GRATITUDE

One of the the most important things we can do to make our lives better is to be grateful for the good things we have right now. I know in some cases it can be real hard to find anything to be grateful for especially when it seems like everything around you is crumbling down and bad luck seems to be dogging your every move. And I also realize that at times when someone may be going through such an experience you will not be able to convice them to be grateful for anything.We humans are a funny lot it seems to me. Some of us can be grateful for amny many things while others cant seem to find one thing to be grateful for. And there are many many different reasons for that being true. So I will not try and tell someone to be thankful while their life seems to be in the tank so to speak but I will say that if one can be grateful for all the "small" things in their lives that that will open the gates for them to recieve even more "good" things to come about. It is a Cosmic law of attraction that never fails to work. Just like any other law of nature(gravity, electricity, etc) it has to act accordingly to its nature.With that being understood it should be easy to see that by thinking of all the good you already have and showing much gratitude for it the channels will open up for more ,and likewise as one thinks about only the "lack" they see in their lives then this "law" will continue to give them lack. Catherine Ponder in her book "Prosperity Secrets of the Ages" states this: "When you bless a problem, injury, lack, or an enemy, you are calling forth the good within them, and you will be pleasantly surprised at the good that comes through them." So I would ask each of you to take a look around at your surroundings and your life in general and take note of every "good" thing in your life. These can be simple little pleasures or as big as a soul mate who loves you completely. Even in the "darkest" of times I truly believe that we all have much to be thankful for, right here right now! I now leave you with peace, love, and big hugs for each of you. May the new year ahead bring you all your hearts desires and much more!

BEAUTIFUL OR UGLY

What events are right now shaping your individual lives? What circumstances do you now find yourself involved in? More importantly, how are you labeling these events as they occur in your daily life? In his book titled The Thunder of Silence Joel Goldsmith states: "Whatever the appearance, it is merely a form of some sort, nothing but a blank in front of you until you decide that this thing is either beautiful or ugly." How comforting it is when I realize that I have the power to ultimately decide how I am going to deal with things in my life. Yes, there are many things that occur in my world over which I have no say so as to whether or not they occur. But I do know I can choose the way I deal with these things. And we are connected to each other as to how we relate to ourselves. That is not to say I will agree with you on things or disagree but the choices I make will determine the way you see me and the way I view the world of illusion we are now in.Personally if I find myself labeling something as "ugly" I intend to take a closer look and try to repaint that experience as "beautiful". I know that will not always serve to keep me from seeing something as negative but it will serve to help me take a closer look at the way I define myself. I sincerely hope you will find a way to label most things as beautiful also. I leave you with peace and hopes for a bright beautiful day for each of you!

IS GOD A VIOLENT OR NONVIOLENT ENTITY

I have wondered for many years now about all the different interpretations of God that I have read or heard about. One thing for sure is that most of the people who hold a belief in a single entity who has created everything is usually very adament in their beliefs and lots of them take umbrage at those of us who dare to question the existence of this 1 Spiritual Entity. I find the writers of the bible's version can take a drastic turn from the concept of a loving kind God to that of a very demanding, violent, controlling God who can exact ETERNAL punishment upon those He deems unfit for His Kingdom. In the book of Genesis the writer labels God as One who is distraught with His creation and decides to destroy everything He has created except for 1 family.(That being Noah's family). If this is true did not this God destroy all the animal life also?And what did the animals have to do with the way humans were living on earth? Just a wee bit unfair if you ask me.And I really cannot make myself believe that of all the people on earth at this time were useless except for Noah. Not another soul anywhere worthy of another chance? Doesn't feel right to me there either.So this God is betrayed as being rather violent. At the same time in the book of John God is described as being love, nothing more nor less, than love. Is this the same God that was so violent in Noah's case?Our early ancestors attributed all natural disasters as a way of God punishing man for his sins. They simply did not know any other way to explain why "bad" things happened from time to time. And so there was born the concept of a vengeful and oft violent God. But personally I believe that God (no matter how you see Him) is only pure love and therefore nonviolent. With that being said is it no wonder why I cannot believe in a literal "hell" where ones soul can be punished for eternity! I much prefer the God I envision-a God of peace and understanding and unconditional love.I now leave you in peace with hopes for a bright and blessed holiday season to all of you folks."HUGS" to all.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR! YOU MAY JUST GET IT!

Well now, what is it you would want to see manifest in your life right about now? How about a new car? Or a new home? Maybe a new job or better yet a winning lottery ticket so you wouldn't have to work at all? Or maybe its a soul mate you are looking for? For each of us we have our own "wants" and desires that we feel would really make our lives complete. A bigger question is how do you react when those wants and desires fail to materialize in your world? Do you get angry? Upset? Feel like life is unfair to you? Or can you just decide that if it didnt appear then it is really better for you in the long run? Personally I have found out that even though I think I know what it is I need to be happy and "fulfilled" it oft times turns out to be just the opposite. I used to get all excited about striving to bring into realization "all" those things I thought would make my life happier and easier.But you know what? I have found out that when I instinctively trust the Universe to take care of my needs it works out much better than if I demand that the results are exactly the way I had envisioned them from the start.I've alos seen many a time when I did "get" the thing I was striving for only to find out later that it was the worse possible thing I could have had happen. The old adage-be careful what you pray for cause you may get it certainly rings true to me on many occasions. It is still at times "hard" fro me to completely"let go" and trust that things will develop in a way that will take care of all my needs. But working on making myself "let go" is way much easier than constantly trying to make things happen in the order I think they should.So I now try to just accept that everythig is working for my highest good and that my part in all this is to train my mind to be still and accept all the "good" life has to offer. Its still a work in progress I must confess but I'm getting there. I sure hope all of you are in the midst of having a very wonderful week and that all the good things you desire are coming your way right now.And if and when things don't go exactly as planned I hope you can overcome the temptation to gt angry, sad, or depressd and remember that greater truths and goodness are headed your way even now."HUGS" to all!

FINDING JOY

Why does anyone bother to love anyone or anything? Isn't life more simple if we just take care of ourselves and not worry about anyone else? But the most of us seem to love others willingly, even if we know it may later cause much heartache, sorrow and loss. But we still are willing to sacrifice the comfort of only having to worry about ourself so we can love someone. I read a quote from Sathya Sai Baba who says:"Man(woman, my interjection) loves because he is Love. He seeks Joy, for he is Joy. He thirsts for God, for he is composed of God and he cannot exist without Him." I have to fully agree with that statement and that explains (at least to me) why we allow ourselves to love another. I do know from experience that I am so much more happy and fulfilled when I am giving my unconditional love to others while at the same time allowing others to love me. I can well remember in my younger days how I sometimes felt when I didn't have close at hand that One woman I could lean on and give my love to. I made it thru some very lonely times(usually because of the choices I made) and today I am a firm believer that one must truly love and be loved in returned to feel complete. My sincere wish and hope for all of you wonderful folks is that you right now find yourself surrounded by those who love you unconditionally and allow you to give your love to them. And I also hope the new week ahead will be filled with much love,peace, joy, and all good things! "HUGS"

May all of you have amost wonderful weekend filled with much love, peace, joy and all good things!

WHEN LOVE DOESN'T SEEM TO BE ENOUGH

Love is all you need, or so its been said over and over. I agree to some extent with that but from a personal perspective I have seen that there are times when love itself just doesn't seem to be enough to overcome all hurdles. Once upon a time I was sure that if two people truly loved one another that they could make their relationship endure all hardships. I was wrong! I now believe that two people can truly love each other deeply but just can't make that love be strong enough to continue in a relationship. I still like to think that if people love each other enough that they can get through any obstacles that threaten to sabotage their relationship if they do indeed work hard enough to make it work. The accepted view that men are from mars and woman from venus does seem likely. As a rule we are so far apart from the way we view life it is amazing that any of us remain in commited relationship for any length of time. And I think that is because there are just so many other variables involved in the situations we find ourselves in. I firmly believe that true love for another is the greatest blessing we have even if it sometimes causes so much worry and confusion. And even if life has shown me that love sometimes isnt enough I still like to think it is or at least should be enough. But that still doesn't answer my question as to why I have seen too many people split apart even though they loved one another so deeply. I don't suppose I'll ever know all the answers for sure so in the meantime I am going to continue in my dreamworld believing that Love truly is enough! My hope and wish for each of you is that you are right now in a loving relationship with a soulmate who returns your love and gives to you all you need to be happy and fullfilled. And if not, that in the near future your soulmate will arrive and that you will be prepared to know them and take the relationship to that deeper level. I now leave you with peace and hopes for a bright future.

CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES CAREFULLY

How often do we spend our time in some silly battle of wills or wanting to be "right"? Too many I'm afraid! Seems to me many of us waste too much time fighting battles that aren't even worth winning. We keep our inner peace at bay by fighting, scratching, and clawing about things that in reality are so very very minor instead of allowing our inner peace to radiate out from us and gently touch everyone we encounter.Now I must admit there are some "battles" that we must fight the good fight over and see it through. But those battles should be chosen carefully lest we wind up expending needless energy that we should be saving for the times when we really need it. I just love this following quote from the Science of Mind. It states: We are over-concerned with non-essentials, straining at gnats, while swallowing mountains of superstition. I wholeheartedly agree with that writer very much. My hope for each of you is that you will encounter very few battles in your life and when you do you will have the wisdom to know whether it is a worthwhile battle or not. May each of you have a terrific weekend filled with much love peace and joy!