The "shoulds"

Well, it is on my schedule to blog today, but I don't really have anything to say. I know, I "should" write regularly in order to 'generate a buzz', 'get in front of potential customers' and 'introduce Life Preservers to the marketplace', but today it just isn't flowing that way.

And that got me thinking, sometimes silence IS golden. We are bombarded by messages every minute; wouldn't it be nice to just have a quiet place to go and be alone with your grief? Now that's something I can do today! I can offer you a place to just sit and be quiet. Here goes:





Fill the above space with whatever thoughts you're having and just take a deep breath and relax. Silence is golden.

Peace to you today.

Losing Time

I am grieving the loss of minutes in my day. Oh I know what they say: "we each have the same number of hours to do that which we want to do", but I don't believe that's true. Not for me. Not today!

Today I am to complete several articles for my living, but I would rather live my life as the director of Life Preservers. There is so much about to happen for the organization, that I am feeling torn between doing what I 'should' do and what I want to do to help that along.

So I take a moment to connect with my spirit and seek guidance on how I can 'have it all'. I know that there is a way and I am open to it.

How do you use time extenders to accomplish all that you are called to do?

Being Presidential in Grief

It's President's day and it appears half the world is taking it as a holiday, since no one I need to speak to is answering their phone or their e-mail today.

So instead, I think about past Presidents and wonder about the influence their decisions had on our country and if their vision would match where we are today?

I know there are many wonderful advances that have happened for us since their passing- transportation, technology and just the many nice extras we have now are things to be grateful for, but I can't help wondering about some of the basic rights they fought for and how we grieve them?

I'm thinking of the basics of respect and integrity, in particular. It seems like the news is filled with stories of how those two qualities are not being lived up to in business and entertainment. It makes me feel old; to think that those basic tenents of life could be so overlooked by today's generation. I hope that I am wrong and know that I am whenever I observe a young child saying "thank you" or a stranger still willing to hold the door open for me in a store.

Still, there is more we can do to assure these qualities get passed on to the next generation. And the most simple action of all is to just 'be' them. To live in integriy every day. To respect others and our differences every day.

It's a tall order, but I am up to the challenge. Are you?

Love, love, love

When I led a cancer support group a few years ago, I opened the Valentine week meeting with the question: Are you having an affair?

People shuffled their feet and squirmed a bit in their seats, not quite sure where the topic was going and what they had gotten in to.

I went on to show why it was important for them to have the most wonderful love affair of all- with themselves. Especially when we're focused so deeply on healing-we need a lot of love.

So I ask the same question of you today: are you having a wonderful love affair with yourself?

There is so much public pressure around Valentine's day for loved ones to 'perform for the public': will flowers show up at work just like all the other girls have? Will dinner out be special and not a trip through the drive-thru at McDonald's? As if that is what true love is all about!

When we grieve we most certainly need to be extra good to ourselves, recognizing the wide variety of emotions that are swirling around us. So I encourage you to let this Valentine's day be the beginning of a renewed commitment to yourself to love yourself.

You might even want to send yourself a Valentine!