I Am Joy~

I found this daily affirmation in the Journey With Spirit newspaper I picked up over the weekend and just love it.  I wanted to share it with all of you!!  Have a joylicious day!!

I Am Joy Affirmation - Vicky Thompson

My heart is bursting with joy in this moment.
When I feel the glory of spirit beside me, I feel blessed.
When I see the wonder of God's creations, I feel loved.
When I hear the sound of God's whisper in my ear, I slow down.
When I know how close I am to God, I stop the world.
In this place of silence, I listen and hear my heart beat.
In each beat, I sense the tenderness that went into creating me.
In that delicate fabric of life, I feel honored to live upon the Earth.

Meditation Prayer -

Breathe deeply, inhaling the joy of spirit.  As you exhale, see golden sparkles of joy surrounding you.  As these sparkles of heavenly delight dance around you, feel your heart swelling with uncontainable joy as you say the following prayer:  Dear God, I see your same cloth of creation in my brothers and sisters.  I see the same love, patience and kindness dwelling within all humanity.  I now know that we are one and the same creation of God.  I lay down my judgements and embrace my brothers and sisters in love.  I let the same love you created in me touch the same love in all others.  In love, in peace, we embrace as one.  Joy eternal, joy present becomes me.

Vicky Thompson is the author of Life-Changing Affirmations: A 30-Day Plan for Spiritual Transformation.  You can find her at www.journeywithspirit.com.

A Leap of Faith

I did it!  I got this wild idea last night to start a website so this morning I purchased a domain name!  I'm nervous and excited at the same time.  I don't want to share it with all of you yet as I'm still unsure of 1) why I wanted it to begin with, and 2) what focus I want it to take.  It's all swirling around in my mind with tons of ideas and directions I could go.  Something just told me, or a higher power did, to take that leap of faith and just start.

I have also decided to take this blog in a little bit different direction.  I want to start focusing on the "joy" in joylicious instead of the loss and grief.  I went through 2 very bad and sad years and now I feel like I'm on the path to a new identity and new found hope in the future.  I want to focus on that.  Remind myself over and over why I'm here and what my direction is going to be.  I want to help all of my lovely followers, loved ones, and friends find that joy in life too.

I'm not naive enough to know I will still have high and low, good and bad days.  But the good days seem to be outnumbering the bad days more and more lately.  And the highs seem to be more frequent.  I'm not sure if it is the weight loss or feeling better or my life getting easier as I distance myself from the bad years.  I just know that life is truly getting better.

So stay tuned for my new and exciting project as I figure out my path to happiness and a joylicious life.  I will share the website with all of you soon. 

By the way, dropped the two pounds from yesterday and another pound on top of that!!!  Joylicious!!!

love, kisses, and blessings  ~ Kat

Don't Look Back...

This morning I got on the scale and had gained two pounds.  Lord knows I tried yesterday.  I gave thanks for family and friends.  I gave thanks for good food and good health.  I was happy I have a job and a roof over my head.  But...the anticipation of my daughter's french apple pie was just too much to resist!

I had every intention of being good on Thanksgiving.  Of following my diet and trying to eat as healthy as possible without being stressed or as my dad said, "putting a damper on the day".  I set aside some celery.  I made my mashed potatoes without focusing on how good they would taste with the yummy gravy I could see cooking right next to me.  I smelled the stuffing, which is always my favorite, and looked the other way.  I passed up the cheese and crackers and the cranberry sauce.

I wanted to make healthy choices.  I chose to eat the turkey even though it's not allowed on my diet.  I had my one roll without butter.  I ate my celery and a little broccolli too.  But didn't eat anything else until...

Dessert time!!  My big downfall.  My daughter makes the best apple pie.  So I chose that too.  And it was great.  So I'm making the decision that the pie was my choice for yesterday and today I choose to go back on the diet.  I'm not going to be concerned about the two pounds.  I'm not going to beat myself up over my decisions.  I'm going to focus on my continuing to eat healthy and follow the diet as I should.

I want to look forward to the future in all my decisions.  I can't always look back at my past mistakes.  Many of those mistakes or choices are the reason I'm who I am today.  I'm currently reading a book about why bad things happen and it's made me realize that each time something bad happened to me I learned a lesson and was able to move forward into my future with better decision making skills.  I learned how to heal the past and be a better, more thoughtful, and caring person in the future.

So I made the choice to eat apple pie yesterday and today I choose to eat apples.  The two pounds will go and I will continue on my healthy path to the future.  Both emotionally and physically and I love that!  No looking back at the bad stuff anymore.  And how bad can a little apple pie be??   Joyliciously good!!!

~***40***~

'Nuff said!  Finally finally finally I triumphed over my plateau of weight loss!!  I know I'm losing inches and my body is changing dramatically but the scale wasn't budging.  I shook my scale. I jumped on and off and on it again. I took the battery out and put it back.  I even moved it to the opposite end of the bathroom.  For 7 days it stayed on 39 pounds of weight lost.  I was dejected, depressed, frustrated, angry, and finally I just resigned.  I figured if I just stayed on the good path that it would eventually come off.  And this morning…hooray!!!

I received this message in my email today from Abraham:
From your human perspective, you often believe that you must work hard to overcome obstacles and satisfy shortages and solve the problems that are before you; but often, in that attitude or approach, you work against yourself without realizing it. Attention to obstacles makes them bigger and more stubborn; attention to shortages makes them bigger and prolongs them—and attention to a problem prevents any immediate resolution or solution.

I needed to release fear, thoughts of lack, and obsessing over that darn scale before it would move.  And it did.  Now to continue my journey!  I begin my second three-week session of shots today so it's on to the next goal!  Feeling better and better each day.  By the way, the woman at my doctor's office who has paid for my last two sessions offered to do so again.  She's so sweet and it is such a generous offer but I declined.  I hope she pays it forward to someone else.  And I plan on doing the same thing next year!

So just call me the Incredible Shrinking Woman.  That's what my co-workers have renamed me!  Joylicious!~

O' Those Favorite Things!

I was watching television last night and they had a commercial on for Oprah's Friday show.  It's her annual Favorite Things show.  I was excited to see what this year would bring to the lucky audience participants but I was sad to realize that, once again, I wasn't going to be part of the audience!

It has always been my dream to attend a taping of Oprah's show.  I have recorded her show since the very beginning.  I remember getting my first VCR and figuring out how to set up timed recordings so that I could watch her show every day.  How far we have come in technology over the years!  I have spent 25 years of writing to her with show ideas, comments, entering contests and hoping hoping hoping that by some miracle I would get to go to Chicago and meet her.  I've met people over the years who were on the show.  John Gray for instance who has also been a huge influence in my life.  But I have never been lucky enough to meet her.

As I contemplated the show and Oprah and what I was feeling at the moment was a huge loss in my life I realized something...I'm a winner!  And I don't need meeting the Divine Ms. O. to validate that!  2010 has been a very lucky year for me.  I have won the Dr. Pat Holistic Makeover.  I have been the recipient of gifts from her sponsors which included Vapour Cosmetics, Resveritrol from Reserveage, and chocolate from Life with Chocolate and Temple Swift.  Yesterday I received a huge box of books that I am excited to start reading.  I'm also receiving coaches to help me with life's ups and downs. I have received two sessions of my diet plan with my doctor's office paid for by a woman who wanted to pay forward her abundance to someone else and she chose me.  I have wonderful friends and a loving family.  I have an apartment that I am very happy living in.  I have my health and I have a job.  Life is good.

So, if life is so good why have I felt somewhat stuck lately with my diet, with my blog and pay it forward project, with life in general?  This is what I struggle with.  I feel that I am on the cusp of something big.  I just don't know what that is yet.  Watching that commercial at first made me feel sad and then reminded me that life is more than worrying about whether or not I'll ever get to meet Oprah.  Life is living in the present and thanking my higher powers that I'm here to enjoy it.  I need to relax, set my intentions, and allow the universe to make it's magic.  When I stop struggling, stop worrying, and start allowing, life changes.  And that's joylicious!

A Joyful Noise

When you are in the middle of caregiving, or the middle of stress and drama, or the middle of life's ups and downs, how do you find your joyful self?  How do you find your bliss or joyliciousness?  Or at least a quiet place where you can feel OK?  I struggle with this all the time.

Is it putting a smile on your face regardless of how you really feel?  I'm sure you've heard the expression "fake it until you make it".  Is it curling up inside yourself and going off into a corner so you don't inflict your negativity or depression on others?  Is it hibernating in your room or going for solitary walks?  Meditation?  Friends?

A common answer is that you focus on others or reach out to others instead of dwelling on your own problems.  But if you are already stretched to the limits with helping others or unable to set boundaries doesn't that sometimes compound the problem?

It amazes me how many times each day we ask others, "how are you?" and we get a pat response of "great!" even if the person doesn't really feel that way.  Or if you were to actually tell the other person how you truly felt when they asked do they REALLY want to know?  Or is it just as automatic to ask "how" someone is as it is to say "great"?  I remember testing that theory out a few times and the person's eyes glazed over or looked like they wished they hadn't asked.  So I just respond "fabulous!" regardless of how I really feel.

Another question I ask myself is what would bring me joy or what do I think would bring me joy?  Is it a mate?  A different job?  Owning my own home?  Enough money?  Or is it just peace of mind.  Contentment.  Loving others with my whole heart and being loved in return.  And I realize it's not things that bring me joy it's feelings.  It's taking care of myself as no one else can because I know myself best.  Listening to my heart's needs and wants and fulfilling them for myself.  In that way I can then pass that joy on and that would in turn make me happier.  It's a lovely circle of life.  Joylicious~

The Dr. Pat Holistic Makeover - Update

Every Tuesday afternoon since mid-July, the six amazing winners of the Dr. Pat Holistic Makeover and myself have a conference call.  Yesterday we all called in at our normal time and went around the group as we do each week giving our progress on our pay-it-forward projects.  We also talked about personal goals and issues that we are having. We are an incredible mindset of powerful women who help each other track our progress, give positive feedback, applause, joy, and helpful suggestions on how to be better and more amazing than we already are.

After each one of us took our turns, Dr. Pat went through the group again and spoke to each of us personally about how wonderful she thinks we are.  She told each person individually how we are changing the world and the people around us.  And how she honors us on our journeys of change and transformation.  It was truly intense and emotional for me to hear the kind and powerful words she spoke about each one of us. 

I have been struggling lately with personal self-doubt and a little frustration on how to get my message out.  I have been battling the "change of season/clock" blues and other personal issues that I have been dealing with in my life.  It's hard to write about working through grief and loss to achieve joyliciousness when you are stressed and fighting sadness.  I've also been frustrated with the feelings of baring my soul on the internet and feeling like, other than the wonderful women I email to each day, my blog message is going out into the big void of cyber-space.

But after hearing Dr. Pat's message to each of us yesterday and re-reading my mission and vision statements I do feel somewhat better.  I'm so thankful for each and every one of the other Holistic Makeover winners and their wisdom, joy, and good old advice.  I'm inspired by their messages and friendships.  And I'm so so grateful to Dr. Pat for giving me this opportunity to get to know each and every one of these fabulous women.  And so I blog on through my journey of achieving joyliciousness and inspiring and passing that message on to everyone through my mission.  I'll get there!!

You can hear Dr. Pat each day on Transformational Talk Radio, 1150 am.  Or check out her website at www.thedrpatshow.com.

Caregiving for Aging Parents

Last week Cheryl Richardson posted this newsletter on taking care of yourself when taking care of aging parents.  As more and more of us baby boomers have to step into that roll this is good advise.  I felt it was worthwhile passing on!  I know I went through many of these emotions and challenges when going through my stepmother's illness two years ago.

Aging Parents - Keeping the Love Alive by Cheryl Richardson

In the past three weeks I've had numerous conversations with people who are taking care of aging parents. Just this morning I spoke with a friend who's been in and out of assisted living facilities, doctor's offices, and hospitals more times than he can count. Having been a fulltime caregiver for more than three years when my husband Michael was sick, I know how complicated and overwhelming it can be. And my heart goes out to you if you're dealing with this situation now.

Becoming a caregiver to a parent is something most of us will experience at some point, and learning how to do it with good self-care in place, can help keep the love alive. While I know each situation is unique, here are a few suggestions that might help:

1) Get ongoing emotional support. As you go through the process of providing care to a parent, you will need a safe place to talk about how you feel. You will need to vent. You will need to grieve. You will need to know that someone out there cares about you and wants to know what's going on. This person should know how to listen well, how to hold back advice when it's not appropriate to give it, and how to be present with uncomfortable feelings so you're free to be real and honest.

2) Find a "resource advocate." It can be incredibly helpful to have someone in your life who's able to conduct research. You may have to locate specialized medical care, get help with insurance forms, check into living facilities, or find a good doctor. Delegating these activities can help ease your burden and it can be a wonderful way to allow someone who cares about you to help when he or she feels helpless. While taking care of Michael and managing our lives, I swear I lost brain cells, my memory, and a whole lot of patience. Sharing the burden of information gathering made life so much easier.

3) Don't take bad behavior personally. If your parent is difficult, negative, or irritable, it's probably because they're afraid. After all, they're going through their own challenging life changes. Keep in mind that we all tend to regress into protective behaviors when under stress. Some people go into denial and lose themselves in mindless activities. Others get irritable and end up being impatient or brusque in their communication. Some complain nonstop about every little thing. Try to remember that it's not about you. It's about the tough situation.

3) Allow yourself to experience all of your feelings - even the "inappropriate" ones. There will be times when you experience thoughts and feelings that make you feel guilty. You might be so emotionally overwhelmed by the roller coaster ride that comes with the end of life process, for example, that you find yourself wishing your loved one would pass so the craziness will stop. Please remember that your feelings are just feelings - normal responses to dealing with new and complicated circumstances.. If you respect and honor these thoughts and feelings (and share them with someone safe), you'll move through them with greater ease and clarity. And you'll be a better caregiver for your parent.

4) Be willing to have "courageous conversations." Most of us don't talk about death or end of life issues; let alone say what we need to say to feel at peace with one another. It's too scary, painful, or uncomfortable to step near those lines. And it's not always well received. The funny thing is that bringing consciousness - intentional, open conversation - to the topic can reduce fear and open our hearts. When we shine a light into the darkness, things get a little brighter. Be brave enough to initiate a conversation about end of life issues and see what happens. Tread gently and respectfully. You might be surprised to learn that your parent has been thinking about things like estate planning or what will happen to special items once they're gone, and your courage has now opened the door for further conversation.

5) Finally, be gentle with yourself. Caring for an aging parent is such a complex, multi-faceted issue for both the caregiver and receiver. We learn as we go.  If you're currently caring for an aging parent, I hope some of these suggestions help you this week. If you're not, please print this newsletter and keep it handy for future use. You or someone you love just may need it...

Life Makeover For The Year 2010 (sm) is written and produced by Cheryl Richardson. If you have any questions or comments, or for reprint permission of this newsletter, please email: cheryl@cherylrichardson.com. © Copyright 1999-2010. Cheryl Richardson, P.O. Box 13, Newburyport, MA 01950. All rights reserved.

Let Us Give Thanks

November is the month for giving thanks for all the good things that we have in our lives.  Everywhere I look lately I see the word gratitude popping out at me.  It's easy to get mired down in everything that is wrong with our lives and forget all the good things that come our way.

Recently I have had several blessings come my way.  I received another free session of my diet from a woman at my doctors office and have now lost a total of 35 pounds!  That was totally unexpected and wonderful!  I had dinner with a friend and another one with my father at nice restaurants and had a great time both nights.  I received a gift card to a restaurant as a thank you from my boss for all my hard work.  That was a shock!  But a very nice one.    I have had unexpected blessings from my sister and daughter at a time when I felt really low and unsure of life.  I've started receiving boxes of gifts from Dr Pat Bacilli as part of the Holistic Makeover contest and that has been very fun and exciting.  And each time one of these blessings happens I marvel at the goodness and love in others and how grateful it makes me feel.

I have been listening to my tapes on the Law of Attraction by Abraham-Hicks.  Abraham talks about how lack creates lack and abundance creates abundance.  When you focus on lack then that is what you are going to attract.  If you focus on ill health then that is what you will attract. The best thing to do is focus on good things in your life and you will attract more of the same.  Focus on good health, joy, prosperity, happiness.  It multiplies when that is where your mind is set and that is what you are grateful for.

A few tips I have learned recently from articles I have read on gratitude and giving thanks:

1) Enlist a friend.  If you start to get down or focus on lack, reach out to a friend and share good times with them.  Email them with things you are thankful for.  Putting your thoughts into words makes them more real.  Ask them to email you with their thoughts and what they are also thankful for.  Sharing these gifts is a joy in itself.

2) Make a list of your bad times.  Realize that you have come through all of them.  Probably with flying colors and are better off for them having happened.  Even the worst of times can have positive outcomes in the most unexpected ways.  You never know what is around the next corner to bring you more joy than you have ever expected or could believe would happen.

3) Imagine your life without blessings.  What would your life be without the love of your family and friends.  Imagine not living the life we have in the United States that we all take for granted.  Be thankful for things could be so much worse if you didn't have that support system.  Small things like a warm bed at night, food to eat, pets to care for with their unconditional love for you.  If those things disappeared tomorrow how would you feel?

4) When you find yourself focusing on the negative reach out to someone.  Helping others is one of the best ways to help yourself.  It takes the focus off of you and everything you perceive is wrong with your life and puts your energy into something positive.  Positive attracts positive.  Abundance attracts abundance.

I'm thankful that October is done.  I'm thankful for a loving family and blessed to have the friends I do.  I'm thankful for a good job.  I'm thankful that I can pay my bills.  I'm thankful I'm on the road to a healthy, thin body.  I'm thankful to have won the Holistic Makeover contest.  I'm thankful for my cats.  I'm thankful for my joylicious life.  Blessings to all of you too~