"It is a miracle!"

It has been a crazy day. I worked today and we had our annual Western Day Event. I was the host and we had over 150 people. We had a big Bar-B-Q, raffles, and line dancer came to preform. It was awesome. I love seeing people happy and together as one. We worked together and everything flowed, people were smiling, families were laughing. Now that is a wonderful thing. Have you notice the energy when large groups of people are happy and experiencing the same magic. It really is amazing. I remember going to see Bet Milder with my cousin, and I felt so connected and so alive. Every one at that moment was in this perfect place of awe. It is a wonderful feeling. So, for this to happen at a work place is a miracle. YEAH! Wouldn't it be wonderful to have that feeling in the work place. Why can't we? Is it possible? To tell you the truth I am usually very optimistic, but I don't know if it can be done. Prove me wrong people, please prove me wrong and show me that a work place can be a place where people are in great mood, with plenty of laughter. I will make that a wish for everyone!
Lauren

"The Power of Now"

I have been trying to figure out what to write about because I did not want to bore you with me working on being present and in the now. But that is my life at the present moment so I decided to stay true to me and my experiences. I have been going to power of now meetings. It is a group of people who are working on being present and in the moment. It is a wonderful group we talk about our experiences, and we have a leader that motivates us with ideas to keep us in the moment. I know I have talked about this before many times, but I really haven't gone in detail. You know when you are driving from point A to point B, and the next thing you know you are have arrived and you have know idea how you got there. It is as if you were not awake at all. We live life like that from day to day. Being present allows us to connect to who we really are, our true selves. Our ego thinks it is in charge and pretty much will rule our lives if we let it. Our ego's mind complains about everything, judges, lies, and is constantly putting us down and others. That is not who we are. One of our new members of the power of now group explained it well. She said we are a drop of water in the ocean. We are separate and yet one. But the ego is the one that thinks we are separate, the truth is we are not. So, I struggle from day to day to catch my self being in my head, and am working toward living in a life of peace. It is working but it takes time and patience. You know how I don't like that patience thing, so I guess I learning that too.
Lauren

"We can learn from others"

I believe that we can learn about ourselves through others. I call it "the mirror effect". We can learn a lot about ourselves from the company we keep. For example: if your boyfriend is abusive and belligerent to you, that may "mirror" that you were taught to be a victim and has a low self-esteem. If your friends are well adjusted and confident, then whether you realize it or not you are too. This is a good way to learn about ourselves to see if there is anything we want to work on. I do this often. One person who drove me crazy was a women who had so much energy and never listen. Then one day someone said she is just like you, I was upset but realized, oh my God, it was true. I did not like seeing myself in a "mirror", so I still have a lot of energy but now I take time to really listen. So when someone shows up in your life and pushes your buttons, take a few minutes and see what you can learn. It may mean that at that moment you are being judgmental, or that person reminds you of someone from your past. It can also be positive if you admire someone for being creative, there is a good chance you are too, in ways you don't realize. Check it out, have fun with it, and let me know what happen.

Louis Armstrong Lyrics, What a Wonderful World Lyrics >>

Louis Armstrong Lyrics, What a Wonderful World Lyrics >>:
"I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

The colours of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shakin' hands, sayin' 'How do you do?'
They're really saying 'I love you'

I hear babies cryin', I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world

Oh yeah!"

"Lets start thriving, shall we"

I want talk about "surviving" vs. "thriving". I believe that society teaches us to merely survive. They say basically get a job, get married and have children. Now, don't get me wrong that sounds like a great little life. However, we don't live in a society that teaches us to thrive. Not one teacher I ever met asked me "what is you passion?" They only taught us English, Math, etc. the basics for survival. I mean, look at organizations for helping people, like WEAVE, or drug and alcohol programs, again, survival, get out, get clean, get a job. You tell me, do you know of any high school or programs that takes it to the next level and teach people to thrive. So, now the question is what would the world look like if we were all thriving. We would have jobs that we love, because the people that ran the organizations would have been taught differently, they would know how important the work place needed to be for their employee. We would follow are passions because the teachers at school would help us find our strengths and help them flourish. We would have organizations that would help victims (which would be less of by the way) and show them all the possibilities there are in the world. It is never to late to change. Even if it is baby steps. Lets start thriving, shall we.

Lauren

"I Don't Just Want to Survive, I Want to Thrive!"

Hello world!!!! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. I have started the publishing process on my book, and working on a press release. Scary and exciting at the same time. And, of course I am observing the voice in my head, boy it is in full throttle. I am just laughing at my self and all the nonsense it is saying. Lauren, no body will like it. You think you can write but the teachers were right and you can't. People will know your darkest secrets, are you STUPID OR WHAT!!!!! And it goes on and on. But I have to take the chance. There is no such thing as failure as long as you 1. learn from the experience and 2. never give up. I hope I have the stamina on the never give up part. I mean, the chapters I have shared so far are nothing compared to whats coming. My next chapter is about my molest, and It is a scary thing to broad cast to the world. Ok, now I am in my head again. I have to remind my self why I wanted to do this in the first place. We are not alone out there, and even though we all have had different experience, we know what it feels like to be sad, hopeless, scared, angry, and we know what laughter and joy is. So, in that perspective we are similar. The only way to face what is ahead is to go"through it", unless you choose to avoid it. I rather go "through" and get it over with. Every time I try to avoid something it ends up crashing down all around me. So, I believe that in sharing my experience I can inspire others that they to can face their pain and not just survive in this world but thrive and to remind them that they are not alone.
Lauren

"It is all about the journey!"

"The only journey is the journey within."

Rainer Maria Rilke

"Yes, know thyself: it great concerns or small,

Be this thy care, for this, my friend, is all."

Juvenal

"Insist on yourself. Never imitate."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom."

Aristotle

"Your real influence is measured by your treatment of yourself."

A. Bronson Alcott

"If we all did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves."

Thomas Edison

Lauren