A time comes in your life when you finally 
get it...
When in the midst of all your fears and 
insanity you stop dead in your tracks and 
somewhere the voice inside your head cries 
out? ENOUGH -- Enough fighting
and crying or struggling to hold on.

And, like a child quieting down after a 
blind tantrum, your sobs begin to subside, 
you shudder once or twice, you blink back 
your tears and through a mantle of wet
lashes you begin to look at the world 
through new eyes.

This is your awakening.

You realize that it's time to stop hoping 
and waiting for something to change or for 
happiness, safety and security to come 
galloping over the next horizon. You come 
to terms with the fact that he is not 
Prince Charming and you are not Cinderella 
and that in the real world there aren't 
always fairytale endings....
(or beginnings for that matter)
and that any guarantee of "happily ever 
after" must begin with you, and in the 
process a sense of serenity is 
born of acceptance.

You awaken to the fact that you are not 
perfect and that not everyone will always 
love, appreciate or approve of who or what 
you are...and that's OK (They are entitled 
to their own views and opinions.) And you 
learn the importance of loving and 
championing yourself and in the process a 
sense of new-found confidence....
 is born of self-approval.

You stop bitching and blaming other people 
for the things that they did to you 
(or didn't do for you) and you learn
that the only thing you can really count 
on is the unexpected. You learn that people 
don't always say what they mean or mean what
they say and that not everyone will always 
be there for you and that it's not always
about you.  So, you learn to stand on your 
own and to take care of yourself and in the 
process a sense of safety & security is...
born of self-reliance.

You stop judging and pointing fingers and 
you begin to accept people as they are and 
to overlook their shortcomings and human 
frailities and in the process a sense of 
peace & contentment is born of forgiveness.
You realize that much of the way you view 
yourself, and the world around you, is as 
a result of all the messages and opinions 
that have been ingrained into your psyche. 
And you begin to shift through all the
crap you've been fed about how you should 
behave, how you should look and, how much 
you should weigh, what you should wear, 
and where you should shop and what you 
should drive, and where you should live, 
and what you should do for a living, who 
you should sleep with, who you should 
marry and, what you should expect of a 
marriage, the importance of having and 
raising children ....
or what you owe your parents.

You learn to open up to new worlds and 
different points of view. And you begin 
reassessing and redefining who you are 
what you really stand for. You learn the
difference between wanting and needing 
and you begin to discard the doctrines 
and values you've outgrown, or should 
never have bought into to begin with 
and in the process you learn to go....
 ...with your instincts.

You learn that it is truly in giving 
that we receive.  And that there is 
power and glory in creating and 
contributing and you stop maneuvering 
through life merely as a "consumer" 
looking for your next fix.  You learn 
that principles such as honesty and 
integrity are not the outdated ideals 
of a by gone era but the mortar that 
holds together the foundation upon 
which you must build a life.

You learn that you don't know everything, 
it's not your job to save the world and 
that you can't teach a pig to sing. You 
learn to distinguish between guilt and 
responsibility and the importance of 
setting boundaries and learning to say..
... NO. You learn that the only cross
to bear is the one you choose to carry 
and that martyrs get burned at the stake.

Then you learn about love. Romantic love 
and familial love. How to love, how much 
to give in love, when to stop giving and 
when to walk away. You learn not to 
project your needs or feelings onto....
.... a relationship.
You learn that you will not be more 
beautiful, more intelligent, more 
loveable or important because of the
man on your arm or the child that... 
bears your name.

You learn to look at relationships as 
they really are and not as you would 
have them be. You stop trying to control 
people, situations and outcomes. You 
learn that just as people grow and 
change so it is with love....
and you learn that you don't have the 
right to demand love on your terms...
...just to make you happy.

And, you learn that alone does not 
mean lonely... 
And you look in the mirror and come to 
terms with the fact that you will never 
be a size 5 or a perfect 10 and you stop 
trying to compete with the image inside 
your head and agonizing over how you....
 "stack up."

You also stop working so hard at putting 
your feelings aside, smoothing things over
 and ignoring your needs.
You learn that feelings of entitlement 
are perfectly OK.
..and that it is your right to want things 
and to ask for the things that you want...
and that sometimes it is necessary ...
to make demands.

You come to the realization that you 
deserve to be treated with love, kindness, 
sensitivity and respect and you won't settle 
for less. And, you allow only the hands of a 
lover who cherishes you to glorify you with
his touch...and in the process you 
internalize the meaning of self-respect.

And you learn that your body really is your 
temple. And you begin to care for it and treat 
it with respect.  You begin eating a balanced 
diet, drinking more water and taking more time 
to exercise. You learn that fatigue diminishes 
the spirit and can create doubt and fear.
So you take more time to rest. And, just as 
food fuels the body, laughter fuels the soul.
So take more time to laugh and to play.

You learn, that for the most part, in life 
you get what you believe you deserve...and 
that much of life truly is a self-fullfilling 
prophecy. You learn that anything worth 
achieving is worth working for and that 
wishing for something to happen is different 
from working toward making it happen.
More importantly, you learn that in order to 
achieve sucess you need direction, discipline 
and perseverance.  You also learn that no one 
can do it all alone and that it's OK ....
to risk asking for help.

You learn that the only thing you must truly 
fear is the great robber baron of all time. 
FEAR itself. You learn to step right into and 
through your fears because you know that 
whatever happens you can handle it and to 
give in to fear is to give away the right to 
live life on your terms. And you learn to 
fight for your life and not to squander it 
living under a cloud of impending doom. You
learn that life isn't always fair, you don't 
always get what you think you deserve and 
that sometimes bad things happen to 
unsuspecting, good people. On these occasions
you learn not to personalize things. You 
learn that God isn't punishing you or 
failing to answer your prayers....
 It's just life happening.

And you learn to deal with evil in its most 
primal state - the ego. You learn that 
negative feelings such as anger, envy and 
resentment must be understood and redirected 
or they will suffocate the life out of you 
and poison the universe that surrounds you. 
You learn to admit when you are wrong and...
 to build bridges instead of walls.

You learn to be thankful and to take comfort 
in many of the simple things we take for 
granted, things that millions of people upon 
the earth can only dream about; a full 
refrigerator, clean running water, a soft 
warm bed, a long hot shower.

Slowly, you begin to take responsibility for 
yourself by yourself and you make yourself 
a promise to never betray yourself and to 
never ever to settle for less than your
heart's desire. And you hang a wind chime
outside your window so you can listen to the 
wind. And you make it a point to keep smiling, 
to keep trusting and to stay open to....
...every wonderful possibility.

Finally, with courage in your heart and 
with God by your side you take a stand, 
you take a deep breath and you begin to 
design the life you want to live....
... as best as you can.

........................Author Unknown


The music playing is:
"A Time For Us"


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Native Prayer	God's Billboards	Our Prayer
Cleaning House	Prayer For The Nation	Through The Year
Inspiration	Learning Christ	Bible On The Net
Happiness	I Hope You Dance!	Road Of Life

Page created by:
"Twink's Ink"
November
2001