Fill your heart your mind your soul

Every day

Fully

Richly

Completely

Then give

Freely

Lovingly

Unselfishly

Out of the abundance

You possess

© Sandy Hibbard

From my heart to yours – How will YOU embrace this life?

If you are fortunate enough to have your health, to have a job, a home and shelter, and food to eat – then you are blessed in this world!  God lives in us, He is in our hearts.  He is joy within us.  He is love flowing out of us and to those around us.  It is up to me, no one else to realize this, and to ALLOW it to live in me. It is up to you to do the same.  I think life is this simple.  We so over complicate and over stress everything, seems like everyone is always looking for something or someone to blame for their problems – I certainly know I do.  This week a quiet voice from my mind came to me in a “moment” I was having, it said “you can either complain, cry and whine about this or you can make a decision to change it.” That statement, ever so clear, brought me peace.  I understood that I have that power to make change for me.  When I live in my joy, my love, and keep a grateful heart of hope and understanding of this simple fact, I am empowered to really live my life.
This holiday season find a silent night to ask yourself how you want to live your life, then remind yourself that you can!  Don’t be afraid to let your love out and share this same message to the people in your life. Be thankful for what you have and know that if you have the things I mentioned above, you are blessed above the majority of the people in the world!  It is really simple.  We’re here for a minute to love for an eternity of generations to come!
How will you embrace this life?
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year with love,

The holiday season is here, and with it comes consumer madness.
I’m not a fan of buying a bunch of gifts and getting into credit card debt just to stress yourself out more and work harder to pay off the bills, all to add to the needless clutter we already have in our homes.
So I say opt out.
Don’t be a part of the madness. It’s a trap, designed to get us to spend our money, but we don’t need to fall prey to it. We can opt out.
What should you do instead of buying a bunch of crap? I have a few ideas, but I’m sure you can come up with even more.
The Zen Habits Gift List
Here are some alternative gift ideas for your loved ones, to get your creative juices flowing:
Create a personal website for someone, complete with photo montage, if you’re good at web stuff.
Create a picnic for the two of you, or for the whole family or group of friends.
Plan a day trip into nature.
Create a scrapbook.
Find a board game at Goodwill and customize it for the person’s personality.
Make a treasure hunt for them.
Sew them a personalize quilt.
If you have an expertise, give them the gift of coaching: be their personal trainer, French tutor, guitar teacher, if that’s what they’ve been wanting to do, and that’s in your expertise.
Pass along your absolute favorite books (including mine, if you already ordered one).
Massages are often appreciated.
Clean their house or wash their car.
Bake brownies or a berry pie.
Make a personalize card set for them for Werewolf / Mafia and play with your group.
Help them realize their dreams.
Do a challenge with them.
Take a class together (community classes are often free or cheap).
Pass on your digital camera if you aren’t using it and they would.
Gift certificate for mowing their lawn.
Make an illustrated book about how awesome the person is.
Create a video from family/friends with everyone sharing what they love about the person.
These aren’t all free, but they aren’t part of the consumerist holiday shopping tradition. They take extra effort, which is why they’re special. The loved ones in your life are worth more than a few clicks online and a hit to your credit card.

I was reminded yesterday as I was driving from Austin Texas back to my home in Dallas about the love that has surrounded my life – through the all good and all the bad – love has been there always.  It has come to me in so many ways, from so many unsuspecting places, from so many beautiful people; strangers, lovers, family, co-workers, friends. It has come to me even when I was unloveable! (yes, I can be sometimes!) I have chosen to follow the path of love because I truly believe it is the reason we are here and what binds us all together.  Now I know that love can be crazy, and it can be pretty painful sometimes too – we get hurt most from the people we love and share our true self with, but the benefits of opening our hearts and loving far outweighs the pain. I wouldn’t change one moment of loving for anything.  It is the gift that gives life.  It is the voice that tells us we are alive.
I pulled out an old CD by Oleta Adams during my drive and was taken back to the time when I first heard this song  “Will we ever learn?”, I knew I needed to share it’s message with you.  Take a minute and read through the lyrics below then click on the link to listen to the song and let it remind you of the magic, the beauty, of love.  The love that is here for the taking.  And remember, it’s not just about a romantic love (which is wonderful to have), but it is more importantly about the love we share with each other as human beings.  So, today, stop and breathe, slow down, dance, kiss, open your eyes and heart and experience love…then give it away!
Love and Peace
Sandy
Top photo by French Artist Alain Laboile www.facebook.com/laboile
Will we ever learn? [song by Oleta Adams]
We could take a train be miles away by morning
and forget about those things we’re supposed to do
because we can’t afford to waste another moment
we’ll make the world just wait for me and you
everywhere
people try to build their castles
in the sky
gotta climb so high
you and I
sometimes were blinded by the light
if we’d only use our eyes
will we ever learn?
loves the only reason why we’ll all be living
its the only gift worth giving
and the world will turn
everytime another lover takes that bow
we will make it somehow
will we ever learn?

and the people on the street are always rushing
so afraid they might miss out on something big
I don’t care if we don’t ever make a million
we just gotta find another way to live
dance with me
moving to the rhythm
can you feel me breathe?
what else do we need?
close the door
nothing really matters only this
only love is worth the risk
will we ever learn?
loves the only reason why we’ll all be living
its the only gift worth giving
and the world will turn
everytime another lover takes that bow
because we’ve only got now
will we ever learn?
Thank you Oleta for reminding us….