Daffodils for You!

I took this picture this morning of one of the daffodils on my kitchen table because it made me smile and I thought I’d share it with you today.  The daffs are not blooming in my yard yet as it’s too cold.  They are still just green shoots coming out of the cold hard earth.  But they are there, heralding the beginning of Spring, just waiting for the perfect moment to shine their yellow sunshine on all.

Spring to me is a rebirth ~ just like every dawn which comes my way.  It’s a newness from which the hope of a new day springs for me.  Daffodils remind me that the struggle of winter’s barrenness is over and with it comes the rebirth of creativity and  the newness of Spring which enter the soul.

I took my picture, uploaded it to my free SendOutCards account and made it into a greeting card within 5 minutes!  If you look closely you can see the green dotted outline of what is printed on the card ~ almost all of my images are that way because I make my own greeting cards and/or use the ones from the SOC (SendOutCards) catalog to make make my images for my blog.  Obviously the green dots aren’t on the greeting card, this is just how it shows what the image will look like so that I can make sure that my image is within the green dotted line which is what’s printed on the card!   I’d love to share my daffodil with you ~ if you send me your address, I’ll send you a card!  Wouldn’t you enjoy a surprise in your mailbox amidst the bills and junk mail?  I’d love to send you a smile today!

Hugs to all of you!

Thanks for reading my blog post!

Shine On!

xo

P.S.  Any more March birthdays out there?

Make Someone Happy!

Everywhere you go you always seem to spread sunshine.

Ok, think fast…to whom does this card belong?  Whose name popped into your head first when you read this quote and saw this card?  That’s who needs to hear from you today.  Did you think of someone?  Know their address?  Someone deserves to hear how you feel about them!  Sending positivity, increases sunshine and breeds positivity which makes more sunshine which makes the world a happier place.

Life is about connections ~ we pass along many amazing awards so easily to each other in order to show how we appreciate our connections, our relationships and our positivity.  We are there for each other, we read each other’s posts, we get to know other bloggers as time goes on.  I’ve already made some amazing connections here in cyberspace for which I’m grateful.  But what if when you opened your mailbox, amidst the junk mail and bills was an envelope with your name on it?  Imagine the excitement you would feel ~ similar to getting a comment on a beloved post, don’t you think?

There are people in your life to whom you’re connected and know their physical address ~ I would love to help you give them that priceless feeling of happiness! Making someone else’s day shine with your thoughtfulness gives them the feeling of being appreciated and gives you the feeling of gratitude.  By far, a win-win situation for sure!

See the video below ~ in a little over one month we have sent over 1MM cards of gratitude worldwide!  Imagine the ripple effect if everyone who blogged sent a card every day for 30 days?  I’ve done our gratitude challenge and I’ve seen other bloggers participate their own way in a gratitude challenge!  I love when we all connect!

Interested in learning about how you can participate in the Gratitude Challenge?

Click here!  www.socgratitude.com/126830

Happy Thursday to YOU!

xo

Storm’s a brewin’

Lightning, Thunder, Stormy Seas…

The last few days I’ve been suffering from a migraine which usually means the barometer is changing and it has been.  We’ve been having some thunderstorms, rain, sun and unusual weather.  As I sit here writing this post, it’s intermittently been raining cats and dogs one minute, with thunderous clouds and loud, rolling thunder and then suddenly the sky switches to bright sunshine with the quiet roll of thunder in the background.  In fact, I feel like it’s like me these days…sunshine with a touch of raincloud followed by a bit of thunder.

But I digress because I wanted to post about change and how difficult it can be on the body, the mind and others around us.  I think this is where my inner and outer thunderclouds have originated.  I’m on a changing cycle I think and it’s a bit stormy here for me as I go through the changes.  I’m a bit daunted to be honest by the unknown ahead, but having delved into the unknown before, I am shoring up my courage to keep taking baby steps.

The outer thunder is just the careless roar of others which I can deal with although I’d prefer calm, sun-filled moments.  But that’s ok for me.  I’ve been through far worse.  The inner thunder is more treacherous to me and having experienced it before, it leaves me a little shaky these days.  Nothing like a touch of the unknown to scare me a bit.

I remember when I was first diagnosed, I was afraid to cry.  Imagine being afraid to cry!?  But I was afraid that if I started to cry, I’d never stop.  Now I know that sounds silly, but to me, it was perfectly logical.  I was unable to mourn the loss of my breasts because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to stop crying about it.  So I held the pain inside until I almost burst.  Then a very dear friend told me not to be afraid to cry because eventually I’d stop…and those simple words, ‘eventually you’ll stop’ made all the difference in the world to me.  And the shift happened.

I cried for the loss of my breasts, for the time I spent in chemo, radiation, in hospitals, alone…I cried for the time I worried that I wouldn’t see my boys become teenagers.  I cried through sad movies, silly commercials and any true life story article or movie or book I could put my hands on.  It was like I needed that reason to cry and not the reason that I had in my own life and heart.  But through allowing those tears to escape me, I felt the weight of the sadness lifting from my soul and my heart.  It was when I allowed myself to cry, I was able to heal my heart and begin to take baby steps again.

It’s been a busy 8 weeks since my Dad passed and I’ve not had a lot of time to mourn the loss.  I know all about the grieving process having endured it when I had breast cancer 10 years ago.  I’ve been moving along through the 7 steps, only to stagger now.  But in the thundercloud where I am presently, it’s only fitting that a storm’s a brewin’ because I think many changes have occurred in the last 8 weeks of my life…and I just have to keep my thoughts on the prize of a sparkling rainbow!

Cheers to fears, tears and thunderclouds…

for they make the Rainbows that much sweeter!

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

The Light of Unity

So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.

Unity…what a powerful word!  I loved this card because I believe in Unity…in uniting as we are connected.  With Earth Day around the corner, I thought this was a good time to talk about the Light Of Unity…that spark within all of us ~ that bit of sunshine which is our centered soul.

That spark sometimes ignites a powerful link to others whereby we all start to light up like fireworks!   Have you ever had that experience?  You connect with someone and then somehow the whole day is that way ~ connection after connection continues to occur and things just happen for you easily?

I’ve had that type of day today and it’s been awesome so far.  I’ve seen the beauty in so many people and felt that heartfelt connection with them.  Receiving sunshine is such a gratifying experience and I am so grateful that I was able to receive such kindnesses.  I adore spreading sunshine to others and today, I have been showered by sunshine and I feel so blessed.

Perhaps I needed to feel the Unity today…and that is why my experiences have been so positive and unifying.

I send heartfelt sunshine to all of my angels thus far in my day…

CAngel, LAngel, LAngel, DAngel, AAngel

and to all of the angels in my life.   Thank you for unifying and for helping me today!

May the Light of Unity always be in your hearts!

xo

Sunshine…

Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others,

Cannot keep it from themselves. -James M. Barrie

Stevie Wonder, Ricky Nelson, John Denver, The Beatles, Bill Withers, The Police, Katrina and the Waves, The Grateful Dead and even the Brady Bunch have sung about sunshine…among countless others whom I found when I googled songs about sunshine…there were more than 100 listed!

I found them on this website ~ if you’re interested.

songs-about-sun-sunshine

I find it so fascinating that those who radiate sunshine in their lives, bring so much joy to themselves and to others simply by being themselves.  I am so grateful that I was able to lunch with my longtime friend BAngel who was in town for a few days.  As we chatted throughout our 3 hour lunch, I was constantly reminded of her sunshine (hence the post) which radiates from her at all times.  It is completely without her knowing what a blessing she is to all whom she comes into contact with at any moment of any day.  It is so much fun to watch others light up when she meets them ~ and it is delightful to see that she has no idea of the powerful light which emanates from her ~ human sunshine as it were.

I strive for that inner beauty as well…I aspire to be that beacon of hope, that ray of sunshine in the lives of others.  I want to make this world a better place by inspiring others to smile, to hope, to persevere, to take baby steps, to connect with each other and to enjoy the Presents of Presence.

 May the Sunshine warm your day today ~ and the moonlight light your path at night.

Have a blessed day!

xo