Do what you love!

What is it that you love doing? What makes you smile, makes your heart sing and your skin glow? Is it taking pictures of your children, hugging your pets, cooking, taking a walk out in nature, writing, reading, riding your bicycle, gardening, etc? Most of us today are so busy working, raising children, running errands, paying bills, and doing the regular day-to-day routine that we put what we love doing on the back-burner. We figure we'll get to it later because there's something else that needs to get done. We live in a world where we're so consumed with achieving goals and getting things done that we forget about nourishing our souls. I believe that if we nourish our souls, we thrive, not just survive. Our life has purpose and meaning. Our life has life!! We're not just doing what's necessary to get by. We're bringing joy into the world by doing what we love and when we do, we become more joyful and you know what happens when you're around someone who's joyful. It's contagious and you find that your mood gets better. You smile and feel so much lighter. And when your feeling lighter and happier, then it affects those who are around you. So by doing what you love, it starts a domino affect and causes others to do what they love. And wouldn't it be a much nicer world to live in if everyone could take a few minutes out of their day to do what they love? I guarantee you, people would be a lot less stressed out and they'd find that they have the time to do what they love, rather than finding that they have excuses to put off doing what they love!! Be the catalyst of joy by doing what you love! Start today! Start right now!!! Just simply START!!!

                 A short but profound conversation with Manny!

Have you ever been in a grumpy mood because you didn't get enough sleep from the night before? Well, that was me this morning for sure, and I'm not usually a grumpy person. I tend to be a happy, positive person with a bubbly personality. But today was a different story. I didn't want to talk to anyone except out of politeness to say "good morning." That's it! And I had so many negative thoughts from being overly tired as well. All I kept thinking was, "I can't wait for this work day to be over so I can go home and take a nap. I just wish this day would end. I don't want to be at work at all. Why do I have to be responsible and go to work when all I wanna do is sleep?" And on and on and on!!

While I was at work wishing the day would end and still being grumpy, I had to use the restroom. As I walked in there, one of my coworkers, Manny was cleaning the bathroom like he does every morning. Now, let me tell you a little bit about Manny. Manny is a very quiet kind of guy who keeps pretty much to himself. He's always very polite and sweet and he'll chit-chat here and there, but still, he keeps to himself, does his work, then leaves.

Manny and I have never had an extensive conversation other than the mild chit-chat we have about the sweet tea that I make lol, until this morning, in the restroom while I was waiting for him to finish up his work in there. I asked him how he was (out of politeness) and he said he was doing good, asked me how I was, and I told him I was tired and wished I could go home. He said, "You know what. I thank God every day that I get to wake up and go to work. I also ask him when I wake up what I can do with another day that I've been given." WOW! That stopped me dead in my tracks. I told him, "That's true, but it's so hard being positive when you're tired and grumpy." He also told me, "You know what. I'm grateful every day that I get to wake up to be tired because there are some people who are laid up in hospital beds, hooked up to life support systems and not able to breathe on their own."

As he said that, my jaw dropped because here was this quiet man saying some of the most profound words I've ever heard! I never knew Manny was such a deeply spiritual person. I also never knew that our brief but profound conversation in the restroom would completely turn my grumpy mood into a positive, grateful one within a matter of 30 seconds. Just like that!!

About 10 minutes later, I saw Manny washing dishes. My spirit prompted me to go and thank him for his profound words. When I did, my eyes welled up with tears because I was truly grateful for his spiritual insight which was exactly what I needed today. And ever since then, (about 6 hours), I've felt more awake, positive, and spiritually aware. Manny's words have changed me and deepened my belief in my spirituality once again!!

Red, and the green hummingbird!

On December 7, 2008, my beloved step daddy, Red, passed away. I was living in Georgia at that time. Once I found out the news, my brother and I flew out to Vegas where he lived to attend his funeral and to be there for our mom. As you can imagine it was a very stressful time. Losing someone you love and getting the funeral arrangements going is always very stressful on all parties involved.

In the midst of all the stress, I went outside on my mom's porch to clear my head and to try and make sense of everything (talk about challenging!) Well, about two minutes later, something caught my attention that immediately stopped my obsesive thinking. About 5 feet away from me, there was a beautiful green hummingbird hovering around, just hanging out. It seemed as if it was staring at me. A minute later, it was gone. Once it left, I thought to myself, "Why did a green hummingbird come around in the middle of winter? I thought they only came around in the summer." After that, I didn't think much about it.

A month later, my friend Audrey and I went to see the movie, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." About half way into the movie, there's a scene where Benjamin and Captain Mike are out at sea. In the scene, there appears a green hummingbird. When I saw that, I immediately remembered the green hummingbird I saw while hanging out on my mom's front portch in Vegas from a month earlier. My eyes welled up with tears from knowing that this was my step daddy's way of letting me know that he's with me.

For three years and four months after that, I didn't see one single green hummingbird. I just thought those two times were it. Well, ne afternoon as I was talking with someone who recently had a friend pass away, she was sharing how a butterfly kept hanging around her. It reminded her of her friend. I shared with her about my green hummingbird experience. Later on that day, while I was at work, a lady and her husband came in and sat in my section. As I greeted the table, something caught my attention that stopped me dead in my tracks. The lady had a big green hummingbird tattooed on her right arm. When I saw that, it blew me away and of course, I immediately got tears in my eyes. I knew that my step daddy was with me again!!

A few days after that, Eddie and I were at Home Depot looking for chairs for our front porch. As we were looking around, I saw some hummingbird yard ornaments that I fell in love with. I told Eddie that if I see a green one, I'm buying it. We walked away, looked around for about 30 more minutes, came back to another set of hummingbird yard ornaments, and there it was!! A green one (the one you see in the picture.)

It now sits in my front yard under Eddie's favorite tree!!

Tuesday Words of Wisdom.... Get out in nature!

"You can always find the sun within yourself if you will only search."

— Maxwell Maltz

Yep, you read that right. Get out in nature! Get outside and enjoy the beauty of everything that's bloomed this beautiful Spring. Look at the abundance of leaves on the trees, the abundance of birds singing, the abundance of vibrant green blades of grass, the abundance of the fragrant flowers. etc. This is such a great way to stay grounded and to connect with the amazingly beautiful and abundant Universe. It's also a great way to connect to your Spirit.

Haven't you noticed that when you're outside in nature, you feel so much better? Ideas flow to your heart and mind, your Spirit opens up, your mood lightens, and you have so much more energy! That's what nature was intended for.

If you think about it, those who spend time out in nature tend to be healthier, have less stress, and are happier! So, improve your life by getting outside and communing with the gift of nature. It's a free gift!

My Saturday Words of Wisdom.

We should be mindful of how we treat people because everyone is dealing with something. They could be on the verge of losing their home. They may have just lost their job. They could have just received a bad report from the doctor. They may be on the verge of a divorce. They could have just lost a pet or a loved one, or even a best friend who's stuck by their side thru the darkest time in their life when everyone else turned their back on them. They could have lost a life-long spouse. Someone could have just broke into their home and stolen credit card and banking information. You just never know! So, make it a point to treat others how you want to be treated because one day, you may be going thru something yourself.

Forgive the most important person in your life...YOU!

Last night, I watched Oprah's Life Class. The topic for last night's show was on Forgiveness. When I heard Oprah say they were gonna talk about forgiveness, I thought to myself, "Yeah, right! I don't need to forgive anyone. I've already forgiven everyone I could because I've come to terms with my past. I've accepted it for what it is, learned from it, grew, and moved on."

I learned a few years ago that if you don't forgive people their transgressions, its like you're drinking poison and expecting the other person to die from it. It doesn't work. You have to forgive people in order to heal and move on in your own life. With coming to terms with my past and forgiving people, I feel like it's propelled me to new heights in life. I no longer am an angry and depressed person. I found my smile!

Well, about 3/4 of the way into the show, they started talking about forgiving yourself, and as soon as they said that, it kinda woke me up. Forgive myself??? Hmmm, that's a new concept I'd never explored! As they kept talking, it hit me that I never forgave myself for not ammending my relationship with my real father before he transitioned in October of 2011.

My father and I never really had a solid relationship. Sometimes, we'd go for 10 years without speaking to one another. This was the way it was for my whole life, and I finally accepted it for what it was about 10 years before he transitioned. Long story short, we had a HUGE falling out around that time and I chose not to speak to him ever again. I chose my pride over trying to come from a place of understanding how he thought. I wasn't able to accept him for who he was. I wanted him to be who I wanted him to be, and when he couldn't, it upset me pretty badly.

Then one day, out of the clear blue, I get a message from a friend on Facebook telling me they were sorry to hear about the passing of my father! WHAT THE HELL??? The passing of my father? Are you freaking kidding me? That news definitely threw a wrench into my plans. When I asked my friend how she knew, she said she read it in an obituary from the local newspaper. So I immediately got on the Internet to find out if it was true and sure enough, it was. Not only that, I found out from the obituary that he endured a lengthy battle with cancer and passed on two days before I found out. I never even knew my father was sick. No one told me. If I had known he was sick, I definitely would have put my pride aside and ammended my relationship with him. But I didn't know he was sick, and it was too late! Come to find out from my father's girlfriend who I met via the mortuary, he thought I wouldn't have cared if he was sick, lived, or died, so that's why he never reached out to tell me.

Suddenly, I was riddled with an overwhelming feeling of guilt. In my state of grief, I couldn't get over the fact that I had too much pride to let the past be the past. I also couldn't get over the fact that my father passed on believing that I didn't want anything to do with him. That broke my heart so badly. And as I sit here and type this, it still breaks my heart. I haven't forgiven myself totally and completely for my actions.

I know that if I don't forgive myself and move on from the chains of unforgiveness, I will be bound by this guilt for the rest of my life. I have to be gentle with myself like I was with everyone else. I need to seek God in all of this and allow His wisdom to shine down on my life! I need to open my heart and find peace in the decissions I made not to have my father in my life.

I need to forgive me!

I've got to get out of my own way!

Every time I hear this amazing song, it reminds me that I'm the only one who keeps getting in my own way. I stop myself from moving forward with my own self-talk because I'm afraid of my greatness and of being ridiculed from others. If you deal with getting in your own way, then let this song inspire you, like it does me.

Ready To Fly

Richard Marx

 

I've been trying to open the door

To the secret of my destiny

And every new road I think is the one

Seems to lead right back to me

I've looked for a way to be wiser

A way to be strong

Now I see the answer was hiding

In me all along

[Chorus]

And I'm ready to fly

Over the sun

Like a rocket to heaven

And I'm ready to soar

Right through the sky

Never dreamed I'd find something to lift me so high

I've always had wings

But I wasn't ready to fly

Restless, hopeless, and misunderstood

Like so many others I know

So busy tryin' to keep holdin' on

When I should've been letting go

I was given the gift to find it

The spirit inside me

But I never really imagined

All I could be

[Chorus]

The answer to all of my wonder

Was right in my hands

Now it's time for me to discover

All that I am

[Chorus]

I've always had wings

Now I'm finally ready to fly