No Posts Week of July 4

There won't be any blog posts here next week - enjoy your holiday! Next post will be July 10.

Heal Yourself Safely & Easily

I've experienced a lot of healing techniques but on Sunday I experienced things that showed direct & dramatic results that day & the next, something entirely new to me. On Sunday I experienced EFT Meridian Tapping for the first time & it was awesome. It's also something you can easily learn to do on yourself & the only physical aspect of it is tapping on parts of your upper body like you would tap your fingers on a desk. EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Therapy & besides the tapping it involves identifying core "negative" feelings & allowing yourself to release them.

One of my dear friends took me to a spiritual service & instead of the regular message there were guests that day. One does vibrational sound therapy (Gray Jeffrey), which was also amazing, & the other does EFT (Victoria Bliss). I was so impressed that I wanted to go to the 2 hour session later that day, & did. During the 2 hour session, Victoria took us through a very healing exercise where we visualized ourselves as 5 year olds. She had us hug ourselves & validate the 5 year old us, give love, etc. Then she had our 5 year old mother join us! Embracing her was very hard for me & at first I was resistant, but I did it. Then we were to picture both 5 year olds playing together. Then our 5 year old father joined in, then her parents, then his. The point was that our parents who hurt us were hurt themselves as children.

Not everyone had hurtful parents. Not everyone can take the notion that their beloved grandparents messed up a parent. But I understand & know how it started with both sets of grandparents, & I was deeply hurt as a result by both my parents. And I happen to know I'm an arrested 5 year old. I was able to identify that long ago. So she could have been speaking just to me, it was so effective. It was exactly what I've been needing. I'm sure the vibrational therapy helped also. I especially resonated with one of the gongs used, could feel it working deeply. The gongs were used briefly before & during, then for a prolonged period afterwards. But when I really felt the most happening was during that part with the 5 year olds. I felt an immediate release & healing! It was profound. Then I felt great peace & lightness of being that stayed with me for hours.

Last Tuesday (not this past one) I had a heavy load of fear based energy descend on me & it lingered all week, making me physically ill through Friday. I did what I could to clear it of course & had a lot of success Friday night. I worked harder with my angels & guides & a lot of prayer & work on clearing. What lingered was a fear of scarcity & lack that set on me whenever I sat down to eat & I experienced that Sunday after the brief session at the spiritual center. After the 2 hour session it was nearly gone but I still noticed a little when I ate my meal. Then I remembered that Victoria told us to take a bath in epsom salts that night. So I used my special bath salt blend to release negative energy - epsom salt, dead sea salt, & specially selected essential oils. The next day all the fear based energy was gone & it hasn't returned! My appetite is back & I'm enjoying my meals again. That's the first time I experienced dramatic results from that bath salt blend but it's also the first time I was overloaded with negative energy. Of course I was overjoyed to confirm the effectiveness of my blending abilities in such a dramatic way, & to be finally clear of the load I'd carried.

I'm not going to try to teach you anything about EFT Tapping here. It works much the same as acupuncture does as far as clearing energy paths within your body but is totally non-invasive & is something you can easily do on yourself. Unlike acupuncture, it uses verbal exercises to clear specific emotional issues. The website for the practitioners I experienced is samanayo.com. It contains their contact information & Gray sells a CD of his vibrational therapy that I want to order because it so resonated with me & was so powerful. I'd like to have it to play when I do the tapping on myself. The friend who took me to the events told me that it's easy to find the EFT tapping positions & scripts on the internet so I looked them up before writing this. While doing it I found something on Matrix Reimprinting, something I'd never heard of before. I was very interested & will be researching that further with self treatment in mind. And I'm certainly going to continue tapping! I first saw Matrix Reimprinting on this site - tapintoeft.com, & they have some scripts. Perhaps the best site I found was theenergytherapycentre.co.uk/tapping-points.htm. And I found a really great free ebook at thetappingsolution.com/EFT_Tapping, which I've downloaded & am in the process of reading.

How to Get What You Need

Today's tut.com message finally helped me settle in on today's topic. "For all things and non-things that you may ever want, Jenny Lea, understand that sometimes the fastest way to get them is to forget them, and to focus instead on just being the most amazing human being you can be. At which point all of your heart's desires, spoken or unspoken, will be drawn to you more powerfully than a magnet is drawn to steel."

Some more Good Housekeeping articles contributed to this theme. One was about one woman's year long happiness project to put more happiness in her life. Each month she concentrated on a different area of her life. The one she talks most about is her relationships with her husband, kids, & friends. The way she increased her happiness was by concentrating on increasing theirs. She did this by giving more hugs, attention, kindness, & doing lots of little things for them. She paid attention to her behaviors toward them & figured out things she did or didn't do that she could improve on. She concentrated on making them feel more loved, & like they truly matter. In turn, she received more love & attention.

Another article was from a woman who loves praise. She wrote an article specific on how to give praise, which is what she did with her need. She gave to get. She also let go of some of her need for praise by realizing that being taken for granted is a form of praise in itself. And she evaluated how often she gave praise to others, how often others praise others, & put her needs & the amount she receives into perspective.

The common theme is that you need to give whatever it is you need & want in life. If you need more love or attention, give it. What you give out does truly come back to you. If you want honesty you have to be honest. And if you want others to care about or to care for you, you actually first need to look at how you care about & for yourself. That one's a little different. There are actually 2 keys to getting what you want & need in life. One is to give it to others. The other is to give it to yourself.

Some people just want other people to take care of them & won't do it for themselves. This tends to include physical, spiritual, mental, & emotional. Some don't want to even think for themselves. Many don't want to do any of the work to take charge of their own happiness, wellbeing or needs. They want others to make them happy, make them feel good. They often want someone else to make them feel good about themselves. People can make us feel bad about ourselves fairly easily. We all know of abusive situations people get locked into as adults or are stuck in as children. In these we're torn down verbally (or worse, non-verbal, which is much more difficult to recognize, fight, & work through). However, we still have a choice in this, whether to accept what is being said to us as who we are & what we deserve. But that's another topic. So yes, in a way someone else can make you feel bad about yourself but that doesn't have to be your permanent state of being. And no one but you can truly make yourself feel good about yourself, or feel happy, or even feel loved. All they can do for you is temporary & surface. It all has to come from within. Many have been in situations where they've been torn down & they've been left not loving themselves, not happy. The only way to change this is to do your work to reprogram your beliefs & feelings about yourself. There are so many different ways to do this & depending on how deep the conditioning, it takes a whole variety of things to make these changes. That too is for another time, but I've covered this in many other blogs. Some techniques are reciting positive "I Am" statements daily, specifically written to counterbalance any residual negative beliefs & feelings within you. That's one of my favorites. As I was discussing with a friend the other night, it's re-brain washing yourself with a purpose. This is our way of taking control of the messages sinking in.

Taking control is the ultimate key to getting what you need in life, & we can only ever control ourselves. We need to first be giving ourselves all we can that we need. I try to love me more than anyone on earth ever has. I try to know my rhythms & needs & be true to myself. A friend once said that it's very difficult to hug yourself when she felt that what she really needed was to be held. She had someone specific in mind who wasn't meeting her needs. I don't have anyone who regularly meets any of my needs so it was interesting to hear her say that to me! I feel like I'm one of those fish who swims along filtering what it needs to eat. I draw it in from my environment as I'm in the flow. I take it all in & use it to feed my needs. I give hugs so I get them, among my friends. I pet & cuddle my cats, talk with them & give them all my love. I reach out to friends daily via phone or Facebook & in person opportunities. I don't reach out to get usually, but as a giver. I touch base regularly to care for the needs of significant others like my daughter & closest friends, & those who have been brought to me for help. I make the most of all the love & care that comes my way as a result of these things, & there's such an abundance of love & praise that comes from them. As a giver, I'm also finally learning to really be kind & gentle with myself. I'm setting a few boundaries so I'm able to meet my own needs for rest, sleep, relaxation, etc. I'm starting to take self care more seriously thanks to last week, where I was disturbingly physically unwell most of the week (dizzy spells).

Long ago I took control of my own emotional recovery from years of abuse, & that continues. That's why I'm so able to love myself. However, I've continued to put the needs of others before my own & that's out of balance. So I am finally learning, after feeling in crisis last week, to change that. For me, this is still one of the hardest things but I'm finally learning. Change takes time, & first you have to realize what needs changing. If you truly pay attention to it & want to change, then you usually have to get to the point that you're really mentally equipped & ready to change. Then you use everything at your disposal to make the changes happen, & you have to stick with it. This process is how you take control of yourself, your life & your own happiness & needs. And the only way to get what you need is to identify why you aren't & make the needed changes within yourself.

Crisis Survival Techniques

There's a great & long article in October 2011 Good Housekeeping magazine that outlines the strategies you need in crisis situations. I've been covering these things lately but they've been scattered through many blogs so I wanted to condense them here. So many are finding themselves in states of transition these days with jobs & relationships ending, & it's very stressful. It's a little known fact that even really good things can cause excessive stress. An article many years ago in Readers Digest turned me on to that. It was great because it even rated stressful situations. Some great ones that cause excess stress, for example, are getting married, starting a new job, moving, the birth of a baby. Many also don't know that excessive &/or long-term stress can cause all kinds of problems in our bodies, because of chemical reactions to stress. So the better we can manage our stresses the healthier we'll be.

The October 2011 article outlines a plan for handling excessively stressful times. The first step is to allow the bad news to sink in, not to pretend to yourself or others that it's all ok & you're fine. That allows the problem to get the upper hand & dominate our lives & thinking. It's a lot of what can lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is much more common outside the military (as well as within) than was previously known. This doesn't mean that you continuously dwell on the problem, however. And you need to monitor the words you use (with others & yourself) surrounding the problem. Please avoid absolutes like "always" & "never" because they limit your ability to resolve issues. Instead, acknowledge your feelings (validating yourself & your right to them) but the authors recommend you schedule appointments with yourself to worry, then problem-solve. This gives you a strategy to postpone the feelings when they hit most often, after you acknowledge them. So many of us are pros at positive thinking that we don't address or acknowledge the feelings we need to. We don't want to be putting negatives out there. But we all have them as humans. When we validate ourselves & our feelings but postpone dealing with them to a specific, structured time we take control of them without the unhealthy habit of stuffing them. In that time they suggest crying & journaling.

The next suggestion is that you accept what you can't change, acknowledge that you may not be able to control the situation. They say this helps you sidestep denial (which includes avoidance & stuffing). In the above paragraph please not that I'm not telling you to go into avoidance mode. I'm giving you a strategy to simply postpone for a set time when the feelings come in. They also say that this all helps you realize that it's ok not to be ok. You aren't crazy when you experience stress reactions like insomnia or racing thoughts. Another important point is that it's ok to feel diverse feelings like joy in the midst of crisis. It's really ok to have moments of joy when someone brings you flowers to brighten your mood, or you step out into a beautiful day & hear the birds singing. People grieving death especially experience guilt when those feelings of pleasure first come around after their loss. But humans are capable of feeling & holding many different emotions & it's normal to have good moments or even days. For perspective they suggest reprogramming the voice in your head that says you're never going to survive this. Instead, try "I'm having the thought that I'll never survive this." That acknowledges but slightly changes the thought pattern & opens the door to the idea that things can change. Again, they suggest journaling as a strategy to help. They say writing helps you hear yourself think, which is what I always find. They suggest writing down 3 words that describe what you're currently feeling, then journaling what you need for 5 minutes using the questions, "What will help me?" & "What do I need to remember?" Then you write down 3 words that describe your new state of mind.

They also suggest you activate your body's ability to heal & calm itself. As a Reiki practitioner I truly know the value of that, & highly recommend Reiki sessions for that purpose. Something you can easily do any time, anywhere is called 4 Square Breathing. You slowly take a deep breath from the bottom of your lungs to the count of 4, hold for the count of 4, release through your mouth to the count of 4, wait for the count of 4, & do it again 2 more times. They suggest self talk during this like, "Relax" or "I'm handling this." This breathing fills your bloodstream with needed oxygen to counterbalance the chemical stress reactions in your body & energize you. They also highly recommend meditation & exercise. Finally, they recommend focusing on faith, including your higher power & yourself. They emphasize the importance of realizing that good can come from any situation & that things happen for a meaning & purpose. I won't go into that further here because that's what many of my blogs are about. I always find it validating when I read the things I teach in popular magazines, & being espoused by experts!

Are You Focused? What is Your Focus?

New day, new over-riding theme that covers the themes for the week. My normal focus is improving my self & my life every way possible & helping others do the same. Each day I focus on a different aspect of these things & respond to the messages, the over-riding theme of the day. I also respond to the needs of others as they arise each day. I am a regular caretaker for myself, 3 women, my cats, & whomever else is brought before me each day. I respond to these priorities each day. This is what I've chosen for my life to be about.

Lately I see around me those who are not in touch with their focus or who are simply not focused. Two of the women I care for are focused on the men in the their lives & the situations are causing them great difficulty. They are out of balance & experiencing many ups & downs because of it. But they've been unable thus far to shift their focus. I'd so love to shift it for them! This was my fear of a romantic relationship - that I would lose myself in it, lose my focus on what truly matters to me. In September 2010 I chose my current life focus & worked on freeing myself from all that wasn't working in my life, all that didn't fit that focus. Life as I thought I knew it was over & I made a choice about what I was going to do with that opportunity. It truly was a wonderful opportunity (even though it was a very scary & painful release process) & it helps that I recognized it as such, set my intent, made the most of it. As I've said recently, endings are also beginnings. I know so many experiencing endings in their lives right now & my wish for them too is that they make conscious choices on where they go from here. And I'm very proud of those I know who are recognizing their ends as opportunities & are working to make conscious choices, make it all work them. It takes great courage & will to do this.

One person I help regularly is entirely unfocused. He has great trouble with that because of the way his mind works. He gets bogged down in every tiny detail & therefore doesn't get the important things done. I'd so love to teach him that production is more important than exact content in the long run. One thing needed for him & all others like this is entirely letting go of perfectionism. Perfectionism is totally limiting, & true perfection is impossible for humans. When you are locked in perfectionism, you spend too much time on one thing to the exclusion of the things that really matter. Another aspect of this is the "all or nothing" mentality. It usually leads to just about nothing & never leads to the "all" that's desired. And it's so easy to get into that mentality without realizing it. I'm going to use housecleaning as an example of both. I tended to think in terms of getting all the vacuuming on one level done at one time. That was too daunting so I didn't do any of it. When I figured out that it didn't have to be all or nothing, that I could do 1 or 2 rooms at a time & keep that up each week, I transformed the situation & was able to get it all done within a couple of days. It didn't all get done in one day but it got done. I did a thorough job but didn't obsess, wasn't locked into perfectionism with it. You never get up every single speck & next time you go through a room, there are more specks on the carpet. I'd never have progressed from room to room if I'd kept going back to make sure the first one was perfect. I'll catch the accumulated specks when I do the rooms next week.

When you have no focus or are too narrowly focused, including as in perfectionism or the "all or nothing" mentality, you don't accomplish what truly needs to be done & fall behind. Then you're forever playing catch up & that's very difficult. It then takes radical action & change, something that could have been avoided with focus. When you aren't in charge of your focus, aren't focused or are too narrowly focused, you allow anything & everything to distract you from the truly important things until they reach the crisis point & you're forced. No one thrives in those situations. They greatly contribute to the "if I can just get through..." mentality. Some people move from one situation like that to another because they've failed to choose to focus & stick with it. Now I'm not saying that maintaining or even choosing our focus is always easy. And the more time you have on your hands & the more options you have, the more difficult that is. But it's one of the most vital life choices we make.

With focus, you're able to weed through the choices we each end up making moment to moment each day. With focus you take charge of these choices & exercise control in your life. I look back to one of the times I felt so out of control of my life. I unconsciously tried to control my kids because I had such an unrecognized need for control in my life. Without focus we make so many unfortunate unconscious choices!

I now use many tools to help me focus with intent & I highly recommend them. One is my written life mission statement, written last year on the recommendation of a great metaphysical teacher I'm so privileged to know & learn from. Just focusing & writing it grounded me & I've actually only had to go back & read it once but it's there when I need it. In it I set my intent for how I would conduct my life & it's the basis for my choices. Another was recommended by an adult friend with ADHD (especially difficult for these people to focus), & is a daily planner I've talked about before. I was a list maker who had lists all over, half done & oppressive. I also constantly had a list in my head that bogged down my thinking & my ability to sleep & rest. More than a year ago, this planner changed my life. It helps me focus on what truly needs to be done each week & each day. It frees my brain because if it's in my head it goes down in the planner & I can release it. I know my brain doesn't have to hold it & remind me. And I no longer have to find those little lists or carry them over. The planner has carry-over capacity, can be used effectively for current & future priorities, help manage priorities. I also use my journal to help me focus in on what I'm feeling & needing. I could so easily get lost in my head like my friend does. My mind multi-tasks constantly, runs on many tracks at once & my conscious & subconscious seem to constantly stream. This is something else ADHD people face, by the way. My journal helps me focus in on the most pressing tracks & capture them. It's a great tool. Often I'm not aware of what my subconscious is streaming. When I journal it kicks in & I'm able to tap into that stream. Often I start out writing about what's in my conscious thoughts, usually pretty trivial & not worth writing. Those who don't journal often use that as a reason. But what I find is that once I clear out that stuff, what really matters right now, the subconscious stream, comes forth. Once I'm able to pay attention to it, my brain quiets for a bit & I find some peace. I also use baskets to keep me organized but you can use any gathering tool. I used to be famous for going into a room & forgetting what I went for, having to go back over & over. I used to get so distracted from my little purpose, do something else I saw needed to be done when I got to that room instead of what I went in there for. Once I developed the reliance on a basket to carry with me, I solved a lot of that. I carry a mental list & put things in the basket & take them out & put them away as I go. That basket has become my anchor point & calls me to action, has become a fixed reminder of what I wanted to do. It's become a working symbol I can fix on. These symbols & tools are very important for becoming organized. I can look at my basket as a focus point & retrieve my intent. My intent becomes fixed on that symbolic object. My final tool is my daily devotions. I use prayer, "I Am" statements, manifestation statements & angel work to renew my focus daily & ground me. It reminds me & powerfully energizes my intent & focus.

Getting Through Life

If I can just get through the next few minutes (hours, days, weeks, months)... When I went to bed last night I found myself thinking that if I could just get through the next few days... It isn't really a matter of if. I will get through. It's a matter of how difficult it will be & that's where this kind of thinking comes in. It's "survival mode" & I believe we spend most of our lives in it. We move from one circumstance to another that we have to work our way through. Most people live in "if only." "If only he loved me the way I love him." "If only my boss recognized my efforts." "If only my kids..." "If only this (or that) were different." "If only this (or that) would happen."

I just realized last night how much I do that. Last week I was trying to get through the minutes until my dizziness passed. This week I'm trying to get through the heat & humidity but still get things done. I've come to realize I live this way but I've been trying to work out of getting into these kinds of situations. I just haven't thought of it as such.

I'm not sure that I have any clear answers for you but there are strategies I use. When I was trying to get that dizziness to pass I prayed almost constantly. I reassured myself that I was safe - I was at urgent care where they knew what they were doing. I did all the things you need to do to overcome dizziness - drank lots of water, bathed my face & neck & wrist pulse points, stayed flat on the table until I could move. Each situation has it's own survival strategy & I used all I knew & was offered. With the heat I'm running fans, working downstairs where it's cooler, only doing any heavy or outdoor work after the sun goes down, & staying hydrated. Going back to "know thyself," I know I don't take the heat as well as some so I have plenty of ice, ice packs, & cold water in the refrigerator. I have a thought-out action plan. I touched on that yesterday - in the worst, best, & middle case scenarios. Further, in knowing myself & always working on discovery & self improvement, I've been working toward eliminating as many survival circumstances as I can. Some of them are a natural part of life that can't be avoided but some we bring on ourselves. If we don't resolve relationship issues with family, friends, partners, bosses or co-workers, for example, they keep coming back up until we learn whatever we needed to know & change. I've seen that in each area above in my own life. Until we learn from & resolve our inner conflicts or issues we repeat mistakes.

The great new is that once you do the work you're free! If you truly pay attention to the issues that arise & analyze them you usually find the theme you need to work on. Often realization is all that's needed, along with some intent. And if you set intent regularly to grow & improve your life & self, the issues do become readily apparent in most cases. I'll be frank here. Depending on how deep the problem, it can take years. Deep issues are like an onion with layer after layer to get through. I actually mean for this news to be more encouraging than daunting. If you've been working through things & different aspects of it keep popping up, you're truly making progress. After you get through all the onion layers, there's a core - you've reached the root of the issue & can finish with it. But as with an onion, each layer you peel away makes the onion that much smaller, brings you closer to the core. And you truly feel better & your life improves with every layer you face & discard. It's not like you're in intense pain or conflict now & only years later will there be any resolution & relief. When you do the real work, life gets better all the time. Remember as I say this that I've had some very deep & traumatic life issues to work out.

It's a process & if you set your intent & face whatever issues come up, it's ongoing. One thing, sign, or message leads to another & another until the issue is apparent. Today I had a very powerful Reiki treatment & special work was done on my root chakra. I'd thought I'd worked out the emotional issues associated with the problem but ended up bringing forth & releasing so much that had been somewhat hidden. I had a series of quick flashbacks to what still needed to be released. The flashbacks were blessedly deep but brief, one after another revealing deep-seated issues connected to my recent ex husband. And the final ones released the core cause of my fear of being able to provide a continuous home for the cats, which I mentioned yesterday. It's the root cause of much of any fear-based energy that comes from within me.

Use everything at your disposal, the help around you, & whatever personal power you know how to tap. Think of Tom Hanks in the movie, "Cast Away." He even used a basketball to create the companion he needed. No one person on earth can do it all or be it all. We all need lots of help. It truly does take a village. You have to be willing to reach out, & to accept help when offered from a variety of sources. God uses people on earth, angels, guides, & messages to help us out. The angels are just waiting to help us with anything & everything as long as it's not against others or taking away from them. But you have to ask. You don't have to specifically know who to ask for what, contrary to what I've been told or read. That's a nicety. Just go for it - just ask. It's even in the Bible - "Ask & ye shall receive, knock & it will be opened to you." (Ok, I just mixed translations there but hey.) And then be prepared to receive, be open to where the help or answers come from, be listening, & again I say, be open. More on this tomorrow, unless some bigger issue arises. These days, the messages are coming in fast, with quick resolutions.

Grounding & Release

This is not the blog I was going to write today but this is the one that needs to be done. I've spent most of my day in fear based energy today! It hit me first thing & I haven't been really in fear based energy in a few months now, as far as I can remember. So I wonder if any of my other friends are experiencing this today. I haven't had time to ask - I've just been coping.

Today is the new moon & tomorrow is the Summer Solstice. I'm new to paying attention to such things so I'm not sure if the pairing is rare but I'm sure it's responsible for my energy problems today. I've also been having dizzy spells this afternoon, one after another so I know I need to ground & hydrate. I've been working on both.

Today has felt like a struggle for survival. I knew I needed to conquer the fear based energy. Then when the dizziness started & the heat was bothering me, I knew I also needed to take special care of my physical body. New moon is a special opportunity for release & release is one of the major themes of this year, one of the biggest things we're each supposed to accomplish. So I felt desperate to figure out what all I need to release today, felt the importance. Again, desperation is not something I usually cope with. Now that I'm a bit calmer, one of the things I realize I need to release is my fear of dizziness!

Two things really helped me today - God, & carrying through with my daily devotions. I had a phone message first thing today that set off my fear based energy. Before I could return the call & deal with the issue, God provided the help I needed for the situation! So I was able to return the call with a solution at hand. That & following through with my devotions - prayer for myself & others, greeting my angels & guides, my "I Am" & manifestation statements, my angel work - helped me get more grounded.

Often God puts people in our lives ahead of time to help, to step in when we need them. One of these sweet angels in my life helped me identify & think through the dizziness fear this past Friday. I related to her that I'd had to fight a dizzy spell for more than an hour when I got the stitches out of my fingers. Because of many low sugar episodes from misjudging the amount of insulin to take, I've had some real scares. The one last year was the worst because I was alone at the time & it was severe. Because of this I have a fear of passing out alone. In my mind, passing out alone equals death because there's no one to administer what I need to bring my sugar level up. She asked if I was afraid of death & I'm not - my fear was what would happen to the cats! She helped me see that they'd be taken care of, & that's what I needed. But I see today that I still have the fear so I need to address & release all the issues involved here. I need to release the wellbeing of the cats to God. I need to address the fear & really face it down the whole way. I've already got protections in place for them, & I need to let that entirely sink in. I've already put in place all the physical protections I need - sugar supplies where I can get to them if needed. Part of conquering fear is to face the possible scenarios & come up with an action plan. I usually face 3 scenarios - worst case, best, middle. I figure out how I'd survive the worst case first. Looking your fears in the face & fully identifying them, then finding a way to work with them diffuses them. When needed, you remind yourself of your plan "if" until you conquer the fear. That's my current stage with the dizziness. And honestly, what usually truly happens once you have a plan is the best case scenarios, fortunately. But you know you have a plan if the worst happens, & there's reassurance in that. I handled each dizzy spell wisely & didn't get upset or panic so I'm really getting there.

In a visit with a friend today we talked about release, the new moon, & this year. She recently heard that paper is something we need to release & that was message #3 for me so I need to pay attention. I have a friend who can barely walk into his home office or function because of the amount of papers he keeps. He's so afraid he'll need something that he's drowning in papers, but couldn't find one if he did need it. That was #1. Last week I identified that papers weigh me down, sap my energy & cause me to feel tired & overwhelmed & that was #2. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this information because I'm one with many papers but I've gotten the message. I realize that it's part of the release I need to make this year, as well as belongings. Despite the fact that I just moved, & cleared out so much stuff including some of my own, I have way too much. Things as well as papers bog us down & tie us down as we try to maintain & care for & clean around them. I realize it's truly time to take a good look at all that's in my life & simplify in every way I can. I also realize it's been an ongoing message to me, & that I have most of the answer to what I need to be releasing at this time. I've been feeling the need for release for months now but it's been vague, I couldn't identify what needed to be released until now. But releasing things seems to be the biggest thing at this point for me. I've been working on release on the spiritual & emotional level, & that was the first step. Now I'm to release things & papers, & old habits. So I've gotten my answer to the release needed at this stage. We're about half way through this year of release, & I hope that you're working on your own. Whatever we don't release ties us, distracts our attention & intent. I don't want to be earth-bound - I want to soar!

Endings Become Beginnings

Seems like everyone on my prayer list is going through major life changes right now. One is deciding whether to stay in college or move immediately into a career path. Some are ending important relationships. Some are starting important new ones or navigating new ones. Some are moving, have just moved, or are contemplating moves. Many have jobs that are ending soon or are in transition in their careers. Most are in transition in their life's work, which isn't necessarily the same as their careers. Change of all types seems to be the biggest theme this year - major life shifts with the shifts in energy. Some of us are extremely sensitive to energy shifts & sometimes the energy shifts happen multiple times a day it seems. It's been hard to keep a balance, & stay grounded & feeling good about ourselves, our lives, our futures. It's been hard to see the road in front of us.

Endings can be especially painful & scary. Many I know fear the unknown ahead as jobs & relationships end. And truly, your job is a relationship of sorts so it all boils down to that. As scary as it can be, each ending is actually the opportunity for a new beginning. Opportunity is the key word here. Each ending gives us the opportunity to reassess what we want & need in our lives & perhaps go in a new direction. Exactly 2 years ago I was in the months long process of realizing that my marriage was over & that my life as it was, wasn't working at all. At that point I was still trying to make the unworkable work, trying to salvage what I could. I was trying to patch old wine skins with new material, resisting the changes that needed to be made. I started working harder & longer, thinking that if I just gave it enough effort & determination, gave up enough of myself, I could make it new again, make it work. It was like paddling upstream, which I've done literally. I've paddled a canoe upriver on the Potomac to where it merges with the Shenandoah. You wouldn't believe how strong the current gets at that point. The point is, I know what I'm talking about here.

When I finally gave up trying to hang onto the old that was no longer working, the real adventure began. At first it was like navigating rapids & I was swept along a rocky, very scary way. At that point I was just working on damage control. I couldn't see where I was going or where I'd be taken, had no idea how rocky the way ahead would be. Metaphorically, I didn't know if my canoe would hold or if I'd overturn. I didn't know when I'd go to ground or where. But as I prepared to let go of the old, I assessed where I wanted to go from there. I searched my heart & soul & made my decisions, set my intent to change my life to be what I wanted & needed it to be. Then I did my best to research the path I needed to take to get there, to chart my course. I had my general destination in mind & used every resource at my disposal (God, & the help & encouragement of family & friends). I had decided it was time to finally follow my heart, to live from & through my heart. Having lots of artistic interests & talents, one thing is that I'd wanted to make a living doing these things all my adult life. But I'd been told that I couldn't make enough of a living that way. At the core of my heart also was my deep love of animals & my strong desire to make a difference. And I knew that there were things I'd contracted to do with & for God although I had no idea what. At that time I wasn't aware that there was a specific contract, only that I'd felt a "calling" at different times. This was very confusing but strong, & I knew it was time to answer. So with no idea what was ahead, only what my heart was telling me, I decided to chart my course with these things in mind.

I won't tell you it's been an easy or comfortable journey. It's been very hard & I've questioned my path over & over. I've made adjustments so many times that no one can keep up with my current state. I've been questioned over & over about the wisdom & what I'm doing & why. I took the leap in October 2010 & I'm still finding my way. But it's all gotten easier over time, & I've had continuous help & support - from God, family, & friends. I've had new & valuable friends added all the time. I've learned so much about things I never even dreamed of before, & about myself. I'm learning all the time. Sometimes it's very painful, but I'm getting much better at listening, to myself & to Truth. And I've healed so much & so quickly. As soon as I set my intent, God stepped in & began directing me. The first thing was my introduction to Reiki healing & my first attunement. I answered that call & took the first step, & God began opening all kinds of doors after that, including to the information I sought on my life's work & how to go about it. Once I answered the call, He took over, providing the opportunities for my next steps & the next. I vowed to walk through every door He opened. Still, it hasn't been easy. I've had to conquer my self & my fears & doubts, to learn faith. And I'm still working on it all. I find that I'm my biggest obstacle. I still have much work to do on shedding the old ways of thinking, acting, reacting, & being. It's not easy in any way to forge a path blindly, & there are no clear sign posts when you're going an entirely new way. And even though others have gone this way, it's entirely new for me. I have a lifetime of conditioning to overcome.

I use everything I can to help me, & that's where my daily devotional time is so valuable. My "I Am" statements are designed to help realign my thinking & actions. I strive to stay within the Divine flow of all that is so that I'm not paddling upstream any more. Each time I go back to or stay stuck in my old ways, I move out of the flow. So the value of daily devotions is to set me back on the path & in the flow daily & realign myself. One important one is, "Life is unfolding as it should, in the best time frame for my greatest good." Another is, "Abundance is the natural state of the universe, & I am abundant & in the flow, grateful for all that is in my life. I am grateful for all that is in my life. I learn, grow, & heal from all of it." I have lots of them because I need a lot. "I use my free will to rise above all of life's challenges." "I was created to thrive & succeed rather than struggle. I can & do call upon angles instead of struggling, doing it all my way & on my own." And, "I am releasing all resistance to life's challenges, living in the flow of awesome abundance, prosperity, joy, fulfillment, & success." And the final 2, "I am one with the Universe & I open myself to the Divine flow of all that is & the blessings all around me." "I am succeeding on my personal journey to wholeness & I'm doing it at the rate & speed that is perfect for my personal spiritual evolution." That last is one of my favorites. Because I know that I need the process. I still have inner healing that's needed. If not, I wouldn't be struggling still in any way. Doreen Virtue's works have been instrumental in helping me learn to work with angels & ascended masters. One of my favorite ascended masters is Ganesh. Doreen says that he's an elephant-headed deity. I had trouble justifying asking him for help because of this description, & looked him up on the internet, which only made it harder. I am a Christian who's read the Bible many times over from cover to cover & I know what's all through the Old Testament about worshiping other gods. All I can say is that I don't worship him, I worship God only. But I ask angels for help regularly, as instructed to do in the Bible & I don't worship them either. And I've come to know that there are many beings in the world that we don't understand but that are present & real. I know that my heart & intent are pure, so I don't fear this, & I call on Ganesh for help daily. Doreen says he's large & strong enough to blaze trails ahead of you so that your path is clear, but he's also filled with love & sweetness. She said he's analogous to Archangel Michael in that he's a loving & loyal protective force. When Ganesh spoke to her he said, "All barriers in your path are self-imposed. They represent your decision to be afraid of moving forward." (Yep, that's one of my problems still.) "You cast your fear outward by projecting thoughts into the future, worried that either this or that may occur. Your worries about the future have created blocks & bogeymen that you will meet on your future path. But don't worry - since they're your own creation, you can will them away. Ask me to assist, & I puncture the balloon of dark illusions. All thought-forms are on a level playing field, & no matter how dire the appearance, they're all equally surmountable. I plow through them all quite easily with my unwavering faith in 'all good, all love.' That's the only power that exists. The rest are all unreal illusions. Let them go & know the truth of all situations; God & love always prevail."

Tuesday I'll post on priorities management again. I believe it will help close this subject because when one thing ends we have some choice about what we can begin. Making it a conscious choice makes the most of the ending, can turn it into a true adventure for you, a real advantage.

Simple Pleasures

The blogs this week are on a theme as usual. The one I was going to write for today will appear tomorrow. Today it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood & that was my inspiration, is my theme. My house isn't air conditioned & I'm not one who responds well on hot days. However, with plaster walls & nice windows, my house stays fairly cool, especially when it cools down at night. Today it reached a high of 72 degrees in my house. I spent time out on my lovely shaded porch & when I'd come in, there was a lovely cool breeze blowing through the house. The cats were lying around in various places. I have lots of comfortable perches for them including a large double cat tree in the living room. I put large storage containers near the windows & have cushions on them, so they can lie or sit in comfort & look out. I especially did that for my oldest cat so he could be in whichever window he wants. He doesn't jump as easily now that he's 12, quit having full ability quite awhile ago. The cats are very happy here & that really makes me happy. My home makes me happy - the layout, the peace, the porch, the yard. Days like today are so lovely. I love Western PA & live in a lovely little neighborhood.

Today has been a day of reflection on all the wonders in my life. My only son is getting married in Maryland in about 3 weeks & I'm starting to get really excited. I'll get to stay with one of my oldest & dearest friends, see my son & daughter-in-law to be for the first time since August of 2010 (they live in Iowa), & see my daughter (just saw her in November but it's never enough). My children are starting new phases in their lives & that's part of the theme for tomorrow. I'm very excited about the new adventures for them, & for me.

Yesterday I touched on needs vs. wants. It's very hard to know the difference between the 2. Hopefully I gave you some things to think about, & will tomorrow too. My needs are very simple, as are my wants. Last night I was talking with a friend about "deserving." She doesn't feel she deserves anything, that none of us do. I know what she means & in ways I agree with her. No one, not God or the Universe, owes us anything. But we all deserve to be loved, safe, & have all our true needs as well as some of our wants met.

I awoke this morning with the old fear. We're nearly half way through the month & rent will be due the beginning of next month. Then I went out to my porch for devotion time & it all dissolved in the perfect day. I took a walk to the new mom-&-pop corner grocery & felt like a kid again. All the possibilities within walking distance felt so great! I could have bought a little thing of candy or a popsicle. It's summer, the sun was shining, & I got the single dollar bills I needed to ride the bus the next time, only didn't need to spend any money to get any place. The walk felt great, even though it was 3 blocks up hill. I'm thrilled to have a little corner store even though it's nothing like when I was a kid going to Rosie's or Schultz's. Those were stores in old farm-type houses with exciting jars of penny candies all in a row. This was a guarded window & hand written price lists. I stood in a little entry way & told the man that I never fully saw what I wanted.

When I went for my walk I saw that the city had mowed the strip of grass beside the bus turnaround & was grateful. My neighbor told me I was responsible for keeping it cut & I don't have a mower so have to use my weed whacker on whatever grass needs to be cut. It's a simple thing, not much grass, but it's another thing I don't have to be concerned with so I'm grateful. I'm grateful for the breezes, my wind chimes, the comfortable & cozy furniture on my little porch. I'm grateful for the little bud vase I bought for 10 cents or so at a yard sale years ago, & the beautiful vase I got when I married my last husband. It's my favorite. I'm grateful that it no longer has bad memories. I'm grateful that I'm physically healing from his abuse, & that I'm emotionally healing from everything. I'm grateful for the knowledge I have on healing myself & helping others, for my transformed prayer life & angel work, & positive affirmations. They make such a huge difference in the way I feel about myself, & about others who have purposely hurt me. You can only have this much joy & happiness when you aren't holding onto anger & unforgiveness.

I love my life, my home, my family & friends, my cats. I love the things I know how to do & how my life is progressing. I am at peace with the things that haven't manifested yet, for the most part. I love that I can handle the fears when they come, that I have resources. I am grateful for all that is in my life, even those things that are less than the way I want them. I recognize the difference between wants & needs for the most part. I understand that no one owes me but that I owe myself, & I'm working on getting myself straight on giving & doing what I owe to myself. I'm grateful that I have friends who step in & help me with that. Every time I help someone else with these things, I learn, grow, & heal. I affirm my sense of worth & remind myself of what's important, & I receive love in return & all goodness. All Goodness. 

I need independence. This is something I've come to know. I need alone time, & I need time with others that I care about, & pure social time. I need my cats. Many wouldn't consider this a true need but for me it is. I also need a certain level of comfort, beauty, & nature around me, peace, safety, grace, & calm at this point in my life. I need to work with my hands & to make things. It was pretty scary when I cut my fingers on the electric hedge trimmers & realized how close I came in that one moment to losing my fingers! As it is I've been able to protect the stitches & thanks to a friend & his knowledge of herbs (Goldenseal in this case) they're healing very well, without infection. I've been able to manage despite the bandages, even had a supply of rubber gloves to protect them from water so I could do dishes & things.

As happens, some of my needs have changed since I've gotten older, & as I've emotionally healed. I need less love & attention from others, find what I need within myself for the most part. I also know how to make the most of the love others give to me, make the most of what I receive from friends & family naturally. I was very needy in my 20s, for example, & made choices based on that, including marriage. I like to say that I don't need any one person in my life & that's true but I'm constantly amazed at the difference one person can make in my life, & when they enter my life & stay. I have a list of most treasured & valued loved one & truly appreciate them & what they add to my life, & I to theirs. I'm also amazed at how they've arrived in my life. For example, today I celebrate my friendship with Pam. I "met" her on Facebook through playing a game just over 2 years ago & we became close out of mutual need. I thought I was reaching out to her when I detected a need but by the time she opened up to me, our need was mutual & similar. I thought eventually I'd lose my son to a wife & instead I've gained a beloved daughter. This young woman enhances & strengthens my relationship with my son, encourages him to reach out to me. She's joined my own daughter as one of my most treasured friends & relationships, truly adds so much to my life. Then there's my newest friend, who arrived just before a friendship ended. She inspires & challenges me & my way of thinking. We support each other & enhance each other at just the right time for each of us. And she's a talented healer. She's healing my biggest problem (physical, back to the cancer scare) when no one else has been able to. It's funny because she's so talented & gifted, & has had many experiences I have not in the metaphysical realm, yet I'm able to teach her the basics & validate her experiences. I'm truly blessed by all those closest to me in my life, & am so grateful for them all.

I have to say at this point all my greatest needs are being met & many of my wants. My life is so very full, & I'm grateful for all that's in it, the "good" & the other. I say other because none of it is truly bad. Despite the fact that I'm economically at the lowest point of my life, I am truly happy & grateful. I am grateful for all that I do have & all that is. Yes, there are things I wish to change & improve & I'm working on it. I'm grateful for the opportunities to do that, & for the resources, including the beings - God, the angels, my guides & teachers, the people in my life. Today I believe that I can & will do anything & everything I need to & much of what I want to. My wants have also greatly changed. They no longer involve things like foreign travel or a cruise, for example. My wants have evolved with time, age, & circumstances, as such things do. But just for today I believe I can have it all & do it all, all that's truly important to me. I have total faith & confidence in my abilities & the goodness in my life, in healing & health, love & kindness, & true blessings & happiness. And that's really all we ever have - today! It's truly a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

From Lack to Gratitude, Need vs. Want

I'm not sure how well this picture is going to come out in the blog. I found it posted on Facebook last night & it fit with this theme so I had to post it to my page & copy it here. I'm not a fan of the saying that goes something along the lines of, "I felt bad that I had no shoes until I met someone who had no feet." I've said this before. We all have "problems" & "troubles." No one should tell you that yours aren't important. They are to you & that's what matters. I also don't like the saying about how God never gives you more than you can handle. I don't believe God gives us "problems" or "troubles" & I'll speak more on this tomorrow.

These days I get sympathy sometimes for the "hardships" I'm facing. Please understand that I'm not seeking sympathy when that happens, but family members & close friends want to be updated on how things are going. And they ask specific questions & I don't dodge or give half answers. And so it comes out that in addition to other things about my situation, nothing is really very easy. I don't happen to have a lawn mower, a washer or dryer, or easy access to a laundromat because I also don't have a car. Some could say "at least you have your health" but that's not a given either. I have certain health problems & new ones that have occurred in the last few months. 

The result is that there are many things I no longer take for granted. I sort of still take plumbing for granted but I wonder how my oldest cousin feels. She was 18 before she lived in a house with indoor plumbing! Now she's 56 so I'm sure she's more than gotten used to it. But I'm also sure she still remembers what it was like without it. And you have to understand that her family wasn't poor. They lived in a farm house that belonged to the family for nearly 150 years by then. Rather than putting  plumbing in that old place, my uncle built a new house that they've occupied far longer than they did the old one.

I only use plumbing as an example, but I've had to think about it because my water bill was over due & I wasn't sure how I was going to pay it before the cut off notice. It made me think about what life would be like here without water. As it is, I'm having trouble getting laundry done - lack of facilities nearby & lack of a way to get to any. Maybe I'll have to start washing clothes in the bathtub, see if I still have an antique wash board packed away somewhere. Actually, that's not a bad idea. Hard on the arms, but not a bad idea. I've become very resourceful about getting things done. I end up feeling very clever & resourceful, & increase my belief in myself & my ability to cope & be creative. And if we end up without electricity & conveniences, I'm ahead of the learning to cope curve. I've learned how many groceries I can buy at a time based on what I can carry on the bus, & to use extra large reusable bags to make it manageable. I use my weed whacker to cut the lawn. I do whatever I have to in order to get things done. And rather than feel sorry for myself, it's made me very grateful for every convenience & comfort I have.

I'm truly learning to recognize the difference between want & need. Some of it I've known for quite awhile. For example, love. A certain amount of love is a human need but the love of any one individual, even one's parents, is not. That man you're certain you need - not. That's just a strong want. Going without all my life has certainly taught me & proved that one. Etc. I could go on & on with this. We need a certain amount of touch & affection, but not as much as you think. We hear of babies (of any species) deprived of touch when they're little. Yes, for them it's a need. For adults, not nearly as much. It might seem like a need but trust me, it's not as much of a need as you think. Again, I know from experience.

There are 3 things I'd like to make you think about here. One is what is truly a need vs. a want. Another is, I'd like you to look at all you have in your life with gratitude. I'm grateful for my pillow top bed because it's exactly what I tried to buy in 1999. Mattress Warehouse cheated me with bait & switch, a non-pillow top, & because I couldn't take more time off work for a delivery I kept what they sent. I've had the new mattress for almost a year now & it's made all the difference in my ability to get a good night's sleep. I'm grateful for all I have. I'm grateful that I have as much physical capability as I do, & for my home. Most of all I'm grateful for my family & friends, the love in my life. Things happen all the time that remind me I have much to be grateful for. Family or friends move, die, stop caring or communicating. Accidents & things can take away our freedoms or abilities, or our nest egg. The 3rd thing is that it's happening all around us now. I know so many people who are losing their jobs, or relationships, people who through no fault of their own are going through so much. My advice is not to judge, not to take anything for granted, & to be truly grateful for all you have. As I've said before, I'm also grateful for the things that might seem unfortunate. I learn & grow from all of them. And in fact, we learn more from lack & "misfortune" than we do from plenty & luxury.

The Importance of Devotion Time in My Life

As you can tell by the lateness of each blog posting this week, it's been a rather out-of-kilter week. Until today I haven't had my regular devotion time. Monday & Tuesday it was cut short or greatly delayed & Wednesday I didn't do it at all. So I've had a chance to find out how very important it is to me - all of it. The week before it often got put off until later in the day too, or cut short. I managed prayer time but not all the rest.

I've changed my priorities & timing as a result. I find that I absolutely need to start my days this way, & get it all in. I know I've talked about the importance before but I've really had it hit home. For one thing, others rely on me & I don't want to let anyone down. For another, I need it all for myself. I know awhile back I talked about rewriting my "I Am" statements because I wasn't entirely satisfied with them. I rewrote them according to a teleconference on thriving rather than just surviving as a metaphysical worker. Eventually I realized that they didn't need to be rewritten at this time. They do address my most pressing needs for the most part. But I've added one to boost my faith in myself. One thing I've noticed is that I often get distracted while reading them & they don't therefore have the same impact that they do when I'm really concentrating on them. I'm learning to have my journal & a notepad handy so I can stop & write out whatever is distracting me because the concentration is essential. I wrote them for a reason, say them out loud for a reason, so I need to hear & feel them as I recite them.

I am not a morning person but I find that starting my day with prayer, greeting my guides & angels, then reciting my "I Am" & manifestation statements & doing the angel work is essential for starting my day right. It puts me on course for the day. It cements my intent. It guides my day & how I use my time. And I get my biggest messages, ideas, & inspirations during that time. What I'm saying here is huge. The single act of sticking to devotion time has transformed my life & rescheduled me. I used to get my biggest bursts of creative energy fairly late at night, & at random. It wasn't every day, for one thing. It was pretty haphazard. Late at night isn't the best timing because I'd usually need to delay action until the next day, when the inspiration wasn't as strong. Often I never acted on these things. If I did act on them at the time, I was up way too late, too excited & involved to sleep.

With prayer time I start my day with gratitude & joy. I handle & turn over all worries & pain. I give myself & my day to God. I grounds me & reminds me of who I am, what I do, Who I serve. It also starts my day in service to others as I pray for them. And it so totally opens my heart! Then when I greet my angels & guides I also ask for assistance with my day & receive it, another important thing. It reminds me that I don't have to go it alone, that I have help. The "I Am" & manifestation statements cement my belief in myself & the goodness in my life, sets my attitude & renews my intent. Then the angel work is important because I ask specific angels & ascended masters who may or may not be my regular guides & helpers for their assistance. I'm not sure who all is part of my "council" or how many there are. But I've used Doreen Virtue's book on "Archangels & Ascended Masters" as well as some of her angel oracle cards to help identify those I need to work with for what I need. Calling on them daily assures me of their assistance & reminds me. I've found that it's all vital for me. Skipping some of it over the last 2 weeks has really shown me how very important it is.

Many of you have read about this stuff but haven't chosen to do it. Or you only do part of it. Or you do it sporadically. Because of that I felt the need to let you know that it truly is life-changing & vital, in its entirety. What have you got to lose except a little sleep or time? I recommend that you reschedule yourself & do these things for 1 month & see what happens. I believe that if you do it faithfully (& all of it) for 1 month, you'll see the value & continue with it. But I do recommend the whole thing - prayer, greetings & expressions of love, "I Am" & manifestation statements, then angel work. If you need help with any of these steps, I'm glad to help but there are many past blogs that speak to all of it, including the type of prayer I mean.

New Summer Blog Schedule

I'm working out a schedule for myself & I need a little break & I know other people take long weekends in the summer. So for now I'm going to a 3-day week format for the blog, posting Tuesday-Thursday & taking Fridays & Mondays off. I spend about an hour per blog, so this will be a welcome break.

Right now I'm tracking how many people regularly read the blog & questioning the value of my time spent on it. Readers, I'm asking for 2 favors here. One, please give me your opinion on the value of these blogs to you, on a scale from 1-10 with 1 being little value & 10 being the greatest. This has to be in general & overall, not a particular blog post. I understand that I'll see who rates the blog how but you've got to know by now that I do this for you, not for me & that I truly don't have ego involved here. I truly don't care who says what as far as rating, only that you do it. I will find it interesting & perhaps surprising as to who rates it how but I absolutely won't get upset at anyone for whatever rating. I'm trying to find out how much value this has for people vs. what it "costs" me to do it, & nothing more. You can post a comment with that rating in the comment section at the bottom of this blog, or on my Facebook page or in a private Facebook note (which I prefer to a posting on my page). I'd like to know how is reading & if you could, please also tell me how often you read. For example, I believe some of you only read when you can (busy lives) & some only read when there's a topic you see posted on Facebook that interests you. So if you're not a regular reader, please tell me approximately how many times a week or a month (& which) you read the blog.

The other favor I ask is that if you wish for the blog to continue or find it of value, that you tell your friends & family about it & provide the link. Of course, I don't expect you to recommend it to everyone you know, only those you feel could really benefit from it.

I originally started the blog in April 2011 to promote my healthy business products, share recipes, & ideas & healthful living tips. Then God took it over shortly after that. Above all I answer to Him about how I spend my time, whether I keep this blog going & how often, the topics, etc. But I'm currently evaluating all the ways I spend my time each day & how to best prioritize it for the best return on investment. In this process, I feel it's time to include an evaluation of the blog.