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Did You Know...

... that a weed called wild tomatillo has been shown to halt and even dissolve aggressive cancer tumors?

Recently, researchers from the University of Kansas were honored for discovering the remarkable cancer-fighting properties of the wild tomatillo (Physalis longifolia). This humble member of the nightshade family is a weed you might easily spot in your own yard if you live in the Midwest, where it grows abundantly (as it does in several other areas of North America).

Historians have documented a long history of medicinal use of wild tomatillo by numerous Native American tribes. The Omaha, Ponca, and Winnebago tribes used wild tomatillo to treat headache and stomachache and to dress injuries. The Iroquois used it against sexually transmitted diseases, and the Lakota tribe used it to enhance appetite.

Soon, this powerhouse plant could transform the way conventional doctors treat cancer. That's because it contains a minimum of 14 potent anti-cancer compounds that have demonstrated the ability to halt and even dissolve aggressive tumors in animals.

The Discovery of Wild Tomatillo

A scientist by the name of Barbara Timmerman pioneered the exciting research of wild tomatillo. Timmerman—a medicinal chemist and co-director of Kansas University's Native Medicinal Plant Research program—was leading a bio-prospecting project in South America in the 1990s when her professional curiosity led her to a remarkable "accidental" discovery.

Timmerman had originally intended to investigate a medicinal plant native to the region of South America where the bio-prospecting project was located. Ultimately, however, Timmerman had to abandon the research due to the high expense and complex logistics related to travel and other factors.

Instead, Timmerman decided to search for related plant species closer to home. She partnered with another scientist—Kelly Kindscher of the Kansas Biological Survey—and together, the two began scouring the American Midwest.

"Our research led us to Physalis longifolia, which is a fairly common plant throughout the Midwest," says Timmerman. "And from there, we discovered not only the molecule we were seeking, but also the 14 new compounds, most of which have turned out to be even more potent than the original one we were looking for. Discovery is a beautiful thing when it happens like that."

Wild Tomatillo Dissolves Aggressive Tumors in Animal Studies

Dr. Mark Cohen is a surgical oncologist and translational clinician scientist at the Kansas University Medical Center. He collaborated with Timmerman and Kindscher in conducting the lab research that pinpointed the 14 anti-cancer compounds contained in wild tomatillo.

Animal trials have already shown that the compounds (known as withanolides) are capable of both fighting and killing cancer cells. In test mice fed wild tomatillo, aggressive tumors shrank quickly and dramatically. Some of the tumors actually dissolved completely. And none of the mice displayed signs of side effects or toxicity from the treatment.

Tomatillo's cancer-fighting compounds target a wide range of cancers, including...

Melanomas
Thyroid cancer
Head and neck squamous cell cancer
Breast cancer
Glioblastoma brain tumors
Esophageal cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Certain leukemias

Award-Winning Research Breakthrough

The anti-cancer discoveries documented by Timmerman are so significant that the she and her team were honored recently at the highly exclusive University Research & Entrepreneurship Symposium in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

"We're excited by the preliminary results," says Timmerman. "While our research is still in the early stages, we're optimistic that some of these 14 molecules could lead to new plant-based drugs or dietary supplements."

Availability and Use of Wild Tomatillo

Because this research is in such early stages, it is still challenging to find commercial products containing extracts of wild tomatillo. However, that will likely change soon now that Timmerman's research has been showcased at the prestigious University Research & Entrepreneurship Symposium in Cambridge. The Symposium attracts investors and venture capitalists specifically seeking promising new treatments to support and develop.

As research on wild tomatillo continues, we might expect to find tomatillo extracts available for purchase in the near future.

Help fight cancer, study finds

Tuesday, May 08, 2012 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
(NaturalNews) A multidisciplinary research team from theUniversity of Kansas(KU) has made a pioneering discovery in the realm of natural, plant-based cancer treatments. Preliminary findings published in theJournal of Natural Products(JNP) reveal that wild tomatillo (Physalis longifolia), a weed commonly found throughout the midwestern Great Plains and in other areas of North America, possesses at least 14 unique anti-cancer compounds that could one day change the way doctors approach cancer treatment.

 
During a bioprospecting project in South America back in the 1990s, Barbara Timmermann, a medicinal chemist and co-director of KU’sNative Medicinal Plant Research Program, made an interesting discovery. A plant native to that particular region turned out to contain anti-cancer compounds, which prompted Timmermann, whose work involves identifying plants with medicinal properties, to search out ways to investigate it further.

 
But because of cost, distance, and other physical and financial barriers, Timmermann was never able to return to South America to perform the necessary analyses and finish her research. So she reportedly joined up with Kelly Kindscher, a senior scientist at theKansas Biological Survey, to look for similar plants in the American Midwest. And much to their surprise, wild tomatillo turned out not only to contain the compound in question, but also to possess even more anti-cancer compounds than the original South American plant.

 
“Our research led us toPhysalis longifolia, which is a fairly common plant throughout the Midwest,” said Timmerman. “And from there, we discovered not only the molecule we were seeking, but also the 14 new compounds, most of which have turned out to be even more potent than the original one we were looking for. Discovery is a beautiful thing when it happens like that.”

Animal trials show wild tomatillo can effectively mitigate, cure cancer
After first identifying wild tomatillo, Timmerman and Kindscher sought the help of Dr. Mark Cohen, a surgical oncologist and translational clinician scientist at the KUMedical Center, to analyze the plant.

The three successfully identified the 14 compounds in question, known aswithanolides, which in animal trials have already been shown to both fight and eradicate cancer cells.

 
According to Dr. Cohen’s laboratory analysis, these 14 compounds target melanomas, thyroid cancer, head and neck squamous cell cancer, breast cancer, glioblastoma brain tumors, esophageal cancer, pancreatic cancer, and certain leukemias. When fed wild tomatillo, test mice with these and other cancers saw their tumors shrink drastically, and in some cases even completely dissolve, without any negative side effects or noticeable toxicity.

 
The breakthrough findings are so significant, in fact, that Timmerman and her team’s work was featured at the recentUniversity Research & Entrepreneurship Symposiumin Cambridge, Massachusetts. The event is an exclusive, invite-only showcase of the nation’s most promising new university-based technologies for industry leaders, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs (http://www.universitysymposium.com/).

 
“We’re excited by the preliminary results,” added Timmermann. “While our research is still in the early stages, we’re optimistic that some of these 14 molecules could lead to new plant-based drugs or dietary supplements.”

 
Currently, wild tomatillo extracts, powders, and supplements are not widely or commercially available to the public. But as research on wild tomatillo continues to emerge, it is expected that wild tomatillo products might soon hit the market in the form of all-natural, food-based supplements.

 
Sources for this article include:
http://medicalxpress.com
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com
Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/035799_cancer_tomatillo_weeds.html#ixzz1uITuSGV2

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that beauty comes in many forms--and there is no form
more beautiful than you.

Just exactly as you are, this minute, right now, without
changing a thing...you are beautiful. Beautiful enough to
take God's breath away.

You do believe this, don't you? Oh, you must. You must.
How can I believe in my beauty if you don't believe in
yours? It's for me you must believe, not for you...

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that your thoughts create your reality. Your mind is
more powerful than you know.

Are you worried about something right now? Are you
feeling unsure about something these days? God invites
you to change your thinking. Miracles seldom occur in
the lives of those who do not consider them possible.

There could be a miracle waiting for you this minute.

Please make room for it in your thinking. Thanks.

Love, Your Friend.

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that nothing has to happen immediately, this minute,
or "right now."

It's okay to pause for just a moment. Just take a breath.
Then go quietly inside. Ask Life Itself to lead you to
your best outcome.

There's nothing you have to do, really, except get out
of your own way.

... know what I mean?

Love, Your Friend...

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that the truth lies within you—as does all the power
you will ever need to change the direction of your life
and the course of human history.

Wow. Can you imagine that? All the power you will
ever need to change your life...and the course of
human history.

And you may tap that power whenever you wish.
Today, if you choose. Indeed, you tapped it just now
in the sending to yourself of this message...

Love, Your Friend...

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that caution is not the same as fear, and observation
is not the same as judgment.

Use your good sense about things, and don't let
others talk you out of simple caution and observation
by telling you that you are in "fear and judgment."

An ounce of prevention is still worth of pound of cure.

Make sense?

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that the world is so much brighter, so much better,
because you are in it.

If only you knew all the gifts that you bring to others.

You would never feel sad again, but only rejoice in
how wonderful God has made you!

I would not say these things just to make you feel
good. The things I've said here happen to be true.

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that money is just as holy as meditation, just as
sacred as prayer. It is a wonderful part of God.

If you hold an idea that money is the root of all evil,
you may unconsciously keep it from you. You are
invited to drop that thought now.

All the money you need is coming to you now. Do
you believe that? You must, you know...

You will not have to think but a second to understand
exactly why you received this message today.

Love, Your Friend...

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that happiness and joy comes to you when it moves
through you. There is no other pathway--and that's
the miracle.

You will have a number of opportunities in the days
just ahead to be a vehicle of happiness and joy for
another. Step right into that. Be the source of that.

As you bring others to a smile, so, too, will you
bring yourself. The method is foolproof.

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
... that good things await you on the other side of this
ridge. This is a hill you can climb. Just put one foot in
front of the other.

If you feel a little discouraged right now, that's okay,
that's understandable. But give yourself permission
to journey on. Keep moving.

There is a positive result here.

Love, Your Friend..

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that you are on the right path; you are marching
straight to your own joy, and to happiness for others.

Did you need a "signal" from the Universe about this?

Consider that signal as having been sent...
Now it is just a matter of trust. Do you trust that God
knows what She is doing?

You will not have to think but a second to know
exactly why you received this message today.

Love, Your Friend.

A Secret Scrolls #127

A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret
From The Secret Daily Teachings

Most people don't realize how much passion they put into what they don't want. When you speak to a friend and you tell them all about an "awful" situation, you are putting passion into what you don't want. When you react to an event negatively, with the response that it is "terrible", you are putting passion into what you don't want.

You are a beautiful passionate being, so make sure you direct your passion wisely.
May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne
The Secret... bringing joy to billions

A Secret Scrolls #128

A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret
From The Secret Daily Teachings
Look for the gifts in everything, especially when you are facing what appears to be a negative situation. Everything that we attract causes us to grow, which means that ultimately everything is for our own good.
Adjusting to a new path and a new direction will require new qualities and strengths, and these qualities are always exactly what we need to acquire in order to accomplish the great things ahead in our life.
May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne
The Secret... bringing joy to billions

A Secret Scrolls #129

A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret
From The Secret Daily Teachings
It is important to remember that it is your thoughts and feelings together that create with the law of attraction, and you cannot separate them. Also remember that it's your feelings that are summing up your overall frequency and telling you what you are creating in this moment.
So how are you feeling right now? Could you feel better? Well then, do what it takes right now to feel better.

May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne
The Secret... bringing joy to billions

A Secret Scrolls #130

A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret
From The Secret Daily Teachings
Every single day, no matter who you meet in the day - friends, family, work colleagues, strangers - give joy to them. Give a smile or a compliment or kind words or kind actions, but give joy! Do your best to make sure that every single person you meet has a better day because they saw you. This might sound like it is not connected with you and your life, but believe me it is inseparably connected through cosmic law.
As you give joy to every person you meet, you bring joy to YOU. The more you can give joy to others, the more you will bring the joy back to you.
May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne

The Secret... bringing joy to billions

Greens - How to Use Your Garden Greens

Greens, Greens, and More Greens

Green. It seems like the only color represented in my refrigerator this time of year. It makes sense: kale, swiss chard, cabbage, bok choy, mustard greens, leaf lettuce…they’re all coming to harvest.

I must use them up!

Good news. Through word of mouth and trial and error we picked up several tips to help you avoid precious greens withering away in your field and fridge.

Whether growing them yourself, getting them in a CSA, or having them given to you by generous friends, greens can be tricky produce to use up each week.

Which brings us to the several ideas we use in our house to make sure the greens end up in our diet and not the compost pile.

Uses for Your Abundance of Greens

Salads

The obvious choice, salads, can often be kind of a ho-hum dish for your spectacular greens. Toss your salad with a homemade dressing, homemade croutons, dried fruit, and your favorite veggies to add a little excitement.

Even kale can be made into a delicious salad that won’t get soggy in the fridge if you store leftovers. Special preparation will ensure tender leaves so you’re not chewing for hours. Check out Matt’s technique for prepping kale for a salad.

I have recently gained an appreciation for cole slaw. It has been a great way to use up heads of cabbage and incorporate some other veggies like carrots, cucumber, red onion, etc. We have experimented with mayonnaise-based and vinegar-based slaws…vinegar slaw being the front runner. For my winning slaw, I doubled this recipe and used one head of Napa cabbage (instead of the bag of slaw mix the recipe calls for).

Chips

One summer, certain we had accidentally signed up for a Kale Share instead of a regular farm share, we discovered kale chips. Kale chips are easy to make and fun to snack on.

If you’ve never made kale chips before, there are several recipes and videos to get you started. I like this short video for tips on preparing and baking them.

Cook & puree

This is our method for quickly downsizing a large amount of greens into the smallest size possible…mostly so we can make room in the fridge. We have used this technique to process kale, mustard greens, and collard greens, but could be used for others as well.

After rinsing well, we cook the greens in water for about 8 minutes, using about 1½ cups of water per head of greens. The greens will cook down substantially. After cooking, strain water out of the greens. Add greens to a blender to make a nice, smooth puree. The puree can be frozen or stored in the refrigerator for more immediate use.

Pureed greens can be added to any dish that needs a nutrient boost. Hide a a tablespoon or two of the pureed greens in smoothies or homemade popsicles. (You can’t taste it!)

Soup or sauce

If you’re feeling brave, allow greens to show their true colors (literally) in a soup.
Matt recently used the “cook and puree” method and added some to a vegetable beef soup he made. Had it not been for the bright green color, I never would have known about the guest appearance greens were making in that soup.

Warning: You may have to come up with a fun name ahead of time if you anticipate your spouse and/or children are going to turn their noses up at it!

Greens can also be chopped and added to soups. I am dying to make a white bean and kale soup this summer. Or how about this soup with pasta and greens…looks delicious!

Have you ever experimented with greens made into sauces? Pesto is one of my favorite summer sauces to whip up. Make a pesto with various greens and serve over pasta, as a dip for veggies, or spread on crusty bread.

Wraps

Use greens to create a wrap containing some of your favorite traditional sandwich ingredients. Swiss chard is tender yet crunchy, making it a great shell for a veggie or meat sandwich.

Try a chard wrap stuffed with couscous, red bell peppers, shredded carrots, tomatoes, avocado, and fresh basil.

Stir Fry

Bok choy is the perfect addition to a fast weeknight stir fry dinner. An entire head can be chopped up and used with your other favorite wok-worthy ingredients. The leaves cook down wonderfully and the stems offer the perfect crunch to this dish.

Go Green

Don’t let that nutrient rich produce go to waste! (And don’t feel like you have to eat like a rabbit if your greens are spilling out of the fridge.)

Instead of letting the greens intimidate you, try some new tasty methods and utilize this season’s bounty.

http://uk.mg41.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch

A Secret Scrolls #131
A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret

From The Secret Daily Teachings

Isn't it great to know that you cannot control your world from the outside? To try and control things on the outside feels impossible because it would take so much work, and in fact it is impossible according to the law of attraction.

To change your world all you have to do is manage your thoughts and feelings on the inside of you, and then your whole world changes.

May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne
The Secret... bringing joy to billions

A Secret Scrolls #132
A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret

From The Secret Daily Teachings

When you look at yourself and feel dissatisfaction about any part of you, you will continue to attract feelings of dissatisfaction, because the law mirrors back to you exactly what you are holding inside.

Be in awe and wonder at the magnificence of you!

May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne

The Secret... bringing joy to billions

A Secret Scrolls #133

A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret

From The Secret Daily Teachings

Pure love has no conditions or boundaries. Love does not restrain itself or hold back. Love gives all the time and doesn't ask for anything in return. Love is a continuous flow without any limits. And all of this is inside you.

May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne
The Secret... bringing joy to billions

This is the Millipede Survival Paracord Bracelet I thought of and invented. It is way better than the cobra paracord bracelet. This bracelet holds around 13 feet of paracord, looks great and takes SECONDS to unravel unlike other that you have to unweave. If you have any questions just comment or send me a message. Please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE. Everybody have a nice day.

Please also share this video and get it around so people know about it.

ONLY AUTHORIZED PLACES TO SELL (IF YOU FIND ANOTHER PLACE THAT SELLS THEM MESSAGE ME IMMEDIATLY PLEASE)-------

http://www.paracordist.com/products/paracord-bracelets

How to make a Millipede Survival Paracord Bracelet (the newest/best paracord bracelet) THE ORIGINAL
http://youtu.be/auRJT6eLfXM

******

How to make a paracord bracelet with a fishing kit inside. In this "how-to" video I share an idea that I developed to integrate fishing tackle into a standard, cobra weave paracord survival bracelet while still maintaining the original look, feel, and functionality of the bracelet. This survival bracelet includes standard 7 strand 550 cord, 25 feet of braided fishing line, split-shot weights, and 2 fishing hooks. I demonstrate the entire making of this "fishing bracelet" in a step by step manner so that you can make one for yourself if you so desire. While the inner strands of paracord can be used for fishing line in an emergency, nothing beats the real thing... and the addition of hooks and sinkers could be invaluable! As an added benefit, you can utilize the braided fishing line in situations where smaller cordage is needed without sacrificing your main length of 550 cord. As you can see in this video there is virtually no difference between a standard paracord survival bracelet and the bracelet I made which includes the fishing tackle. I hope you find this information useful!

* I also created a paracord bracelet which incorporates a few small survival items. If you are interested in seeing a demo on this, please feel free to let me know. Thanks!

Also Available For Purchase At:
http://www.intenseoutdoorgear.com/

 
Paracord Fishing & Survival Bracelet
http://youtu.be/yVYr01_VcZA

******

Parachute cord (also paracord or 550 cord) is a lightweight nylon kernmantle rope originally used in the suspension lines of US parachutes during World War II. Once in the field, paratroopers found this cord useful for many other tasks. It is now used as a general purpose utility cord by both military personnel and civilians. This versatile cord was even used by astronauts during STS-82, the second Space Shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.

The braided sheath has a high number of interwoven strands for its size, giving it a relatively smooth texture. The all-nylon construction makes paracord fairly elastic; depending on the application this can be either an asset or a liability.

Despite the historic association of paracord with Airborne units, virtually all US units have access to the cord. It is used in almost any situation where light cordage is needed. Typical uses include attaching equipment to harnesses, as dummy cords to avoid losing small or important items, tying rucksacks to vehicle racks, securing camouflage nets to trees or vehicles, and so forth. When threaded with beads, paracord may be used as a pace counter to estimate ground covered by foot.

The yarns of the core (commonly referred to as "the guts") can also be removed when finer string is needed, for instance as sewing thread to repair gear or fishing line in a survival situation. The nylon sheath is often used alone, the yarn in the core removed, when a thinner or less elastic cord is needed. Ends of the cord are almost always melted and crimped to prevent fraying.

DEMONSTRATION: Survival Paracord Belt Prototype
http://youtu.be/5d8-wlUyigg

Heavenletters #3815 Bright Golden Light , May 6, 2011

Heavenletters™, bringing Earth closer to Heaven.

HEAVEN is here to reach every soul on earth to reawaken:

* Our connection to God *
* Our belief in ourselves *
* Our awareness of our shared worthiness to God *
* Peace on Earth *

God is always bringing us closer to Him.

HEAVEN #3815 Bright Golden Light , May 6, 2011

God said:
Do you have any idea of how enchanted I am with you? Yes, you. You with all your foibles, I adore you. That’s how it is. I love you, and I love the core of you.
With each of My children, I see a bright golden light. Each of you has that, is that. This is what I see. I see this golden reflection of Myself. That is the core of you. That is you without all the encumbrances you wrap around yourself.

I see your essence, and what I see is the essence of you. Your light, My light, are the same.

Your light is covered with a body and all your thoughts.

Imagine yourself for a moment, if you will, as bright beautiful radiating golden light.

Imagine your heart as a bright sun revolving in your chest. That’s it. That’s who you are. A bright sun spinning. How Our light embraces.

At the core of you, you are no less than the Great Ones. What they had, you have too.

It is all there within you. If only you could see yourself as this bright golden light, you would own the world. You would own Heaven. You would own love. You would own to love is what I mean. You would admit it. You would know Who you really are. You would not be blinded by your radiance. You would see for the first time. You would see yourself as I do see you. You would be light itself.

And then you would see everyone else the same. You would see Truth. You would move in Truth. You wouldn’t compromise Truth. You wouldn’t be distant from it. You would embrace the light of yourself which is Truth abiding. There is no other Truth than love, and you are the bright light of love. You feed the Earth and all in it with your abiding light. You are the light that shines. You are My Shining Light. You are the light of the Earth and you are the light of My love, resplendent on a world that needs Our light.

What could possibly trouble such beautiful golden swirls of light as My children are? What strength you are. What a Being. What nothings can you be entangled with? Let the entanglements go. Allow yourself to be the bright light that you most certainly are.

You are nothing but bright light. All the rest is illusion you have been carrying on with.

You have been talking to phantoms.

You are light and nothing but light. You are the radiance of My heart. You are My glance upon the world.

There are no conditions to My love, for I see My light in you. There is no fault to find with your beautiful light, and, when I look at you, that’s what I see, the magnificence of My light as if I were looking into a mirror. I am looking into a mirror that is you, and I see Myself. What is not to love?

I have said before that you are love and nothing but love. And now I tell you that light and love are One. Do not hide under the covers, beloveds. Bare your light so that the world and everyone in it is lighted. You are not this mortal dust. You are not meager.

You are not suffering. You know not illness. You are not timid. The Bright Light that you are knows not fear. What is there to fear? All bright light is One. You and I are One Bright Light. We are like laser light that pierces the world into knowingness of itself.

The seeming world is made of many bright lights, and so the world is lighted, and you are the lighting of it. You are the lighter of the world and the brightening of it.

Permanent Link: http://www.heavenletters.org/bright-golden-light.html

Thank you for including this link when publishing this Heavenletter elsewhere.

Heavenletters #3822 Life Holds Great Wonders, May 13, 2011
Heavenletters™, bringing Earth closer to Heaven.

HEAVEN is here to reach every soul on earth to reawaken:

* Our connection to God *
* Our belief in ourselves *
* Our awareness of our shared worthiness to God *
* Peace on Earth *

God is always bringing us closer to Him.

Heavenletters #3822 Life Holds Great Wonders

God said:

However…whenever…whoever…life is a beautiful apparition. There is nothing like life, is there? What a richness is life! What a story! What a happily ever after or not happily ever after. There is always ever after. Life continues on whatever plane. There is no end to life. Nor does life have to be stored.

Your life writes itself as it goes along, and then it is to be erased and room made for more life, more new life, spontaneous life. Life is not to be revisited. It will revise itself. In any case, life, as viewed in the relative world, will not stay the same. Hop on one foot or hop on two, life is always moving merrily along. Life is merry. You may not be, and, yet, you can be regardless of what journeys life takes you on.

Just think of this miraculous gift of life. Its richness. Its abundance. Its surprises, its hilarity, and, yes, its disappointments. Nevertheless, life is not to be slandered, thought ill of, disparaged, put down, nor is life to be swept under the carpet. In this moment, you live it. In the next moment, is another opportunity of life. You don’t keep peeking at the underside of the carpet. When a moment is past, it is past. Be done with it, and move on to the next.

Life does not have to be crafted. You don’t need to draw designs for it. Have ideas, have intentions, have dreams to build on. Yet, in the moments of having your dear dreams, also let go of them. Do not hold on too tight. You do not let go of your dreams too easily either. There is a fine balance. You have seen life like the porridge in the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. One bowl of porridge is too hot. One bowl is too cold. One bowl is just right. And so it goes with the chairs, and so it goes with the beds.

Life does not have to be your cup of tea. What you can know is that life holds great wonders in store for you. What wonder is life going to perform for you today? Life may even hold greater for you than you imagined. In that case, you may have to turn in old dreams for new. You don’t want to be stubborn with life. Life has to have its broad swath. Life does not want to be confined any more than you do.

Life is a picnic, beloveds, only this picnic does not always have the delicacies you most favor. There are many tastes in life, and you will get a taste of each. The taste matters, yet how you digest the various tastes matters more. Let life go down your gullet easily.

Life in the world is not permanent. Life grows. Life evolves. Even when you can’t see your growth, you are growing, and you are evolving. Keep up with life. Be happy when life gives you sweet honey. Be happy when life gives you manna from Heaven. Be happy just the same when life gives you a turnip.

And when there are bumps in the road, be happy too. You have many resources at your disposal. Support your heart. Support life. How about your making life happy?
Know this. You are never singled out for heartache. There are those who fear that they are being neglected. They don’t see My helping them. They are perhaps seeing either or or. They are perhaps short-sighted. They most certainly are short-sighted when they don’t see Me coming down the road, for here I am.

Permanent Link: http://www.heavenletters.org/life-holds-great-wonders.html

Thank you for including this link when publishing this Heavenletter elsewhere.

Heavenletters #3825 Stay in Peace , May 16, 2011

Heavenletters™, bringing Earth closer to Heaven.

HEAVEN is here to reach every soul on earth to reawaken:

* Our connection to God *
* Our belief in ourselves *
* Our awareness of our shared worthiness to God *
* Peace on Earth *

God is always bringing us closer to Him.

HEAVEN #3825 Stay in Peace , May 16, 2011

God said:
Let it be easy to stay in peace, and hard to blow up in anger. Anger doesn’t become you. No matter how justified you may feel, anger is not in your best interest. When you are irate, you are not yourself nor are you an example to yourself or to the world.
What are you afraid of that you let anger get the better of you, that you raise your voice or jump out of your seat, or that you fume however it is that you fume?
If anger that rises within you is too much for you, remind yourself that while you are in the heat of anger is not the time to forcibly to discuss it, for it is not a discussion then at all. It is like a raid. It is certainly a tirade. In the heat of anger is not the time to go physically near the supposed cause of your anger. If you cannot contain yourself, then leave the room and take a walk around the block. Under no circumstances, when you are so angry, are you to unleash your anger. Never mind about repression and all that at this time. Above all, when you are so angry, at this time is exactly when you must not vent your anger.
Anger is anger, and anger is not very nice. One lit match lights other matches. Regardless of the circumstances, you are not right to incite or ignite anger. You can keep the extent of your anger to yourself without harm. Otherwise, you escalate anger. Anger is inflammatory, and you will get burned.
This is your anger. No one else is the cause of your anger. No matter what, it is you who got angry.

You alone are responsible for your anger. You are responsible for taming it. Anger is not to be the ruler of you. Would you take boiling water and pour boiling water over everyone in the room? Yet you take boiling anger and pour it over the hearts and souls of everyone in the room, the innocent bystanders as well as the presumed guilty.
Let Me tell you something. Anger, no matter how righteous it seems to you, is ego at its prime. You are sure that so and so had no right to say or do whatever it was he said or did. I want to make sure that you know you have no right to get so angry that you lose your cool. You have no right. Feeling furious is one thing. Lashing out your anger is another. Even with anger, you can keep your wits about you. Anger is no excuse for you to create havoc. Anger is nothing to be proud of.
What is it you are so afraid of that you must let everyone know how angry you are? What would happen if you did not have to react angrily? Does anger make you look big or small? What would the gain or loss be to yourself or to the others if you did not fly off the handle?
Do not think you are timid to silence your anger. Do not think you are currying favor to hold in abeyance how livid you feel. Reining in your anger is being responsible, and it takes great strength to keep your anger within bounds. The world does not have to know how angry you are at the moment. Give peace to the world.
And if you really must express your sorry anger, then do it privately with the one person you feel caused your anger. Do not reveal your anger in front of an audience. You are the one who will pay for it, and you pay too high a price for it. When you express your anger in a group, everyone has to pay for your flaunting your anger.
This Heavenletter is meant for you if you are someone who lets your raging anger get the better of you. If you are already someone who keeps your anger within bounds, I congratulate you.

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Heavenletters #3829 A Bond between the Mind, Heart, and Body , May 20, 2011
Heavenletters™, bringing Earth closer to Heaven.

HEAVEN is here to reach every soul on earth to reawaken:

* Our connection to God *
* Our belief in ourselves *
* Our awareness of our shared worthiness to God *
* Peace on Earth *

God is always bringing us closer to Him.

HEAVEN #3829 A Bond between the Mind, Heart, and Body , May 20, 2011

God said:
Sadness isn’t so bad. Much of the time you don’t even know what you are sad for anymore than you know why it rains one day and is sunny the next. Like rain, sadness comes, and sadness goes. And sadness comes unbidden. Maybe you weren’t even expecting it. You did not want sadness to fall at your feet. You never asked for sadness, and yet it came.
Of course, logically, sadness comes from attachment. Attachment is a funny thing. You want a bond with another and yet not be attached. You want to hold hands, and yet you don’t want to let go, yet you know there is such a thing as letting go, and you know you can’t hold hands forever. You know you have to use your hands to wash dishes and other things.
Is a bond a giving of love then, and is attachment tying the bond tight then? Is attachment needing and love giving?
In any case, whatever breaks the bond, whether in life or by death of the body, it is heavy-duty. You feel left. It is a mystery to you how you can be bonded to another and not be attached? And how can you let go when you don’t want to let go, and you think you will never be ready to let go?
It must be that you consider letting go of attachment as letting go of love, letting go of caring, letting go of meaning. Does loss of a loved one emphasize separation to you, even when you intellectually accept the concept of Oneness? Does the loss of a loved one, regardless of the reason, make you feel that you are less? Was your loved one a wall that you could lean against and that held you up?
And what is crying anyway? It surely is a bond between the mind, heart, and body. That can’t be bad, can it? Certainly, mind, heart, and body are intimately connected. You and a loved one are connected wherever you are or are not. Letting go of attachment does not have to mean letting go of love, yet perhaps you have only known attachment. That could be.
You love to see a loved one arrive, and you do not love to see a loved one go. And yet entrance and exit are part of life. There is no going around it.
Perhaps non-attachment is the ability to say to your loved one: “Farewell. Enjoy your journey. Enjoy your journey whether it is a trip to the store for a pack of cigarettes or it is your final journey this lifetime to Heaven. I know you still have many journeys before you, and I cannot go with you. Enjoy yourself. Be happy without me. I would go with you if I could. I have to stay here. The day will come when I join you, and we are reunited again. Meanwhile, I give you my heart for safe-keeping, and I kiss you goodbye. Farewell. I promise to let you go with my blessing. I will not keep you from your travels. You were mine for a while. Always isn’t really better than a while. I give you my love so that you may take it with you, not as a keepsake, but as a giveaway. You gave me a lot, and now I give you your freedom. Here, here it is.”
And, now, tell yourself to fare well as well. You are also on a journey, even when your body stays where it is, even when it is hard for you to turn around and say goodbye.

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Heavenletters #3832 God Has No Secrets, May 23, 2011
Heavenletters™, bringing Earth closer to Heaven.

HEAVEN is here to reach every soul on earth to reawaken:

* Our connection to God *
* Our belief in ourselves *
* Our awareness of our shared worthiness to God *
* Peace on Earth *

God is always bringing us closer to Him.

HEAVEN #3832 God Has No Secrets, May 23, 2011

God said:
My holy child, I tip your chin so that I may see your face and so you may look at Me and see My smile and see Me smiling. I am smiling at you. You make Me smile. I pull you to Me. I pull you close. Do not resist. Abide with Me a while. Abide with Me a longer while. Keep abiding with Me in your awareness.

You are ever with Me, and I am ever with you. We are made for each other. We are Twin Souls, so to speak. We Who are Oneness are entwined. It is only as if We are two, for We, beyond a doubt, are One. Beyond My doubt, that is. Well, of course, I have no doubt. I have never doubted anything. Least of all do I doubt you. I am doubtless. You are doubtful.
You have My confidence. I confide in you, for I know your strength. Your strength is mighty. It is Our strength. I am infinitely true to Myself, and I am true to you Who are also Myself. Oneness Supreme is Who I AM, and it is the same for you, only you doubt. You doubt your own wonderment.
Let Us put that aside for a while. Is that a strange thing for Me to say, to put Truth aside for a while?

I say that only so that you turn your face toward Mine and give Me your attention. What point is there in My talking unless you are listening? So that you will be able to listen, I go along with your view of things that We are two. Now you can talk to Me. Now you can hear Me. You would like to hear a booming voice that could only be God’s.
Of course, I am silent. What a listener I am. I can even hear the unspoken. Truly, beloveds, so can you. You can hear My innermost thoughts. I keep nothing to My singled-out Self. I am an Open Book. I am total transparency. I have no secrets. I have no secrets from you. I withhold nothing. I give Everything. I gave Everything. The giving continues. It rolls out. It never stops. I never stop loving you. I love in one motion as it were. I love relentlessly. You can’t get away from My love.
Absurdly, you have tried. Absurdly, you have distanced yourself from the very Heart of the Matter. We are the Heart of the Matter. Oneness is the Heart of the Matter. There is heart and no matter.
You are branded My love in your DNA. What a set-up that is. What a pre-organized amazing miracle. And yet it is so simple. It is My DNA that you carry. It is important for you to know this. With this knowledge, you allow the entrance of all possibilities. Heretofore, you have limited the possibilities.

You have believed in and supported impossibilities, including the idea that you are My beloved. You have made a certainty into an implausibility.
If you think it is not possible that I love you, My creation, then love Me. That will do it for you. That is a step in the right direction. Love Me, and all My love will seep into you. Soon enough, you will not know Whose love you feel. All love is Mine, and all love is yours. I am Unbounded Love, and you are Unbounded Love. Unbounded Love is all. We are All. We are all Oneness.
The simplest may be the hardest for you to grasp. You cannot even grasp what it might mean that We are One. There are so many ideas you would have to abandon that it seems difficult to you for Us to be One. The gist of it is that We are One. The Whole Universe is One. There is One Heart, One bond, One Love, and it is Mine. You are My Love. That’s it.

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Heavenletters #3836 Come to Life Now, May 27, 2011
Heavenletters™, bringing Earth closer to Heaven.

HEAVEN is here to reach every soul on earth to reawaken:

* Our connection to God *
* Our belief in ourselves *
* Our awareness of our shared worthiness to God *
* Peace on Earth *

God is always bringing us closer to Him.

HEAVEN #3836 Come to Life Now, May 27, 2011

God said:
Leave the floodgates open. I am speaking of the floodgates of love. I am speaking of your admitting Me into your life and your view of life. Let love and its organizer, I, God, into your world. Let Me be a force in your life. Let Me have some say in the design of what is referred to as you, as the human you, as the body and heart and mind and soul that walk around in a cumbersome body. Let Me have some of the attention you presently may give to your erstwhile body. Absolutely, take care of your body, only make room for Me as well. The body is mortal. In a sense, the body is a losing game. In the world, you cannot stem the tide of time. Come into Infinity with Me.
That which you see is what you get. See better and bigger than you have been seeing. You have been seeing a crumb of what you are.
I exist. Even if you think that I do not exist, let Me exist for you. Life in the world is too much for you without Me. The world holds terrors for you. You see shadows around every turn. Substitute Me for the terrors. Call Me in instead. Let Me in. Do yourself a favor and bring in a Presence that is often called God or words to that effect. If you do not like the name God, then call Me Friend. Then call Me Guy. Then call Me Love in its Wholeness. Call life sublime, and make it so.
It is yourself I would love you to believe in. I will help you. Together, We will wonders perform.
You are safe. The body is not safe. The body is in peril. No longer identify so much with the body and its wavering emotions. Instead of emoting, love. Start with Me. Leave emotions behind. Leave fraughtness of emotions behind. Emotions, no matter how serious and important to you, are frivolous. Emotions adhere to the past. Get the past and the emotions that surround the past out of your way. Past emotions are not your friends.
Hate and anger and such are your out and out enemies. They are ego, and they mimic you. Believe Me, if you wish someone ill, you will not feel safe. Your thoughts become real. Your thoughts manifest in one way or another. That which you perpetuate upon another comes back to roost.
You may think that people in your life are your enemies. All the while, it is your thoughts that are. With your thoughts, you bet on the validity of a dark past. Get the past out of the way. It does not serve you. If the past did not serve you in the past, what makes you think it will serve you now?
When you operate from the injustice of the past, you bring the past to life. When you harp on injustice, you bring injustice to you. If you want injustice in your life, keep thinking of how you are victimized, and so you victimize yourself. You punish yourself with the past. The true villains are your thoughts. It is for you now to change them. Old thinking brings you your old life back. It manifests before your eyes. The cruel stepmother does not come back, yet someone steps in to take her place. You bring her to you.
For your life to change, you have to change. No one is going to change your life for you. Life is of your making. And you make it with your thoughts and your hanging on emotions. Get out of the past where you have been living. This is how to change your life. Enough of reliving the past. Come to life now.

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Heavenletters #3843 A State of Happiness, June 3, 2011
Heavenletters™, bringing Earth closer to Heaven.

HEAVEN is here to reach every soul on earth to reawaken:

* Our connection to God *
* Our belief in ourselves *
* Our awareness of our shared worthiness to God *
* Peace on Earth *

God is always bringing us closer to Him.

HEAVEN #3843 A State of Happiness, June 3, 2011

God said:
There is no need to ask yourself the question: “Am I happy?” You are happy until you start asking yourself if you are. You lose your immediacy as soon as you question the state of your Being.

Happiness is not a self-awareness technique. As soon as you call your attention to your happiness, it leaves. Happiness takes your asking as a dismissal.
As soon as you ask yourself, “Am I happy?” you start thinking of reasons why not to be happy. As soon as you ask yourself, “Am I really really happy?” you lose your state of happiness. It is like happiness is embarrassed and covers its face. Your natural state is of happiness.
If someone were afraid of heights, and did not know he was walking on a ledge twenty feet above the sidewalk, he would not be afraid. As soon as he becomes aware, fear sets in. Conscious awareness is not always the best place to be.
Better not to question where you are.
When you are involved in a creative project, painting or music or story-writing, for example, you are not thinking, “Am I happy?” You just are.
We could consider a state of happiness something like Godwriting. When you are Godwriting, you are in that state of Godwriting. If you say to yourself, “Am I Godwriting? Is this really Godwriting?” then you are out of the state.
When you ask yourself such questions, you put your attention on your motley self. When you are in a creative state, your attention is not on yourself. You are out of awareness of your little self.
Nor is this a good question for you to ask about someone else. “Is so and so happy?” Happiness is not to be thought about. Do you understand what I mean? Asking such questions is putting up a barrier to happiness. Happiness is not conscious of itself.
If you continually asked a rose, “Are you a rose? Are you really a rose? Are you always a rose?” even a rose will start to wonder about its own identity. A rose knows its rose-ness. Rose-ness is. A rose is a rose is a rose. And your natural state is happiness.
When you ask if you are happy, you interrupt happiness. When you ask, “Am I doing the right thing?” you waver. When you ask, “Should I spend my money on this object,” you waver.
When you ask yourself, “Am I happy?” you can only waver. A minute ago, you were happy. And now you ponder. And you push happiness off a cliff.
However, reversely, it does not work the same. If you say, “How unhappy I am. How can I be this unhappy?” the state of unhappiness deepens. You become sure of it. Your unhappiness is probably even worse than you thought. Now you become desperately unhappy.
Think about other things rather than about your state of happiness or unhappiness. Happiness is not a state of thinking. You cannot make yourself happy. The best thing you can do for happiness is to not think about it. Be it.
You do have a well of underlying happiness. Don’t muddy it. When you analyze the water, you stir it up. That’s how you muddy it. No longer muddy your happiness. Let it be.
If you want to add to your happiness, add to someone else’s happiness. Certainly, don’t add to someone’s unhappiness. Even when you have the thought, “I would like to do something that will make my friend happy,” you are adding to your own happiness.
Going within does not mean to ask about your happiness. Happiness is always yours, yet it is not something you possess. It is something you are.

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Heavenletters #3846 Almighty You, June 6, 2011
Heavenletters™, bringing Earth closer to Heaven.

HEAVEN is here to reach every soul on earth to reawaken:

* Our connection to God *
* Our belief in ourselves *
* Our awareness of our shared worthiness to God *
* Peace on Earth *

God is always bringing us closer to Him.

HEAVEN #3846 Almighty You, June 6, 2011

God said:
Almighty you!
This is today’s Heavenletter.
You fill in the rest. Say what it means to you that I call you Almighty.
You, Almighty you, speak to Me this morning.
Tell Me everything that is in your heart, and you will be rendering what is in Mine.
Almighty you, speak, and I will listen to the beat of My own heart.
Begin now.

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Ringbolt hitching is a beautiful way to decorate a staff or wheel. Also called coxcombing, it was once a common tie used by sailors to dress-up items and parts of a ship. In the following video, JD of Tying It All Together shows you how to do it.

How to Tie a Single-Strand Ringbolt Hitch by TIAT
http://youtu.be/tHPeKSq7ReY

How to make a Fairy Dreamcatcherhttp://youtu.be/5lfm-SEMt54

How to make a Fairy Dreamcatcher 2 (autumn)
http://youtu.be/-BAFU0G4VH8

One in five Americans believes the world is coming to an end; many point to 2012 prophecies

Friday, May 04, 2012
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com

(NaturalNews) Even I was surprised at the results of a recent Ipsos Global Public Affairs poll of over 16,000 people around the world. The poll, underwritten by Reuters, sought to determine the percentage of people who believe the world is coming to an end in their own lifetime. Astonishingly, the two countries with the highest percentage of people who believe in such a thing were Turkey and the USA.

The nations with the lowest number of people believing the world is coming to an end (in their lifetimes) include Belgium and Great Britain.

Globally, about one in seven people believe the world is coming to an end, and about one in ten believe it will happen in 2012.

Of course, the meaning in all this is difficult to nail down, given that everybody's definition of "the world coming to an end" is different. For some people, the shopping mall being closed is the end of their world. For many of today's teens, the "end of the world" means losing their texting device.

In my mind, the "world coming to an end" means TEOTWAWKI, or a total grid-down situation with economic collapse, mass starvation and a massive collapse of human population. But even I don't think that's going to happen in 2012.

Don't get suckered into believe the Mayan prophecies

This is a good time to remind well-informed NaturalNews readers not to get suckered into the December 2012 Mayan prophecies. Those popular predictions are based on wild misinterpretations of the Mayan calendar... combined with fantastic exaggerations of Central and South American lore.

Come December 22, 2012, we will all still be here, stuck in the same mess of a world increasingly being run by police state criminals and the global corporate elite. In some ways, the 2012 Mayan prophecies are a strategy to dis-empower the People by making them not care what happens in 2012 because "the world is coming to an end anyway."

That's pure foolishness. Smart people are getting well prepared for 2012 and beyond. They know there isn't some magical universal stargate that's going to open up and free them from all the burdens of being a human being on planet Earth. Those who are spouting the Mayan doomsday prophecies are sadly leading people in precisely the wrong direction.

  The world as we know it will certainly undergo radical change

Of course, in some sense, TEOTWAWKI is coming true from the mere fact that much of what goes on in our modern world is wildly unsustainable. The fiat currency system and global debt; the cancerous growth of government; the rampant destruction of the world's natural ecosystems... these are all unsustainable things that will -- and MUST -- come to an end.

So the world we know today is, indeed, existing with an expiration date, and it's not yet clear what's going to replace it. I'm quite certain, for one thing, that the next age of human civilization will see a greatly reduced population from its current levels, meaning that at some point a mass die-off is probably in the works. (That's the aim of the global elite, actually, including Bill Gates who is actively working to reduce human population in order to "save the planet." Bring in the vaccines!)

So it's not really a question of whether the world as we know it will come to an end, but how it will happen. Bill Gates is working on a "soft kill" approach, using vaccines to cause widespread infertility. Interestingly, this may be among the least cruel approaches offered by the globalists, who are also considering things like global thermonuclear war, detonation of EMP weapons to cause a "grid down" situation, and the release of a new global pandemic with a 90% kill rate.

There could also be natural events that lead to various "end of the world" scenarios, including solar flares and the eruption of the massive Yellowstone cauldron -- an event that would thrust Earth into a two-year nuclear winter that would collapse the global food supply and lead to mass starvation.

But the time scale on such events is significantly larger than a human lifetime. Yellowstone Park may not blow for another fifty thousand years. A massive grid-disruption solar flare might happen every few hundred years, which IS something to consider on the scale of a human lifetime.

The far bigger threat we all face right now, by the way, is the failure of Fukushima reactor No. 4. According to UN Ambassador Murata, "the fate of the world" depends on reactor No. 4.

(http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/05/02/ambassador-exaggeration-f...)

The failure of this reactor has the potential to "destroy civilization as we know it," he says.

So it's not irrational to think that the world (as we know it) might end in our lifetimes. In fact, given the status of reactor No. 4 -- as well as the possibility of an EMP weapon causing a national grid failure (http://www.naturalnews.com/033564_solar_flares_nuclear_power_plants.h...) -- it's surprising that only 1 in 5 Americans recognize these legitimate threats to our modern, fragile civilization.

Learn how to stay safe in almost any scenario: www.HealthRangerLIVE.com

Sources include:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/01/us-mayancalendar-poll-idUSB...

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/035767_apocalypse_2012_end_of_the_world.html#ixzz1u85UUZ18

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
..that life is meant to happy.

I know this is sometimes hard to believe, and I
know that on many days it simply is not your
experience, but it is true. You have all the tools
right now to make this day, this moment, happy.

The best of these tools is love. Just love everything
that Life has to offer today. And of course, love
every person. Then watch the whole experience
change.

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that your trust has not been misplaced.
Listen to your Self today. You have been telling
yourself something very important for days now.

Today, listen more closely. And heed.

Trust the still small voice within. Your soul is
gently leading you to your next step.

Love, Your Friend...

On this day of your life, Melodie, I believe God wants you to know...
...that fairness is not obvious in every case.
Look, we all want life to be fair, right? But
sometimes it just isn't. True? No. False. Life
is always fair -- it sometimes just does not
look that way.

You will see how 'fair' life is if you will give
it a chance to play itself out. Wait. See.

Your Higher Self, which always wants the
best for you, is in charge here. Believe it.

Love, Your Friend...

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
..that you have something important to contribute

to your world today.

Every day God sends you one person for whom
you hold a gift in your hand. You will not know
what it is until that person greets you, but you
will then know it immediately.

The only questions remaining will be: Will you give
your gift? Right then and there? Fully and completely?

By the end of this day you will know why you
received this message just now.

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
..that you have something important to contribute to your world today.
Every day God sends you one person for whom
you hold a gift in your hand. You will not know
what it is until that person greets you, but you
will then know it immediately.

The only questions remaining will be: Will you give
your gift? Right then and there? Fully and completely?
By the end of this day you will know why you
received this message just now.

Love, Your Friend...

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
..that you cannot make a mistake, you can only
make a decision that will be your next best step.
There is no reason to hesitate when you know
that you have nothing to lose. And losing is not
an act of God, it is a thought in the mind of
humans.

Get rid of the thought and you get rid of doubt.
Ride your Wisdom to Victory.
You will not have to think but a second to know
exactly why you received this message today.

Love, Your Friend

On this day of your life, Melodie, I believe God wants you to know...
....that the biggest commitment you must keep is your
commitment to yourself.

Betrayal of yourself
In order not to betray another
Is betrayal nonetheless.

It is the highest betrayal.

This is not a call for willy-nilly abandonment of a job
or a person or a situation. But it is your notice from
the Universe that it is all right for you to take care
of yourself also.

You will not have to think very hard to know
exactly why you received this message today.

Love, Your Friend...

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
....that perfection is not required of you
-- only perfect_effort.

Not to even try because you don't think you can would
be terribly sad. You'll be amazed at what you can do if
you simply step into it.

Life awaits you on the other side of Risk. What can you
lose? Face? Dignity? Who cares about those when
greatness is possible? Who cares about those when
fairy tales are at hand?

Love, Your Friend..

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that everything is falling together perfectly, even
though it looks as if some things are falling apart.

Trust in the process you are now experiencing. Life
is on your side. It is showing that to you now, though
you may not be able to see it clearly at this time.

You have made your wishes and dreams known to
God. Now comes the time for faith. Faith that all
is right, right now. Tomorrow will reveal itself exactly
as it should.

Love, Your Friend...

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that you can remain in your present idea about yourself,
or you can choose again. I like the idea of choosing again.

Glorify who you are today, do not condemn who you
were yesterday, and dream of who you can be tomorrow.

You will not have to think for more than a second to
know exactly why you just read this...

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that the yearning for love in your life is about to end
in the most wonderful way.

It is impossible to yearn for that which you already have,
and you are about to see and realize that all the love
you could ever want is coming to you now.

Open your heart and you will see it right in front of you.

I am glad that you read this today. Add so is God.

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that there is no challenge you cannot meet -- and that
includes the present one.

I know that on some days it doesn't feel like you want
to continue the struggle anymore. But I promise you, it
is going to be worth it.

What is happening now is part of a larger process
leading to your own self-realization. Please believe me,
and sleep well in the truth of that. Your soul will rejoice
again--more than it ever did before.

Love, Your Friend...

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that hope has always been your greatest strength, and
it continues to be today.

When others are about to give up and give in, you've
been the one to stand firm and strong. Good for
you--and good for everyone else around you!

Why am I telling you this? Because someone near
you needs a bit of hope today. You won't be able to
miss who this is. So thanks, ahead of time, for helping
that soul...

Love, Your Friend....

Man dies, comes back to life, what he saw

http://youtu.be/xRSjzY0s0SM

This man goes to hell and has been allowed back to tell us what it was like. Some may laugh, but at the end of the day, this is just one of thousands of people we know about that have been through the same thing.

Give it a watch and make your own mind up.

11 yr Old Went to Heaven and Back, and Tells What He Saw!

http://youtu.be/QdUGoFTfP7w

How to Eliminate Pain in Minutes — and Get Rid of Phobias, Anxiety and Excess Weight

In This Issue:

*Did You Know...?

*Featured Article: How Tapping Alleviates Pain in Minutes—Chronic Body Pain of 26 Years ... Gone Instantly

*A Word from Our Sponsor: Stop the Thief That's Secretly Stealing Your Memory

Did You Know...

... that jalapeño, habanero, and cayenne peppers can make your body burn nearly 1,000 more calories a day, helping you to shed fat and weight?

These pungent peppers do more than just add color and a spicy kick to your meal. They turn up the heat in your taste buds and your fat-burning cells, jumpstarting your metabolism into high gear, burning more calories ... more fat ... and more of those excess pounds.

Habanero peppers are the hottest, guaranteed to make you break a sweat. Sweat is a sign that your body is dipping into its energy reserves, and since calories are a measure of energy, you can be sure your body is sweating off those unwanted calories with every spicy bite.

Cayenne, a hot pepper native to Central and South America, has been used for decades to treat obesity, diabetes, pain and osteoarthritis, and jalapeños are excellent sources of Vitamins C, A and folate.

All three spices are considered negative calorie foods, meaning they speed up your heart rate and increase your metabolism to such a degree that you are burning more calories than you are consuming.

A study from the late '80s found that eating a single spicy meal can boost your metabolism by up to 25%, with the spike in calorie burning lasting for up to 3 hours after you finish eating. More recently, a study from Laval University in Quebec found that men who consumed coffee plus red pepper-packed snacks and meals were able to burn nearly 1,000 more calories a day than a control group!

By comparison, one hour of aerobic exercise burns only half that number—between 457 to 531 calories.

So How Do These 3 Peppers Work Their Weight Loss Magic?

The secret ingredient is capsaicin—the chemical in peppers that gives them their heat. The capsaicin in hot peppers has numerous health benefits including...

Reducing blood cholesterol levels
Decreasing triglycerides
Strengthening the immune system
Destroying the bacteria that causes stomach ulcers

...and the research proving capsaicin's potency as a weight loss aid is piling up.

Capsaicin Reduces Appetite

Numerous studies point to capsaicin as an effective appetite suppressant. A 2009 study published in the journal Clinical Nutrition reported that when combined with green tea, capsaicin reduced the appetite of 27 volunteers, as well as the number of calories they ingested. Another study found that 12 men and 12 women who consumed .9 grams of capsaicin in tomato juice for 2 consecutive days ate significantly fewer calories than those who drank a placebo mixed with tomato juice: the women reduced their caloric intake by 14% and the men by 16%.

Reporting on the findings of a similar study, the European Journal of Nutrition cited one reason why capsaicin so effectively suppresses appetite. Researchers found that capsaicin decreases the production of the hunger-inducing hormone, ghrelin.

Capsaicin Burns Body Fat and Inhibits the Formation of Fat Tissue

Capsaicin doesn't just raise your heart rate and control your appetite. This spicy chemical also actively burns fat. According to a 2010 study published in the Journal of Proteome Research, capsaicin activates the specific proteins that are responsible for burning fat, and suppresses the proteins that are responsible for generating and storing fat.

A 2007 study conducted by 2 Taiwanese scientists provided proof that capsaicin restricts fat cell formation ... reduces the amount of fat tissue in the body ... and prevents the body from storing unused calories as fat. Korean researchers, Jong Won Yun and team, also provided evidence that capsaicin stimulates the expression of proteins responsible for suppressing fat storage. Rats fed high fat diets with capsaicin lost 8% of their body weight compared to rats in the control group that received no capsaicin.

Hot peppers are an easy and inexpensive weight loss tool to include in your weight management arsenal. No need to invest in a capsaicin supplement, which may produce side effects such as stomach upset, irritation of ulcers, heartburn, and negative interactions with blood-thinning drugs or aspirin. You can easily reap the benefits of a curbed appetite and increased metabolism just by sprinkling these spicy peppers into your meals. Your body will immediately activate its calorie-burning processes and continue burning those calories for many hours thereafter.

Preserving and canning your own food, Leems http://youtu.be/hANtxayH13s

Learning how to preserve food for future consumption is a nearly lost skill that we should get back to in this changing age. My dehydrator is an invaluable tool for this, and yes, it is by Mr coffee. You can dehydrate many types of meat into jerky, such as venison, lamb, buffalo, turkey, pheasant, pork, gator, frog, possum, raccoon, turtle, snake, elk, fish, and even squid make good jerky with the right seasonings. I have heard of dried octopus and conch before as well.

Dried, shredded beef is a great addition to trail soups and entrees as well as Asian cuisine or additive to ramen noodles. Shrimp and crab dries as well for longevity.

Leems- These Moroccan treats, also called 'preserved lemons' or 'pickled lemons' are a tart, salty jewel of exotic food and a way to store and preserve citrus for a long period. If you've ever tasted salt and lime, you know it's a thing made in heaven. Leems are added to soups and meats, tagine dishes and several Moroccan staples.

Sterilize your jars, cross-hatch the lemons and pack with salt, insert into the jar. Then add coriander, whole cloves, cinnamon stick, bay leaf and begin packing down lemon after lemon until they are covered in their own juice. Squeeze one more lemon juice till it covers the lemons completely and comes up to the jar's mouth, add a little more kosher salt and let cool tightly sealed. Wait for 4 weeks and add more lemons as needed as they shrink a bit, use washed hands or tools to mash at this point. periodic pressing is suggested. lasts up to 5-6 years, a little goes a long way. Rind and all is edible.

Easy guides to canning your own foods

and more Americans are returning in record numbers to the days of canning to preserve food. Canning jars and supplies have been disappearing from store shelves and families across the country are rediscovering the satisfaction of preserving their own healthy foods.

However, just as many people are standing on the sidelines, wanting to jump in but confused about where to start. Sharon over at Simply Canning has an easy-to-navigate website with dozens of helpful articles related to canning. She also has an inexpensive e-book you can download in seconds to begin your own venture into the world of canning. Here are some articles you may want to check out:

Canning equipment
Canning chicken or poultry
Canning homemade soups

Kendra, over at New Life on a Homestead, is also into canning and gave her permission for me to post this video explaining the use of a pressure canner.

How to Use a Pressure Canner http://youtu.be/A-fFAlldDKM

You can also find directions from Kendra for canning summer squash and zucchini and chicken broth.

Finally, my friend Lori in Oregon recently decided to begin blogging about her own canning adventures. You can check out her colorful blog, Lori’s Latest – and other tales from the homestead. I can’t wait to try her recipe for Indian Relish.

One item you will definitely want to have on hand is the book known as the canning Bible, Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It will almost certainly be in your library but you’ll soon be wanting a copy of your own. Barbara, a family friend who has been canning for decades, still pulls out her worn copy from twenty years ago.

Look for canning jars and other equipment at garage and estate sales, second-hand stores, eBay, Craigslist, Backpage, and even placing requests for free supplies at Freecycle. With the weather definitely hitting autumn and, in some places, winter temperatures, a cozy, warm kitchen is just the place to be spending some time…over a water bath filled with jars of tomato preserves!

© 2011, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

http://thesurvivalmom.com/2011/10/26/easy-guides-to-canning-your-own-foods/

WRITTEN BY A POLICE OFFICER - Everyone should take 5 minutes to read this.

In daylight hours, refresh yourself of these things to do in an emergency situation...
This is for you, and for you to share with your wife, your children, everyone you know.

After reading these9 crucial tips, forward them to someone you care about.
It never hurts to be careful in this crazy world we live in.

1. Tip fromTae Kwon Do:
The elbow is the strongest point on your body.
If you are close enough to use it, do!

2..Learned this from a tourist guide.
If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM.

Toss it away from you....
Chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you, and he will go for the wallet/purse.

RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

3.If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy..
The driver won't see you, but everybody else will.
This has saved lives.

4.Women have a tendency to get into their carsafter shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their chequebook, or making a list, etc..

DON'T DO THIS!)

The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go.
AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE..

If someone is in the car with a gun to your head
DO NOT DRIVE OFF,

Repeat:
DO NOT DRIVE OFF!

Instead gun the engine and speed into anything, wrecking the car.
Your Air Bag will save you.
If the person is in the back seat they will get the worst of it .
As soon as the car crashes bail out and run.
It is better than having them find your body in a remote location.

5. A few notes about gettinginto your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:

A.)Be aware:
look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor, and in the back seat.

B.)If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door.
Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.

C.)Look at the car
parked on the driver's side of your vehicle, and the passenger side... If a male is sitting alone
in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a
guard/policeman to walk you back out.

IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)

6.ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs.
Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot.
This is especially true at NIGHT!)

7.If the predator has a gun
and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN!

The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; and even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ.. RUN, Preferably in a zig-zag pattern!

8.As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP
It may get you raped, or killed.
Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played
on the sympathies of unsuspecting women.
He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked 'for help' into his vehicle or with his vehicle,
which is when he abducted his next victim.

9.Another Safety Point:
Someone just told me that her friend heard a crying baby on her porch the night before last, and she called the police because it was late and she thought it was weird.. The police told her
'Whatever you do, DO NOT open the door...'

The lady then said that it sounded like the baby had crawled near a window, and she was worried
that it would crawl to the street and get run over.
The policeman said, 'We already have a unit on the way, whatever you do, DO NOT open the door.'
He told her that they think a serial killer has a baby's cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of their homes thinking that someone dropped off a baby... He said they have not verified it, but have had several calls by women saying that they hear baby's cries outside their doors when they're home alone at night.

10. Water scam!
If you wake up in the middle of the night to hear all your taps outside running or what you think is a
burst pipe, DO NOT GO OUT TO INVESTIGATE! These people turn on all your outside taps full ball so that you will go out to investigate and then attack.

Stay alert, keep safe, and look out for your neighbours!
Please pass this on This e-mail should probably be taken seriously because the Crying Baby Theory was mentioned on America 's Most Wanted when they profiled the serial killer in Louisiana

I'd like you to forward this to all the women you know.
It may save a life. A candle is not dimmed by lighting another candle..
I was going to send this to the ladies only, but guys, if you love your mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, etc., you may want to pass it onto them, as well.

Send this to any woman you know that may need to be reminded that the world we live in has a lot of crazies in it and it's better to be safe than sorry..

Everyone should take 5 minutes to read this. It may save your life or a loved one's life

A Secret Scrolls #123

A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret

From The Secret Daily Teachings

Our natural state of being is joy, and it takes so much energy to think negative thoughts, to speak negative words, and to feel miserable. The easy path is good thoughts, good words, and good deeds.
Take the easy path.

May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne

The Secret... bringing joy to billions

A Secret Scrolls #124

A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret

From The Secret Daily Teachings

Write down all the great things about everyone you know. Make a huge list of all the wonderful things about you. Compliment people wherever you go. Praise every single thing you see. Be a ray of sunshine to everyone you meet, and make their day better for having seen you. Say "Thank you" at every turn. Walk, talk, think, and breathe appreciation and gratitude.

When you do this, your outer life will change to reflect your inner state of being.
May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne

The Secret... bringing joy to billions

A Secret Scrolls #125

A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret

From The Secret Daily Teachings

You cannot bring what you want to you if you are feeling stress. Stress or any tension at all is something you have to remove from your system.

You must let the stress go - it is the only way you can bring what you want. The emotion of stress is saying strongly that you do NOT have what you want. Stress or tension is the absence of faith, and so to remove it all you have to do is increase your faith!

May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne

The Secret... bringing joy to billions

A Secret Scrolls #126

A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret

From The Secret Daily Teachings

Remember, if you are criticizing, you are not being grateful. If you are blaming, you are not being grateful. If you are complaining, you are not being grateful. If you are feeling tension, you are not being grateful. If you are rushing, you are not being grateful. If you are in a bad mood, you are not being grateful.

Gratitude can transform your life. Are you allowing minor things to get in the way of your transformation and the life you deserve?

May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne

The Secret... bringing joy to billions

A Secret Scrolls #117

A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret and The Power

From The Secret Daily Teachings

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

To improve any day immediately, say and feel "Thank you" seven times in a row.

May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne

The Secret... bringing joy to billions

A Secret Scrolls #118

A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret and The Power

From The Secret Daily Teachings
Whatever feelings you have within you are attracting your tomorrow.

Worry attracts more worry. Anxiety attracts more anxiety. Unhappiness attracts more unhappiness. Dissatisfaction attracts more dissatisfaction.

AND . . .

Joy attracts more joy. Happiness attracts more happiness. Peace attracts more peace. Gratitude attracts more gratitude. Kindness attracts more kindness. Love attracts more love.

Your job is an inside one. To change your world, all you have to do is change the way you feel inside.

How easy is that?

May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne

The Secret... bringing joy to billions

A Secret Scrolls #119

A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret

The Magic book released today!

Some close friends of mine have completely changed their life through using The Secret. Their entire life is unrecognizable from what it was, and they are living a dream life that they once thought would never be possible for them. They did it by practicing what they had learned - every single day - and because they were close friends I was able to reiterate the teachings contained in The Secret at every step, give them new practices I had created, and inspire and urge them on along the way.

I decided to write the book The Magic so that I could be with you every day the way I was with my friends, inspiring you, urging you on, and giving you the practices that I know will change your life. And so today is a very exciting day for me, because The Magic is out!

Rhonda Byrne

The Secret... bringing joy to billions

A Secret Scrolls #120

A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret

From The Secret Daily Teachings

If you make time to list all the things you are grateful for, and you feel the feelings of gratitude, you will feel amazing every day. Your frequency will be high and you will move through your days in love with being alive, bringing joy wherever you go, positively affecting one person after another.

When you live a life like this, everything you want will come before you even ask.

May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne

The Secret... bringing joy to billions

A Secret Scrolls #121

A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret

From The Secret Daily Teachings

Begin your day by feeling grateful. Be grateful for the bed you just slept in, the roof over your head, the carpet or floor under your feet, the running water, the soap, your shower, your toothbrush, your clothes, your shoes, the refrigerator that keeps your food cold, the car that you drive, your job, your friends. Be grateful for the stores that make it so easy to buy the things you need, the restaurants, the utilities, services, and electrical appliances that make your life effortless.

Be grateful for the magazines and the books that you read. Be grateful for the chair that you sit on, and the pavement that you walk on. Be grateful for the weather, the sun, the sky, the birds, the trees, the grass, the rain, and the flowers.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne
The Secret... bringing joy to billions

A Secret Scrolls #122

A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret

From The Secret Daily Teachings

Love is the highest power we possess to be in complete harmony with the law of attraction. The more love we feel the greater our power. The more selfless love we feel, the more unfathomable our power.

The law of attraction has been called the law of love, because the law itself is a gift of love to humanity. It is the law by which we can create incredible lives for ourselves.

The more love we feel the greater our power to create a magnificent life of love, joy, and harmony.
May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne

The Secret... bringing joy to billions

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...

that there is a family reunion awaiting you, and you will be more overjoyed than you can now begin to imagine.

On the day you leave your body -- what I like to call your Continuation Day -- you will be greeted by everyone you have ever loved in any way for any reason...and, standing in front of the group, every person who has been so very dear to you. It will be a grand and glorious reunion, with joy and laughter and pure wonderment filling every heart and soul!

This has also been experienced by everyone who has ever left here -- all those who have gone before you -- of course. So do not grieve for them. They are so very happy! I'm not sure why you were meant to hear this on this particular day...but I bet you are...

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...

that the mere apprehension of a coming evil has
put many into a situation of the utmost danger.

F.L. Lucan said that, and it is right. There is no faster way to bring about misfortune than to think it is coming. Thought is a powerful force, and it is a creative tool that many people give little energy to -- or abandon in the face of any real threat to safety or stability.

What are you worried about today? Why? Rather than worry about it, would it not be a better use of your mental time to visualize a positive outcome? Use your mind in this way today and you will have tapped one of the most extraordinary tools God has placed in your hand for the creation of your tomorrows.

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...

that all families have troubles in them. Problem-free families do not exist. Indeed, the challenges in families are family's greatest gifts.

How else could we be healed of all the false notions we have about what it means to be human? How else could we learn of real love, and of true compassion, and of total acceptance?

There is, of course, nothing to learn. There is only for us to remember what we have always known. And families give us the greatest opportunity to do that. Therefore, don't condemn "Uncle Charlie" or "Aunt Matilda". Rather, embrace them even more fully, and show them what it means to be fully human...so that they can find their way back home.

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...

that love is not what you want, it is what you are. It is very important to not get these two confused.

If you think that love is what you want, you will go searching for it all over the place. If you think love is what you are, you will go sharing it all over the place. The second approach will cause you to find what the searching will never reveal.

Yet you cannot give love in order to get it. Doing that is as much as saying you do not now have it. And that statement will, of course, be your reality. No, you must give love because you have it to give. In this will you experience your own possession of it.

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...

that your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.

Kahlil Gibran said that, and he was right. Listen, therefore, to your heart. Cultivate the ability to do this. Practice it. Produce it. Perfect it.

It is not that difficult. Just be quiet with yourself. And for heaven's sake, stop listening to your mind. You will not find the truth there. You may find the answer, but it will not be the truth unless it coincides with the answer in your heart.

You think there is more to know about life than this, but there is not. Your heart holds the key. Your heart holds the wisdom. Your heart holds the future. Your mind knows nothing but the past. It imagines the future will be just like yesterday, so it makes it decisions based on that. Only your heart can see beyond memory's horizon.

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...

that there is something 'wrong' with everything.

No matter what you are looking at, you can find something wrong with it, something imperfect, something that is not okay with you. Don't worry, if you look hard enough you'll find it.

There is also something 'right' with everything. No matter what you are looking at, you can find something right with it, something perfect.

There remains, then, only one question: What are you going to look at? What are you choosing to notice? What is your perspective? (I'll bet you already know what God's perspective is...)

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, Melodie, I believe God wants you to know...

that nothing is ever as bleak as it looks. Everything, in fact, is a blessing.

I know, I know...that is sometimes very hard to believe. How can a suddden, calamitous event in one's life be a blessing? It takes a longer view, I know, to see this wonderful truth. Even a diagnosis of a terminal illness could be seen as another gift from life when experienced from a particular perspective.

It is an opportunity for us to express once again, at the next highest level, Who We Really Are. And, if it turns out that, at the Soul level, we have indeed decided to leave our present physicality in this particular way and time, that, too, would be an expression of our Highest Self. And so, all "calamities" are blessings, not yet understood by the Mind. God knew this was a good day for you to hear this...

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...

that the gifts you have to give are multitudinous and magnificent -- and your time to give those gifts has only just begun.

The life events of this moment are being placed in your experience to provide you with a perfect context within which to experience the true wonder and glory of Who You Really Are. Honestly, without a lot of fluffy talk, it is time for you to know and to express the fullness and the richness of how wonderful, of how special, you are.

These events, the occurrences of these days and times, the challenges in your life right now, are designed by you (at a very high level) to give Little You a chance to experience and express Big You...right here, right now. Take a look at what you are facing in this moment, on this very day. Do you think this is by accident?

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...

that strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.

Mahatma Gandhi said that, and he was right. Boy, was he right! My father put this to me in another way. Often during my childhood he would say, "Never take 'no' for an answer." And he made it clear to me that by this he meant, not just from people, but from life.

Life is bendable to our will more than we know. Every single time? Every single instant? No.

(Well, actually, yes...but that will probably not be our experience, unless we have reached Mastery.)

But more than we know. In fact, that's the deal. If we don't know that life bends to our will, it will not.

So the trick is to know that life is on our side -- and but awaits our command. Look what Gandhi did.

Love, Your Friend....

25 Reasons to Embrace Criticism
by Lori Deschene, Original Story, Jun 17, 2011

“Criticism is something you can easily avoid by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” ~Aristotle

At the end of the day, when I feel completely exhausted, oftentimes it has nothing to do with all the things I’ve done.

It’s not a consequence of juggling multiple responsibilities and projects. It’s not my body’s way of punishing me for becoming a late-life jogger after a period of cardiovascular laziness. It’s not even about getting too little sleep.

When I’m exhausted, you can be sure I’ve bent over backwards trying to win everyone’s approval.

I’ve obsessed over what people think of me, I’ve assigned speculative and usually inaccurate meanings to feedback I’ve received, and I’ve lost myself in negative thoughts about criticism and its merit.

I work at minimizing this type of behavior—and I’ve had success for the most part—but admittedly it’s not easy.

I remember back in college, taking a summer acting class, when I actually made the people around me uncomfortable with my defensiveness. This one time, the teacher was giving me feedback after a scene in front of the whole class. She couldn’t get through a single sentence without me offering some type of argument.

After a couple minutes of verbal sparring, one of my peers actually said, “Stop talking. You’re embarrassing yourself.”

Looking back, I cut myself a little slack. You’re vulnerable in the spotlight and the student’s reaction was kind of harsh. But I know I needed to hear it. Because I was desperately afraid of being judged, I took everything, from everyone as condemnation.

I realize criticism doesn’t always come gently from someone legitimately trying to help. A lot of the feedback we receive is unsolicited and doesn’t come from teachers—or maybe all of it does.
We can’t control what other people will say to us, whether they’ll approve or form opinions and share them. But we can control how we internalize it, respond to it, and learn from it, and when we release it and move on.

If you’ve been having a hard time dealing with criticism lately, it may help to remember the following:

 
The Benefits of Criticism:

Personal Growth

1. Looking for seeds of truth in criticism encourages humility. It’s not easy to take an honest look at yourself and your weaknesses, but you can only grow if you’re willing to try.

2. Learning from criticism allows you to improve. Almost every critique gives you a tool to more effectively create the tomorrow you visualize.

3. Criticism opens you up to new perspectives and new ideas you may not have considered. Whenever someone challenges you, they help expand your thinking.

4. Your critics give you an opportunity to practice active listening. This means you resist the urge to analyze in your head, planning your rebuttal, and simply consider what the other person is saying.

5. You have the chance to practice forgiveness when you come up against harsh critics. Most of us carry around stress and frustration that we unintentionally misdirect from time to time.
Emotional Benefits

6. It’s helpful to learn how to sit with the discomfort of an initial emotional reaction instead of immediately acting or retaliating. All too often we want to do something with our feelings—generally not a great idea!

7. Criticism gives you the chance to foster problem solving skills, which isn’t always easy when you’re feeling sensitive, self-critical, or annoyed with your critic.

8. Receiving criticism that hits a sensitive spot helps you explore unresolved issues. Maybe you’re sensitive about your intelligence because you’re holding onto something someone said to you years ago—something you need to release.

9. Interpreting someone else’s feedback is an opportunity for rational thinking—sometimes, despite a negative tone, criticism is incredibly useful.

10. Criticism encourages you to question your instinctive associations and feelings; praise is good, criticism is bad. If we recondition ourselves to see things in less black and white terms, there’s no stop to how far we can go!

Improved Relationships

11. Criticism presents an opportunity to choose peace over conflict. Oftentimes, when criticized our instinct is to fight, creating unnecessary drama. The people around us generally want to help us, not judge us.

12. Fielding criticism well helps you mitigate the need to be right. Nothing closes an open mind like ego—bad for your personal growth, and damaging for relationships.

13. Your critics give you an opportunity to challenge any people-pleasing tendencies. Relationships based on a constant need for approval can be draining for everyone involved. It’s liberating to let people think whatever they want—they’re going to do it anyway.

14. Criticism gives you the chance to teach people how to treat you. If someone delivers it poorly, you can take this opportunity to tell them, “I think you make some valid points, but I would receive them better if you didn’t raise your voice.”

15. Certain pieces of criticism teach you not to sweat the small stuff. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter that your boyfriend thinks you load the dishwasher “wrong.”

Time Efficiency

16. The more time you spend dwelling about what someone said, the less time you have to do something with it.

17. If you improve how you operate after receiving criticism, this will save time and energy in the future. When you think about it from that perspective—criticism as a time saver—it’s hard not to appreciate it!

18. Fostering the ability to let go of your feelings and thoughts about being critiqued can help you let go in other areas of your life. Letting go of worries, regrets, stresses, fears, and even positive feelings helps you root yourself in the present moment. Mindfulness is always the most efficient use of time.

19. Criticism reinforces the power of personal space. Taking 10 minutes to process your emotions, perhaps by writing in a journal, will ensure you respond well. And responding well the first time prevents one critical comment from dominating your day.

20. In some cases, criticism teaches you how to interact with a person, if they’re negative or hostile, for example. Knowing this can save you a lot of time and stress in the future.
Self Confidence

21. Learning to receive false criticism—feedback that has no constructive value—without losing your confidence is a must if you want to do big things in life. The more attention your work receives, the more criticism you’ll have to field.

22. When someone criticizes you, it shines a light on your own insecurities. E.G.,if you secretly agree that you’re lazy, you should get to the root of that. Why do you believe that—and what can you do about it?

23. Learning to move forward after criticism, even if you don’t feel incredibly confident, ensures no isolated comment prevents you from seizing your dreams.Think of it as separating the wheat from the chaff; takes what’s useful, leave the rest, and keep going!

24. When someone else appraises you harshly, you have an opportunity to monitor your internal self-talk. Research indicates up to 80% of our thoughts are negative. Take this opportunity to monitor and change your thought processes so you don’t drain and sabotage yourself!

25. Receiving feedback well reminds you it’s OK to have flaws—imperfection is part of being human.

If you can admit weakness and work on them without getting down on yourself, you’ll experience far more happiness, peace, enjoyment, and success.

We are all perfectly imperfect, and other people may notice that from time to time. We may even notice in it each other.

Somehow accepting that is a huge weight off my mind.