A Smile

It doesn’t take much effort, nor does it have to cost money to give someone the kindness of a smile.  You just don’t know what a difference, your smile may make in changing someone’s perception for the better.  They may no longer feel alone in the world because you took a nanosecond to smile.  GinaV’s post Just a Smile   illustrates this point, she  by a stranger’s smile.  That smile didn’t take much time or effort on the part of the stranger, but it made a huge impact.  You can do the same.

I live in the United States in the South where we Southerners have the tradition of greeting each person we meet with a smile.   When I was a little girl it was commonplace, but in the last couple of decades we have so many people from other areas moving here, who do not have this tradition.  So the smile and greeting isn’t as commonplace as it once was, but it happens enough.   If people understood the impact a smile can have on another, I believe there would be even more folks out there smiling.  Personally, I’m going to continue to smile and greet each person.  Even if I never know the positive impact, my smile makes for someone else, it makes me happy and that’s enough.

Life is good!  God is great!  All is right in my world!

Blessings,

Genie

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What Tickles Me

I’m limiting myself to the first ten things that come to mind that just tickle me; otherwise this will turn into a book.

1.  My mother tickles me often.  For example, she doesn’t like to ask for help – ever.  When she fills up the wheelbarrow while gardening, it is too heavy for her to carry it to the road for pickup.  Instead, of asking me to empty the wheelbarrow, she will leave the full wheelbarrow in front of the flowers I like to take photos of while having my breakfast on the back porch.  Then she has gets a smirk on her face when she sees that I have emptied the wheelbarrow.  That tickles me, because I would empty it anytime for her, but she gets so much pleasure from leaving the wheelbarrow in my way.

2.  My sister also tickles me with some of the things she says.  For instance, if I ask her if she knows about “x”; she will tell me “I do now” instead of “No.”  Or she will say something like “I didn’t know I lost it, until I found it.”

3.  My godsons tickle me.  I’ve trained them since birth to hug me when we meet and when it’s time to say goodbye.  The oldest is 12, the age when boys do not hug anymore.  He hugs me!  That tickles me.  The youngest is 7 and last week he came up out of the blue and gave me a long hug.  That really tickles me.

4.  My yard tickles me.  With a lot of sweat, energy and time, my mother and I have made it an extremely peaceful place to be.  I enjoy going out each day, walking around to discover what is blooming today.  To see a slideshow of my garden, see my post Sneak Peek at Genie’s Yard.  If you are interested, I wrote in 2008 an article called Life Lessons from the Garden.

5.  It tickles me that every being that crosses my path is a potential spiritual teacher.  Right now, the robins in my yard are teaching me so much about patience, learn to just be and knowing that others should not stop their progress on their path to suit me (see my post Bird Speak).

6.  It tickles me to see white fluffy clouds, because it reminds me of when I was a little girl.  Way back then, I would spread out on the grass in my backyard and watch the clouds.  I would enjoy figuring out what shape the clouds formed.  I believe this the first form of meditation I practiced.

7.  Writing tickles me; when I write I feel so much joy.  I hope that am able to spread that joy to my readers.

8.  Y’all are probably tired me of writing about this, but I have to write it at least one more time:  walking tickles me.  I love being able to walk.  If you are reading this for the first time, then my post Walking in Sunshine will explain all.

9.  Seeing the four flights of stairs at work tickles me, because I can walk up two flights of those stairs and I know I will be able to walk up all four flights before long.

10.  As a Reiki Master III, I conduct classes about Reiki (I am in the process of developing other class topics).  When I am teaching it tickles me to see when one of my students gets IT.  The wonder and joy radiating from them just makes me happy.

What tickles you?

Life is good! God is great!  All is right in my world!

Blessings,

Genie

Meet the robin, who is my spiritual teacher

Some of the things that tickle me

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Just for Today

I have learned to live for today and not hold on to the past or look to the future for better times.  I first learned this lesson through the medical problems I was experiencing; then when I studied Reiki I learned about the five Reiki principles that are “Just for Today:”   1.  I will not be angry; 2.  I will not worry; 3.  I will be grateful; 4. I will do my work honestly; 5. I will be kind to others.   For me this is a recipe for living in the now, which is important to me.

I do not want to cling to the past, because frankly my past wasn’t all sunshine and flowers.  If I lived in the past I would be negative person who radiates angry and rage.  I  know how I would react, because I used to live in the past and I wasn’t a pleasant person to be around.  I didn’t even want to be around me.

I do not want to look to the future for all my hopes and dreams, because that means I would be waiting for someone or something to rescue me.  Again I know, because I did this for awhile also.  I became resentful, because I would look around and see that everyone, but me was getting what they wanted.  At least that was my frame of mind at the time.  I do not want to envy anyone or be jealous, because it robs me of my future.

I do want to live in the present, in a “For Now” or “Just for Today” frame of mind.  I feel hopeful, joyful and full of sunshine, because I can see the good in my life.  I see people fulfilling their dreams and goals and I think “How awesome is that?”  I do not carry negative emotions – if…no make that when I feel a negative emotion I stop and take care of it.  I turn the negative thought into a positive thought.  For instance “I can’t believe that fool just cut in front of me and now is going 10 miles an hour slower than the speed limit.”  Can you feel the anger in that?  Instead I change it to something like “I am where I need to be, when I need to be at this present moment in time.”  When I look at it this way, I no longer have the anger instead I feel so calm and at peace.  I like this much, much better.

Where do you live: in the past, future or now?

Life is good!  God is great!  All is right in my world!

Blessings,

Genie

Just for Today, I will…

Life is…

It would be easier to explain what life isn’t rather than what it is.  Life isn’t fair or unfair; nor is it indifferent.  So that leaves life is neutral; life doesn’t pick on people nor does it favor a certain person.  So that leaves me to believe that life isn’t a being.  Life is life.  What you make of life is what you get back.  So now that I think of it life could be a sort of mirror.

Our attitude, believes and actions create the life we have today.   In other words what we did in the past has led us to this moment in time.  We created our present from what we did in the past.  So really life is a reflection of our past errors, triumphs, thoughts, and actions.  Life is a mirror of our own choices.  I like that, because it means that we have control over how our life goes.

What do you think?  Is life a mirror?

Life is good!  God is great! All is right in my world.

Blessings,

Genie

Our life reflections our choices

Connecting

I believe it is important to stay connected to the people in our lives, whether they are a loved one, a co-worker, or a stranger.  I genuinely like people and am interested in their lives, so when I’m waiting in line for the doors to open or waiting at the doctor’s office for my turn or to get to the cash register, I talk to the people around me.  Not everyone appreciates my efforts, but that doesn’t matter.  I reached out to make a connection that to me is the important issue.  How many times today, did you reach out to someone?

I find it disturbing to see someone in a group or with their family spending their entire time on their cell phone, instead of talking to the people, who took the time to be with them especially if there are kids.  Each time I see this, I pray that those kids are getting one on one time with the adults in their lives at some point.   I can imagine the feeling of disconnect a child must feel when they are ignored or told to shush, because the adult they are with found someone more important  to interact with in that moment that should have been theirs.  Just because you have a cell phone doesn’t mean you have to use it.

I challenge you

1.  to make at least one connection with a stranger today

2.  to have several person-to-person conversations today without checking your cell phone

3.  and if you have children…to turn off your phone for at least 30 minutes to have an interrupted time to connect with your children.

I’ve been pondering the disconnect between two people standing side by side using cell phones for a long while, but I didn’t think to write about it until I read a post  called “Distracted.”     I highly recommend Sturner2’s blog, he is insightful.

Life is good!  God is great!  All is right in my world!

Blessings,

Genie

There is a world beyond our cell phones

Dream the Impossible

Your attitude pretty much sets up the way your life will go.  For example, if I had the attitude that I would never, ever get better I would still be in a wheelchair.  Worst yet, I would be lying in bed wishing I had the strength to use a wheelchair thinking it is an impossible dream.

Instead the impossible dream I choose to create was based on two facts I knew to my soul were true:  1. I am a beloved child of God; 2.  I am a healthy child of God.   My attitude was and is “it’s just for now” that I feel awful and unhealthy.  I went to bed with the idea: tomorrow, I will wake up and be able to live with joy in my heart, because I am a healthy beloved child of God.

I also did what I could to reclaim my health.  1. Had a support team that consisted of God, my family, friends, doctors and ME.  If I wasn’t part of the support team and I let everyone do for me instead of participating in my own medical choices; then I felt I would have been giving control to others instead of God and me.  Giving away my power to others is not an option.  2.  I followed the medical treatment that was prescribed to me.  There was no sense in spending money on doctor appointments, if I were not going to follow the protocol to wellness.  I didn’t follow blindly, I asked questions, did research and was an active participate in the final decisions.  3.  Prayed daily; on my bad days I prayed hourly.

It was a long slow journey (at least it was to me as I was living it), but I am here today sitting here writing this post with joy in my heart because I am a healthy beloved child of God.   Each night I look forward to tomorrow, because I can’t wait to see what else I can do, how far I can walk and how much joy I can spread.  I created the impossible dream, because I let myself be positive, be hopeful, and be strong until my vision of myself became reality.

What is your impossible dream?  What attitude have you adopted to create this so-called impossible dream?

Life is good!  God is great!  All is right in my world!

Blessings,

Genie

Bringing to Life the Impossible

Genie Goes

My access to the world is slowly opening up, since I’ve started walking full-time.  I’m reintroducing my feet to the pressure of my body and to the hardness of concrete floors, parking lots and walkways.  Recently my feet have decided to fight back, swelling up so I have to stop and rest.  At the end of each day, I prop my feet up and/or soak them in ice water – sometimes in the morning too.

I have news for my feet:  You might as well toughen up, because I am going to keep walking. So there!  Genie is going, going, going.

I feel like I’m waking up after a long hibernation.  I’m so interested in the world around me again and I’m taking photos.  I planned to post them here, but I decided a second blog was in order.  I have called it “Genie Goes” (http://geniegoes.wordpress.com/) for obvious reasons.   Right now it will be places around my town that I’ll be posting, but I expect to be moving about Middle Tennessee then the rest of Tennessee.   Eventually I will move about the United States.  I’m so looking forward to it.

I’m curious; do you have another blog or two?

Life is good!  God is great!  All is right in my world!

Blessings,

Genie

Genie Goes

Discovering I Am

For a while there I was a wanna writer, energy healer, gardener, photographer, teacher, student, etc.  Everything was wanna be.  Then I realized that wanna be wasn’t good enough, I was gonna be.  For a while that worked for me, because I was gonna be all those things I listed before and more.  Then I realized that I am a writer; I am an energy healer; I am a gardener; I am a photographer ; I am a teacher ; I am a student ; I Am!

How freeing is that?  I am all the things I wanted to be, that I was gonna be sometime in the future.  The future is shaped today; something I forgot for a little while, but I’m back on track now.

I am! I am! I am!  I love saying those words over and over again.  Just saying “I am” over and over again causes a wonderful vibration to build up in my chest.  It sounds like I’m chanting and maybe I am.  All I know is repeating “I am” over and over again seems to reset me back to a place of peace.

If you are up to it, please give it a try.  I would love to know what results you have when you repeat “I am.”

Life is good!  God is great!  All is right in my world!

Blessings,

Genie

I AM!

I am Grateful

As I sit here writing this post my feet are in a bucket of ice water, because they are so swollen from walking – I am grateful.  I am so grateful I can walk.  I am grateful that I am finished with using a wheelchair.  I am grateful that I had a wheelchair when I needed it.  It was such a blessing; recently, I passed that blessing on to someone else.  I am grateful for being in the position to bless another.

No matter the situation I find myself in, I look for the blessing in it. Sometimes I do not understand why something has happened, but I do know there is a reason and that reason is a blessing.   I am grateful for the ability to find the blessings and/or have the knowledge that there is a blessing in this even when I cannot see it.

When I’m having a hard day, I stop and quickly write down what I’m grateful for that day.  I always number the list, because it makes me happy to have a count of my blessings. I usually use a small piece of scratch paper, then fold it up and place it in my pocket.   Throughout the day, I pull out my gratitude list and read it.  It always makes me feel better.

Have you counted your blessings lately?  What are you grateful for this day?

Life is good! God is great! All is well in my world.

Blessing,

Genie

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I am grateful for the birds in my yard; they are beautiful to look at and wonderful singers.

 

 

Another Day

 

Today’s another day to change what needs changing and to keep doing what needs doing.  Each day, each hour, each moment in time is another chance to change what needs changing.   Isn’t that wonderful?  No matter how far down the wrong path you have managed to go, you and you alone, have the power to change yourself by changing your attitude, your way of thinking, your actions, etc.

The power to change isn’t that a lot of power to have?  No one else on the planet has the power to make you change unless you give them permission.  Even then it’s up to you to keep changing, to keep trying to keep being the best human being you can be.  It’s your decision, your choice, and of course it’s your life.

Today’s another day to make things right, to start something new, to stop doing something that has gotten old, to keep doing what is yours to do.  This moment is the moment you can decide to regroup, evaluate, and choose another path or keep on the one you are on.

Why put it off?  If you don’t like the way something is in your life, then of positive solutions or a positive step you can take to correct what is not quite as it should be.

I’m interested in you and what you are thinking, please take a moment to do the poll below.