Clarity

Life.  A series of changes.

Are you ready for those changes?  Do you have the mental and physical capacity to let things go?

Its with time, hardship, tears, and understanding that I sit at this point in my Life.

Do I have the correct people around me to lift me up?  Do I have the support to get through the obstacles that the changes in Life present to me?

I'm thirty-six years old this year. I have learned that the one thing constant in Life is change.  I feel pretty lucky to understand this so young.  Some go all their lives and only find out in the end when there is such limited time to try and fix their point of view.

We try not to take anything for granted.  Nothing.

With that said, its still hard to embrace changes.  I find that is it the most difficult to love yourself through the changes.  I'm constantly judging myself.  Thinking I should have done that a different way, handled it more gently.

That stuff is easier to do when you have people around you that love and support you.  If  you don't have these two things, love for yourself and support.  Get them.  Work to have them.  Make them your first gifts to yourself.

I promise they will  help.

That is my clarity, bright and early this Saturday morning.

Happy Saturday.

Blessed Be.

Always Learning

  When was the last time you stood up for yourself?  Did you have a really hard time doing it?  Feeling that you were gonna make someone upset, disappointed, mad.  But, you knew, just knew that if you didn't make your stand you would regret it.  Yeah, I have had to do that at least once in the last two weeks.  I have lost sleep, talked myself in and out and in to it again.  Driven those around me crazy because I talk about it incessantly until I actually go through with it.
  But guess what...I do it.
  Too many times in my Life I  have followed orders, obeyed.  Done the right thing according to what others have wanted.  Not this time.
  What drives me?  What is so different about my Life now?


   Travis and Naenah.

  Seriously, that is it.  If anything takes away from my time as a Mom and Wife, it better be a pretty damn good reason.  If I feel like its not doing those two any justice, I'm not doing it.
   My business is ran this way.  Yup, you read it right.  I LOVE being a Massage Therapist.  BUT, my family comes first.  If you can understand that, then I will make every effort in my being to make sure that your therapy session holds all the benefits and more.
  How now does this go along with a Life of Gratitude?  Each thing holds a reason, to learn, to observe, to practice Gratitude.  I'm only human, and I do indeed have a temper and an attitude.  But I will never be beyond Gratitude.
   Standing up for myself teaches me so much.
   I learned this time through that I'm worth my time, and if others can't understand that, then I'm not the person for the job.

Thankful Thursday...Shayla Deppershimdt

As a Military Brat, its not a common thing to rely on others.  Your family unit gets most of the lean, then if they can't help, you suck it up and try to figure out how to shoulder the rest.
Growing a family around family makes a girl spoiled.  Probably one of the single things that has made me worry about moving to a place where there is no family is how we will get by and do it on our own.
That's where Shayla comes in.  Hayley too, but she'll get her own blog next week. :)
She has been one of the awesome, trustworthy people I have been able to lean on since her move here, next door at that.  So easy going, which is so healthy and welcomed changed to me being high strung most often.  She's a Mom to Kaylee (3) and Layton (1), a wife to Mark and Mommy to their fur baby Geesy (half pit, half Saint Bernard!!)
Always open to giving advice, and listening.  Most of all, taking my kiddo when Trav and I's schedules are not meeting up.
Shayla is my Thankful Thursday Blessing this week. I'm so lucky to have her as a neighbor and friend.  From bouncing budgeting ideas to creative craft ideas, she's a pretty open minded gal.  I am Blessed to have her in my life.  Thank You Shayla!!


In other thankful news...
Mom and Dad made it safely to the Philippines for a month long visit!  So awesome that they get the chance to soak up all that wonderful love from the Familia there.
Rita called to make me giggle in the middle of the week.
Naenah lost another tooth!!  Glitter money is in high demand around here!!
I have been wrangled into yard duty at the school in the mornings, its hilarious to watch all the young minds at play!!

I hope that this inspires you to look around and find the things that you are thankful for.

Bright Blessings!!
Norma