Attitude of Gratitude

Today I am grateful that I took the time to really pay attention and listen to my teenage daughter. Sometimes it can be hard to move past some of the issues that have caused hurt feelings but when I do, I find I enjoy being with her more.

Quotes to live by

"All that is visible must grow beyond itself, and extend into the realm of the invisible." ~ TRON, Dumont

Focus

Focus can mean the difference between standing and being knocked on your arse. I have been going to classes since February. I have been learning about intention, direction, fear, love, and much more. I have had success and more upsets than I care to count. I have felt repeatedly frustrated and then I get a breather only to be dragged down into the chaos once more. I began to seriously wonder what the he double hockey sticks was going on here.

Every time I thought I was getting to higher ground and able to start taking in the new and better surroundings, it felt like the carpet was being pulled from under me and I was right back where I started from. Ugh! Have you been feeling this too as you have worked to move forward in the direction of your dream?

Thank God I didn't just give up, give in, turn around, and put up the "I surrender" sign yet. I know that the things I have been learning are true and that they work. I know that there is purpose even in this moment of ultimate frustration, doubt, and complete turbulence. I know that there is a way if I but keep believing. And then I opened an email that I had received a few weeks ago but hadn't gotten around to reading yet. It is in moments like this that it is confirmed to me that I have a loving Father in heaven who is completely aware of me and what I need and just what the perfect time for everything in my life is.

This email came from Leslie Householder author of "The Jackrabbit Factor" and "Portal to Genius". I love the wisdom and insight she has. I am grateful that she had the experience she had and then the insight to share the learned wisdom with others, me. My life has been blessed and uplifted because of her acting and doing what she feels she is guided to do. I am grateful and have gained a renewed faith that I can keep moving forward knowing that all will work out for me in the end if I but keep my focus.

Here is the article. I hope you find it as enlightening and beneficial as I have. God bless and keep pressing forward, you can do it!

http://www.positivethinkingtips.org/strange-surfer-wisdom/?inf_contact_key=f1f5ebb97f78417dae2658f7f722a79bdcb04516a64e1c353ab50e58014a633f

Attitude of Gratitude

I am grateful to celebrate another birthday with my son. He is on his way to becoming a young man. I am so proud of him and excited for him.

Quotes to live by

"In the end the difference between success and failure can be defined in one word, perserverance." ~ Misty

Inspiration for Motivation

Have you ever felt like you were different, not the same as everyone else? Have you ever felt that you couldn't do something because you were different? Well being different is only bad if you choose to see it that way. Maybe you are different for a reason. A reason that will only be shown to you when you choose to do what you love and your heart dreams of any way. Here is someone who does what they love and doesn't worry about what others think.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QptjwDuXhHU

Withdrawing from the pain

I have been seeing a chiropractor lately to help me recover my health from the pain that I had developed from my pregnancy last year. I had been going to physical therapy but felt that even though it was giving me some relief it was more like a band aid than actual healing.

Since I have been seeing the chiropractor I have seen a vast improvement in the return or my health. Healing is an internal process that sometimes may need some outside assistance depending on the balance or lack of balance within the body. As I shared my excitement and gratitude with my chiropractor's assistants, they asked me to write a testimonial. Writing the testimonial has brought some realizations that I want to share with you. I am including an excerpt of the insights and aha's I have come upon.

But the greatest healing I received was something I didn’t even know that I needed. As I have been healing and experiencing improvement in the returned health and strength of my body I have also seen an improved mental and emotional balance and wellbeing as well.

It wasn’t until I started feeling physically better that I realized how much of a mental and emotional toll the pain was costing me. I am by nature a light hearted, caring, and outgoing person. I hadn’t realized that with this experience of prolonged intense pain that I had turned inward so much. I was increasingly moody, irritable, impatient, annoyed, angry, short tempered, exhausted, unsympathetic, and withdrawn. This is just a little of the negativity I was experiencing. It wasn’t that I wanted to feel or be negative but I believe it’s more of a self-protection mechanism like that of a turtle. When you are experiencing intense pain for prolonged periods of time you may unconsciously feel the only way to survive is to withdraw from feeling and become numb.

However, you are not only withdrawing from feeling pain but everything else as well. Withdrawing from feeling and being numb is in essence a form of depression. This translated to me smiling and laughing less, being less engaged with others, becoming complacent and distracted, being defensive and aggressive with others, not being fully present in my life, and building up resentments. As excited as I am to feel better physically, I am ecstatic to feel like myself again.

Now I want to smile and laugh. I want to play and have fun. I want to be around other people and enjoy it. Life is exciting and full of possibilities once more. I feel I have regained my balance and the symphony of who I am is back in full swing. I have reconnected with the things I love and feel passionate about sharing them. I am able to enjoy life again and am eager to live my life rather than be a by stander in it and watch as it passes by. For all of this I am extremely grateful.

As grateful for help with my healing as I am, I know that I wouldn't have gotten as much out of it if I hadn't made some key choices. I first had to decide that I wanted to be here and feel even if it meant being in pain and hurting. I had to commit to myself and my healing. That meant not settling and finding the solutions I needed and wanted. It meant taking the opportunities when they presented themselves and acting on the things I felt impressed to do in spite of what others said. It meant asking for and accepting the help I wanted. And it meant not giving excuses and accepting accountability for myself and my choices.

I know that I have talked about pain before but I didn't quite understand just how much physical pain can completely change a person's outlook on life if we let it. In my case I withdrew from feeling, while I have seen others embrace the experience and allow it to change their outlook into a more compassionate and loving perspective of life and their relationship in it. Even though my initial reaction was not in this direction, I have found that my perspective has now turned in this way as well.

I now work to look at everyone through this new perspective that maybe I don't know the whole story and so I give more freely and take less offense. I have decided to take accountability for the way I feel and what I am seeing in my daily interactions. I have chosen to see that maybe compassion and love may be a better action than that of reacting out of fear, anger, and misunderstanding. This is just one of the aha's I have learned from my experience and is just the tip of the iceberg.

Pain is hard and it can be difficult to bear, especially at its worst. However, even though it hurts and is hard it can be a teacher and a means of bringing great change if we choose. Ultimately that is the determining factor in anything in our lives, choice. We can choose to see it as too hard to bear, be fearful and afraid, withdraw and become disconnected, become critical and complaining, or all of the above. I am not saying that choosing to react in these ways is a bad thing. This is exactly what I did.

What I am saying is if you have the chance to become aware that there is another choice, a better one, one that can help you achieve what you want, make it. Don't let the pain, the fear, the obstacle, the stumbling block, etc. be the determining factor. Don't let them get in the way or become an excuse not to have what you really want in life. Be fearless and allow those things to be the teachers they really are so you can see with a fresher perspective than before.

Attitude of Gratitude

Today I am grateful for my husband. My husband is someone who supports me and helps me in life. He is my best friend. He is everything I have ever wanted in a companion and more. Having him in my life has helped me grow and become a better person. He has helped me have bigger and better dreams and actually feel like I can have them. I am even more grateful now because I was once so ungrateful that I was allowing our relationship to deteriorate.

Maybe you have a spouse that makes you feel the same way. Maybe you have one that you wish were different. Maybe you just wish that you had one. Where ever you are in life in any relationship try and find a measure of gratitude. The amount of gratitude you feel will be a reflection of the success of the relationship or your ability to receive one. It will also help you determine if it's the right one for you.

Quotes to live by

"As you begin to fight for yourself, you have begun to fight for all of civilization and all of mankind." ~ Unknown Author

Attitude of Gratitude

Today I am grateful that I have learned some new skills to help me be a better communicator. I have learned how to listen to myself and talk to myself so I am seeing the positive results I want in my life and less of the hiccups.

Yes, I talk to myself. I do it all the time, only occasionally is it out loud. Our internal dialogue is a very real thing and it is very important. It determines our happiness and success in life. Take some time today and see how you are talking to yourself. Are you being kind or are you being mean to yourself?

If you are being kind, great. See how much more you can love yourself and further grow the happiness and success you have in life. If you are being mean, I suggest you take the time to start developing a nurturing relationship with yourself so you can start having the life of your dreams.

Quotes to live by

"When you think you're really beat, that's the time to lift your feet." ~ Follow Me Boys

Motivation for Inspiration

If you are having a moment where you feel like you might not be worth the effort any more; I am here to tell you you are. When you feel like giving up or giving in, go ahead and rest but get back up and try again. You are worth the effort and your deserve it. It is only too late if you decide it is.

This is the story of someone that some may have considered to be beyond saving or taking too much effort to save. But there were some who believed she was worth it.

http://www.seewinter.com/explore-cma/animals/dolphins/winter

Attitude of Gratitude

Today I watched my oldest son taking care of his baby sister with all of the tenderness a mother would give. He was gentle and patient. He was eager to be of assitance and proud that we trusted him to do it. There have been times when I have missed moments like this because I was to afraid and felt I had to control everything to make sure that everyone was safe and everything would be okay. In reality all I did was alienate the ones I loved the most and robbed us all of some very special moments that would help us create a strong bond of love and trust.

I am grateful that I was able to help my son see his value and worth by trusting him and showing him how proud of him I was.

Who can you extend the gift of trust to today?