Glamour Shots

Glamour Shots
by Annie Tornabene

Put your best face forward is what my Mother always said. Your Mother may have told you similar statements. Whatever trouble gets you down, whatever circumstances you face, hold your chin up high and smile. It makes your enemies wonder what is going on in your life that makes you smile in the face of adversary. Your friends will admire you for your courage.

It is like a stain glass window. You can rave about its beauty in the daylight. However, you never know its true beauty until darkness sets in and the light from within shines through.

Glamour shots are being taken every moment along the strings of life. What does your latest glamour shot say about you?

As you look through the glamour shots along the strings of life, what are you portraying? Are you angry and scowling? Are you peaceful and tranquil? Are your eyes full of compassion? Do you have an attitude of gratitude and a thankful heart? Shine your light for all to see your beautiful glamour shot. Love your life. Together we can make a difference.

Out Of The Ashes

Out Of The Ashes
by Annie Tornabene

As I watch the burning embers from the pile of burning dead tree limbs that had fallen in my yard from a recent storm that went through here, it brings me to the realization that our lives are like ashes. Ashes are the dead residue of what had been on fire...a flame of passion gone dead...the hurts and pains that is left in our lives from past troubles and storms in the strings of life. Everyone has them. The disappointments...the grief...the sorrow...the pain and agony...the dark cloud of depression are all ashes. The past is nothing more than a bucket of ashes.

Ashes are what keep the fire from burning. . . Ashes slowly kill the flame. They smother the fire. They keep oxygen from breathing new life into the fire. Just like when we hold on to our old hurts or hold a grudge, it keeps us from fully living in our present.

In the movie, Kung Fu Panda, the Grandmaster stated, "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That is why they call it the present." And so it is.

We can't do anything about the past. It is a bucket of ashes. Dump it out! Sweep off the ashes that are holding you back. Let a new fire rise out of the ashes. Out of the ashes of burning rubble comes new hope, a resurrection of life. Just like the donkey did.

Oh, I forgot to tell you about the donkey. A donkey fell in a deep hole that the farmer was digging for a well. The farmer said the hole was too deep and the donkey too heavy to try to pull the donkey out of the hole. So he prepared to bury the donkey in the hole. He shovelled dirt into the hole. As the dirt fell, it fell on the donkey's back. The donkey didn't know what was going on so he brushed the dirt off his back and stepped on it. The donkey kept doing this over and over again never giving up. He had hope that his master would get him out. To the farmer's surprise, the donkey was getting closer to the top with each pile of dirt that was going into the hole. The donkey was brushing it off and stepping on it. So he used the ashes of what was to be his burial to be his stepping stones. Soon the donkey was able to walk out of the hole. You will too. Doesn't some of this sound like our lives? Everyone will be amazed at the ease that you walked through the storm in the strings of life.

Out of the ashes will rise your tomorrows. In the present you may not know if you are building a sandcastle or if a dust storm is on the way. Have hope! You are building your dream castle out of the ashes of your life. Love your life. Together we can make a difference.

Amazing Gratitude

Amazing Gratitude

by Annie Tornabene

In an attitude of amazing gratitude today I want you to listen to Mike Dooley talk about how thoughts become things. You've often heard me say that our thoughts become our actions, actions bring about results. Together we can make a difference.

This is how you have a week of empowerment. Begin and end each day in an attitude of amazing gratitude. Begin on Sunday, do something for yourself. Monday Do something for your family. Tuesday Do something for your local group. Wednesday Do something for your community. Thursday Do something for this organization. Friday Do something for your Nation. Saturday Do something for mankind. When I say do something, I mean give of your thoughts, your time and assets. Take action, postulate positive thoughts, tell somebody, show your sign of support, give of your thoughts, time and things of value such items you no longer need, a click of the button, whatever you can. Always with a gratiful heart. Every positive thought turns into an action; action brings results. Thinking your way to an abundant life is the first step. Together we can all make a difference. !!!! Amazing gratitude make a difference.

The Champion

The Champion
By Annie Tornabene


As we watch the Olympic games in Beijing, I am reminded what it take to be the champion. That include finding the champion in you.

In 1644, a child named Antonio Stradivari was born. He, at a time when the average person lived be 35-40 years old, lived to be 93 years old. Amazing!

The reason I talk about him today is because he used very primitive tools to be the best he could be. I'm sure you have heard of his work today. Stradivari's Violins. Every step of the process was focused on providing excellence to each violin he created before he would sign his name on it. Many times he worked long and tedious hours alone to complete his violins. He spent his life doing his best life now.

Striving for excellence is not something you can turn on and off at the push of a button. The champions in the Olympics don't just become gold medalist overnight. It is something they strive for every day. They practice it for hours on end. They eat, live and breath it. They stay focused on living their best life now. When family and friends want to do something else, they stay focused.

Are you staying focused with your life? Are you going through the motions of living day to day, just getting by? Are you staying focused to live your best life now. You are the champion of your life. There is the champion within you.

Do you think Tiger Woods or Mike Phelps became champions overnight? No, They did the little things each day that made a difference in their lives. Stay focused when you are alone. Stay focused when you find negativity around you. You deserve to live your best life now. Together we can make a difference in understanding depression. Making a commitment to staying focused will help you live your best life now.

Many times we allow ourselves to become stuck in our present circumstances even if we are unhappy and really want to strive in a new direction. Why? Because it's familiar. One of the most important factors in understanding depression is the willingness to try things out, to experiment, to test new grounds. In fact, this is the only way to rock the boat and get unstuck. We may have to try and try again. It is a far better thing to try to succeed and fail, than to do nothing and succeed. Discover the champion in you! Make your dreams come true.

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.

Doing Hula Hoops

Doing Hula Hoops
by Annie Tornabene



What impels you to get out of bed each morning? What is your passion? What keeps you going? Are you trying to live up to someone else's dream? Are you living your dream?

I've been watching the Olympics this week and it is amazing what some of these athletes do every day. They exercise their skill seven or eight hours a day. They eat, breath and live their skill. They never seem to tire out. It's because they are passionate about what they do. They found their true reason for living. They don't live it for their parents or coach. It's something inside of them that carries a torch. It's the spark that makes a difference.

If you are fighting the current for the life you really want to live, then no wonder you are exhausted. Doing something for someone else or living your life for someone else is the quickest way to feel defeated, to feel exhausted. Why are you jumping through hoops for someone's life. You must live your own life. Do the things that you want to do. Do the things that inspire you.

You will find that by doing the things that inspire you, you will have more energy. You will want to wake up and do hula hoops because it is your life!!!

Happiness comes when you forget about yourself. When the attention is on what you do makes a difference not that it is you. When you can feel good about what you do is helping someone or what you do makes a difference in your life and those whom you come in contact, then you find that it is worth it to do hula hoops, it makes a difference in life. You realize that happiness has found you, not that you are chasing happiness for happiness to allude you.

Never give up. You are worth it! Together we can make a difference in understanding depression. We can learn to live the life we dream and doing our own hula hoops. Go for it!

Love Your Life

Love Your Life
by Annie Tornabene

We have our circle of friends. I call you my friend. We all get by with a little help from our friends. Sometimes I help you. Sometimes you help me. Together we can make a difference in understanding depression. Sometimes in life we get hurt. It's hard to know what to say. It's hard to express what we are feeling inside. It's hard to know who to trust with our innermost feelings when we are hurting. It's hard to talk when you want to run and hide. The truth is we have to get the hurt out or the hurt will fester inside and eat us alive.

I knew a man once who wouldn't talk about his problem. All he did was complain and his days got darker and darker. He wanted help and asked for it. When we talked he wouldn't talk. He couldn't forgive and he couldn't forget. He just sat there in silence and darkness. Tormented by his life. His life was a living hell. Because he wouldn't move, he got weaker. He submitted his life to living with the darkest monster. He had been a good man but he had a secret life that he took to his grave. His daughter pleaded with him, but he got worst.

He summoned me to sit with him again on the day he died. I talked, I listened but only silence and guttural sounds appeared. I held his hand. He screamed in agony. If you don't believe in hell, seeing a man die like this changes your thoughts. Whatever he saw on his deathbed was frightening. . . was terrifying. I could make out that something was coming for him. It took five strong nurses to hold him down and try to sedate him to keep him calm.

None of us know what awaits us in the afterlife. All we have is today. I don't want to go to the hereafter like he did. I would rather go like my Father. . .peacefully in his sleep. He had made peace with his past and was ready to go to whatever awaits in the hereafter. Both my Grandfathers and Grandmothers and my Great-Grandfather, as well as my Father, told me of a beautiful light before they died. They all died peacefully. I choose to believe there is a hereafter. . .whatever it is called. I have seen too many die in agony and too many die peacefully not to believe. The only thing we can do to prepare for the hereafter is to live our best life now.

Remember you have the right to choose to be happy one step at a time. So begin to be happy from the moment you awake and then keep choosing happiness moment by moment throughout your day. Seize the day with happy thoughts. Whenever stinking thinking enters in, change it to a positive thought. Turn it around. You can only have one thought at a time so choose your thoughts wisely. What's your choice?

Live in the now. Today is a gift, yesterday is history and tomorrow is a mystery. That's why they call it the present. Happiness is found in the present. It is in this very moment of now. You can do it, one step, one baby step at a time. Say what you believe in the present and soon it will be that way. Choose to love your life.

In an attitude of gratitude, get your mind crystal clear on your goals. Your mind will take you places that you have only dreamed. Follow that dream and give thanks for the journey. Have courage to move beyond your fears and overcome the obstacles blocking your movement. Keep on keeping on one step at a time. With the forward movement, it will empower you to move forward and to keep moving forward. If you stagnate you block the flow of abundance to your life. If you are stuck, ask for help. Together we can make a difference.

Choose to love your life as a journey of love and enjoy the journey. All of us can implement this into our daily life, practice it and have our best life now.

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Shake Your Boody

Shake Your Boody
by Annie Tornabene

Some days I'm in pain so much that I just want to sit there and not move. Or when a dark cloud looms over me, I think I will just sit here. When I sit; nothing happens. I slip into greater darkness of depression and I hurt more. Our Creator created us to move. Our bodies are not solid and unmovable like a board or piece of wood. Our bodies were created for movement. When our bodies remain still, they become stiff and inflexible.

When we move our bodies become flexible, increase blood flow and oil our mind so it can send messages to the rest of the body. In my water aerobic class, I find that movement is easy. Parts of my body that are difficult to move out of the water, float and move easily with the water and flotation devices. The gentle movement are easy on the body. I feel energized and empowered after class. I feel like I can conquer the world. I feel energized and empowered. Not only does exercise lift the dark clouds of depression, it makes me feel like I have a sense of accomplishment. It helps me want to get out and do things. It is a key to finding a reason to living positively.

A heart-driven, purpose-driven life is the source of immense power, solution and positive abundant living. The most important step you will take in your journey in the strings of life is finding your true purpose in life. Once you find your purpose, you will begin living an abundant, extraordinary life with greater happiness, more contribution to your world, greater prosperity and living the life you dreamed. A good book to read is Max Luccado's A Purpose Driven Life.

Are you ready to live the abundant life? Together we can make a difference in understanding depression and living an abundant life.

War Zone

War Zone
by Annie Tornabene

You feel like you've had a bad day? If you heard sirens blaring, rockets going off and people screaming, you would think you were in the middle of a war zone. Wouldn't you? You would be running to prepare for battle. Well millions of people every day are in a battle over depression. It's a battle in their mind. You may be one of those facing a battle or battles in your mind right now. I know I have felt like sirens and rockets were glaring and everything anyone said sent me screaming. Looking back at it, I wonder how I made it. Ever feel like that?

This story makes my point:
Nine year old Joey was asked by his mother what he had learned at Sunday school.

"Well, Mom, our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. When he got to the Red Sea, he had his engineers build a pontoon bridge and all the people walked across safely. Then he used his walkie-talkie to radio headquarters for reinforcements. They sent bombers to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved."

"Now, Joey, is that really what your teacher taught you?" his mother asked.

"Well, no. But if I told it the way the teacher did, you'd never believe it!"

Together we can make a difference in understanding depression and overcoming the obstacles that block our paths to the abundant life. Just like the song says, "so you go for a walk and turn yourself around." This could be the day that you turn yourself around. Yeah, things may look bad, but it doesn't have to. Everyone gets down sometime, it's a matter of how long you stay down. You got to get back up. Or maybe you feel like you have never been up. It doesn't have to be that way. There is a better way. Take one step of faith; just one baby step, in turning yourself around. Then keep on keeping on.

If you think about it, I'm sure you can find at least one moment in your life when things didn't look so bad. What was it? Was it yesterday? Last week? Last month? A year ago? Maybe it was when you were a child? Whenever it was, I want you to hold that thought. Remember how it felt. Remember how you felt? Remember what you said. Remember what you heard. Remember what you saw. Did you have a taste in your mouth? What were you holding? Visualize doing it again today! How would you feel? What would you do? I don't care how silly you think it is; no one is going to know but you. You grab hold of that thought and cherish it. Together we are going to make more of those happy abundant thoughts in your life.

It's easy to look at past events and see the successes in your life. Sometimes when you are in the war zone of your mind, your mind forgets about those happy, successful times. It is up to you to bring those happy moments back to life. Prisoners of war have told me that what got them through those really tough days was visualizing times when they weren't in battle. If you keep your mind on the battle, it's difficult to have positive thoughts to help win the war. If you stay focused on happy moments, then your mind starts seeking more happy moments to give you.

Think about your dreams, your hopes, your ambitions. We're all looking for a transformation in some area of our lives. I don't care how big or small your dreams, hopes and ambitions may be, if they're ever going to come to life, it will be because you took those baby steps of faith to turn your life around. The day you realize that you have the power to make a difference in your life as well as those whom you come in contact. If you wait for it, it will probably elude you like a butterfly. If you take seemingly insignificant steps, you will find that you have been empowered with a force within you that will take you places you've always wanted. Your mind is like a computer seeking the results of what is put in.

The question is how long are you going to wait to take those baby steps. Sure it may be tough at first. Maybe you fall down but you pick yourself up and take another baby step. It could be the one that leads to your breakthrough to living the life you dream. . .the abundant life. Make today the day you put away all fear and anxiety to begin empowered living unconditionally abundance in your life.

Are you ready to start living abundantly? Are you ready to get out of the war zone? If you need help, contact me. Together we can make a difference. To email me click here.

The Makeover

The Makeover
by Annie Tornabene

I was reading in Glamour Magazine and realized how much depression is like having a makeover. People who knew me a few years ago would agree. The beauty makeovers that transform a lady who thought she had no beauty transformed into a really beautiful person decked out with flattering clothes and makeup highlighted just in the right spots. That's what I'm talking about.

I was looking at some pictures of me then. I would fly off the handle at the slightest problem. I was always expecting the worst. I was always growling. My pictures show a person that was bitter and heavily overweight. I can't believe I was ever that large. lol The depression was the darkest and they said I was suicidal. I guess it's true, the darkest hour is just before the dawn.

A makeover in depression transforms the character, strengthens the integrity and purifies the motives. In understanding depression, you have to learn to trust in our Creator. Let our Creator empower our makeover. Meditation allows the mind healing. It relieves anxiety and worry. It allows tranquility and peace to enter into every fiber of your being to give you the freedom to live the life you dream and allow possibilities to appear in your subconscious mind that you can react to. Joy and laughter enter into our being. One day you wake up and find that happiness has taken over.

For me, meditation was the biggest key. Oh I had prayed before, but prayer is me asking or telling my Creator my problems. In meditation, it is our Creator communicating with us. If we focus on the light, the Light gives us strength and brings solutions along with peace and tranquility to accept what things cannot be change, the courage to change the things that we can and the wisdom to know the difference.

I start the day with a 20 minute meditation and end the day with a 20 minute meditation. During the day I may have several 2 minute meditations to help keep me focused or reclaim myself when thing seem to becoming unraveled. I was telling someone yesterday how much the 2 minute meditations have helped me. I've learn how to trust in my Creator's inner wisdom and honor my worthiness to receive this gift. I have become empowered with unconditional love, an empowering force of the law of attraction and joy and happiness have become my friends. I find every day a reason to live and laugh. Remember, I'm just like you. When I remind you, I am reminding me.

Our Creator designed the earth to be self supporting - everything is interconnected and all things were created to be of service to each other. Generosity to the poor and reverence for our Creator's wisdom is not separate from any part of our lives. It becomes us as we live in an attitude of gratitude. The makeover transforms us to see the beauty within ourselves. Enjoy your makeover. The beauty and light from within shines bright on the outer person.

Click here to hear Dr. Wayne Dyer on meditation.

Making A Difference

Our Creator created us to make a difference. We are not here by accident. We were given a mind to choose what we will in life. Are you making a difference? Everyone whom we come in contact with, leaves more positive or negative. What are you being left with? What are you leaving behind? When someone gives a little for you, what is your reaction? Do you notice it? Are you willing to do something in return? It's the little things that we do that make a difference.

As women we do many little things for our family without being appreciated. Often times it's those little things that we do, that make a difference is someone else's life. Whether they are our family, children, friends, acquaintances or strangers. A little step can make hugh rewards.

Live your life honestly without a lot of fanfare. Respect others and treat them with all the respect and honor that you would treat a king or queen. Stay true to your heart. It's the deeds done quietly in an attitude of gratitude that make a difference in a person's life; not the flash made by movers and shakers that seek only glory. When all the glitz and glamour is gone, what is left? The little things that you do will mean more than the flash by night.

Next time someone does something for you, be sure to really appreciate them with an attitude of gratitude. Whether it’s your sibling, parent, child, friend or stranger, take time to say how much you appreciate the things they do for you. When your heart is filled with gratitude, you will find that your life is making a difference in your own life as well as those around you.

Seize The Day

We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand. ~ Randy Pausch

We sometimes think what would we say to someone if we knew it was our last chance to speak to them. Rarely do we get such a change to hear such profound thoughts.

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave - "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" - wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment because "time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think". It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

Live your life to the fullest. Live every moment. Sieze the day while you can!

In Spanish (Español)

Lessons Learned From Johnny Cash

We've been jamming tonight and listening to JC - no other than the late great Johnny Cash. Inspiration comes from strange places. Here's what I've learned about depression.

1) Understand Your Man ...er, you are the man! Huh hum! In understanding depression, keep the spirit of believing in yourself. You can do it! The power of believing is amazing. You are right whether you believe you can or whether you believe you can't. So choose to believe you can.

2) A Boy Named Sue - Life isn't always easy. You gotta be prepared. Don't let anyone steal your dream from you or steal your thunder. Many will try to sway you away from your dream or target, you have to stand your ground. Having goals and a plan for your life, ensures that you will make it. Like the song says, "This world is rough, and if you're gonna make it, you've gotta be tough." Your life requires you to get tough about you and your life! Not in a forceful way but with gentle strength. My Tae Kwon Do Grandmaster said, "Train tough!" It's the same with life. Who wins out if you don't?

3) The Man In Black could be called Branding 101 JC - Johnny Cash wore all black because it was his trademark. He had a reason for dressing in black. When you saw him in black, you knew or quickly knew what it was. Johnny Cash didn't waddle in depression, he found a way to honor it. Life can be depressing but depression does not have to get you down. Make the most of your life. Everyone gets depressed sometime, just remember one step at a time.

4) The Legend of John Henry's Hammer - John Henry's Daddy told him to: "Learn to a turn a jack, learn to lay a track, learn to pick and shovel too." Same with your life. We have to pick and choose what we think about to empower our lives. Computers and the Internet are great, but it can't take the place of the human touch. Remember there is a real person on the other end of the computer connection. We need human interaction. The movie "Wall-e" makes a point of how we need the human touch. See how Walle and Eve interact. Learn to use technology to increase your interaction and know that it needs a human touch. Here is a summary on YouTube.


5) One Piece at a Time - Stealing one piece at a time from the assembly line to build a Cadillac without costing him a dime didn't turn exactly how it should look. Remember there are people out there that try to steal one piece of your joy and happiness at a time. Don't let them rob you of you joy and happiness. It's not worth it! You take control of your life and you will find that you have the real thing. They can never own you unless you allow them. Take one step at a time.

6) In The Jailhouse Now - Some days it feels like we're in the jailhouse now, but don't be held a prisoner by depression. Depression can hold you and your loved ones hostage. Learn to take baby steps, one step at a time in learning to Walk The Line. Don't let it hold you back, use your understanding depression to conquer depression. Are you a victim or victor?

7) Ring of Fire - Is just one of those storms of life. When you find yourself in a ring of fire, let it burn, burn, burn your passion for life. Let your ring of fire, ignite a spark of passion to come out of the ashes with your light from within burning bright; you will find a sandcastle was built out of the storm. What lessons did you learn?

8) A Bridge Over Troubled Waters - When you find you're in the storm water, find a bridge to cross over to the other side. There is always a bridge to safety. No matter how stormy the waters, there is a better way. Just find that connection and stay connected.

9) The Beast In Me - The beast in me has had to learn to live with pain and anger. We must learn to control our anxiety and anger which helps reduce our pain. Doing daily meditation and music are to the soul like a bandaid is to a cut or as sleep is to rest. They help control the beast in me. Can you feel the music?

10) Walk The Line - Doing our daily routine, we are able to take baby steps toward learning to walk the line toward peace, tranquility, joy and happiness. It's the Texas two step in making progress to understanding depression.

What kind of music are you creating with your life? Hope it tops the charts!

Live Joy

The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear. ~ Socrates

Whether you are in depression or simply trying to enjoy life a little more, turning your mind into a more positive state is a great idea. We all need to look at things in a more positive way. Fact of life is there are things all around us that work on pulling us down like gravity and aging. It's the way we choose to look at circumstances and events that impact us.

If we focus on our shortcomings, then we tend to become depressed or negative such as when we get angry or resentful and start blaming. This causes more anger and resentment and even self hatred. Or take for example the couple that has an argument, one brings up something from the past and starts blaming the other person. This only perpetuates our pain. We must get beyond our pain in order to live joy and happiness.

Has something like this happened to you? Whenever something like this happens, stop yourself and rethink how you really feel and why. Dissipating the negative will allow your positive energy to flow and you will find more peace, joy and happiness flowing through you.

Rediscover love within you. It is a key to mind healing. You must love yourself before you can love others. So finding the love within you helps you find the love for others. I have seen many a person transformed by love. It is a basic need of all humankind; maybe all creatures need love too. I don't care how big a bully or mean they may appear, they are trying to hide their feelings of inadequacy and need for love. They have been deprived so many times in the past that they feel they can never be loved. Are you that bully? Try finding a spark of love from within.

Don't be afraid of being alone with yourself to help you find that love from within. You can't move forward until you do. Are you sabotaging yourself? Spend a few minutes each day with the love from inside you, experiencing love, peace and joy.

Think about how you would feel if you had a friend over for dinner that you had taken a great deal of time to prepare. If all they did was complain, you would be hurt, wouldn't you?

It's the same with you. If all you do is complain about your life and criticize, the person inside you is hurting. The person you hurt most is yourself. The person inside you is dying. Is that what you want?

Turn yourself around. Live in the beauty of today. . .this very moment. All possibilities lie before you. You have the right to choose any of them. All your hopes and dreams lie before you and you can have them if you want. You have to choose to live joy, peace and happiness. No one can do it for you. Which one do you wish to live you life?

You can look at obstacles as stumbling blocks or stepping stones. Either way you are right. It's the same with a different outcome. It's just a matter of the way we choose to look at life's events and circumstances. Which one do you choose?

Isn't it time that you live the abundant life. . .live joy, peace and happiness? Make the most of whatever time you have. You are worth it.

Home Is Where The Heart Is

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

Close your eyes. Forget about the chaos in your life right now. Clear your mind. Use your creativity to visualize yourself approaching a beautiful home on a sprawling green lawn. The shady front porch invites you to step inside. As you enter the open door, you see a large living room with large glass windows that displays the sunlight outside. You see fresh flowers and pictures of your family adorning the tables. A sweet aroma fills the air of freshly baked cookies. Then you hear someone quietly speak your name. You turn with a big smile as you see the most wonderful loved one. You feel a heartfelt warm embrace. You know you are home. Home is where the heart is.

Every day, take time to quiet your mind to allow your mind healing from the past. Simply take time to slow down and simplify your life. This allows you to become more mindful of your choices. We are stressed, overwhelmed, and slowly sacrificing our sanity in the attempt to be in ten different places at once. Unless you’ve hired a stunt double, who really has the time to find balance? It seems to be the problem that a lot of us face. We just don’t have enough TIME. Declutter your life and find more "Me" time. Reconnect with the most important person in your life - you. This allows you to have more to give away. Understanding depression makes a difference. This will help alleviate insomnia, anxiety, muscle pain, and improve our overall health.

Remember, nobody is perfect or has a perfect life. Ask yourself what’s really important to you. Home is where the heart is. Together we can make a difference. What is your soul writing about you? Follow your heart and your body will follow.

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

You Are The Dream!

Be in the moment enjoy the day!

The greatest support we can have is mindfulness, which means being totally present in each moment. If the mind remains centered, it cannot make up stories about the injustice of the world or one's friends, or about one's desires or sorrows. This is the day that you are alive. This is the moment that you are in.

Beyond this moment, nothing else exist. Take responsibility for this moment. Enjoy it. Savor every precious thought, every moment before it slips away. Take time to smell the roses and other beautiful flowers along the journey.

Watch a sunset. Pay attention how much pleasure you experience. The best thing that can happen is that we learn from our experiences and the worst thing that can happen is that we fail to learn from our experiences. Enjoy the moment.

Engage in some activity that you would like to do. How did it make you feel? What did you learn about yourself? Did you make a mistake? Remember it is the journey that makes life worth living. . . nothing is set in stone or frozen. It is like dust in the wind. Dare to dream.

All your hopes and dreams are real right now. All your possibilities are ready to be lived. Everything you've ever done has led you to this point. You are more fully alive, aware, experienced and prepared than you have ever been. What matters is not how old or how young you may think you are. What matters is making the most of this moment you now have.

What matters is not how much or how little you may think you have, how fairly or unfairly you may think life has treated you. What matters is that you make the most of who you are.

This is it. This is your moment to fill with the best you can imagine.

Live it with love, with purpose and joy.

Hugs in an attitude of gratitude,