The Magical Allure of Balsam

I am still thanking Pedro, even days later and probably will until the tree comes down.  After all, that delicious smell of a fresh Christmas tree greets me every morning when I get my coffee and immediately, it puts a smile on my face!  For me, that balsam smell is associated with the thrill and child-like anticipation that comes during the Christmas season, most specifically for me on Christmas morn.  Even as a parent, there is a thrill of anticipation upon waking Christmas morning!  It’s that joy of giving.  That joy of family and love that permeates every moment.  It’s just being grateful for all of the blessings in our lives.  It’s the magic in the spirit of Christmas!

I’m grateful for being here every day, but especially upon waking on Christmas morning with my children.  It’s innate within me.  I am like a child, fully excited when it comes to Christmas.  I’ve always been this way, ever since I was little.

The smell of a fresh tree immediately brings me back to being a little girl, waking up on Christmas morning and seeing those presents under the tree.  If I sit quietly, I can easily remember that joyful feeling along with the thrill and magic of how Santa brought us presents while we were sleeping.  It wasn’t ever a lot of presents, but just the right amount.  It was in the excitement of anticipation of what’s inside the prettily decorated wrappings that charged me up!  It was also, as I got older, the happy anticipation of giving special presents to those whom I loved.  Finding that special trinket or sweater or special toy that couldn’t be found anywhere and delivering it to my loved ones with joy for knowing that they would be happy!

Christmas is about family being together on Christmas morning.  Waking up, sleepy with joyful anticipation for what Santa (ahem Mom) brought and what thoughtful gifts each of us in turn have gotten each other.  It doesn’t have to be a big deal.  It’s about giving the Presents of Presence to each other.  Being there, in that priceless moment of glee that’s filled with love and family.

What about you?  Does the smell of a fresh cut tree bring back memories of childhood Christmases and the anticipation of presents magically appearing under the tree for you too?

Shine On!

xo

 

Be the one who remembers…

2012 was a rocky year for me, 4 major surgeries, the passing away of my Dad, the added responsibilities that accompany closing down his business (of which I know little about) and the taking care of my Mom who relied on my Dad for everything.  AAngel (my sister) and I have been dealing with all of the nuances of this literally life changing event in our family and it’s been sad and hard and frustrating.

However, it’s made me realize how grateful I am for everyone and everything in my life.  There’s a saying that I heard which says without the clouds, you cannot experience the rainbow…so as the rains came, I knew that eventually the sun would emerge and I tried to simply be in that moment and not fight the sadness.  It was a huge shift for me and one that I am grateful for experiencing.

My goal this year is again, to be present, to enjoy the Presents of Presence as it were…and to be grateful for the experiences of 2013.    Part of being grateful I believe is to show your gratitude and connect by sharing it with others.  With my Dad’s death, I learned how much of an impact he made on so may people simply by calling them on their birthdays.  I learned that he called all of his clients on their birthdays every year and sang the first line of the birthday song to them.  Now you may think that is nothing, but I can’t even begin to tell you how many emails, how many notes, how many phone calls I’ve received from people in the last 6 months telling me how their birthdays weren’t the same without my Dad’s traditional birthday call.  Something so simple and yet so powerful…I love the legacy that he left for so many people…

In the same vein, although with my own twist, I’ve done the same thing with my business ~ except since my choral days are over, I’ve turned to card sending which for me is a bit more concrete because you have a card to hold, to cherish and to be a loving reminder for years to come.  How I wish my Dad had written more cards to us instead of calling ~ imagine how wonderful it would have been to have held his loving words in my hands when I needed to hear from him now that he’s passed?  Imagine your loved ones holding your priceless words of encouragement, your pictures, your videos in the palm of their hands for years to come?

Are you a card person?  Or are you like AAngel and find having to drive to the store to then stand in front of the shelves until you find a card that costs between 4-6 dollars which doesn’t quite say what you want appalling?  You want to be that person who remembers everyone’s special day, but quite frankly, you simply don’t have the time to add one more ‘do’ on your to do list?  You have an entire family and work schedule to keep track of so how can you keep track of anyone else’s stuff?

Well, the solution is simple…SendOutCards is a free system which keeps track of all of that for you ~ and acts like your own personal assistant whether you use it for business or personal use!  Need reminders of friends’, family members’, clients’, customers’ birthdays, anniversaries, children’s names or need to write notes about them?  There’s an online address book which allows you to put everyone’s special days in the calendar so you never miss sending a card and even a gift!  You can be that person who remembers everyone and makes them feel special!  You simply log onto your computer, iPhone, iPad, kindle or android at any hour, from any place and send a card/gift on time ~ saving you time, saving you money (a card costs less than $1) and getting the card that you want instead of trying to be satisfied with something that only feels ok from the store.  Add pictures?  Add a video?  Add your logo?  Sure!  Write in your own handwriting?  Yup!  Pick a card from our catalog or make your own from scratch!  Add a gift card?  Mrs. Field’s cookies?  A toy?  Jewelry?  A trinket?  Yes!  You can even schedule your cards to be sent out up to a year in advance!  Or send the same card to many people but personalize each one!  It takes 5 minutes to do and yet, SendOutCards is not a household name…yet!

We are an INTERNATIONAL company with distributors in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom and Singapore.  But you can be a customer from anywhere and you can send cards and gifts to anywhere!  That’s the beauty of the free system!  Buy only what you need ~ there’s a pay as you go option or a subscription ~ whatever works best for you!  Yes, it’s that simple!

So come join me and be the one that remembers ~

Give the priceless gift of thoughtfulness

You’ll be glad you did!

http://www.sendoutcards.com/126830

Shine On in 2013!

xo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JJic3b_MU9Q

100 Posts ~ Gratitude Goal!

Thank You!

Today celebrates my 100th post on my blog and I want to begin by thanking all of my readers.  I started this blog to reach out to others, to inspire, to be of service and to spread the knowledge I’ve gained through my life experiences.  Using cards as my springboard, I’ve tried to bring an inspiring message to you with every post.

I’ve had a bit of time to think lately as I’ve been recuperating and I’ve come up with a goal that I am hoping you might want to participate in.  I’ve been talking a lot about gratitude these days and I’ve got a lot to be grateful for in my life…and I’ve a lot of people to be grateful for in my life.  I’ve written a ton of thank you notes recently as many people have come to the aid of my family and me by bringing dinner over, sending flowers, sending little gifts in the mail, sending prayer cards and even just sending ‘thinking of you’ cards which have brightened my every day.  Truly I am blessed.  I loved getting that unexpected card in the mail among the bills and junk mail.  My eyes lit up every time someone brought me an envelope with my name on it because to me, it was like a little piece of Heaven…you thought of me enough to pick out a card, write a heartfelt message, address, stamp and mail it to me so that I could have something special to open…how fantastic is that!

There are many books out now, like The Magic, which reiterate that we should be grateful, be cognizant of the blessings we have already and as you concentrate on those multitude of blessings that you already have, more come your way.  I agree with counting your blessings and living a life of gratitude.  I’ve kept a gratitude journal a la Oprah which has helped to keep my positivity in check…and has grown my blessings and miracles enormously.

But I’m finding that I want to do more, globally and reach out to others with that gratitude.  A smile, a polite thank you in our daily lives to those who show us kindnesses is one way to show gratitude, but what if we were to take it a step further and say it…say thank you with a card…a heartfelt message to someone to whom you are grateful?  Imagine the amazing benefits to you and to the recipient if you were to write a heartfelt message of gratitude to a friend and the priceless feelings it would give that person when they opened a special card from you saying thank you.

Maya Angelou wrote,

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

My goal is to send a heartfelt card a day to someone whom I am grateful for ~ I’m going to do it for 30 days ~ a card a day.   I will post my journey each day so that you come along with me.  I’d love for you to join me as my goal is to get 100 people to send a card a day for 30 days.  Imagine what we could do by sending out love & gratitude  everyday for 30 days to 30 different people?  Imagine the impact it would make on our little world…of course, my mind races with what if’s…what if 1000 people did it for 30 days and so on…

If you’re interested in joining me, let me know…it’ll cost about $1 a day, you can do it from you computer and you may even change your life…what if we started a movement of gratitude?  A wave of gratitude which knows no bounds…

Join me on this journey…let’s change the world, one card at a time…

Thank you for reading my blog…I am grateful to all of you!

xo