An acquaintance had just announced he was going to stop smoking. On the ride home, I commented to my friend, “Do you think he will succeed? This is the highest stress he has been under in his entire life.”

My friend replied, “The hardest part is making the decision. Once the decision is made, it’s all downhill from there. It doesn’t matter what is going on in his life. It all comes down to making a decision.”

Everything starts with a decision. Wonder why it is that on this day, two messages then popped up regarding making a decision? The first comes from Neale Donald Walsh:

“On this day of your life, dear friend, I believe God wants you to know…

…that waiting to see what happens is not a very good way to make decisions.

Not to decide is to decide.

What are you deciding right now by not deciding?

What are you choosing by failing to choose?

Is this how you want to live your life: by default?

It is time for you to make a decision.

Do you need a bigger signal than this?

Love, Your Friend….”

The evening prior, I delivered a “Stop the Needless Suffering” presentation, helping the group to see that by first increasing their awareness and then making a decision, they would positively impact their life. A vibrant, happy life is right there for the taking – it simply starts with making a decision. (See my book trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6AhQNJ0fqs).

As Inna Segal advises, “Be guided to a new life by actions you can perform to restore your body to its healthiest state.”

Then there are decisions about what to do with your life. Do I go this way? Do I go that?

On this morning, my eyes were drawn to a box of Angel Cards by Doreen Virtue. The card I pulled from the deck was Vanessa. Vanessa’s message was:

“To make your decision, ask yourself, ‘Which way brings me closer to my Divine purpose? Which way takes me away from it?’”

Additional Message: ‘Should I go this way or that way?’ you wonder. One day, you’re sure of your decision. The next day, you question it again. This indecision will be healed by focusing on your Divine life purpose. Even if you aren’t sure of your purpose’s exact nature, you do know that it involves bringing peace to yourself and others. Based on this foundation, then, which decision brings you the most peace?

‘’If you’re still unsure, then ask God and the angels to help you further. You can ask us, ‘Which decision will help the most people?’ This is a wonderful basis upon which to make your choice. Sometimes the easiest route is the one that takes you further away from your Divine purpose. So, your indecision may come from a fear of making waves, or uncertainty about your future. In such cases, gradual change is warranted. Slowly introduce your new direction into your daily life, and ease out of your old direction slowly. In that way, you won’t frighten yourself, you will be more open to hearing God’s guidance, and you will feel our love.

Bottom line: it all starts with a decision…indecision is a decision. What do you want your body/your life to look like? How can you set upon gradual change? Are you open to hearing your internal guidance?

Remember: the hardest part is making a decision. It’s all downhill from there.

I was just on the phone with my friend, giving her a rundown of my day. At the tail end of the list, I mentioned I had not yet written my blog article for the day, but I am working to stay calm in the midst of chaos. She said, “Well, there it is! That’s your article!”

Sure enough, I guess it is! What a day – what a week! My books are printing on the presses in Utah today. It seems surreal. All the edits were finished as of late last night. 1,000 copies of Stop the Needless Suffering, The Complete Woman’s Guide to Balancing Your Hormones are due to be on my doorstep on Monday, October 12. My first book signing is scheduled for Tuesday, October 13 – before and after a seminar I am giving titled, “Stop the Needless Suffering!” Nevermind that the PowerPoint still has to be created!  :  )

 I told my friend that another friend is in process of arranging a book signing at our local Barnes and Noble. The gentleman asked her if my book was in the “Bookmasters System” (a cataloging system they use). She sent me this message: “And guess what??  It IS!!  He told me the title, print date of Oct, etc.  How ’bout that Rosie!” My friend replied, “Rosie, you are an author!”

 An author? Me? That sounds so very weird! It seems that I have been laboring endlessly with no end in sight for forever. In reality, it was only a year ago that I started on it, but I took writing classes several hours per week for 6 months prior to beginning the project.

 For the past year and a half I have been hearing and commiserating over “foreign” terms like Aweber, autoresponders, clickbank, Paypal, sales pages, news releases, ebooks, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, APS, Sales Sheet, LLC, SEO, web site creation, 800#s, taking credit/debit card sales “at the back of the room” – till I thought I would go mad! And now, guess what? Each one of these entities must be in place by October 13. I feel like I am caught in a spiraling vortex!

 On top of all this, I am OOT and away from computers for 5 of the 12 remaining days till October 13. I don’t want to calculate what percentage that is. Yikes! What do you do when chaos is spiraling all around you? Here are some of the techniques I am employing to help see me through…

1)       I meditate once in the morning and once in the evening, irregardless of how much time I think I don’t have to do it. Miracles happen when one slows the mind and connects with the flow of life.

2)      I work to make myself take a 10 minute break every two hours. To keep pushing ruthlessly is to usurp one’s energy till there is nothing left. I have to force myself to do this. Some people recommend setting a timer.

3)      Exercise must be included. For me, that is setting the alarm for the 5:30 am Jazzercise class – and squeezing in a walk out in nature with my two golden retrievers every few days. The air and blue sky is gorgeous this time of the year. If we don’t pause to notice, the crisp beauty of the fall will pass us by.

4)      Three nutritious meals a day are a requirement. The body can’t keep up its strength and energy without the proper ingredients to provide the fuel. A car won’t run if the gas tank is empty.

5)      Soft, relaxing music playing in the background provides a calming effect and subtly allows us to be more productive. Try it. It is amazing how soothing it can be.

6)      Working from a clear area, one thing at a time, keeps the mind quiet and not overwhelmed with a pile of uncompleted tasks. This is the hardest task for moi to master!

7)      Keeping a prioritized, organized list to work from is a must. There may be 40 things on the list, but each time I can check one off, I get such a sense of accomplishment. Plus, if it’s on the list, I can forget about it and not carry all the items in my head all at once. At the end of the day, it is far more productive to look over the list of checkmarks vs the list of uncompleted items. That’s what tomorrow is for.

8)      I plan a reward every week. For me, that is margarita night on Friday night. That’s my night to ingest toxins, if I need them or not.

9)      Plan something fun. I need help with this one. Last week my friend suggested we take a mental health break tomorrow and go to Nashville. It sounded good at the time. Now that it is tomorrow, and I have this huge list of uncompleted tasks, it sounds like a dumbass attack to me. BUT, I am going, and I am sure I will be better off for it.

10)   Just say “No!” This one is tough – but you simply cannot do everything. Take care of you first, and you and the whole world around you will be better off for it.

 Oh my goodness – I just checked the word count on this article…888 words. Time to stop and move to the next item on the list before my two hours are up!  <grin>

 But before I do, I am curious as to the meaning of “888.” Per Doreen Virtue, “888: This is a very auspicious sign of complete financial support from the Universe. Money is flowing in your direction!”

 Wow! Maybe I better add visualization and affirmations to the list!  :  )

Today is a very special day. 09-09-09 doesn’t happen every day. It will be 100 years before it happens again.

When my Jazzercise instructor made a comment about the day this morning, I became intrigued with the meaning of the number 9. I couldn’t wait to get home to look it up in my numerology books.

Here’s what Dan Millman says about the number 9 in The Life You Were Born to Live: “Those working with 9 as a life purpose are here to live in accord with their highest integrity, to align their life with their heart’s intuitive wisdom, and to inspire others by their example.” (To compute your life purpose number, you must add all digits in your birth month, day, and all four digits of your birth year, then add those numbers together to get a final single digit number. For example, my number is 4, obtained by adding  03 -29-1952…0 + 3 + 2 + 9 + 1 + 9 + 5 + 2 = 31, then 3 + 1 = 4.)

In Feng Shui, there are nine life situations or “baguas,” and the number 9 is associated with the 9^th life situation, that of health.

Doreen Virtue in Angel Numbers 101 says this of the number 9: “Get to work, Lightworker – now! The number 9 means that you’ve completed all of the prerequisites to achieve your life purpose. Stop procrastinating, as it’s time to start taking action steps. Even baby steps are useful.”

I Googled the meaning of the number 9 and found the following on www.whats-your-sign.com: “The spiritual meaning of number Nine bring us to the very height of vibrational frequencies in this number sequence. Nine represents attainment, satisfaction, accomplishment, and our success to achieve an influence in our circumstances. The spiritual meaning of number nine deals with intellectual power, inventiveness, influence over situations and things. Nine beseeches us to recognize our own internal attributes, and extend these abilities out into the world to make a positive, influential difference.”

When you Google the meaning of 9 in the Bible, many explanations emerge. The consistent theme seems to equate the number 9 with judgment, such as in the following explanation found at http://www.carm.org/christianity/bible/what-biblical-numerology:

 What if we string all these together to make this day, 09-09-09, a spectacular one?

•        Let us live this day with our highest integrity and our heart’s intuitive wisdom.
•        Today let us acknowledge our own special internal attributes. What about you sets you apart? What makes you special?
•        Let us pay attention to our health this day. Let us eat healthy nutrients, bring peace and joy to our mind, and take advantage of the beautiful fall weather to take a walk, even if just a little one.
•        Let us take a moment to ponder the questions, “What is my life purpose?” “Am I living it?” What baby steps can you take today that will bring joy to your heart? How can you make a positive, influential difference in your life and the lives of others?
•        When you lay your head upon your pillow tonight, how will you judge it? What was special about your day?

09-09-09…here we come! Ready to take on this magnificent day!  :  )

“Goodbye to the old, hello to the new. You’ve finished one part of your life, and now a new and even better part is beginning.” My morning message was one I randomly selected from Doreen Virtue’s work. What a perfect message to share with you as I wrap up a week that has been devoted to the good, bad, and ugly about certain foods and fake foods – largely about impacting our kids’ lives with food.

This week I have spotlighted the work of several authors, particularly Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Disease-Proof Your Child. When I first read his book, I was overcome with sadness and regret – that I didn’t know or apply this information for my own children as they were growing up, much less myself. I initially felt such deep sadness that it was “too late” for me. But…I eventually turned that feeling around to, “No! It is NEVER too late to become the healthy person you want to become.”

Remember me mentioning the physician who held up the book saying, “Get this book. If you don’t have children, get it and read it for yourself”? There is liberation, hope, freedom, and belief in that statement. No matter where you are today, this is the moment that counts and you can create a beautiful, healthy new you! Wasn’t it Jack Canfield who said not to worry about how to get to California in the dark – just shine your headlights and focus a few feet ahead of you, and you will eventually get there?

I love this teaching from the Budda:

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for
the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate
troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”

It is in this moment that you can release an unhealthy old pattern. Today is a new day. All that matters is this moment.

Don’t worry about changing everything at once. To do so would be overwhelming. Empower yourself to pick one or two areas and really focus on them. And, wa la, just like that, one day in the not too distant future you will be amazed at what you have created.

Love yourself for the beautiful being that you already are, just as you are. As Doreen Virtue constantly reminds us, “You are perfect, whole, and complete, and you are very, very loved.” Compliment yourself for caring enough that you have now decided to take even better care of you.

Once you have decided, it’s all over. You are on your way. You have finished one part of your life…and now a new and even better part is beginning.

Blessings to you for a wonderful weekend!  :  )

Yesterday I wrote about contrast. Big fat, juicy contrast is so incredibly challenging, physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. In my own case, it is coming down to the wire in which I will need to make an immediate decison, and I don’t know what that answer is.

Nagging at me is the message I received on my walk yesterday. Literally I was headed down one path, but the message came, “No, don’t go there this morning.” Was that a metaphor for the decision I thought I had made? Is this intuition trying to get my attention?

A friend and I swapped “contrast stories” last night. Isn’t it incredible how beautiful life can be on one hand, and yet, what is all this muck on the other? One thing is for sure, everybody experiences contrast. The difference is in how we deal with it, and how we deal with it lays out the next steps on our path of personal evolution.

In my own situation, I have been pulling out all the stops – all the tools in the tool box. I had already mentioned a few of them: meditating twice a day on it, asking for help, surrendering it to God and the Angels, working to maintain an upbeat attitude about it, thanking it for what it is doing to cause me to expand, asking what are the lessons I am to learn through this? I have a few more tools to share…

When someone is experiencing contrast, it is best not to tell them what to do. It is best to listen intently and reflect back to them a question which allows them to think through the process and figure it out themselves. At noon yesterday I spoke with my son about my contrast. How did he respond? “Well, Mom, what do you think you should do about it?” Darn kid, he has been listening to me preach through the years after all. I replied, “I don’t know. I simply don’t know yet.” I decided to relax about it, knowing that the answer will come when the timing is right.

I attended the second class of the Munay Ki last evening. At one point in the class, the instructor passed around a bowl and asked us each to take two toothpick-sized sticks for our fire burning ceremony. On one stick you breathe out all the things you want to release, and then you burn it. Then you take the next stick and breathe out all the things you want to bring into your life, and then you burn it. Guess what I loaded my sticks with?

When I got home, I had just a few minutes to read before it was time to retire. I felt an overwhelming sense to read a few pages in Doreen Virtue’s book, Healing with the Angels. Where I last left off was at the next chapter, “Nature and Animal Angels.” I immediately felt content since I love Nature, thinking this would be a perfect few pages for me to read and relax before going off to sleep. I found the information very intriguing. It reminded me that I have some unopened nature oracle cards downstairs. I made a mental note to take a look at those in the morning.

Before heading to the 5:30 am Jazzercise class, I read the morning message from Abraham-Hicks:

“When the contrast gets greater, the desire gets greater too, and that’s what miracles are from. A miracle is nothing more than a terrible situation that has caused strong desire and then somehow an alignment of Energy with the desire. Every day life creativity, that’s all that it is.

— Abraham”

 Hmm, interesting.

 When I got home from class, I opened my email again. This time there was a message from tut.com:

 “How is it Rosie, that with so many brilliant beings on your planet, so few recognize that when one’s life encounters turbulence, choppy waters, or setbacks, it’s always a sign that things are about to get wildly better than they’ve ever been before?

And I’m not talking about the dolphins.

Don’t fight it,
    The Universe”

Hmm, very interesting. OK, that’s two messages now this morning.

Oh yeah, what about those oracle cards? I found them, shuffled the deck, and guess which one popped out? I am totally stunned by the reading on the card that flipped out. It absolutely nails my personal situation…and gives recommended guidance on how to repair it.

Sherlock Holmes, I’m hanging in there with you. OK, perhaps this is what I am meant to do. I’ll follow this lead…and look for the miracle and for things to get “wildly better.”

“He just doesn’t get it. I try to tell him if he wants to improve his life, he has to start by accepting himself. He does a good job of helping everybody else, but I keep telling him it has to start with him loving and accepting himself.”

As I listened to this story in our church discussion group yesterday, a flood of thoughts filled my mind. It reminded me of four significant teachings:  

1)      Joey Korn’s energy work demonstrating the importance of blessing ourselves first, and blessing ourselves at least twice a day… and again at any time a negative situation arises throughout the day (see previous blog article or www.dowsers.com ).

2)      Louise Hay’s work, You Can Heal Your Life, teaching us that loving ourselves can heal everything in our lives.

3)      Doreen Virtue’s teaching that we are “perfect, whole, and complete, and we are very, very loved.”

4)       The repeated message that Angels are at our side 24/7 but cannot act in our behalf unless we ask for help. The only exception is that they can intercede in a traumatic event that would lead to our demise before our time to depart the earth plane.

As I listened to his story, his frustration with trying to help his friend, for the first time I identified with what it must feel like to be an Angel and not be able to intercede in someone’s behalf without permission. Having been a “Miss Fix It” all my life, this sudden realization was a huge ah-ha moment.

Funny how life makes good on one’s promises to “do better next time.” I had no more walked out of the church discussion group when a “crisis” phone call came from a family member. This person seems to be in continual crisis.

Hmm, is this person asking for my help or just wanting to vent? Perhaps a 5^th insight for the morning’s teaching might be the importance of setting boundaries?

Until a person is ready to help themselves, perhaps the best thing we can do is to bless them, see them as perfect, whole and complete, and set healthy boundaries for ourselves.

The person in the discussion group concluded his story with perhaps still yet another insight…”Maybe the thing I need to do is just be an example.”