Happy New Year to You!

Here’s to the new year... 

May it bring more joy and success And less grief and regret. 

To our dreams... May we never stop believing in them And taking the actions that will make them a reality.  

To our friends and loved ones... May we take the time to let them know How much it means to us To have them in our lives. 

Let us encourage more and criticize less, Give more and need less. And whenever we can, Let us create harmony and peace. 

To new beginnings... Let us start fresh, right now, To make this the very best year ever. 

A very Happy New Year to you! I cherish having you in my life as my family, my friend, my colleague and my inspiration. 

I'm excited about the new year!! I know it's going to be a year for fulfilling all kinds of dreams and intentions. 

I wish you an abundance of joy, creativity, gratitude and love for 2009. 

I'd like to share a another little poem from a dear friend of my mom's who is no longer with us. 

He was a bright flame in my mother's life and I know that she and his family will miss him dearly.

Although he had difficulty remembering some things, he was always reciting words of wisdom. 

This little quip is one of his favorites and I'll share it with you today to honor his memory: 

"The years may wipe out many things, But this they wipe out never; The memory of those happy days, When we were all together..." 

 In Memory of Lloyd P. ...July 12, 1922 - December 23, 2008 

May You Rest in Sweet Peace 

God Bless and have a safe New Year's Eve......~M

Merry Christmas Delights

I read an article recently about Christmas. 

How could I not, they're everywhere!! 

There seems to be more and more articles about the stress and the lack of the true meaning of Christmas. I do agree with them. 

I will write more about in my newsletter this month, but I thought I would touch briefly on spreading Christmas Cheer. 

One thing I have noticed, is that very few people wish each other "Merry Christmas". 

It's like we're too self-conscious or too worried about hurting someone's feelings by wishing them a Merry Christmas if they don't believe in Christmas. 

I think that if you are sending someone good energy in the form of a polite and kind greeting, it will boost their spirits, even if they don't believe in Christmas. It will also boost your spirits. 

That is my belief.....so I've been practicing it. 

When I first wished someone a "Merry Christmas" walking by them on the street, the look on their face was astonishing. You could tell they were very surprised, and the little smile they had told me they were delighted. 

The next time I greeted someone, it didn't feel quite as strange to be saying it. 

Also, each and every time I greeted someone, they ended up smiling....and so did I. 

Now, I'm a "Merry Christmas" addict. 

I'm saying it to teachers, cashiers, the gas pump guys, people on the street and so on. 

I not only do it for the satisfaction I get out of making someone's day, I also do it for the wonderful feeling I get from saying it. When I say it to someone, I am being genuine and sincere and I think they can sense it. 

I also feel good about teaching my kids how to make someone else feel good by spreading Christmas Cheer. We all have extra stress at Christmas, and we're all usually in a rush...but it takes no time at all to boost yourself and others by wishing them "Merry Christmas". 

It's not hard at all...although it may sound weird coming out the first time....but once you get that one out, the rest just pop out. 

So, go ahead....picture yourself being the "Merry Christmas" greeter in your community....then put it into action. Make sure to watch for people's reactions, it's quite enjoyable. 

I'm not sure I'll get to my blog next week, so have an amazing holiday season..filled with laughter, joy and wonder. From my heart to yours...Merry Christmas!!  ....~M

Happiness Balls

I was at Reiki share last night with my lovely group of people who continue to amaze me with their gifts, talents and intuition. 

At Reiki shares, we do Reiki on each other and talk about whatever comes to mind. It's often about spirits, energy and that type of thing. Many of the people who come are able to use their third eye to see things that I cannot. 

It's quite interesting to hear them speak about what they are "seeing" and to listen to them use their intuition to find lost things, predict pregnancies and all kinds of very cool things. 

I know we all have that ability... and I am working on developing my intuition further. 

We also talk about ways to heal ourselves and ways to find our peace. 

I love hanging with these people as they are all like minded and enjoy sharing their thoughts and ideas. 

Last night, a few of the girls brought their crystals. I, too, possess crystals, although they have never made it out of the shopping bag. 

As we were talking about where to place these crystals in your home, one of the girls started talking about Happiness Balls. She didn't go too much into as we were all focused on the crystals and how each one works. 

She did tell us that if the feeling in your house is busy, scattered and congested, it may mean that your house needs some happiness. 

What you do is imagine Happiness Balls in every upper corner of your house. It's your imagination creating the balls so you can decorate them and imagine them any way that seems to fit into your home. 

Just imagine those Happiness Balls radiating positive, joyful, happy feelings into your home. 

I know it sounds a little weird to those of you who may not practice energy work....but it worked for me today! I put those little balls in every corner of my house (imagined them there) and today, when my kids came home from school, they came in with smiles and in good humor. Usually my son walks in with 10 complaints about what went wrong in school today. My daughter also told me funny stories about school and she usually doesn't do that either. 

Whoa....can we actually raise our vibrations with imaginary Happiness Balls? 

All I know is that there is a different feeling in our home today and it feels really good. 

In fact, I've just realized that lots of great things happened here today...including making the plans for a trip with a friend that we've been talking about doing for 3 years. 

 Is it the Happiness Balls I've imagined stuck up in the corners of the house.....are they making my house (and its people) happier? I don't know but something definitely shifted today. 

Try it out and let me know if the "Happiness Balls" work for you!.....~M

Christmas Creativity

Each year at Christmas I vow to be more creative with everything...from hiding my gifts to wrapping them. 

I often dream about all the time I'll have to make my Christmas cards as well. I think I bought the supplies to make those cards about 5 years ago. And there they sit in my basement, still in the packages. 

Each year I know Christmas is coming and each year I still can't seem to pull it all off. 

The same goes with the gifts I buy. I stash them in the closet in my bedroom and think about how I should move them to a better hiding place as my kids know where all the goods are. I never seem to get around to finding that better place. 

I am so lucky my kids aren't snoopers like I was growing up. Maybe it's the police tape I stick on my door and the big warning signs I post that inform them of the dire consequences that will fall upon them if they should put even one foot in my room. It's now turned into a game for the kids, so I can't possibly move them. My daughter even made the warning signs this year. 

The gifts are now stacked on my floor with my clean laundry draped over them to disguise them (sneaky, hey?) and I'm naive enough to think my kids actually do stay out when I'm not home. I know I would have poked around when I was a kid. 

My brothers and I snooped each year. We just couldn't wait. I think mom got wise after a while because there were some years we just couldn't find those gifts anywhere. She got creative, I guess. Often the gifts we did find were already wrapped...how clever. 

I do have to admit that when I was 12 or so, I did unwrap one of those gifts to see what it was. I felt so guilty about it , and still do, that I didn't do it again. 

If you are one of those people that wraps your gifts immediately upon purchasing them, I do admire you! I spend the 2-3 days before Christmas in frantic gift-wrapping mode. I usually have no time to be creative. 

I remember the good old days when I had only one child. We took plain newsprint and I had my darling child dip her hands in paint and put her hand prints on the paper. It took hours but it was so much fun! And it was awesome to use that for our Christmas gift wrap. 

Now I usually use gift bags. Not much room for creativity there. I do lots of ribbon though to spruce things up a bit. Those gift bags do save time and they are reusable each year so I think they're a pretty good investment. 

One year, I bought 50 bags to make my own gift bags....ya, they're still downstairs in their packages as well. 

On a happier note, I am almost done all my shopping already so maybe this year I can get the gifts wrapped a little earlier.....I marvel at the people who have all their presents under the tree days and days before Christmas. 

Maybe this is the year for me!! Wish me luck....~M