, but I always want to improve myself.  I am always reading and trying to learn about how to improve my life, myself and to be able to better hone in on my purpose in life.  I haven’t quite gotten my purpose figured out yet.

Sometimes I just think it’s a work in progress until God/Universe decides to give me another cosmic kick in the rear ~ although quite frankly ~ breast cancer 10 years ago, 7 surgeries in the last 10 years ~ with 3 more to go this year~ my Dad dying and leaving us his business to take care of ~ and other little trinkets that have been passed to me ~ I think are enough.  I just wish I knew more precisely what my purpose is…until I do, I think I’ll continue on the path I’m stepping and see where it takes me.

In the meantime,

I Am…who I want to be…

And I hope you are too!

xo

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness…

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,

that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,

that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Happy 4th of July to ALL ~ especially to those in the United States of America ~ for whom this quote is especially pertinent since it comes from the US Declaration of Independence which was adopted back in 1776.

I loved this quote because I believe it is everyone’s right…and it is in your own power to exercise your freedom to be whomever you wish to be and to pursue what makes you happy.  This is YOUR LIFE ~ and our time here on Earth is limited.  Why waste YOUR TIME?  Today, amidst the holiday, take a few moments to ask yourself:  Are you pursuing your happiness?  Are you happy with your life?  Do you feel free or under constraint?  If any of those answers are not what you deserve by your rights, then it’s time for a change in your life.  It’s the 2nd part of the year, so there’s plenty of time to begin any adjustments you may need to make.  And if your answers are that you are living your life happily within your rights, then kudos to you!  Keep up the great work and go on to inspire others!

Have the courage to be whomever you are inside…let your inner beauty sparkle and grow ~ let it blossom and be seen by others ~ let your light shine and inspire!

Do what makes you happy, be good to others and enjoy your life.  It is your right.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness….

Happy 4th Y’All!

xo

Gratitude 30 ~ Challenge Complete

Today marks my 30th day of the gratitude challenge…and it’s not how I thought it would end at all.  I had thought that I would be sending a card a day to different people (which I did) and hopefully sending love along the way to so many.  Spreading sunshine as it were to all those who touch my life ~ so that they would know how much I appreciated them.  But along the way, Dad passed away and today marks the anniversary of his first week which is hard.  I’m told that the first year is marked by 1sts along the way which become easier as time heals.  Right now, I’m still a bit overwhelmed, but I am grateful that he is at peace.

I enjoyed sending my cards everyday which was so easy because there’s always someone to thank and to be grateful for if you take a moment to just look at your life.  I’ve learned and shared that we only have today in which to make a difference in someone else’s life.  We only have today to tell those whom we appreciate, whom we love, whom we care about ~ how much they truly mean to us.

I loved hearing the excitement in their voices when the card recipients called me ~ telling me over and over how much I made their day.  Going out to the mailbox, expecting junk mail and bills and finding a personalized enveloped tucked inside with a heartfelt message from me…reading how much they mean to me, how much they are loved, how important they are ~ my personalized message and sometimes even pictures ~ I know for me, with the passing of my Dad and my last surgery, I received many heartfelt, personalized cards which never failed to make me smile, even when I was so very sad.

Cards have a special way of making others feel good ~ spreading sunshine ~ making the world a brighter place.  And that’s what I’m all about…I want everyone to know how special they are ~ and I want to do it easily, conveniently and cost-effectively which is why I love SendOutCards…

Regrets are for a lifetime and I don’t want any regrets.  I’ve found that what you give out, you receive in abundance…So if I can offer you any wisdom from my 30 days, let it be this:

Appreciate…Love…Forgive…Love…Smile…Love…Cherish…Love…

Remember…Love…Care…Love…Repeat…

 www.socgratitude.com

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Gratitude 29 ~ Gracias Gracias Gracias

At age 12, my Dad brought me to my first Broadway play which was Evita.  I remember it was also the first time I wore high heels which he had bought for me.  Dad loved listening to the music from Evita and we listened to it over and over while we played checkers & backgammon in the living room at night.  It was then that I think my love for the Spanish language began and stayed with me.

I remember knowing the lyrics of the entire show and I sat on the edge of my seat the entire time, lip-syncing every word so as not to bother the people in front of me.  I was mesmerized by the story, the music, the lights ~ the entire experience.  I will always remember Patti LuPone and subsequently Madonna for their portrayals of Evita Peron.  When Evita the movie came out, Dad bought me the dvd…it was our special bond.

I began learning Spanish around the same time and I remember my Dad telling me that it was my only talent and that I should pursue it.  Mathematics was not my strong point, but languages ~ well there, I excelled.  I spent my Junior Year in Malaga, Spain where I fell in love with all things Spanish and felt so very much at home that my parents feared I wouldn’t return to finish my last year of university in the States, but I did.

So today I am thankful for my Dad’s wisdom and introduction to Spanish.  So Dad, today'[s gratefulness goes to you.

Gracias, Gracias, Gracias…

xo