Brightest Blessings to all this day and night. Winter soon begins, but the darkness begins to end. And for me, the new year begins. I'll be gathering with friends to honor it in a Medicine Wheel, then enjoy feasting and laughter afterwards. What a beautiful way to celebrate the longest night! Light, warmth, and joy to all!
A new one that's out that covers much and promises to be a fascinating read: "Spontaneous Evolution" by Bruce Lipton and Steve Bhaerman.
Another good one is "The Art of Happiness" by HH Dalai Lama.
Deepak Chopra has written many really good ones too. Eckhart Tolle is highly recommended by others, but I find him to only be a great cure for insomnia.
Go to a book store (Half-Priced Books is great because of the prices, and you never know what you'll find there) and search around under categories like Philosophy, Spirituality, New Age, World Religion, and Self Help.
A good online source for such books is One Spirit...it's a book club that focuses on these types of books.
If I were at home, I could hit my own bookshelves and make numerous recommendations, but I'm not, so I've had to go off the top of my head.
A dog, of either gender, so that I can have and give unconditional love to and from my owner, never have to worry about where my next meal is coming from, and curl up in front of a cozy fireplace on cold nights.
As a human, I think I'd find enjoyment in either one. I enjoy being a woman this time around because I'd never trade the joy of having another life grow within you, giving birth, and feeding that other life during its first few months/years for anything. But that's this lifetime. Next one, I'd want to be whichever gender I need to be to learn the lessons for that lifetime's soul growth.
I know...both too deep.
But I couldn't resist popping in to say hello to you, Epi!
I saw it before finding this one. I found it interesting, but it requires further reading...you know me, Prana, without further research I won't respond to it. And the reason for that is the "doomsday" aspect of it...one that's found in many writings.
So true, and the things taught within the wiccan and pagan information is available in many other sources as well. That was the path that started me towards learning all of this, for others it's different. But the true path to healing my self by healing and accepting my past came through finding wicca...which I quickly grew beyond due to its dogma as well. But it was my catalyst.
And yes, I've learned since then that this is something beyond any religious dogma...that all are One. We are the Creator, and the Creator is Us. All one has to do is learn to look within.
But some of us need tools to do that: a book, a TV show, a religion, a post in the forums...whatever gives us our moment of epiphany. Sometimes it comes spontaneously from within, but for most of us it has a catalyst from without.
Ah, very good insight. And that's what happens with low self-esteem...we give our power away to others. Yes, taking it back feels very good!
Nobody can "make me feel" anything...I choose how I react to every situation. If someone "hurts me", it's because I've allowed it to hurt. If someone "makes me feel stupid", it's because I've allowed myself to feel that way rather than to deal with what happened in a positive manner and acknowledge that I don't know everything about everything...and thereby, I felt stupid because I allowed that feeling instead. I gave that person my power rather than retaining it.
Many will, and those will make the necessary leap that is forthcoming. The rest will not. I worry about myself, and help those that I can help, and don't worry about those who can't help themselves enough to be helped by others.
In the long run, the parts of our "collective conscious" that are meant to survive will, and the rest won't...and that's as it needs to be.
This is part of the initiation into Wicca and Druidism that takes a year beforehand...to look within and take stock of your best and worst traits, and to integrate them. To sit with the dark side of your nature, and integrate it with the light side so that you're whole. And to embrace both sides equally, loving yourself for who you are...the good, the bad, and the ugly. After you have done that, you can walk those paths. I have done it often since that first time...taken a "dark night of the soul" to heal when something comes up that was buried, and to forgive myself as I have forgiven everyone else.
I have been. I have been broken and unable to release the pain of my grief. Why? Because I'd always been the strong one, the one who comforted all others when someone died...the product of being the oldest child with an abusive parent, and growing up having to be the strong one who protected the rest.
I didn't feel grief because even at a young age I was aware that if people die when they're old or after being very sick with a lot of pain, that it was okay, they were in a better place and had lived their full life on this Earth. I've always believed in the eternal nature of the soul and in reincarnation, so grieving just didn't exist for me.
What changed? My husband died at the young age of 52 after a short, but painful, battle with cancer...and a short relationship that just didn't give us enough time together in my books. I couldn't follow all of the advice I gave to others, but instead would actually go out in public if I felt that I was going to cry. (I've never been able to cry in public...again, I always had to be the strong one.) I felt the grief was wrong, and that crying about it was weak.
Finally, a very wise friend explained about holding back those buckets of emotion requiring more energy and causing more stress than allowing that bucket to sploosh over us. And he was right...allowing the tears to come finally helped heal the pain. And I learned to cry in public, and nobody looked at me as though I was weak or inferior in any way for doing so. Some shared the tears as we shared our memories.
The broken soldier and warrior finally healed by finding her greatest strength in her tears and humaness. I'm no longer broken, nor afraid of my strong emotions...they make me aware that I'm alive and human, and that's a good thing.
Yep, and I keep a book in my car just for such occasions. I would dine alone and watch others, and enjoy myself...especially in such a beautiful location.
I have gone on with my plans in the past when this has happened, not worrying about being alone.
You're going to tell me that there aren't quacks in the medical field, and that medical treatments and prescription medicines aren't advertised to be more effective than they are in reality? And how about the medications that are now going through FDA approval on the fast-track without any testing, and then having to be pulled off the market when their side effects are discovered after many have gotten seriously ill or died?
A quote from Linda Page, ND, PhD:
"Nobody has ever suffered from a drug deficiency. There are no essential drugs. This is why we have side effects from taking drugs."
(It's not the entire quote, but enough of it to make my point.)
Allopathic (traditional western) medicine has its place in diagnosing diseases, treating acute symptoms until balance can be achieved, and treating acute injuries. Everything else is better treated through Naturopathy, Homeopathy, and other natural means. These "alternative" therapies are growing in popularity because they've been so effective for centuries.
I probably wouldn't say anything...I'd just slap them back harder and walk away. And if they touched me again, an ambulance would be scraping them off of the ground.
No, I don't think you're being too shallow. One, you have a need for a passion in your life to be shared with the one you date, especially if you're looking for a serious relationship. Nothing wrong with that at all. And you're right, someone that overweight would not be able to join you. Heck, I wouldn't be able to join you in the mountainclimbing thing because of bad knees and a fear of heights, so even without being so far overweight, I'm not one who would be a good match. If that's in your profile, I wouldn't contact you because of that.
As to the lack of attraction on a physical level, I can't blame you there either. Although the outside is much less important to me than the inside, I would have a hard time finding someone that overweight physically attractive as well. And I'm not shallow, by any means. But you're right, physical attraction is as important as any other attraction when it comes to a relationship since the physical part of the relationship is a big part of it. For me, so is an interest in being healthy and improving one's lifestyle, and yet someone that overweight would not attract me because the health issues caused by that extra weight would be tough to overcome even with losing the weight and improving one's lifestyle...at least, at our age it would. I'm not looking to date 20 yr olds.
I don't need a partner to be attractive to the general public, but I do need them to be attractive to me...inside primarily, but outside as well. And that's not being shallow, it's being honest and human.
Honestly, the only reason I had a sinus infection was because of things I did wrong. I had a houseful of 5 other people for a prolonged time and couldn't resist the brownies, cookies, and cake that were being baked in my kitchen...all of which are full of gluten and sugar. I'm a celiac, I know better than to eat those things, and mucous is the biggest side effect I have from it. Add the refined sugar that I haven't had in my diet since June, and the return to heavy smoking...yep, totally natural to get a sinus infection. I'm lucky, it could have been worse. And yes, I'm getting back to my strict diet. I feel better when I follow it.
I have an invitation to dinner with one of those friends, and I don't know how to tell her I don't want hormone-laden beef, gluten-laden rice or pasta, and frankensteined vegetables. I've had way too much of that lately, and I want to clean my body out again.
I'm studying to be a Doctor of Naturopathy, and homeopathic remedies are part of that field, so I do believe in them, as well as many forms of alternative cures.
I just cured a sinus infection by eating onions and garlic (Nature's broad-spectrum antibiotics) and horseradish (to drain sinuses) as part of every meal...even on my salads. By the third day, it was gone.
I also treat my hypothyroidism naturally since the synthetic replacement hormones only increase the levels in one of the hormones that regulate the thyroid, but doing so through diet and supplements regulates all three hormones for the thyroid. (An MD will tell you that this is impossible to do, but I can tell you by my loss of symptoms that it's working.)
I haven't seen an MD in three years, at first because of my husband's illness/death when I did have insurance, and then because of not having insurance. I have no worries about my health, and monitor my body well. I respond to any changes in it with herbs, dietary corrections, yoga/meditation, and exercise...and it's been working well.
I disagree with you. I just got out of a relationship where we were introduced by friends, they thought they knew him well enough and that we might be a good match, and they discovered that they were wrong. For how he treated me in the end, he is now being ostracized by all of the drivers he's up here with, and not at my request or will. He embarrassed them, and they're making him pay dearly for it to get the lesson across. That, though, was quick...he showed his true colors within a month.
I married a man who deceived me for over a year until we got married. I was stuck in that marriage for 5 years.
I've dated many men that I met in person first and seemed to be one way, and turned out to be another, or were just playing games. Some took longer to show their true colors than others. Same thing happens online. I see no difference.
RE: WTF!!!! Is Going On ???
Nope, and would deal with it the same way I do all other email of any unwanted type...delete it. Hi, Morgan!