Smile

Let us make one point, that we meet each other with a smile, when it is difficult to smile. Smile at each other, make time for each other in your family.

-Mother Teresa

There are many places in life that you cannot get to without a smile. Namely, people's hearts and minds. I picked up a saying awhile back, 'Smile when you feel like frowning, laugh when you feel like crying.'. I'm not sure who I picked it up from, but it helps. In our down and out moments doing the opposite of what we feel like can do a world of good.


Smiles are also contagious. You will open more doors in life with a sincere smile and looking people in the eyes, then you can being cleaver. I am reminded of a story I heard about Mrs. Gretchen and Mrs. Smith.


Mrs. Gretchen and Mrs. Smith went to the same church and attended the ladies brunch together on the first Saturday of the month. Mrs. Smith never took a liking to Mrs. Gretchen, and didn't know why. She would smile at her, and Mrs. Gretchen would scowl back. She would ask her how her week went, Mrs. Gretchen would give short answers with a nasty tone that made Mrs. Smith feel sorry for even asking. And so after a while Mrs. Smith just accepted the fact that Mrs. Gretchen didn't like her. And that's the way it went for a long time.


Then one day Mrs. Smith got to thinking about it again, and it made her sad and angry. Sad that they didn't like each other and angry that Mrs. Gretchen never gave her a chance. So Mrs. Smith started taking ingredients out of her cupboards. She mixed up the dough for the pie crust, thinking about all the times she had smiled at Mrs. Gretchen and not gotten a smile back. She boiled the pudding on the stove thinking about how they always seem to sit at different tables during brunch. She whipped up the meringue thinking how she always set so far away from Mrs. Gretchen during church. Then when her perfect lemon meringue pie was done, she looked down at her feet and said "OK, start walking."


With her stomach in knots, she started down the street. Wanting a million times to turn around and go home, she crossed the tracks. Then she looked around at this run down neighborhood. No color, no kids playing, no sprinklers, all browns and greys. And she felt a little sad. Feeling about faint, she knocked on Mrs. Gretchen's door. "What do you want?!" was the answer she got. "I made you a pie and would like to share a piece with you." Mrs. Smith replied. They went in and shared that pie, and coffee, and it wasn't that they miraculously got along from that day to this, but it slowly got better. And now they are friends, not best friends, but friends nonetheless.


It's not a miracle to be nice to people, but it can be difficult. Smile. Smile. Smile. It will help. And when it seems that someone hates you and you feel like hating them in return. Do something extra nice for them. You may not be best friends after that. But it will lessen the anger and after a while, the anger will be gone.


Have a Blessed Day,


Brandy Deming

CelticBlessings4u@Gmail.com

http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz

Death, Life and Change

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

-W.H. Auden

As much as I would like to take yesterday and erase it, it would do no good. With life comes death. With death comes rebirth. It is not good or bad, it is just change. We can weep for our loss of those we love and rejoice in the memories of those who touched our lives. At 10pm on June 30th, Ethan Iverson, Age 8 passed away. He had been fighting cancer for a year. It is tragic when anyone passes, especially when it is one so young. We can all have faith that he is in a place without pain where he can just be a kid again. He was loved in life and will be missed.


Out of the ashes of this loss comes an amazing sense of community and mutual love. I watched dozens of police officers go by all morning long and well into the afternoon to pay their respects to the family. I watched many families pull together to provide support to the Iverson Family. Our local community and business owners are fantastic. Never before have I seen so many come together in such a short time for a common cause. Thank you to each and every individual who showed up, participated in, donated and supported all of the fundraisers. You all deserve a standing ovation.



I can also hope that the love and gratitude showed towards our children will continue. There was an atmosphere of clinging to our healthy children and thanking God that we have them. Spending more time with our families, thankful just to be with them. As sad as it is that it takes a situation like this one to bring out this kind of love, I have faith that it will continue.



Please take time today to show your love and appreciation to each other. I know that I say it a lot, because it needs to be said. Don't wait until it is too late... love one another unabashedly, life is too short for regrets.

Let me come in where you are weeping, friend,

and let me take your hand.

I, who have known a sorry such as yours,

can understand.

Let me come in-I would be very still

beside you in your grief.

I would not bid you cease your weeping, Friend;

tears bring relief.

Let me come in-I would only breathe a prayer,

and hold your hand.

For I have known a sorrow such as yours,

and understand.

-Grace Noll Crowell

Have a Blessed Day,

Brandy Deming

CelticBlessings4u@Gmail.com

Choice and Chance

Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.

-William Jennings Bryan

Hope springs eternal. Very true. It is easier to hold onto your hope when your dreams and decisions are free to roam. Allowing yourself full freedom accepting choices and a dash of chance will help your hope bloom.

Imagine taking full responsibility for your life. The good and the bad. "I am where I am because of the choices I have made." Fully in charge of your life. A great thing to repeat to yourself over and over again to help improve your future: "I am making positive and productive choices in my life" The action plan to join with the positive affirmation is to try and make choices for the better. And it is not always easy, 'the path to hell is paved with good intentions' comes to mind. Sometimes making the best choice isn't the easiest choice.

Let me introduce you to a friend of mine. She can be incredibly independent, self-sufficient and an inspiration. BUT... not when it comes to her choice in partners. Jumping from one to another, getting increasingly upset as the relationships fail. Putting all of her hope in to one person, and inevitably that person fails at their quest to make her whole. Now we have talked about how no one can make her whole [just as no one can make me whole or make you whole], that you must feel complete inside before a relationship, otherwise you either expect too much of that person, or start projecting your emptiness onto them. A lot of our conversations ended up with her saying a lot of "I can't..." "I can't..." "I can't..." and "Why does this always happen to me?" After many conversations I had to tell her that I love her. I love her enough to do what's right for her, and not help her. No more walking her through her own life, no more helping hands, no more sympathy for her own choices. That I love her enough to make her do this on her own, because she needs to. Now this story has not come to an end. Each of us comes to our own in our own time.

You have the freedom to take control of your life, to make choices on how you react to situations, how you react to people and how you handle difficulties. No one can make you do anything, but sometimes the hardest part is making yourself do something. And we all falter sometimes. The key is to pick yourself up and try again. And again.

Have a Blessed Day,

Brandy Deming

http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz

Being Different to Be The Same

"Relationships of trust depend on our willingness to look not only to our own interests, but also the interests of others."

- Peter Farquharson

Ever wonder why friendships often last longer then relationships?

Time and interest. We spend a lot more time with those we decide to try out for a life partnership. We often may spend too much time with them. The all consuming power of love can strangle our personal interests and cause us to strangle someone else's interests. For years we want to spend all our time together, bloom our common interests and let those things that show how different we are die. Then one day we wake up to find we have nothing to talk about. We do the same stuff, we live the same life, we were there for all the funny moments. Once the talking stops, then the enjoyment stops and you wake up one morning not knowing who this person is sleeping beside you. Sound familiar? I'm sure if it hasn't happened to you, then it's happened to someone you know.

There were two items of interest that lead me to this blog today. First was a little clip on hooping ( http://kuow.org/program.php?id=17754 ). Lovely story about a woman who finds her deeper self by exploring and then living a [hula] hooping dream. After dedicating herself to her child and husband for years, goes on to a hooping seminar/workshop and her life is changed. But she comes back and files for divorce before pursuing her dream and opening a hooping school in Seattle. I couldn't help but wonder why? Did she pour out her heart to her husband and he told her she wasn't being realistic? Was she unable to allow this 'family' life and this 'dream' life to become one together? I may never know. But I can say that when your loved one comes to you with a dream, encourage them. Help them. Give them suggestions on how to succeed. Try not to crush dreams, sometimes it's all we have to keep going.

The second one was a friend that was listing off guys that he didn't trust. Not because they were lyiers or thieves, but because they may run off with his woman. This really puzzled me. It is not the people that surround you and your love that you have to trust. It's the one that you love. When you are in a strong, healthy relationship, there is no combinations of words or actions that will magically make that person stop loving you. There is no love song or poem or debate that will make me wake up one day and think 'man he was right, I am in the completely wrong relationship'. All of those decision come from the inside. And if you are worried, let them know. There is no way to build a bond faster then talking about what worries you in a relationship.

Being different is good. Having a life outside of your life partner is good. It gives you things to talk about, your own life. And when you not only have your own life, but a life with someone, that life with someone is much greater. Because at the end of the day, you come home to each other with stories, experiences and joy.

Have a Blessed Day,

Brandy Deming

CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com

http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz