Responsible for one’s own self

The chinese jade plant near the front door. Feng shui  says: have a a round leaf chinese plant near your front  house entrance and it ensures good luck will surround you.  This plant is very old. We have carried it wherever we have  lived – just repotting it as it has grown bigger.   From My Garden No person, place, or thing has any power over me. I am the only thinker in my mind.    I am responsible for my own happiness.   Today is the first day of the rest of my life.  I have 100% of my life left to live.  Today I am feeling a bit down. So I am reminding myself of all the good things in my life – the blessings I spoke of yesterday:  This morning there has been rain to water my garden.  Sunshine has now arrived to cheer my spirits. I have good health. I have a nice home.  I am happy in the moment. I have a family who has grown into good, successful human beings.  I love my family.  I have 6 gorgeous grand dughters.  Sarah loves me. She does that unconditionally.  My cat and dogs also love me unconditionally, as I do them. I have a job I love to go to.  I have a comfortable bed. I have good healthy food to eat.  I have lots of interests to keep me busy.  I am counting my blessings and not my sorrows. C

 Many of my power thoughts are inspired by Louise Hay

Counting Blessings

The winds chimes jangling their beautiful                                                 music as they moved to a gentle breeze

From My Garden

Every experience I have benefits me.

I am in the process of positive change

 Today is the beginning of the rest of my life.

 I am beginning to participate in the 100% of my life that I have left to live.

 This morning I have been watching the opening ceremony for the Paralympics.

 I am really looking forward to watching these games, more so than the abled bodied Olympics. I realise how hard our able bodied olympians have to do what they do. I can only imagine and admire how hard the para- olympians had to work to get to where they are. These games, for me, are a reminder, just how lucky I have been to be born whole and have had reasonably good health for most of my life.

 Give up feeling sorry for myself.

Get on to participate in life.

Count my blessings instead of sorrows.

Love life.

Get inspired.

 Be motivated.

Be positive.

If these beautiful people can do it, so can I- so can YOU!

 The world can be such a beautiful place if we all participate in the game of life. C. 

Golden Opportuinities Are Everywhere

As you leave my front garden this is what you see     From My Garden  The ocean of life is lavish with abundance Golden opportuities are everywhere.   I still have all of the rest of my life to live.  There is still 100% of the rest of my life ahead of me.  The opportuinity this week for me has been presented by the beautiful warm sunny mornings and afternoons that are following chilly mornings and nights.   And I have made the most of this time tidying my straggly winter garden. And as I have pruned and watered and dug,weeded and planted I have noticed that lots of trees and plants have new leaves budding – like the roses and stone fruit.The rhubarb is sprouting lovely new leaves and the strawberry is covered in blooms. The apricot tree is just covered in gorgeous pink blossoms. I am hoping to have a really good crop of apricots this year,    We only ended up with 6 delicious apricots from our very first harvest. So this year I have fertilised, mulched, sprayed amd watered the tree and covered it with bird proofing net, nice and early, and I am hoping that with all this lovely pampering I am going to be rewarded with a beautiful abundant,golden harvest.  So, now that I am participating fully in my life (with the help of a brand new massage therapist and my cheerful,inspiring, motivating chiropractor), I am appreciating each precious moment, and the abundance of the life I have ahead of me.  Today, I am wishing good people to present in your life and that golden opportuinity arrives to improve your quality of living. And as life improves share your abundance of living……. pass it on so others may have joy in their hearts too. C

Wishing you Joy

What will greet you when you visit, beside the front entrance to our home.

            

From My Garden

I Keep my thoughts centred on

what I wish to experience in my life.

 I have the rest of my life left to live fully and enjoy.

 

There is 100% of my life left to live.

Welcome!

I am centering my positive thoughts on a new car that can pull our caravan, appearing in my life.

Wouldn’t that be so wonderful ? How this can happen I can visualise and hope and….pray!

I know miracles have happened to others like this before…. why not me!

 

One of my friends is hoping to sell her house. She has an affirmation written up and sitting on a table facing her front door to the effect. I have not yet written my affirmation out yet, but I am getting closer. Here’s HOPING…… and PRAYING!

 

 I hope that that positive things are happening for you in your life, that you are busy and happy and full of joy.C.

Asking For Help

More of those pesky rainbow lorikeets.

    From My Garden

I am keeping my thoughts centred on what I wish to experience more of in my life:

More love,

more happiness,

more positivity,

more enthusiasm,

more motivation,

more inspiration,

more travel,

more communicationa with my family,

more giving,

more excitement,

more LIVING.

I have all of the rest of my life left to live.

I have 100% of the rest of my life to live

It is in admitting to and accepting that I have many weaknesses as well as strengths, that I have many times called on God’s help to get me through. And it is in that, that I have found my true potential.

And I am enjoying my new found freedom of getting on with life and not looking back.

In these last few days we have met up with a young  lady who was part of our lives for 2 years when she was just a young baby – through the fostercare programme. She was such a lively little being and won the hearts of our family with her love of life. Myssie was lucky to be returned to her family and had a good life .

For a while we missed her bright little nature, but  knew we had to move on and not continue to mourn for  what could not be.

Well, through the institution of Face Book and the help of an”Unlikely Genius” we made contact again. And she has turned out to be a lovely person – much quieter than the lively tot we first knew, but that’s growing  up-  but none- the- less a nice human being. That’s all we can ask of our children. That was what I always wanted for my children, and that’s exactly what I got.

 And I can only thank God for the children who touched my life over the years and enriched my life beyond all measure. I am sure that some of them have no idea what they have done for me, and now they are gone and living there own unique lives have little thought for what they gave me and what I have learnt about being a human being, and through them have learned to move on and continue with life in it’s present form.

 And of course God’s help  in moving to that space has been immeasurable. Thank you Lord for being there.

 I wish you a day of love and happiness and that you find life worth living every single day. C

Touching the lives of others

This is Chook and Betsy who came to live with us last Saturday, for the sole purpose of scratching in  our garden.

 

     From My Garden

 I have learned that giving with true joy gives me the  knowledge that I am really the one truly blessed by having  the ability and resources to be able to help others.

 Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

I have 100% of the rest of my life yet to live.

Good morning!

 It is still very chilly in our part of the world. Yesterday it was -2 degrees. Today doesn’t feel quite so cold inside our house, but outside a sneaky little wind sent chills through my bones when I went out to put water on some of my pot plants. The sun doesn’t have much warmth in it yet.

 

I love to do things for people, not for rewards – I am embarassed if people feel they have to do things for me in return – but the pure joy in people’s faces when something good has happened for them.

 

We have been visiting an elderly couple near us who have been done a few hard blows recently. We don’t do anything that costs money or takes us out of our way. We pop in each day to see how things are going. If we are going to the shops we offer to pick up anything they might need, or we take them to do some shopping, water their garden, help to feed their animals. It’s only a few minutes each day but it makes a little difference in their lives. They know somebody cares. That is a great feeling of joy for me as well.

 

I have been enjoying the Olympic games. It is so good to see the athletes from little known and smaller nations than ours doing well at some sports. The Games cost a lot of money, and the money COULD be spent helping other poorer nations. However, I feel that the Games contribute to world peace, and to see athletes competing beside each other in a peaceful manner does much to promote world peace – another form of giving with joy. As that peace begins to grow, passed on by peace loving nations, the world grows smaller and friendlier. I can only pray for peace, but the athletes have the ability and the resources to  take the giving to another height. Let that giving of peace continue to grow.

 

Peace be with you. Feel the joy of giving. C

Responsibility for making a relationship work

King parrots feasting at the hanging feed tray amongst                       the bottlebrush and grasses

1.   From My Garden

I am finding, that for my relationships to work,

I need to be a good forgiver of myself and others

and a good forgetter. 

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

 I have 100% of the rest of my life to life to live.

I am responsible for my own happiness. I must not rely on others to be responsible for making me happy. In order to get that result I have to look within myself and pull out what resources I have there that are going to achieve that outcome.

 So I have let go of my past and moved on to the present. Right here and now is where I am happy. I am happy in this moment. I am alive. I am well. I am feeling positive. I am warm. My tummy is full. I have a nice home and garden. I am in a place of peace. I don’t look too far into the future because I have no idea what is there. So this moment and the next is all I have.

 So now that I am participating in the game of life, I am appreciating every special moment – and I am happy and  at peace.

 Today I wish you happiness and peace throughout this beautiful sunshiny day. C.

A Job Well Done

 

Some rainbow lorikeets decided to visit- such great chatter boxes and such flighty natures.

    

From My Garden

I find that it is much easier to do a good job while I am doing things, rather than do a shoddy one and have to fix it later.

I think that is called having pride in one’s achievements.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

 I still have 100% of my life left to live.

My Mum used to say ‘if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing properly’. And for someone who was never going to be like her Mother, I’ve done a good job at looking like her in “my living longer” years and living up to lots of her sayings, which I am very good at quoting I must say.

 And I’m always saying  ‘why spend all that time doing something the wrong way when you can spend the same amount of time doing it the right way!’

  A story I love to tell is that one of our kids would be asked to tidy up his room…. and he would – and his room would be spotless. And a week or so later I would go right into his room to put away folded clothes, or some such thing, and all the tidy would be stacked up behind his chest of drawers where I couldn’t see it from the doorway. And he would have been given praise for a job well done. How long it must have taken him to stack that mess there when it could have taken the same amount of time to put the things where they went.Gives us all a good laugh now he is grown up and hopefully knows the value of time.

Another of my sayings is ” the time wasted, is life wasted. We can’t get it back.’

 Today was church day- Father Dan’s last day. Father John will be back from his travel to Vietnam next week.

Father Dan spoke about how we can spend some time with God each day. He gave us 3 suggestions:

1. To look in every day life at the good things we have in our life, to look for the good in people.

2. To spend 5 minutes reading the word. To listen to what God is trying to tell us through the Word. Quite often that is explained in the weekly sermon.

3. And to spend some time in prayer or spiritual mediatation.

 And I thought, how easy is that!

 I’m with God when I listen to people talk and hear the goodness in there living.

I am at church and I am with other good people listening to the Word and understanding God’s message to me.

I am at home peeling the potatoes and can pray for my sick friend, or a thank you prayer for a good day or the sunshine or a great family.

 So I can spend time with God no matter what I am doing. How wonderful!

 I have completed my project part of the day doing my most favourite gardening chore – pruning. I can’t wait for the new leaves to start sprouting once spring is here. That is my reward for the time I spend in the garden. 

I hope your day has been as happy as mine and that you too did your most favourite thing today.C

 I know that if I am to participate in the game of life I really must appreciate each very special moment of it.

Pass It On …..

A piece of driftwood with depth of character  that graces my garden

 From My Garden

When I give to others from my heart,

I know that God gives me a refill

from His heart.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

 I have 100% of the rest of my life to live.

 Yesterday did  turn out to be a really great day. After My first 2 phonecalls of the day , then a visit from my brother- in -law, I received mail from my sister, whose husband is struggling with his health, to say that his surgery for a stomach aneurysm is happening soon. They have been waiting for such a long time. And another letter from my friend’s (who has dementia) husband to say that things have been progressing well and my friend has had no more falls and no more injuries in quite a while and she is talking to him more.

 And…. then later in the afternoon, a phonecall from my brother… That too in itself was a reward. He has been struggling with mental illness. I hadn’t heard from him in ever so long.  Some wonderful people have come into his life and things are progressing well. I can’t believe how well he sounded, even joking. I am hoping and praying that these trends will continue for all of our friends and relatives who I pray for every day. Every small step is another reward for them and for me.

 I finished my day  in the garden again. Seems the best way to spend the end of the day. Each little bit I do now, of course, improves my garden, but it also improves my inner self.

 So on to today . I am facing this in anticipation of another positive outcome.

 I hope you too with be rewarded with extra love in your heart from God for all the good things you do, get, and pass on to others. C

If I am going to participate in the game of life, I must continue to appreciate every special moment of it

Setting realistic goals

 

Here is our gorgeous visitor again tucking into some bird seed We are getting a visit most days.

From My Garden

I  am trying to avoid self imposed stresses by not loading myself with unrealistic deadlines, and goals, that are beyond my personal capability.

 

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

I have 100% of my life left to live.

 Today is another crisp day- sunny, cold, exhilerating,  even inspiring, and motivating. 

I am hoping that the day will  be as rewarding as yesterday. It has started well.  I had a phone call from our nephew Craig. We haven’t spoken to him in such a long time. It was so good have a conversation. Eventhough things are not going as well for him as we hoped, we are looking positively to the future, and hoping that very soon there will be a turn around for him. And now my brother- in law has arrived. So two nice things happening within a short while spells good for the rest of the day.

 

Yesterday, I managed to complete all my projects for the day. That was a really good feeling. I ended my project day in the garden, which is how I wanted things to go, so my soull was singing for the rest of yesterday.  So obviosly I chose wisely and did not try to do more than was attainable. I am gaining wisdom in my “living longer” years.

 

And I arose from my slumber on this beautiful morning, in anticipation of another great day – positive, peaceful and enthusiastic.

 

 I wish you peace and happiness and someone to share your joy of living with. C.

 

If I am to participate in the game of life I need to grab hold of and cherish every precious moment.