AUTUMN, THE SEASON THAT TEACHES US, THAT CHANGE, CAN BE BEAUTIFUL! Like most of you, I love the fall colors....I enjoy watching them change from the lush green foliage on the side of the mountain to the bright, intense colors that bring a different kind of life to the landscape....so beautiful, so invigorating! I like to refer to this season as Autumn, because......Fall tells me that Winter is around the corner and I struggle with anything connected with the long, cold, icy days and months ahead. Brrrrrr!! AH, SEPTEMBER! YOU ARE THE SEASON THAT AWAKENS MY SOUL.. September is a favorite Autumn month for me....for several reasons, one being this is the time of year that I begin to design my life for the next year. Something about the crisp morning air that lures me to my comfy chair with a warm mug of ‘Spiced Pumpkin’ steamed milk and a cozy, warm blanket, puts me in Heaven. A quiet, inviting atmosphere that creates the perfect moments for dreaming, evaluating, planning, designing, and creating a plan for my life of purpose and JOY. The days ahead seem to come and go so quickly, it’s like life is disappearing before your very eyes.....IF we don’t begin early to design them and create a plan to make them ‘more’. Through the years, I have found that if I will define my coming days, design, plan and create them, then they will lead to a life well lived. Those cold but, cozy, quiet, autumn mornings are treasured and memorable. They are a good way to embrace ‘what is’ and awaken my soul, my inner longings for a better world. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! YOU DON’T LOOK A DAY OVER FABULOUS!!! The second thing that makes September special for me is that it is a big birthday month for our family....my birthday being the very last day.... is lovingly shared with a special Grandson. Yea...Happy Birthday to us! :) Everyone loves Birthdays!! But, several years back, when wrinkles and gray hairs became more noticeable, I wasn’t wanting any more birthdays. I wished I could stay living in my ‘prime’ years...getting older wasn’t looking like ‘Golden Years’ at all! I’ve found it doesn’t help to fight it, or even ignore the birthdays....they still keep coming! And I am grateful for that. This Birthday year has brought with it new challenges, besides my newly acquired chemo side effects, Jim and I are experiencing old age and ‘mindlessness’ in a whole new way. Either he can’t remember something or I forgot to turn the stove off. We shuffle and weave when we walk and huff and puff as we go up the stairs. But, even though it’s not what we would have planned, I think old age is a gift. I like the person I have become. By embracing each year.... all the wrinkles and gray hairs, physical and mental changes, we still have each other and lot’s of opportunities to spend time with family, grandchildren, friends and...yes, even challenges...life is BLISS! (The first photo was takes last year about this time...before cancer and chemo. The next photo is my brave attempt of a ‘selfie’ this morning.) And.....I don’t look a day over FABULOUS! Birthday’s come and go. It’s what we do in between each celebration that makes life really worth celebrating. So ‘live with abandon’.... forget your fears, find your faith and live! Which brings me to another reason September is special for me. AN INVITATION TO JOURNEY TO THE DESTINATION THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOREVER. ❤ Every year at this time, I go on a ‘Journey to Bethlehem’. I start on my birthday and journey until Christmas. It’s so spiritually uplifting and brings me so much JOY! I look forward to it every year. For my Birthday this year, I thought if would be amazing if you would go with me. So my Birthday Gift.... to you ...is an invitation to journey with me and experience a beautiful change that you will treasure forever. I created this gift for someone else 5 years ago, but I loved it so much, that I make sure I experience it every year, at this time. It is a gift that has changed me over and over. I would love it if you would venture with me. Sometimes the smallest step in a right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. I encourage you to do this.... a Christmas gift you can give to yourself. I know you are probably freaking out at the mention of Christmas and gifts right now, but you might thank me later....I have held it dear and haven’t shared it with a lot of people but, I’m thinking that you would probably enjoy it now. So here is a brief explanation of what this Gift is... The Gift I want to share, is for you to join me each week on this Blog, and ‘Journey to Bethlehem’ with me and anyone else who is desiring to find Truth, and in the process, change our lives. It’s for anyone who has a need to feel closer to the Savior and to their Father in Heaven. We all need that close relationship...that spiritual strength so we can navigate through the adversities in this life a little easier....and it can happen on this ‘Journey to Bethlehem’... a place where you will come to know Jesus...the Son of God. “A strong woman knows she has strength enough for the journey, but a woman of strength knows it is in the journey where she will become strong.” ~ Unknown If there are some men that are reading this and want to join us, please do, the world needs strong men also. This journey is for everyone. It’s amazing to do as a couple or as a family. This journey is for those that have been desiring to find enlightenment and direction to really know if there truly is a Son of God. Like other journeys, this one requires preparation to begin and involves stepping out of the ordinary. The hope is that we will allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit as we journey to Bethlehem, the destination that will change our lives forever. LIKE THE WISEMEN, OUR JOURNEY WILL BEGIN AFTER THE NEWS OF THE SAVIORS BIRTH. Interesting side note. I was reading in my scriptures yesterday in 3 Nephi Chapter 1:19-21; “....and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born, because of the sign which had been given. And it came to pass, yea, all things, every whit, according to the words of the prophets. And it came to pass also that a new star did appear, according to the word.” I find it amazing that, at this time each year, I’m reading wherever I am presently located in my daily scripture reading, and I always come across a verse or chapter like this one, that mentions that Christ was born. It’s like it’s giving me permission to begin my journey. ❤ I find it humbling and inspiring to experience for myself, a personal announcement that the Christ Child was born, just in time so that I can move forward to seek the truth of this miraculous event. I have always felt a kinship to the Wisemen that traveled afar when they heard that the Christ Child was born, they set out on a journey to seek and find the Son of God. I like to think that if I would have been there, I would have also gone on that journey. Have faith in this journey. Everything that needs to happen will happen to get you where you desire to go. Every year I’m excited to see what new things I will learn and discover along the way. It’s usually something that I have been desiring to know or learn or experience. Miracles have happened! My experiences have strengthened my testimony; that there is a Son of God that came to this world with the light and knowledge we all need to be healed from our adversities and lifted out of darkness. DISCOVER HIS ULTIMATE LOVE FOR YOU Today I’m giving just a brief introduction so you can prepare your hearts and minds for this journey. I will give you new things to think about and ponder with every Blog so that you will gain understanding and experience the miracles that you need in your life just in time for Christmas. A time when we will receive Him as our Lord and Savior. It is a gift that has changed me over and over. I would love it if you would accept this gift. Remember sometimes the smallest step in a right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. I encourage you to do this for yourself.... a Christmas gift you can give to yourself and your family. Does anyone have any thoughts or feelings that you are willing to share that would help us prepare for this journey of discovery? Think about Autumn and the beautiful changes that the world is experiencing at this time...you too can experience some beautiful changes in your life. Commit to this journey with me. Love to all, looking forward to next time, where we will take that first step. ❤ Jeannie
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LIVE IN THE MOMENT & MAKE IT BEAUTIFUL! I read the following quote the other day and it made me wonder what LIFE is.....for you, me and everyone else.....is it this sad? “I realized today that I have stopped living life. I’m literally just trying to get to the next day just living in the thought of tomorrow. I’m not living, I’m waiting. And the trouble is, I don’t know what I’m exactly waiting for. I’m kind of scared for what it might be.“ - From the Minds Journal Or...maybe we are so BUSY that we don’t have time to think, to focus, to reach out to others, to live our BLISS. TIME IS NOT MEASURED BY CLOCKS BUT BY MOMENTS The clock in my bedroom has a way of loudly proclaiming that each second is ticking away....one second at a time. I sometimes feel the need to stop it until I can catch up with life and the demands that seem so pressing. Each night as I lay in bed, hoping for sleep to come quickly, I hear the ticking of that clock, so annoying, yet so resolute in giving me a point of focus.....a center to focus my awareness and stop the incessant chaos in my mind. Our time is so precious, and we allow it to get lost...to get wasted in every tick of the clock. MINDFULNESS Jim and I attended a ‘Mindfulness’ retreat a couple weeks ago. This is something new for us. Something we knew of, but knew nothing about. As you can imagine, it was very enlightening, since I have never been interested in meditation....felt like it was time spent on wasting time. But I am, and have been, interested in calming down the storm of useless thought, and being still enough to allow inspiration and the Whisperings of the Spirit, the space and time necessary to enter into my thoughts, so I was excited about attending the class....my first big step in ‘Living With Abandon!’ :) Our instructor had my attention from the beginning when she said, “Mindfulness is the ability to be still and to be non-judgmental as we become aware of our physical, mental and emotional state.” I knew that I needed to learn everything she had to share. 3 Days of training in mindfulness was not much, considering all the different areas that it could branch out into. But I appreciate the simple and purposeful approach our instructor took, to give us a basic experience. She gave us a few meditations and some introspection's, that opened up new insights into how my life could elevate to a new level of understanding, myself and the world I live in....and of course my Father in Heaven. I could see that everyone got out of it something totally different, so when I share my thoughts, know that it is my take of the exercises and what I needed for me....simple, mindful changes that lift and bring joy! While I’m still learning how to keep my mind from running wild with thoughts about this, that and everything else, the few minutes that I have tried to keep my thoughts on the down low, I have allowed myself to be mindful. It has been very calming helping me see, feel and appreciate ‘what is’ in that moment. Live For The Now......Because All We Have Is Now...Be Present! AWARENESS As you know, I am an advocate for ‘Choosing Joy’ so I was very interested to learn that Mindfulness can bring Happiness, and for me that happiness and joy come from being aware of ‘what is’. It’s an integrated kind of mindfulness where you are aware of what is going on in your moment....the things you see, smell, touch, hear and taste. Turn off the world and focus on what you are touching, what does it feel like, what is the person in front of you really saying, is the food you are eating really the experience you want to have, what feelings does the fragrance in the air remind you of? So many ways to live the moment in a whole new way. I love that it helps me to embrace the time I have each day...to more fully see, feel and appreciate what is all around me. When our mind is left on auto pilot, thoughts race around each other and we are so caught up in our crazy thought patterns that we don’t use our precious time in a more fruitful way. I’ve always heard the phrase, ‘Take time to smell the roses’, now it makes so much more sense to me, and something I want to create for my life. So now as I lay in bed, I listen to my clock ticking away precious seconds, and in those seconds I feel how amazingly soft my pillow is how it holds me and comforts me. I feel the sheets, the coolness of their surface brings solace to my tired, restless legs and calms them. The noises outside my window makes me feel loved and appreciated to be a part of something bigger than life, something that says there is purpose in everything....and then slowly, I’m back to becoming aware of my pillow the smell of linen and softness against my face. Deliberately mindful of each and everything....touch, smell, sounds and a sense of well being, no rush, no hurry, just aware....just....ZZzzz THIS IS MY BLISS...MY JOY! I woke up this morning feeling grateful for another beautiful day. As I worked around the house my gratitude grew as I became mindful of each and everything that I came in contact with. My heart is full of Joy as I realized that, through being more aware, I was indeed ‘Choosing Joy’. I loved and appreciated everything and everyone....then the thought came, ‘This is my Bliss!’ We have all heard it said; “It’s not about having time, It’s about making time.” I rather think it’s about using the time you have to the very most....use it to love your life, to be grateful to the One that gave you that life, and be aware of the all things large and small for they are the elements of your life. When we choose to look for the wonder and awe in all that we are, all that we have, and all that was created for our pleasure and remembrance of Him, it is truly a beautiful moment...and this moment is LIFE.....YOUR LIFE...YOUR BLISS! ARTWORK - Titled - Take Time Our Father has created everything in this world for our wonder and pleasure. It is our choice to go through each day being aware of all that is given or being caught up in all the chaos, misery and pain. When we ‘Take Time’ to cultivate awareness in our lives, we will live a fuller, happier life....we are ‘Choosing Joy’. Nothing is lost or wasted on us. It’s when we can fully love and appreciate all the things we have been given, that we will be given more. This Actual Moment Is Life! |
AuthorHi I'm Jeannie Puzey, Archives
October 2018
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