One Day At a Time

One Day At A Time
by Annie Tornabene



Do you find it difficult to be in an attitude of gratitude? Do you take one day at a time and focus on the positiveness around you? Do you find it difficult to change the habits of the past?

If you've spent a large portion of your life in stinking thinking, you can't expect to change overnight to suddenly thinking positively. You can change little by little...one step at a time ... one day at a time.

One day at a time you can commit to having an attitude of gratitude no matter what happens during the course. You can focus that much, can't you? You'd be amazed how easy it is to focus one day at a time. Just take moment by moment.

Here's how:

You get up in the morning and find something to be thankful for that day. It may be a good idea to make yourself a note the night before. It can be a note by your bedside, on the bathroom mirror, on the refrigerator, the coffee pot or something like a rubber band or string (or anything to trigger your mind) to remind you to be grateful for something.

After awaking, spend a few moments in silent mediation in an attitude of gratitude for one thing in your life. Feel the feeling of gratitude in your heart...total immersed in an attitude of gratitude. Then affirm your intention with saying something like:

"In an attitude of gratitude, I feel grateful from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet, from the tips of my fingers to the other side of me, from the back to the front. Today I feel a positive force flowing through me and around me for every person I meet, for every obstacle I face, for every moment of the day. I will make a commitment to stay grounded in the present moment and be glad. I will bring my thoughts and emotions back on track for today. I choose to be in an attitude of gratitude for today. I can do it one day at a time."

Just because you have made a little ceremony doesn't mean that it is smooth sailing. You will probably find yourself being tried and tested. But that's OK, because the more times you practice, the stronger your attitude of gratitude becomes. Just refocus yourself and keep on keeping on. You can do it one day at a time.

You may not make 100% but you should be feeling pretty good about yourself. Look at how well you did. You did better than yesterday! Wow... just think you can do it one day at a time.

Each day that you repeat this, you get better and better and won't have to work on it so hard. After you have mastered finding one thing to be grateful for, add another one. Keep adding another one and mastering it until you find yourself living in an attitude of gratitude.

Want to know how you spend your life? Think about how you spend your day. Each day attaches to the next to make a better tomorrow.

Everything can change one day at a time. Together we can make a difference in understanding depression and in living one day at a time.

CyberFriends

CyberFriends

You accepted me without Question,

I could feel your welcoming Smile,

Coming through my monitor,

Fingers
typing messages of friendship offered.


Miles separate us,

we may never meet,

but we have bonded.



May Our Cyber Friendship Last..

Till the END of the account..

Hugs in an attitude of gratitude,Annie This message was created before Hurricane Ike hit the Texas coastal shores. If you are receiving this message, know that Hurricane Ike hit and I may be down for a few days.You are in my thoughts and prayers. I'll be back as soon as my computer is able to get a connection. In the meantime, keep on keeping on one baby step at a time. Together we can make a difference in understanding depression and empowering our lives.Let's live an abundant life victoriously!

What Is Within?

What Is Within
by Annie Tornabene



Are you struggling with negative thoughts? Depression? Anger? Anxiety? Hatred? Fear? What is within you? Take a good look at what is within you.

You are like a stain glass window that you never realize its true beauty until darkness sets in and the light from within shines through. How beautiful is you stain glass window that is within you? Is the light that is within you barely a spark of light? Is it almost dark or does you light shine brightly from within?

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a present. Every day of you life should be an empowering affirmation of you best life now. Love your life. Each step you take, every though you have and every action you make needs to ring true what is within you. Love, love and laugh. Together we can make a difference in understanding depression and expressing what is within your life.

My Gift To You

My Gift To You

by Annie Tornabene





























My gift to you is the present.
What a gift!
Grab it before it slips away.
Guide me, through the sand I shift.

Precious moments are all we have.
You would give me your precious moments.
They can take away our possessions,
Nay can they rob us of our few comments.

Our moments are precious and few.
The moments we share I can take anywhere.
If I never hear from you again,
I will hold to the moments of you there.

© 2006 Annie Tornabene

Give with an abundant heart in all that you do and say. An abundant giver knows that there is more than enough to supply our needs. An abundant giver knows that they are allowing the Creator to supply a gift to another through the use of their hands. An abundant giver gives of their time, their energy, their resources, their thoughts and their money knowing that it is with an attitude of gratitude that all be blessed.

Live your life in a life of abundant living. Give of your time, energy, resources so that you will be blessed with abundant living. Our numbers are few but precious moments in abundant living are all we have. Make the most of it!

In an attitude of gratitude, I thank you for your precious gift of friendship. Live your best life now. Together we can make a difference in understanding depression.

Count Your Blessings

Today I started a taking a water aerobic body flow class. The great thing about water aerobic exercise is that if you are overweight or recovering from an injury or illness that has left you very weak, it is very hard to hurt yourself doing them. The water is supporting your weight instead of your lower limbs so a workout is less painful. The aerobic water exercises are increase muscular stamina and improve cardiovascular fitness in general. It can also help build strength and increase your flexibility. It is the type of exercise where you can work at your own pace. It is also up to you how hard you will work out in the water making it difficult to overdo it. It is also difficult to get overheated as the water is always cooling you off.

After class, a lady started asking me questions about how she can rid herself of depression. After talking a while, I asked her if she knew it was her last day on earth could she count her blessings. This is what she came up with:

1. I would stress less about the little things.
2. I would categorize everything as little things.
3. I would do more to escape from the pain instead of complaining.
4. I would invest the time I lose in unproductive and dangerous thoughts into planning creative outings for myself and for the family.
5. I would worry less about what others think.
6. I would make more time for coffee or tea and phone calls with friends.
7. I would visit my mom and my sisters more.
8. I would eat more dessert and not care as much about my waist line.
9. I would laugh more - make a point to laugh every day.
10. I would publish my journal online every thought I have, no matter how stupid.
11. I would spend more time outdoors.
12. I would eat breakfast with my kids, lunch with husband, and dinner with my family.
13. I would keep a mood chart that would track how I feel from day to day.
14. I would identify some possible triggers for my bad days.
15. I would invest in some friends like a support group that won't tire of me talking.
16. I would say to myself, "There is a better way. Together we can make a difference."
17. I would learn to take baby steps one day at a time.
18. I would learn to live in an attitude of gratitude.
19. I would write a journal so that I could remember my good days and count my blessings more.
20. I would learn to distract myself more so I could turn myself around.
21. I would make a bucket list and do everything I wanted to do.
22. I would make sure I made a list of the reasons I want to live so when I get down, I can pick myself up again.
23. I would thank my Creator each day for another day to live.
24. I would dance to the music.

What would say to count your blessings?

Walking, Talking, Breathing

The road to success is always under construction. ~ Lily Tomlin

That's right. In everything you do is walking, talking and breathing. Are you making the most of it? What does your walk say? What does your talk say? What does your breath say?

You can find out a lot about a person by the way the walk, talk and breathe. What does your choices, reactions and emotions reveal about the way you live life?

In order to have our best life possible we need to set the stage for relaxing. Our environment helps us in our breathing. If we feel good about our environment, we breathe in positive moments and expel positive. Try lighting candles during meditation to help you stay focused. Believe it or not, the light from the candle sparks life from within.

What you think about most often is what you will talk about. Change your thoughts and you will talk better of those around you and will talk in positive talks instead of stinking thinking. Remember to say your affirmations. The more you say them, the more the mind hears them and will give you what you ask.

Then you have to walk the life. You can't say things are good when you are dragging. Stand up straight, hold your head high and smile. You are worth it! You deserve to walk, talk and breathe your best life now!

The Power Of One

Dreams are illustrations from the book your soul is writing about you. ~ Marsha Norman

The power of one is a tremendous force. It doesn't seem like much by itself. In a dark room, try lighting one candle and see how much light appears. Add another candle one by one and see how bright the room becomes. The same with water. One drop doesn't look like much, but keep dropping water until you have an ocean. Just one drop of water can cause a ripple effect that courses across the terrain of water. Just as our words positive or negative can make such an impact on the people around us. Our thoughts and actions that we have can plow a course through the universal consciousness. Wow what power we have when we control our thoughts and words and speak with wisdom, love and clarity for human kind. Together we can make a difference in changing the course of depression.

Just one though, then add another thought. Like a magnet, more positive thoughts are added. Others do the same thing and together we change the universe with our thoughts. That is power.

Learn to control your thoughts. We can begin to control our thoughts in meditation. This is your way of finding peace, reducing stress, and finding your tranquility. You may find that meditation helps you keep focus and dedicated. Lighting a candle reminds us of life. I use a purple lotus tea light holder and ask for quietness.

Meditation is my way of staying organized, focused and in control. Be still and know the power of one. Sometimes I need just a two minute meditation time, sometimes I need more to keep my thoughts and body in control. How do you feel about harnessing the power of one?

You Are The Reason

I have been a selfish being all my life, in practice, though not in principle. - Jane Austen

When bad things happened, I never thought it was related to my stinking thinking. I was certain that it due to something else: the environment, the economy, an ex, etc. Certainly I wasn't responsible for my "bad luck." I was wrong. Bad things happen to good people. It was due to my stinking thinking. I attracted the bad luck with my stinking thinking.

You have in your life what you tell yourself you have. Think about it. Have you been sabotaging yourself? You will never get what you want in life until you believe you are worth it. If you tell yourself, you will never . . . Guess what? You will never ... Your mind seeks to make your comments what you think about the most, true.

Did you hear that? Your mind is like a robot, seeking to fulfill your wants. Everything in life is yours for the asking. All your hopes and dreams lie before you. You are the reason you have them or don't have them. Affirmations are very powerful if you believe you can. Because you are repeating a positive affirmation, you are programing your mind to think that statement. However, if you insert stinking thinking, you are sabotaging your effort.

If you are in a mess, then you can think your way out. Nothing in life was created without a way to overcome it. Sure it may be a lot of hard work to get out of the mess, but we didn't get in the mess overnight so we can't get out of it overnight. All those little thoughts daily kept building steps to where we are today. Now we have to think, is this where I want to be? Is this where I want to be five years from now?

When we accept the fact that we are where we are today because of our stinking thinking, we can accept responsibility for getting us where we want to be. Our daily stinking thinking led us to not make certain decisions that led us where we are or led us to accept someone else's decisions.

Now we must chart a path to get us on a new course. Daily practicing ridding ourselves of stinking thinking. Daily practicing taking baby steps toward the life we want. Daily practicing new habits of positive thinking. New steps of daily charting our progress.

Practicing positive possibilities won't happen overnight and it won't be easy, but it is a sure thing! By accepting all of the responsibility for where we are, and all of the responsibility for where we want to be, we can experience a tremendous life of joy and freedom.

Remember to keep telling yourself, "I can do it!" "I can make it!" "I am worth it!" Consistently move forward. No matter how hard it gets, just keep on keeping on. You can do it! Plug in to good inspiration daily. Stay connected. Smile. Together we can make a difference.

Your Amazing Life

Sometimes the hustle and bustle of everyday life has got us pulling our hair out. The chaos, the grind, the aches and pains, the stress just seems to fill all of our nooks and crannies until it seems like their is no room for anything else. Sound familiar?

The past month or so, I have had my 11 year old nephew staying with me. It was his first time to be away from home. Living so far from me, he hasn't had much time with me. It has been a real treat and eye opener. I get use to hearing what my kids say and think that all kids think the same. ha ha!

In some ways, my brother and I are alike and some ways we are very different. I've been teaching my nephew new things apparently. One of the games we like to play is called Cashflow by Robert Kiyosaki. I enjoy teaching and coaching others how to empower themselves. The best thing we can do is teach our children financial security. Everyone has a job, with expenses and it's how much you have left that is your cashflow. Of course, it teaches little ways to increase your cashflow. He says this is "Amazing!" He is constantly asking if this is really like real life. I said yes. He says, "Amazing! I have to teach my Dad this." lol

I've even had him go with me to pay bills, etc. so he can see the real life cashflow. We do the same with his allowance. Sometimes he says, "But I'm just a kid." I remind him that in seven years he will be 18 and this will be real life. Then he says, "Amazing, I've got to learn it now."

It is wonderful to see things from the eyes of a child. Everything is "Amazing!" In understanding depression, when you are around children, you cannot be depressed. It is as through the eyes of love, everything becomes amazing. If you haven't been around a child lately, try spending time with one. They take things that we think of as ordinary to be "Amazing!" They pick our ordinary life to be an "Amazing Life." What better teacher do we have? Don't let your troubles drive you to despair. Let them drive you to the realization of your abundant life - your amazing life! No wonder they call it amazing!

Give Gratitude First

Be thankful in all things. I know you are busy, but alway live your life in an attitude of gratitude. Even those events and circumstances in our lives that don't look pleasing. Sometimes we should be thankful for something that looks like a disaster. One time, I was in the five o'clock traffic approaching an intersection. Suddenly, my car started to overheat. Which was surprising since it was a realitively new car.

I turned into the service station that was on the corner. Shortly after turning in, an explosion happened at the intersection. BAM! I got out of my car and turned to my surprise, the car that was following me, had been hit by a speeding car going in the intersecting street which had no traffic. I had to be thankful for my car overheating.

Not always do we know why something happens or why one door closes. I have found when one door closes, a better door opens.

Know if you live your life in an attitude of gratitude first, abundant living will be attracted to you. I know it takes a little more effort to prioritize your life and get into the habit of giving gratitude first. Take a few minutes each day to quiet your mind, mind healing and renew your spirit. You will be amazed at the sense of peace, joy and tranquility that will flow in your life. In an attitude of gratitude, work hard, play hard. Together we can make a difference in understanding depression and life.

Are You Connected?

The road to success is always under construction. ~ Lily Tomlin

In the mist of the hustle and bustle of everyday life, the chaos, the kids, the job, things can be quiet stressful and create tension and friction on our world. As we become older, we try to cram as much as we can in our 24 hours a day. If you are zapped of all the mojo of your life, it is difficult for the flow of joy, laughter and all the good things to grow in your life.

Together we can make a difference in our lives by giving support to each other. Reminding ourselves to do our daily rituals which help us renew our strength and mojo. You are not an island unto itself. The difference is that we are all connected by life force. The better you are, the better I am and everyone we meet or are acquainted with.

At anytime you can choose to unplug yourself and start living a life based on your human nature. When you choose to disconnect yourself from the support, the synergism, the love, the strength dries up. You may not notice it at first, but gradually, your spirit is not encouraged, not empowered and becomes weakened. It's like a flower that is planted in a dessert. It grows until there is no more water to feed it. Without water it will shrill up and die just like our spirit.

Consistency in doing our daily rituals such as yoga, meditation, a morning walk, reading inspirational messages, or even a leisurely breakfast and cup of coffee. Peace, tranquility, joy and laughter can flow easily and help you can gain control of the chaos in your life.

By doing these daily activities until they become second nature, you will find you will experience less bouts of insomnia, relief from anxieties, increased mind healing, and improve you physical as well as your mental health.

What are your daily rituals?

Reading is good. By reading inspirational material, you help create a more positive mind. When the dark clouds roll in, you have inspiration to help your mind heal and push back the clouds of disparage. Read inspirational messages on the Internet or read a good book. If you can't read, the listen to a good audio-book. Audio-books were created for that purpose.

Simple stretching or taking a walk can improve blood flow, tension, mind healing and help you unwind and escape the rat race. Any thing you can do to reconnect with yourself will help you keep yourself as the number one priority.

By setting aside some time for yourself each day, you will definitely see a difference in your personal happiness level. Are you connected?

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

~ Rudyard Kipling

Look Through The Eyes With Love

Did you know you can see things in different ways? Sometimes I have looked at a situation and thought it was the worst thing that could happen. When I rethought my position and look through the eyes with love in my heart instead of anger, I have seen the otherside. The more you give the more you will have. Teach, and you will learn.

Listen, and you will understand more. Learn to show kindness, and kindness will come back to you. Keep a grateful spirit, and your life will be filled with abundance. Seek to bring out the best in others, and they'll give you the best that they have.

Give your genuine love to those who thirst for it most, and you'll be loved beyond all measure.

Speak positively of your life, and your life will be a rich and fulfilling place.

The life you influence with your thoughts, words and actions is the life in which you live. Always look through the eyes with, and your life will empower you.

Every Step You Take

With every step you take, you either believe you can or you can't do it. Either way, you are right. If you say you can't, you won't. If you say you can. you will. It's really that simple. Some people say I can't just because they have heard someone else say it. So they are holding themselves back without even trying.

The secret to overcoming sabotage, roadblocks, depression, etc. is to look at life's possibilities. Empower yourself with the believe that you can do it, you deserve it; you are worth it! "If anybody can, I can. If anybody will, I will."

Don't be afraid of new experiences. Accept abundant living into your life. Numerous possibilities open before you when you allow abundance to flow with an attitude of gratitude. You are in control. You are the master of your fate.

Remember it's the way you look at life's events that determine how high and how far you will climb. Are you putting the breaks on? Pull out the stops and cross the line in the sand to your destiny. Have courage. You can do it! Together we can make a difference with every step we take and every breath we breathe.

To Thine Ownself Be True

You can run, but you can't hide from yourself. Sometimes we learn as children not to be totally truthful. We think we are being good, but the truth is we are hurting ourselves. We are lying to ourselves and those around us when we don't face the truth.

It is important to know our true feelings in order to manage a happy life. You can't ignore our feelings or repress them. They are still there. It is best to express those feeling and emotions.

What are you feeling? Why do you feel that way? By expressing your feelings and emotions, you are understanding your depression. By listening, you understand anger, fear, anxiety, blues, joy, peace and laughter. When you try to repress them, they will simply return later in a more forceful manner which sometimes gives us a yo-yo effect on our life. Sound familiar?

Our minds get conflicted when we try to repress our feelings and emotions. Instead we need to learn to control our feelings and emotions. Our thoughts create our beliefs. Our beliefs create our actions about ourselves and those around us. Our actions create our environment. Our environment creates our communities. Our communities create our world. See how we effect everyone? Together we can make a difference in learning "to thine own self be true" with our feelings and emotions. Something can be done about it. We can empower our lives.

Are you true to yourself? Or are you sending mixed messages to yourself and those around you?

Listen To Your Heart

Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength. - Arnold Schwarzenegger

Sometimes we feel anger, anxiety, fear, depression, worry and other feelings of related to the black fog in our lives. It is easier to feel the freedom from the strings of life when we listen to your heartstrings. You, like many of us, have lots of thoughts running through your mind at any given moment. You probably spend much of your day multi-tasking. All of this chaos makes it difficult to hear your heartstrings. It is important to find some ways to quiet your mind so that your mind can heal. You can't shut off your thoughts completely, but you can learn to slow them down. Let go of all the distracting thoughts flow out of your mind. Picture your thoughts floating away on a cloud. Relax more with each breath. You might even try counting down from 10 to 1 and allow yourself to relax more with each count. Once your mind is clearer, you can then access your heartstrings.

Meditation is an excellent ways to get focused. Even a few minutes of meditation daily can increase your ability to hear your heartstrings. Meditation is like priming the pump. As you get used to being in a meditative state, you will find that it is easier to hear the whispers from your heart. Calming the mind begins mind healing. Take a deep breath and let courage enter in. Getting frustrated will only interfere with the process.

Visualize to help you access heartfelt answers to your questions. Imagine yourself in a quiet place in nature, surrounded by beauty and wonder. Make this image as vivid as possible by using all of your senses - touch, sight, taste, smell and hearing. Spend a few moments simply enjoying this place in your mind’s eye. See yourself opening the treasure chest of your heartstrings. Don't try to control this, let your heartfelt mind guide you. Trust that whatever is inside the treasure chest is your answer. It will become clear over time. Be patient! Learn to go with the flow of your heartstrings.

Be sure to keep a journal by your bed so that you can record your heartstrings. Look for the emotions and themes and see if this sheds light on your problem.

You can use affirmations to focus your mind healing and help you listen to your heart. It is best to use affirmations with some form of relaxation to help with mind healing. Affirmations are a terrific way to tap into the power of your subconscious mind to help you empower your conscious desires. Affirmations should be concise sentences stated in a positive way. When creating an affirmation remember to state what it is that you want, not what you don’t want. Another important guideline is to always use the present tense when creating your affirmations.

Practice listening to your heartstrings. After you start practicing you will notice small issues beginning to empower your life. Practicing with these simple issues will allow you to stay relaxed and focused without too much distraction from fear or other mental chaos. You will gain confidence that will enable you to act upon it. You can use this inner strength to guide you in all of your decisions at work, at home, and at play. Listen to your heart will always guide you to the path that is for your highest good.

Life Is A Choice

My passion is to help equip you to walk your best life. Sometimes we need encouragement on the journey! There is no better time than now. We live in a world that reminds us of everything we don’t have. We are continually reminded of our hurts and pains, our failures, but seldom are we reminded of our victories.

Happiness is a choice you make every step of the way. We can choose to be happy from the moment we wake up and then keep choosing happiness moment all our day. We chose to live in the moment because this is where happiness is found. It is not in the past and it is not in the future. It is in the now.

You can only have one thought at a time. So choose your thoughts. If you catch yourself with stinking thinking, choose a happier thought. Change the direction that your thought is going. Therefore everyone you come in contact will leave with a happy thought instead of spreading stinking thinking. Follow your mind's eye in keeping focused on where you’re going in an attitude of gratitude.

The only thing you have to fear is fear itself, take action to keep moving yourself forward with great expectation and energy. Keep stinking thinking out and remember to tell yourself your positive affirmations, change your at every opportunity, and empower your life with joy and happiness. Choose to laugh by treating life as a journey not as a final resting place. T

If I can do it, you can do it. Together we can make a difference in our lives. Happiness is a state of being you can look for and find at every moment throughout your day ... throughout your life ... one step at a time!

Hugs in an attitude of gratitude,

Keep Positive Thoughts On Your Mind

In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, sometimes the chaos of daily living boggles the mind and negative thoughts slip in. In the mist of it all, even the most important things can slip your mind. I know it has with me. Sometimes I forget my own kids names and I call them by one of the other kids name. Sound familiar?

When it gets like that I have a 2 minute time out for me. I take a deep breath and meditate for 2 minutes asking for peace and calmness and count my blessings. It gives my mind and subconscious time to reorganize and get back on track.

Commit to every day finding a few minuets of quiet time will revitalize your work. I even found the kids have learned to do this as I was watching the youngest tell her doll that she needed to spend two minutes in meditation time out. I had to laugh inwardly and smile as I watched her spend two minutes in meditation time out.

When you keep positive thoughts on your mind, you will experience a wellspring of joy bubbling inside and overflowing to your family, friends, co-workers and others that cross your path.

Remember you are worth it! Together we can make a difference!

The Touch Of The Master's Hand

I found this and thought of my grandfather and how he made me learn this poem in teaching me the strings of life. I hope it will empower you and give you courage in your life. ~~~

Twas battered and scared, and the auctioneer Thought it scarcely worth his while To waste much time on the old violin, But he held it up with a smile."What am I bidden, good folks," he cried,"Who'll start bidding for me? A dollar, a dollar - now who"ll make it two _Two dollars, and who"ll make it three?

"Three dollars once, three dollars twice, Going for three". . . but no! From the room far back a gray-haired man Came forward and picked up the bow; Then wiping the dust from the old violin, And tightening up the strings, He played a melody, pure and sweet, As sweet as an angel sings.

The music ceased and the auctioneer With a voice that was quiet and low, Said: "What am I bidden for the old violin? "And he held it up with the bow;"A thousand dollars - and who'll make it two? Two thousand - and who'll make it three? Three thousand once, three thousand twice And going - and gone," said he.

The people cheered, but some of them cried, "We do not quite understand -What changed its worth?" The man replied: "The touch of the masters hand." And many a man with life out of tune, And battered and torn with sin, Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd. Much like the old violin.

A "mess of pottage," a glass of wine, A game and he travels on, He's going once, and going twice -He's going - and almost gone! But the MASTER comes, and the foolish crowd, Never can quite understand, The worth of a soul, and the change that's wrought By the touch of the MASTER'S hand. ~ Myra B. Welch

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The Master's Hand" was written by Myra Brooks Welch, called "The poet with the singing soul." She came from a very musical family and she loved playing the organ as a young girl. In 1921, she heard a speaker address a group of students and became filled with light. The "Touch of the Master's Hand wrote itself in 30 minutes!"

She sent it anonymously to her church news bulletin as she felt it was a gift from God, and didn't need her name on it. It's popularity spread like magic. Finally, several years later, the poem was read at a religious international convention - "author unknown." A young man stood up and said, "I know the author, and it's time the world did too. It was written by my mother, Myra Welch."

It was then her name, as well her other beautiful works of poetry became known worldwide. All of her poetry told of the rejoicing she had in God's love.

What the world did not see, was the woman who created these masterpieces was in her wheelchair, battered and scarred from severe arthritis, which had taken away her ability to make music. Instead, her musical soul spoke through her poetry.

She took one pencil in each of her badly deformed hands. Using the eraser end, she would slowly type the words, the joy of them outweighing the pain of her efforts. Her words, a joyous expression of the wonders of life, by a singing soul that was touched by the Master's Hand.

As a friend turned to leave her home, Myra patted the arm of her wheelchair and said, "And I thank God for this!" Imagine being grateful for a wheelchair! But her talent lay undiscovered prior to her wheelchair days. Rather than becoming bitter, she chose to let her handicap make her better, and a wonderful new door opened for her.

Let Joy Flow Through You

Your Creator is never far away. Do you live your life in the truth of that reality? Or do you act as though your Creator was some self-centered celebrity who stays holed up in a ritzy penthouse apartment far away from you and your everyday problems. Trust me, when you are dealing with problems, you're dealing with a very down to earth friend who really cares.

You only have to remember that love surrounds you and all you have to do is accept the fact. There are no conditions to that love. The Power that created you has an indwelling love for you. So when you need courage, wisdom, peace or strength, remember that love abounds. I know what you're going through, I've been there. I'm only a heartbeat away and so is your Creator. Give gratitude for your inspiring love. Affirm your love.

Close your eyes and meditate on goodness, and let love, peace and joy flow through you.

Hugs in an attitude of gratitude,