Your Awakening

  Your 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!

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 that 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 that in the real world, there aren't always fairy tale endings,or beginnings, 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 that you are not perfect and that 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. 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 that people don't always say what they mean or mean what they say and that 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 & 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 & contentment is born of forgiveness.

You realize that much of the way you view yourself and the world around you, is a result of all the messages and opinions that have been ingrained into your psyche. You begin to sift through all the junk 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 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. You begin reassessing and redefining who you are and 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 that it is truly in giving that we receive and that there is power and glory in creating and contributing and you stop manoeuvring through life merely as a "consumer" looking for your next fix.

You learn that 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 that you don't know everything; it's not your job to save the world and that 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 that 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 that you will not be more beautiful, more intelligent, more lovable or important because of the man 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 that just as people grow and change, so it is with love; and you learn that 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. You look in the mirror and come to terms with the fact that 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 that 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 that you deserve to be treated with love, kindness, sensitivity and respect and you won't settle for less. You allow only the hands of a lover who cherishes you, to glorify you with his touch and in the process, you internalize the meaning of self-respect.

And you learn that 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 that fatigue diminishes the spirit and can create doubt and fear. So you take more time to rest. 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 that anything worth achieving is worth working for and that wishing for something to happen, is different from working toward making it happen.

More importantly, you learn that in order to achieve success you need direction, discipline and perseverance. You also learn that no one can do it all alone and that it's OK to risk asking for help.

You learn that 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 that whatever happens you can handle it and to give in to fear, is to give away the right to live life on your terms.

You learn to fight for your life and not to squander it living under a cloud of impending doom. You learn that life isn't always fair, you don't always get what you think you deserve and that sometimes bad things happen to unsuspecting, good people. On these occasions, you learn not to personalize things. You learn that God isn't punishing you or failing to answer your prayers; it's just life happening.

You learn to deal with evil in its most primal state; the ego. You learn that 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 build 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 make yourself a promise to never betray yourself and to never ever settle for less than your heart's desire. 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 God 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.

 

It Staggers The Mind

Now mind you, this is something THEY TELL ME ABOUT,   But it's really interesting.  Some of these things my Granparents told me about when I was a kid.  As old as I am (& sometimes feel) HONESLY, TRULY I  wasn't here in 1905!  LOL
Love Merry > 1905
> Turn the Clock back 100 hears to =

 THE YEAR 1905
>
> The year is 1905. One hundred years ago!?
> What a difference a century makes!
> Here are some of the U.S. statistics for the Year 1905:
> The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years.
> Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub.
> Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
> A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.
> There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S., and only 144 miles of paved
> roads.
> The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
> Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily
> populated than California. (Wish they still were.)
> With a mere 1.4 million people, California was only the 21st most
> populous state in the Union.
> The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!?
> The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents per hour.
> The average U.S. worker made between? $200 and $400 per year.
> A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist
> $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year,
> and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
> More than 95 percent of all births in the U.S. took place at home.
> Ninety percent of all U.S. doctors had no college education.
> Instead, they attended so-called medical schools,
> many of which were condemned in the press and
> by the government as "substandard."
> Sugar cost four cents a pound.
> Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
> Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used borax or egg
> yolks for shampoo.
> Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into
> their country for any reason. (And we Canadians think we're so nice 
> That must be why we got all those remittance men, rotten bounders from
> wealthy families who didn't want any more to do with them.)
> Five leading causes of death in the U.S. were:

>  1. Pneumonia and Influenza
> 2. Tuberculosis
>  3 .Diarrhea (big killer of babies)
>  4. Heart disease
>  5. Stroke

> The American flag had 45 stars.
> Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn't been admitted
> to the Union yet.

> The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30!
> Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented yet.
> There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
> Two out of every 10 U.S. adults couldn't read or write. (Not sure we
> have improved on this one.)
> Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
> Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at
> the local corner drugstores!? Back then pharmacist said, "Heroin
> clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the
> stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health."?
> (Shocking!)
> Eighteen percent of households in the U.S. had at least one full-time
> servant or domestic help.
> There were about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S.
> And I forwarded

>  this from someone else without typing it out myself and sent it to
> you in a matter of seconds!  Imagine what it may be like in another
> 100 years.  It staggers the mind.

email

Dear Friends,

We have a beautfiul rare sunny day in January in Iowa.  What's your weather like??  We have had the warmest January in years, but it's still too cold for me!

My husband is out of town.  If I don't get some email soon, I will be forced to go iron, clean the bedrooms or go shopping.   LOL   Seriously write when you can.

Love,

Merry

A Story About A Dog Named Lucky - GREAT one!

Journal Pals, you dog lovers will LOVE this one, I did! Love, Merry   HIS GREATEST TREASURE

      Mary and her husband Jim had a dog, Lucky.
      Lucky was a real character.  Whenever Mary and Jim had company
come for a weekend visit they would warn their friends to not leave
their luggage open because Lucky would help himself to whatever
struck his fancy.
      Inevitably someone would forget and something would end up
missing.  Mary or Jim would go to Lucky's toy box in the basement and
there the treasure would be, amid all of Lucky's favorite toys.
Lucky always stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very
particular that his toys stay in the box.
      It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer.
      Something told her she was going to die of this disease.  She
was just sure it was fatal.  She scheduled the double mastectomy,
fear riding her shoulders.
      The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with
Lucky.  A thought struck her.  What would happen to Lucky?
      Although the three-year-old dog liked Jim he was Mary's dog
through and through.  "If I die Lucky will be abandoned," Mary
thought.  "He won't understand that I didn't want to leave him."  The
thought made her sadder than thinking of her own death.
      The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had
anticipated and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks.  Jim took
Lucky for his evening walk faithfully but the dog just drooped,
whining and miserable.
      But finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital.  When
she arrived home, Mary was so exhausted she couldn't even make it up
the steps to her bedroom.  Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch
and left her to nap.
      Lucky stood watching Mary but he didn't come to her when she
called.  It made Mary sad but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.
      When Mary woke for a second she couldn't understand what was
wrong.  She couldn't move her head and her body felt heavy and hot.
Panic soon gave way to laughter though when Mary realized the problem.
      She was covered, literally blanketed, in every treasure Lucky owned!
      While she had slept, Lucky made trip after trip to the basement
and brought his beloved mistress his favorite things in life.  He had
covered her with his love.
      Mary forgot about dying.  Instead she and Lucky began living
again, walking further and further together every night.
      It's been 12 years now and Mary is still cancer-free.
      Lucky?  He still steals treasures and stashes them in his toy
box but Mary remains his greatest treasure.
      Live everyday to the fullest because every day is a blessing from God!
                       -- Author Unknown

Life Lesson

Subject: A Lesson in Life
>
>  An old man, a boy & a donkey were going to town. The boy rode on the
>  donkey & the old man walked. As they went along they passed some
> people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking & the boy
> was riding.
>
> The man & boy thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed
> positions.
>
> Later, they passed some people that remarked, "What a shame, he
> makes that little boy walk."  They then decided they both would walk!
>  
> Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk
> when they had a decent donkey to ride. So, they both rode the donkey.
>
> Next they passed some people that shamed them by saying how cruel they
> were to put such a load on a poor donkey.  The boy & man agreed they
> were probably right, so they decide to carry the donkey.
>  
> As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal and he
> fell into the river and drowned.
>
> The moral of the story?
>
> If you try to please everyone, you might just as well...
>
> Kiss your ass 'Good-bye'.

RESOLVE

Hi Journal buddies, I haven't heard from a lot of you for a long time.  I hope all is well with each of you.  By the way: This is what I dream of doing of being, but it's a bit much, don't you think?  I don't think that all these things can possibly occur in the time I have left to live no matter what I do.  Still, I'd like to hear what you think of it.  I could still "work" on it, right?

Answer any old time! xoxo Merry In a message dated 1/3/2006 10:04:32 PM Central Standard Time, publisher@heartwarmers.com writes:

RESOLVE
by Karen Carroll

The New Year is upon us and it's time to find resolve
To decide what's important and to fight to evolve.
To be a better human or to learn a new task
To grow ever stronger or to get over the past.

To help other people or to help ourselves
To make extra income or to share our wealth.
To give time to our family or take time we need
To live life with laughter or continue to grieve.

To watch the world changing or to ask that it stop
To pray for peace among us as we watch the moving clock.
To accept growing older as we see the children grow
To be a little more patient when the times seems so slow.

To feel our heart beating as it bursts with love
To have faith that life's worth living, it's a gift from God above.
To realize we're all equal in the Great One's eyes
To look up and see the heavens in the bright blue sky.

To see ourselves as he see us, beauty to the core
To be that person who stands proud at the door.
To know that when we get there to the pearly gates
That our resolves to grow each day was worth the wait.

For with resolve comes strength and peace when we succeed
Knowing that we did what we set out to achieve
So in this New Year coming resolve to be your best
For that's the one thing you can do to pass the lifetime test.

Which is to learn to laugh and love and grow ever stronger
Have peace and understanding as we live ever longer.
Happy Happy New Year.  Happy Happy Days
May 2006 bring you Happy Happy Ways.

           -- Karen Carroll    <mndlvme @ msn.com>

Let me know what you thought of it, and where you think you are at on this scale.  Oh, and I almost forgot the most important thing:  Happy New Year!  May 2006 be your best year ever.  I mean it! Merry merry1621@aol.com


They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. 
Carl W. Buechner

My Friend Tory

This is exactly how my friend Tory is!  I remember her having rabbits and sleeping on the couch to take care of them.  She let them go when they were big enough at the park or in the wild, I think.  She has gone to shelters for some of your own animals, her love for them amazes me, but then she amaze me as she is that wonderfully special kind of person that she is!  I honestly don't know another living person that cares for animals, their own and the world's as well as dear Tory.  She carries 40-50 lb. dogs upstairs, feeds the ill ones by hand.  But most of all she loves them as they (animals) love all of us, unconditionally.   And I miss her.  Must write her!!   (I know it's my turn to write- I promise to write very soon. And she is always in my heart.)  I hope you each have a friend like Tory in your lives!

Love, Merry
EMBRACING LIFE
by Monique Koeleveld

      This is an amazing story of the tiniest little wild baby bunny
you can imagine -- who championed the odds and embraces life despite
his handicap.
     It has been a life experience unlike any other, seeing him
develop, never giving up, and bearing testimony to his intense will
to live.  We can all learn from such an indomitable spirit, to fare
so well despite dire circumstances and prevailing disability.
     One evening, I was walking the dogs with my friend.  The dogs
found a nest of baby bunnies that I believe had already been attacked
earlier in the day.  A momma rabbit makes her nest in fairly
unprotected areas to ensure her best chance at survival, but often at
the demise of her babies.
     I was able to retrieve the two bunnies who were still alive, and
another one who was injured.  Shortly after returning home, I lost
the little one I was hoping would survive.  I discovered puncture
wounds on his little chest and concluded that between the injuries
and the trauma, his little body and spirit simply gave out.
      That left Kelsey, clearly the runt of the litter.  He was barely
half the size of his siblings and had sustained a puncture wound
above his left shoulder.  I immediately called my friend, Gayle
Lanter, who gave me a recipe for bunny formula.  (Thank God for
Gayle!)  I was sure he would pass also, but now 8 months later, he is
still alive.
      The idea was to rehabilitate him for release back to the wild,
but his injury left him with neurological damage.  He cannot sit up
and hop like a normal bunny without support.
      Kelsey was no more than a few days old when he entered my care.
He had very short fur, short little legs, eyes closed, ears very
small and flat to his little head.  He could easily have fit into the
smallest chicken egg.  I toted him to work in his little basket with
heating pad and "diaper" bag for 6 weeks.  Thankfully my boss was
very understanding and supportive.
      In that time, I transitioned him to solid food and reduced the
number of feedings a day.  Transitioning a baby bunny to solid food
is extremely difficult.  The gut is sterile when the bunny is born,
so formula feeding has to be done under very sterile conditions.
Having no way to get all the ingredients for the bunny formula during
the late night hours I brought Kelsey home, I gave him homemade
Pedialyte his first night home.  I have read that it is important
that the bunny's tummy be free of the momma's milk before formula is
introduced, so the Pedialyte feedings may have also contributed to
his successful survival.
      He became quite domesticated.  I have him in his own home, lined
with a thick towel and water bottle fashioned on the outside of his
home, as he can now drink from a water bottle without assistance.
His daily maintenance is time-consuming, gladly provided.  I no
longer have to syringe hydrate him.  He has completely weaned himself
from requiring help eating.  He eats completely on his own.
      He loves his fresh greens, apple, carrot and rabbit pellets.  He
is now able to sit up on his "elbow" without support, a grand
improvement.  He is out with my other furry kids every night.   He
loves to be out with my cats and enjoys doing his little leaps (with
support).
      This is all very, very unusual for a little one that is meant to
be wild and live in the wild.  Once I realized that Kelsey would not
be able to survive in the wild, I did the best I could to help him
adjust to home life.
      Through his lick kisses, body language, his vocabulary,
wonderful appetite, and impeccable grooming habits, he communicates
to me that he is a very content little bunny -- indeed, happy to
embrace life to the fullest.
      I am in total awe of this perfect little creature.  It is an
honor to give him love and care each and every day.

           -- Monique Koeleveld    <jasper_4_16 @ yahoo.com>

____________________________________________
Monique says, "I live in Madison, Alabama, with my furred and
feathered children, most of whom are rescues.  I have been an animal
lover all of my life and am deeply passionate about the plight of
animals and animal welfare issues."
____________________________________________   merry1621@aol.com

Thought to Ponder . . .

Live each day with a little less fear
and a little more faith.