We Are Here To Serve

I’ve often wondered, why me? when life gets hard.  I think it’s a normal response when we feel overwhelmed by hard life experiences.  We’ve all had them, but to different extents and different types of experiences.  Dysfunctional relationships.  Cancer.  Financial problems.  Death of a loved one.  Divorce.  Alzheimer’s.  Childhood hurts.  Depression.  Family relationships gone awry.  Illness.  Just to name a few, I am sure we share some of the same hurdles, but maybe in different ways.

Life experiences teach us what we couldn’t have learned otherwise.  We can’t help others if we haven’t endured similar issues in our own lives.  What’s that quote?  Walk a mile in my shoes?  Maybe I haven’t walked in your particular shoes, but perhaps my similar experience is enough to connect with you and to help you on this life journey.

I am grateful for all that I have endured in my lifetime.  When we can see the gratitude in the hardships, we can change how we feel about them.  We increase our faith and our love quotient.  We rise above what we could have let hold us back from living a full life.

We are all here to help each other as we connect, we bond and we share our experiences.  There’s nothing better than someone else who knows what you are going through (by similar experience) who reaches out to share the experience with you as a friend, a guiding light to help you find peace within while offering a hand to hold as you heal.

The Why Me?  was answered recently by my soul who gave the response that if I hadn’t endured these experiences, I would be unable to connect so purely with others who may be in the trenches.  Without first-hand knowledge, I would only be able to sympathize and not empathize and put myself in similar shoes.  Does that make sense to you?

What I know for sure (thanks to Oprah for the phrase) is that we are here to serve one another in this lifetime.  To share experiences, to open our hearts with compassion and love and to shine our heartlights together!

You are not alone…take my hand and let’s…

Shine On!

xo

Hugs for you!

Hugs are quite useful.

They provide stretching exercise to short people & bending exercise to tall people.

My blogging buddy Ray posted this morning  here  and as always, he inspired me.  I have tried repeatedly to imbed the video which Ray posted, but to no avail.  Please, if you have a moment, click on Ray’s link above, say hello to an amazing fellow and watch the video.  You’ll find it when you click on  Can You Imagine? on his blog post.

We are all here in this journey called life ~ we make connections with others through empathy and sympathy.  We can connect through our words, our actions, our inactions ~ even a simple meeting of the eyes can speak volumes.

We all have difficulties in our lives, some of us have hidden scars and some of our scars are outwardly displayed.  There are few who are unaffected by trials and tribulations in life.  It’s what we do with our experiences, how we reach out to help each other by connecting, that we make the life experience more fulfilling ~ deeper, richer and more meaningful.

So day as you go out about your day, perhaps you can take a step out of your comfort zone to simply smile at a stranger, to hold the door for someone, to thank someone who does it for you.  Many times we are too busy in our heads to really see those around us.  By reaching out to help, we help ourselves as well.

Please watch the video and let me know what you think…it’s quick, but powerful!

Big hugs to all of you from me!

Shine On!

xo

Giving Thanks for a Response!

Although we are miles apart, warm thoughts of you and the memories we share,

make the distance apart seem closer. 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

A few weeks ago, I shared bucking-expectations with you which was about my sending a sympathy card to my cousins with whom I hadn’t spoken in years due to family troubles.  I sent my heartfelt message to them with love, hoping for a response, but being ok without one.  So, last week when I finally got my mail, tucked in the pile of junk mail and bills was a white envelope addressed to me ~ from my ‘older sister’ to whom I’d sent the card.

She sent me a beautiful card of sympathy, acknowledging the death of my father (as I had acknowledged the death of her Mom).  She even included a sweet story which I had never known about something my Dad had done for her.  She told me that I would always be in her heart as well which is what I had told her.

It was, for me, a bittersweet moment.  All those years wasted and yet, a hope for reconnection.  The above card looks perfect to me and I am sending it to her and to her family.  I haven’t seen them for 13 years ~ her children are grown, she’s only met my older son when he was little because the last time we saw each other was her dad’s funeral.

Her brother has not responded and I am ok with that as well.  I wrote from a loving heart so whatever happens is not my concern.  There was a message that I had longed to send which I did.  I told them both how I missed them and how much they had meant to me.

I don’t believe I am alone in this situation.  Perhaps you as well have relatives or friends with whom you’ve lost touch…and it’s awkward to call after so much time for reasons beyond your control.  That’s where sending a card can be a blessing ~ besides the fact that you can say whatever you want, you can reach out and touch the heart of another person…without fear of verbal rebuttal.

Thanksgiving is around the corner…a time for family and the beginning of the holiday season.  SendOutCards has a ton of cards to choose from and they cost only about a $1 plus postage…write your own message and press SEND…it is so easy to reach out!

Click below to send a card today!  Give it a try ~ you never know what could happen!

SendOutCards

xo