MOMtivation

I am feeling extreme gratitude for this weekend. I had a ton of fun @ the Golden Coast and experienced amazing transformation.

One memorable moment was listening to Gay Hendricks  talk about how he met his wife, Katie.  He asked her out on a date by first establishing that he was seeking for a relationship based on ultimate honesty and the celebration of personal responsibility. Very powerful.

Meeting Gay and interacting with him and observing his relationship with his beautiful vibrant wife really inspires me to be open to a loving relationship filled with exhilarating playfulness, “spiciness” and romance.

I think about the principle of honesty and how critical and essential it is to our growth and happiness. In fact, it is so important, that 4 out 10 commandments are related to dishonesty:

Honesty is important in all relationships. We’ve all lied and learned that lying is only conducive to more lies, misery and failure.

But honesty is more than telling the whole truth all the time. Honesty is being honest with ourselves, sticking to our word and fulfilling our obligations.  I once heard it’s easier to be honest 100% than 98% of the time.

I’ve learned that being honest is a conscious, pre-meditated choice one must make.  It takes a split second to go either in the direction of transparency or toward telling lies.  There are certainly gray areas, but these questions must be addressed to God. The answer is revealed personally to each of us.

I invite you to think of more ways you can be more honest. I am challenging myself to aligning myself with relationships and partnerships that are based in ultimate honesty, integrity and transparency.  I believe that the exercising of this virtue is a healthy expectation of the people in our lives, as well as a gift we  can bless their lives with.

uhhhh I am ready. Are you?

Guiding YOUR Path to Success,

Love is not supposed to hurt.  Love is supposed to be a yummilicious feeling that fills our life with gratitude, passion and positive energy.

Lovers are imperfect, but love is perfect.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 ⁸ Love never fails.  1 Cor 13

I think the ultimate purpose of life may just be to get to a place of love perfection and I think motherhood, parenthood in general, gets us closer to that Heavenly love. It should.

This Valentine’s Day, the girls and I went to a nursing home and smiled, hugged, conversed and passed handmade valentines around to the wonderful residents. It was such a treat.

LOVE is a gift. Love, EXERCISED, is the ultimate gift!

Think about it. If someone claims to love you, but don’t exercise the patience, kindness, support, selflessness, forgiveness, honesty, protection, trust, hope and perseverance that SHOWS they love you… instead, they are easily angered, quick to judge and blame.  Do You Feel Loved?

Look at these 10 Ways to Love ... and a scripture to back it up!  Awesome, right?

LISTEN without interrupting. (Proverbs 18)
SPEAK without accusing. (James 1:19)
GIVE without sparing. (Proverbs 21:26)
PRAY without ceasing. (Colossians 1:9)
ANSWER without arguing. (Proverbs 17:1)
SHARE without pretending. (Ephesians 4:15)
ENJOY without complaint. (Philippians 2:14)
TRUST without wavering. (Corinthians 13:7)
FORGIVE without punishing. (Colossians 3:13)
PROMISE without forgetting. (Proverbs 13:12)

I just love this!  Love is not some mystical, magical action-less feeling. Love is a choice to act and to allow ourselves to be our best selves for that person.  Love  HEALS … it does not hurt.   Love endures all, it does not give up when circumstances are painful. Love is the strength that pulls us up when life is hard.

When there’s a hole in your life, fill it with love!

Guiding YOUR Path to Success,

I am extremely attracted to people of great faith. Being the social butterfly I am, I have met a lot of people in my life, and I can say without a doubt that faith is definitely connected to one’s attitude and happiness.

The grumpiest people I have met resist a belief in their creator, mistrust others, and, this affects their belief in themselves.

I think it was Harvey McKay who said something like ”Optimists are right. Pessimists are right also. It’s up to you what you choose to be.”

I was thinking about the story of Naaman, which we find on II Kings 5:1-14.  This story has always resonated with me.  He was a good man and a Syrian soldier of great prestige, greatly affected with leprosy… an incurable disease at the time.

After obtaining gold, silver and fine linens to pay the king for restoration of his health, Naaman went to see the prophet Elisha, (yes, that’s my daughter’s name) whose servant told him to go dip seven times in the Jordan River.  This really upset Naaman as he felt it was an insult. He left. How could this crazy activity clean him and heal him from a deadly disease?

“Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.”

Naaman’s servants helped him see that his pride was interfering with his recovery, so he returned to Israel and dipped seven times in the Jordan and he was completely cured.

“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies” said Mother Teresa

Sometimes the most seemingly insignificant acts of faith (or optimism, if you will) will work wonders, if only:

1. We get ourselves out of the way (“Behold, I thought…”)
2. We shed our ego, lose our pride
3. We take the first step (as ridiculous or inconceivable as it may seem/sound)

I know that skepticism creates procrastination. I think skepticism and disbelief are actually a form of fear.   It’s easier to complain and disregard a possibility than to work toward it.  The “what if it doesn’t work out?” can certainly stop us in our tracks.

Faith is not the opposite of fear. My most monumental miracles happened when I had faith in the midst of “unbearable fear.”  When I believed in something greater when all belief in myself was gone.

Every little thing counts, every little step gets us closer… When we are faithful in the little things is where we become strong in spite because of fear, adversity, turmoil, pain, disease, and/or any unpleasant circumstances.

That’s why it’s easier to have an optimistic perspective of life when you have faith: it’s not about me or who I am, it’s about US and whose we are.

Taking each step in faith is sure to get us there.

Guiding YOUR Path to Success,

In times of pain and turmoil,  I look at lists of basic principles of wisdom to find messages and signs. Working on my mind, my spirit and my body provides inspiration and an energy boost to move forward.

I’m sure you’ve seen this list before as it has been propagated at the speed of light all over the web through e-mail. It never gets old, though.

Mental Feng Shui 

ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As
you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

THREE. Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

FOUR. When you say, ‘I love you,‘ mean it.

FIVE. When you say, ‘I’m sorry,’ look the person in the eye.

SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.

EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone’s dreams. People who don’t have dreams don’t have much.

NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it’s the only way to live life completely.

TEN.. In disagreements, fight fairly . No name calling.

ELEVEN. Don’t judge people by their relatives.

TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.

THIRTEEN. When someone asks you a question you don’t want to answer, smile and ask, ‘Why do you want to know?’

FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

FIFTEEN. Say ‘bless you’ when you hear someone sneeze.

SIXTEEN. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R’s: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.

EIGHTEEN. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

NINETEEN. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

TWENTY- ONE. Spend some time alone.

Mmmmm Good!

Practicing small simple and basic principles while teaching them and modeling them to our children is a big part of positive parenting.  I find that I am more in tune with these principles when I pray, when I have a deeper connection with self and with God.

I already feel better!

Guiding YOUR Path to Success,

The girls and I love ORGANIC.  So much discomfort and disease is caused by toxic substances.  From our vegetables to our cleaning supplies to my nail polish, we strive to be a chemical free home.

The same way chemical-filled products are cancerous for our physical health, some relationships are toxic for our mind and our soul.

Being with a toxic person causes us to feel drained energetically, unfulfilled, worse about ourselves and sometimes even threatened or in potential danger.  We feel like we have to change to make the toxic happy.

Toxic relationships are filled with drama, angst, dread, misery, illness, depression and stress. Toxic People Are:

1. Takers ~ the relationship revolves around what you can do for them, how, and how often. They are controlling, demanding, selfish and self-centered.
2. Pessimists ~ poor and negative outlook in life. 
3. Complainers ~ gossiping about what is wrong about anything and anyone all the time. Everything annoys them, bothers them and frustrates them.
4. Blamers ~ dumping their frustrations on others and unable to accept personal responsibility. They are mistrusting and jealous, at times.
5. Drainers ~ they are insecure, and, therefore, they say demeaning comments, put you down, criticize you, question you to feel a false sense of empowerment. They often ignore your boundaries.

Guiding YOUR Path to Success,