Quotes to live by

"What are the opportunities, solutions, resources, people, funding sources, potential venture partners, etc. that you are not seeing in your environment because you are so focused on what is and what has been rather than what you want -- your desired vision?" ~ Master of Influence Class

Merry Christmas

Where ever you are in the world and whatever your faith, please take the time to share and give of yourself and your love this day.

To Give and To Receive

"The man who gives his money, gives much. The man who gives his time, gives more. The man who gives of himself, gives all." Pres. Thomas S. Monson

This is the day of giving and it is also a day of receiving. We all know how important it is to give and share with the right kind of spirit in our hearts. It is shown and told to us countless times and in countless ways. A classic story of these principles is "The Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. But how many of us think about the importance of how we receive those things that are being given to us.

Today I wish to share with you a talk given by a leader of my Church, Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Please consider and ponder on these words the next time you are on the receiving end of someone else's sincere efforts of giving. God bless you and Merry Christmas.

Every gift that is offered at Christmastime — especially a gift that comes from the heart — is an opportunity to build or strengthen a bond of love, said President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency.

“When we are good and grateful receivers, we open a door to deepen our relationship with the giver of the gift,” he said. “But when we fail to appreciate or even reject a gift, we not only hurt those who extend themselves to us, but in some way, we harm ourselves as well.”

Speaking during the First Presidency Christmas Devotional on Dec. 2, President Uchtdorf remembered warm and vivid memories of Christmas from his childhood.

“Although I grew up in modest circumstances, my parents wanted Christmas to be a time of joy and wonder for their children,” he recalled.

The Uchtdorf children made gifts for each other. One year, he drew a picture for his sister; though it was not a work of great art, she treated it like a treasure. Another year his brother, who was 12 years older, carved for him a knife from a stick found at a nearby park. Although it was simple, young Dieter treasured the gift because it had come from his brother.

“Isn’t one of the great joys of Christmas seeing the excited faces of little children as they take in their hands a wrapped gift that is just for them?” asked Preisdent Uchtdorf. “As we get older, however, our ability to receive gifts with the same enthusiasm and grace seems to diminish. Sometimes people even get to the point where they can’t receive a gift or, for that matter, even a compliment without embarrassment or feelings of indebtedness. They mistakenly think that the only acceptable way to respond to receiving a gift is by giving back something of even greater value. Others simply fail to see the significance of a gift — focusing only on its outward appearance or its value and ignoring the deep meaning it has to the sincere giver.”

President Uchtdorf spoke of an event that took place during the last night of the Savior’s mortal life. “He gathered His beloved disciples around Him, broke bread with them, and gave them precious final instructions. Do you remember that as the meal progressed, Jesus rose from the table, poured water into a basin, and began to wash His disciples’ feet?”

When the Savior came to Simon Peter, the fisherman refused. “I’m sure Peter thought he had noble reasons for refusing this gift and felt he was doing the right thing. But at that moment, he clearly did not understand the spiritual significance of what Jesus was offering him.”

President Uchtdorf said at Christmastime people talk a lot about giving, “but I wonder if sometimes we disregard or even disparage the importance of being a good receiver.”

He recounted the story of a little girl who, on a Christmas day many years ago, received a beautiful beading kit. With the kit, she fashioned a bracelet for an elderly aunt, who refused the gift.

“Decades have passed, and the little girl, now an aunt herself, still remembers, with a bit of sadness, that day when her childlike gift was refused,” President Uchtdorf recalled.

He then asked the worldwide congregation “to rediscover and reclaim a precious and glorious attribute of children — the ability to receive graciously and with gratitude.”

He said the Savior is the perfect example not only of generous giving but also of gracious receiving. “My brothers and sisters, what kind of receivers are we? Do we, like the Savior, recognize gifts as expressions of love? … I hope that this Christmas and every day of the year we will consider, in particular, the many gifts we have been given by our loving Heavenly Father. I hope we will receive these gifts with the wonder, thankfulness and excitement of a child.”

President Uchtdorf asked the congregation to not forget the gifts Heavenly Father has given them — the gift of the Holy Ghost, the miracle of forgiveness, personal revelation and guidance, the Savior’s peace, the certainty and comfort that death is conquered and many more gifts. He counseled the congregation to remember, above all, that God has given the gift of His Only Begotten Son.

“This Christmas season and always, I pray that we will see the marvelous gift of the birth of the Son of God through the blessed eyes of a child. I pray that in addition to giving good gifts, we will strive to become good and grateful receivers. As we do so, the spirit of this season will enlarge our hearts and expand our joy beyond measure.”

Quotes to live by

Often times it is our failures that catapult us forward." ~ Carrie Strug

Enjoying the moment

This month has been full of sleeplessness nights and one cold after another. I fell ill and managed to get better and two days later I became sick again. All the while December has arrived bringing with it my favorite holiday, Christmas. There are many things that I like to do for Christmas like baking cookies to take to friends and neighbors, decorating, and making gifts. Unfortunately I haven't really been able to do hardly any of these things. We only managed to get the tree up two weeks before Christmas and didn't decorate it until one week before.

It has been hectic and chaotic and I have hardly gotten anything done that I was planning on this year. Things that I especially wanted to do since this is our babies first Christmas. Now she is not even two months old and I know that she doesn't even know what's going on let alone her remembering any of it, but I really wanted to do it. I wanted to create these memories for myself and the rest of my family. Everything I hoped to accomplish is not done and everyday has kind of passed me by in one big blur. I can't help but wonder where the time went.

Even though I didn't get to do the other things that would have been wonderful, I do have some special moments that have made me smile and my heart happy. I heard my baby girl laugh for the first time. I heard my boys laugh and play in the morning rather than argue and fight, which has been the usual routine lately. My husband wrestling and playing with our boys. My two girls cuddled up with each other.

This Christmas has not been what I had planned but it has been full of small and meaningful moments. Moments that could easily pass me by if I were too busy lamenting over what I didn't get, do, or have. Christmas isn't about what you have bought or what you planned to do. Christmas is about love. So if you aren't loving what you are doing in the giving or the planning it's time to rethink how you are spending your Christmas.

When next year comes around what will your memories of this Christmas be full of; stress and chaos or love and kindness?

Quotes to live by

"in a world of change it is the Learners who inherit the future...the learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists." ~ Eric Hoffer

We Need Everyone

I receive inspirational messages from Insight of the Day. I just received one that I really want to share with you. We are now in the mist of the holiday season and something that many may not be aware of is the fact that although it is the season of joy there are many in the world who suffer from depression that may be worse at this time of year. For those of you who may have someone in your life who is dealing with depression read this article and see if there is something that can help you and them. God bless you and good luck.

The Beginning

Has your world ever stopped? Has your heart ever sunk to your knees and your stomach to your toes? That visceral experience of every hair in your body stiffening because you are so shocked is one I pray to the Universe I never ever have to experience again. In 1986, when my mom committed suicide – my life turned inside out and upside down. The excruciating scream inside, was like a wild animal in so much pain – and it couldn’t come out of my mouth. It was stifled by the shock and deep despair that my mother was gone...forever.

 

Silently I screamed inside of myself, “No no no, dear God don’t do this to me. I need her. She’s my mother. Why? Why? Why are you doing this to me?”

 

She decided to take her life on Friday June 13^th 1986 and she died on Father’s Day, June 15^th. I was informed of this life changing event by a police officer at 6 am in the morning, Saturday June 14th. We had to drive 1 ½ hours to get back to the hospital and it felt like I was in slow motion. I was dying inside and horrific thoughts and memories flooded my mind of how she had attempted to kill herself...once again. This was not the first time, however, it was the last.

 

We finally made it to the hospital and I flew into the intensive care. I had aunts and uncles there with my father and brother. As if I was out of my body I heard the warbled words, “it looks like she’s stable”. All I wanted to do was see my Mom, touch her, hold her and tell her that everything will be alright. I went into intensive care and saw her attached to tubes and wires. She was unconscious, however she was alive. I touched her hair and kissed her cheek... or I think I did. Everything is such a blur...like the worst nightmare you can imagine. I said to her, “Mom you can’t go, we need you. You are so important to us. How can we live without you?”

 

With the reassurance of the doctors we went home and I called my sister who was studying on the west coast. How the hell do you tell your sister who is so far away that our Mom, once again, tried to take her life. With the most love and compassion I could muster up I dialed the phone. Within one hour she was booked to fly home and was back early Sunday morning. She’s my older sister of one year - my rock. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her because everything will now be okay.

 

Early Sunday morning we returned to the hospital, and once again we were surrounded by so many aunts, uncles and cousins. Our family is the most awesome family one can ever have. My grandparents had a farm during the Depression and strong family values were breed into each and every one of us. As a side note, my grandmother, known as GGma, by the great grandchildren, use to feed not only 8 children but the hobo’s (as they were called back then) who got off the train. She always had a hot meal and homemade biscuits ready for all. This is why many family members were surrounding us.

 

Then, all of a sudden, there was a loud speaker that yelled, “code red, code red”. Everything became surreal, and once again, in slow motion. A team of doctors and those shock paddles flew into my mother’s room. My body turned to jello and it felt like all my blood was draining from my body. We had to leave her room and stand in the hall waiting for the verdict. All I remember is leaning up against the cold wall, trembling and shaking with agonizing pain. Then everything stopped. Silence was upon us. The doctor’s told us my mother was dead... and then, I did scream. Or I thought I screamed.

 

I loved my mother more than words can describe. Kind of like that book by Robert Munsch, ‘Love You Forever’, which I could never read to my children without crying.

Fifteen years later our family went through the same thing. My father remarried a lovely woman who killed herself in 2001. Why, oh why is this happening again? Why do people do this? I don’t get it.

 

I get it now. This pain has sparked my passion, the fire within, to assist and guide people to not only see their inner beauty but feel it. Unfortunately, my Mom, step-Mom and many others who have committed suicide could not see their wonderful strengths and gifts they were born with. That intense pain spurred me to believe in people and mirror back to them their shining light. I call myself a ‘belief buster’. Those pesky beliefs such as, I’m not good enough, or I’m not important or I’m failing, are corrupt stories that we all develop, however they have a powerful affect on our thoughts, choices and our lives. Many people feel that the only way out is to leave this planet. I believe there is another way and I guide others to see this Divine way.

 

To close, I’d ask you to...Imagine....every single person is a unique piece of a puzzle which makes up the Universe. Now imagine that each piece is important, connected and dependent on all the others. Our distorted beliefs make us shrink, which affects the whole puzzle...the whole universe. Playing small, shrinking creates a misaligned world. Being you and allowing your authentic inner light to shine puts the puzzle back into alignment...and we all thrive together. You are needed...you are awesome...and you have a purpose in this four letter word called life.

 

Written By Cathy Lumsden

 

Cathy Lumsden is a psychotherapist, author, and speaker who has over 25 years of touching thousands of individual adults, families, teenagers and children’s lives. Cathy is the host of a weekly TV show called “The Best Advice”. She interviews experts on relationships from all over North America - inspiring people to create vibrant healthy relationships with their partners, children, colleagues, and most importantly...with themselves

 

Cathy is the author of The Best Advice Your Mother Never Gave You: A Guide to Finding Love in the 21st Century. She calls herself a “Belief Buster”, assisting others to eradicate the sabotaging beliefs and behaviors that hinder their lives. When we shift, not only can we truly live, while they’re still alive, we can heal the world together. To contact Cathy please go to: www.thebestadviceyourmothernevergaveyou.com

Quotes to live by

"What you focus on expands, and when you focus on goodness in your life, you create more of it." ~ Oprah Winfrey

In sickness

Well, it's been very quite here because it's been very hectic at home. My older children have been dancing around with one cold or another and they have finally gotten the baby sick. She has been cranky and miserable. Needless to say this has led to decreased sleep and increased fatigue for me and dad. This has led to my succumbing to the cold that has been floating around as well. You never want to see your children sick but it's even harder when it's your baby that is hardly a month old.

I think the hardest part is having to do things that are to help them get better but causes them distress. My baby has been very congested and it has made it hard for her to breathe, sleep and eat. In order to help her breathe better so she can sleep and eat better as well as prevent a sinus and possible ear infections we have sucked the mucus out of her sinuses with a nose syringe. We have also used a saline rinse to clean her sinuses. This of course made her very upset and mad.

Doing something like this that upsets her so much is very distressing to me, dad, and her big sister who has been helping us. It makes you feel bad to do something that you know bothers them so much but you also know that it is for their good because if you didn't do it there would be bigger and more painful consequences down the road. If we avoided the discomfort of cleaning her nose becuase of it upsetting her we would have worse problems like sinus and ear infections that can lead to further issues and may result in having to go to the hospital.

There are many times in life when we are faced with something that upsets us, makes us feel uncomfortable, frustrated, or mad. Many times when we are faced with these situations we often desire to avoid them as much as possible. However, what we don't realize is that these few moments of distress are not here just to upset us but rather to help us so we can get better or rather become better. And when we avoid them we actually take a path that leads us to more consequences or harder more upsetting situations than the ones we were in to begin with.

As hard as it is to do these things that upset my baby so much, I know it is what will help her the best and provide her with the opportunity to get better. As I know this about my own child I know that this is also what God is doing for us, His children. I know it does not bring Him joy to see us upset when we are asked to do something that upsets us but He knows that these are but for a moment and are for our good and will be less upsetting than the alternative if we don't face it.

If you find yourself in a situation that is less than ideal take a moment to see what it is here to help you overcome it. This may just help you find the perspective you need to be patient while you bare these things.

Quotes to live by

"We can do no great things; just small things with great love." ~ Mother Teresa