Smile! It Cures What Ails You.

"Smile, and the whole world smiles with you.  Cry, and you cry alone."  I don't know who said that, but I like it because it is true.  Everyone wants to be around a happy person.  A couple of weeks ago, I created a facebook page called "Be Happy", and it has 84 "likes".  People like to see us smile and laugh.  It relieves stress....theirs and ours.  Joel Osteen says, "If you have a sense of humor and you laugh regularly, your mind lights up.....As a result, your problem-solving skills are increased."

I've found this to be true when I am teaching my students.  I was trained back in the day by someone who told me not to smile at my students until Christmas.  Now, that is some bad advice.  Since I am retired, I sub every day so I greet my students with a smile.  When I taught full time, it took me a few years to realize that I needed to have fun with the kids and make learning fun.  Once I started doing that, I loved my job.  I wish I would have known from the get-go that smiling helps with bonding and drawing students to me.  I was taught not to be friends with my students, but guess what?  When I became friendly, I got a lot more work out of my students.  It's not good for us, or those we teach, to be serious all the time. A smile brings down the walls and makes us accessible.

My grandkids make me smile.  My little baby Rosie laughs a lot.  It's contagious.   Her mom sends me videos and I post them on face book.  It brings me such joy.  Job 8:21 says, "He will yet fill your mouth with laughter."  This is so healing.  It cures what ails me.

Love and Light,

Patty

Laughter is Good for Us

Laughter relieves stress.  There is no doubt about it.  I love to read "Pluggers", "Family Circus", and "Off the Mark" in the comic section of the paper everyday.  Then I glance around to see if there are any other cartoons that catch my eye.  My husband and I enjoy watching reruns of "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Seinfeld".  We love to laugh.

I just started a page on facebook a couple of days ago called "Be Happy" with posters of inspirations and things.  We need to be optimistic and positive and laugh a lot.  This would dispel many health problems like bad digestion, edginess, headaches, sleeplessness, nervousness, and lack of energy.

Laughter is just good medicine.  It stimulates natural healing in the body.  The average child laughs 200 times a time.  Compare that to the 14 to 17 times an average adult laughs.  That is why I love to host Camp Nana.  The laughter of my grandchildren is contagious.  I learn how to play again, and it is fun!  I just read that every time we laugh, we reduce a stress hormone and increase a human growth hormone known as the "youth hormone" by as much as 87%.

I am a big Obama fan.  I've seen him age a lot in the four years he has been in office.  I'm sure the stress is causing it.  He gets criticized every time he does anything and heaven forbid, he take any time off or vacation or anything.  He is a funny, classy man, though, and I wish he would take some time to just have fun.  He works too hard.  It would reduce his blood pressure and make his immune system stronger.  But, hey, we all need to play more.  We all need to take time to have fun and laugh every day.

Proverbs 17:22 says, "A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing." Yes, sources say that people who laugh regularly are 40% less likely to have a heart attack than those who don't.  Also people who laugh regularly develop "natural killer" cells that destroy cancer cells.   That's enough to make me want to laugh right now.  I have "Seinfeld" on, and I am enjoying it a lot.  George and Jerry are acting like juveniles mimicking each other and Kramer slides through the door in the most hilarious way.  Then Elaine comes in and acts all excited, jumping up and down, in a weird way.  It is too funny.

Well, we all need to laugh a lot.  It free and it's good for us.  Let me end with a story I just read: "Energizer bunny arrested.  Charged with battery."   LOL

Love and Light,

Patty

See with the Heart, Not the Eyes

A classroom poster read, "Acceptance is seeing with the heart, not the eyes."  So many times we judge people based on our own experiences, not really knowing what has happened to them.  We use our limited perception to interpret their appearance or behavior.  Everyone has a story.  Joel Osteen wrote, "The world is full of people who need to be understood.  We don't know what others are going through.  We don't know the hurt or the pain they've endured.....Give people a little room....When you see people through the eyes of love, eyes of compassion, and eyes of understanding, you won't be nearly so critical."

This reminds me of the story of Mary Groda-Lewis who was dyslexic.  Because no one recognized it, she was illiterate until age 16.  She was very rebellious and went to reform school.  While giving birth, she nearly died from a stroke, but through it all, she never gave up.  At age 18, she received her GED and was named Oregon's outstanding Upward Bound student.  She worked odd jobs and earned enough money to go to college and earn a degree.  She still wasn't through with her education, though, as she applied to 15 medical schools and was rejected by them all.  Finally she was accepted by Albany Medical School where she graduated with honors at the age of 35.  A movie was made about her life.  She is now a renown and respected doctor at an Idaho Clinic.

This rebellious young lady turned into a wonderful doctor.  Albany Medical School gave her the chance she needed to fulfill her dreams.  It would have been easy to write her off like the other medical schools, but this institution saw something in her that other schools had overlooked.

I think the lesson in this story is to practice acceptance and understanding so that we can be a catalyst and make a difference in someone's life.  We are all teachers, and we all can be taught.  Let us encourage family and friends who are struggling.  Make us a blessing in someone's life.

Love and Light,
Patty

A Critical Spirit

"Perception is a mirror, not a fact.  As I think, so I see." This quote from Jerry Jampolsky has meant so much to me through the years.  It reminds me look for positive things in people and in my environment so that I will live in a positive world.

This is especially true in my relationships.  My husband is a wonderful man, but everyone has faults, and he is no exception.  I really try to focus on his strengths instead of his weaknesses, and then he displays even more strengths.  Actually, my husband is not a very critical man so he is easy to love.

Sometimes, though, I encounter negative people who would rob my joy if I didn't take time to be in touch with God.  I like the story I saw in email once about the woman criticizing her neighbor's dingy wash on the clothes line only to find out that she was looking at it through her own dirty windows.  When she washed her windows, she was surprised to see that the neighbor's wash was really clean, not dingy at all.  I think I encountered this recently when someone was criticizing a member of my family and hadn't bothered to wash their own windows.

It is during times like this, though, that I realize how important forgiveness is, and how I need to stand guard over my own spirit so I do not become critical.  I need to realize when my own window is dirty and train myself to see the best in people.  Joel Osteen suggests that you have this internal conversation, "You know, I may not understand them, but I will not be a faultfinder.  I'm giving this person the benefit of the doubt."

The way other people make a living or raise their children is none of my business or none of anyone else's business, unless, of course, they are breaking a law or something.  If everyone would spend the time and energy on their own issues that they spend on other people's issues, they would have it all together themselves.  There would be no time for nosiness, only time for celebrating their own successes as well as other people's successes.

Well, I am getting out the windex today and cleaning my windows so I won't look at other people's laundry and judge it as dirty.  I need to do that in all my relationships and even get prayed up enough to not be critical this coming school year of my district's policies.  That's a big one for me.

Light and Love,

Patty

Camp Nana

Camp Nana is an annual event where all the grandkids come, and we just enjoy being together.  This summer was special because the parents came too for the first few days and took the kids to Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun.  They are creating such good memories.  My hope is that Camp Nana will be a peaceful retreat in the turbulence of life, not only for the children but for the parents as well.  We all need a little break sometimes from the pressures that come into play in a family in today's economy.  The parents need time to relax and gain perspective while I need time to enjoy these precious little beings that are my legacy.

I am happy that I can have this time and hope that in some way I can help when my children feel overwhelmed with the challenge of parenting and making a living, etc.  I also gain insight from talking to the parents about their own childhood.

When I was a young parent, I was a worrier.  I must confess that I still fall into that trap sometimes as a grandparent as well.  My oldest granddaughter Jessica noticed that and her mother Teresa told her,  "Nana does a lot better at maintaining inner peace than she used to.  You should have seen what she was like when Tori and I were kids."  Well, that makes me feel good that I have made some progress in that department, lol!

I know it is my faith that has helped me make a change.  I know, without a doubt, that God is still on His throne, and that I have the Holy Spirit inside me to guide me into all peace.  When turbulence comes, it's a wonderful opportunity for God to show how really great His is!  When we face adversity, we realize that God is the One who pulled us through. He is the Light  that overcomes the darkness.  Our part is just to keep shining and smiling through it all.  Joel Osteen says, "When unexpected challenges appear, your attitude should be: This, too, shall pass.  God will help me handle this.....God did not bring you this far to fail you now."

Yep, Camp Nana is a fun place, and I hope with all my heart that it provides good memories for the grandchildren and a peaceful respite for their parents.

Love and Light,
Patty (Nana)

What Happened?

I gained twenty pounds this last year.  I have been successful so many times with losing weight, and this last time I was sure it would be the last time.  Well, guess what?  This is not over.  The twenty pounds will come off.  I am not discouraged with this temporary setback.  I am making no excuses.  This is a test that I will pass..  I am good at taking tests.  I always score well, and this will be no exception.

I am still joyful.  I still have a spring in my step.  God is still leading me, and He gives me strength.  I write the story of my life, and it will have a happy ending because I choose it.  I am committed.  I am disciplined and willing to sacrifice.  I will give up unhealthy food to have a better life.

I am willing to accept that responsibility.  There will be opposition along the way.....travel, emotional setbacks. holidays, etc.  Sometimes I won't lose weight as fast as I would like.  Sometimes it will be difficult.  I've been through this many times before, but this is a test I can pass.

Having my mind made up and being of high resolve, my victory is on its way.  I just weighed myself, and I am claiming the Word in Galatians 6:9 which says, "Let's not get tired of doing what is good.  At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up."

Psalm 24:9 reads, "Lift up your heads....and the King of Glory shall come in."    I lift up my head to see God's favor.  My extra pounds are weighing me down so I'm trading them in for a new vision of myself.

I feel so light already.

Love and Light,

Patty

The Freedom of Forgiveness

"When I choose forgiveness, the path to peace, happiness and freedom is revealed.  I choose to forgive myself and others.  I choose to be happy." ~ Daily Word

When our van was vandalized and our electronics were taken about a week and a half ago, I realized that I had a choice to make.  I could cling to the hurt and resentment of being robbed and let it destroy my happiness and poison my view of humanity, or I could release it and take away the power of the criminal to hurt me.  If I held onto the hurt and allowed it to make me bitter, I would continue to hurt.  This would imprison me, not them.

No, I wanted to move forward.  I had a valid reason to be angry, but I wasn't going to dwell on it.  It was not going to consume me and be an open wound.  The only way to heal the bruise is to forgive and let it go.

Once I forgave, God restored double my joy.  Not only was all my stuff replaced by my wonderful husband, but I have better things now.

"If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." ~ John 20:23

Do we really want to hold on to the wrongs someone did to us?  If we do, we remain a prisoner to it. We remain hurt when Jesus was sent "to announce release to the captives...to send forth as delivered those are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity]" according to Luke 4:18.  It's frustrating trying to get back at someone who did us wrong.  We need to let go of the baggage so our happiness can be restored.  Joel Osteen says, "If you will let go of the hurts and pains and get on God's payroll, God will settle your case.  He will make your wrongs right.  He will bring justice into your life.  You will get what you deserve, and God will pay you back with double the joy, double the peace, double the favor, and double the victory."

What more could we possibly want?

Love and Light,

Patty