Laying the Foundation

Hello from my heart to yours...

"I've come to believe that all my past failures and frustrations were actually laying the foundation for the understandings that have created the new level of living I now enjoy." 

                                                                                                                   — Anthony Robbins

Of course, it's hard to see and understand this sometimes.. and sometimes it isn't revealed to us right away... but, with the passage of time, those experiences we thought to be the most frightful, hurtful and troublesome, turn out to be the greatest aids in helping us become the blessed people God intends us to be... More often than not, we will find ourselves looking back with gratitude, counting each experience as the true blessing it reveals itself to be.. . all we have to do is insist on finding the "good" in what we have experienced no matter how painful it was and even when it showed no sign or symptom of goodness.... For just as a rose by any other name remains a rose, so does a blessing, no matter what we might call it in any given moment, remain a blessing... it is through meditation and prayer that we receive the "revelation" and are then able to see the blessing......

I find that when I have gone through these "less-desirable" experiences, in the end, I am asking , "Why did You want me to learn that lesson, God?" ... and after maybe crying in the shower, drinking a few beers with my cousin, walking around the block 50 times and smoking some cigarettes... I walk over to my beautiful Parish garden and meditate and pray... and eventually I say, "Thank You God for getting me through this... please help me understand it so that I can move forward with my life and be in Your grace...." ...

One of my childhood friends had a quote on our refrigerator door when we lived together in our 20's... I have tried googling it, but can't seem to find it... it was something like this ... "I am stagnated. I am not using my capabilities to the fullest. I will let go and let God."  and this is exactly what happens when we do not see the blessing.. we become stagnated... we have to find a way to let go...

I use several tools to get my messages to heaven... a L.A.M.B. (Lord Accept My Burdens) box, an angel box (where I write my petitions down and the angels take them to heaven), a fire pit (where I write down what I want removed from my life and burn it) and a piece of Indian jewelry (where I write my affirmation down and seal it in like a locket...) all these things sound a bit way out there, I know...... but we all know that I am a little "touched", but I believe in "letting God" .. so these little looney rituals, though I sometimes think may not be working, at least work to ease my heart ..

... I end the tangent now with this heartfelt wish for you today......

"May you always be willing to see the blessing even in those times when it is hidden well....

May you walk happily on the foundation that has been layed down by all your life experiences..

May you be able to let go and let God...

May you always live the life you love and love the life you live....

And may you always be aware that you are loved beyond measure and a cherished blessing to me."

May your weekend be filled with all things good,
With love,

Elena

New Day

Hello from my heart from to yours.... 

"This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good."

— Author Unknown

In continuing with this time of reflection, reconciliation and reformation ... this movement of the heart... maybe we can begin to think of each new day as the miracle that it is... You all know that I am a strong believer in prayers, mantras and daily affirmations.. anything to help my mind stay in sync with what my heart desires to be true... and so today I give you a little prayer:

"Infinite Spirit of God, today is a new day... I am worthy of Your dream for me... please show me what I might do to make this day different because my heart desires to do good... please guide me to do what I need to do to make this day the best day possible.. the best day ever.... Thank You for the miracle of this new day... Amen."

Then, listen for the answer and respond accordingly.... Soon, miracles will be a daily habit and no day will be wasted... everyday will be the best day ever ... because you are loved beyond measure and a cherished blessing to the world... 

May your day be blessed with all things good..

With Love, 

Elena

p.s. thank you, Lourdes, for the inspiration.... 

Lent - "Spring"

Hello from my heart to yours....

 

Note:  Although this blessing focuses on using Lent to build a new life... all people could use a change of heart ... the word Lent was taken from several languages all of which referred to spring, new life, and hope... therefore, those of you blessed people who are not Christian can simply interpret the word as what it was literally translated from... Spring... and use this time to build a new life none-the-less.....   

 

"Our life is what our thoughts make it.  A man will find that as he alters his thoughts towards things and other people, things and other people will alter towards him."

                                                                                                                James Allen

 

It sounds too easy to be true, doesn't it? When we are told that we can change our lives by changing our minds, most of us are usually skeptical.  During Lent, we should not only try to change our hearts, but our minds as well.  Lent is intended to be a new Spring in our lives... a time which we invigorate our faith.  Lent calls us to a change of heart, attitude and behavior.  If we go through all the rituals and prayers and Masses of Lent, but nothing is changing in our attitudes and behavior, Jesus may say to us what he said to the Pharisees... "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." (Matthew 15:8)

 

We may try to change our thought patterns for a bit just to see if the idea has credence at all, but then later when we look around and see that pretty much everything is as it was, we shrug our shoulders with that familiar "just what I expected" air and move on.

 

Do not give up... Lent is a time of reflection, reconciliation and reformation.  It is a movement of the heart.

 

Changing our lives is a great deal like building a house... It is not done by hammering one nail in a board, but by repeated application.  Over and over we must let our minds center on the life we would live instead of on the one being lived.... and just as applying hammer to wood repeatedly can eventually lead to a completed frame of a new house.. so can steadfast prayer, fasting and almsgiving change our hearts and lead to the completed frame of a new life.

 

May you always persist in bringing the life you want into realization...

May you always know that God listens to your heart....

and may you always be aware that you are loved beyond measure and a cherished blessing to me and the world....

 

May your day be filled with all things good...

With love,

Elena

Wondrous Things

Hello from my heart to yours....

"Such a feelin's coming over me... there is wonder in most everything I see... not a cloud in the sky... got the sun in my eye... and I won't be surprised if it's a dream....."  

                                                               "Top of the World" by the Carpenter's

I have always loved that song..... yes, it is a love song.. but it doesn't necessarily have to be for anyone in particular.... and it popped into my mind this morning as I was thinking of the birth of my friend's first grandson... forget that the picture he posted on facebook is simply adorable, my friend had so many "likes" and blessings and prayers in the comments section that I thought, "this baby is soooo loved already because his grandfather is soooo loved.." so, I was singing it as I drove in the rain to an early inspection... and I realized that this is my reality and I truly believe that it's because of my love for God.. for as another friend said yesterday (after I told him to "Go with God") "that's a very important reason why I feel about you the way I do.. you carry the Lord in your heart"... I'm not tooting my own horn here, but I thank God that I can see the wonder in the littlest of things... the littlest of things amuse me and make me happy and fill me with an abundance of love....

And well... more and more I believe that I have a spectacular life... I may not ever be monetarily rich, but spiritually.. I am a gazillionaire ... God has given me the gift of always feeling that something wondrous has come over me... and I think that He has put me in situations where I have been able to experience the glory of His nature and His ways and the love He has placed in everyone's heart .... I'm not a mystic or anything, but I do SEE love...

We're so busy in our lives these days that we rarely stop to think of all the wondrous things... however, there are wondrous things all around us ... all of the time... and I guess that what we should to do is try to see the eensy weensy things first... the smiles on your loved ones faces... the hugs when you greet your friends... the sun burning your skin.. the moon lighting the night... the sound of rain.. the sound of laughter ..... all those things are wondrous... and if we begin to notice those things, I believe that we are able to sing the song every day.... better still if God were the reason that we were singing... for as the song says... ".. and the reason is clear, it's because You are near.. You're the nearest thing to heaven that I see.... "

Tonight, I am celebrating my birthday at a party we call the "LOVE FEST" ... a bunch of free spirited aquarians and all the friends that we love... and I would like to extend the invitation to all of you who are in Miami and would like to pass by and experience the wondrous LOVE ... just reply for more information... 

May you always be able to see the wondrous things in life... for YOU are wondrous ... and you are loved beyond measure and a cherished blessing to me...

Here is the link to the song for your enjoyment.... http://youtu.be/6VVnNWhAuUs

May your weekend be blessed with all things good,

With Love,

Elena

Fear

Hello from my heart to yours.....

 

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear."                                                      
                                                                                          ~ Ambrose Redmoon

I don't always speak my mind... I am sure you all find that hard to believe, but it's true... I am an avoider.. I fear the other person's reaction and do not want any type of confrontation... and so I bottle things up, accept them as they are and simply deal with it somehow.. of course, we all know what happens when the bottle is shaken too much... a gaseous explosion.. a volcanic eruption...  fortunately, it takes a long time for me to reach that point...and unfortunately, too, because when I reach that point, I've been known to simply "walk away".. when I'm done, I'm just done and don't look back much because I want peace in my life.. might be a little selfish of me, I suppose ... but I know I do it and I have been trying not to .. it's wrong and unfair of me... and it certainly hasn't always gone well for me not to express my thoughts and feelings.. but then again, it certainly doesn't always go well when I do... especially when I know that I have made another person upset, it weighs so heavy on my heart... 

The above quote gives me a little bit of comfort though... I think we are born hungry for love and fearless of anything else...  Love is our nature while fear is taught... it's a learned behavior.. maybe as a child I did speak up, and then maybe my opinions and beliefs were shot down and dismissed so often that I became fearful to speak... and maybe my courage has been to remain peaceful by not voicing my thoughts... I don't know.... I've been to therapy and I could definitely use more of it... I don't practice what I preach all the time and that kind of bothers me... I write these blessings to remind myself to practice what I believe in my heart to be true, but it sure is hard to practice it everyday... so, I'd like to say I'm learning how to face my fears with courage.. knowing that whatever the outcome, I am willing to extract from it whatever lesson it brings.. then, I can, not only conquer it, but I will have taken a giant step toward love... the simple LOVE that I want to have... 

The good thing is that, with every conquered fear, comes a lesson... an opportunity to return to my true nature... whatever that may be... it's almost like acknowledging that love is waiting on the other side.... and so I try to communicate better.. especially with the ones I love and all I can do is hope that it goes well....

I'm not sure where I was going with all this... seems like a confession of sorts... maybe an apology of sorts, too... regardless, though I may not "speak" my feelings verbally, I am able to write them... surely because I can't see the reaction of the person reading it...and as I write THAT, I realize that that isn't very courageous of me at all...hmmmm.... but I get the message loud and clear when someone replies and says.."Delete my email address" ...  

Anyway, may you face every fear with your arms open wide to the love it is shielding... and may you always be aware that you are loved beyond measure and a cherished blessing to me and the world....

May your day be filled with all things good,

With love,

Elena

Thank you for the Transformation

Hello from my heart to yours....
 
"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed."              Carl Jung, Swiss psychologist 

 
Every day I seem to be transformed in one way or another .... my heart is filled with so much love... and I continue to have so many things to be thankful for... the friends that are no more, old friends that are new again, new friends that are becoming old friends, cyber friends that I have never met and yet, warm my heart daily.... "personalities" serving as reminders of God's love... 
 
All of our personalities are unique... and as Carl Jung says, transformations do occur within each if there is a reaction... it could just be a momentary thing that lasts a few minutes, but impacts us for the rest of our lives like the woman who told me (after I said, "Lord, help me" under my breath) "I'm not the Lord, but I can hold your hand while you are waiting to be helped.." or you could meet someone and instantly fall in love with their spirit as if they have been travelling with you your whole life ... or you could already have a person in your life that has made a daily impact for years... all of these encounters take me back to the "Reason, Season and Lifetime" thing I have so often written about...
 
I read a post on Facebook that says, "Sometimes the wrong choices take us to the right places." ... so, never dismiss these "personalities" that come into your life, for they are there to transform you and help you on your journey to being the blessed person God intends you to be... be open to meeting people every day... and re-meeting them years later as well... but also be able to leave those that have already transformed you if the "reason or season" is over.... 

About a year and a half ago, I re-met a childhood friend... I think it had been almost 30 years since we last saw one another... at the time of the "meeting", he was experiencing total turmoil in his life.. after speaking with him for approximately 3 hours, I was "transformed" and felt an instant kindredness ... I knew that we were going to be fast and true friends and that I wanted him in my life ... and I became his "sister from another Mister" as he calls me...  today, we share a special bond of friendship and love ... I carry his heart.. and he carries mine...  

Meeting people can be challenging these days.. fortunately for me, I am open to receive this challenge and find it easy to let people into my life... I have, also, been fortunate enough that people let me into theirs as well... as I write this I am thinking of a fabulous childhood friend who is celebrating his birthday today... I am thinking of am adorable young girl from Indonesia who posts hearts on my FB wall... an entrepreneur in Maine who is building his "Embody Peace & Love" business and expecting the birth of his first grandchild any day now... a mother who is challenged with raising 2 teenage boys who have Aspergers Syndrome.. I am thinking of my brother who is away from his family studying to be a Chiropractor... an Emmaus sister who is named after a flower... I am thinking of my "Sweets" and praying for her... I am thinking of my love... and I am thinking of all the "personalities" who have transformed me and shaped me and who I love beyond measure... 

And so... Today, I thank all of the personalities... ...old and new... and in between... the ones who were in my life for a short time and the ones who I know will be with me until I close my eyes forever... I thank all of the personalities ... whether I see you all of the time or on occasion  ... whether I will ever meet you or will never meet you again ...
 
Thank you for the transformation...I am so blessed ... always remember that you are loved beyond measure and a cherished blessing to me and the world.... may your weekend be filled with all things good,

I love you,

Elena

Call us "Weird" ... please....

Hello from my heart to yours...

“We’re all a little weird. And life is weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love...." Dr. Seuss

We are in the season of Aquarius... the LOVE season as I like to refer to it... I was always taught that Catholics are not really supposed to be guided by the horoscope, but I have read so many things regarding the connection between astrology and the bible that I cannot believe that the stars, the moon, the planets, etc.. do indeed affect us daily...... It is a science that I honestly cannot begin to truly understand...I am not wired to be an expert on any ONE thing.. I just know a little bit of a lot of things.. and if I don't know, well then, I google and grab bits and pieces of information that I can use to be the blessed person God intends for me to be...

The consensus is that each "AGE" lasts around 2000 years... but many believe that we entered into Aquarius around 1890's and the first Industrial Revolution and the invention of electricity... and flying in 1906 and mass car production in 1914... and so on, into the Nuclear age in the 1940's and then the internet phenomenon... who can really pinpoint it? ... regardless, the majority believe we are well into the Age of Aquarius... 

As far as the horoscope goes, there is a website that has 12 tips for the people born under the other 11 astrological signs on how to thrive during the Aquarius Season... it's no secret that we are different (and we love to be).. we flaunt our uniqueness every chance we get.. we follow the beat of our own drum into shocking, fringe-y, taboo or just strange territory... we are misunderstood at so many levels... and those of us who embrace this are drawn to one another like irresistible magnets... and we call it LOVE...

But I wasn't going to write about Astrology... and I have a feeling a random tangent writing is what's going to happen today...

What stands out most in the quote is the word WEIRD... maybe because It seems to be an adjective many people use to describe me.... 

WEIRD is defined and described like this: ....involving or suggesting the supernatural; unearthly or uncanny.... fantastic; bizarre... unnatural, preternatural, eerie, unearthly...that which is mysterious and apparently outside natural law...suggestive of the fateful intervention of supernatural influences in human affairs.. that which is ghostly and makes one's flesh creep...unearthly as in that which seems by its nature to belong to another world... uncanny in its mysterious defiance of the laws established by experience....

Lovely... well... what the heck? lol... so I go back to Dr. Seuss.... "We're all a little weird.." and being that the case, I am here to tell you that I am in love with all the compatibly weird people in my life... and I'm thinking that if everyone truly accepted that they are just as weird as every one else, then we would co-exist happily and joyously in our mutually satisfying weirdness...and we would LOVE... and what's so wrong with that? after all, "weird" is a subjective point of view with a negative connotation... but why? why negative?  I hereby declare that in my dictionary it is now a positive adjective...I mean as I re-read the definition... supernatural, unearthly, mysterious, fantastic. etc... those words describe God to me... (yes... I know some of you are shaking your heads saying... "Oh God, she IS weird" ..lol...) but I say "Woo Hoo !!!" I want to be weird if it means I can be described with words that can, also, be used to describe God...

So... it's settled... call me WEIRD.... know that I'll be waiting for you to join me with your WEIRD self so we can fall into mutually satisfying weirdness and call it... LOVE... because we are all cherished blessings to the world and we are so very loved beyond measure...
May our day be filled with love...
I love you,
Elena