Happiness for $13.00

Believe in yourself. Take control of your life. Your life is not behind you, your memories are behind you. Your life is always right here, right now. Think only of the best and expect only the best, you are worth it. Look always at the positive side of everything, train yourself to do that, it is up to you. Remember, the amount of energy is the same. Invest in getting what you want instead of what you do not want in your life.   - Spiritual Awakenings

Hello Friends,

Hope you have been enjoying this beautiful summer. We have gone through great changes as a planet in the past 3 months. Great changes will continue. I'm hoping since the 8/8 Lion's gate you are feeling a bit better. Mental wooziness is part of our process now as we learn to stop thinking and start feeling and trusting. Our DNA has shifted. Our minds have definitely been rewired. Now is the time to live. Time to slow down, nurture yourself but, most greatly take time in each day to connect with yourself and others. When I say connect I mean in the eyes, soul to soul not via technology of any kind. Time to get real.

How and where did I buy happiness for $13, you might ask? Why O'Malia's Greenhouse of course. I love flowers. In my opinion, they are a true gift from Heaven. I believe all of nature is and try to connect daily, whether by a quick assessment of my garden in the morning or staring out the my office window as I write this, at the sky, trees and birds. I hug the trees in my yard.  In the dead of winter, I sit on my porch wrapped in a blanket. When I'm having a really bad day I've been know to sit on a bench by Frances Slocum lake in the freezing cold if need be. No matter what the circumstances or conditions of our lives, we need to create space for ourselves. Doing so with and in nature helps even more.

Maria Shriver spoke on the Today show about grief. After the recent death of her cousins only daughter, she realized how mentally and physically busy she kept herself as a matter of habit. She realized at the funeral how much grief and other emotions were clouding her. Things she thought she was over and past came rolling up during this recent grief. In the stillness of the funeral she realized the importance of stillness. Even when we are still, our minds are still racing planning, judging ourselves and others, feeling not good enough or what can we possibly do to be better. The truth of the matter is not what you DO for people but how they feel when they are with you in stillness. How do you feel when you sit with yourself in stillness? If you are restless then you need MORE stillness.

We all have tasks we must do. Daily, weekly, etc. Somewhere in my 15 years of care giving for my Mom, I decided to use the reward system to keep myself going. Bargaining is one of the 5 stages of grief. ANY MAJOR LIFE CHANGE and even the small ones bring grief. Bargaining is a coping mechanism that works for me. I realized in that horribly demanding time period I could not push myself through it. I had 2 melt downs in these attempts. So I went to reward accomplishment and good behavior. If I resolve 5 items of business I lie down for a 10 min break and relax my mind. While typing, I pause to stare out the window.  After I wash the floor, I sit on the porch. When I had to deal with a difficult person then run errands, I stopped at O'Malias and bought a few plants. Jacob always knew I had a bad day when he got up for school and there was a Dairy Queen container in the recycle bin. Whether small purchased rewards I give myself the time to enjoy, meditation, contemplation, reading, lying down or spending time in nature. I love myself enough to give myself that TIMEOUT. Only I can do that for myself. If I want to be the best person I can be, to be TRULY kind and give back, I must do this. As the quote above says, train yourself to do it, you are worth it.  Only you can do that for you.