Something to remember

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person.When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed.They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend and they are.

They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on

Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.Believe it, it is real. But only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

Thank you for being a part of my life, whether you were a reason, a season or a lifetime.

To Be Free
Freedom Begins as a State of Mind ….
By Danielle of Global Psychics

This year's Canada Day and Independence Day celebrations inspired me to question what it is we were all celebrating. The word freedom exploded in my head with every firecracker that popped in the neighbourhood. I am a proud Canadian with a great respect and appreciation for our neighbours to the south…. America , The Land Of The Free, is like a big brother to us. We share most of the North American continent, and also many of the same values – among them our Freedoms… freedom of speech, freedom of choice, freedom of religion and culture - the freedom to be who we want to be… Yet I can't help but feel that we have deluded ourselves in our belief that we are free.
Interesting how serendipity operates… just as I was finishing this article, I received a note from an old friend, Hugh, a Canadian businessman, now in Islamabad . This paragraph caught my attention:
“One thing I miss is freedom. I cannot get into a car and drive, I have to be driven everywhere, for security reasons. So I am either at the office or in the guest house where I live. I get to talk to the people at the office, but so far don't have many contacts outside. Tomorrow, Sunday, I will get the guest house driver to take me shopping for fruits.
In fact, I feel that most of us on planet Earth are living in shackles… enslaved by our struggle to “get ahead”, tied to our need for material things, caught up in our desire for success or for love, locked up in fear, protecting ourselves, our families, our stuff… the situation in Islamabad – and in many cities around the globe is a physical manifestation of the fears, the limits and boundaries that each of us carries within us. The trouble is that our shackles are invisible – our chains are in our minds, created by our beliefs, tightened by our fears. What we believe about ourselves and our world establishes some clear boundaries, beyond which we must not venture….. Changing our minds is very much like crossing a border to another country…upturning our beliefs lands us in a foreign land, which sets off a whole lot of different reactions and emotions. I, like my friend Hugh, am always excited to be exploring in a new world. I am fascinated and inspired by new cultures, news tastes, sounds and smells… but for many others, such adventures are fearful, they much prefer to stick to what they know, limited by what they believe to be “tried and true”, safe and secure. The good news is that we are all free to stay or to go, to limit ourselves, or not, and we are free to choose where we go, when and with whom. Or are we? My friend Hugh is clearly not free to go where he wants. In order to achieve his goals, he must co-operate with the rules, and for his own safety, he must be sensitive to the security issues. Again, a powerful analogy for the way we all function in life. Each of us participates in some way in a family, a community, a country. Society shapes our attitudes and beliefs… our families and communities define what behaviour is acceptable and what is not… and the conditioning to the “rules” begins while we're still in the womb, with the expectations and beliefs that are set for a child before the babe is even in Mom's arms…. Before we are ever born, our families and communities begin shaping our world, and limiting our freedom, defining where we will go, when, with whom and even why. I believe that to claim our freedom, we must be willing to expand our internal boundaries, to question, challenge what we have believed about ourselves and the world. Change your mind, and you can change your world…free yourself… allow yourself to shift perspectives, to take a different point of view… Notice those limiting beliefs, then deliberately begin to expand your horizons. Take a different route to work, try a new recipe, listen to a different genre of music, experiment with some new ethnic restaurants, try a new market, a new hobby, a new book, connect with some new people… and let go of your ideas about what is weird, ugly, or stupid. Open your mind and you will open to new opportunities, for love, for money, for wisdom, knowledge and growth, or just for some good fun and happy memories.

The Awakening:

A time comes in your life when you finally get it when in the midst of all your fears and insanity you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out ENOUGH! fighting and crying or struggling to hold on. And, like a child quieting down after a blind tantrum, your sobs begin to subside, you shudder once or twice, you blink back your tears and through a mantle of wet lashes you begin to look at the world through new eyes. This is your Awakening. You realize it's time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change or for happiness, safety and security to come galloping over the next horizon. You come to terms with the fact that he is not Prince Charming and you are not Cinderella and in the real world there aren't always Fairy Tale endings (or beginnings for that matter) and that any guarantee of "happily ever after" must begin with you and in the process a sense of serenity is born of acceptance. You awaken to the fact you are not perfect and not everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who or what you are and that's OK. (They are entitled to their own views and opinions.) And you learn the importance of loving and championing yourself and in the process a sense of new found confidence is born of self approval. You stop complaining and blaming other people for the things they did to you (or didn't do for you) and you learn that the only thing you can really count on is the unexpected. You learn people don't always say what they mean or mean what they say and not everyone will always be there for you and that it's not always about you. So, you learn to stand on your own and to take care of yourself and in the process a sense of safety and security is born of self-reliance. You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept people as they are, and to overlook their shortcomings and human frailties, and in the process a sense of peace and contentment is born of forgiveness. You realize that much of the way you view yourself, and the world around you, is as a result of all the messages and opinions that have been ingrained into your psyche. And you begin to sift through all the things you've been fed about how you should behave, how you should look, and how much you should weigh, what you should wear, and where you should shop, and what you should drive, how and where you should live, and what you should do for a living, who you should sleep with, who you should marry, and what you should expect of a marriage, the importance of having and raising children or what you owe your parents. You learn to open up to new worlds and different points of view. And you begin reassessing and redefining who you are what you really stand for. You learn the difference between wanting and needing and you begin to discard the doctrines and values you've outgrown, or should never have bought into to begin with, and in the process you learn to go with your instincts. You learn it is truly in giving that we receive. And there is power and glory in creating and contributing and you stop maneuvering through life merely as a "consumer" looking for your next fix. You learn principles such as honesty and integrity are not the outdated ideals of a by-gone era but the mortar that holds together the foundation upon which you must build a life. You learn you don't know everything, it’s not your job to save the world and you can't teach a pig to sing. You learn to distinguish between guilt and responsibility and the importance of setting boundaries and learning to say NO. You learn the only cross to bear is the one you choose to carry and that martyrs get burned at the stake. Then you learn about love. Romantic love and familial love. How to love, how much to give in love, when to stop giving and when to walk away. You learn not to project your needs or your feelings onto a relationship. You learn you will not be more beautiful, more intelligent, more lovable or important because of the man or woman on your arm or the child that bears your name. You learn to look at relationships as they really are and not as you would have them be. You stop trying to control people, situations and outcomes. You learn just as people grow and change so it is with love and you learn you don't have the right to demand love on your terms just to make you happy. You learn that alone does not mean lonely And you look in the mirror and come to terms with the fact you will never be a size 5 or a perfect 10 and you stop trying to compete with the image inside your head and agonizing over how you "stack up." You also stop working so hard at putting your feelings aside, smoothing things over and ignoring your needs. You learn feelings of entitlement are perfectly OK and that it is your right to want things and to ask for the things that you want and that sometimes it is necessary to make demands. You come to the realization you deserve to be treated with love, kindness, sensitivity and respect and you won't settle for less. And, you allow only the hands of a lover who cherishes you to glorify you with her or his touch and in the process you internalize the meaning of self-respect. And you learn your body really is your temple. And you begin to care for it and treat it with respect. You begin eating a balanced diet, drinking more water and taking more time to exercise. You learn fatigue diminishes the spirit and can create doubt and fear. So you take more time to rest. And, just as food fuels the body, laughter fuels our soul. So you take more time to laugh and to play. You learn that for the most part, in life you get what you believe you deserve and that much of life truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy. You learn anything worth achieving is worth working for and wishing for something to happen is different from working toward making it happen. More importantly, you learn in order to achieve success you need direction, discipline and perseverance. You also learn no one can do it all alone and that it's OK to risk asking for help. You learn the only thing you must truly fear is the great robber baron of all time FEAR itself. You learn to step right into and through your fears because you know whatever happens you can handle it and to give in to fear is to give away the right to live life on your terms. And you learn to fight for your life and not to squander it living under a cloud of impending doom. You learn life isn't always fair, you don't always get what you think you deserve and sometimes bad things happen to unsuspecting, good people. On these occasions you learn not to personalize things. You learn no one is punishing you or failing to answer your prayers. It's just life happening. And you learn to deal with evil in its most primal state the ego. You learn negative feelings such as anger, envy and resentment must be understood and redirected or they will suffocate the life out of you and poison the universe that surrounds you. You learn to admit when you are wrong and to building bridges instead of walls. You learn to be thankful and to take comfort in many of the simple things we take for granted, things that millions of people upon the earth can only dream about: a full refrigerator, clean running water, a soft warm bed, a long hot shower. Slowly, you begin to take responsibility for yourself by yourself and you to make yourself a promise to never betray yourself and to never ever settle for less than your heart's desire. And you hang a wind chime outside your window so you can listen to the wind. And you make it a point to keep smiling, to keep trusting, and to stay open to every wonderful possibility. Finally, with courage in your heart and with faith by your side you take a stand, you take a deep breath and you begin to design the life you want to live as best as you can.

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