Your value

Do you know what this is a picture of?

Raw, uncut, unpolished diamonds; what most would consider the most beautiful stone in the world. Here it is in its purest form. With some hard work this stone will be brilliant and alive with color and clarity. The beauty is already there it just has to be uncovered; discovered! That diamond cannot be the brilliant stone it is meant to be without going through all the steps it takes to cut each facet. It must feel all the rubbing of the polishing cloth. All the grinding of the craftsman’s tool. It has to go through these changes to become its magnificent beauty.

Like the diamond we have to go through some cutting down, some grinding, and some polishing. Sometimes we don’t see our true worth because we are going through the cycle of trimming off the excess and unneeded negative parts of ourselves. We haven’t finished with the polishing all our many facets. Once we have cleared away all the outside pieces, those pieces that make us feel less than or unworthy, we sparkle and shine. The fact of the matter is no matter what your past, your ‘outside’, your self-doubt tells you about yourself you are a beautiful sparkling amazing spirit that just needs a little polishing to shine bright like a diamond. 

Rachel Platten - Fight Song (Official Video)

Music is ........ LIFE!   Play this at least ONCE today and FEEL it!!

The end is where we begin

‘‘The end’’ is where we start from. ‘The end’ of a bad day starts in the morning with a fresh new day. ‘The end’ of a bad relationship starts with the tingle of new love. ‘The end’ is where we start from when we’ve no idea where to start.  Often you hear people say they are at ‘the end’ of their rope, I think we have all felt that way at one time or another, and then they wake up the next morning and start again. ‘The end’ is not final, it’s just a comma in the sentence of our lives. When you begin to see ‘the end’ as a new starting point it no longer holds the same feelings/meaning as before. You start to look at your life differently and understand how many new chances you have to change things around you.

Too many times I hear people talking about feeling trapped or frozen and what it seems like they mean is they don’t see any new options. All they see is ‘the end’ of whatever is before them. ‘The end’ of a plan, ‘the end’ of a dream, ‘the end’ of a feeling. What they aren’t opening their eyes to is the limitless possibilities all around. Very seldom are there ‘no other options’ available. It may just be the other options don’t hold any appeal for you. When you start looking at ‘‘the end’’ as a ‘new beginning’ you are opening yourself up to so much more. Instead of staring at a closed door you look at all the open doors, windows, escape hatches, and portholes and see new opportunities to go farther than you ever thought possible. You no longer limit yourself to one plan or idea.

Think of it this way. When you look into the night sky you see stars. In the city, sometimes not many are visible because of the distractions (lights, smog, etc.). If you never go outside the city you might always think that’s all the stars in the sky that is ‘the end’ of the number of stars. Then one day you take a trip to the desert and look up into the night sky. Now there are so many more stars than you imagined. It almost seems impossible to count them all but you eventually could get to ‘the end’ number. And even then, even with all those stars in the sky, if you were to look from a slightly different perspective, say using a telescope, you would see even more! An infinite number of stars. Every time you think you have come to ‘the end’ of counting the stars you find a new way to count more.

So the next time you find yourself feeling sad, down, or angry because of ‘‘the end’’ remember to look at the new beginning you have been given and start again.  

Let me tell you about depression

Depression. Let me tell you about depression. IT SUCKS!! It really does. It sucks your joy. It sucks your energy. It sucks your friends. It sucks your self-worth.  IT JUST SUCKS!  When you are depressed you feel like wave after wave of sadness is crashing over your head. Sometimes you can barely take a breath. Everything is your fault. Nobody likes you or wants to be around you. There is this horrible darkness that is like a ball inside you and slowly that darkness overtakes your whole body. It’s hard to find the energy or the desire to get out of the bed some days. The phone goes unanswered. Same for the door. Even when people try to reach out you don’t think you are worthy of their compassion. They just feel sorry for you. Sometimes you are so sad there is a physical pain inside you.Let me tell you about depression. IT DOES END!! It is not a forever and always disease. You will come out of it. You will feel happy again. You will answer the phone and the door. You will want to be with friends and hang out. You will find goodness in yourself. You just have to remind yourself that it will end. It is a terrible cycle and you will come out of it. The pain of depression will go away. I know sometimes it doesn’t feel like it will ever get better, but I am here to tell you it does! Learning to cope with depression feelings takes time but you can shorten the lows with practice. Sometimes medications can help so don’t feel like you have to do it all on your own.Here are just a couple of coping strategies that you can start using right away.
    1. Get into the sun. Sunshine is an awesome anti-depressant. Even if you cannot get outside open the blinds or curtains and sit in the sunshine.    
2. MOVE YOUR BODY!! I know you don’t feel like it but make yourself get up. Put on your favorite music and dance. Lift some weights if you like. Walk, jog, bike. Just MOVE!!    

3. Talk to someone. You don’t have to talk about anything that is bothering you. You don’t have to talk about any particular topic but just interact with someone you care about. Feel that connection. 

Hang in there. You can make it one more day. Or one more hour. Or one more minute. Or one more second if that is what it takes. You got this. 

I am sorry

For many, many, years I have asked myself if I was born in time for the civil rights marches and the civil rights movement in general would I have been out among those individuals fighting for what should have been their inalienable rights to begin with. Would I have burned my bra in support of women’s suffrage? My passion for justice stirred within me as I watched in horror the history videos of the horrible things that were happened for equality. I burned to believe that I would be one of those individuals in the front of the line marching for justice. Justice for all…..right?!?!?!

Recently, and sadly, I have come to realize that I might not have been. The reason I say that is because of everything going on now, right now, with the LGBTQ community and I am doing nothing. NOTHING! I don’t post my outrage on Facebook when people slam gays and lesbians and tell them they are going to hell. I don’t speak up when people refuse to respect someone’s gender identity because ‘that’s not how they were born’ (by the way they were born that way, it just did not match on the outside). I stay quiet when people say marriage is between man & woman because that is the way it has always been.  I let people say hateful things in the name of their religious beliefs. And I do NOTHING.

It has sadden me to realize this about myself. I have let down a majority of my friends, my niece, and my son by not speaking up. It is crazy to me how many people are so concerned about what is going on in the house down the street, where two happily married people (who happen to be of the same gender) live when in their own homes there are all types of things going on. (Straight people can be pretty freaky too!) It saddens me as well that in some way, shape, or form we all have something that someday a majority could decide is ‘not right’ and then our rights will be taken away. It wasn’t that long ago that inter-racial relationships were outlawed. It wasn’t long before that when African-Americans had no rights. Around the same time women had no rights. At one point in history Christians had no rights and were killed for their beliefs. But there were strong people, stronger than me I suppose, that stood up for what was right and things changed. What you believe NOW is right or wrong can drastically change tomorrow when it is your best friend, son, daughter, cousin whose rights are being taken away. Remember when everyone thought the Earth was flat?

To my friends, family, and society I am sorry. Sorry I did not do my part and speak up. Sorry I allowed the hate filled messages to go unchecked. Sorry that so many people have forgotten the time they were different. Sorry that there is a need for MORE laws to be written so you can enjoy the same inalienable rights as every single one of us. I am sorry I was silent and allowed you to suffer because of it. I am sorry that so many wonderful awesome people kill themselves every day, never reaching or seeing their potential, because someone somewhere decided their type of love was ‘wrong’. Love is never wrong. 

I see you

I See You

Hey you, over there, smiling to hide the tears in your eye…

Holding in the pain, making sure nobody sees you cry…

You’re struggling to just barely get by

You won’t speak up or speak out because you’re ashamed and so shy

It’s like you have turned invisible, and you don’t even know why

I see you.

Hey you, young girl over there, the one they tease

It’s to let go of the pain, or so you believe

Some are fresh, some are scars: crisscrossing till they interweave

You feel confused and afraid so you wear long sleeves

But do you think that hides, do you think it deceives?

I see you.

Hey you, young boy over there, the one ashamed of how he feels

Can’t let them know, loving someone yet having to conceal

Walking down the hall holding his hand would be an ordeal

Because your type of love doesn’t fits someone’s ideal

So you’re forced to be quiet and keep your lips sealed.

I see you.

Hey you over there, whoever you are, still feeling blue

Look around you when everything feels all askew

And you feel like you just can’t make it through

I have something to tell you and I promise it’s true

When you think you are alone with nothing to do

I see you.  

New things are coming!

When you look for the positive, you will find it. When you look for the negative, you will find that too. What are you looking for in your life?  I like to tell people that looking for positive things does not mean there won't still be negative things happening around you, it simply means you won't be paying them as much attention. When you take energy from something it loses it's power. When you take your energy from negative situations, negative people, negative thoughts; you are taking away negative power and once you refocus that energy onto more positive things those things begin to shine brighter. You begin to pay more attention to those positive things and you feel happier. Make today the day  move your energy into more positive pursuits and see what happiness comes tomorrow. #staypositive