Always Believe

I sing in a choir and this winter we are singing "Always Believe" by Greg Gilpin. For some reason this piece resonates with me. We have had a hard month and had to say no to something when we really wanted to say yes. We knew that no was the right answer for us, but it was one of the hardest things I've had to do. Sorry for being cryptic, but there are others involved, and I do not have the right to share their part of this story. I have found peace with our decision and part of that has been the words for this song (it can be found under the Music for 2007)

Always Believe

( A Song for December)

For some, this is a season of hope.

For some, this is a season of faith.

For others, it's a season so full of dreams

And wishes that they long to come true.

And there are those who just enjoy the winter snow

And all the beauty nature can bring.

And many share the love of fam'ly and friends

And show it with the things they do

Always believe, always believe

In what your heart is telling you

Always believe, always believe

Let it guide you in all that you do.

And in this season, there's a wonderful reason

To share ourselves and all that we are.

Always believe and believe the love that's deep in your heart.

Did you know that there's a single thread,

That connects us all, one by one?

And this thread of love, of faith, of hope

Creates a strong and beautiful bond!

Always believe, always believe
In what your heart is telling you
Always believe, always believe
Let it guide you in all that you do.
And in this season, there's a wonderful reason
To share ourselves and all that we are.
Always believe and believe the love that's deep in your heart.

Believe the love that's deep in your heart

I believe in my Bright Star Dreams

Create Your Dream

I read a lot of blogs written by people who have or are adopting from Ethiopia. In my blog surfing, I found this post about a friend of the blogger who visited North Africa with a non-profit agency shortly after celebrating a typical North American Christmas. He vowed that this year would be different. This year he would Create Christmas instead of buying it, so he could donate the money that was saved to the non-profit agency. As part of his project he is asking mothers or mothers to be to write letters to share their stories with other mothers. I applaud this man and his project. I am going to try to write a letter and also contemplate how I too can create Christmas or my Dream rather than buying it this year.

If you have any ideas, please comment.

Remember

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, remember those who have given their life so that we may live in freedom.

Hope for peace. Support those who give so much to make it happen

Bright Star Dreams

Bright Star Dreams

I found this Cool tool on another blog and played with it using the words from one of my posts. You can customize the font, colour and the layout or use a radomizer to play until you find a look that you like. The word sizes change based on the number of times a word is used. I had a little fun playing with it and here are my Bright Star Dreams in colour.

The image was created at http://www.wordle.net/

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Bright Star Dreams

Be Thankful

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving

I have much to be thankful for and sometimes when I am caught up with my life I have to remind myself how much I have. This past month I was working so much that I am now sick with a cold. My husband has been wonderful through this. When I was working he made sure there was dinner on the table and clean clothes in my closet. Now that I'm sick, he has made chicken soup from scratch and has ensured that I am getting a good night's sleep.

Strangely enough, I am not worried about the market crash or an impending recession. I work contract, so it is possible my work could end at any time - with no severance - but again I'm not worried. I have a number of contacts asking for my help and I feel we are well prepared for this. We do not carry much debt (a mortgage that is floating with prime and a low interest car loan) and we have been living within our means. We have a number of discretionary expenses that could be cut if needed. We have a nest egg that we have been adding to as often as we can. Since we felt the markets were over valued, we kept it in cash. I now see this as an opportunity, rather than something to fear. Of course, it is possible if things get much worse that my opinion will change. Right now, I am thankful that we have been restrained, while it seemed that everyone around us were out riding the wave of the boom.

Today I heard about a lady who has been trying re-unite her son with his sister in Ethiopia. After years of government paper work and forging new ground in both Canada and Ethiopia, her request has finally been approved. Her new daughter will be home in 4 to 6 months. This is unbelievably exciting for everyone involved. My worries seem so small in comparison.

Today we are going to celebrate Thanksgiving. We have bright star dreams and we are truly thankful

Be Grateful

"In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but the gratefulness that makes us happy."-- Albert Clarke

OK, I know I already already written about being grateful, but it is so true it is worth saying twice. I ran across this post on becoming wealthy which led to this post on the power of being grateful.

That is really what this blog is about for me -- the power of positive thinking and gratitude.

So obviously I haven't been keeping up with this as a daily gratitude blog, but I am grateful that I have an outlet for my thoughts. While I doubt anyone will actually find this place (except my husband -- Hi Honey!), I am not concerned about that as this blog is for me, not anyone else.

I've had a lot of cynical and negative thoughts lately. So I am really going to try to be more grateful and hopefully that will lead to happiness.

Today I am grateful for the summer. It is a time when the air is warm and the sun shines until well past my bedtime. It adds a brightness to my bright star dreams.

I am grateful for my Bright Star Dreams

Be Creative

“Creativity is allowing oneself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”
– Scott Adams

I am a perfectionist, so this kind of creativity sometimes eludes me. When I do make mistakes, they tend to be big ones. The kind you wish would go away, not ones you would even consider keeping.

Lately though, I've been making a lot of mistakes. The kind of absentminded mistakes that occur due to a lack of sleep. Yesterday, I almost put the dish soap into the refrigerator! LOL If anything, these mistakes have enhanced my sense of humour. I am learning that mistakes can be fun and now I guess I need to become an artist with my mistakes.

In software development mistakes that work out are called features instead of bugs. My bright star dream is to add more features to my daily life. I give myself permission to be creative.

Bright Star Dreams