Today's affirmation: I am the master of my emotions - I transform fear to love, anger to compassion, pain to comfort, scarcity to abundance, expectation to gratitude, and jealousy to generosity. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie
In this profound poem, the author explores the purposeful encounters and challenges that shape our lives. It highlights the transformative power of unexpected connections, the lessons learned from hardships, and the importance of self-belief. Through its evocative words, the poem urges us to embrace the present, learn from the past, and create a life without regrets.
Everything Happens for a Reason
Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there, to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or to help you figure out who you are or who you want to become.
You never know who these people may be. Possibly your roommate or neighbour, professor or long lost friend, lover, or even a complete stranger. but when you lock eyes with them, you know at that very moment they will affect your life in some profound way.
And sometimes things happen to you that may seem horrible, painful, and unfair at first, but in reflection you find that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, willpower, or heart.
Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of good luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness, and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul.
Without these small tests, whatever they may be, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere. It would be safe and comfortable, but dull and utterly pointless.
The people you meet who affect your life, and the success and downfalls you experience, help to create who you are and who you become.
Even the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are probably the most poignant and important ones. If someone hurts you, betrays you, or breaks your heart forgive them, for they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to when you open your heart.
If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally, Not only because they love you, but because in a way, they are teaching you to love and how to open your heart and eyes to things.
Make every day count. Appreciate every moment and take from those moments everything that you possibly can for you may never be able to experience it again.
Talk to people that you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Walk the footsteps of a stranger and you’ll learn things you never know.
Let yourself fall in love, break free, and set your sights high. Hold your head up because you have every right to.
Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don’t believe in yourself, it will be hard for others to believe in you.
You can make of your life anything you wish. Create your own life and then go out and live it with absolutely no regrets. “The past is a guidepost, not a hitching post.”
(Author unknown)
The Power Of Mother’s Love
This story is a little long but well worth the time to read. It perfectly illustrates not only the amazing power of Love, but also the truly inspiring power of Touch.
When doctors told Carolyn Isbister that her tiny premature daughter would die within 20 minutes, she had to prepare herself for the worst.
Tiny Rachael had just been born minutes before, weighing just 1.4lb (0.64kg), and her heart was only beating once every ten seconds. But Miss Isbister was determined to have just one cuddle with her daughter and to savor the one precious moment she had, so she picked up tiny Rachael and cuddled her close.
And it was a cuddle that has amazed doctors by saving the baby’s life. The warmth of her mother’s skin actually kickstarted Rachael’s heart into beating properly, which allowed her to take tiny breaths of her own.
Four months later – the baby who was so tiny that the doctors gave up on her life – has been allowed home, thanks to that precious life saving cuddle from her mother.
Miss Isbister, 36, from West Lothian, said: “Rachael has been such a little fighter – it is a miracle that she is here at all. When she was born the doctors told us that she would die within 20 minutes because her heart wasn’t beating properly and she wasn’t breathing. But that one precious cuddle saved her life. I’ll never forget it.”
Miss Isbister, a chemist, and her partner David Elliott, 35, an electronic engineer, were thrilled when she fell pregnant. At the 20 week scan at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, doctors told them that she was carrying a girl and they decided to name her Rachael. But at 24 weeks, Miss Isbister went into premature labour after she developed an infection in her womb.
Miss Isbister, who also has two children Samuel, 10, and Kirsten, 8, from a previous marriage, said: “We were just terrified we were going to lose her. I had been bleeding throughout the pregnancy, and had suffered three miscarriages before falling pregnant with Rachael, so we really didn’t think there was much hope.”
When Rachael was born, weighing 1.4lb, doctors told the couple that their daughter would only live for 20 minutes. She wasn’t breathing and she was grey and lifeless. Her heart was only beating once every 10 seconds.
Miss Isbister said: “The doctor just took one look at her and said no. They didn’t even try to help her with her breathing as they said it would just prolong her dying. Everyone just gave up on her.”
The doctors told the couple to say their goodbyes to their daughter, but Miss Isbister decided that she would give her daughter the only cuddle she would ever have. So she lifted her out of her hospital blanket and placed her on her chest, with skin to skin contact.
She said: “I didn’t want her die being cold. So I lifted her out of her blanket and put against my skin to warm her up. Her feet were so cold. It was the only cuddle I was going to have with her, so I wanted to remember the moment.”
But after 20 minutes tiny Rachael was still alive. Then a miracle happened. She started taking tiny breaths on her own, and her heart started beating more regularly.
Miss Isbister said: “We couldn’t believe it – and neither could the doctors. She let out a tiny cry. When she was still breathing after four hours and her heart was beating more regularly, the doctors came in and said there was still no hope for her, but I still wasn’t letting go of her. We had her blessed by the hospital chaplain, and waited for her to slip away. But she still hung on. And then amazingly the pink color began to return to her cheeks. She literally was turning from grey to pink before our eyes, and she began to warm up too.”
After 48 hours, the doctors decided to put her on a ventilator to help with her breathing and she was transferred to the intensive care unit.
Miss Isbister said: “The doctors said that she had proved she was a fighter and that she now deserved some intensive care as there was some hope. She had done it all on her own – without any medical intervention or drugs. She had clung onto life – and it was all because of that cuddle. It had warmed up her body enough for her to start fighting.”
Because Rachel hadn’t had any oxygen for four hours, doctors warned the couple that there was a high risk she had been brain damaged. But a scan showed no evidence of any damage at all.
As the days passed, Rachael slowly began to gain in strength and put on weight. She had laser treatment on her eyes to save her sight as the blood vessels hadn’t had chance to develop properly in the womb. And she also had six blood transfusions.
Miss Isbister added: “We couldn’t believe that she was doing so well. Her heart rate and breathing would suddenly sometimes drop without warning, but she just got stronger and stronger.”
After five weeks she was taken off the ventilator and Miss Isbister was able to hold and breastfeed her. Then after four months in hospital, they were finally allowed to take her home – a day which they never thought they would see.
At six months old, she now weighs 8lb (3.63kg) – the same as a newborn baby – and she has a healthy appetite.
Miss Isbister said: “She is doing so well. When we finally brought her home, the doctors told us that she was a remarkable little girl. And most of all, she just loves her cuddles. She will sleep for hours, just curled into my chest. It was that first cuddle which saved her life – and I’m just so glad I trusted my instinct and picked her up when I did. Otherwise she wouldn’t be here today.”
Photos:
By WORLDWIDEFEATURES
STAY STRONG ! ENJOY YOUR DAY . LOVE AND BLESSINGS MY FRIEND .
Wishing you a fabulous Mother’s Day full of recreation, relaxation, and appreciation! Blessing
Let there be peace on earth. And let it begin with me
Stop! Breathe deeply. Begin bringing peace to the outer world by regaining your own inner peace. Choose love, choose gratitude, choose forgiveness, choose peace. Begin with your own inner peace. Then use that inner peace as a platform from which to approach the outer world with perspective, understanding, and patience. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie
by Ann Albers in Northern AZ
Rooted and flexible...Message from the Angels
My dear friends, we love you so very much,
A tree's ability to weather life's storms lies in both its rootedness and flexibility. These two seemingly opposite forces actually support one another. The roots allow the tree to stand firm while it bends and sways in the wind, and its flexibility prevents the tree from uprooting. Together these two qualities provide a strength that allows your trees to reach unparalleled heights in the natural world, receive the nutrients they need from soil and sun, and give generously to the ecosystem around them. They live firmly centered in their own truth, which opens them to receive and share the unceasing flow of life itself.
You, too, are strongest when you marry the forces of rootedness and flexibility. If you know who you are and where you stand on a given topic, you can remain rooted firmly in your own truth.
For example, say you have a health issue. You know what types of cures work best for you and resonate naturally with you. Some of you prefer modern medicine. Others will prefer natural remedies. Some work solely with energy. Many of you like a mixture of modalities. Whatever your preferences, you can remain staunchly rooted in your own wisdom about what resonates with you regardless of the variety of helpful opinions others might offer. By all means, you can take others' ideas as input, but when you are rooted in your own truth and the Divine, you will quickly know which ideas nourish you and which do not, simply by how they feel.
Likewise, you know in your heart and your gut which beliefs, behaviors, and ideologies "ring true" for you. If you remain rooted in your own paradigm, it will work for you. If, instead, you allow others' beliefs to matter to you more than your own, you can get into trouble. Your guidance is uniquely tailored for you. What feels right to you when you are in a loving vibration is right for you at that moment.
Remaining rooted in your own truth is different from being rigid. If a tree were rooted yet rigid, it would snap in the storm. Instead, the tree remains rooted in its center but is also flexible. It bends and sways when nature's forces press against it. It doesn't resist the wind. It allows for the wind. Because of its strong roots, it can be flexible and dance with life without breaking.
You, too, will find that when you are rooted in the Divine and rooted in your own truth, you won't "snap" when outside forces seem to press against you. When someone insists you should behave as they wish, you will listen and allow them their perspective. You'll bend and sway but quickly return to your own truth. You'll remain centered in self without the need to give into the demands of others and without the need to assert your own will upon them.
When you see ideologies, beliefs, or behaviors in the world that differ from your own, you will not let them "uproot you" from love. Instead, you will allow them to exist, then return to your center.
Rooted in the Divine, rooted in love, rooted in your truth, you will not allow the world to change you, nor will you have to change the world. Instead, you will dance with it, remaining true to yourself while allowing others their own truth.
There is great wisdom in your trees, dear ones. They last much longer than most human lives. Their non-resistance to the forces around them frees up tremendous amounts of energy they use to grow and produce seeds or fruit. A tree that bends deeply in the storm remains so rooted that it will pop back up when the winds cease. It will resume its business generously feeding and sheltering other plants and animals in the ecosystem. You can weather the storms of life in such a fashion too.
So, rather than waiting for the world to change, for others to agree, or to start behaving better, focus on your own rootedness and flexibility. Take time to imagine roots of light that flow from your feet and burrow deeply into the earth. When something or something comes at you that feels like a strong force, imagine your energy swaying, bending, but not breaking.
No matter what comes your way, you can return to your center, return to your focus on solutions, and return to your focus on love. No matter who is negative around you, you can choose to feel good.
You don't have to make anyone agree with you. Instead, remain rooted in your loving truth, and stay faithful to that no matter what or who comes your way. Then, even amidst the storms and challenges of life, you, like the tree, will feel the rootedness and flexibility that give you a true, deep, and abiding strength.
God Bless You! We love you so very much. -- The Angels
.gif)
