This is YOUR time for reinvention and renewal. Take full advantage of it.

Watch your thoughts; they become words.

Watch your words; they become actions.

Watch your actions; they become habits.

Watch your habits; they become character.

Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

When we walk to the edge of all the light we have and take the step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe that one of two things will happen. There will be something solid for us to stand on or we will be taught to fly. ~ Frank Outlaw Sphere: Related Content

Carrots, Eggs, and Coffee

Carrots, Eggs, and Coffee
This one will take a minute or two to read, but please make the time. It will bless your heart and make you think. You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it andwanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see, Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.
Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?"
Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, and enough hope to make you happy.
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.
You might want to let others read this message, those people who mean something to you (I Just Did.); to those who have touched your life in one way or another; to those who make you smile when you really need it; to those who make you see the brighter side of things when you are really down; to those whose friendship you appreciate; to those who are so meaningful in your life.
If you don't share these kind and meaningful words, you will just miss out on the opportunity to Brighten someone's day with this touching thought for the day!
May we all be lucky enough to be COFFEE. Sphere: Related Content

Disregarding Pretense

Love all that appears unloving until it resonates back into the love it was pretending not to be.

Taken From:Ho'oponopono Friends Digest #331 May 10,08


Thank you.
I love you.
Please forgive me.
I'm Sorry. Sphere: Related Content

Watch What You Say!

You will notice that those who speak most of prosperity, have it. Those who speak most of health, have it. Those who speak most of sickness, have it. Those who speak most of poverty, have it. It is Law. It can be no other way... The way you feel is your point of attraction, and so, the Law of Attraction is most understood when you see yourself as a magnet getting more and more of the way you feel. When you feel lonely, you attract more loneliness. When you feel poor, you attract more poverty. When you feel sick, you attract more sickness. When you feel unhappy, you attract more unhappiness. When you feel healthy and vital and alive and prosperous—you attract more of all of those things.
Excerpted from a workshop in “The Law of Attraction, The Basics of the Teachings of Abraham” on Saturday, July 1st, 2006
All Is Well / www.abraham-hicks.com Sphere: Related Content

You Should Love Your Body

How to Love Your Body
Posted on February 18th, 2008 in Weight Loss Tips, Weight Loss Motivation, Relaxing Weight Loss, Weight Loss Strategies, Awareness, Thin Mindset by Jim
Do you love your body?
Most people don’t. As a matter of fact, studies show that a majority of people hate their bodies. Stop for a moment and think about that. What do you think the result of that habitual hate is? Do you think it creates motivation? Do you think it’s a wake up call to change? Or do you think that it perpetuates feelings of depression and failure?
So, why do people hate their bodies? Usually, it’s because they don’t look the way they think they should. But the question that needs to be asked is, what should they look like? What is the “perfect” weight? This is an important point because our ideals that we compare ourselves to are a big problem when it comes to our body images. We live in a culture that is constantly holding up ideals that are not real.
We see a model on a magazine cover and think, “I should look like that.” But what we don’t see is how the model had 5 people doing hair, makeup, and clothes design. We don’t see the perfectly placed lighting and fans. We don’t see the photo editing that removes any “imperfections.” What we finally get is literally a cartoon. Something that is not, and never could be, real. Now, what I just described is ONE PICTURE; now multiply that by 3,000, which is the average number of ads we are exposed to EVERY DAY.
So, what is the result of all this? Sure, we ignore it, but it is so pervasive that these ideas of unreal perfection begin to creep into our collective consciousness as reality. And this is where the problem starts because the balance disappears. Soon we find that we have no representations of people that are “normal” and beautiful. More and more actors and actress we see seem to have had plastic surgery and it becomes the acceptable norm. But it can’t be.
You need to love your own body, and you’re going to start right now because you deserve it. Let’s start simply by talking to yourself (in your head) and say the words “I love you, body.” It probably feels a little weird. That’s a natural response to doing something new.
Now, I want you to love all the things that work perfectly for you. If you’re reading this, then I’m going to assume that your heart is beating, your eyes are seeing, and your lungs are breathing, so start there. “I love you, heart and lungs, for keeping me alive all these years.” “I love you, eyes, for letting me read this incredible article.” And so on.
Now, if you feel silly doing this let me point out something that is really silly. It’s looking at a picture of a model with contacts and saying to yourself “I wish I had eyes that color,” or looking at a body that has been slimmed down with Photoshop and feeling bad because you don’t look like that. That doesn’t make any sense.
Now, back to your body. What about your legs? Never mind the shape of them for a moment, think about them differently and say, “I love you legs for giving me mobility.” How about your hands? Can you say something nice about them?
The purpose of this is to genuinely appreciate and love your body. It’s a way to build up self esteem and focus on what is truly important. You can go through other things you love about your body like hearing, smelling, tasting, being able to dance, sing, type, smile, etc.
Now, what about body weight and shape? You can love your body no matter what the scale says or what size clothes you wear, and at the same time you can also want to slim down. I can tell you from direct experience that the biggest mistake people make in weight loss is that they try motivating themselves by beating themselves up. That will not work for permanent weight loss. If you hate your body there is a good chance that you will unconsciously keep the weight on. You need to begin by loving yourself and your body.
It’s easier to do this when you realize that your goal weight and size are a means to an end. The weight isn’t what’s important; it’s the feelings you’re going to experience at that weight that are important. Will you feel sexier, happier, more confident, healthier? Why do you want change your body? You’ll find that focusing on these feelings is one more tool you can use to motivate yourself. This is also important because you don’t just reach a certain weight where everything instantly changes. It’s a process. If your main motivation is to feel more confident, then begin thinking about ways to feel more confident now. Don’t wait.
Love and hate are very powerful emotions; one is a force for creation and one is a force for destruction. If you want to permanently create a new shape for your body, make sure you choose the force that can make it happen. It makes all the difference in the world. Sphere: Related Content