PRAY!

Life: I will let go and let God take my mess and make it a message. Use all my tests as my testimonies.

Help me not to be too busy to stand still for a moment to reflect.



Dear God, forgive me! Come into my life and show me how to live. Show me the way of patience, tolerance, kindliness and Love.



200 Morning Prayers, Prayer 107: Heavenly Father, today, make me strong enough to know when I am weak; brave enough to face myself when I am afraid.

Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy will be done.




200 prayers, Prayer 161: One thing I ask Lord, give me your hands to hold on to as I walk through the day.





Heavenly Father, give me peace of mind today. Help me to be at peace with all people and at peace with you. Take from me all foolish worry about the future and futile regret about the past.

I pray for knowledge of Your will for me and the power to carry that out.




I pray that I may trust God to answer my prayers as He sees fit. I pray that I may be content with whatever form that answer may take.




Give me something of the peace which the world cannot give, and cannot take away.

Let your Spirit speak to my mind and my heart. Lord, be a light for my tasks, peace for my worries and forgiveness for my failures.




Lord I pray that just for today, I think with kindness, speak with courtesy and act with love.




Lord you have created this wondrous patterned fabric of life - May I see You in its smallest details.

200 Morning Prayers, Prayer 165: Heavenly Father, keep me today from all pettiness. Let me be generous in thought, word and deed. Let me not indulge in fault-finding. Help me to shun all pretenses. Help me to be calm, serene and gentle.

Teach me to know that it is trifles that create problems in my relations with others. Help me relate to all I meet today with love and generosity, keeping in mind the clear possibility of each one of them being better than me in your sight.

FOR MY FAMILY:

I ask in prayer for everything I want for myself to be given to them.

I ask for their health, their prosperity, their happiness.

I ask that they be blessed with peace in their minds and in their hearts.

I ask that we love and respect each other. AMEN

THE SERENITY PRAYER

God,

Grant me the serenity

to Accept the things I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can

and the Wisdom to know the difference.

Enter Into Meaningful Relationships

Dear Kaceri, this is for after a relationship break up:

There is no surprise more magical
than the surprise of being loved.
It is God's finger on man's shoulder.
~Charles Morgan

Each being has a longing to
be loved and accepted by others, thus the yearning for companionship. We cannot subsist without others, without joining into associations with others. I think for most people, the challenge is in finding wholesome bonds and constructing healthy boundaries, which do not lead into sure heartbreak and mental agony. That is why it’s imperative to find peace within yourself, first.



You must work on your character before engaging long term with anyone. You shouldn’t drag your old baggage of unresolved issues into a new relationship…That’s not fair on the other person. Nor is it fair to yourself.


Damaged boundaries are a sign of codependency. The primary cause of conflict and difficulties in relationships lies in unhealthy boundaries. My boundary is my container. When I am too contained or not contained enough, then problems in relationships result. Wekiva Springs Wellness Center.

Alongside working on character flaws, part of taking stock is writing a full inventory of all your blessings. By the time you're done with that list, and after having taken a good hard look around you; It would be very hard to say that Life is picking on you.

Take the time to heal, to flourish, to know yourself, to know your worth and value, to grow up and to enjoy a sober life under your own terms, to mend and restore any marred boundaries. You should always give time, time. Trust the process and curve out a normal, satisfactory, structured, non-dependent, strong life. Then, in time when that God-given mate comes along, You’re rehabilitated, restored, renewed, repaired and reborn.

You're healthy, both in mind and body.

Always be a first-rate version of yourself,
instead of a second-rate version
 of somebody else. ~Judy Garland

 Toots, look above. Please, please Be You.

Be Humble

Dear Kaceri,


Be humble.

Death is the common right of toads and men. Why swagger then? The gnat's supremacy is as large as thine. ~Emily Dickinson.

Humility is one of those qualities of character that are so hard to pin down. Just when you think you've got it, you've lost it. I believe that it is in the practice of humility that we are truly humble. There is no end point; no echelon to be reached. In every situation, humility will get you much further than arrogance. I have learnt, humans are more willing to assist humble people than arrogant people.

Humility is a daily practice.

Humility does not mean you think less of yourself. It means you think of yourself less. ~Kenneth Blanchard

I Love You, My Sweet

Represent Courage: Have No Fear!

 Hi Tutu, You are very lucky to be born into a family line of very sturdy females. Starting with your great grandma who your Mom was named after. She was a single parent in the fifties, ina third world country. That took a whole lot courage. Especially when she was disinherited by her Father for being a single Mom of seven. Your grandma, my and your Mom's mother is as strong as an ox. The things she has done in life even without completing her education are short of stunning and amazing. She is my Earthly rock, my strength, a person whose stability I will always emulate. And your Mom, who is raising you to be a strong little lady, all on her own. How brave is that?!

Always, listen to your Mom, Kaceri. She is very wise, is my strength when I fall and is one of my and your biggest cheer leader.



You,my dear, do not have an excuse not to be tough and resilient. It's in your genes.

Painting by Mary Ann Kikerpill

Courage; It should come naturally. Watching kids play and interact has convinced me that we are born courageous. I think we loose courage as we get jaded by life. But, is this the kind of existence we want? No. You must continually encourage yourself to have no fear. Do not be afraid to confront the things that make you feel afraid. Excercising bravery will make brave.

You should not represent fear, represent courage. Strive to be a fine example of fearlessness.

An age old maxim says: Fear knocked on the door. But when Faith opened it, there wasn't anyone there. Have faith that you will be ok. Have faith that all will work out in the end and if it hasn't worked out....then it's not the end.

Fear is one of the worst, and most limiting, emotions in life. It's also a fact. We're all unsettled by something— But I think life is a process of moving items from the "scared of" to the "not scared of" list. ~Donna BrazileRead more: http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Donna-Braziles-Advice-for-Living-Without-Fear#ixzz1xfvFzkaf



Your purpose in life, my sweet, is to show those that are downcast that there's more to life. You need to lead a fulfilled life. There will be days when you don't feel on the up and up.  Days when you wake up tired and ungrateful. But, considering the alternative and knowing no day is guaranteed, ought to perk you right back up. If you have to fake it til you make it, so be it,sweetie. Whether you like it or not, you are an unlikely hero. You never know who's emulating you or looking up to you.

Humbly, I rely on God to enable me to match calamity with serenity. Faith means courage. Spirituality is the way of strength.

In the End, we will remember
not the words of our enemies,
but the silence
of our friends. MLK jr.

     

Courage

“Come to the edge.”
“We can't. We're afraid.”
“Come to the edge.”
“We can't. We will fall!”
“Come to the edge.”
And they came.
And he pushed them. And they flew.
Guillaume Apollinaire, 1880-1918 French Poet, Philosopher

Let this be your prayer: Lord, please, remove my fear and direct my attention to what you would have me be.

From Oyster to Pearl

Kaceri my love, if you've seen an oyster, then you'll agree with this oxymoron: It's pretty ugly.

Can anything so ugly as the oyster, really produce a pearl?

When you look at people, especially those going thru a rough time, do you see oysters or pearls? Do others view YOU as a pearl or an oyster?

 It all depends on how you see yourself.


I don't know why people judge everything by its cover. The Oyster is the best example of why you should never look at something "ugly" and write it off.
It's also an example why as humans we should never, ever look at people who are struggling through life and deem them as hopeless cases. Everyone has a fighting chance. Maybe they're waiting for an encouraging word, a hug, a pointer in the right direction....from someone such as you. Maybe you could inspire the person you just judged and wrote off, to lead their best life ever.

Everyone goes through a hard time.  If you are true to yourself, you have too. And in your lowest time you were hoping someone, anyone, would give you that encouraging nod. You were hoping someone would give you that lending hand. You were hoping that someone would really look at you and see you for the pearl that you knew you were.


Your purpose in life then,  Gace, is to help the oysters realize that they are really pearls on the inside. Your job is to inspire and hearten those shy pearls out of their shell, so they can live life in their inherent shining and beautiful state.



Beautiful pearls.

We are designed to rule, to reign and to rest.

Dear Gace,
Always, always, find time to rest. You cannot sustain a quality life without resting. It's not possible.

Resting...by Lee Bogle

We are designed to rest. We need to rest in God. That restless feeling we get is God calling us to settle down. Take some time off. Be still and listen.  Feeling the oneness of yourself, both with God and all living beings is genuine love.

Resting....

Stillness is inner peace, and that stillness and peace are the essence of your Being. When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself. When you lose touch with yourself, you lose yourself in the world. Wisdom comes with the ability to be still. ~Eckhart Tolle

Rest!

While I am here, contained within bones and muscles, organs and skin, I want to take care of the gift of my body. I want to feed it well, move it gracefully, and rest it deeply. ~ Elizabeth Lesser

We are designed to rule, to reign.  Don't make your life a struggle? Life is victorious. The battle has already been won! Our job is to trust in God, put on His armor and STAND. You are made of the Father and you were created to reign! From this day, lift, lift, lift your head high; straighten your shoulders.

Tread proudly, walk loftier, and step with a purpose. Live life; not moping and complaining and not as a victim but as a winner, a victor. The Lord has granted you His peace, His favor. All you have to do is accept it. It’s yours for the taking.

I love you, rest!

Forgive Others

 Hi Kadudu, I hope this letter finds you healthy both physically and in mind. Many times in life, people will "push your buttons" or wrong you in some way. I need you to have a heart of forgiveness, my sweet.

When You Don't Forgive...
...It's like wearing dark sunglasses that distort everything you see. You also want everyone else to see through these glasses. Forgiveness is taking those glasses off. Not forgiving is like carrying heavy suitcases full of books through an airport. Forgiving is putting the suitcases down and walking away without them. It is lightening up. It is being able to enjoy your life, laugh again, and see the beauty in others. When you cannot forgive yourself, you cannot forgive others. When you cannot forgive others, you cannot forgive yourself. The dynamic of forgiveness is the same in both cases.

When You Forgive...
...You lighten your load. Not forgiving is like wearing dark sunglasses that gruesomely distort all that you see, and you want others to see through the same glasses. When you forgive, it is like leaving behind a heavy weight. Imagine that you are trying to walk through an airport while carrying a heavy suitcase in each hand with another strapped over your shoulder and another on your back like a backpack. It is difficult and painful work to go anywhere.

Forgiving is putting down all of your baggage and leaving it behind. You travel lightly. It has nothing to do with worthiness—yours or others'. You and they are both worthy. That is not the issue.

The issue is whether you wish to continue to carry your baggage. ~Spiritual Counselor Gary Zukav

Read more: http://www.oprah.com/oprahs-lifeclass/Rituals-for-Forgiveness#ixzz1tEbbKmIf

 I love you to bits, my love. Be good always.

Desiderata

Hi Toots, You were born a happy child. You were always giggling like your Mom. Stay that way my dearest. Laughter heals. And no matter where you go in the world, they speak laughter there, guaranteed.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams; it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.


--- Max Ehrmann, 1927

Lessons In Living

Dear Gaceri, here's a book that made all the difference in the world to me. It changed my entire world view and helped to get my life back on track. I have since passed that book along to a dear friend.

Our Purpose:
Excerpt from Lessons in Living

At times along the way we stumble, we stub our toes, we scrape our knees. We may say or do things that hurt ourselves or others. A selfish act or careless remark may injure a lover or friend. And so we pause to examine the wound, apply the salve and journey on. As we learn the lessons of our journey and carry them forward with us, we become more agile, our feet more sure. We not only avoid the pitfalls, but the very path also gets easier. Even when it takes us over steep, rugged terrain, we must recognize that this, too, is a part of life's landscape. We must remember that such terrain is fleeting, that the scenery will eventually change. The rocks and ridges along the difficult parts of the path are strengthening us and preparing us for whatever lies ahead. And so each day of our journey we should affirm for ourselves: Whatever I find along my path, I will ask God how to use. As we encounter obstacles, let them inspire our creativity. If we lose a valued possession, let us recognize that God is clearing a space in our lives for something of greater value or, more important, reminding us to keep material things in their proper perspective so that we don't lose sight of our purpose in life: to embrace our divinity and learn to love. Susan L. Taylor

 I love you to bits, little tutu!

To purchase this book or to peruse its pages, follow this link:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0385483791/ref=as_li_tf_til?tag=livinglifefull03&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0385483791&adid=1YSEJRDDES4P1MR92XZD&&ref-refURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.livinglifefully.com%2Fflo%2Fflobelivinglinthemoment.htm

Enlightened

To Kaceri, move towards enlightenment

Enlightened

Our purpose in life: To embrace our divinity and learn to love.~Susan L. Taylor

Enlightened

To be enlightened is to be without anxiety over imperfection. ~Budhist saying


Although we've been made to believe: If we let go we end up with nothing, life itself reveals the opposite; that letting go is the path to real freedom. ~ Sogyai Rinpoche

Enlightened

If I judge others, I am probably judging myself. Whoever is upsetting me most is my best teacher. ~Budhist saying






When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. ~Lao Tzu

Enlightened

 Life will give you only the experiences necessary for your evolution. Is suffering necessary? Yes and No. If you had not suffered as you have, there would be no depth to you, no humility, no compassion.~ Eckhart Tolle

Enlightened

Wisdom comes with the ability to be still. Just look and just listen. No more is needed. Being still, looking and listening activate the non-conceptual intelligence within you.

Let stillness direct your words and actions.~ Eckhart Tolle.

What do I really need right now to be happy? What I come to over and over again is that only qualities as vast and deep as love, connection and kindness will really make me happy in any sort of enduring way. ~Salzberg

Enlightened

  I love you, my sweetie.