New Years Eve...

Yesterday during church Rev. Nikki talked about New Years Eve and how it's a time to let go of the past; a time for change. She gave us 4 questions to ask ourselves today (and I hope I wrote them down correctly because I was writing pretty quickly. Jenn, if I got some wrong feel free to correct them!!!). :)

1. Look at this past year. Did you achieve the goals that you wanted to? And if not why?

2. Did you improve your position in life materially?

3. Did you apply yourself to spiritual truths that you know to be true? Did you add any new ideas?

4. What are your plans for the new year? What things would you like to complete or start in 2008?

I'm going to think about these questions in the next few days and then I'll be back to write my answers. I'd like to welcome anyone that reads this to answer on here as well. (And this goes for any of our posts).

I am almost done with my visualization board and I have my gratitude rock. The gratitude rock is a rock that I found a long time ago with my children. It's a white rock that we all found one day. I can't remember where we found it or the circumstances surrounding it but I had kept it in my jean jacket pocket because it was something to help kill time if we ever needed it (it's almost like chalk and writes on concrete). I hadn't worn this jacket in probably about a year and when I wore it a few weeks back and put my hand in the pocket, out came that rock. I thought it was very fitting to use as my gratitude object. (Now to just get it out of that jacket and into my pocket book - something I carry with me everyday).

I thought this week being it's the beginning of a new year we could try something to help us start out the new year in a positive way. It's a quote from Ernest Holmes on page 21 of his Creative Mind and Success book: "Refuse to see the negative in anyone. Refuse to let yourself misunderstand or be misunderstood. Know that everyone wants you to have the best. Then you will find things just as you wish them to be."

It's sometimes hard to always find the positive in things. It's sometimes hard to start a new habit, especially a good one. So don't go into it thinking it will happen over night because you will only be setting yourself up for failure. But, if you try and make that conscious effort to do what is said in the above quote, I guarantee it will eventually become something natural to you and you will find your days more fulfilled.

I found the following quote online this morning and because of the sermon yesterday in church and because it is New Years Eve, I found it very fitting. I hope you do as well:

"Never fade

Whatever you fully experience, you never need to leave behind. Whatever you worry about losing, you never did have to begin with.

Without change, life would not exist. With every change is the opportunity to become more fully alive.

The days and weeks and years come to an end. And yet it is always now.

The artifacts and remnants that you associate with the good times will fade and rust and decay, eventually to disappear. Yet the goodness and joy of the authentic experiences will grow ever stronger.

There is no reason to be sad about the fact that time has passed. There is every reason to find joy in the real treasures that you will always retain from that time.

Learn to quickly let go of the meaningless, superficial things that will soon be gone anyway. Invest your spirit and your experience in the timeless values that you know will never fade."

-- Ralph Marston

And so it is.....

Daily Motivator December 30, 2007

(I had put this on my own blog but it only seems fitting to be here on this one)

I got chills when I read this below. (I have a daily motivator on my homepage that changes every day - hence the word daily - lol). This is almost exactly what was said in church this morning (or what I at least got out of the sermon) and is so true! She talked about reflecting on the past year and how everyone makes mistakes. But we shouldn't dwell on them but rather move forward from them. Turn a negative into a positive. To keep moving forward - the past is just that, the past and is now history. We live in the today and the now.

Time to be your best
When things seem to be at their worst is the ideal time for you to be at your best. When the outlook is decidedly negative that's the time you need to be aggressively positive.

When the situation is difficult and getting worse, there's no need to deny reality or hide from the truth. Neither is there any need, however, to get pulled down with the negativity.

The greatest opportunities come from the most difficult problems. In times of great challenge, moving positively forward -- even if by just a little bit -- can dramatically alter the momentum for the better. And then that momentum can grow quickly.

Keep going. Keep moving steadily forward, especially when circumstances seem to be working against you. Remember -- that's when you can make the most meaningful positive difference.

-Kim

Caelie's Visualization Board...

I have a daughter who is 7 years old. The other day I was in her bedroom and I happened to look over by her bed and saw a $500 bill from the game Operation stuck to a hook in her wall with tape. I asked her why it was there and her words were "So that one day soon it will be real". I got chills. Since starting this journey with Jenn I haven't talked to my kids about any of it. I haven't even got my visualization board going yet (though I did start it this morning). When she told me this I just grabbed her and hugged her because I thought it was so cute and so cool. I took pictures of it below.

This is a close up of her $500 play bill taped to the hook by her bed.

In this picture you can see exactly where it is compared to her bed. She put it there so she can see it when she wakes up and see it when she goes to bed.

-Kim

Exercise #3

In light of it being the holiday season and everyone have very little time on their hands, Kim and I decided that we'd have a two-week exercise that is relatively easy to complete.

Borrowed again from The Secret, we've decided to get "gratitude rocks" to carry with us. They don't have to be ornate, so I'm going to use some of the rocks I have currently. The premise behind this exercise is easy: Every time you touch the gratitude rock you give "thanks" to the gifts you have in your life. You may choose to hold a rock when you're upset and need a reminder of the good, you may touch it by accident and have to call forth something spur-of-the-moment, but the idea is that you have a reminder with you; a tangible piece of matter that may very well change your mindset for the better! Remember: There is great power in being grateful!

Exercise #2 - Kim's Results

I sadly have no results today for exercise #2 which was to create my visualization board. It was yet another crazy week. It's the holidays so I guess that's to be expected! I'm hoping one day this week to set aside some time and pick out pictures. I have them in my head so I'm hoping that counts for something and I go through it every night before bed. There are some pressing matters though where I think I need to have it on that board to keep me on track. One of them revolves around money - especially now since we took Sean's car in to get fixed (took it to somewhere we have a credit card for since we don't have $1000 laying around) and that's just what it's costing us to fix - $1000. I feel ill. I actually started to resort back to the days where I'd get so worked up about money I felt I couldn't breathe. Then I reminded myself it's okay to feel the feelings, but feel them and then let them go and it worked. I'm still a tad bit panicky feeling but I'm working on us receiving money rather then sitting around worrying about it.

Once I get my board done (and I'm making it a task to be completed by this weekend) I will be back to post a picture of it and explain it all. Hopefully once I get that done, and write it all on here as well I'm hoping that goes towards the process of "getting it out there".

-Kim

First Sunday of Advent

Today we lit the first candle of the Advent Wreath: The candle of Hope- the hope of what is to come! In the Church of Religious Science they use the Advent Wreath as a symbolic way to remember some of the people who helped the world get ready for this new awakening of the God Light within us. Each week we will be lighting one candle in gratitude, acknowledging all of the people who allowed the Truth of God's Light to shine through them as willing servants of God life and love.

The discussion today was "Dissolve the Darkness of Discontent" and it was a pretty powerful message. As usual, the lead practitioner stated that we would hear the messages we were meant to hear and, as usual, she was right! I found a few things especially poignant for me due to some things that are going on in my personal life so I thought that I'd share them here in hopes that they may bring someone else some comfort as well.

A very important message today was the validation of peoples sadness around the holidays. Rev. Niki made a special point to remind us that the season holds underlying reminders of loss for a lot of people and that it's important to acknowledge the sadness during this time of year; especially because there is such a pressure from society to happy and full of joy! So, let us remember that when we come in to contact with people we don't know, or even those that we do; we have no way of knowing what sort of unhappiness their hearts may be experiencing.

There was also an interesting message about moving forward in life, that anything that hinders the current of life leaves us only with stagnation. I was thinking bout this a lot because I know many of us feel 'stuck' in our roles sometimes. Be it our role as mother or father, caretaker, workaholic, always cheerful friend, we sometimes feel smothered by the expectations we set forth for ourselves as well as by those that others set for us, be they real or imaginary. I believe that it's important, especially when we feel like this, to push forward as hard as we can. I think that it's these times that truly show us who we are and what we are capable of!

"In the darkness, the deep darkness that can sometimes come forth, lays the opportunity for some of the greatest light."

And so it is.