Memories of year past for the journey!

Like packing a suitcase for my travels, I am reviewing the year past, to see what I will take with me into 2010! I am feeling excited and hopeful about the future! I feel God's presence and laughter, smiling, because God knows my future, full of lovely surprises for my soul, things that I am hoping for that are just ahead, and comforting salves for the wounds of the years past. I want my suitcase to be full of wonderful and useful items to enjoy, to help me on my journey and to share with others I will meet and be with this coming year! What are you taking with you? I trust the Spirit to guide me and remind me of what I need along the way! Right now I am thinking of all the lovely friends I have been with this past year: some new, some I have known for many years, and in the past two months, some I have reconnected with from my high school and early career days through Facebook! What a great facility! I know I will take that with me! I want to be connected more in 2010! Connected to God, to myself, connected through this Blog and to the world: to friends, family, and those I meet along the way that I can help, or that will help me, or just stay a while as we travel together and enjoy the journey!! Have a nice time remembering 2009 and the best to you in 2010! God bless you most abundantly, wherever you are along your journey! Maybe we will meet and share each other's memories from the past!

Listen to the children!!

From YouTube "The child who silenced the world for 5 minutes"

Acceptance is the Key - continued

Acceptance is a very large topic! At a meeting yesterday, both readings selected for the day were on acceptance, so I thought I would continue from my last post. When I was a child, acceptance was not a choice. I had to accept everything, because I had no power and actually was in danger if I did not accept things as they were. As I got older, I learned ways to react without acceptance: arguing, getting angry or upset, rejection, judgement, manipulation, despair, isolation, etc. I became independent and "in control" of my life, or so I thought! Twenty+ years ago I became disabled. Unable to work, I lost my career. Eventually, I lost my marriage and my savings and I accumulated much medical expense related debt. I started on a journey of exploring the meaning of my life and its relationship to my belief in God. That journey has taken me a lot of places, and I have learned acceptance at many levels, and still learning. Seven years ago, I nearly died (for the second time). I had learned to accept my circumstances so I was not afraid. Accepting other people's behavior, especially when hurtful, was much harder. But in doing so, my life became much more enjoyable, despite any difficult people or circumstances. I learned to set boundaries when necessary to protect myself and that when I let go of others' behaviors, a lot of stress goes away and I can focus on more positive things if I choose. Accepting myself has been the most difficult task because awareness of not accepting myself is so unconscious but integral to my happiness and peace. God grant me acceptance of myself in all my ways and beings. Love, Dee

Acceptance is the Key!!

What are you willing to accept? In any moment, whatever is cannot be changed in that moment. When I react immediately in any way but acceptance, I lose the opportunity to be in the moment and choose life as it presents itself that moment. Only then can I find true joy, peace and the freedom of finding and choosing what is available and what can be changed. Only then I can find my self, the true self that I am, and discover the true self of anyone else. Only then can I explore and experience my true feelings and where they might be coming from. Only then can I find the still small voice of God that guides me in every moment. If in danger or in harm's way, only by being calm and in the moment can we truly respond in a way that might save a life, our own or that of another. Take the key of acceptance and unlock your doors! God grant me the serenity to accept.... Dee

Keeping the Faith!!!

What is faith, really? For me faith is a gift, but to keep it sometimes takes hard work. Faith is defined as confidence or trust in a person or thing; belief that is not based on proof. That is what makes it so difficult sometimes! Without proof, how can we believe? Especially when things are not as we would expect if what we believe is true. Faith becomes difficult when I am believing in something that I cannot see, feel, sense or understand according to my own knowledge and experience. When circumstances of my life or of others become painful or hard to accept, believing and trusting in a higher power that is good, loving, and providing all that we need, brings light, comfort and warmth to my heart, spirit and mind. It helps me to see the possibilities of help and what I or others can do in seemingly hopeless situations. It helps me find joy and gratitude for what I remember and sense that is good, laying aside and turning over to my higher power that which seems not good, hoping for a better outcome than I can imagine. The more I can do this, the more I see and experience life on life's terms and find peace that ultimately all is well and can be well, no matter what! And that is the gift! And when I am in peace and gratitude about my life and the lives of others, I am able to wait, seek and find my way. Keep the faith!! Dee

Perceptions of a view

When we look out into our life, what do we see? The beauty that is there? The rain that is falling? Things to be afraid of? Something that might end up being fun? This is a picture I took last Friday. It is set in a beautiful garden, like our creation. It was raining at the time, but not hard and not for long, like most weather conditions here in Miami, Florida. Weather is always changing, like most circumstances in our lives. We just do not know when or to what. Even forecasters are never sure and are often wrong. We were wondering if it was going to rain harder or continue through our visit. After I took this picture, the rain stopped and it got a bit sunny and a little warmer. Is this a real monster? It is really a work of art on display for fun at Fairchild Gardens and it has been considered the most fun by children there, although not the most beautiful, by far. Can we look at our lives like children, eyes wide open to possibilities? Certainly, some things make us unhappy or even afraid, but things are always changing, things are often not what we think they are or result in what we fear, and there are always other things to focus on that we can enjoy and laugh at. Wishing you laughter and joy! Dee

Believing is truly Seeing

They say: "Seeing is believing." Actually, believing helps us to see more clearly. What we see is not always what it appears to us, depending on our viewpoint. In the pictures, one vertical line appears to be longer than the other, but both are the same size. If someone is late for a flight that crashes and kills all passengers, we would call that a blessing for that person. In the moment of seeing the plane take off without us, we might not have that conclusion and be upset enough to make us afraid, sad, angry, or even physically ill. Believing that we had to be on that plane to be happy, prosperous or successful would not be believing in the "truth", a truth we could not have known. But there is a higher power that knows the truth of all things at all times. Believing in that can provide a new view, a perception that we can be open to see in truth that there are other possibilities than what we currently know, see, want or expect. What we believe does effect what we see and how we experience it. What do you believe? Let's talk some more..... , Dee

Finding my "Path"

Six days since my last post! I never said I was perfect! How easy it is to be distracted from my intentions and direction! Yet I find on my excursions off the "planned" route, I find the most surprising treasures. These treasures include joy, intimacy, peace, comfort, revelation, clarity, guidance, provision, "open doors", solutions to questions and problems, and even changed direction for my future steps. I am learning to "let go" of judging myself too harshly and trusting in a higher power that can lead me to these treasures in ways I could not have planned, expected or even imagined. I am trusting in that power, that presence with which I am becoming more intimate, of which I am more aware. As I let go (appropriately), trust, wait and watch, I learn I am never alone and all is well! I missed connecting with you along my "way" this week so I am very committed to approaching a daily post! Dee