God is Great!

This past Saturday, a miracle occurred. I am sure that is what it was – there was definitely the hand of the Divine involved.

My daughter and son-in-law were traveling west on Highway 290 on their way from Houston to Austin. They were driving my 2004 Honda Civic coupe. It was raining and as they neared the top of a hill, they realized too late that the car two cars in front of them was stopped. The car in front of them slammed on his brakes and swerved to avoid hitting it. But, my daughter tried to swerve to avoid hitting both of them and lost control. They ended up flipping over several times until the car finally stopped in a ravine.

They were able to walk away, shaken and a bit bruised and sore – but intact! I am so grateful! According to the sheriff and the tow truck driver, they shouldn’t have lived or should at least have had major injuries. The sheriff speculated that the fact that it was raining actually helped because it made the ground softer and therefore, softened the crash.

The interesting thing is that exactly at the moment of the crash I was attending a Sikh Miracle Blessing.

The blessing was done by Satya Shepherd of the Spectrum Center in Houston. We put our requests in envelopes on an altar she had set up. Then she chanted the chant that is in the above link for about 15 minutes. Here is a beautiful handout she gave us as well:

The heart that surrenders to the Higher Power within
is the raft to cross over the unfathomable world-ocean
The cycle of birth and death in the world is ended for those who have this
faith in their hearts
Those humble beings who have this faith in their hearts are awarded
peace within
They forsake Maya, emotional attachment and greed;
they are rid of the frustrations of possessiveness, lust and anger.
They are blessed with the Inner Vision to see God,
the Cause of causes, and all their doubts are dispelled.
So serve the Divine, in the way that is right for you;
These ways and means are subtle and yet powerful
This Sacred Grace is the Boat to carry us across.

I don’t know if this had anything to do with it, but it’s a beautiful thought toknow that God is with us always, protecting us.

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Friday Favorite – World’s Softest Socks

These are the softest socks ever. I first discovered them in the Madison, WI airport and bought several as gifts. I love wearing them around the house. They are very cozy. They are called “Spa socks” but I have bought them for both men and women and both love wearing them at home with their jammies. I wear them all the time at home. Click here to get to the link.

They are perfect for cold, snowy or rainy nights and curling up with a good book. If you sleep in your socks, of course, these are simply made for that – personally, I don’t because I hate the way they twist around your feet as you’re sleeping! Now these socks are a bit thick for wearing with shoes, but at $6.99 a pair, you can’t find a more affordable indulgence!

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90 Days to a New Me

Well, I have taken stock of my current situation and find myself in a surprising place. My house is completely cluttered. This resulted when I was spending most of my time in Minneapolis and my daughter, son-in-law and ex-stepson were all living in my house. I had to rearrange all my things to make room for them. When I came back, I had additional household items that I had purchased in the Twin Cities. However, there is no room for them here because I really need to clean out other unwanted stuff first. So almost every room has to be cleaned out and reorganized. My garage is still holding items that belong to my former houseguests!

Second, I am the fattest I have ever been in my entire life. I am 39 pounds OVER the weight I was when I delivered my daughter (that’s 39 pounds over 9-months pregnant weight!) My skin is broken out in a rash on my chest and one calf – I am sure this is entirely a result of stress. I am stressed because I am working a full-time job and trying to start up a small business. I am also attending seminary to become and ordained interfaith minister – all of these things take up time and I am spread thin amongst them all.

Third, the company I work for has been having cash flow problems and the last three months they have pushed back our paydate. This along with a 25% paycut at the beginning of this year has put me in a position I never thought I’d see again. I had been spending without really thinking much about it and unfortunately continued to do so after the paycut. I now realize I have gotten back into debt and have made a huge dent in savings. This is also adding to my stress!

However, like Scarlett O’Hara, I will not let myself get down about this – tomorrow is another day. Actually, I am quite excited because I am starting a 90 day program of my own design to get me from here to where I want to be. I think this program could eventually become a product/service I can deliver in my coaching business. As Film Producer Mike Todd said, “I’ve never been poor, but I have been broke.” Broke is a temporary situation; poor is a state of mind. I am definitely not poor! It’s all in your attitude no matter your situation.

So, yesterday was Day 1 – I took stock of my checking and savings balances and debt balances. I also created a vision of the life I would love. I then created a spending plan. I am now working on a project plan to get me from the current situation to a new situation in 90 days which will be a step on the road to my ultimate dream life. I looked at my outflow and cut back on some expenses. I also called in some money that was owed to me. I even found 7 bucks and some change in a wallet I haven’t used in a while! It just goes to show that with the right intention and positive thought, God provides what you need to you.

So, today I didn’t change my financial situation much and I definitely didn’t change my stress – I worked on work stuff for 14 hours and didn’t exercise. But I am getting some of the clutter under control so that should help me get my mind clearer as well to determine the best time to schedule some of the things I need to do daily. The plan is to make small improvements daily – I’ll let you know how it goes!

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Slipping Through My Fingers

Well, my daughter turned 24 on Friday. I can hardly believe it! I still remember that fuzzy-headed little girl with the lisp. Now she’s a grown woman with a job and a husband! Where did the time go?

I think it really hit me when she got married last August – that my major-playing role in her life was over. IT was time for her to move on and have her own life. The ABBA song, “Slipping Through My Fingers” says it so well (and came out in the movie right before her wedding):

I feel like there were so many things I wanted to do with her and say to her and I have no idea where the time flew away to! It’s tough adjusting to this new role – more on the outside looking in and feeling just a little bit unnecessary.

I’m sure we will adjust and I will enjoy my new role – it’s all about the journey, right?

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Friday Favorite – Ballard Designs

Happy Friday, everyone!!!

Today’s Friday favorite is Ballard Designs (click here for link). They are a furniture and household items store. They have locations in Florida, Georgia and Ohio. However, I have always just ordered from their catalog. I love their eclectic style and everything I have purchased from them is of excellent quality. The items arrive in a timley fashion and their customer service department is extremely helpful and friendly.

I have purchased the large kitchen island with teak top. It is beautiful and I always get comments on it when people come over. Unfortunately that particular one is no longer available, but they have many similar designs.

I also purchased the mosular desk and matching file cabinets for my home office.

The picture shows them in white. However, I purchased them in black. I am really happy with the quality and the price was fair for what I got. I wouldn’t call it Wal-mart pricing, but it’s not totally out of reach either. You definitely get the quality that you pay for.

So, check them out and watch for the sales as well!

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Spring is in the Air

Ah, yes! Spring is in the air!

My eyes and nose are in a perpetual state of runniness (is that a word?) along with periodic bouts of itchiness. It is so frustrating to be feeling the most miserable during the time of year when the weather is gorgeous and all I would like to do is be outdoors. This happens to me twice a year – in the fall and in the spring. In the spring it’s all the trees and flowers blooming and in the fall its the ragweed. So in I go when the weather is 70 – 80 degrees and sunny with low humidity and back out I go when it’s cold in the winter and sweltering in the summer – yuck!

It’s worse in the morning when it seems like all I do is blow my nose. Then somehow everything dries up until I go out to take Isis for a walk. I have to bring tissues with me in case my nose decides to start running! I do keep my office door open during the day just because it’s so pretty and I like to hear the birds singing.

Oh well, soon enough it will be too hot to open the door and all the pollen will be gone – so I’ll feel better, but then be cooped up inside to avoid the heat! I’ll just enjoy it while I can – through the runny eyes and nose!

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Spinning Out of Control

I have been away for a while because it has been really crazy. I realize I didn’t even do a Friday Favorite last week! I have been out of town for most of the past week. At the beginning of the week, I went to Seattle for my job. A team of us flew in to meet with the customer and to meet our counterparts there. We spent all of Wednesday afternoon in meetings. Then on Tuesday, it was once again, back-to-back meetings. These were followed by a quick dinner and more meetings withing our own team in the hotel lobby. Wednesday morning was spent in…you guessed it….more meetings until we flew out around noon. I got in late Wednesday night and then aside from work, began getting ready for a conference this past weekend.

Friday afternoon, I drove to Chapel Hill, Texas for the Texas Astrology Retreat. It was AWESOME! We learned a lot of new (for me) techniques based on the the ancient Hellenistic style of astrology which dates back to the Babylonians. These techniques really work and are much more”systemized” and structured. I am definitely employing more of these in my readings. I had been using the Vedic (Indian) system which is very similar to the Hellenistic, but this just gives me even more tools to work with.

This week, I really need to get my “Coaching With the Stars” website up. I am planning on using the wordpress.org version of WP to do this as I want total control of my own website! This is where I will have all my astrology/coaching stuff. Of course, I have the Blissful Soul website which is purely Life coaching. Actually right now all it is is a way to get on my email list if you want to keep up with what I’m doing, but soon that will change to a more robust website as well. I’m just taking it a step at a time right now.

I also have to write to papers by the end of the week for my seminary homework and one other one on Frida Kahlo for my Vedic Astrology homework which will demonstrate Vedic timing techniques and how these indicators have played out in her life.

I can’t believe March is already here and I still have so much personal paper work to do! Last year I swore that I would not wait until the last minute to submit insurance claims and FlexTime claims like I had the previous years, but lo and behold…guess what I still have to do and the deadline is the end of March. I also still have to do my taxes, but I haven’t been really organized this past year and I need to find all my receipts and things like that! AAUUGGGHHH! I feel like I’m drowning in paperwork!

So, needless to say, I have been running and running, but feel like I’m going nowhere fast!!! I think I”m not alone either – it seems like many people I speak to are feeling the same kind of time crunch. Could it be that time really is speeding up?

Well, I better get back to work and get at least some of these things done. I have a few hours I can squeeze stuff in before my next meeting. Then after two more meetings, I will go to my T-Tapp class and then a meditation class! Whew! I’ll need some meditation after a day like today!

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