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Monthly Archives: January 2013

Diamonds in the Making . .

31 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Change, Character, Choices, Commitment, Conquering Fear, Life, Opportunity, Strength, Trials

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Diamonds-50To endure that which feels like hardship, that which knocks us either around or down for a time in life, is to not let the very hope go out of our live & thus leaving our sails down without hope of finding the wind. We possibly become more brow-beaten the older we get as more happens, so that many of us are actually somber, downcast, unrecognizable versions of who we once were. We start to wear our hard knocks like our clothes & thus, we become sad, tumultuous, angry, bitter, dour or imperiled versions of us!
I took note when reading some of the Bible, how meaningful the stories of those whom endured were to me. I realized that many people in life only learned how to shape & form their character, growing to love God, themselves & others more from what happened to them during hardships & trials. Many of course did not learn at all, going instead to places of discord, unrest & their own version of solitary confinement – choosing to make that part of their story in fact the “whole story” of their life. Some just became worse for the wear surely. But many examples were evident throughout the Bible, as well as in our everyday lives of people who thrive in spite of what has happened. They’ve lived to become shining examples of grace under pressure, appearing to be diamonds who were formed in the worst of times! And there always will be “bad times” at times for us all, no one is immune from that aspect of life! So that is my hope in life for myself. I want to take my sufferings, my pains, my hard knocks & all those things could do me in & make it all instead the cloth which polishes my soul & spirit to perfection like a rare & priceless diamond!
Enduring life is not meant to strip us of our desire to live, but rather to form us into wiser, more compassionate & loving people better prepared to live! Learn to be at peace & contentment with life, to not make each battle one which embitters your spirit & to recognize in the moments you will have to swim upstream with great effort, that even in those moments you are being strengthened for the journey ahead! The saying goes: no diamond can truly be appreciated as first appears, it must endure a process which forms it from onset to what it will become in the end! And so must we . . but it is our choice as to how we shall endure what we must! It is always our choice to look beyond the process towards the end result!_Sign01
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DreamChaser

22 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Dreams, God, Happiness, Joy

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CanNot2Cans-50The confines of our world say, “You can do this, but not this.” Do what you feel you are called to do regardless the messages you may perceive & those you actually may receive! You are a one-of-a-kind creation, formed by God for your own life & pathway. If you allow others to define you, direct you or perhaps inadvertently destroy your dreams by inflicting their own limitations about life upon them, then your life will never be as full as it was meant to be!

 

Believing in oneself is paramount to reaching for the stars! If you let anyone tell you otherwise, you have already confined yourself to remaining on the ground in lesser pursuits. Dreams are the seeds of God’s possibilities & hopes born in you. Don’t you dare let them die there! You are called to go after them like you know they were meant for you! Light yourself on fire with the faith, hope & confidence that you will achieve the dream God established there within your soul! I can assure you, no dream first started in you by our Master Craftsman will ever fail unless & until you let it fail & then die.

 

He may ask you to work for it, often quite hard, but He will never give up on it, & so neither should you! Recognize what lives within your heart & go for it like you are retrieving an actual part of you which was misplaced! If you let others, or a few bumps in life, take from you your journey to the stars, then you will suffer! Now, suit up & set your course for the galaxy waiting! Believe in yourself, your dreams & your own power to achieve whatever God has called you to be & to do . . . no limits!_Sign01

Make the Most of Each Day!

05 Saturday Jan 2013

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Choices, Commitment, Happiness, Life, Passion

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Make ItAmazing-50It’s not the day that makes you, but what you make of the day! If you haven’t yet noticed, some people take those 24 hours & make a grand production, busily creating, solving, attempting & doing as much as they’re able to make their dreams come to fruition. They are endeavoring to solve their own problems & those of others, to help create solutions, to channel their energies into being better human beings. Somehow they see the period of a day & direct their focus into making it count! It’s a habit, an intention, a plan with purpose! We can all do exactly that if we shift our focus from weighing ourselves down in fear, worry & remorse, or worse – idleness! We can all make our days truly memorable, truly significant & ones which we’ll count among our best if we set about each new morning to be & to do just that!
Having restful days are not bad, but having a slew of idle days which get you no further to your goals & dreams will become in hindsight a great regret! Carpe diem . . seize the day & let it fuel your passion for something you desire! Ignite in you the sense that time is finite & watch how your focus suddenly changes from wanting to worry, fret, fear, & idle away so many hours or lollygag in the restless pursuit of nothingness! Your lifetime is most definitely finite! What is it that turns your switch, ignites your inner fire & sets your passions to light?? Think of those things as you start to “plan” your day . . where in your day do those things fit? If you aren’t heading towards something which matters, you might not make this day count, & that my friends is a loss of a finite resource of infinite value!_Sign01
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Making Lemonade From Our Lemons . .

05 Saturday Jan 2013

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Character, Choices, Commitment, Conquering Fear, Strength, Trials

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Lemonade-50Making lemonade from our lemons doesn’t mean we’re settling for less, it means we are making the best of whatever comes our way & that is how we make the best of our lives! We can choose to exist & to react . . ways to surely suck the living out of your life! In existing, you relinquish your desire to hope for yet-fulfilled & yet-achieved dreams. You simply stop living in a state of faith & hope t…o sustain that faith, & so your life becomes based in fear, worry, regrets, sorrows, “what ifs” & “why nots”. But when you take back the helm of your central internal emotional command, realizing that although you don’t control everything, you do control your responses, you will start to feel empowered & alive once again!
Don’t slip into existence just because things haven’t always gone your way, reach higher by overcoming your own internal negative gobbledy gook & keep living with the desire to reach all your dreams. Never give up hope, & never let your dreams die! It’s alright to be a realist, but faith doesn’t dwell in reality, it is inherently in the unseen & the unknown, which we all know also includes love, air (hopefully), and some other intangible aspects of life which are very concrete nonetheless! To react emotionally in life is natural, but to stay a prisoner within your emotions because things haven’t always gone your way, or because you’ve received too many lemons & are just sick of making lemonade, will keep you from enjoying your life! You cannot be living in the state of reacting to circumstances without feeling out of control & perhaps a bit victimized.
Flip the way you look at life by seizing the emotional reins & choosing an alternative mood! Life is about making the best of what you have, what you get & what you are facing so that you can feel the best about your life! Isn’t it time you start feeling that empowerment again towards your precious gift of life?! Seize the day, take the control back & live with an awareness that you are going to make a great life for yourself no matter what may come or not come. Learn to savor lemonade . . it’s refreshing after all!_Sign01
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Happiness, the Firmament Within You . .

03 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Choices, Gratitude, Happiness, Life

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fractal_firmamentAs this year draws to a close, many find reason to happily close the doors upon this one, as it was simply not the type of year they had envisioned. Some things changed, things happened, pain ensued & their personal history became altered. But the truth of life is in the fact that it is ever-changing, ever-testing, ever-filled with those elements which try us & make us stalwart in who we are. We would never be much of anything were it not for the wisdom learned through our tests, the strength built through each battle & the compassion learned by being hurt. We aren’t here to live half-lives of just the pleasant & the rewarding, for they aren’t the moments which build much of any character in us. We can pray, hope & wish for only those types of moments, but reality will rear a head more authentic, & we will have to develop something within us that permits us to be more, to do better & to live happily regardless. My hope for each of us as we move on in life is to see the pathway illuminated less precisely but with more clarity by recognizing our own inability to control everything. We must see our very need to cede power but retain strength in all life events which are concurrently happening around us as well, our inherent desire to live faithfully & with a sense of contentment regardless the circumstances. It is possible to make 2013 a better year now sight unseen, just by changing your mindset & securing that outcome. It is truly up to you! Life won’t probably be all that less challenging, the world will be just as chaotic, but you will be standing firmly & resolutely on solid ground regardless. And that is the great truth of life . . the firmament you seek is within you!_Sign01

The Community of Humanity

03 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Character, Choices, Fullness, Gratitude, Joy, Love

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humanity-50
There’s no reason to take delight in anyone else’s misfortune, for in due time, you will find your own. We show our interior motives of love, compassion & humanity when we earnestly know that our success in not taken through someone’s failure, but rather just a desire to see ourselves as well as others succeed. We’ve grown accustomed to wanting to see someone fall hard. Like gladiators, we “duke it out” to take it all but we fail to see that there is actually more for the taking if we would just see the whole picture of abundance.
We watch our reality shows hoping to see humiliation in defeat, the self-destruct button of life coming down hard on our opponent’s side while we are lifted to some fleeting place of self-glorification. That is not how life is meant to be lived. Although competition is a healty &  perfectly-acceptable part of our interactions, we aren’t meant to take what isn’t meant for us, or to win at any cost. We are truly meant to be a part of our communities, of interconnected “families” which strive to make things good for one another, not to slam one another down to take what wasn’t ours fairly.
We’re meant to love ourselves not to the point of excluding the others around us in some narcissistic way, but rather so that our self-acceptance enables us to do not only what is right for ourselves as well as to see what might be best for others. We are meant to share the lessons learned in life, often the hard way truly, not by taking them out on one another but rather by using the lessons to guide one another, offering our expertise to one another & by serving one another in mentorship. We forget that in our great promise lies the reward not for only ourselves & those closest to us, but our success in life offers great rewards to others through our abilities to provide more, to do more, to create more, to be more thoughtful & wise.
None of us should hope for the demise of others for the sake of our success, but rather we should use our success to inspire others as a way that they too can be successful. If your intention is to harm others in pursuit of your dreams, then you will never find your dreams realized. You must want the best for yourself, but also for those with whom you are associated. That is how the community of our humanity works best, for that is how we humans are designed to function. God did not intend, I believe, for our differences to make us isolated, but rather for them to make us more interested in one another! You can be all you can be & still let others be their fully-actualized selves too! Encourage, instill & never let your character suffer for the life you choose to live!_Sign01

Put Meaning in Your Words . . Act on Them!

03 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Character, Commitment, Integrity

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The age-old adage states, “what you see is what you get”, which is mostly true, but even better is this, “Trust develops only in the time it takes to verify what you think you know of someone by witnessing their words & beliefs resonate through their actions!”  We do ourselves a great disservice when we speak falsely without intending to follow up through our actions, talking about who we are but …then failing to back it up. 
People should first live by their own words in regard to who they are, how they wish to be known by what they wish to impart of themselves to others they meet. Being less through your actions than stated in your words causes others to become confused about who you really are, for they are watching for you to live as you’ve professed. Put meaning in your words by acting in accordance to them! That is what most others expect from you & that is what your own character demands of you. Anything less is flaky, dishonorable or disreputable. And in turn, what you have then projected in lack of character & meaning to others will come to rest in you.
Self-integrity is the concept of living to our self-defined character, so that when we state who we are with clarity for ourselves, others may know us by our words, our actions & our beliefs. We cannot speak idly often, failing to follow through with our actions repeatedly, without damaging our character in the eyes of others, but also significantly impairing our own integrity in the process! We are truly who we say we are by what we then will do & how we then will be. Be real, be forthright, for that is what others are hoping to find in relationship with you.  When first meeting you, people are drawn to you for reasons you initially present to them through introductory words & sensations about who you are. They then expect to find the words were not invalid, but that your words were clear in defining who you are to them. Being truthful about who you are, what you want & what you expect from others first takes being truthful with your own self in that regard! It cannot be said how very important it is to live by your word with integrity & character, for it does matter greatly to others, but more importantly to yourself!_Sign01

New Year, New Attitude!

03 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Choices, Gratitude

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Peace-+-Gratitude-50Many will want to hurry into a new year, for they see it as a door closing on a bad time, leaving only possibility for a better time in the future. They are right! But they’re only right because they’ve made up their minds to see it that way. 2013 has no promises & no guarantees attached, it comes not with a disclaimer or a series of known days. It just opens in its newness, just like every other …year we’ve had. We can wonder what we’ll find, but we mustn’t presume to know. We might have planned some days ahead, but even those are really just wishes until they materialize & become a part of our history. We are blessed with so many gifts each day, we often times take our gifts for granted for the sheer numbers of them have just numbed us to seeing them day in & day out. We have our loved ones with us, our friends beside us, our co-workers who enable us to do our jobs, our furry friends, our activities that brighten each day, nature all around us blooming – changing & creating a canvas of beauty in the background into which we paint ourselves in the foreground. God has blessed us abundantly, & we owe it to Him, to ourselves & to others to recognize our gifts just for what they are. Be thankful you are approaching this new year of possibility & rest in the assurance that no matter what it brings, you can find your peace, contentment & joy in life for sure!_Sign01

Come Sail Away Captain . . Life Awaits You!

03 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Celebration, Commitment, Dreams, Life, Opportunity

≈ 2 Comments

sailboat-50It’s just the start of a new year & you should try to make it count, making it worthwhile, making it the best one yet by putting your emotions in check, by choosing to live instead not by them, but by your own powerful & affirmative ability to sail & venture into life. You should be assured that you will weather storms yet to be projected even! You, after all, are the captain of your own ship, where will you sail this year? Will you remain docked in the same place, because you dare not venture out beyond your comfort zone? Will you sail out only to the break for that is the furthest you dare go for fear of what lies ahead? Or will you, master & commander of your own ship, sail beyond all the places you have dared  to go before to face uncharted waters even?!

 

I think those who understand the risks, accepting the fact that they will encounter inclement weather & thus take on any hardship faced when going through storms, are the ones who truly strengthen not only their own wills, but build their own confidence & thus live with a sense of more contentment & joy! Our emotions are like the provisions we can load into our hulls for when we need them, but sometimes we rely too much on them! Sometimes we carry too many emotions too far & we cease moving forward, or even moving at all! We must learn to feel, to release & to again set our course.

This is your year! This is the year you can untie from the dock, sail out to the breaking point & hoist your sails to let the winds of life carry you further than you dare imagined! Will you choose to travel lightly & load only the provisions which enable you to do that? Or will you load yourself down to the point of not moving much if at all?! Choose to see your future days as those of a sleek sailing vessel moving effortlessly ahead through all life’s conditions . . believe you will be able to venture into life to explore more, to do more & to be more this year than ever before! You are the master & commander, the captain after all! Come . . it’s 2013, time to sail away!_Sign01

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