Excerpt from HIGHER AWARENESS

You are worthy!
"A person's worth is contingent upon who he is, not upon what he does, or how much he has. The worth of a person, or a thing, or an idea, is in being, not in doing, not in having."
-- Alice Mary Hilton


As a human being, as spirit manifested in form, you are innately worthy. Your worthiness does not have to be strengthened or improved. However, you may not PERCEIVE yourself to be worthy.


If you doubt your self-worth, consciously or unconsciously, you will limit the good things you will allow into your life.


Do you consider yourself worthy? It may help to answer these questions:
- Do you find it easier to give than to receive?
- Do you have as much money as you would like?
- Do you feel driven to improve yourself?
- Do you value other people's time more highly than your own?
- How would you feel if someone offered to pay you a salary of  $1 million/year?


If you find you lack self-worth, don't despair. Just being aware of your self-worth issues will help you let them go.


"Every achiever that I have ever met says, ‘My life turned around when I began to believe in me.’"
-- Dr. Robert H. Schuller


"We cannot achieve more in life than what we believe in our heart of hearts we deserve to have."
-- James R. Ball

Manifesting Your Dreams - Who is in Control?

Over the years I've tried on and abandoned a variety of beliefs. I used to believe that I had no control over my future, that I was dependent upon intelligence, physical beauty, personality, wealth - or lack there of. I thought perhaps my future was pre-ordained. I let go of that pretty quick.

After having graduated with honours from NAIT's paramedic program, I wondered how that level of achievement was possible given that I barely made it through high school. The difference was that I was passionate about being a paramedic. I had a completely different mind set.

Some time later I read Gary Zukav's "Seat of the Soul." It was then I began to understand I had "authentic power" and it was far more potent and eternal than the illusion of power via wealth, prestige, etc. I began to understand that my thoughts had a direct impact on my day to day life, on achieving my goals - including the biggies.

Here is one of the biggies. One awful day, I suffered the loss of my dog at the veterinarian hospital. There had been a mistake in managing his intravenous. The result was that he was overdosed on potent medication. I knew what the clinic needed was an intravenous pump. However, there was no way I could afford to purchase one for the clinic.

For weeks, that's all I could think about. I could see it in my mind and how useful it would be in treating sick animals. Then one afternoon I mentioned this to a co-worker. I couldn't believe his response. He said they had one at the school, was never used, and that I could have it. Within a year, I received a note from the clinic explaining how the pump had saved the life of a dog.

How about the day to day stuff? Here is an example. Suppose you were feeling fine, but someone asked if you were ill. I bet you checked the mirror and did a mental body check. Doubt was created. If more people made similar comments, dollars to donuts, I'd bet you'd start feeling unwell.

The next time you're truly not feeling perky, try using this technque. Tell yourself how good you feel, energetic, alert, happy, etc. What if you don't believe what you're telling your body? Of course, beliefs are powerful. Even so, continue to divert your feelings of being unwell, to that of wellness. Here is the trick (drum roll, please). While you're telling your body how good you feel, imagine what that feels like. Picture yourself happy, dancing, laughing, or whatever comes to your mind that is uplifting and positive. Your body has no choice but to respond in accordance to your thoughts. Your body may still be doing a battle with a virus, but it's got a better chance of being victorious sooner and you'll be able to enjoy your day.

The bottom line? You're the one in control of your day, you and your thoughts. Thoughts have power, more power than you realize. Chose your thoughts carefully and consciously.

Guardian's Sunday Meditation

Forbidden - What in the world were they thinking!

Forbidden

On Saturdays I'm exploring the world of the 'forbidden." Why? My next book's title is Forbidden. Just for fun, I'm starting out on a path of discovery to identify humanity's stupidity when it comes to law making.

Arabic / العربية ممنوع zakázaný forbudt verboten απαγορευμένος prohibido kielletty interdit zabranjen vietato 禁じられた 금지된 verboden forbudt zakazany proibido запрещенный förbjuden ที่ไม่ได้รับอนุญาต yasak cấm 禁止的

(My next book's setting takes place in Persia - my generalization term for Middle East)

Wikipedia Definition:

1. not permitted by order or law

2. (Physics / General Physics) Physics involving a change in quantum numbers that is not permitted by certain rules derived from quantum mechanics, esp rules for changes in the electrical dipole moment of the system

Harem [ˈhɛərəm hɑːˈriːm], hareem [hɑːˈriːm]

n   from Arabic harīm forbidden (place)]

a Muslim's wives and concubines collectively

Quotations
"There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable" [Mark Twain Notebook]

Proverbs
"Stolen fruit is sweet"

Isn't "forbidden" an exciting word! It conjures up images of conflict between good and evil, desires and guilt, love and lust, daring and courage versus blind obedience - and irresistibly enticing!

When I began writing my second book, I initially considered the working title to be "Cursed Angel." As the paragraphs have become pages and chapters, a more powerful image has taken form.

One often comes to the conclusion that when something is 'forbidden' that there is something unhealthy, illegal, irreverent, amoral about the object or event.  However, is it possible that what was once forbidden is now outrageously rediculous?

Here are some amusing laws in Canada that clearly spell out what is/was forbidden or illegal.

Apples must be green.

Businesses must provide rails for tying up horses.

By law your parents or grandparents must have come from France, Scotland or Ireland.

Children must not be buried alive in snow deeper than six feet.

Children under the age of 5 must not be locked in a refrigerator.

Citizens may not publicly remove bandages.

Citizens may not urinate or spit on the street. Punishable by a fine of over 100 Canadian dollars.

Comic books which depict any illegal acts are banned.

Driving on the roads is not allowed.

If you are released from prison, it is required that you are given a handgun with bullets and a horse, so you can ride out of town.

If you have a water trough in your front yard it must be filled by 5:00 a.m.

It is against the law to make burgers out of polar bears.

It is against the law to swear at your mother in public.

It is against the law to use dice to play craps.

It is illegal to climb trees.

It is illegal to curse in any language other than French.

It is illegal to set fire to the wooden leg of a wooden legged man

Stay tuned. Next Saturday I explore the widely wicked sex laws of the USA.

Sit Spots in Jasper

One of my favorite photos of my husband, taken years ago at my favorite spot in the world, Maligne Canyon in Jasper, Alberta.

I believe we often put on hats and costumes to please others. In other words, we play a role of being someone different, perhaps just a little, to maintain the relationship's comfort zone. It's because we love them and we have this compulsion to nurture their needs at the expense of honouring our own needs. This is sometimes required. However, it can become habit forming causing one to lose touch with the true self.

Do you hear that small voice within ask, "Remember me?" It's the signal to find your special sit spot(s), a 'just for me' place. A place where you rediscover the answer to, "Who am I?"

Sit spots. They have power. Spiritual power. Though you arrive there by traditional means, you becomes completely separate from your 'other' existence. Jasper is my favorite 'sit spot' place.

I will drive to Jasper alone, intent on recharging my batteries. It's a time when I can be me, reacquaint myself with who I am without the external influences. When I arrive, I will almost always find release in shedding copious tears for the first two days. Then is sweet, sublime bliss.

I'll spend glorious hours scramble up mountain sides, hiking along trails, sitting by a serene lake. Cheese and cracker treats, iced tea or anything else I love to eat is packed for the day-long adventures. Though there are hundreds of tourists, I'll seldom make conversation with people I meet along the way.

Anxiously, I visit my favorite 'sit spots' which I put on my loose schedule. These are places where I can sit undisturbed for hours. As I become relaxed, I feel my body shift into neutral. My mind's chatter is replaced with a soft murmuring, then silence. Sweet silence. Seductively, a new 'me' emerges, the authentic 'me'.

There are complex emotions of feeling guilty in being so self-indulgent and feeling hurt in realizing I'm not needed as much as I thought. After the initial adjustment, I move on. My focus is on the scenery, the freedom, and reawakening to my power within. A feeling of empowerment replaces the 'me' that was tired, frustrated, sad, lost.

There is no set time when I decide to return home. Sometimes it's a matter of finances. Other times it's a feeling of knowing when my internal self is in sync with a higher power, grounded. Still, there is always a bit of sadness when I pack, and lock the door to the cabin as I leave.  I'm fortunate to live in a part of the world where I can, upon impulse, simply get into my car and drive the four hour trip to my favorite cabin's door. That alone gives me a feeling of joy and strength.

Tell me about your 'other' place. Often it is a secret place that you share with no one. If so, perhaps you can describe how it feels to be there. How often do you go there? How did you discover that 'other' place? Thank you for sharing.

Feeling Blue? Try These Yoga Poses.

Yoga for Body-Centered Awareness
Triangle, The Happy Pose

The basic triangle, or trikonasana (pronounced trih-koh-NAH-sah-nah), is a yoga pose that provides an excellent stretch throughout the entire body. This pose is a good choice if you are feeling sad or depressed, or anytime you want to open yourself up to a flow of positive energy.

Known as the “happy pose” because it opens your heart center and allows joy to fill your body, this pose also relieves tension in your neck and back, tones leg muscles, improves circulation, and strengthens the lower back.
If you are new to yoga, you may wish to begin with Standing Side Bend to strengthen your torso. This pose is less intense, yet offers many of the same benefits as the Triangle pose. As you begin to feel more flexible, gradually move into Triangle.

Don't Avoid the Void

Excerpt from Higher Awareness (see link in right side bar)

"When we feel stuck, going nowhere -- even starting to slip backward -- we may actually be backing up to get a running start." -- Dan Millman

To change, we must go through a transition zone. It's not easy being in transition. Thoughts, beliefs and habits are all in flux. It can create a sense of groundlessness, of being in a void that can be quite uncomfortable.

When we’re in the void, our first impulse will be to revert to old habits because they feel comfortable. Our goal is to hang in there until the change is complete. Knowing that TRANSITIONS ARE PART OF THE CHANGE PROCESS helps us muster the courage to put up with the discomfort, the uneasiness, the void.

Change requires a letting go of what we’ve always known and done to allow in something new. We need to trust ourselves and higher forces to unfold a new reality for us.

"Every positive change - every jump to a higher level of energy and awareness - involves a rite of passage. Each time to ascend to a higher rung on the ladder of personal evolution, we must go through a period of discomfort, of initiation. I have never found an exception." -- Dan Millman

Feather Says: All good advice, yes? But to step away from what you've known is, in itself, frightening. Even if what you've been experiencing is unhealthy, threatening, abusive, it is difficult to risk changing paths to something you haven't experienced before.


What I have learned in my sixty something years is to visualize the experience I wish to have. I develop a clear vision of what I want - all of it. Sometimes it takes days or weeks to fully bring into your consciousness what you wish for.


It can be a battle against what you think you don't deserve - settling for something less. Give that notion a royal kick. You deserve to be happy, healthy, respected, and loved. Demand it! Visualize it. Feel it as if it is a part of your life right now. Change will proceed according to your thoughts and feelings.


You've heard the expression, "Be careful what you wish for." It's true. Invite the positive changes you wish for with joy and anticipation, then let it happen.

It's a new day. It's a news blog.

It's a new day and a new post design. Yep, I was  tired of the soft and sedate look. Time to shake it up a bit. I love colour, so we'll see how long this vibrant dress-up lasts.

My schedule of post subjects has gone through a transformation, as you can see from the side bar. If you have a favorite subject in that list, I'll be expecting you to drop by and give me a shout. Yes, indeedy. Don't just peek in and disappear without a word.

I'm going to push the envelope into the world of "Manifesting Your Dreams." It's all so easy but, you know the human race loves to make everything difficult. Life's not meant to be difficult. We make it that way. It's also suppose to be fun but we tend to look on the dark side, critical of ourselves and others. It's about time we woke up! I'm going to be shaking up your beliefs and values.

Two of my favorite pastimes are .... can you guess? Yes, writing - bonus points for you. The other is gardening. So what do the two have in common? In these posts I will compare story writing to the growth of a garden, complete with a range of characters, struggles, defeats, setting and the fact that both never really end. That book you read goes on in your head long after you finished the last chapter - if it was a great book. So it is with a garden. If it is well tended and organized, gardens will give years of pleasure.

There's a lot more coming. Discussion about the paranormal (without the vampires - so bloody tired of that scene), mysticism, shamanic studies, parapsychology, etc. If there is a zone in the ethereal world you're interested in, let's chase it around. Let's have some fun with it. Might not hurt to get your table salt out - just for extra protection (lol). Tell me about your crystals, and superstitions.

For a couple of months, I've been posting a video of guided meditation. I love to meditate but don't stop to practice it as often as I would like to. It has so many benefits (physical, emotional, spiritual). These Sunday meditation posts will help me return to a more disciplined practice of going within, healing and balancing my body at all levels. I know you'll enjoy these samplings of meditation exercises. We will also touch on alternate methods of healing.

That's it for now. Be sure to click on my "Follow" button. I hope you'll get to know me not only as an author, but as someone who is vibrantly interested in almost everything. I'm looking forward to meeting people, comparing stories and sharing laughs.

Criticism: What has value, what does not.

"A critic is a legless man who teaches running."-- Channing Pollock

Are you aware of your inner critic? We all have this voice that tells us we are bad, stupid, clumsy, cowardly.... Although its intent is to help us succeed, the harsh self talk of our critic just serves to drain our energy and lower our morale and immune system.To defuse the inner critic, we need to recognize when the critic is speaking.

We need to know that this voice does not necessarily speak for who we really are. This is an old pattern that may no longer be serving us. We want to open to the possibility that the words are not likely true.

We can ask ourselves, "Are these words helpful?"

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."-- Eleanor Roosevelt"

Abilities wither under faultfinding, blossom with encouragement."-- Donald A. Laird

"Never react emotionally to criticism. Analyze yourself to determine whether it is justified. If it is, correct yourself. Otherwise, go on about your business."-- Norman Vincent Peale

Guardian's Sunday Meditation

The Guardian's Wildchild - Dark, Deadly, Evil

Yesterday I treated you to four characters from The Guardian's Wildchild - Captain Samaru Waterhouse, Sidney Davenport, Danik Davenport and Admiral Garland. On the "demon to angel" meter (zero being the lowest of low and 10 being angelic), they range from 3 for Admiral Garland, 5 for Captain Waterhouse, 8 for Danik and Sidney Davenport.

***********************

Now it's time to enter the world of the evil. Those who never sleep without their weapon under the pillow, those who are tantalized by the frenzied screams of their victims, those who are lost from the Light.

Who is Madame? On the meter scale, she's barely a 1. Madame was an enigma. It was understood that she was highly intelligent and had unlimited wealth. She called no place home. She owned a highly trained militia, which was positioned in strategic locations across the planet. She had become a “person of interest” in the national security offices of many governments.

Some believed she was an evil omen and had evolved out of the terror that had gripped humanity during the Great Quake.

Madame discovered a remote South American tribe using sun crystals. They created whatever they needed by somehow activating the crystal's power. The tribe was slaughtered, stubbornly refusing to give up their secrets. Madame is now on a mission to become as powerful as a god.

Using Admiral Garland to supply shipments of crystals and protect the crystals on his base, she is poised to take control of the planet. If the planet goes mad with terror, so what! The dull and useless are better off dead. Leaving her trademark, a red lipstick stain on the face of her victims, she can taste victory within a few days.

*************************************

Who is Captain Frank Butchart? Definitely a zero on the "demon to angel" meter. He was an angel that dropped from the lofty heights of an all powerful Guardian, loved and trusted, and fell to the depths of a place that knows no Light. Sent years ago from the Guardian's sanctuary into the world to bring Light to the Sleeping Guardians, Frank's honor was seduced by the glory of prestige and wealth. His treachery knew no bounds, hunting down Guardian Lanterns and destroying them, ensuring he would be the ultimate power on the planet.

Trusted by the paranoid Admiral Garland, he becomes the lead officer of Internal Security for the New Seattle Naval Base.  Mad dogs find other mad dogs to run with. It isn't long before Madame finds him useful to her plans, though she's unaware he holds the power she's craves.

Discovering Sidney Davenport on his naval base, he cruelly interrogates her and discovers she is a Guardian from his old home sanctuary. He's bent on destroying her and convinces the Admiral to sentence her to death. He delivers her to Captain Waterhouse aboard the US Nonnah, and is eager to witness her execution.

He's only days away from realizing his vision, his purpose in the universe - to be recognized for the god that he is. It's his destiny to eliminate the curse from the planet, destroy those who pray to other gods. Oh, the sublime ecstasy.

The Guardian's Wildchild - Who is Admiral Garland?

Who is Admiral Garland? A sick puppy, that's who! Now, he isn't bad to the bone bad. No, he is just unfortunate for having made a business deal with the devil, Madame. His motives started out genuine - hoping to be the one credited for saving the world from the desperate energy crisis. Too late he realizes his mistake but to protect his career, not to mention his life, he endeavors to keep Madame pleased by protecting her crystals, even if it means the loss of his soul. There's only one person who can save him and its the one person he has condemned to death, Sidney Davenport.

The Guardian's Wildchid - Who is Sidney Davenport

Who is Sidney Davenport? She's a high spirited Guardian who detests rules, and can unlock doors using telekinesis. How does she end up on a ship and scheduled for execution? That's what sometimes happens to women who step into the Darkness. She's in big trouble. Not only is she to be executed but she also has the hots for the executioner, Captain Waterhouse. Her problem is that she can't get near his heart. His rulebook keeps getting in the way. Their relationship is fraught with obstacles, codes of conduct, and the need to protect the people they love - which is impossible unless they both give up what they value most.

The Guardian's Wildchild: Who is Captain Samaru Waterhouse

Who is Captain Samaru Waterhouse? His journey was a long difficult road, twisting into the gates of hell. Following his wife's murder, his life went spinning out of his control. His boss, the paranoid Admiral Garland, uses him to eliminate terrorists who are a threat to national security - and who are a risk to the secret crystal project. Murder is not his game. In desperation, he began to cross to the Dark side, surrendering his honour, integrity to get his life back. Then a prisoner boarded his ship. Paranormal events began to unravel his disciplined life.

Guardian's Sunday Meditation

Who Believes?

Have you ever used a pendulum?

I don't fully understand how it works, but it does. Find your own personal pendulum and learn how to properly use it. Be amazed.

Here is some interesting stats on beliefs in the paranormal.

A 2001 Gallup Poll found that the general public embraced the following: 54% of people believed in psychic/spiritual healing, 42% believed in haunted houses, 41% believed in satanic possession, 36% in telepathy, 25% in reincarnation, and 15% in channeling.^[31] A survey by Jeffrey S. Levin, associate professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk found that over 2/3 of the U.S. population reported having at least one mystical experience.^[30][32]

About 32% of Americans surveyed stated that some numbers were lucky, while 46% of Europeans agreed with that claim. About 60% of all people polled believed in some form of Extra-sensory perception and 30% thought that "some of the unidentified flying objects that have been reported are really space vehicles from other civilizations."

Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, or levels of being, or aspects of reality, beyond normal human perception, including experience of and even communion with a supreme being.

Parapsychologists study a number of ostensible paranormal phenomena, including but not limited to:

• Telepathy: Transfer of information on thoughts or feelings between individuals by means other than the five classical senses.
• Precognition: Perception of information about future places or events before they occur.
• Clairvoyance: Obtaining information about places or events at remote locations, by means unknown to current science.
• Psychokinesis: The ability of the mind to influence matter, time, space, or energy by means unknown to current science.
• Near-death experiences: An experience reported by a person who nearly died, or who experienced clinical death and then revived.
• Reincarnation: The rebirth of a soul or other non-physical aspect of human consciousness in a new physical body after death.
• Apparitional experiences: Phenomena often attributed to ghosts and encountered in places a deceased individual is thought to have frequented, or in association with the person's former belongings.

Top Two Questions

"Who am I?"

"Why am I here?"

Questions hold the power to draw out answers that surprise us. If we are on an inner journey to greater self-knowledge, we must seek to understand unfamiliar parts of ourselves. The most enlightening answers are released by our subconscious minds or by our intuition. Use questions frequently to go exploring.

Try these out:
- What qualities do you find most attractive in others? How do  you exhibit those same qualities?

- What is your greatest fear? Why do you fear that?

- What message is your body trying to get through to you?

"If we would have new knowledge, we must get a whole world of new questions."
-- Susanne K. Langer

"You don't want a million answers as much as you want a few forever questions."
-- Richard Bach

BOOK BLOG TOUR WITH NURTURE

Today is special, a very special day indeed. NURTURE is hosting a book blog tour for my book, The Guardian's Wildchild. Over the next two weeks, I reveal what prompted me to write this one-of-a-kind book. Yes, it is in the paranormal genre, but there are no vampires or werewolves. However, the evil Madame might be thought of as a witch by the heroine, Sidney Davenport, and the hero, Captain Waterhouse. In my opinion, she's more devious and insane than any witch I've come across.

The paranormal elements are woven throughout the story's plot as very gifted characters perform time/space travel, telepathy, telekinesis to name a few. Crystals and a unique tail feather from a Red Tailed Hawk play significant roles in the attempt to bring Madame and her militia down to their knees.

The paranormal is something I'm very familiar with. In several interviews I reveal my secrets, my own special gifts and experiences throughout my life. Though The Guardian's Wildchild is my first novel, there is another on the horizon wherein the paranormal plays a significant role in the plot.

What I'm hoping to achieve in the next two weeks is that (1) you'll become interested in reading The Guardian's Wildchild; and (2) you'll think about the paranormal experiences you've had. Perhaps you shrugged off the event and filed it away in the recesses of your mind under "Weird Dream" or "Coincidences". I invite you to comment about your paranormal experiences either here at my blog or at the blogs posting interviews with Feather Stone.

Click on the NURTURE banner in the right side bar. It will take you directly to NURTURE and information about the book tour. Be sure to enter all the giveaway competitions. Looking forward to chatting with you.

Interviews, Reviews, and Giveaways

The Guardian’s Wildchild by Feather Stone – NURTURE Book Tour Schedule:

• May 7th – Jaidis @ Juniper Grove
• May 8th – April R. & Wendy @ My Book Addiction and More
• May 9th – Miranda Wh. @ Ricochet Reviews
• May 9th – MK @ MK McClintock Blog
• May 10th – Deborah P. @ A Bookish Libraria: The Bookish Dame Reviews
• May 10th – Farrah K. @ The Book Faery Reviews
• May 11th – Inga K. @ Me And Reading
• May 14th – Kristen T. @ Seeing Night Book Reviews
• May 14th – Laurie J. @ Laurie’s Thoughts & Reviews
• May 15th – Alicia J.@ Ali’s Bookshelf
• May 16th – Beverly G. @ Everyone Loves A SiNner
• May 16th – Norma @ Wakela’s World
• May 17th – Shannon Pa. @ Cocktails and Books
• May 18th – Bobbie @ Nurture Virtual Book Tourz™ Blog

Sunday Meditation - Reiki, Guided Self Healing

Welcome to my garden - of previous years. My name is LisaLarissaRoo. Just call me "Roo" for short. Obviously, you can see I'm the Queen of Shelties. My guardian is Feather Stone - you know, the author. I give her four paws up, with belly rubs, for how well she takes care of all of us, the green beings and us furry folk. So when she's not taking me for trips into the forest, Feather's digging, watering, feeding. She loves getting her paws dirty. No gloves. Just like me, Feather is happy when she's digging into the soil finding earth worms and lady bugs. What a gal! I'll turn over this post to Feather so she can tell you about her plans for this year's garden. Thanks for stopping by.

I'm celebrating. In my part of the world, in my city, on my street, spring has sprung. My flower beds have been getting the royal treatment. Last year's growth has been cleared away and, lo and behold, peaking up from the soil are my lillies and delphiniums. The rose's are showing promise that they've survived winter's test. Now is the season of dirt under my fingernails, grass stains on my jeans, and chasing after my animals' attempts to check out the neighborhood. Cabin fever is on the run! And that's not all that's on the hit list. A layer of body fat from months of lazing about on the couch is about to be melted away with digging, weeding, watering, feeding. Enjoying walks in the wilderness, listening to the songs of our summer birds, watching the shameless courting in the treetops - it's all so blissful.

Sprouting in my head are plans for decorating my yard with potted annuals. I love petunias. Colors gallor, trailing and clumping, fragrant, grace the borders of my flower beds along with white bacopa and trailing blue/white lobelia.

Of course, every garden needs a "sit spot". Some place to relax with a glass of wine or refreshing glass of iced tea. This is the perfect place to indulge privately with your most steamy romance novel.

To complete the picture, a water feature in every garden landscape is an inviting corner of tranquility.

This is your open invitation to visit my garden anytime. At this post I'll be sharing with you my obsession with arranging and rearranging plants and hanging containers. I'm always looking for advice on keeping my plants disease free without using chemicals and what fertilizer is best at what time of the year. Fertilizer, I've discovered is a complicated subject. I'd love to hear about your gardening adventures. Pull up a chair, sip your iced tea/wine and enjoy. I'm going to be posting photos of my garden as it emerges from winter's icey grip. So far, everything appears to have survived, a bit bedraggled in some cases, but I'll nurture it along. I don't give up on a plant easily. I've even been able to over winter tea roses by giving them special attention in the fall. Some geranium cuttings are eager to get out doors as are the mother plants. The hardest part is waiting for the end of May when annuals can be safely planted - past danger of frosty nights. Stay tuned. Feather

Never Argue With a Woman

Never Argue with a Woman
One morning, the husband returns the boat to their lakeside cottage after several hours of fishing and decides to take a nap. Although not familiar with the lake, the wife decides to take the boat out. She motors out a short distance, anchors, puts her feet up, and begins to read her book. The peace and solitude are magnificent.

Along comes a Fish and Game Warden in his boat. He pulls up alongside the woman and says, 'Good morning, Ma'am. What are you doing?'

'Reading a book,' she replies, (thinking, 'Isn't that obvious?')

'You're in a Restricted Fishing Area,' he informs her.

'I'm sorry, officer, but I'm not fishing. I'm reading.'

'Yes, but I see you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment. I'll have to take you in and write you up.'

'If you do that, I'll have to charge you with sexual assault,' says the woman.

'But I haven't even touched you,' says the Game Warden.

'That's true, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment.'

'Have a nice day ma'am,' and he left.

MORAL: Never argue with a woman who reads. It's likely she can also think.

Blog Break With Yanni

I'm cheering. I survived the A-Z Blog April Challenge. During April I blogged every day, posting Words of Wisdom as my theme. Each day the subject followed the letter of that day. Along the way, some great folks found my blogs interesting and vice versa.

So, I'm taking a blogging break today, sort of. Just reminding everyone of my upcoming Book Blog Tour hosted by NURTURE (see banner in ride sidebar). And, the lustful woman that I am (another secret revealed), The Guardian's Wildchild is participating in Bookish Temptations "Men of Omnific Match Game." Introducing Daniel Henney. Just love those tough looking men. They're putty in my hands (sigh).

I hope you enjoy this music. Hey, Nicki, can you picture this music played while Sidney and Sam are doing their "slow dance"? God, I think I'm blushing! Feather

Insomnia Treatment

Happiness - Lasting Happiness

Love Yourself

Excerpt from "Higher Awareness"

"It's surprising how many persons go through life without ever recognizing that their feelings toward other people are largely determined by their feelings toward themselves, and if you're not comfortable within yourself, you can't be comfortable with others."
-- Sydney J. Harris
"If we could learn to like ourselves, even a little, maybe our cruelties and angers might melt away."
-- John Steinbeck

Feather: I have imperfections and even some aspects about myself that are rather dark. And, I know without a doubt that everyone else struggles with imperfections and parts of their being they hope to keep hidden. What gives me cheer is that we also have greatness and beauty, so much love and compassion to share.

I believe it is important to focus on our strengths, the gifts that we bring into the world. What I have been viewing as my imperfections are not seen as imperfections by others. Their focus is on my smile, and my heart.

My dark side is nothing more than something manifested by fear. Fears often vaporize by simply facing them, head on. Sometimes all that is needed is to acknowledge a fear. It then loses its power. What was once thought to be terrifying is nothing more than a thought that became feral. In harnessing my fear there is an unlimited potential to be/do anything I desire.

It follows then that I see that same potential in everyone I meet, regardless of culture, gender, age, race, etc. I see the human race blossoming to a higher consciousness, becoming the guardians of this planet. But this must begin with loving yourself.