tears of laughter and joy

Mom, I'm eating...what?


I am so thankful for today's technology. Elder Norton just sent me 128 photos and several movie clips on a CD. I am in heaven today. Crying and laughing. You can see the rest of his pictures by clicking on his weblink on my page. Right over there on the left. See? Lower. There you go. The Mish.

I posted all of his video clips on facebook.

You are what you THINK!!!

I recently read a few sentences that gave me so much to ponder. The first sentence claimed that we live in a thought world which is part of a thought universe. Then I read that all around us is uncreated matter. And that matter responds to thoughts. I've been on a thought journey. That is, a purposeful attempt at reigning in and training my thoughts, rather than being at the mercy of them. I had a huge aha when I read these ideas. Because not only have I been studying thoughts, but also feelings and emotions.

These ideas that connect thought and the matter that is directed by them are also connected to how we feel and react to the world around us. The Bible says as a man/woman thinks in his/her heart, so is he.

James Allen, who has a book based on the last sentence, and is one of my favorite authors on the subject of thought said, "Tell me what that is upon which you most frequently and intensely think, that to which, in your silent hours, your soul most naturally turns, and I will tell you to what place of pain or peace you are traveling, and whether you are growing into the likeness of the divine or the bestial." The implications are breathtaking when we really think about it. And it applies to anything and everything. Whether our thoughts are about health, money, religion/spirituality....anything, they are creating who we are and what is around us. Our thoughts literally create our lives. Do you think about good things when you have nothing else to do, or are you consumed with doom and gloom and problems?

Our emotions are closely linked to our thoughts. So, when we send out or dwell on lovely, uplifting, positive thoughts and emotions, we get more of it. And when we send out negative, hateful, ugly thoughts, we get more of it. So anything we want to accomplish needs to be created in our thought first. We have to think about what we want, and then start putting our energy into the thoughts and emotions that will take us there. Stephen R Covey says, "Begin with the end in mind" is based on the principle that all things are created twice. There's a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation to all things."

Are you happy with your life? What do you want?

How about what we speak? Our words go right along with our thoughts and emotions. God spoke the world into existence. See Genesis 1. Satan was overcome in the war in Heaven by words/testimony. See Revelation 12:11. As members of the LDS Church, we are commanded to watch our words and deeds or we will perish. See Mosiah 4:30. I don't know about you, but I would rather my thoughts, words, and emotions lead me to abundance, rather than leading me to perish. What are you thinking?

The rest of the story--little ripples

This post keeps getting deleted, it must be important. :-)

We know that when we drop a pebble into water, that a ripple begins, which increases in size as it moves across the water. If we drop two pebbles near each other, the ripples flow into each other, each effecting the rings of ripples. I believe that every thought and action we create, has a ripple effect, not only on ourselves, but on the lives of those around us. Just like the two pebbles, our thoughts and actions can effect others.

I mentioned someone difficult in the life of one of my children in my last post. I find it so interesting that there has been a major shift in this person since we decided to laugh. There have been other positive experiences in the group my child is involved with and perhaps those have come together to also help. But, I have to wonder, could if have all begun with our changing our thought and dropping a laughter pebble into the pond? Most people would probably dismiss it. No, you can't change others, win games, effect relationships with the change of one thought. Maybe not. But it certainly is something to ponder.

"Our life is what our thoughts make it. A man will find that as he alters his thoughts toward things and other people, things and other people will alter towards him."

James Allen

The Teacher Appears

You know the old saying, when the student is ready the teacher appears? Well, the student must be ready. I was ready to do a completely different post, but I will get to that another time. I am reaching and trying to grow to new heights. I am doing that by changing myself, starting with my thoughts, words, and feelings. I find it interesting that at the moment my soul has an aha moment, immediately a situation arises that demands the soul to respond. (I've had two in as many weeks) And the Rich Girl (see the cast on the left of the page) is left with a choice of whether to act as she would have before, or to take the new found information and act anew.

Well, we had that opportunity this week. The Beast (fondly nicknamed by the Mish) was injured in a basketball game. He was taken to the ER. He is all right. He may have had a concussion. There was an adult involved that was being rather ugly and I was not taking to it happily. So, I complained, shared it with some friends, got their opinion, blah blah blah. In the midst of it I was actually thinking, "I am not sure I am being true to my convictions here."

The Dr.s' note was taken to school to avoid physical activity and there was a response. We could not figure out if it was a joke or real. I actually had an internal battle whether to rage or laugh. And as a group, the Beast, the Bish, and I decided to just laugh. We decided from now on, let's just laugh. Can you imagine the response? The next day, the adult involved was happy, happy, happy. He's been a crank for months. And he called the Beast in and apologized. Huh? I did not see that coming.

Coincidence? Maybe. I choose to believe that a shift in our "cosmic" world produced a shift elsewhere. But, the greater hope is that *I* learned the lesson. The student is ready.

The smile on my face

If you were to go through a photo album of my life, you would find many of my silly happy faces. This one was from when I was turning my oldest son into Napoleon by wrapping all his dyed hair in perm rods so he could win the Mr Wildkat contest, which he did. Somewhere in the last couple of years, I lost my silly happy face. Oh it would peek out now and again, but I let the little foxes in my garden overtake me. (That's for another day).

Around the first of the year, I decided I wanted to be positive and happy. So, I watched the Secret a couple of times. Something just clicked. The gratitude, dreaming about what you want, the genie principle. It just all felt right. I decided I wanted to be happy. First of all, I declared my life perfect. 'Cause it almost is anyway. And hey, the life I have is mostly the life I created, so I must want it, therefore it is perfect. And if I want something else, well I can reach for that too. Besides, as a perfectionist, if I declare my life perfect, then I cannot possibly cry that it is not. Genius.

I realized I don't allow myself much fun with my kids either. Oh there is a spontaneous moment here or there, but I just made a mental note to watch out for fun moments. I got one last night.



This is my youngest a couple of years ago. She is all sunshine and smiles. Last night, after a very long day, while I was putting away groceries, she picked up all the bags off the floor and tossed them in the air and declared it was snowing. It was after bedtime. Then (me not paying attention) she wadded up all the bags into balls and began throwing them at me declaring a snowball fight. I threw a few at her and we had a laugh. Then we had family prayer and sent everyone to bed and I went back to the kitchen. But she came around the corner and brought her sister and they attacked me with more snowballs. The dad tried to protest as I normally would do. It was bedtime. When it is bedtime, you cannot throw make believe snow balls in the kitchen! But we three girls just ignored him and had our snowball fight. We laughed and had snow much fun and then they went up to bed. I felt so happy after something so simple. Yep, I like taking advantage of the moments. They put a smile on my face.

Interview with God

Take just a minute to be blessed by lovely photography and loving words.

http://www.theinterviewwithgod.com/view_movie.html

The secret behind THE SECRET

Chances are you've seen the movie or read the book The Secret. If you haven't actually seen or read it, you've probably at least heard of it. If you dig any deeper and look for the people who starred in the movie, you will find programs they offer to teach you the Secret that are typically quite pricey. I do not think that does not mean they are worth what is being asked. In fact, you often get better results when you really invest something. But, when you can get it for free, you can still have great results if you are the do it yourself type. Did you ever wonder where the secret came from? Yes, the principle goes back far into time, but in the last century, it originated with a funny little man named Wallace Wattles. He wrote wonderful books, one being called The Science of Getting Rich. He wrote several others, two being the Science of Being Well and the Science of Being Great.

His premise on the first book, is that there is a "certain way" of doing things, that bring scientific results. And so, if you follow this certain way of getting rich, it will follow that you will become rich. Intriguing. There are lots of places on line selling Mr Wattles books, but you can get it below for free. I think a goal of financial prosperity, is a good one for the New Year. How about you?