Monday, May 28, 2018

Fresh Thoughts for Your Monday: Cultivate Peace

You have the capacity to be a peacemaker. We need peacemakers in our world.

You are a peacemaker when you seek to better understand another person’s perspective, listen with your full attention, consider your response carefully, measure your words and show respect.

It doesn’t mean that you have to be in full agreement with the other person, but it does mean that you honor the light in that individual and you give him or her the respect to hold his or her own opinions, even if they are different from yours.

Doing so can help you look through the clutter and distraction of differences in order to find the light of common ground. That light will help you forge a path through differences to a place of compromise and respect.


Today, this week: Cultivate goodwill. Cultivate peace. Cultivate understanding. Be a peacemaker and brighten the world.




Monday, May 21, 2018

Fresh Thoughts for Your Monday: Bright Desires

Spring is that glorious time of year when we witness new beginnings as the earth springs forth with growth and beauty. We tend to our gardens and we watch the plants grow.

Now is also a glorious time to look at what needs to spring forth in your own life and to cultivate and grow those desires and dreams.

What hidden, bright desire do you want to bring forth into your life? Perhaps it’s a new hobby, a new relationship, a new community, a new job, a new book to read, a new hill to climb.

Spring into action! Your season is here!


Today, this week: Be your true, best self. Don’t waste time or energy on regret. You can make great things happen!



Monday, May 14, 2018

Fresh Thoughts for Your Monday: Believe in Yourself

You were made to be uniquely you. 

Don’t be afraid to stand out and be yourself, to have your own voice and to follow your deepest values.

You are strong. You are bright. You are of value for who you are and for the gifts that you uniquely bring to your every encounter.

This day, this week: Believe in yourself!

You are right where you're supposed to be! So, relax and fully enjoy the moment!




Monday, May 7, 2018

Fresh Thoughts for Your Monday: Follow Your Heart


The din can be loud. It can be deafening. 

Advice, suggestions, recommendations. Fears, worries, doubts. 

How does one take in so much information and still be able to make a decision that feels right?


Grow silent. 

Listen to that still, small voice inside of you. It will guide you, just as a street sign tells you where to turn. 

You hold the answers. Reach within and you'll find that the answers are waiting for you.

Today, this week: Follow your heart. It won’t let you down.


For more thoughts about following your heart, check out my book, Find Your Heart, Follow Your Heart: Get to the Heart of What Matters and Create Your Abundant, Authentic, Joyful Life, available in hardcover, softcover and e-book formats from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Balboa Press and other fine retailers. Perfect for Mother's Day and Graduation gift giving.



Sunday, May 6, 2018

May's Song

                When I think of the month of May, I hear my late mom’s sweet voice singing “White Coral Bells.” While there are slight variations to the lyrics, here’s how Mom would sing them to me as a lullaby when I was a little girl: “White coral bells, along a slender stalk. Lilies of the valley line my garden walk. Oh, how I wish that I could hear them ring. That will only happen when the fairies sing.”
                A few months ago, my husband and I gathered with friends to enjoy a potluck dinner together, followed by the singing of folk songs. Among the songs we sang that evening was a beautiful round of “White Coral Bells.” I could feel Mom’s spirit with us that evening!
                Now that May is here, the lilies of the valley will soon line the garden walk of a lovely friend whose mother used to sing “White Coral Bells” to her, as well. She has invited me to visit her when the lilies of the valley are in full bloom and to sing together “White Coral Bells” in memory of our moms. I look forward to it and hope it will become our May tradition for years to come.
                I also look forward to my own white coral bells experiment. A dear friend who sports a green thumb and a master gardener certificate, researched how to best plant and care for lilies of the valley in a container. She, then, gave one to me for my May birthday last year. I followed her instructions and hope to see blooming lilies of the valley, perhaps not lining my garden walk, but at least by our condominium's front door in a few weeks.

                May is a melody of loveliness, each week a different stanza in a song of beauty. If May had its own song (and I think it does), I would deem it to be “White Coral Bells.”


Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Affirming Words: Be a Magnet

Consider adopting these Affirming Words for this month. Say them often to yourself -- whenever you see yourself in a mirror, when you get out of bed to start the day, whenever you need a little pick-me-up:


I focus my intentions with specificity to attract what I desire in my life.