More Books Released

So much for my vow to be more frequent regarding posts. My apologies. Does it count that I've been writing a lot? I have two more inspirational nonfiction books now out. Joy Glows was released in July and is a devotional. I have gotten rave reviews from those who have read it and believe I personally like it a bit better than the first one.

In the Stillness just came out this week and begins with the story of my husband's devastating facial injuries and our struggle to deal with the aftermath over a number of years. However, it also spends far more time analyzing the human response to tragedy, the barriers which must be overcome and all of the tools God places at our disposal to comfort and heal us. I would love for you to read it, now available on Kindle and soon in print (before the end of September).



The Light Within up for Cover Award

I just found out my new inspirational book is up for a cover award. Doing the Happy Dance!! It will be featured on TheBookBoost.Blogspot.com on June 9th!! PLEASE go over then and leave a comment. Now it's time to break out a bottle of wine. :)

Humility -- Keep It

Because in the school of the Spirit man learns wisdom through humility, knowledge by forgetting, how to speak by silence, how to live by dying.
Johannes Tauler

Learning to be humble isn’t easy, yet it may be the most important thing we ever learn. From the time we are born, our parents, teachers and mentors impress upon us the importance of self-esteem, self-awareness and how to do well in the world in which we live.

It is the wise advisor who, before anything else, teaches humility . For by thinking of others first we find out greatest happiness. 

 

Through serving others we satisfy ourselves in a manner no person or thing can provide. 

 

Living life is our greatest teacher because it demonstrates to each of us that there are many situations beyond our control. As we wrestle through hard times, we struggle with our own mortality. In the midst of darkness, most of us continue to fight against what is happening to us. It is the nature of the human condition. Yet, as we seek answers and forge on, bent on surviving the agony of being in a void, the answers continue to evade us. It is only after emerging from those experiences that we are likely to find our answers.

 

Only later, as we look back on what transpired (which can be immediately later or far into the future), may we discover a startling truth. Only through humility and total surrender of that which is beyond our control can we possess our own personal power and experience the joy of living.

 

Life is a series of dichotomies. Instead of fighting it, embrace it, both good and bad. Remember that through adversity we grow strong. Just like the lead in a pencil, what was once soft can grow strong under pressure and emerge, shining like a diamond. So, to each of you, be humble, surrender and endure. Shine—be a diamond.

Castles in the Air?

Ever heard the expression building castles in the air? Normally, it means that you're daydreaming about something wonderful that will never come true. Daydreams are, after all, a distraction to the reality in which we live, aren't they? You tell me. If we could never dream of a better life, would we work towards our future? Perhaps there is a great benefit to building castles in our minds.

Psychiatrists will have varying opinions, and don't even delve into Freud would say. I have my own opinion of Freud. Most contemporary psychiatrists would probably tell you that daydreaming can be helpful for alleviating stress and awakening the creative side of your mind. Many people engaged in writing, painting, building, any kind of project creation, may first begin with a daydream of what that finished project can be.

One of my poems about Vision in my latest release, The Light Within, tells you that you can follow the trodden path of the daily grind or you can dream of those castles and set out to make them true:

Be true to your muse, and never let doubt,
Keep you trapped in and not acting it out.
Life is too short not to love what you do,
Chart your own course and sail it on through.

I personally feel like soaring through the sky is far more rewarding than sinking deep into a rut.

Hope and Fear

A friend of mine recently told me that we should each reject fear and follow our hearts—because it is only in your heart that fear cannot reside. Love has no place for fear. Yet how do we conquer fear, that angry beast that beats at our feet on a daily basis?

While we fear the past, we likewise yearn for what is to be, a hope that often is unfulfilled; for hope speaks of dreams that are just that, dreams, that may or may not come into fruition. Therefore, it is likely to deduce that fear is a residual from past events where we have endured hardship in a manner that we believe may be repeated in our present and/or our future.

Hope, on the other hand, keeps us from jumping off the ledge at the thought of the return of fear by looking at a future that can be brighter. These opposing forces are really at the two extremes of the human psyche—the ying and yang, if you will.

So how do we keep from becoming addicted to one or the other—or both? It’s easy for me to tell you and much harder for me to live by my own advice. Here’s how I see it: in order not to live in fear or in hope, you must be grounded in the present. That’s right, you have to be one-hundred-percent accounted for today. Mind, body, heart, spirit—here today and not planning for tomorrow or worrying about the past.

Just think about it. What if we all could live for today? Do you know just how productive we would be and how much love we could share in just that twenty-four hour period? Perhaps it’s just a pipe dream, but I believe we would all benefit by trying to be present today. It would help us provide better care for our patients, and in doing so, would make us happier human beings as well.

My World is Never Dark

Hi to all. This is a new blog to which I hope to contribute better than I have done to other ones in the past. I felt like I needed a different spot to share my love for life and to thank God for the chance to let others participate in my joy. I first began to write inspirational poetry and other nonfiction when my mother urged me to do so. But then unexpectedly, I discovered His magic. My very unassuming and imperfect attempts to convey God's comfort, love and ability to forgive and transform were somehow working in the lives of those most in need. It reached out to those who had lost a loved one to illness or death, to others who grieved someone leaving them, and yet to others who battled their own demons through addiction or loss of self. As a byproduct of seeing it work for others, I felt my own renewed joy. Please join me now as I attempt to introduce you to my world which isn't always sunny but is never dark.