Our bodies know what to do when infection invades. All the white blood cells rally to the area to fight off the intruder. Certain mammals and animal species circle their young for protection. As humans, we instinctively come to the aid of others when there is a cry for help (see my last post, Starfish and Humans – We All Need a Stranger to Come to Our Aid at Times.
Patricia Singleton in her last post, Welcome To My Dark Side expresses her angst and struggles – bringing the Light into the dark. That’s challenging for most of us and I want to dedicate this poem and post to her and suggest to those that read it to go to Patricia’s post and send her some Light. We’ve all had those times where we felt our darkest hour. I can relate to her anguish and despair as I recently passed down a similar road last week when without any warning I was released from a job (see my post, Thoughts Will Either Lift You Up Or…Do You In). I felt the old feelings of victimization and blame and then guilt wondering if there was something I did. The feelings were strong especially when the doubts and fears started to mount over money. Yes, I can relate to Patricia’s emotions questioning why she has the migraines and there’s the fear. It seems like these emotions and thoughts blindside and barrel over us to the point where you wonder, “What just happened!” It took me three days last week to allow the healing to take place. I intuitively realized that that’s why this happened. I needed to get over victimization once and for all and realize my self worth. In meditation and prayer it helped me to focus on “In an easy and relaxed manner – In a healthy and positive way, I will allow God to heal what has been brought to the surface and be guided what to do next.” (an adaptation from a quote Marc Allen uses in his book, The Greatest Secret of All).

Patricia is strong in writing about her true feelings and posting it for everyone to see. She’s not running from the dark but instead facing it and acknowledging it. I admire her for that and believe that through this truth there will come the healing and guidance she has longed for. Inspiration is all around in Spirit and Love. It shines through in all the posts she has written and shared with us.

When a new mother feels the contractions of childbirth, she breathes through it and focuses on something. When the darkness is all around us and seems to be bearing down we look for something that will take us through the waves of doubt and fear.

­Maybe a piece of music or an object you can focus on to sit quietly with and breathe while listening.
Some other things to help bring us through the darkness is a change in scenery. Go for a walk in the park or a hike in the woods or treat yourself to a massage.
Go to the library and find a good book or some poetry to read that will inspire.
Put some tapes on of a favorite motivational speaker and soak in the words.
Read some kind and loving words that friends extend to you through the internet or on the phone.
Play with children and laugh with them when they giggle.

Or, maybe it’s time when these things reappear and surface again to ask for Divine guidance to allow for complete healing and work through whatever process you’re given to accomplish that. I believe we’re in a time where more of our issues are resurfacing in order to finally heal so we can be in a position to be of true service.

Look at the amazing creations that we are, all the things we have done and the possibilities of what can still be done. These are incredible times and there is preparation going on to groom each of us to do the work that we’re being called to do. Take heart and know that “…God will provide something solid to stand on or … we will be taught to fly” and with this we can rally around Patricia in words of encouragement.

From the kitchen table – Pat
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The Starfish Story has always been a source of inspiration to me (taken from Tom LaRotonda’s Core Matters website) and I’ll share it with you:

It was early in the morning;
the mist had not yet cleared from the sea.
In the distance a solitary figure stood throwing objects out over the water.

Walking along the debris-strewn
beach, I looked at the masses of starfish scattered everywhere. The tide had thrown them in, stranding them on the beach.
When the sun rose higher in the sky, they would perish.

Now closer to that stranger,
I could see they were starfish he was picking up
and returning to the sea.

Our eyes met.
“Do you really think you can help?
There are millions of starfish on this beach.
You can help so few,” I asked.
“Does it really make a difference?
Does it matter?”
He reached down and picked up another starfish,
looking at it intently.

“Oh yes,” he replied. “It matters to this one.”

I think about humanity and the suffering that goes on all over the world. What if we were one of the starfish in need of a helping hand? Would there be someone to reach out to us or would it not make a difference because there are so many? Yes, people are helping people right now all over the world. There would be help. Just as the stranger believed it made a difference to the one, there are souls, just like you and me, in our workplaces and communities lending a hand when we see someone in need.

We just had that experience a couple of weekends ago where our neighbors reached out and helped us. We had to have our horse put down, I refer to it in a previous post, Animals – Our Companions, Our Friends, and the burial service came the next day, Sunday, to pick up Jet’s body. When they drove down into our back yard with their large trailer and truck they got stuck in the snow. Every time they tried to drive it forward it would slide five feet further down the hill. At one time, they were only five feet from the gate of the corral with their tires spinning – going no where – only sliding sideways. They even burned up their electrical winch trying to get it out. My husband and the couple from the burial service were at their wits end. Then, like Knights of Shining Armor, our neighbor Vic walked over to offer his help with his truck, and our other neighbor on the other side, Roger, came over to see what he could do. With trucks hooked up to each other with towing straps, the trailer got straightened out and then the truck followed but still had a long way to go to come up the hill and out. Roger and my husband were busy shoveling and spreading manure under the tires for traction while Vic was at the helm pulling with his truck and Jeff was orchestrating the course of action with his wife driving the burial truck. Foot-by-foot, as the trailer and truck were pulled up, they just couldn’t crest the top so my husband hooked his truck to Vic’s. It looked like a train of trucks and trailer. He started forward pulling and, as if all it needed was just that little extra horsepower, they all came out. It was a task that took 3 hours.

Jeff was impressed at how our neighbors came to lend a hand. He said something like, “In a small town, you’re more likely to see help like this but it had been a long time since I had seen it.” “Now, down in the big city, most people would just look out their windows and watch and then go on about their business.” I think it made him feel good to be a part of something special that was happening.

It was a difficult day for my husband and I having lost an animal companion of 20+ years and the suddenness of it. Yes, people all over, even in the big city, are there to reach out and throw you a lifeline or, like the Starfish, throw you back in the water. Everyone one of you matters and is worth whatever it takes to bring you the help you need. Just like a previous post I wrote, Entertaining Angels Unawares you never know what angels will show up just when you need them. It may be a compassionate vet like we had for Jet or a gathering of neighbors to come to your aid.

I am thankful for those that came to our aid that weekend and like the stranger with the Starfish I’ll do my best to be there when it’s my turn to help someone. It mattered to us and I know it matters to you.

From the kitchen table – Pat
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Life doesn’t get any better than this. We just got two phone calls tonight – one was from our 13-year old grandson and the other was from our 21-month old grandson just learning to talk. His mother said he picked up his play phone and started calling our names in it, “PaPa” “Gamma”. It makes our hearts burst with love when our grandchildren miss us so much they want to talk to us (even the baby). My grandson said once he wanted to call us because he needed a Grandma fix. My grandmother was one of the most important people in my life growing up and I still carry warm memories of those days. I’ve written some posts about her – go to That Special Someone, Ghosts or Plain Talk. Now, I feel that I’m following in her footsteps with our grandchildren and making memories with them.

Our children live in rural Denver and we live in the mountains outside of Denver and the grandchildren come up and spend weekends with us on a regular basis. They have done this for most of their lives and we have built that bond. It’s so special to have that time with just them not to mention giving their parents a break. We play with them and catch up with what’s going on in their lives. There is a long hill down our backyard and when it snows they get out the sleds and slide down the hill a good part of the day. We go for walks and they sleep out on the deck in the summer in their tent looking at the stars. Yes, making memories.

What is it with raising children? That time of our life we’re building our families, a home and working. Between all the responsibilities, jobs, school, homework, errands, 15 years fly by and their almost grown. Then, you go through the milestones of puberty, driving, falling in love, broken hearts, graduation, college, marriage and……ahhh grandchildren. You wonder where the time went while you were trying to figure it all out. But, when the grandchildren come, it’s like you have a second chance at that children thing only in a different way. That’s when you can relax and truly love all the stages, the moods, the diaper changing – and I’m in heaven.

I realize some of you out there reading this just can’t relate. You’re not even in the children phase no less the grandchildren phase and may not even want to entertain it. That’s fine and I honor that. But let me indulge a little – humor me. It’s not just the children and grandchildren thing – it’s family. You’re making memories with a new generation that will stay with them forever. Go back in time, in your own life as a child, can’t you remember laughing and playing? What was your fondest memory as a child? Was it a puppy you had or being tucked into bed and read a story every night. Or maybe it was Christmas when you couldn’t go to sleep at night excited for Santa to come. We all have memories and there are those special people in our lives that create that world of imagination for us that we can recall at any time and with it come the feelings.

When your life seems to be spiraling out of control and you’re worrying about the bills, leaky roofs or losing a job, life comes around and knocks on your door and reminds you of the importance of appreciating what you have. What I was reminded of tonight was of the love of our grandchildren and how blessed I am. Family fills my heart with so much love and that’s what we’re living for – sharing that love with one another and passing on the torch. Take time today to hug the ones you love and tell them how glad you are that they’re in your life.

From the kitchen table – Pat
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What have your thoughts been about today? Do you even remember? Until recently, this has been something that has challenged me and, consequently, it was reflective in my life. You can read a related post I wrote, called Believe and Keep Faith. But, slowly, I feel I’ve made progress in this area. In fact, when I first wrote this earlier today I could really see where I had made some changes in my life in the area of my thoughts. Then, the end of the day came and I was put to the test on what I was going to do with my thoughts. It was as if the universe was saying,“Do you really believe this – well, let’s see.” I was called in at work and fired (I don’t like the word fired so let’s say – let go). I’ve never been let go before and for lacking in PC skills (didn’t minimize a page fast enough) and needing too much mentoring time?? Those old victim feelings and thoughts surfaced and started to take over. You know the ones:

“The reason they gave was lame.”
“Poor Pat.”
“You’re rejected again – never appreciated for what you do.”
“What did I do to deserve this?”

But, I caught myself and even though the emotions were running wild I thought instead,

“God loves me.”
“There is a lesson here and this time I will see what it is I need to do to heal so I never have to repeat it again.”
“I will send love and blessings to this company and to those who let me go.”
“These people are my brothers and sisters and they are here to teach me so I can finally learn.”
“I am thankful for the opportunity I had for work and for the position I had for a short time.”

“What”, you say, “Are you crazy?” “How will thinking like this ever change people or what happened to you?” “They don’t even know what’s going on in your head.” Yes, I could think that but it would be a false sense of pride only leading me back to old victimization thoughts and this is the lesson to be learned. I don’t think it’s totally released for what I have to learn but I have turned it around and with God’s help I can heal and send love and blessings. Marianne Williamson said in her book, The Age of Miracles, “And everything that ever happens will be used to show us how we’re doing so far.”

We don’t realize how much influence and power we have just through what we’re thinking. Thoughts solely belong to us and it’s the one thing that can’t be taken away. Because they’re heard only by us, we can choose to either listen, ignore or change the thought.

Our thoughts are silent to others on the outside but through our thoughts we have the invisible connection to the Divine – a hotline to the Creator – instead of being connected to our circumstance. If we allow our thoughts to be affected by the circumstances this is what we create. If we think only on what we intend to manifest and keep our connection open to the Divine we will be guided on what action to take.

It seems simple but I think the problem is that we haven’t really grasped the fact that we can actually use our thoughts as a tool as you would your hands or legs. If you go to pick something up and it’s not what you want, you change where you reach and choose another item. You can do that with your thoughts. If you have a thought that’s not consistent with your intention you can change it to the thought that fits. Because our thoughts are intangible and silent and appear to be on autopilot, we don’t take them seriously – but we need to. This is the engine that drives everything into our existence. We need to pay attention to them.

I am out of a job and not real clear why. But, I’m better at changing my thoughts about this and taking full responsibility for my part (see my previous post, Taking Responsibility). I am closer to healing for which I am thankful to my teachers. Because I am working on keeping my thoughts on love and blessing, I keep my hotline open to the Divine and believe I will be shown where I am to be and best served. God bless all of you who are experiencing some of these things. Believe me when you get a glimpse of the end of the tunnel you will be grateful for having gone through what you did in order to be better for it. This time my thoughts are lifting me up and through this situation – not doing me in!

From the kitchen table – Pat
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Throughout our lives we go through stages. You can’t be expected to know anything about responsibility when you’re a toddler or young child. We have to learn what that means. Each little job, each small task helps us understand what responsibility is and the consequences. Your mother asks, “Will you pick up your toys?” They’re your toys – you’re beginning to be responsible for them so why wouldn’t you? And, then, you also experience the consequences when you don’t pick them up.

Slowly, we grow and as we encounter each task we learn more about responsibility, hopefully. This is in an ideal world.

Sometimes, we resist taking responsibility, even as a child, and this is where we begin spinning our wheels and going nowhere. We’re stuck. Marianne Williamson in her book, The Age of Miracles, says:

“A concept it has taken me years to embrace fully is that I am 100 percent responsible for my own life. 100 percent responsible doesn’t mean 34 percent responsible, and it doesn’t mean 96 percent responsible. Unless you’re willing to accept that you’re 100 percent responsible for your own experience, then you can’t call forth your best life.”

No matter what problem you are experiencing or what someone else has done to you. You need to take full responsibility for your part of it or it will keep repeating itself in some form over again until the lesson is learned. It’s time to stop blaming and judging and truly view the situation and release it through love and forgiveness. This doesn’t mean to become the victim and blame yourself. It means you need to find a way to change your thoughts and reactions and respond positively. I know some of the situations you’re facing out there are tough and no one said it was to be easy. But unless we really see how the situation is reflecting a part of us that needs healing and find a way to do that – through prayer or counselor – we’ll keep spinning our wheels. You have to find the way that fits best for you and a way that works so you know you have dealt with the problem and have been 100 percent responsible.

As Marianne Williamson goes on to say,

“You can live the rest of your life reacting to and replaying what went before, but that won’t serve you or deliver you to the shining place. And everyone you meet will subconsciously know how you’ve responded to your past. They will know whether you’re stuck there or better for having been there.”

From the kitchen table – Pat
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