Did you know..


Did you know that you are in control? You have the control over your tongue, that spews words that even if they aren’t meant, can’t be taken back? You have control over your body language, your thoughts and actions?

Did you know that you can lose control of all of the above – intentionally and unintentionally. You can’t take back a lot of what has been done. You can’t take back what has been said and the effect it had on someone or even yourself for thinking it. You can’t take back the past, but you can make a greater effect on the future.

People argue all the time. Even the most perfect relationships have their ups and downs but do you know know what makes them last? Acknowledgement – Yes, I was wrong and I’m sorry. No, I didn’t like how I spoke to you and I’d like to change that because I don’t want it happening again. Yes you hurt me, but can we work on this not happening again? Forgiveness is a cure that isn’t often prescribed but works better than any other pill. Accept that something hasn’t been done right and know that it will not define you as a person. Forgive the person who has done you wrong and know that they will not control you with their invisible puppet strings from a distance.

One of the hardest things to do is acknowledge when you are wrong, and oh the world of a difference it can make when you do. Lord knows I’m trying to right all the wrongs from my past and it’s a work in progress. But I’ve accepted the errors and I’m working to make sure they never happen again. I don’t want to be who I was before, I want to be better. I’m not erasing my character on the whole and becoming unrecognizable, I’m working on tweaking those negative factors… Did you know change is possible, but you have to want to make that change? It’s not about looking for someone who has done you wrong and casting the blame on them for how your life turned out. It’s about looking inside, finding out how you contributed to it and changing that aspect of your character to make sure it never happens again. The track and field runner who had a weak running start doesn’t get better by bitching about it, but practicing and changing his technique until he finds one that works for him and improves his race. What do you need to change to help you run a better race in this journey of life?

Did you know… it’s never too late?

“In the end, what affect your life most deeply are things too simple to talk about.”― Nell Blaine

This quote is deep. I’ve re-read it so many times in my head and it still baffles me how much deeper it goes with each read. It keeps bringing to mind the kind acts someone has done for me and how they made me feel. Simple, kind acts. Like the other day when I told you about the person who paid for my tea at Starbucks and how speechless it left me. Or when I feel like I’m very out of it and someone smiles a genuine smile – not the hey-how-can-I-help-you-today-smile that’s part of your job description. Or how you feel when your partner calls to just check in on you out of the blue because they were thinking of you.

Did you know that sometimes, it’s the simple things that have made the most impact on our daily lives? Like the relationships that have formed and blossomed because it started with a smile or a kind gesture. We can easily be swept away by thinking of what people have not done for us, but think of what they have done and how it has made us feel and why they are still in our lives (except for family). Find the simple things, talk about them and be amazed by your true feelings. You never know what tomorrow may bring.

Happy Valentine’s Day!


Today is a day that I have the motto: to each his own. Valentine’s Day is a day that could come and go for me. In all of the years my husband and I have been together, I can’t say we have some kind of tradition for it and I’ll tell you why. I’ve been really busy recently and last week my husband asked if I had started cooking dinner yet, and I said no and asked if he wanted to take me to dinner jokingly and he said yes. We went to dinner and he told me it was in appreciation for all that I was doing recently. That gesture meant so much to me. With little acts like that, especially so spontaneous, I do not look forward to a day that’s planned for showing me appreciation and love. It’s almost like I feel like I have to do something to deserve it on that day – cook a special meal or do something major to make him see how much I pay attention to him or something. I just get a card, and that is because that is what I want to do for him. A little reassurance goes a long way.

I’m not anti-Valentine’s day, I’m just not for the commercial aspect of it – the jewelry, chocolates, dinners (even though this is a good excuse not to cook, just not the fancy stuff, pizza is fine) and flowers. Last year was the first year I ever received a bouquet of flowers and I didn’t even know that he went and ordered them as my husband doesn’t keep secrets well, just because I said I never received flowers from him. I love his spontaneity and at the same time I hate it because he never gives me enough time to prepare for anything.

The best thing about Valentine’s day is that it makes us remember all of the reasons why we love the person we are with. What brought us together, how we’ve changed and what has happened in the last year to make you appreciate that person more or less (and work on it). Love will find a way to make any relationship work, if it isn’t there then maybe it’s not meant to be. Love never fails.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-8 New International Version (NIV)


“Love doesn’t make the world go ’round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.”
― Franklin P. Jones

Happy Valentine’s Day! xxxx

“Top Ten List”


About two Sundays ago, we had a visiting priest and his homily was so good I had to get a copy to share with you. I was really touched listening to this homily and I thought it would not be right for me to keep such a wonderful message to myself. The really good thing about this is, even if  you aren’t Christian so to speak, the majority of these ten things are good rules to live by as a human being.

TOP TEN LIST

10. Believe in each other. When we believe in people, we empower them.

9. Make love real. Love is a great idea, but if it only remains an idea, it won’t make any difference.

8. The Eucharist is not a reward for being good. (this I will list the entire passage as it’s a common misconception and beautifully interpreted here.)A doctor doesn’t tell us when we’re sick that taking a medication will help us get well, but then add, “You must be well before you take it.” Yet, we give that impression to people about Holy Communion. It is nourishment for people who are flawed, weak and in need of God’s help. Once and for all, let’s settle it. We are never worthy to receive Holy Communion, but that doesn’t matter because it’s not about our worthiness. It is about God’s unconditional love for us. The issue isn’t our desire to receive communion, but our desire to live in God’s love.

7. Stewardship is a way of life. We are stewards of God’s creation, of God’s gifts and grace.

6. It’s all a gift. Everything is God’s gift to us. We earned none of it, especially the love that is shown us by others. When we try to earn love, whatever we get in return will not be love, for love is always pure gift. The mystery is not death but the absolute wonder we call life.

5. We are called to unity with one another. But not just so we feel together. It is so the world may come to believe in Jesus.

4. We are made for relationship. It’s ultimately about us, not me or you.

3. We must love people the way they are. We cannot love a dream or a memory. If we do not love people the way they are, we don’t really love them at all.

2. Without forgiveness there is no future. If we do not forgive, there is no hope for peace.

1. We are on this earth to learn how to love. Since we were created in the divine image, and since we believe that God is love, the more loving we become, the more we image God and the more true joy we will find in life. Some of it’s lessons are difficult, to be sure. But if we fail to learn to love, we fail Humanity 101.