BRAVEHEART WOMEN

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I sat at my computer first thing this morning, avoiding my Algebra homework, as usual, and found an invitation to what looks like a network for women with aspirations and ideas that will be part of the world as it changes. I hope it is something you will all join me in. Take a look at the influential and powerful women that have joined and see yourself that way. When you do...join, at least as a FREE member and begin a new journey to discovering the power within you. See you on the other side.

PRESENCE

Cover of Power of Now

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I’m reading the “Power of Now,” by Eckhart Tolle, and this morning I was reading Chapter five where he is talking about The State of Presence and he suggests that one should try a little experiment. “Close your eyes and say to yourself: “I wonder what my next thought will be?” Then be very alert and wait for the next thought. Be like a cat watching a mouse hole. What thought is going to come out of the mouse hole?” and he suggests to try it now. So as I was on my walk tonight with Willie Nelson playing in my ears, I remembered the thought, so I let it run through my mind and in the next instance, I turned my head to the left and out of nothing, and nowhere there was a tiny, perfect white flower. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. How beautiful. The best part is that I got to experience PRESENCE as he describes it in Chapter 5, and the reward was so beautiful, one tiny little white flower out of nowhere standing there just waiting for my mind to quiet enough to notice it. You can be sure my neighbors are thinking I’m crazy now (not that I care), but here I am doing my power walk laughing right out loud. It was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. It’s not like I have never seen anything like that before, but in PRESENCE it is just so alive.

Earlier in the day I was sitting with my friend Beverly and a yellow butterfly skimmed past us. She said “Hi, Vi.” and then explained to me that that is how her sister Violet comes to her,” and then she asked me if I had seen the Oriole this morning and I had so say no, I missed it. I then asked her if she had seen the Cardinal that had been around lately because I believe that is how my sister comes to me. Five minutes later, I was at the laundromat at the front of our complex and when I parked the car, the cardinal flew right past me, and I said, Hi Judi.”

Life is so amazing when you open your mind and eyes to the beauty that surrounds us every minute of everyday. Try Tolle’s experiment and see what you come up with. I hope you experience is as wonderful as mine was.

IT'S NOT JUST A "PAT LINE."

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I am experiencing a message lately that is telling me how much easier life is than I make it. I have always over thought things, however, I do not see this as a stumbling block anymore. I am finding that the more I look for the answers the more answers come to me. Confused? Well don't be, just try it. Decide what your actual question is; is it about your business, your personal life, family and friends, whatever it is just ask the question and the answers will come. "You are what you think about," "thoughts become things.I I have been saying these things for a few years now and the people around me are also now seeing the answers to their questions. it is not voodoo, religion, or anything hokey. It is just a simple scientific principle that states, "You are what you think about," "you are who you surround yourself with." I have been telling my group of friends lately that "one of us needs to get rich, because we all need money; and the only way to get it is to surround ourselves with "the rich," and then share it with each other," or we should all be thinking 'that we are rich."

Awhile back, I wrote a story about what my father always said to me when I felt sick or out of sorts, it was "it's all in your head," and I talked about what a blessing that was to me, considering that my father was an abusive alcoholic. Whatever state of mind you are in, is the environment you are choosing to live in. When I was young and my father said that to me, I was sad, and felt that no one really cared about me. In hindsight I realize that my parents loved me they just did not know how to show me in a way that I understood. They did the best they could. I know, that is just a "pat line" you hear from people all the time, but the fact is, it is true. Families sometimes grow apart because each member is in a different place in their life and how they are hearing what is going on around them is keeping them stuck where they are. Well, the only way one gets unstuck is to choose it. Choose to be unstuck, "right, that is great advice." The voice of my unconscious mind is becoming critical and outspoken about the way I view things now. "Just what I need, another voice telling me what to do." There it goes again. Well before it takes over completely, let me make my point. ",CHOOSE GOOD THOUGHTS," every minute of everyday that you can. Do not be afraid of the negative ones, "because one positive thoughts is so much more powerful than one negative one," and the positive one has the power to overcome the negative one.

If your questions are about your business, the answer is the same. Ask the question and the answers will come. I found the answer to a question this morning. "How am I going to get more people to listen to me, to buy what i sell, to visit my websites, and blogs and begin to find value in what I have to offer as a person. Here is the simple answer I got today..."PUT YOUR NAME ON IT." Seriously, how simple is that? Here's the best part, it's actually really cheap too. The best advertising in the world is the one you create that gets you seen by others so, put it on a business card, a pencil, a pen, your car door, your web site, your blog, your address labels, your stationary and do it by going here:-->

The Monarch Butterfly

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I have been looking for this story for almost 2 years now, since I first heard Dr. Dyer tell this story on PBS. When he tells the story he is so animated and it brings the experience to life. It is truly beautiful to see and hear. I am so happy to have found it and am loving being able to share it with you. Thank you God...Thank you...Thank you.

Dr. Wayne W Dyer's Butterfly Experience
Excerpt from his book Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling

June 2007- In this final chapter, I offer my own very personal view on how the world looks when I feel inspired.

I’d like to acknowledge right from the outset that I don’t live at this level of being in-Spirit 100 percent of the time—like most everyone else, I occasionally have lapses and feel uninspired. Yet these moments have become rarer and rarer; in fact, it’s difficult for me to recall a day in the past several years when I felt completely uninspired.

What follows is a personal account of both how I feel inside and what seems to take place in the world around me when I feel connected to Spirit in the ways that I’ve written about in the pages of this book.
Jack

The same day that I completed Chapter 17 and read it over the telephone to my editor, Joanna, on Bainbridge Island, Washington, I had the most profoundly mystical experience of being in-Spirit in all of my 65 years. The photograph on the cover of the book is a re-creation of what happened.

When I finished up with Joanna, I went for my daily hour-long walk along the beach…but for some reason I elected to take a slightly different route along a grassy area adjacent to the beach. I was recalling my friend Jack Boland, a Unity minister in Detroit, who crossed over about a decade ago. Jack loved monarch butterflies, often telling stories of how he marveled at these paper-thin creatures who migrated thousands of miles in high winds and returned to the same branch on the same tree where they first emerged from their cocoons. Before Jack passed away, I presented him with a beautiful paperweight containing a dead monarch that I’d found in perfect condition. When he died, his wife returned it to me, telling me how much Jack loved that gift and how much he admired these amazing creatures who had such mysterious intelligence built into their brains, which are the size of a pinhead.

Jack always told me to “be in a state of gratitude,” and he ended every sermon with this message to God: “Thank You, thank You, thank You.” On three occasions since his death, a monarch butterfly has landed on my body. Since these creatures studiously avoid human contact, each time this has happened I’ve thought of Jack and thought, Thank You, God—thank You, thank You.

Anyway, as I walked, feeling grateful for having completed the second-to-last chapter of this book, a monarch landed on the ground, three feet in front of me. I said Jack’s magic words to myself (Thank You, God—thank You, thank You), and felt deep appreciation for my life and the beauty of the day. The butterfly stayed right there until I approached, then he flapped his wings several times and flew away. Thinking of Jack and feeling a little bewildered and immensely thankful, I watched this creature in flight, now 40 or 50 yards away.

As God is my witness, the butterfly made a U-turn and not only headed in my direction, but landed right smack on my finger! Needless to say, I was shocked—but not totally surprised. I must confess that it seems to me that the more I stay in-Spirit, the more I experience synchronicities similar to this one. But what followed did border on the incredulous, even for me.

This little creature became my constant companion for the next two and a half hours—he sat first on one hand and then moved to my other hand, never even coming close to flying away. He seemed to be trying to communicate with me by moving his wings back and forth, and even opening and closing his tiny mouth as if attempting to speak . . . and as crazy as it may sound, I felt a deep affinity to this precious living being. I sat on the ground and simply stayed with my new fragile friend for 30 or so minutes. Then I called Joanna from my cell phone, and she was also stunned by the synchronicity, insisting that I somehow get a picture of this event.

At this point I decided to return to my home, approximately a mile from where I was sitting, with my new companion. I returned along the beach walk, where the winds were brisk—the butterfly’s wings were pushed by these high gusts, but he clung to my finger, and even moved to another hand without making any effort to leave. As I walked, I encountered a four-year-old girl with her mother. The girl was sobbing over some perceived tragedy in her young life, and when I showed her my “pet” butterfly, her expression went from sad to blissful in one split second. She smiled from ear to ear and asked me all about the winged creature on my forefinger.

When I got home, I was talking on my cell phone to my friend Reid Tracy as I walked upstairs. He laughed with me as I related the bizarre synchronicity at play in this very moment. I said, “Reid, it’s been 90 minutes, and this little guy has adopted me.” Reid also encouraged me to get a photograph of this, since it was obviously in complete harmony with what I was writing.

I left my new friend—whom I was now calling “Jack”—sitting on the handwritten Chapter 17 on my lanai, and went downstairs. I found Cindy, a young woman who works nearby, and asked her to run to the store and purchase a disposable camera. She did, and I went back to the patio, put my hand next to Jack, and watched him jump right onto my finger! (The photo on the cover of this book is a re-creation of that magical moment.)

It appeared that my butterfly companion had decided that he was now going to live with me forever. After another hour or so of meditating and communing with this little creature of God—and pondering this event as the most unprecedented and out-of-the-ordinary spiritual episode I’d ever encountered—I gently placed Jack back on my manuscript while I proceeded to take a long, hot shower. When I returned to the patio, I placed my finger near my winged friend as I’d done many times in the previous 150 minutes, but he now seemed like a totally different little critter. He fluttered away, landed on a table, flapped his wings twice, and flew off, straight up toward the heavens. Moments with him were now history, but I still had the photographs, which I treasure.

The next morning, I decided to watch one of my favorite films, Brother Sun, Sister Moon, which I hadn’t viewed for more than a decade. And sure enough—in the opening scenes of Franco Zeffirelli’s interpretation of the life of St. Francis, there he was . . . with a butterfly alighting on his fingers.

I'LL BE ABOUT MY FATHER'S BUSINESS

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I sit at my computer each day for different reasons at any given time during the day. If I'm watching television and I run across something I don't know about, I have to get up and go right over to the computer and look it up. I also go to school on line and getting my degree would never be as possible for me without my computer. Friends call and ask me for help, I seem to be the go to girl for information, I go right to my computer.

I am working on writing a cookbook with my family and I should spend more time on it but I do spend sometime each week, at this rate though I don't know if they will all be around to read it. I better get a move on with that....

Whatever reason I sit here seems very important at the time, but lately, there seems to be a lot of frustration attached to that connection. I try each day to learn something new, to do something for one person, to help where I can, to cheer someone up, and to generate income from what I do also, but something is frustrating me, it's as though someone is telling me I'm not doing the right things. I feel like something is trying to do the work for me, but if that were the case...it would not be my work, and the joy of accomplishing it would be diminished. I am a strong believer in The Law of Attraction and it teaches that "you are what you think about." So when this frustration takes over me, I get angry and the funny thing is, I'm not an angry person. W. Clement stone used to say that "the universe was conspiring for him," I'm going to try an incorporate that into my mind set a lot more than I have been able to before and let nature take it's course and let God or if you prefer The Universe lead me in the direction that I should go. As Loretta Young used to say,"I'll just be about my father's business." Well, I guess that is what I'm going to have to believe, because I do not want to be an angry, unhappy person, I have too much joy to share with others to stay in that mind set. So it is onward and upward...and my needs will be met when they are deemed necessary I guess.

How Do You Define FAITH?

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How do you define "FAITH?"

When I was young I believed that Faith was something you had or you were going to "hell in a hand basket" because not having "faith" meant you didn't believe in God, and God was vengeful and you would be punished. Sad right? Well, that was the way that my parents raised me, but I never got any happiness from believing that. So I raised my children differently. There was no abuse verbal or otherwise. I was always available to them and I gave them free reign at home to voice their feelings, whatever road that took us down. When my daughter was in her teens and I was in menopause she was in puberty, there was a battle a day in our home. But one thing I knew by then: God was not going to strike me dead if I did something wrong and I made sure that my children understood that.

But what are people defining FAITH as today? Well I'm asking? What do you consider FAITH?

I believe that FAITH is the one thing that changes our life, without it, you will always stay where you are. One must have FAITH that their life will get better everyday, even if you have a great life. So everyday I thank God (The Universe) everyday for the things I am grateful for, even a simple breath of air. Think about that. Where would we be without a single breath of air? Right...DEAD. So even though breathing is an involuntary bodily function, I am grateful to have it. If I did not continue to breath then my life would be o0ver and I would enter a dimension that I am not ready to go to. I like this one, this is the one that has my children in it, my goals, my desires, all the wishes that have not come true yet, and the most joyful parts of my life may still be ahead of me, so I am grateful to breath each and everyday every moment of the day.

There have been times in my life when I have lost FAITH. I lost faith because I was blaming others for the way my life was going and when I blame others I have no control over it, so it cannot change. The one thing we all know is that "You can change no one but YOURSELF" RIGHT? Yes! If you are still thinking that your relationship will improve if you can manage to change your partner, get over it, because you are wrong. If you are thinking you lost your jkob because the economy stinks, you are wrong so get over it, take responsibility for it and move on to get another one. If you are thinking that you will never be happy again, then you are right, because as long as you believe that you will never be happy gain, you won't be.

We are in control of our own reality and if you are still believing that is not true then test it. (I told this to my son) If you are worried everyday about everyone else around you and you never have time to do for yourself, who's fault is it? YOURS. Try to spend one day, just one, by thinking about no one else but yourself and the wonderful, happy, joyful things you want to have happen in your life, and see how you feel at the end of that day. And then the next day...go back to worrying about everyone else. Then on the third day compare the feelings, and be totally honest with yourself. Which day was more productive and which day were you the happiest, and which day were the people around you the happiest...RIGHT THE DAY YOU THOUGHT ABOUT YOUR OWN DREAMS AND DESIRES. Now which day is better for you and those around you? You decide and when you find that I am wrong, please come back and tell me that. Tell me that you are still miserable and unhappy and I am full of crap. I will look forward to that. Seriously, I will.

PULLING OFF THE BAND-AID OF 2008

It's funny how long it takes us to pull all the decorations out, hang the lights, and set up all our little Christmas lawn ornaments. Taking them down though is so fast. Why is that? I went into my house last night and when I came out today, every semblance of Christmas glitter was gone from all the neighboring lawns, except my own. I was still busy in the house tinkering with my new Christmas toys. I told my friends it was like the last scene in a Santa movie where he shows up in town, everyone believes he's real, and when you go back the next day...he's gone. "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" is a good example of that, but just when she is ready to give up on her Christmas dream...it shows up. The cane being left behind is such a poignant touch. My lawn was like that cane today, all that was left of Christmas was the lawn ornaments I still had up. My little Angel and my Santa Sign were the only visions left behind, and probably tomorrow they will be gone also.

It takes a few days to let the let-down sink in and bring us back to our old selves. To some it's like pulling off a band-aid...really quick. For me, I like to savor the last few days of the year and reflect on what has come into my life, and what new things I expect for the New Year. This is going to be a big year for me...I've made my goals and prayed my prayers, set my plans in motion, and can't wait to see them evolve from the dreams they came in. It took some time, but I never lost hope, and I know that this is the year I reap the rewards of my work.

What kind of plans have you made? Have you set a mission statement for your business or even for your personal life? You can get a little help with it on one of my other blogs MASTER BOOKS Nightingale Conant has one where you can just fill in the blanks and it helps to put all the pieces together. Make it a commitment this year to write one, let it be your New Year's Resolution. It will give you a much better idea of what to expect from yourself by this time next Year. Give it a try.





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SANTA IS IN TOWN

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Good thing we got the snow plowed away for Santa to arrive in our neck of the woods today. Here in Norton, Santa is making a stop over at Joe Carlino's house, where he will be handing out presents and finding out what all the children want for Christmas this year. Joe and Santa are great friends, and I'm sure the kids will all enjoy a moment to catch his ear about their holiday wishes.

CHRISTMAS BANNED IN BOSTON

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I was at a friends house a little while ago and they had Channel 524 on Comcast, Traditional Holiday Music. It's actually nice to hear the music in the background, but they have different, dated, memories, and facts about Christmas all over the world from different centuries. I was shocked to learn that Christmas was banned in Boston in 1659-1681. It stood as a law for 22 years. I can't imagine no Christmas, and being a resident of Boston, really hits home. No Christmas when I was growing up would have been unbelievable. Those are the most precious holiday memories to me. I was very young and believed in Santa Claus, and I lived to go to (Jordan Marsh) Macy's in Boston every year to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what I wanted for Christmas. We always got a gift, and I remember how hard it was not to open it on the train ride home.
In my neighborhood this year, we are reviving that tradition. We have all ordered extra special Christmas lighting and gifts for all the kids, and we have the perfect Santa. Our Friend Joe is the man for the job. His lights are already up and his village is booming with Santa, snowmen, reindeer, and every other traditional lawn ornament to get the children in the spirit. Nothing will be turned on until Thanksgiving evening but we will all be ready. A neighborhood of lights and Christmas Spirit. I can't imagine the mind set that came up with the idea to ban Christmas, or anything else that gives our children so much joy and fills the hearts of all with peace and goodwill. But, according to this blog I found, it is true...
Well, not in my neighborhood, this year, because we won't let that happen. The lights are up and we are just waiting to cue the music for the magic to happen.
We should all make this a year to remember. We have a new Presidency and a new new mind set across the country, and possibly the world, so our hearts should render that feeling to whatever extreme makes our children laugh and our neighbors smile. It has been a long time since this country was happy. But I think that my neighbor Joe will be changing that around here this year.

GOD WANTS US TO FAIL....FIRST!

Image via WikipediaOver the weekend my friend James and I were discussing failure and how we know we are better people as a result of our failures. We talked about how we know that God wants us to fail, so we can learn from our mistakes, and how he carries us through the hard times. (Footprints). His father taught him that, I learned from my own mistakes that mistakes are good lessons. My father's lesson to me came in the form of abuse but also in these words. "Be a leader...Not a follower", he also said "It's all in your head." He was absolutely right on both counts.
I was reminded of this conversation with my friend James by an email I got this morning from Dean Hunt, on his blog he discusses "Failing Upward" He has a video on there that makes it all so clear. So stop by Dean's blog today and pick up some info on how to fail...but check out all the ways to succeed also. He has a wealth of successful resources.
IF THIS IS NOT THE LAW OF ATTRACTION...THEN WHAT IS IT?
FIND OUT HERE

THEY CALLED HER ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

Image via Wikipedia"Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn't stop to enjoy it."
William Feather
1889-1981, Writer

I have had a day of reflection today! I lost a dear friend, although I had not seen her for a while, she was often on my mind. I actually appreciate days like this because it makes us take time to reflect and realize how precious our time on this planet is. It makes us want to get to everything done “yesterday,” but that is not what we need to do. It is much wiser to appreciate the day that you are in…the “now“…the “present“…always, as if it might be your last. Live everyday to the fullest, without just filling your day. Tomorrow is the anniversary of the loss of my daughter. If I had not had that experience (losing a child)I would not have been able to say to my friend’s children, “She is where she wants to be now, she is with her son, who she cared for through his cancer, into death.

It is really hard for a mother to have a child leave before them. I remember my mother’s passing (as I was the one that managed her care) and the night before, I sat with my Grammy as she sipped her glass of port and she told me precious, funny stories about my mother, my grandfather and my mother’s brothers and sisters. She got me through that night, and we did it with laughter. My Grammy was really strong that night, but after my mother passed, I think it was too hard for her. One of my Aunt’s said, she could not live knowing my mother went before her. I really never believed that because, I went on to care for my mother just after my child passed. You are as strong as you need to be, God always carries us through those times. I think that my Grammy just reached her time. They referred to her as Eleanor Roosevelt at her funeral, I’ve never forgotten that. She did quite a bit of traveling, despite any health issues she had. She was happy and she had a wonderful life. There was always laughter around her. This is what a day of reflection does....it shows you why life is so precious, why we should eat every moment as if it was our last bite.

So tomorrow, when you begin your day, choose to take a bite out of life, for all who passed before us, and don’t forget to have a lot of laughter...it is the best medicine, so they say.

Make a choice to watch it, read it or live it…but at least try it, and remember this:
The Secret

Thoughts do become things.
There are no coincidences.
Miracles are all around us.
Ask, Believe and you will receive.
It all begins with baby steps.

REMEMBER LIFE WITHOUT A CELL PHONE?

Remember life without a cell phone? Actually I don't, I'm much too young for that...Right!
We were watching a movie after dinner yesterday and some question came up. The kids and I (I really should stop calling them the kids, they are adults now)have this habit of trying to name the actors in the movie we are watching and what else the actor has been in. I never really noticed that we do this, but yesterday it was different...Usually someone runs to the computer and finds the answer...because we all have to be right (there is a lot of "EGO" going on here, in good fun) Well, this time my daughter reached for her cell and looked it up on there...she also found out what time the movie she and her boyfriend were going to started, without ever leaving her chair. I know to most that is no surprise, and it really was not to me either, but I recognized the habit. I was in the presence.

When you are aware of the issue, you are awakened, you are free from "ego" and in the presence. I like my presence to be with my children. There is a lot of love and joy there. The kind of joy you get when you see them for the first time, or they reach their first milestone, go to their first day of school, go on their first date, their first prom, the first day they leave home for college, the day they get married and then their first child, or my first grandchild. It is an endless circle of complete and utter joy. Ok...there are days when you wish they would just go out and experience one of those firsts and give you the peace you need, but in a very short time, you are wishing them back. That is why I love the holidays, birthdays and anytime we are all together. That is where my essence lives and my success, it is in that presence.

GOD REALLY HAS A GOOD SENSE OF HUMOR!

The Law of Attraction tells us "thoughts become things" "You are what you think about"
"Ask, Believe, Receive" and "The Secret" says...there are no coincidences. I believe all of that so tell me what you think of this:

I have 2 favorite products that I love to eat, both are products grown from the ground, potato is one and rice is the other, In the past 2 months I have found a rock in both of my favorite products. I'd like to know what you all think about this. Coincidence?
It could just be that "I am the Queen of the Universe", but in case that is not the answer, maybe someone has some suggestions. You have to agree, it is really remarkable that one single person would get two different products with a rock in each one and the manufacturing process is not the same with them.

What do you think I should do? I contacted the first company and they were really nice about it, and then I let it go. But the other day when it happened again, I have to wonder...how funny is God's sense of humor, because who else could pull off a coincidence like this. I keep looking around for Ashton Kutcher to say "You are punked" but to no avail.

So I am left with this dilemma. Please make a comment and weigh in on this.