One Day...

Sigmund Freud said a very profound thing, among the many profound things he said; "One day in retrospect the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful."

Those are very true. Have you had a chance to look back at your life and realize that the hardest times also produced some of the hardest lessons in your life but also some of the happiest memories? Young couples starting out may have not had the money to pay their electric bills but they made do when the lights were shut off and lit a couple of candles and had a romantic evening holding hands and figuring out a way to get their lights turned back on.

Hard times define us as people. How we handle them will show our true characters. Some of the strongest lifelong friendships and relationships have been forged through the survival of hard times through teamwork and helping one another. This goes for hard financial times, hard relationship times and hard health times. They will all define not only you but those around you and it's easy to someone's true colors by how they act when the cards have been all laid out on the table.

If you're in a hard time right now, try to look beyond the rough circumstances that surround you and realize that you are being taught a very valuable lesson in dealing with life and people and along with that - creating beautiful memories that you'll smile when you look back and see how far you've come.
 posted by Friends of Leah   

This Holiday Season

With the holiday season upon us, it's easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle of the times. You can get completely stressed out over how you're going to pay for that new computer for your kids or your spouse's new ring. You have the "Secret Santa" going at your office and you have cards to write and send as well as obligatory parties and other social events to show up at. Then there's your home. You have lights to put up outside your house, a tree to set up and decorate and oh yeah, finding the time in your already stuffed personal schedule to accomplish all this.

No wonder so many people dread the holiday season. People put far too much pressure on themselves during the holiday season. No matter what your religious affiliation, remember that the holidays season is about love and togetherness. Yes, of course you'll want to buy gifts and you will want to attend some parties in honor of the season and do so if it brings you joy. If these things do not make you happy, don't put that kind of pressure on yourself.

If you're budget won't allow for extravagant gifts, be honest with your family that high dollar gifts may not be in the cards this year and find other ways to celebrate. Your kids especially can be brilliant at coming up with ways to honor this holiday that don't involve all the commercialism that seems to have enveloped this season.

Breathe deep, step back and relax. The holiday season isn't about crass commercialism. No matter what your faith or spiritual path you walk, it is about love, respect and forgiveness. Open your heart and mind this year and truly enjoy this holiday season for its true meaning.
 posted by Friends of Leah   

Use the Holiday Season to Heal

Healing is important for us to function as human beings. We must be whole or we leave ourselves open to both physical and emotional attacks from disease and negative people.

If you have wrong someone, and you know in your heart of hearts if you have truly done wrong, use this holiday season to set the wrong things right. It's easy to do and just mean it when you do it.

Whether by letter, card, phone call or face to face (which is best) tell someone you're sorry that you wronged them. In a letter or card it doesn't have be a long drawn out affair, just admit you did wrong and tell them they may or may not want to be in your circle of friends, but you want to set things right by apologizing to them, wish them well and end it on a positive note as much as you can. Above all - be sincere.

They may accept your apology or not. It really doesn't matter if they are able to act adult and mature about the situation or not. The important thing is that you apologized and put the wheels in motion to set things right.

Some people have great turnarounds after serious illness or loss, it is an unfortunate way to be shown a path, but it is a common one none the less. No matter how you have been directed to this page or on your page of personal healing - use this information to help make your inner spirit stronger and rid yourself of the wrongs and negativity that you've been holding inside for so long.
 posted by Friends of Leah   

Learning to Trust....Yourself

Sometimes the hardest person in the world to trust is yourself. We have all made mistakes of seeing the image someone wanted us to see and then finding out it was much like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz being told , "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" And things really weren't as we thought. That's a hard lesson in trust.

Learning to trust again is tough. It's hard to give your trust to someone when someone else has misused it. But that's where you must believe that people are inherently good and adapt the adage that you will trust until someone proves they are untrustworthy.

You can also have your own self doubts if you feel you have been duped by someone. You may not trust your own judgment. But remember, everyone is brought into our lives to teach us a lesson, even the hard ones. If someone stole from you, hurt you, and so forth. Step out of your hurt and anger and realize what you learned. Besides some people will lie and steal.

If you had a business partner that stole from the business; you probably gleaned valuable accounting tactics from the experience and you know the warning signs something is amiss. Use that knowledge to help someone else if you see signs in a business that something fishy is going on.

A spouse that cheats, has an addiction to drugs, alcohol, or gambling is also hard and may leave you with a hurting heart and feeling wounded. But what did you learn? You learned the warning signs to look for when something is amiss. You gained true knowledge and that is something you can not get from a book - only through experience. If you see the same warning signs with someone else near you - share your experience and let them make their own decisions.

Remember, never lose trust in yourself and when a bad incident happens, step back and look at the bigger picture - what the universe wants you to learn and you may wind up secretly thanking your "teacher".
 posted by Friends of Leah   

Pray for Peace - the Time is Now

It's hard to feel peaceful some days with images of war on the television, the internet and so many opinions on the subject - all of them passionately defended. This article isn't to debate who is right and who should win and why we are involved in some conflicts and ignoring others. It's about peace.

No matter how you feel about the world situation at large, the time has come to pray for peace. We need to set aside our differences as a people and pray for peace. That doesn't mean any one side wins or loses, it means we all figure out that we need to accept each other and embrace our differences and live as a peaceful people.

Slowly but surely people are getting disgusted, horrified and sick of the atrocities of war and conflict. Many like minds from different races and religions are saying the same thing, "Pray for peace" and yes the time has come to do just that.

You don't have to join a group or involve anyone else - just pray by yourself and ask for peace. If we all do our parts and pray for a peaceful end to all the conflicts - the time may very well soon be upon us to end the wars, strife and genocide that is going on around the world. Pray for peace and know that goodness will prevail.
 posted by Friends of Leah   

Turning the Other Cheek

One of the most Christian of phrases is "Turn the other Cheek"; but do you really? It's easy to get mad and decide to lash out at the person that has harmed you.

In a case where someone has wronged you through their words or actions, you must be the bigger person and walk away. If you "get them back" revenge may feel good for a while but if the person decides to "get you back" for exacting your revenge on them, it's can escalate into a very nasty situation.

Basically, when someone has wronged you, know that they will have a higher authority to answer to. It may not happen at the moment they wrong you, but it will happen and many times situations align themselves where the person winds up with egg on their face (sometimes literally) anyway. Some people call this "karma" others call it the evening out of the universe as it strives to keep balance at all times and this includes good things and bad things need to be balanced at all times.

The next time someone wrongs you, try letting go of your anger and simply turn your other cheek and walk away from the situation. Don't spend your energy saying to yourself, "Oh I should have said such a thing" or "I should have told him what a so and so he is". Let it go and you will find you'll be a calmer and happier person removing yourself from conflicts that are unnecessary.
 posted by Friends of Leah   

Believing in the Power of Believing

Humans have a basic need to believe. Whether you believe in the Lord, yourself, the ones that you love or "d" all of the above - you will find you are happier if you have something to believe in.

When you or someone you love is seriously ill, it can be of great benefit to believe that you or they will get better. If you are in a bad situation, you need to visualize yourself out of that situation and believe that better days are coming.

Belief is a powerful thing. If you believe in your heart something, chances are, your power of belief can make it come to pass. If you believe you can beat cancer, your chances of making it past this health crisis are much greater than someone who believes the end is near and believes they should give up.

It's a matter of believing that you need to be positive and have faith in your convictions and personal beliefs. Don't let anyone knock you down; if you know something is true - believe it with all your heart and help make miracles happen!
 posted by Friends of Leah   

Your Strength of Spirit

Life can knock you down, people can let you down. When you feel you can not go on and yet you do anyway, that is your strength of spirit. It's a sad fact of life that bad things happen to good people and there is indeed a larger plan in store and you must use your strength of spirit to find it.

If someone has a profoundly disabled child, they at first be very angry and wonder what they or their family has done to deserve this situation. As they care for their child and meet his or her special needs they will find they are drawn to people and other situations such as Special Olympics, they would have never discovered otherwise. Some parents have become powerful figures for getting legislation passed to benefit other children with the same disabilities as their own child. This again is strength of spirit.

A woman who is an abusive or otherwise unhealthy relationship may wonder what she has done to deserve this fate. She will find in hindsight, she did nothing and did not deserve the treatment. Many women who have come out of these relationship find they are stronger and able to use their experiences to help others resolve and find the strength to get out of similar situations.

When something unfortunate happens, try to step out of your anger and grief and see the bigger picture, what is the lesson here that you're being asked to learn? It will make your healing must faster and your spirit stronger.
 posted by Friends of Leah   

When is Enough?

Do you ever feel as though you are at your breaking point? Do you feel as though you are being pulled so thinly that you literally might break?

Rest assured that what you're feeling is normal and you are not alone. You may be a single parent struggling to make ends meet, be there for your kids and also trying to make a little time for yourself. You may be in a relationship that isn't working out and you are fighting to save it but the other person in the relationship isn't meeting you halfway. Perhaps you have a drug or alcohol problem or live with someone that does; all of those life styles can be draining and cause an enormous amount of stress on you.

Stress can make you ill. Not just physically or mentally but spiritually ill as well and when your spirit, the last part of you to give in, gets ill - you can become depressed and even physically ill yourself.

It's important to get yourself in a good place emotionally and physically to keep your spirit healthy. If you're struggling to make ends meet, rebudget your finances and make time for your children and yourself. There are always things you can do without and start looking for better employment. If you believe you are worthy, it will come to you. If you are in a bad relationship or live with someone that is abusing drugs or alcohol, resign yourself to the fact that you can not change anyone until they want to make changes and you need to grab happiness for yourself.

Simply ask to be shown the path you should take in life and you'll find that you'll be answered and shown the way.
 posted by Friends of Leah