"What to make God laugh?"

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I am reading a book by Wayne Dyer called "inspiration". What I love about this author is that he tells us stories from his life. Because I am trying to go for my dream of being an author and inspiring people, I am learning a lot from him. We have a lot in common. His teachers told him he could not write, he had a difficult childhood and he had know idea how to publish his first book. But he has passion, a love for what he does, and faith that the universe will lead the way. He made all his dreams come true and then some. That is where I am, I am trying to get out of the way of myself and surrender to a higher plan. I remember a quote that said "want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." So, I have no idea what will happen on my journey, all I know is that I will not give up and faith that everything will turn out maybe not as I expect but better than I could ever imagine. Now if I can only conquer this "being patient" thing, I would be a happy camper.
Lauren

"What a concept?"

Hey everybody, it will take more time to put up my chapters from my book. I will do it when I can. I hope you had a great weekend. I was reading my book at Dos Coyotes on a Sunday, which is out of my norm. There were a lot of people, mostly families and there I was sitting by myself but felt so connected with these strangers around me. Children were running around, people were laughing and I was totally present. It was an incredible feeling. I stopped reading and just looked at the people around me and smiled. I don't know how to explain it. I felt them, connected to their essence, to the God in them. I felt the wind, the trees, and everything seemed brighter. In the past I would have been so annoyed with the kids, and the noise and would of felt lonely, being the only one by myself. Not that day, it was a great day. I am learning so much every day. I know it takes practice to be present, and I am actually learning patience. Well, I don't know about that one, but I am trying. I am however not getting obsessed about my final destination, my goals end, and taking the time to slow down and just be. So, lets try that this week, to just slow down and just be. What a concept.
Lauren

"I did it!"

I did it! I road my bike to work and back my first week. Yeah! For those of you who do not know me, I want to tell you about my weight struggles. I have been battling my weight issue for over 20 years. Two years ago my highest weight was 273 pound at a size 26. I used every excuse in the book to tell myself that my weight did not effect my life. I have a great husband, I have never had health problems, and I always say "it is what is on the inside that counts." Now that is still true, and will always be true. But two years ago when I was on one of my trips to Mexico, and I could barely walk, my hips and knees were killing me. Traveling has always been the most important thing to me, the one thing I love most. So, I finally said enough is enough. Well it has been two years and I have only lost 58 pounds. 8 months ago I was at a 68 pounds lost. I had a big "failure" in my life, had a pity party for two weeks, and now I am back. This is such a difficult journey. I admire all of you who have lost weight over the years. I am on Weight Watchers, and I go to Curves. I two know people older than me who have lost 103 pounds in 18 months and 93 pounds in 18 months. It has been so frustrating. I wanted to give up so many times, but I can't give up. This is the hardest thing I have ever done and I believe that if I can do this, I can do anything! That is why it is so important for me to lose weight. The only difference is the exercise, I have to change the way I look at things. I have changed my eating habits. (even though I am not perfect) but now something else has to change. So that is why I have been riding my bike. I don't have to be thin, I just want to feel good in my body. My goal is a size 14 or 12. I can be happy with that. Why, because I choose too. I notice that most women are never happy with their bodies. That needs to change. Society, doctors, even Weight Watchers say I need to be a size 6 to be healthy. I can be happy at a size 14, so size 14 here I come.
Lauren

"People are good at heart."

I believe that people are good at heart. We get so stuck in our heads, our judgments about others, the dramas of life that we forget that even though we are so different, we have one thing in common, we just want to be happy. We all judge, I catch myself all of the time. I have to stop myself, and then I try to find the good in that person. It is hard, especially in the work place. The truth is I don't have the answers, I have people that dislike me, and I have no idea why. The only thing I have learned is to be me. I have stopped trying to please everyone and I have stopped trying to kiss up to the people that dislike me. It is not easy, but it is too much work to try to please everybody. I keep telling myself, "don't get caught up in other peoples dramas", and the next thing I know I am swept in and in a bad mood. I am getting better. When you look past those peoples dramas, and see them for who they really are, it gets easier. I have learned never assume anything. I guarantee your assumption is wrong. Just remember we don't really know that person and what is going on with them in their lives. Just love them for who they are, no matter what. Now is this hard, you're damn right it is, but it works. So, don't take things personally, and give a little love.

Lauren

"Lets try something different."

This weekend lets try something different for a change. We all have our routines, and sometimes we get stuck. Come on, most of us have 2 days off, we have to clean the house, do the grocery shopping and probably have a list of other errands to do. But this weekend, lets step out of our normal life's and do something we would not normally do. It can be anything like a picnic in the park, a walk along the river, or just a special lunch with a loved one. You can call a friend you haven't talked too in awhile, or send a letter by mail (wouldn't that be a shocker). Lets up the ante and give something to a complete stranger. Whether it is a compliment, or buying a coffee at Starbucks for the next person in line, or giving a flower to the elderly woman down the street. Believe it or not random acts of kindness can change the world. If we all start today to give random acts of kindness everyday, imagine where the world would be. After all, I believe that most people are good at heart, we just get stuck in the dramas of life to realize it. Be happy and have a great weekend.


Lauren

"Failure is not an option."

Well I said that I will start putting chapters of my book on this website, we are having technical difficulties, but as soon as we figure out how to do it, I will start putting them up weekly.

I am guided to talk about failures. How many of us, don't try things because we are afraid of failure? What is the worst thing that can happen if we fail? Think about that for a minute. I keep going back to that one quote "98% of people fail because they give up." So, what stops us from going for our goals, dreams or whatever? For me in the past failure was just proof that I was not good enough. Good enough for what? I say better to try and fail than always wondering the "what ifs of life." Seriously, If you try something and fail, and learn what works, what didn't and keep trying eventually you will succeed. I am trying to get my book published and all I am doing is slamming into walls. Maybe the only reason we fail is because we decide to give up? I will not give up. One thing I have learned is you may start down one path toward a certain goal and wind up somewhere else, somewhere better than you ever imagined. So what do you want in your life? Remember failure is not an option.

Lauren

" Boy it was a hot day!'

OK, guys I road my bike to work for the first time. I would HAVE to pick today to start, I mean after all it is only 105 degrees outside. For most, it would probably not be a big deal because it is only 1.4 miles, with some hills, well at least I call them hills. But for me it was a big deal. It was so dang hard, but I did it! Yeah! And of course I made it a bigger deal in my head. All day long, I am thinking, should I call Ernie to come pick me up, it's too hot. But I told myself If I start making excuses now I will never get on that damn bike again. When will I stop being my own worst enemy? How many of us do the same thing? I don't know, maybe it is just me, but I have a feeling that all of us do that. I wonder if guys do it as much as women do. Feel free to comment.
Tomorrow is suppose to be another hot day in good old Sacramento, but I will continue to ride my bike. Well so much for being inspirational today. I hope you guys had a wonderful day. I also hope you were all your own best friends and took time to spoil yourselves rotten. If not go do it right now!
Lauren

"Find 3 things you're grateful for."

What are you grateful for? There is a whole world out there full of things and people to be grateful for. I am grateful for my husband, my friendships, my residents, my pets, my health. These are the typical things people are grateful for. What about the things we take for granted, I mean how many of us take the time to grateful for a butterfly, a sunset, a smile from a stranger, or a tree blowing in wind. Do we, as humans take the time to be grateful for the little things? I mean do You? I can't believe all the beautiful things in the world, 20 years ago all I saw was ugliness and pain. But to actually see the world and all its wonder for the first time is amazing. I still have to be aware of what is going on in my head, and stop myself, otherwise the next thing I know I will be whining in my head about the things I can't control. But when I catch myself, things appear clearer, colors brighter and I am so grateful for this world. This week I want you to pay attention to your surroundings and I know some of you do, but try to just be aware when you're in traffic, or on your break at work. What are you grateful for? Find 3 new things every day to be grateful for and see what happens. I probably used this quote before, but I love it so it is worth repeating. "Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change." I am trying to do that with exercise, yeah, well I will let you know how that one turns out. Now Lauren get out of your head! This is a hard one, I must say. Can she do it? Will Lauren learn to love exercise and live a healthier life? Lets see shall we.
Lauren

"You don't have to be Oprah."

This just popped in my head last night. During one of my workshops, we wrote everything we feared on a board. It was a long list, and not very pleasant to look at. This was an exercise to face our fears. Some examples were fear of failure, abandonment, rejection, fear of being alone, the list went on. We were all overwhelmed looking at this list. But what we learned was that everything on our list was linked to one thing "fear that we are not good enough" or "unworthy", which is the same thing. It was very helpful to just look at that one thing, because we can deal with that, can't we? I say YES WE CAN! If it is true and we are all afraid of the same thing. Just think about the ramifications of this statement. When we look at the people around us, our loved ones, friends and co-workers we can see a pattern that can help us not only have better relationships with others, but step out of a life we don't want into a life we love. Basically we are all in the same boat. So I say jump in the water and start creating the life you want and know that just by being born you are worth it. You don't have to be a famous writer, have a lot of money, have the perfect body, or be Oprah, to find your peace and create a life you love. Just discover what you are good at, what you love to do and how you can give to others. When I mean give to others I mean give yourself freely, your heart. We are all incredible souls on this planet. We are here to grow, to learn, to fully express ourselves, and to give to others. I think we can do that. You are perfect the way you are, once you know that and be that and share who you are with others, everything else will fall in place. So, here's to "YOU!"
Lauren

"Be your own best Friend"

Do you know that you are more than the roles you play? We are mothers, daughters, fathers, teachers, secretaries, wives, husbands, co-workers, and all things in between. I believe we, as humans, put too much emphasis on the roles we play. We give our whole selves to our husband, kids, work and next thing we know life has passed us by. What I find interesting is that many woman have a hard time putting themselves first. I can't speak for men. Some may think they only put themselves first, but from my experiences I don't see that. I do see woman all over the world taking care of everybody else. The reason why it is important to put ourselves first is because when we do, we have more time for others. We feel refreshed and full of energy and we can totally give from the heart freely. Look at the roles you play on a daily basis. Where do YOU fit in? I hope you all take time for YOU because YOU deserve it. My favorite pass time is to read my book, or write outside at Dos Coyotes (restaurant), eat my favorite salad and sit with nature. Take time every week for you. One question, though, are you your best friend or your worst enemy? Be your best friend. Have a great weekend.

Lauren

"The life I am creating."

I had a crazy and emotional day. I am not a patient person. I have noticed that because of my lack of patience, it has affected my life lately. I learned something today. I have been so wound up trying to get my book published that I lost sight of the point of my book or even this blog in the first place. The whole point was to inspire others. I have a voice, a gift, to bring a ray of sunshine into peoples lives. To inspire others to step into their light, their brilliance and shine. I have lost touch with who I am. I was tired of being an employee and forced to take crap from others that I got lost in the "I wants"of the world. No more! I need to take my time and just be me to the best of my ability. Don't get me wrong, I am still going to publish my book. But I need to slow things down, and just be INSPIRATION, for awhile. I am putting my full attention to this blog, and into my words, in hope of brighten up your day. I will also start putting chapters of my book on Mondays, as an attachment. Life is a journey, you can choose the direction in which to travel. I hope you can learn from my experience and slow down to enjoy the view. It is a pretty amazing view. I have stepped off the speeding train to one final destination and onto a slower one that will lead me to a greater understanding of why my soul has chosen this direction. Some people say to me that I am searching for something, and need to be in the "now." I always got offended by that. I would think to myself, I know exactly who I am, and I am grateful for my life. All this is true, but there is a difference between discovering who you are and becoming who you want to be. I searched the world trying to fit in, discovered my strengths and weaknesses, now I am shaping my life and following that ray of sunshine that I know I am back to the source, the sun. I am growing and learning how to be that sun, and creating a life that I can be fully expressed, a life of joy, of peace and give that back to you. It is a life time journey, so I guess I will be "searching", "growing" and "sharing my soul" until the day I die. That is what I am creating. You will have the opportunity to see it unfold before your very eyes.
Lauren

"The time has come!"

I talked to the people at Create Space (the self-publishing company) and my publisher. I own all the rights to my book and If a publishing company wants to pick it up they can. They help with marketing and they will write and send out over 1000 press releases all over the country and if anybody is interested in my book they can get in touch with me for articles etc. I can also have a real book critic write a review on my book. Because my book is already edited and I am making my own cover, it is free to upload my book to their site. You can order it through Amazon and through regular book stores. They get $3 a book and what ever price I decide for my book I keep the rest. The key is marketing. I can also use the press release to make my own contacts. I am not giving up on my dream. Remember when I quoted Napoleon Hill he said "98% of people fail because they give up." Well, I will never give up. I maybe scared to death, but fear, watch out because here I come. Here is a quote I wrote that is in the last chapter of my book. "The greatest gift you can give yourself is discovering who you are. The greatest gift you can give to others is being who you are."
Lauren Guarducci

"Off to see the wizard!"

I have been re-reading my book "A touch on the shoulder" In actuality this is the first time I have read the whole thing. I mean, of course I wrote it and my mother edited it, but I think I was afraid to read it in its entirety. Maybe, I was afraid it was not good enough. I sent some chapters out to publishing companies only to be rejected. So, today I finished reading my book. I am shocked, it is more inspiring than I remember. I can actually feel and hear the voice of the dialog when I am just me writing a chapter on one of my adventures, or when I am connected to my higher self, or my God self. I can really hear the child within, and all her anger. When I started this project, I wanted it to be as real as possible, so I said "I will let my writing flow and what ever comes, comes." Now it has been edited in the for grammar, spelling etc. but the essence has not been touched. I had a hard time decided to keep some of the dialogue, because I actually used the "F" word. That was my angry child. But I decided to keep it as it is. I am scared to death, but I decided to self-publish my book. Why, am I so scared? Well, basically, this it is so raw and so vulnerable that I have no idea how people will view it. This is about my life up to now. It has been one hell of a ride. It has stuff that is hard to read, but I really believe that my purpose on this planet is to inspire others, and I will start with my life story. So, I am off to see the Wizard. I may not know what lies ahead but I know that I am not alone.
Lauren

"Be who you want to be!"

I have the urge to talk about breaking old patterns and life's perceptions. I have created and implemented a 4-week workshop for women called "New Beginnings." It is a wonderful workshop that help women break old patterns and perceptions, face the fear that binds them, and discover their gift or purpose in life. We also work on where our patterns and perceptions came from. Humans have been a product of their environment for so long. whether its from their parents, society, race, gender and culture. We literally buy into what we are taught. Take body image for example, we live in the society that tells us that being thin, is beautiful. But not only do we have to compete with the media and magazines, we have to compete with ourselves. Breaking old patterns and changing our perceptions is possible. It is stepping out of the little world we have created for ourselves and creating the world of our choosing. If you are unhappy, start by looking at what you thought was true. If you are taught to be a racist, it is most likely you will grow up to hate. If you are taught that a woman's place is in the kitchen and raising children than there is a good chance that is how you live your life. Now there are exceptions, but I am not speaking to those exceptions. You can change your life right now. You can choose to be what you want to be, even if it means rejecting what you have been taught or the beliefs of your friends and family. Look at the world around you it is an incredible place and there is so much out there to learn. There are opportunities for us all. Be who you want to be not what everybody else wants you to be. Remember reach for the stars you might get the moon, heck, I'll take the moon, how about you?
Lauren

"Did you know you can learn from an oak tree?'

WOW! Everything clicked this morning. Days ago I thought I surrendered, but obviously that was not the case. I want to continue the analogy I used yesterday where I was standing at the cross roads where I couldn't even see which direction to choose. Instead of panicking, which I have been doing this week. I stopped to listen, and low and behold I hear the sound of water. I had no idea that just a few feet away was a river. The flow of the universe was right there all along. So, I decided to jump on a boat and off I go. I may not know exactly where I am going but it sure is better than standing at the cross roads complaining for a week. Think about this, an acorn doesn't think "oh no which direction do I grow", "do I grow up or down" "oh crap there is a rock!" it just naturally grows and becomes a beautiful oak tree. Nature is one of our greatest teachers. So, go and enjoy the outdoors and check out an oak tree.

Lauren

"It could be worse, right?"

Well it is still pouring here where I am. This has been a week from hell, now I hurt my back and I am in pain. I took my residents to Coco's for pie and one of my ladie's legs gave out, and I was holding her up, and she could not stand on her own two legs. I was there for several minutes while the other residents were in the car and finally I saw a man on the other side of the parking lot and asked him for help. He just picked her up and plopped her in her seat. God, I hope everything is OK with my back. So, not again this is the third day of not being inspirational, not practicing being present, I am just totally in my head, in my pain, and am ticked off. OK now I feel a little better. I hope I am not boring everybody, I am just speaking my truth for the day and how I feel. One of my residents said she prayed for me, because what happen on Wednesday during the bible study. I guess I could use a lot of prayers right now. But it could be worse, right? So, when times get tough how do you deal with it? Do you grumble and complain, like me? Do you have a pity party and invite whom ever you can to join the party? Or do you think to yourself, things can be worse and wait for things to get better? I am going to go home and think of all the things I am grateful for and get out of my head. Anybody would like to share what they do when things go bad, I would love to know.

Lauren

"It is one of those days"

I had one of those days again. You know the ones, when it rains it pours. For me when things go bad, it is like a domino effect. I immediately try to get out of my head, but some times it is impossible. When everything goes wrong all at once, I stop to see if maybe the universe is trying to tell me something. I know that blessings are disguised as problems, if you learn from them that is. I am trying to see through the muck, but it is hard. Yesterday, and today I prayed for clarity. Even though I hate when trouble comes I know it will be OK, but I tell you while you're in it. It's hard. I keep thinking OK God show me the way, I have no clue what to do, no clue what I am suppose to learn from this. When you come to a dead stop at a cross roads and you have no idea which way to go, what do you do? I am not afraid of taking chances, I just don't know what direction to take. Actually, I can't even see any road ahead, nothing, not even a choice. WOW, don't you hate when this happens. Now I wonder if my ego's mind is totally in control of me right now. To tell you the truth I don't feel very inspirational. The only thing I know how to do is to have faith. Faith that Great Spirit has my back and everything will turn out as it is suppose to, even though I haven't clue what that may be. Just writing those words and actually feeling them makes me feel better. I wonder what the future hold.
Lauren

"What do you think?"

It has been an interesting couple of weeks. One of my residents is a former pastor and he told me that spirit has guided him to help me to find salvation through Jesus. Today the bible study group talked to me about their experiences with Jesus. It is weird, I totally believe in God, and fact I always thought I had a special relationship with great spirit. I believe that things happen for a reason, but this is difficult for me. I actually believe in Jesus, I believe that he was the son of God just like I am the daughter of God. I also believe that Jesus was a great teacher, a prophet to show us our true potential. What I can not except is the fact that Christians believe that to be saved you have to go through Jesus and that everybody else will burn in hell. I was told that today. So every Jew, Buddha, Hindu, Muslim and all in between are going to burn in hell. I can't get passed that. So again the question is why am I being led to Jesus, everywhere I go for the past 3 weeks, I run into people talking to me about Jesus. So, I am confused, what am I suppose to learn here. Is life so random that this doesn't mean anything at all, or do things happen for a reason. As I told you before, sometimes I do not know what to write and I go deep within, to my higher self which is connect to spirit, and these are the words flowing right now so easily. To what purpose I have no idea. What do you think? Any comments?
Lauren

"How important are you?"

Do you know how important you are? Do you realize that there is no one on the planet like you? Out of billions of people on this planet or the billions that lived before you and the billions that will go on living after you die, there is not one person like you and there will never be. You are unique and one of a kind. I wish I can convey to you how important you are. I remember reading once that each life is so important that if one person decides to commit suicide God has to literally change the entire universe. Just think about that for a moment. We have the opportunity to change the world little by little each day just with our thoughts. Today, I could not let a thought go, it consumed me all day until I had the opportunity to talk with a specific person. I went through the conversation over and over in my head what I would say. Instead of enjoying the moment and my residents I was stuck in my head. I lost all power, all inspiration, and I forgot who I was, who we all are. YOU are inspiration! YOU are not only a ray of sunshine but the sun itself! YOU are one of a kind and totally unique! There is no one on this planet like YOU! YOU are so important that if you took your life today, God would have to totally rearrange the entire universe. That is how important you are! I just want you to know that.
Lauren

"enjoying the moment"

I love Mondays, as you know Mondays are my day off. I was sitting at Dos Cayotes outside and watching the trees dancing in the wind. I watched this squirrel, he was communicating to a friend, I suppose, in his bizarre little language. Then I notice he was just relaxing on a tree branch while his tail was swaying in the wind. It was weird, I have never seen a squirrel do that before. We have tons of squirrels in our back yard and they are running around like crazy all day long. As I watched him I was thinking to myself, how do squirrels think? What is their thought process? I mean he was talking with something just a minute ago. At that moment he was just "being" no thoughts, no worries, no past or future to think about. He was just enjoying the moment and in actuality I was also enjoying the moment just watching him.
Before I found myself enjoying my little friend in the tree, just an hour before I was at Citibank desperately trying to workout an issue with my mortgage. I even said a little prayer that I would find an angel today to help me. To make a long story short, they screwed up and we ended up behind in our payment. I did not want to talk to these people in fear of ruining my day. So what happened, there was no angel in disguise and I cried like a baby, went to Dos Coyotes and was determined to have a great day and VOILA, I did. Maybe, my angel for today was in the form of a little squirrel laying so peacefully in a tree.
Lauren

"A smile can change the world"

Yeah, I got a comment. The comment mentions that most days are good but other days are just "there" like you go thru the motions and the day is over. I know exactly what you mean. People do that all the time. We are not present at all and have no clue whats going on around us a lot of the time. Just think of what we missed. We could of missed a smile that would of made our day, or even a few wise words that would have totally taken us on a better path. We also would missed inspiring others. What if that was the day you would have meet that one perfect guy, or someone that could of helped you with that one problem you wanted to solve; or even better what if you missed the opportunity to help someone and give them the answer they have been searching for. I remember reading a true story about Damian Brinkley. He was dead for 45 minutes and what he experienced not only changed his life but others as well. Before he died, to put in bluntly, he was an asshole. He treated people badly and was a very angry man. He said that when you die you go through, what I will call, a life review, but you see it and feel it through your eyes and through the eyes of every person you have encountered in your life. He says you will experience what they have felt. So if you inspired others with joy, or hurt them with your anger you will feel what they felt. Scary huh, I like this idea, imagine Hitler feeling all the pain that he caused to all those millions of people YES! I like it. But what interested me the most was when he said one day he held a door open for woman and smiled at her, not knowing that she was in deep depression and was contemplating suicide, and just that one gesture changed her mind. I love it! Every person on this planet are angels in disguise, and if we just become more present and caring for each other we can change the world. Well at least live happier lives.
Lauren

"is anybody out there?"

Hey you guys, please feel free to leave comments, Ernie has fixed the comment button. It use to not work. You can even ask questions, I know that I can learn so much from others and I am up to the challenge. As I write this I wonder how many people really read it. I know Ernie reads it, mostly to make corrections. One of my best friends, Debbie reads it. Hello Debbie! I wonder if anyone else does, am I just talking to the air. Well, even so it helps me to write. It is almost like I get some kind of clarity of my life. If you remember I started this blog to help me publish my book. So I still need followers. So I can use your help. So in other words IS ANYBODY OUT THERE?
I just thought of something, life has all its ups and downs. I feel the more connected you are with yourself and others the more ups you have than downs. I see that in my life. Most days are great, but I tell you when it's down, it is bad. I notice my emotions get crazy and the voice in my head gets even crazier. So my question to you for today is do you have more good days or more bad days? I hope your days are filled with laughter and joy. If not make it happen! You have the power. Have a good weekend. See you tomorrow.
Lauren

"stop and smell the roses"

I hope everyone had a wonderful day! I had a great day with my residents. I love making them smile and bringing joy into their life. How many of us are so consumed with every day life, that we forget "to stop to smell the roses", sort of speak. I really wonder how many of us are in our own little worlds that we have know idea what is going on around us. I mean think about it. My neighbor who I know, well at least I know their names and say hi to them once in awhile. Well, on day she said "hey Lauren did you know I had a baby." I didn't even know she was ever pregnant. How crazy is that! We miss so much in the world. If everyone stop once in awhile and actually paid attention to there neighbor, or the guy at Starbucks, or the guy who sits two cubicles from you, I think the world would be a better place. The other day I saw this adorable older woman in the store, and I went up to her and said to her that I did not want to offend her but that I thought she was adorable in her dress and hat. She had a big smile on her face and told me that I made her day. So when ever I think of something positive I tell that person, even if they are strangers. So, here is my challenge to you, go out and say something nice to someone you would not normally talk to and see what happens. Have a great Friday!
Lauren

"what makes us who we are?"

What makes us who we are? Does it have to do with our parents, our environment, culture, race, and gender? Do we have a choice in the matter? Or does our past determine who we are? There are so many theories out there. So what do you believe? What if I told you that you have a choice to be whatever you want to be, would you believe me? I use to believe what people told me. In school I heard a teacher tell another teacher that I was stupid. Another teacher said I could never be a writer. I was told so many things. I sometimes catch myself. Recently I heard myself say that I don't have patience, that is just who I am. I realize that I can be what ever I want to be. I am not talking just about I want to be a writer or whatever. I am talking about something deeper of how we view ourselves and the world around us. We have the power to change anything at any moment. listen to yourself, and what you tell yourself. It is pretty amazing. Another one I always said was yeah, I complain a lot, that just how I am, oh well you have to deal with it. Or I can't cook, I can't exercise, my latest is I will never like to exercise. Well, we can change that, so, what do you think? Everything is about perception, change the way you look at things and things will change. (that was yesterdays quote, it is defiantly a good one)
Lauren

"I love this quote"

Today my residents and I were in the Sacramento Bee. They had our pictures taken while sitting around the table discussing Dear Abby or Dear Carolyn. You should have seen their faces. They were so proud and happy. This morning one of my residents fell and they took her to the hospital. As she was coming in one of the nurses, who had read the article, said "hey, their is a celebrity in the house." That made her day. I love giving joy to these incredible souls. It is hard to explain but there is no more masks, or facades, they are so real and true to themselves and others. I love it. I mean, they just tell it like it is. I learn from them everyday. I love my job, but the pay is pretty bad. I think it is important to love what you are doing. I was making more money working as a counselor with problem children and their parents, but I had to leave to do something I love. I was fortunate. Most people can't do that or won't. I guess it depends on the persons priorities. I remember having a room mate who was telling a story to group of people about a man who gave up his $100,000 year job (he had a wife and kids) to work on trains, because that was his dream. I thought that was the greatest thing and she scoffed at me and told me I was stupid. Funny, how different we all are. If you don't like your job, is there a way to bring a ray of sunshine to your daily routine? I say yes, be that ray of sunshine, have it your daily goal to make people smile. It might make your day a whole lot better. Here is a quote I love "if you change the way you look at things the things you look at change."
Have fun!
Lauren

Surrender

I have a question. For those of you who haven't read day 1, I wrote about dreams falling on the wayside because life happens? How many of you have dreams? How many of you are so busy running that you don't even remember what those dreams were? Are you happy right now? So, how do you make your dreams come true in the future and be present or in the now right this very second? I am struggling with this right now. After my banter on Saturday, yeah, I know that was not very inspiring, I was so stressed I had no clue how to surrender to the moment. Surrendering to the "now"or what "is", is the key to everything. The key to finding peace within, the key to finding what is your next step to make your dream come true. If you are always in the past or future or in wanting what you don't have, you miss life happening all around you. I love to read and I remembered reading always be grateful for what you have. I thought that meant the "things I have" now I realize the author was referring to the moment, to the now. Having a dream is one thing living in the "wanting" does not get you where you want to go. Do you realize that right this very second you have no control on what "is" you only have control whether you let your ego mind control you, or you surrender to what "is". I am surrendering to what "is", I know that I will reach my dream to be an author and teach my workshops to inspire women. I don't know how it will happen but I can no longer live in the future of that specific outcome, it is just to stressful. I AM SURRENDERING NOW......................................................... isn't life grand.
Lauren