Thankful For The Lighthouse

Thankful For The Lighthouse
by Annie Tornabene



This month of gratitude, I remember that I am thankful for the lighthouse that has been a beacon of hope during the storms of life.

Through the endless years, a light of hope slowly emerges from it's tall tower in the darken fog... no matter how dark the night may be...or how howling the winds may rage. Hope begins to fill my heart when I see the light. I am thankful for the lighthouse for where would I be if it wasn't for the lighthouse. I would be tossed on the stormy sea.

It's a beacon of hope for all to see. I am thankful for the lighthouse. Together we can make a difference in understanding depression. In an attitude of gratitude, thank you.

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.

Attitude of Gratitude

Attitude of Gratitude
By Annie Tornabene


Good Morning Friends,

I got to reflecting during the night how friendship is something to be extremely grateful for. Friendship is the light of the world. This month is Gratitude Month and we all need to take time to reflect on things in our life that we are grateful.

Learning to be thankful for what we have today, and the turmoil of our past, empowers us with courage, hope, optimism and joy that help us reach toward our goals.

Sometimes it has been difficult to accept our turmoil, disappointments and defeats with an attitude of gratitude. There have been times in my life that I wondered how in the world this could be good for me. How could my Creator have allowed this to happen? How could I live another day like this? How could I have allowed that person into my life? How am I going to survive? How am I going to overcome this? What good could possibility come from this?

One day my Grandmaster made me sit down during my meditation time and make a list of all my enemies, those people who have hurt me in the past and anyone with whom I had tension. I had to find something about each person I could be thankful for. The results were amazingly profound. Even when I was only a few names down the list, I started realizing how much resentment I still harbored toward the people I named. I thought I had released that anger against them. It took real effort to hold on to that anger subconsciously, and it was putting physical strain on my body. Oh, I could hide it consciously, but inwardly it was ripping my insides out. As I found something to be grateful for about each person, I felt the pressure releasing bit by bit. I found relief.

I realized that by holding on to that subconscious anger, it was causing my mind to relive endlessly that turmoil and thus the mind was focusing on negativity rather than the positive that would bring me health, happiness and joy. I realized that because of that person, I learned to change for the better. Finding an attitude of gratitude about our enemies and those people that we have difficulty with, we learn to end the mental war and make peace with our past. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a present.

Acknowledging some measure of gratitude for each person allows us to live in the present with an inner peace and hope. It teaches us to set healthy boundaries with people in our present. It reminds us how far we've come. It helps us feel good about ourselves when we realize that we have overcome obstacles. It helps us make life affecting decisions. It helps us appreciate the good in our lives. It helps us realize that the thorn in our side has been removed and we have grown to flourish. In spite of the tears, the smears and turmoil, we thrive.

In an attitude of gratitude, you, my friend, are the light of the world in a world of darkness. Thank you for being my friend.

Are You Crazy?

Are You Crazy?
by Annie Tornabene


"Are you crazy?" There have been times when I thought I must be crazy to think like this... And there were times when I heard someone say that to me, 'Are you crazy?' There were times when I would have thought it was an insult, but today, I think it is a compliment. Why, you ask?

To be crazy means I'm a little out of the ordinary. Well with all the things I want to accomplish, I have to be out of the ordinary. Think of Henry Ford, Thomas Edison or Albert Einstein. They all had to be out of the ordinary. I'm sure they heard 'Are you crazy?' many times. Even Elvis Presley must have heard, 'Are you crazy?' a few times. This craziness is a good thing.

You see our conscious mind is like our Mother constantly nagging us. It's there for our protection...to keep us safe. It goes on and on like a stuck record, oops, I dated myself before CDs. with the same stinking thinking over and over again. But even a lie that is told repeatedly can become true. "Who do you think you are? You can't do that! You're not good enough. You're bad. Something awful is going to happen. You're stupid to think that." These are just a few of the more popular tracks the mind likes to repeat constantly. No wonder we get depressed. So you need to be a little crazy ... out of the ordinary... to go BEYOND the fear that is holding you back. Your mind has heard the words, 'NO" and "Don't Do That" ever since you were born. The stinking thinking has been played more often than the positive input. So why wouldn't you get depressed? It's time to stop the stinking thinking and be a little crazy.

So to create a little craziness with positive changes in your life, you really need to be out of your ordinary mind. All you have to fear is fear itself and for that you are crazy. To be crazy is going beyond the ordinary...it is stepping out of fear...it is pushing the barriers beyond the wall...it is thinking for yourself outside the box.


Anything that resonates as "not safe", your mind will automatically dismiss as impossible and sabotage you every time. The problem is that it is operating from programming the ordinary mind. The ordinary is safe. The ordinary just follows and does not think for itself. So it's time to break the pattern. Don't just follow the leader. Think for yourself. It is going against mainstream that is your only hope of salvation of creating your best life now.

If you feel depressed, anxiety, worry or in any way out of place with peace, love, joy and abundance, stop and think of what is going on in your head. Listen to the chaos and start to pluck out what really matters. Some of that nagging chaos is absolutely false - although your mind believes it 100%. So ask yourself these questions and write down the answers which is a critical part of this exercise.

• 
  What am I most worried about?


• 
  What is the worst thing that could happen to me?


• 
  What is my biggest fear?


• 
  What would happen to me if my biggest fear came true?
  

Are any of these reasons serious enough for you to be depressed, not sleeping at night or completely stressed out? Problems present themselves and then amazingly enough solutions seem to manifest as well. Problem, solution, problem, solution, problem, solution. That pretty much is the pattern of life from what I can see. It's when we buy into our mind's fear spurred along by the ordinary addiction to fear, that we can start to believe that THIS TIME the problems are bigger than ever. So what if they are, then the solutions THIS TIME will be bigger than ever. How excitingly crazy is that! Seriously, I am discovering in my life right now that big problems require big solutions and they manifest just like little solutions occur for little problems. Why worry? I am fascinated to see how all this chaos in the world is going to play.

The United States will have a first for their President next week - a first oldest man, a first semi-black man, a first female Vice President... you see they are all first no matter which way you vote or who wins. A generation that has grown up in an unrealistic economy may realize some core values in life that have been buried way too long. We may discover that our Creator goes a long way to keeping us together in tough times.

We are in for some big shifts like we have never seen in our lifetime. Together we have an amazing opportunity to be pillars in a potentially very different world. This is a wonderful opportunity to be the leader you were born to be. This is your time to really shine your light for others to see. Together we can make a difference in understanding depression and living a crazy best life now.

Here's what you can do starting today. Encourage others. Laugh daily. Give lots of hugs. Send positive thoughts out to the world. Focus on love, joy, peace and abundance. Stop watching and listening to stinking thinking. Get your mind into crazy positive thinking and into your heart. Step out of fear and into a place of love, hope and peace. When you do that, you will be delighted how amazing you can live your best life now. Are you crazy in an attitude of gratitude?

Smiles

Smiles
by Annie Tornabene







Smiles. Ever notice them? Sure you have, without thinking you probably returned the smiles. Smiles are contagious. You can't help but put on a smile when you see smiles.

Trying smiling. What happens? You notice your mood changes. Even my daughter has learned when I'm feeling blue, all she has to do is smile and it's better than magic. It's better than taking a pill. It flows from within. It turns the frown upside down.

When you smile, you notice that life is too short, we have to break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, truly love ourselves and each other, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that made you smile. Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we should dance... and smile.

Meditation

Meditation
by Annie Tornabene





Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, the strife of everyday life keeps us busy with so many distractions and other things. We tend too not have time for meditation. Now days we have so many distractions and creature comforts that we don't realize how distracted we have become. We say we are too tired, that we will do it tomorrow. Let's just chill out and watch TV. Have you heard yourself say that?

The next thing you know, two maybe three hours have gone by and our mind is filled with a bunch of stuff ... a bunch of garbage ... useless mind wandering stuff. I've even had those days where I did that and was more depressed because I didn't feel anything. I went to sleep and my dreams were a mixture of what I had watched on TV and distortions of my life. Crazy dreams! Haven't you ever wondered where some of those crazy dreams came ... what brought them on?

The most important thing for meditation, at least for me, is silence. Just to be still and know... to get my mind to settled down, to be at peace with myself .... to get my mind to focus. Every fiber in my body comes to rest. It is a way to reorganize my hectic and chaotic thoughts... to feel love and gratitude ... to unwind. The hardest part is getting into the routine ... of integrating it in our lives. When I first started meditation, my wind wanted to wander because I was in so much chaos. Now, it's like a little baby when it's fussy. I remember when our oldest son had his first baby, when he would get fussy, my husband would rock him and walk with him and he would just cry more. Then I would come home and pick him up and within two minutes he would fall fast asleep. It was as if he said, "Mom or Grandma has got me, so I am safe." He felt comfort in my arms. Our minds are like fussy babies. When we learn meditation, our mind learns, "Oh, safety is here, I can rest." When my mind becomes unruffled, my body starts to soothe.

After meditation, it is a perfect time for me to do a little yoga and bodyflow ... to stretch those muscles so I don't have all those little aches and pains from the nerves being bottled up and stuck in one place. You know what I'm talking about. Oh yeah, it hurts to move them, but it hurts worst not to move them. It is as if our bodies were made to flow ... not too fast ... just easy movement. I do this twice a day ... first thing in the morning and last thing in the evening. Sometimes, when things get too hectic, I will do it during the day also. And of course, sometimes I need a two minute meditation just to get me back on track.

All week we have been talking about keys to understanding depression. Meditation is one key that helped me. The effects of meditation doesn't happen overnight, but I found in the long run, I was feeling better along with the other things that I have talked about. No one said it would be easy, just that it would be worth it. Together we can make a difference in living with peace, tranquility and joy. Empower your live today with love and gratitude.

Perseverance

Perseverance
by Annie Tornabene





I will do whatever it takes to live my life to the max. I will keep on keeping on to overcome the storms of life. Perseverance is my way of life because I focus on positive results no matter how long it takes.

Denis Waitley said it, "Toughness gives you the resilience to keep pressing on, even if your determination and optimism are lagging." Jim Rohn said, "It takes time to build a corporate work of art. It takes time to build a life. And it takes time to develop and grow. So give yourself, your enterprise, and your family the time they deserve and the time they require." You can live every single day in love, peace and joy! How do you do that? Perseverance.

One way is to embrace your future by perseverance and determination to live your best life now. When everything around you is crumbling, when you’re facing the storms along the strings of life and your attitude on life will be determined by your "hook-up." (What you do when the storms in life come your way.) If your hook-up is grounded in an attitude of gratitude and you are determined to persevere whatever it takes to live your best life now; joy, peace and love flow through you to empower your life. That empowerment enables you to have perseverance in the face of adversity. That empowerment helps you understand depression and overcome the obstacles in life. It's another key to understanding depression. Together we can make a difference with perseverance.

Happy Birthday, Annie

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A Forgiving Spirit

A Forgiving Spirit
by Annie Tornabene




I will greet each day with a Forgiving Spirit.

I'm often asked "How can I move on?" You can't move on without a forgiving spirit. Forgiveness is the mental, and/or spiritual process of ceasing to feel resentment, indignation or anger against another person or persons for a perceived offense, difference or mistake, or ceasing to demand punishment or restitution. Love is an act of endless forgiveness that becomes a habit.

Moving on, new year celebrations and other similar events are a chance to start over. Starting over often involves forgiveness; both giving it and getting it. Neither one of those is easy, but both are doable.

Forgiving someone means that we find the courage to go beyond ourselves to a place that helps us see those who have hurt us in a new way. It means that we must confront the past and commit to a new way of thinking and behaving. That's a hard cup to swallow.

There are steps that will help make it a little easier. Remember nothing is impossible. The only thing you have to fear is fear itself. Fear will try to talk you out of forgiveness because unforgiveness feeds on fear. Fear has been it's teacher... it knows no other way to survive than living a life in fear and unforgiveness.

Forgiveness only applies to the first person. What I mean by that is that you can only forgive what you have done or someone has done to you. You can't forgive what someone did to someone else or they did to someone else. It is strictly personal. If you are not involved, then stay out of it. You can not force another person to forgive. Each person has to make that decision for themselves.

Don't waddle in your forgiveness. When you have decided to forgive someone (that includes yourself), make the statement and let it go. Hanging on to it or to keep nagging about it only means that you haven't been willing to forgive. Don't start listing all the problems at once. Take one at a time. Don't overwhelm yourself or the other person with all the mistakes. I've seen couples try to ask for forgiveness for a thousand mistakes - listing them one by one until the other person is overwhelmed. It's not the time or place to explore the problems. It is simply the time to ask for forgiveness in a forgiving spirit. Some mistakes can be bundled together and sometimes you can just say "Forgive me for all my mistakes." Love is the endless forgiveness that becomes a habit. Love your life. Love the other person. Every time fear pops its ugly head to remind you of the past wrongs, bring love in... think or say "I love you." The same goes for when someone apologies for their mistakes, accept it and let it go reminding yourself to send them love. Each time you do this, it will strengthen you in a forgiving spirit.

Remember none of us are perfect. We have all made mistakes and in a forgiving spirit, we move on. We do not want to be held hostage to our past. A forgiving spirit brings us to a better tomorrow ... a new relationship with the other person and our self. When I learned to forgive myself for past mistakes, it was like a different person. Because I became a different person. The key to forgiveness is to be able to look beyond all the problems, all the faults, all the mistakes and love them and/or yourself anyway!

If you are not ready to forgive, tell the other person that you will need some time but you want to begin a new level of relationship. Remember forgiveness is not the end but the beginning.

Forgiving yourself with a forgiving spirit is the act of beginning to move on ... to live again.

In starting a new beginning and moving on, celebrate that moment with a hug, a smile, a toast or even a dinner. You have made the first step, however small it may be, you have made the first step to moving on in a forgiving spirit.

Remember to forgive those who do not ask for forgiveness and most importantly, forgive yourself. Do whatever it takes to forgive in a forgiving spirit with an attitude of gratitude. No one said it would be easy, just that it is worth it. Together we can make a difference in learning to live with a forgiving spirit in an attitude of gratitude.

Choose To Be Happy

Choose To Be Happy
by Annie Tornabene




Today I Will Choose to be Happy

How many of you are stuck in a dark fog of depression because you did not choose to be happy? Wow, that was like a shot between the eyes. Or it was for me when I first realized it.

It's time to wake up and smell the roses. If you're not smelling the sweetness of life, it's your stinking thinking that you are smelling. After my accident, I blamed the car, the driver, etc. It was if this hadn't happened or if that hadn't happened... none of it was me. I just sat there day after day getting darker and darker and more depressed. Then one day one of my friends told me about the days which turned into years, she had been in depression and how she decided one day that she was tired of being depressed. She told herself that she was not going to be discouraged, she was not going to be depressed. From that day forward she was going to be happy. She talked to me like I'm talking to you.

What do you mean, I have a choice? You don't understand, I can't move...I have a horrible disease...I've been ... Oh yeah, I know all the excuses. I tried them too. It's not what has happened to us, it's our reaction to what happened to us that makes the difference. You can choose to be happy or you can choose to be depressed. Which do you want?

After my accident, my Mother would tell me to smile. I couldn't smile. She would tell me to stop frowning. I couldn't change the look on my face. True the accident had altered some things in my life but it was my reaction to them that made the difference. When I decided to quit sitting there, my life changed from within.

It wasn't easy. I took each step with great effort ... each tiny little baby step and sometimes just a little wiggle is all I could muster. Sometimes I had to fake it in order to make it. Looking back, I see how far I've come. There were days that I felt like I took two steps backwards but I was still farther ahead than I was. Sure there are bad moments, but they don't keep me held hostage to the heavy mist of dark fogs of depression. I choose to be happy. No I may not be manic happy but I choose a happiness from within that brings me joy, peace, tranquility, contentment and a little laughter. The setbacks in my life are never as bad as my bad days in depression. I look back with pride at how far I've managed to come. It almost seems like a dream now. What am I talking about ... it was a nightmare.

Oh sure, when the doctors tell me things that I must go through, I stop for a moment and think "how can I handle this?" Fear sits in for a moment and then I think, I've been through far worst. We sometimes have to push fear aside and choose to be happy about the situation. Being depressed about it certainly doesn't help! I know because I've tried it. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. It is certainly better to be in control over the choices I make. Each choice I make makes me stronger. It's a great feeling not be on an emotional roller coaster ride.

Every day you can choose to be happy... wait a minute... you can choose to be happy every moment of every day! The choice is yours. Choose to be happy that you are alive. There are no guarantee in life so live your best life now. No one else can make me happy. It is simply a choice - my choice and my choice alone. That goes the same for you too. Live for today! Everything you do for yourself today makes for a better tomorrow. No matter what! Your choice will make a difference. Together we can make a difference because we choose to be happy!

Remember to say to yourself as many times as it takes, "I will greet each day with laughter, I will smile at every person I meet and I will do everything in an attitude of gratitude. I will choose to be happy." You may not make it everytime, but you'll still land among the stars.

The Attitude

The Attitude
by Annie Tornabene



I wish I could say that my teaching in school was made like this man, Zig Zigglar. Unfortunately they were not. However, I did get a lot of positive forces from people like him outside of my schooling and Zig Ziglar was one of the most influential forces in my early development and career over thirty years ago. I didn't realize it at the time, but the things I heard him say and the things I heard my Dad say about him as he read his books helped change my life and my decisions in what to major in school.

His ability to strike a piercing chord in everyone who desires positive change in their life, has made him a master in the field of personal development. His perseverance and determination to living the natural laws, has made a remarkable difference in thousands of lives throughout the world. He doesn't just talk the attitude ... he walks the attitude ... he breathes the attitude ... he lives the attitude. That's what I'm talking about. You gotta walk the talk and talk the walk.

It doesn't matter how rich or how poor you are... depression hits us all. We are all subjects to emotions because we are human. It doesn't matter if you are just a little blue or if you've been down for years. It just matters that you get back up. So what if we've hit a bump in the road. So what if we've been hit by a storm... Things happen ... life changes. We will survive and do even better next time because we have the attitude.

Someone told me the other day, how much I had changed in the last ten years... how far I had come ... I wasn't waddling in pain... I didn't seem depressed.... I wasn't Taz (Tasmanian Devil)! I stepped back and smiled. Yeah, I was in pain but I've learned how not to let it affect me. The day I chose not be depressed anymore, was the day my life turned around. Sure, I have bad days but I don't stay down. I'm not gonna let anger rule me. I'm not gonna be discouraged. I'm not gonna be depressed. They can take everything from me. I will always have what someone else wants. I have me. I have my life and I'm in control of my life. I have the attitude. No one can take it away from me. I have the power! Do you know what I'm talking about?

Maybe you're not depressed but not living your full potential. You can learn this too. It is stuff we need to hear to empower ourselves with the attitude that our life matters. We do make a difference and together we make a difference in learning to live with the right attitude - The attitude of gratitude and abundance