Naughty or Nice

For me the holidays are about remembering the light, celebrating goodness and deeply feeling gratitude for life itself. This is my favorite tyme of year but I do realize for some people Christmas can be heartbreaking, lonely, depressing and the list goes on.
I realise the holiday stresses can bring about thoughts and attitudes that trigger
thoughts and feelings which both can be pleasant and unpleasant emotions. Just the simple thought or feeling of being late for an event while stuck in a traffic jam or long store line-up can lead to anger and frustration. Resisting attending a holiday party triggers resentment. Judgment of an irritating relative creates hostility.

Taking lyfe at ease and accepting that you can't change your past or people and how they are only brings you comfort. Understand that you can only change you and change your current situation/circumstances. So, instead of trying to figure out why things are the way they are or why people are the way they are, lets just take my gurl "Mo'Nique's" advice: IT IS WHAT IT IS and move on.

Accepting that there will be long line-ups and delays, too many events to attend, and difficult encounters with family and relatives, eases expectations and reduces resistance, bringing immediate relief.

So with all that said, Rather than just go for the ride year after year, ou can make a declaration to yourself to make this a different year.

Here are some practices that I find to be very helpful and if you adapt some or even create you own, I guarantee, you will feel surprisingly different by the end of the year.
Here we go:

•Are your basic needs met before giving to others? Make sure you are in alignment with your true values first, and then decide what to give.
•Be amused. Laughter lightens any situation,See the humorous side of things.
•Give to self.
•Create your own traditions. Once you’re clear about what makes this season meaningful for you, have fun and play with it•Stay at ease.
•Set boundaries: Remember, your time and energy is precious. Be clear about what works for you and what doesn’t. Making and sticking to healthy choices isn’t deprivation, it’s self love Are your boundaries intact?.
•Remind yourself that worrying about the future or regretting the past isn’t going to change what has or is going to happen. Search for what else could be true, rather than what you fear.

Personally, I believe once you become clear about what’s most important to you, you will then be able to redefine the spirit of the season for yourself. What is this holiday really about, is it spiritual? Family? Is it even about giving? Only you can answer these questions and truly its a self love; self respect soul searching kinda answer and the bottom line is: For better or worse, it’s the way it is...IT IS WHAT IT IS.

Please
Enjoy yourself as well as honoring yourself at the deepest level this Christmas!!

I’m looking forward to December…are you?

Happy Thanksgiving

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving to my family, friends and all my followers!

Grandma

Just left my mom's house. Finished up my greens and baked my chocolate chocolate cake. I'm making my stuffing for my turkey and started thinking about my grandma. My Nan, as I would call her.

My Nan made sure everybody sat down and had family dinner during our holidays. I loved being in the kitchen with her and watching her cut up the collard greens and she hand mashed those sweet potatoes. Not like I do today, whip out the mixer. Naw, she used the hand masher. She would be up cooking all night long. It's funny because as she cooked, she kept her VO and water right by her side. That was her drink, but she would call it her taste. lol.

My Nan, boy, do I miss her. I miss her laughter, her calling out my name Rhonda Lynn. I always knew when I did something wrong, she used that middle name.

Welp, holidays just don't seem the same without my nana. One thing for sure, her spirit carrys on. We still sit down and have our family dinner, have prayer and scripture read. My nan always had us all circle around the table and read scripture first and then prayer.

This Thanksgiving, I'm remembering my nan. I'm grateful and thankful for having a well rounded strong women who taught us the value of spending time with loved ones.

Family and Friends were important to her. She would say, never go to bed angry. Call your friends up and let them know you're thinking about them. She would say, don't stay mad at people, forgive them and move on. She always would say, staying mad only hurts you. She was right.

Tonight, I remember my nan and I value the love she gave and shared.

Round 2

It's Private Lesson Tyme! Im very excited to have a second round of 4 week lessons. I sure hope with my work schedule and all, I can commit.

All in the name of having some fun!!

10,000 hits

Good evening everyone! Tonight, I just want to take a moment to thank everyone who have either read, skipped through my blog or just hit the page in error. I most def want to thank those of you who took the time from your busy day to actually post a comment. I Thank you and I appreciate you more than you will ever know. It means so much!

Today, I reached my 10,000 traffic hit counter. I've been blogging for about 1 1/2 years. So many times I felt like it was all pointless, but I continued to blog because if nothing else; it made me feel better and it helped me grow as a person. There was a tyme where I felt I had nothing important to say and a friend spoke a kind word of encouragement and said, "give it a try." Well, I did just as he said and I made it to 10,000 views!

I hope my blog posting will continue to inspire and help people. I hope its grows upon many interesting topics and more people will read and hopefully reply with comments.

To All My Readers: Thank you so very much for viewing my page. I really appreciate it and it truly makes me feel good.

Tragedy 2 Triumph

When God steps into your life, he changes and creates a destiny that is only fit for you. Recently, through some life changing mishaps; I've been asked to be a "Keynote" speaker at a Women's Group held at Sherrod Middle School. I will be sharing part of my life story and how God enabled me to turn a near fatal situation from tragedy to triumph.

There are billboards of this event all throughout the Ohio Valley. Im not one who takes the forefront, which makes me even more nervous but I know God and I'm trusting he knows best and will give me strenghth, courage and the right words to speak. After all, this is his testimony of how powerful and how much he looks after us!


If you are able, please come and attend. This is the 2nd Annual event entitled "Ladies Night 2". It's truly amazing how God connects people into your life and walks you through a journey meeting up with people on the same pathway.
Ladies Night 2 exists to encourage and inpire YOU! It's time again for the girls to gather together, awaken our sleeping hearts and find the purpose that lies dormant inside each of us. Let's take time to really believe in ourselves and the potential we have to do amazing things. The Ladies Night team has been planning and preparing another amazing time for you. . .so get ready!!

Come and have a wonderful time.

Show up early for a GROUP PHOTO with friends, jewelry and spa exhibits, refreshments, and as always. . .CHOCOLATE!! It's going to be an AMAZING time together!

Maysa Told Me

I was riding home tonight for Muskinghum University were my son attends college and this song dropped in my soul!

I remember back in the day, I was in maybe 6th or 7th grade when Earth Wind & Fire came out with this song. It reminds me of my dad. He use to to play this song over and over. Really and truly, I use to love hearing it.

Today, I'm reminded of this song and those words. "Keep Your Head To The Sky"