Monthly Archives: September 2012

Conquering…

04 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by in God, Happiness, Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Conquering…

Life is not easy . . we reach stages in our lives when things happen which we simply do not understand, nor have answers for, which test our self-confidence or take hostage our self-esteem.  We feel challenged and pinned up against a wall, immovable and often incapable of progress.  When in these states, we often feel completely out of control, unworthy and stressed to a high level.  It might be a personal problem with a close associate or loved one; it might be from health issues we seemingly cannot resolve to our own satisfaction; we might be beleaguered by conflicts in our work, our home life, our personal relationships or elsewhere; or perhaps we are just aging and feel uncertain how our lives will pan out, how our dreams will be realized.

 Life is not easy, it demands our attention and perseverance to make the best choices, to examine our options and to be true to our own internal spiritual needs.  We must live in tune with many varying factors for our lives to be sensical and for us to deem them successful in the end.  When even one part of our life is out of tune, we notice a sour note played out in the way we appreciate things . . some of our joy is waning, our happiness is not guaranteed, we are more stressed and we struggle more against the currents of our daily endeavors.  Even one choice made erroneously, against what we deem essential for the happiness and contentment of our spirits, can leave us burdened with troubles! 

Knowing what makes you happy is key.  First of all, knowing that only you can be responsible for your own happiness is even more essential in life!  It is no one else’s job to make you happy, to cause your happiness, nor to decide what things in life will lead to your happiness.  Only you, with your consult in God, can make those determinations!  Learn to listen to the internal nudges and proddings which are your instincts.  They are often the best way to heed the real desires of your heart, no one else need convince you of their viewpoint . . only your desires matter after all, it’s your life!  Learn to trust your judgment as it is always the case that a wrong choice, or a choice which weakens your spirit, goes against God’s will or isn’t in your best interests will spike an instinctual call to make a different choice, or at the very least, to correct a poor prior choice!

 We are our own best advocates . . we know what it is that we need, want and what is best for us.  Learning to keep that in the forefront of our minds when making all decisions always assures that we will not make wrong decisions.  It’s okay to say no, to not do what others ask, to be so concerned about the state of your own spirit, that not doing something is the way to go!  Listen with a more alert heart to what makes you spirit content, that is what you should always do!  It is true that you always know in your own “gut” what is right or wrong, it’s instinctual, you feel it! 

The other way to conquer all your issues is to find a peaceful way to be calm when making decisions, when thinking and deliberating on something, and when you are pondering outcomes.  I choose to seek God’s counsel, for I always think He is leading me in the best way possible, knowing the best course for me, and He is always with me wherever I go.  Without my prayerful contemplation on everything throughout my day, I would be lost!  I ask Him for His grace, His favor, His direction and His loving compassion through each part of my day, every day.  I rely on Him, as He is my Shepherd.  Faith allows me to make that most easy decision to trust in God for all things I need and all that I must do.  It’s as simple as deciding that the way off the cliff each day is the way of faith!  As for our struggles, each one of us has them and must overcome them throughout life.  We haven’t exemptions from struggles.  When I’ve been overwhelmed and clearly befuddled by mine, I find that the most obvious reminder that I need God for everything!  I am incapable of doing and being anything without Him.  I am literally a lost sheep without the voice of the Master.  

Trusting in your Spirit’s communication, which comes through the instincts you sense, is the best way to know that you are keeping on the right path, making the right moves and following in God’s will for your life.  Anything else, and you will feel it as a gnawing in your own gut!  Pay attention, all the signals you need are there!  Just listen to the active voice of the Spirit within you.  It never steers you in the wrong direction.  If you make a wrong turn, listen anew and heed the best way to make the situation work out for your behalf!  It’s never wrong to turn it over to Him!

Absence Makes My Soul Stronger – Cheryl Ries

04 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Absence Makes My Soul Stronger

I’ve not written for a while, not for lack of thought, but rather for an accidental “drought” of spirit!  I was besieged by a situation which was taking my total energy to concentrate upon the best way to maneuver through, around, or over it.    We all have times like that in our lives, when something more than a speed bump, but rather a major mountain of a problem comes along, one which takes our energy, our joy, our very peace if we let it.  I have spent the last month considering how to keep and/or regain mine … it’s not so easy these days.  

We are at war with so many things which threaten to steal our peace.  The world is restless, unsteady, chaotic. Sometimes, our peace hasn’t visited us for so long, that when a problem of major proportions comes along, we are already engaged in battle, and incapable of fighting off the demons.  Those demons cast our hearts full of doubt, worry, and fear.  They cast us upon a sea of despair, for the trepidations of not knowing our way through the situation we are in.  What are we to do?  What I do is simple.  I find my strength in my faith.  I always have.  I try to keep faithful during all times, but I surely pursue it in the tough times!

 When things are going on in my world which besiege me and threaten my spirit with such gravity of despair for the overwhelming nature of what those situations represent, I go to the mattresses as it were.  I have fought a long battle to be faithful in my life, so when something threatens to fill my heart with all things in opposition to faith, the very least I can do is fight hard to maintain what I know to be the truth.  That is how I arm myself to do battle, I read . . I study . . I pray . . .I listen . . I consult.  I do all things which make my primary focus the re-strengthening and resurgence of my faith and my hope!   The only way to grow through the things which happen to us is to use them as steps to help us grow!  When life is threatening to take your peace, your faith is floundering and your hope is more like hopelessness, do you just give in or do you stand strong where you are and prepare yourself for the fight ahead?

 I suppose it is our “have-to-have-it-now-world” which deems things as necessary five minutes ago, but some battles and some struggles have lasted and endured for a long time in history before resolution happened!  If that scares you, you better learn now, it’s not the type of test for which you are truly measured, but how you behaved during the tests!  If you are in the middle of a battle, a problem is persisting and you are just tired of it . . I suggest you learn how to find your faith, be strong, persist and persevere with happiness through it!  That is how the most successful champions have overcome anything!   We may not get what we want when we want it, but if we persist in faith with an good attitude while in the middle of our situations, not giving into our emotions, we can achieve greatness in life, all the while maintaining our happiness and sense of peace!  

God blesses those who faithfully persist with a positive spirit through all that life brings!  It takes discipline, but it is imperative to have a positive spirit through everything which happens to you in life.  I am persevering in happiness!  I am also practicing:  The only way to grow through the things which happen to us is to use them as steps to help us grow! 

A New Day – Cheryl Ries

04 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

A New Day…

I’ve gotten several mammograms now … not my favorite thing to do, as it represents aging, time passing, another potential for my health to go downhill with time.  It’s not supposed to be anything other than a preventative measure, but it’s been more for a couple years now, as from almost the beginning, they’ve been a bit abnormal.  It’s never been definitively disease, fortunately, I’m so happy to say I’ve not had cancer, but I felt vulnerable.  I felt vulnerable each time the tech would return and tell me that I wasn’t free to go, that something needed further inspection, and that I would have to stay, or in two other cases, return for another test which was an ultrasound each time.  It’s the worse feeling in the world, getting that letter, that seemingly mundane letter, which upon further inspection indicates a need to schedule additional testing.

 The first time I had a mammogram turn up “iffy”, I shared the anteroom with a woman who had been through it three times prior, as she was a survivor, having one breast removed and now going down that pathway again with the other.  I immediately was frightened, just by being near her.  She was the fear of which I didn’t speak, the thing I couldn’t verbalize about my own trepidations in those moments.  What if …what if I was entering into that same journey of sickness, despair and fear of inarguable measure?  What if …But in those same moments within that anteroom … I learned a quintessential fact about life and the amazing quality of surviving.  I learned through that woman’s gift of self, that it needn’t be a fear-filled moment, but rather, it could and should be a moment shared between souls, one where women facing their own fears could be positive and supportive of one another.  And we were.  We talked of our health, our well-being, and our dreams.  I spoke to her of my upcoming dreams to live with my beloved in Italy, where in fact her family had originated.  It was in those moments I knew that God had placed her there for me, and hopefully, me for her.

 It was an idyllic meeting of our spirits, our souls, and our hearts.  We spent all of 20 minutes together, but it was like a lifetime passed between us somehow.  We never connected again, but I will never forget the gift of meeting a woman, who in her survival, her refusal to give in to cancer, inspired me to never fear the anteroom like I first did that morning.  Now, each time I go for my now-again annual exam, I am reminded that it is better to be knowledgeable and determined, alert and prepared!  Take the spirit of a fighter with you to your mammograms, be proactive and positive, get your mammograms regularly, and always be kind to the other angels along the journey!

A Journey Into Beauty

04 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by in God

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

A Journey Into Beauty

Whenever I’ve gone on vacations, or visiting new places, I’ve always had the chance to discover the beauty of the scenery, the culture, and the people; in my life, I’ve seen some really beautiful and amazing places!  Recently, after visiting yet another new place, I had the opportunity to learn not only about the culture, the people, as well as to experience the amazing splendor   around me, but I also had a startling   realization about myself!  I’m not just the sum of my exterior parts, which have   come to symbolize beauty in my life, for   me- the woman …  height, weight, hair,   smile, eyes, figure, features- all aligning just right to be photogenic or to appear comely for some majority of people. 

The truth is, whatever I have had on the exterior was always thanks to God’s handiwork, with   some of my own   choices of makeup, hair, and clothing,   with diet and exercise.   Now, as I have also realized, that truth is changing every day.  It’s not so easy to maintain the exterior version of “me” as I’ve come to know   it . . for   I’m changing on the outside  as I age. It’s not easy as we all learn! I wonder how others see me now, as I go through those changes.  I wonder, will I be beautiful in their eyes?    Or will they see me as I wish to be, beautiful from the inside out? We cannot stop the tracks of time from making their obvious way across our physical bodies, it’s inevitable. We are just flesh, each day decaying bits and pieces at a time.    Some struggle with that process, myself included!

When a woman has been told she’s beautiful on a regular   basis, she can come to identify with that observation as her ultimate truth. The real fact which eludes that truth is that physical beauty fades, changes, or is altered often in the blink of an eye … we are suddenly faced with transformations of ourselves which force us to make friends with a new reflection in the mirror, which was once our friend! If only we could find the proverbial fountain of youth!  Perhaps the real secret of youth and beauty isn’t found in some hidden, mysterious source which makes it eternal, but rather in our interior realm of esteem from   the Eternal Source.  Were we to really believe our beauty was not found just in the way we wear our hair, nor in the color of our eyes, nor in some size upon our clothing, then we would truly know our beauty comes from an interior realm of mystery- where   our spirit, our soul, our divine heart intersect in God’s very creation. This is exactly what I witnessed and experienced on my recent travel, beauty exuding from an interior realm!  My recent trip to a lovely island reminded me of interior beauty as the   ideal, as I met the most wonderful and big-hearted people.

I was effusively greeted, warmly received and treated like a goddess!  I felt like a million dollars, even though I was often sun burnt, had hair plastered by the salty sea, and was wearing an assortment of beachy clothing, so as to fit into whatever the situation and event called for.    I was relaxed, at my ease, and felt like a million dollars, even though no one did my makeup professionally, nor my hair, and my wardrobe reflected my satisfaction with a body which now is not the same boney size 2 I once proudly displayed as my ideal. Was this all just a reflection of my setting changing, or perhaps a deeper insight to what life is like when I am comfortable and at my ease?!    Is it possible only when on an island far from home?  No, I think this confidence is the seasoned outlook of someone who realizes that what truly matters in life hasn’t anything to do with the exterior features which make us who we are! It’s lovely to receive compliments and to be known as a beautiful woman, but it’s even more important to be known as a beautiful person on the inside, that’s what always comes through to the outside anyway!  

I’m appreciative for being esteemed and   lauded for beauty during my life,   it’s been gratifying, and I’m thankful to God for all compliments I receive!  Confidence, a sense of healthy esteem, and a desire to be a positive light in the world are the most attractive qualities no matter what the exterior looks like though.  A person who is content with their interior will project that and the exterior light will glow like a galaxy of a zillion stars!    Shining from the inside out is the way to be eternally beautiful, especially as we age, our confidence reflecting the fact that we have matured as spirits as well as maturing on the outside!  Learn to age gracefully   by believing in yourself, nurturing your confidence by being a great human being and letting your inner light shine through your spirit as you interact with others in the world! I am practicing these principles of beauty for myself, aspiring to be a   better person each day, and I’ve gotten to meet so many wonderful people who seem to be using these same secrets   for eternal youth!

Angel On My Shoulder

04 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by in God

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Angel On My Shoulder

I am aware that there are angels amongst us . . . those of divine form, and those of human flesh, performing their functions sometimes unaware of their role in influencing our lives.  They are also angels, those without wings, those who live amongst us and take human form, able to show up and be there just when they are needed.  Accidental you ask?  No, I think not.  I am sure of God’s grace in this as well.  For when we but only take notice, there are many instances of prophetic intervention, when those we love, those we know, and those we have never met before somehow intervene on our behalf, thus making our lives’ journeys take new shape, venture onto new pathways, or veer onto the correct course after all.

Angels are all around us really, those from Heaven and those whose origin was born in heaven . . earthly angels.  Have you ever felt that someone came into your day to alter the course of it in some dramatic or profound way?  Have you ever met up with someone in some momentary situation, which in fact made such an impact upon you, that it caused you to alter your direction or amend your behavior?  Have you ever felt placed prophetically or purposefully in a way that your role was obviously designed to be shaped or formed just to be influential to another person’s life?  Or perhaps their’s in your’s?  In other words, have you felt destined, or designed to be somewhere at a particular time whereby your presence made an impact upon another person, seemingly like a miracle, or providence, or at least life-altering?  Or maybe that has been the case for you with another person in your life, they’ve walked through your day, a relative stranger even, who altered your circumstances just by you taking notice of them and their contributions.

It is often what I’ve noticed and label the hand of God at work.  I truly believe He graces us with benevolent interactions with others which can and do impact our lives, if we choose to witness those events.  Sometimes it is merely the idea of seeing the action before us to know that God is helping us through another human’s involvement in our life.    <span>How and why does God interweave our actions this way, even with perfect strangers?  Well, I suppose it is usually to teach us something profound.  I have found incredible people to bond with in life, even over mere fractions of time, just by speaking in a few moments over a joint purposeful activity in common.  Meeting in a doctor’s lobby, a grocery clerk who has a similar experience, being drawn to someone who turns out to know a good friend, finding out that your family will help you out of a bad situation, someone who finds something precious you lost.

Angels are people we know and love, as well as complete strangers who just happen to find their way into our day-to-day lives for a reason.  We might not even understand the reason when we meet or have our connection with someone, but eventually, a shaping and change because of the connection does occur.  It’s inevitable!  I remember the woman I spoke of in this blog a few days ago . . I met her in the waiting room while doing some scary health-related tests.  She was familiar with what I was feeling, but in her being there to share the space with me, she was a calming and comforting witness to not fearing the unknown, even though she knew it well.  I will never forget her, even though I have no idea who she is . . she just showed up that day to change that moment of the day!  She was my earth angel in that situation.  I’ve probably had too many to count in my lifetime, those I would recognize as the special people God enlists to help me in little or big ways.  It might be a compliment given at just the right time, a friend coming around to visit when necessary, family supporting a decision which was difficult to make . . it could be anything really.  The common thing I notice is the feeling I get, the sense of purposeful interaction, as though I must notice, I’m called to witness the blessing.

Perhaps the event lasts a minute fraction of time, but in that moment, I am given the chance to evolve into a better version of me.  It’s God’s purposeful growth formula, earth-angel supplements!  He gives them out freely and it is merely up to us to take notice of them!

Dry Spells

04 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by in Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Dry Spells

Dry spells, we all have them.  Our creative energies fizzle, our ideas die on the vine, producing no fruit.  We are at a loss for words, we cannot come up with thoughts worthy of expressing and we seem at some miserable place of low creative juices.  Simply put, we haven’t a desire to share our spirit!  It’s not feeling that sociable!  I have been stuck in such a period for about six months now, unable and really unwilling to share a thought, an idea, longer or more productive than a sentence, for fear of exposing my situation.  I was going through something emotionally draining, quite stressful and not all that inspiring!  I didn’t feel like being motivational, nor inspirational, and I would have considered it disingenuous to have been considering myself at a thoughtful place when in fact I was not!  Life is like that, we all go through it, and we are not always able to escape emotional impacts from storms we must weather.  

A good thing to note, the storm will pass, whether on our time or not, it always will eventually leave us again, and then we are free to feel inspired by life, seeking a way to share a bounty of hopeful and purposeful thoughts from our once-again inspired spirits!  During this time, I tried at high periods to write my thoughts down.  I would begin what I thought was a decent discourse from my heart, only to realize somewhere before too long that I was in fact lost in the issues which were pressing upon my heart.  We cannot fool our hearts, our souls, our spirits!  They are the core of our beings, and reflect who we are most aptly and most often.  We are able, like good performers, to wear disguises and hide our true natures, but when a problem presses down our souls with unimaginable weight, we cannot deceive ourselves of the burden!

I suggest letting the writing of your thoughts go, until you can be sure it is from a place of wholeness, wellness and happy contentedness!  Then it means something!   I am happy to be feeling somewhat expressive of late, although I still have to rally myself to be disciplined enough to write.  Some people exude thoughts and write them down as though they are very prolific, but then again, maybe at this time, nothing is pressing down upon them either!  Let your spirit have its space in life, don’t push yourself to be or to do what you cannot be or do!  Be yourself by doing what you want to do!!  Be real and be truthful, live defiantly as the best you you can be!  When and if you hit a dry patch of creative ideas, give yourself permission to rest in that time until the ideas flow once again!  And they shall, it’s inevitable! Go with the flow! 

It’s All In The Attitude

04 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by in Attitude, Happiness

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

AttitudeEverything-25It’s All In The Attitude

Do you find yourself envying someone their attitude or their mood?  Maybe they are always having a great day, happily enjoying life seemingly all the time!  How can this be?  Surely they have bad days too?  Perhaps the difference between your day and theirs isn’t in the actual events of the day, but rather how they view the events of their day.  Maybe, just maybe, their day is so great, they are so happy, because they choose to view their day as positive, happy, and filled with blessings!

Maybe absolutely nothing bad happened to you today, fortunately.  You had good health, you felt well, you experienced favor in your movements and you felt blessed.  Is that a guarantee that you will label your day as overall a success?  Will you automatically decide upon this set of conditions that your day is a happy one?  I hope so, but the real mark of a truly happy and contented person is when you can find your joy, your sense of contentment and your happiness even on days when things do happen to you. Perhaps it isn’t up to our circumstances to determine and decide whether we had a happy day, but rather, it is up to each of us, whether we have an ability to be happy in spite of our circumstances.

Some people are always happy, even though by most people’s standards, they should be miserable and unhappy according to their circumstances, spreading their misery like the flu!  Others are naturally negative, they ooze their stress, their pain, their discomfort, it spreads like something vile, like germs!  What distinguishes this phenomenal difference in attitude?  It’s merely a choice.  That is all it is.  Nothing needs to be decided other than,BeSoHappy01-50 someone choosing to be a positive affirming voice, speaking with hope, a healthy attitude, in a positive way.  Isn’t it nice when we encounter these people?  They are radiant bursts of sunlight, positive energy in a world marred by negativity and gloom.  We pay attention to them, for they stand out.

We usually feel drawn to them, like moths to the flame, for their radiance is a warming source of comfort.  Aren’t we encouraged to hear all about their lives, not because they are so different in scope, nor in actual events, but because these people can make the most mundane and ordinary days sound like something more special!  It’s a joy to be near these people, they illuminate the darkest corners of life, by just exuding light and love.  Be a source of positive energy in a dimly-lit world … shine and shine brightly, for you never know who is using your glow to lead them through their dark realms!

_Sign01

Most Avid Reason

03 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by in God

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Most Avid Reason

I usually regret the time when I have “dry spells” of either motivation or insight, or perhaps I have distractions which cause my blight.  I don’t know all the reasons this time to explain away a few months of silence in my thoughts, but I do know what, or rather who, has inspired this latest entry.  I have a very special reason for wanting to share something from my heart, and the avid desire to write now is only explained by the unbearable ache of his approaching death.  Yes, my dear uncle is soon to pass, and I wish above all things which inspired my “voice” that it wasn’t due to this most tragic reason.  I’ve always had him in my life, like those who’ve passed before, my father, … his older brother, both his parents, my dear grandparents on both sides.  I don’t know if one is ever ready to lose someone they love, but for some inexplicable reason, his death is conjuring up painful reminders of those whom I’ve lost before, I guess that is typical with death; it reminds us of how we felt before.  But, in this case, it reminds me of how I felt losing my dad, many years ago now, the single worst event of my life so far.  

My uncle’s impending death is sorely not just bringing an ache of its own, but it is also tugging at a wound from long ago.  The past doesn’t stay there, as it really isn’t the past.  It’s our history surely, but it is what we are now.  Hence, our past is just as recent as our last second and as far away as what used to be.  The past is what we can often objectify when we wax older, seeing the mistakes we made then as either more noble choices or more costly in error, acknowledging our own fragility, we cannot make some things easy to digest, they just stand out as unbearable states of “before now”, which still haunt, still burn, still stab, still…

Where once we stand sure of the here and now, we are drawn down a pathway of what used to be, reminded constantly of that pain, that presence of those ghosts of long-gone souls.  I cannot imagine a time ahead when I will look back to now and remember how this still feels all so strange to have lost my uncle in this way.  It’s been a lifetime already without my dad, I lived without him almost as long now as I lived with him.  How can we hope to render those things impotent in our lives when they seem to mark our history so significantly?!  One day very soon, I will only have my aging memory to remind me of yet another incredibly important part of my life, I wonder if there are ways to learn to imprint more memories upon my mind than I have been able to do in the past, as I’ve failed to recall simple things like birthdays, voices, favorite things, moments treasured once before.  

I can only ask God to give me more memory space the longer I live to make room for all the beloved souls who now must reside there and within my heart!  God please, make the space big enough to hold them all forever in perfect form!  And for my dearest uncle, whom I haven’t had nearby for years, but I have gotten to fondly think of as the part of my dad whom I could still access, I wish for you a gentle surrender into the arms of our Lord and Savior.  I know you will be greeted by your older brother, my dad, and your parents there.  Other await you as well, as does the most perfect love and perfect health to which you may surrender your current over-taxed body.  God will hold you in His most-loving embrace there, and you will always be ahead, keeping yet another pair of eyes, another warm heart, another familiar voice there to guide us all, who remain, home.  I love you very much, and miss you already more than you’ll know.

Happy Any Day of Love

03 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by in Happiness

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Happy Any Day of Love

Happy Any Day of Love . . . today, tomorrow, the day after … the next!! Each day should be a day we freely give of our love, not just one day earmarked for it. You don’t have to proclaim it one day for it to be “heard”, nor felt by somebody’s heart on any given day! There are cards, songs, balloons, candies, gifts, all wrapped up for giving tomorrow, but the greater gift is your love given every day hereafter! It’s not just one day of the year we should choose to share our love or make someone we love aware of our feelings.

 If we are only sharing that one day a year, or just on special occasions or on holidays, we aren’t really being open with our hearts.  It’s not essential to always tell someone how you feel, it’s in letting them know, however that might be.  Some communicate their feelings by doing little things every day, others give gifts, and some just exude their heartfelt feelings through looks, glances, subtle comments made to their partners.  It’s not one way which should tell you the “rule” that you are loved, for in that narrow-minded perspective, you may miss that your partner is giving all that they can.  

Be open to the fact that just being loved is the unexpected icing upon the cake of giving your love!  Expect nothing and still give freely!  That is the real gift of love, which should be given each day, freely and without hesitation!