Cancer Can Not Kill Your Spirit

Cancer is serious and just hearing that you or a loved one has been diagnosed with it can be demoralizing and make you feel instantly defeated.

That's when you have to step back and remember, although cancer does have the power to make you very ill, you can fight it with a combination of knowledge, help and spiritual good health. You must believe you will be helped and you must believe above all - that while you may have cancer - it doesn't "have" you.

Make yourself as strong in mind, body and spirit as possible. Cut anyone lose that is a negative type of person. Anyone that is acting as though your life is already over because of your diagnosis - get them away from you. Negatively is as cancerous as cancer itself. Surround yourself with positivity and positive people. If you've been lax with your spirituality - learn to pray again. Talk to your Creator and you'll be very pleased to find out - you were never forgotten and your thoughts and prayers are still very much heard.

Do good things for yourself. Those bad habits you were putting off stopping, do it immediately. Make a resolution that if anyone or anything is not good for you, it is gone from you. Your physical health and emotional well-being depend on it.

Hope is what shines eternal in us all and without hope we no longer live - we simply exist. Get educated about your illness and seek out the best lifestyle possible for yourself. Hope for the best and make good changes for yourself.
 posted by Friends of Leah   

Aspire to Be an Inspiration

Have you ever met anyone that just inspired you to be a better person? Would you like to be someone like that? It doesn't take a lot of money and it doesn't take a lot time - it takes action.

If you want to be an inspiring person, find something you truly believe in and make a difference. There is an old Chinese saying that goes,"The person who says it can not be done should not interrupt the person doing it"; and truer words were never spoken.

Should you feel confused about what your life path should be, ask the Divine for guidance. Doors open if you just ask. You might find yourself helping the homeless or reading to children in an inner city. Donating handmade clothing to hospitals for preemie babies in the neo-natal unit that have neither gowns nor hats to keep them warm. If someone near to your passed away from heart disease, you may want to make it known what a silent killer it can be.

If you're the shy type, there are ways to help that don't involve direct involvement with people. Find a charity and donate a portion of your paycheck - give up your lunchtime coffee at Starbucks so a child in a third world country can have school books or a pair of shoes. A little giving goes a long, long way.

Find something that inspires you to help others and in doing so - you will have become an inspiring person!
 posted by Friends of Leah   

Positivity in the Workplace

Some of us spend more time in the office than we do at home and it is sometimes easy to allow our emotions we might display at home to cross over into the workplace.

If you work with negative people that don't recognize the good work you do, it's easy to lose your positivity. When you feel you are being passed over for promotions and raises when you are doing a good job at what you do. But half of a good job is how you do it.

Do you approach your job with enthusiasm and positivity? No matter how good of a job you do, you can count on not being truly recognized unless you also radiate positivity and show your leadership skills. No one wants to be in a room with a person that is always complaining and talking about how bad their life/job/marriage/kids/finances are. Leave your personal problems outside the door. No matter what kind of day you are having - leave it outside the job.

Try an experiment, for just one week. Concentrate on looking as sharp and professional as possible. Be positive. Greet everyone with a "Good morning" and make sure you have a smile in your voice. You may find by the end of the week, it has become second nature almost to project this positive and successful image. Now, at the end of the week, look at people's responses to the new you. Did you notice they were more positive towards you? You gave an air of success and confidence and those are the traits that will get you noticed and promoted.

Your personal problems will be there after work and can wait to be handled until then. Don't let them color your professional life. Project positivity and success will follow.
 posted by Friends of Leah   

Random Acts of Kindness

This is something everyone should try at least once. Once you start doing it, you might not be able to stop but this is something it's okay to feel the need to do on a regular basis. It's called random acts of kindness and it simply means doing something kind for someone else whom you know or not and not expecting so much as a "thank you" in return. This can come in many forms.

It can start with something simple. If you see someone struggling with packages in a store, do your part. Ask if you may help. Get them a cart or simply hold packages until they can be more balanced. If someone is in front of you in line at the grocery store and they are short a couple of dollars, pay it. Other random acts of kindness include saying "Bless you" when someone sneezes and you might think that is basic politeness but a lot of manners seem to be lost today. Reclaim yours and you might inspire someone else to do the same thing.

Groups of people can accomplish a lot. One inspiring story is about a group of teenagers in Dallas, Texas that got together and drove around town and found a house with an elderly woman in the front yard. The yard and house was in disrepair and two of the girls with the group spoke to the woman and found she was a widow who had recently had cancer surgery and had neither the strength nor the money to work on her home. A plan was hatched, one week later they showed up with lawn mowers, edgers and flowers for the flower bed. They also painted her house. The entire thing was done in one weekend and the woman was crying and thrilled. That is a great example of a random act of kindness.

Whether it is a kind word, small kind deed or a group effort - get your mind set to start performing random acts of kindness for those around you and watch the positivity spread.
 posted by Friends of Leah   

Spiritual Healing

When you're ready to feel better about yourself, about life - you are ready for spiritual healing.

Healing your spirit is necessary when you've been beaten down by life, negative influences or you have been physically ill. It's time to reclaim your inner light and allow it to shine again.

Where Does Spiritual Healing Start?It starts at the heart of your spirit, in your own heart. You need to reach down within yourself and pull out all the negativity, hate, bad feelings, loss and other experiences that have left you feeling hollow and spiritless as a person and pull them out and let them go.

Letting go is the beginning. If you have an ex-spouse that you don't really want back in your life but you can't let go of; usually it's because you still want them to pay for hurting you. That's not healthy for you and quite frankly, the other person doesn't probably "get it" anyway. It's time to move forward and fill your heart with love instead of anger and regret.

How Will You Know When Spiritual Healing Has Happened?Easy, instead of anger over a person or situation, you might look back with a twinge of regret but you instead see the lesson that was learned through it all. When you feel those old feelings of hurt and anger returning, take a deep breathe and remind yourself how far you've come and that roads are best traveled with a good frame of mind and spirit.

Spiritual Healing After Illness happens if you've been ill fighting a life threatening disease and the Divine decided it just wasn't your time to come home; use that gift of life to help others. Get yourself strong again and then try to help others. Whether through counseling people going through a similar situation or merely performing a weekly random act of kindness for someone you know or don't know. Reach out and spread your light - that's a beautiful thing to do.
 posted by Friends of Leah   

A Broken Heart

If you've ever had your heart broken, you know the truth - it really hurts. The physical pain that starts in your chest and goes to the pit of your belly - it's real and it feels exactly like your heart is breaking in half.

Hearts can be broken in a lot of ways. It can happen through the loss of a loved one, the loss of a baby, or the break up of a relationship you really gave you all to. All of these situations hurt and when you're in the middle of it, it may seem the hurt may never end. But it does.

Two things will get you through a broken heart. Belief that you will get through this situation and trust in the Divine to help you get through it. In the case of a hard loss of a loved one or the untimely death of a child you might wonder why this happened and instead of being comforted by your beliefs you may feel completely abandoned by the Divine. Nothing could be further from the truth. What you need to remember is that we all get a lifetime on this earth. Some of us will get shorter lifetimes than others and even a short life left us with a lesson: appreciate what you've been given and make the most of it. You will get past your broken heart, know that to be truth. It's cliche to say, but time really does soften the blow and make old memories sting a little less. Try to remember the ones you've lost with love and they will continue to live on in your heart.

If you lost a relationship, you have to eventually quit eating the chocolate bon-bons and ice cream in bed; it's time to get up and dust yourself off. Realize you gave it your best shot but that it takes two to tango and if your partner isn't interested in dancing there's nothing you can do and no point beating yourself up over it any longer. Let go of the past and embrace the future, you have a bright one awaiting!
 posted by Friends of Leah   

Two Types of Hard Times

There are two kinds of hard times you will experience in your life. One type is created through the choices you make. You might choose to stay out all night with your friends visiting bars and then be late for work the next day; your boss is tired of your constant lateness so you are fired on the spot. You are suddenly in a real financial crunch due to that. Those are hard times caused by your own choices. As long as you learn something from the experience - it served its purpose.

Then there are hard times that are due to other people's choices. The woman who lost her husband due to a drunk driver is an example. Her husband did nothing wrong, he was the victim of someone else's choice. The people who were killed on 9/11 is another example. The did nothing wrong - they simply went to work that day or took an airline flight. The actions of others caused them harm and many of their loved ones experienced hard times.

It's hard to have faith when you're faced with the injustice of someone you love being taken from you due to simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Many people lose their faith and don't realize losing a loved one or experiencing a hard time in life is meant to be a growing experience. Of course it hurts and you'll always miss them. But you need to set aside your anger, hurt and grief and fill your heart with love and look towards the future.

Many people have found after losing someone or experiencing hard times, they felt the need to help others who might in the same situation get through it. Helping others is what life is all about and when you have hard times - ask for strength and watch for an opportunity to help another person who might be in the same situation, it's one of the best ways to work through your anger and grief and begin living again.
 posted by Friends of Leah   

Prayers and Wishes

Do you ever wonder if anyone hears your prayers? You ask and ask and ask and you never seem to get an answer. Ditto with your wishes. Do you feel no one understands what you truly wish for?

Sometimes you need to step back and take stock of your life. How are you really doing in your life? It's not a case of your prayers and wishes not being heard; all prayers and wishes are heard unequivocally. Sometimes the answer is , "no" and you have to expect that as a possibility to any request you make.

Usually if you look back at a particular incident, you will see without fail the fact you didn't get the easy way out and it forced you to work and find a way out of the situation. In every case you will find that hard circumstances made you a much stronger person.

The Divine loves you unfailingly but the powers that be want you to work at being a strong person as well. Nothing is given to lazy people. Embrace hard times and things that seem like set backs as learning experiences and a chance to grow as a person. Continue to say your prayers and make your wishes, believe me, you are being heard.
 posted by Friends of Leah