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

Be Happy

"Happiness is having something to do, something to love and something to hope for."

- Allan K. Chalmers

I think there is more to this that I need to consider.

The something to do must be something that interests you. Something that you believe in. Something that has meaning to you. If you are doing things that have no meaning to you, then you have to ask yourself why you are doing it and try to find meaning. Sometimes the meaning is not in the doing, it is in the awareness that the doing brings. The days when my work has no meaning, I remind myself that by working I am able to enjoy my time better with my family. It makes that time more precious to me.

The something to love is good - except, it seems, if that love is not reciprocated. Then something to love can be really be painful. "It is better to have loved and lost..." Opening up your heart is a difficult thing to do, but the act can be a lesson in itself.

The most important something to love is yourself. I struggled with this for a long time. The key for me has been forgiveness and acceptance. I had to be able to forgive myself for the things for which I wasn't proud and to accept that I am not perfect. I make mistakes. Everyone does. I am finally at peace with this.

The something to hope for is really important. Without hope, it is really hard to move forward. Sometimes when I feel that I am losing hope, I have to pretend I have hope. In pretending to have hope, I start to gain actual hope again. It's a chicken or the egg thing for me.


Be Happy
Bright Star Dreams

Believe in your Dreams

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams"

- Eleanor Roosevelt

For the most part, I am not a dreamer. I pretty much stay in the here and now. I set goals and then I work to achieve them, but those are practical things like buying a house, getting a certain type of job, or saving a certain amount of money to retire on.

I've decided I need to allow myself to dream. To think outside the everyday life things and dream.

Some dreams that I've allowed myself:

• A world where the color of a person's skin does not matter
• A world that understands the meaning of enough and ensures that everyone has it
• A world where people consider the impact of their actions and words on others
• A world where finding cures is more important that the money earned from treating symptoms

These are some of my Bright Star Dreams

Be Exceptional

"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what other people say you cannot do"

- Walter Bagehot

I'm a perfectionist. Always have been, always will be. It is the part of me that drives me to create exceptional results. The darkest times in my life were when I believed the people who told me the things I could not do.

I know now that I am exceptional. I have exceptional ideas. I can do exceptional things. I achieve exceptional results. I have an exceptional family. We may do things a little different than the norm, but that's what makes us exceptional.

Bright Star Dreams

Be Balanced

Today I went to a yoga class - my second in as many weeks. Let me just say I love, love, love yoga. I normally do Ashtanga, but today for a change I went to a Hatha style class. It was wonderful. I feel all mellow and balanced.

My new intention is to try to practice once a week at a minimum. I believe that yoga is an essential component to achieve balance in my life.

Namaste

Bright Star Dreams