Lisa Overman, A Healed Heart

Soon my Aunt Judy will depart for another two years in Kenya as a missionary. She loves her work in Kenya and feels called to be there. She has been on home leave since the first of July. It seems to have flown and I have seen her far less than I expected to do. It’s odd really that we live in the same city yet we only talk via phone most of the time, meeting for lunch or a BBQ occasionally.

Her time at home has been packed with events and activities and must do’s. Doctor and dentist visits, speaking at visiting churches who may like to become one of her mission supporters, time for family, time for old friends, a bit of time to travel, mission conferences and suddenly seven months is gone in the flash of an eye. It’s startling and sad. I know she has enjoyed this time back at home with family and friends and her church. It’s been good to see her, to know a bit more about her life in Kenya.

She talks fondly of the people and the events her church in Kenya has sponsored and the children and families that are helped with her mission work. I understand her desire to be in Kenya probably more than anyone else in my family. I too feel a calling, to my writing and my healing work. I too have spent years living overseas. I understand and even with understanding I am sad that she will soon leave again. We will miss her.

Wells, Leon

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Losing our sense of security does a couple of things, it makes us panic and it makes us move in a different direction. It may not be a direction we wanted to go in, but reality has a way of saying, move your ass. Not every job can be the dream job, especially not in this economy. What a new job might be is a start in a new direction. Example; when my boyfriend Rob became a Firefighter/Paramedic it meant taking a short term pay cut from his previous career. As a Firefighter/Paramedic he’d found the calling he loved, doing work that he loves, and today with experience he makes more money than he was making in his previous field. Granted he chose to switch careers, he wasn’t forced into the situation by job cuts like others may be today. Yet the end result can be the same, short term pay cut, long term more security as well as a career you may find you love even more deeply.

A new direction can be a blessing in disguise, once you get past the initial shock and fear. I’ve always wanted to be a writer, and I’d been writing on nights and weekends for about a year when my mother got sick. I had even put together the first draft of my manuscript and sent it to my mom a month before she became ill. I’d published a few freelance pieces but with my mother’s death came a deep desire to publish my book. It meant writing on nights and weekeneds while I taught. It meant spending many vacations and weekends typing and editing over a period of several years. At times it felt endlessly painful and difficult, due to the emotional nature of the book I was writing; on healing relationships and grief.

The reality is dreams require time, patience and alot of hard work, mine certainly has. Sometimes it means working for very little while we gain the experience and knowledge we need in our new field and working another job to pay the bills. In my life the grief, my losses and the shift I’ve experienced have propelled me to this place where I’m now able and capable of helping others. I have healed; I have transformed my life through writing, therapy, keeping my faith close and simply walking through the pain when I truly thought it would kill me. It wasn’t my choice of a way to begin a new career, but today I’m happier and more peaceful than I’ve ever been. I see writing and helping other’s heal as my life’s work.

I haven’t yet gained a sense of financial security from my writing, like everyone I have to work hard to reach that place, but what I have is a knowledge that this is my life’s work. Everything I faced before this was leading me to this place, this time when I would use my knowledge and my writing skills to help others transform their lives. I didn’t choose this, it chose me. Maybe it can and will be the same for you. Your job loss or family loss may shift your life in a vastly different direction and a new career will be on your horizon. Walk through the pain and fear and see what joy and security you can find on the other side. Blessings to you.

The last weeks I’ve felt drawn to write about gratitude and how gratitude impacts our life and our experiences. Gratitude has shifted the flow of abundance in my life. Two days ago as I was impacted by a wonderful flow of abundance into my life I had an Ah Ha moment. It’s been through my own struggle with paying for two houses and all the accompanying bills, that allows me the insight to share with others in similar situations, allowing them to see that they too can make a positive shift in their life by focusing in gratitude.

It would just be words that are meaningless if people thought I had no similar experiences in my own life of this struggle in our trying financial times. I have been juggling the bills of these two houses for two years, alone. The moments of fear, anxiety and stress have been great. But my determination to find a way through the dark moments brought me to a place of grace and gratitude, where I realized my focus on gratitude was making a shift in my life. It can certainly make a difference in the lives of others in similar situations. No, it doesn’t happen over night. It is not a magic bullet to make all our problems go away. What it is, is a gentle shift in our thinking, our experiences, when we realize even in the struggles that we have things to be grateful for.

Okay, I admit there are moments when I’m not in gratitude, when I’m in fear. There are moments when the anxiety overcomes me and I feel like I can’t breathe from the stress. What gratitude has shown me is that I can shift my life with a grateful attitude. It has brought a gentle flow of abundance to my life. Several times now money has flowed to me that I needed greatly at that time. It doesn’t happen every time, and no matter how great or how small the abundance that comes, I focus my energy and my prayers saying thank you to spirit for providing each gift of abundance. I repeat my thanks and I find it shifts both my mood and my experience. I feel more uplifted living like this. I also find more blessed moments coming my way and find myself focused much more in an attitude of gratitude.

Gratitude is our best asset in times of challenge. When we feel overwhelmed with what is expected of us, with our ability to provide for ourselves and our family staying grateful for what we’ve already created and accomplished is very important. Gratitude aligns our us with our spirit, gratitude lifts our energy and shifts our body energy to a dimension of universal love that best serves our body, life and spirit.

It isn’t complicated, simply put it means awake with grateful thoughts for what you already have in your life. The person you love, the family you draw near, the bills you’ve been able to pay, the car you drive, the house or apartment you’ve made your own. Focus a thought of deep gratitude for each gift of your life. Spirit likes a grateful attitude. Living in gratitude daily shifts your energy in such a way as to draw more good into your life.

I know in these tough times it isn’t always easy to be grateful. I too have hours when I feel less grateful than I should. At times I allow fear or challenge to overcome me. My constant and remaining struggle of paying for two houses, when one hasn’t sold has me at times feeling as if I’m being drown by it all. It is truly overwhelming. What I’ve learned through my own challenge is that gratitude really really works.

The other day I was feeling quite grateful for money that spirit provided me with in an unexpected way. It wasn’t a lot, but I was grateful. I focused my thoughts over that afternoon in gratitude. Thanking spirit for providing me another small means of support. Interestingly the next day after focusing on gratitude and really thanking spirit for what I had received, more abundance came my way, nearly doubling the amount I had received the day before. It was a moment of realizing gratitude is key, gratitude is the shift our attitude needs to bring more abundance to our lives. Gratitude is key in shifting a life, your life, any life. Live and work in gratitude. Find ten minutes when you wake up and before you go to sleep to focus your thoughts on what you are grateful for. Each day allow that list to grow, thinking of all you truly have to be grateful for. Namaste.

I recently learned of an organization here in the Tampa Bay area whose goal it is to offer free medically assisted air transport for needy families. According to the information I read, Faith Charity Flights will serve children, adults, the elderly, accident victims, transplant patients and those needing distance medical treatments such as cancer treatments or treatments for rare diseases, who can’t afford commercial air ambulance service to reach their destination for treatment.

Faith Charity Flights is currently working to raise money for their air ambulance and to become certified with the state of Florida. They are seeking volunteers for their air ambulance flights. On their website you’ll find a page for potential volunteers to leave their name and personal information so that Faith Charity Flights can reach those interested in this voluteer opportunity.

If you would like to donate to Faith Charity Flights USA click on this link to find their donation page.
Having seen first hand a family member face cancer treatment and seeing another dying before treatment could begin I understand deeply the importance of what this organization is trying to do. They are working to create a means for those without the means to receive necessary medically assisted flights for care and treatment. Who among us wouldn’t wish for the opportunity to make a member of our own family more comfortable by having the support of a charity organization to ease the financial burden that long term illness often brings. Consider making a donation to this worthy cause and share their website with others who might also consider donating. Every drop makes a ripple and every ripple produces a change.

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When I see a beautiful flower growing I often think of the conditions that are necessary for that flower to reach it’s potential. It needs a strong soil base, abundant water and light for it’s nourishment. We are each like a flower. For us to grow and reach our potential we must have a strong foundation beneath us to support us in the most difficult and dark moments.

We use our strength and belief in ourselves when things feel like they’re crumbling, or challenging us. With that foundation nourishing us we are strong enough to say, “this is the path and I will remain focused. I know that I’m in the midst of challenge and change but I can do this. That is not always easy to say. Sometimes it feels easier to move off the path to do something different, something that fullfills us in the short term.

Nourishment and support may not appear from those around you. Even those you love the deepest may not understand your experences and situation. In those times it is best to go within, to recognize that not everyone sees things in the same fashion. Perceptions can be very different and the only thing you can do is release your need for exterior support.

This is when nourishment and support from within are key. We each have abilities and gifts and we create an inner belief in our selves and our skills. In the rough moments and days of challenge, refocus on your self, on your skills and begin to create the conditions you personally need to feel successful. Take it one step at a time and remember the flower. Use that inner foundation of strength to branch out as you feel ready and capable.

There are many challenges that we face in this economy. With the state of homes, jobs and investments pretty much everyone is feeling the anxiety of the financial down turn. There are strategies and attitudes that can help us get through these times of challenge. They may not immediately change our situation, but they will uplift our mood, attitude and energy level, which is essential when we are feeling overwhelmed.

Abundance flows through us. Our thoughts, our attitudes, our efforts, our energy all effect the flow of abundance in our life. The best attitude is gratitude. Each time money flows to you say “Thank You.” Think Thank You and maintain a grateful attitude. If you receive eight hundred dollars, but you feel you need fifteen hundred to be secure don’t put your energy into what you feel is lacking. Focus your thoughts on being grateful for what you have received and what you can do with this current abundance. A thankful and grateful attitude allows more abundance to flow to you and through you.

Creating abundance requires an open heart and mind. The direction you think abundance will come from may not be the direction it comes from at all. Remain flexible and open to all avenues. For example in my own life I’ve spent time, energy and effort going through the process to substitute teach. I’ve completed all paperwork, submitted all references, licence and just about stood on my head to be approved. It has been nearly three months and I am still waiting for my processing and to be finger printed. After three months of expended energy and effort I still have not earned any money subbing.

Instead I’m keeping myself open to other avenues of revenue. One fell into my lap through a friend’s phone call. She and her husband have begun selling their enormous collection of Cd’s and books on Amazon.com. In one month they have earned two hundred dollars. Like me they are trying to downsize and release excess stuff. After talking to Myscha I realized there are many avenues to creating a cash flow and being open to creative options is the key to staying abundant.

I’m not saying my original plan of subbing won’t work. I’m saying staying open to all options is the best plan in these challenging financial times. If I had closed my mind to to everything else I wouldn’t be downsizing stuff I’ve needed to clear out and I wouldn’t have this gentle flow of abundance from a source I never expected.

An open mind and a willing heart are key. Be willing to think outside the box. Be willing to live outside the box! Be willing to create opportunities in unexpected places. Abundance flows from spirit and there are many avenues it can use. Don’t stay attatched to just one.

An attitude of daily gratitude shifts the energy of your spirit and your body. It opens a place within you that allows opportunity and abundance to flow through you. Recognizing your joy and gratitude helps to shift your life. Morning prayers upon awakening of thanks and appreciation for your life are a beautiful way to transform your day.

Refocusing through the day in gratitude is an essential part of the plan. This helps shift your mind away from scattered thoughts to thinking beautiful thoughts for each situation and thing you give thanks for and allows you to hold gratitude in your mind. This is clarifying. Gratitude is an attitude, it shifts your energy, it opens you to new things.

Photo Credit: Hay House Publishing

You Can Heal Your Life is a life affirming and life changing movie. This dvd is a two disk package. One disk is the movie. The second disk is a series of interviews with well known spiritual speakers and writers. Among them Louise Hay, Wayne Dyer, Esther and Jerry Hicks, Gregg Braden and Dr. Christine Northrup, Doreen Virtue and Cheryl Richardson.

These two videos are filled with wonderful insights, inspiration, information and guidance. I have now watched these two video’s several times. Sometimes focusing on the movie, other days focusing on the insights and information in the interview dvd. Today I’m reminded what a gift this dvd is and how life transforming it can be for all of us when we use these techniques and strategies in our life.