Having Faith Creates Miracles

“Faith is believing
before receiving.”
Alfred A Montapert

As a holiday present to my daughter and son-in-law I am watching Jeffrey, my grandson, and Charlie a 100 pound Lab for a week.

Yesterday morning started out very calmly and got ready to leave for school. One of the things we do before leaving for school is walk Charlie. Let me correct myself, Charlie walks us.

The walk was a bit of a struggle and we arrived home a little tired. Jeffrey removed Charlie’s leash and before we knew it the dog ran away. Both of us started running after Charlie and had no luck capturing him.

At one point we were very close to him and before we could grab him he took off again. At that point I lost sight of Jeffrey and Charlie.

Franticly I started running around the blocks yelling for Jeffrey and Charlie. While yelling I was asking God to help me.

I turned a corner and there was Jeffrey walking with a woman who had Charlie on a tight leash. My heart stopped for a moment and relief flooded my body.

When I regained my composure, I could not thank her enough for bringing Jeffrey and Charlie home. We brought Charlie into the house and put him into his cage where he slept for most of the day.

Jeffrey and I were a total mess. We sat and thanked God for sending us an Angel.

The important lessons we learned were to always close the garage door before taking Charlie’s leash off and how to walk Charlie so we are in control not him.

During this experience I looked fear in the face and kept moving forward. If for a second I let the fear take over I would not have been able to keep my hope alive.

Praying is a form of meditation that clams you down and restores your faith that things will work out.

What experiences have you had in which prayers restored your faith that things will work out for the best.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Helen

Relieving Holiday Stress

“…be the change
you wish
to see in
the world..”
-gandhi

I was thinking before writing on my blog today, “Holidays can be a very painful time.” Having expectations the holidays will be fun, relaxing and receive the love and support we crave from others.

Hello, guess again. What reality usually dictates is that we are busy shopping, running around to beat the clock and annoyed with people in general.

What happened to our holiday expectations? Down the drain!

We don’t realize that not having our expectations become reality we subconsciously become angry and instead of enjoying the holidays they become a burden.

As Gandhi says,” Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Take a step back and rearrange your thinking and schedule.

Let me tell you a little story.

I was out shopping for gifts the other night and everything I picked up was just not right for the person I was thinking about. After walking around the mall for over an hour I decided to stop for a cup of coffee and go home.

Listening to the people on line behind me complaining about the holidays made me realize I was doing the same thing.

I started to think of what could I do differently?

I found a bench and just rested for awhile drinking my coffee. The idea popped into my head to ask my grandchildren for a wish list. Then I could have some direction and buy what they really wanted.

I went home, called each grandchild and asked them to give me a wish list of only 3 things. The older ones wanted to spend a day in NYC with me or just go out for dinner. The others gave me their choices. It made my life so much easier and I had a happy memory speaking with each and everyone of them about the holiday season.

What can you do to make this season a little easier, create memories and enjoy yourself?

Please share your ideas with the Love Yourself – It Matters! Community. I look forward to reading your comments.

Helen

Holidays Don’t Have to Be Full of Stress

Holidays Don’t Have to Be Full of Stress
Empowerment Coach Offers Tips to Enjoy the Season

Balancing work and family is difficult enough on a normal day, but the stress of juggling holiday responsibilities can push anyone to the breaking point. But according to Helen J. Burton, an empowerment and recovery coach, much of the stress is focusing on ‘should haves’ instead of embracing the moments for what they are.

"Most people are striving for the Currier and Ives Christmas of their childhood, but in reality they're dreading the holidays because they know it won’t meet their idealistic view,” she explains.

How can you beat back the dread and have the family holiday of your dreams? "Start by lowering your expectations," advises Burton. "Be more realistic about what you can do. This usually involves changing the tradition — it can be equally as good, but it has to be unique to your family."

Burton is a certified coach who helps both addicts and their loved ones work through the pain and develop a plan for a purposeful future. She founded Love Yourself Coaching (www.loveyourselfcoaching.net) in 2001, to meet the ongoing need creating healing and better lives by empowering others.

She offers the following tips to help de-stress and enjoy more of the holiday season:

• Take a mini-holiday everyday. “It’s important to focus 10 minutes every day on you by taking time out for yourself,” says Burton. She suggests reading, listening to music, meditating, or just doing nothing.
• Get out and enjoy the season. “Forget participating in the hustle and bustle, watch it go by instead by meeting a friend out for coffee,” she says. “It also gives you a chance to connect with someone in a relaxed atmosphere.”
• When you need help, ask. Burton suggests having a list of friends and family who can be “just a phone call away when you are feeling stressed or upset.”
• Send yourself a holiday greeting. “Write yourself a letter which you mail to yourself by the middle of December,” says the coach. The letter should include a thank you to yourself for who you are, acknowledging how much you’ve grown. “Also put in a list of three problems you solved this year and what impact that has made on your life,” Burton says.

Burton also suggests sending a similar letter to loved ones, telling them how special they are as well. “It’s a great way to connect, and reveal the true meaning of the season.”

For more information about Love Yourself Coaching, contact Burton at Helen@LoveYourselfCoaching.net.