It does make a difference...

when you care...

(and this is not just about people - it is about anything and everything.....care about what you think, what you eat, what you wear, what you do, what you say, about yourself, about your loved ones.......everything and everyone.)

Care without wondering if you are going to be hurt

Care with all of your heart for the tiniest thing along with the biggest; for what may be perceived as the least important, as well as with what is perceived as the most important; for small-time things, and big time things.......EQUALLY.

Two...

wonderful things that have stuck with me from a fave movie 'Strictly Ballroom', and which I refer to periodically to top on inner strength...

and

'You stick with your goals, and eventually they bring their own rewards.' 

The first is self-explanatory. Fear is the worst thing ever, and yet we allow it to do inside our beings and wreak havoc. It's hard work, but it does happen when we work hard enough at it.....

The second, I find, works in all areas (including our efforts to banish fear). It's the easiest thing in the world to give up, but stick with a problem/issue, and you will reap the rewards that come along. These rewards are double sided - the problem/issue gets resolved, and you find depths in yourself you never knew you had. The only rider is that you have to take each day as it comes without coloring it either with the past or the future...

(Of course if nothing works, then you must give it up, but at least you can tell yourself that you tried your best!)

Every new day's effort is that day's only...

DD speak...

Injuries have histories - that's the whole thing...

so while we yowl at the time, we can look back, in wonder, perhaps, as to how we could have managed that!....

(injuries here refers to physical ones, since my DD has a habit of hurting herself, sometimes even when there is nothing around that she could have fallen on, or hurt herself on! - it's a family joke that both of us have this amazing knack of acquiring wounds and scars all over our arms and legs!!)

I'm sure...

all of us have gone through situations when we have been the butt of a joke on account of some gaffe we've made, and to hide the embarrassment, have joined in the general laugh with an apologetic 'that's me,' or 'well, what else,' or some such deprecating thing.......quite as if it is terribly unnatural to make a mistake, or say something 'different.'

While I know it is a terribly embarrassing situation, I also feel that we need to train ourselves not to put ourselves down. It comes very easy to want to blend into the wall, or disappear into the ground - but that doesn't help because what they said and what you said and how you felt will always come back to haunt. The best would be not to join into the general laughter, and to maintain a distanced silence, while boosting your own inner self and morale - simply because they would have forgotten it in the next 5 minutes, and if you are not to suffer, and to also forget it, then it is important not to let it damage you. Just tell yourself it's okay to make a gaffe.....absolutely okay.....

As to how many gaffes?....................................any number. You are a wonderful person.

We all admire the confidence some people have - confidence of dress, of attitude, of whatever they do, everything.....that hasn't just happened - it has been carefully cultivated - and to my mind (and I too am working on this) it comes from constantly telling myself.............I matter....

A new day...

and a new way to look at everything.....

I want to share two wonderful morning prayers....

This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

And

I offer thanks to you, Loving and Eternal Kind, for you have mercifully restored my soul within me. Your faithfulness is great.

I've found that these prayers especially help when it seems difficult to face another day.......

Another day should not be just another day - it should be a brand new day.......so we need to be brand new people too...

An important ingredient...

for a relationship to be meaningful is participation.

It is only when we participate in the lives of those we love, those who love us, our spouses, our kids, our friends, or our colleagues, that a relationship comes full circle and becomes meaningful...

Don't bash.....

yourself......

and don't criticize yourself overly - it can become a habit.

The thing is, we all have it within us to keep growing, stretching, and trying for better times, or higher limits or greater goals. But we limit ourselves with self criticism, which then starts off self-doubt and all the other related feelings which end up crippling us physically and emotionally.

If we feel we cannot go it alone, and need help, then we need to do something about it and get the help we need.....the best thing about seeking help is that though we may not follow to the letter what is told to us, it opens up avenues in our minds that finally help us to help ourselves....that is really how it works....truly....