Gifts!

                                                 
I read a quote today, "Part of your mission in life then must be to share your gifts with as many people as possible.  That means being wiling to play BIG."

It got me to thinking...(my husband would say "surprise surprise...ha")

Do you know what your strengths are??  Have you ever sat down and wrote out or really put any thought into what your "Gifts" are??

Here are a few of mine:
Adaptability
Ideation
Empathy
Entertainer
Relater
Growth
Contribution
Listener
                                           
I have had the honor of having others write out what they see in me, here are a few of them:
Sweet
Helpful
Inspiring
Positive
Leader
Ballsy
Brave
Free Spirited


I am in fact a Dreamer and it is my dream to really share myself with others, really with as many people as possible.  So when I seen the quote followed with "That means being willing to play BIG"  I  had to ask the question, am I willing??  YES!!  I am!

How about you?  I encourage you to sit down in a quiet space and think for a few minutes on what your strengths are.  If you need any help seeing your strengths, reach out to those around you and ask them, "What do you think my strengths are?" I bet you'll get some good answers.

This is a powerful tool for you, I use it when I need a pick me up, or need to increase my confidence.

Now you know what your strengths are, go Be You, share your  STRENGTHS!!  share your GIFTS!
                                              

Facing Opposition

                             

How do you know when you are doing the right thing??

How do you know its good for you?
For others?
For the greater good?

Here is how I know, its OPPOSITION!!

Now I'm not to open when it comes to what I am about to say, so please if you need to, put on your own filters and offer me up some grace
                                        
For me and my husband, we have a significant issue we can't even talk about because we each have a completely different belief system, view, whatever you want to call it.  Its about God, its about how we each choose to worship, build a relationship, again whatever you want to call it...start using your filters.

Now I'm not a he said/she said kind of gal, so here is just my brief version.

I am attending a church that I found after visiting several others, meeting with priests, bishops, pastors asking any and all questions I have about God and The Bible and well about life in general.  I set out on a personal journey feeling like I was being led to where I choose to be now.  Immediately after making my decision about where I would attend church, chaos ensued.  Every Sunday is a strong battle and after some time, we both settled down a bit and only occasionally does this subject come up for us.  We simply can't have a conversation.  We haven't figured out that while we are each very different, have different backgrounds, have different beliefs, have different ways for which we choose to have a relationship with God, we can still have a conversation of simple understanding.  We are at this point so passionate about our individual position, we just want to be understood and are forgetting the understanding part.  Typical husband/wife relationship right?

Anyways, the point is that while this is difficult to endure, this happens to be a great OPPOSITION and if I let it would stand in the way of my relationship with God.  So it has to be right, I have to be on the right path, otherwise who in the world would care, the answer....NO ONE!!!  If there were no opposing force trying to derail you, trying to divert your attention, trying to sway your beliefs, then something is terribly wrong.

I was reminded of this yesterday in talking with a friend.  Sometimes this opposing force wins because its too hard, or we loose sight of what we are fighting for, even if its just to participate.

Its when you have to take a stand, its when you feel the push in the other direction that you know you are doing whats right.  I know what I choose to believe is true.  It has brought me peace and understanding to a great big ol subject that has many, many directions.

What challenges are you faced with right now?  How can they be made better just by understanding?

Curve Ahead ~

So here I was on a beautiful day, making a commitment to blog consistently, building my weakness and determined to stick to it and wouldn't you know it

CURVE AHEAD!!!

We all woke up this morning ready for church, eager to see our friends and BAM!!!  Life threw us a curve.  

How many times does this happen?

So my daughter woke up and complained about her vision and the lack thereof, pain and just not happy at all.  Our plans changed and we had to find an optometrist on a Sunday and FAST!!  We have never had to see an optometrist so I didn't think of the easy mall or wal-mart option and I proceeded to call everyone on the list as far out as 25 miles.  Then it doned on me to reach out.

How many times are we in need and we DON'T reach out?

I mean it took me 3 1/2 hours before I thought of seeking help...didn't we just talk about how this requires a skill set before...anyways, within 2 min of reaching out via Facebook of course, I received assistance and support and love and prayers in all shapes and forms.

My daughter is OK apparently, she has been adapting to her changing eyesight and caused a great deal of strain and stress.  She has her eyesight and is getting glasses (which she is excited about).

While we didn't make it to church, I was reminded that God is all around us, and I received his love, guidance and comfort through all my friends and family.  He knew what we were going to be up to today.

We got to see our friends, we had a great day and man oh man there is lots of buzz going on about what we will pick out to wear and how will it match all our clothes and how pretty these new glasses will be and how exciting it will be.................

Life will always and I really do mean ALWAYS give us something we aren't expecting.  It is up to each individual to give it meaning and decide "What are you going to do about it?"

Happy Sunday!

                                                  

Ok, Ok, Ok!!!

                                         


I realize the importance of being consistent.  So starting fresh, with a fresh week on
Sunday, I commit that I will post something of value...well, OK at least something three times a week on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I look forward to seeing you more than just every now and again :)

Life's Trials

This one has been swimming around in my ol brain for a while now.

We all have hard things we face in life right?  The answer is most definitely YES!!!  Here is how I like to think about it:

Imagine you are on the highway, its busy, not congested and you are traveling around 60MPH in the middle lane.  You could be driving a Geo Metro, Toyota Corolla, Ford F-150, MAC truck or even a gigantic RV.  Maybe you are carrying your family, goods for thousands or several families with you on this highway in your vehicle.  Everyone is having a great time, all is well and BAM! Flat Tire!!  Perhaps you have one single flat tire, or you have two, or maybe you have five that have all gone flat.  In life, we all face trials, we loose all our finances, we get fired, we break an arm, we get sick, someone in our family gets sick, or worse, we loose a loved one and never feel their physical presence again.  Trials are trials now matter how small or big they may be, one thing I can guarantee is while you are in your own personal trial or having a flat tire, its the worst possible thing you can imagine.  I mean there you were having a great time, and BAM! Flat Tire...
                                          
So what do you do??

First things first, getting out of danger.  You first have to respond in a way that will put you in a position to truly soak in the gravity of your current state.  Get to the side of the road!  So, you manage to get to the side of the road, while not pretty, you are there, you are stopped and you are assessing the damage now and into the future.  You were heading somewhere after all, were you on a schedule?

Here we are, on the side of the road and things don't look all that great.  You don't currently have the skill set to change a Flat Tire.  Here is a choice point...

What are the choices?  You could:
Scream and shout and complain and wonder why you, why now
Be paralyzed in fear
Cry
Think of possible solutions
Try
Read your user manual for instructions
Call for help
Change it yourself
Wait for someone to stop and help you

Out of all these options, and I am certain there are more, what is the common theme??

YOU!  What are YOU going to do about it??

Would you agree that each of those choices require a different level of skills??  YES!  and would you agree that it also requires a certain skill just to set in motion those different skills??  YES!

So...What do YOU choose??

Here is the point.  No matter what you choose, imagine up the road in the distance beyond where you can currently see is someone else who is driving what you are driving, who has a flat tire, the exact same amount of flat tires you currently have. They have made it to the side of the road and are paralyzed, or screaming and shouting and wondering why???

There are 6,973,738,433 people in the entire world!!  When you think about where you are, is it possible that maybe, just maybe there is someone else who has experienced what you are experiencing and has acquired a new skill to deal with the same flat tire you are currently dealing with??  YES!  Then isn't it also TRUE that someone somewhere up the road in the distance is waiting for you to acquire your skill so you can get back on the road and come share that new skill with them so they too can get back on their road?? YES!

Someone, somewhere is waiting on you to get through this trial and come out on the other side with a new skill that will help them pick up and move on.  It is your DUTY, your RESPONSIBILITY to figure this out.  I'm not saying that pain will disappear or that you will forget or that you will all better, but what I am saying is you will be back on your road, traveling confidently in the direction your meant to go.

Get out of the car, choose life, choose to learn, look forward in life, there is someone, somewhere waiting for you.
                                           

Getting All Muscley

Emotions are like muscles.  In order to build muscle, you have to exercise and concentrate on a particular area...FOCUS. (sounding familiar)

Its just like if you go to the gym and you focus on biceps or triceps, abs or lats, hamstrings or quads.  All are specific and require a certain movement to concentrate and maximize your efforts in order to build that particular muscle.

Now apply that to your emotions.  What do you focus on in order to be HAPPY? PEACEFUL? RELAXED? MOTIVATED? DELIGHTED? ENTHUSIASTIC? or sad? angry? frustrated? anxious? tired? exhausted? not worthy? not good enough?  Isn't it true when you are HAPPY you are thinking happy things or recalling happy thoughts or finding joy around you VS. when you are sad, what you are thinking about? what you don't have, can't have or wish you had? or perhaps whats not right in your life, or the world or what someone has done to hurt you or hasn't done.

I want to challenge you to be aware of what you are FOCUSED on when you are "feeling" a certain way.

              

Next, exercise a different emotion that maybe you don't regularly experience.

Have fun!

Change Your State

I like music, it sometimes is a tool to shift my state, my Aleeya likes music too.  This morning we listened to a particular song that is near and dear to my heart and it took me straight to my SPECIAL PLACE with Japanese Cherry Blossom Trees on a cliff over-looking the ocean.  Of course we listened to this song 3 times on the way to school, afterwards on my way to Crossfit, I of course was crying and my heart was full and I felt so much gratitude, joy and happiness.

I am thinking today about how you have the choice to change your state of mind with tools that are all around us.  Last night, I was talking with a dear friend and this subject came up.  For the both of us, our husbands dissatisfaction for other people in vehicles used to bring about unwanted states of mind.  Crazy hu how two people can experience the same exact thing.  So here is the deal, my husband is a police officer and when he is not at work, his brain still is and I can tell you there is not one person on the road at the same time as he is that is doing the right thing...they are Breaking The LAW!!!  Hello!  Anyways, this usually results in lots of frustration, anger, yelling at other cars, explicit language...etc.  For me, when this happens, I am always on the side of the other person...how in the world can you know what is going on in someone else life to know why in the world they are making the choices they are making to somehow end up in the line of fire. Bringing this up always results in a disagreement.  Can you see the polarity?  You can probably imagine how this plays out...

Here is what I found, we all have tools, emotional tools, physical tools, auditory tools...lots and lots of tools! When these events come up...and they do every single day, I dive into my tool box to change MY state.  I say MY strongly, because it is not my job to change my husband, if that is what you are looking for, change the channel now.  I like music and I can think of a song, hum a song or simply imagine the lyrics, artist and  band playing their hearts out for my entertainment...my state is shifting already, can you tell.  Anywho, while he plays out what he needs to play out, I can take care of my state of mind by being aware and being prepared with tools.

What tools do you use to change your state?