Day 56: 309 days left…88 books to go!

Simple Abundance  The Blessing of Health (Nov. 24th)

•  "Money is going to have to buy a lot in the next few weeks, but it can't buy the gifts that count most:  good health, a loving and supportive marriage, healthy chidren, the fulfillment of creative expression, and inner peace."
• "'One of the most sublime experiences we can ever have is to wake up feeling healthy after we have been sick.'"  Rabbi Harold Kushner, Who Needs God
• "If you have a healthy mind, a healthy heart, and reserves of stamina and creative energy to draw on, the world is literally lying at your feet."

Simple Abundance  When You're Sick (Nov. 25th)

• "Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, we make promises only; pain we obey."  Marcel Proust

Simple Abundance  Rx if for Harried Hearts and Frazzled Minds  (Nov. 26th)

•    "Sometimes none of it makes sense.  Sometimes it just is.  But if we can hold on long enough for this night to give way to another day, all shall be well, even if it's different from what we had expected.  Even if it's different from what we had hoped for and believed with all our hearts would happen...

All shall be well,
And all shall be well,
And all manner of things shall be well.

Dame Julian of Norwich

  Reminds me instantly of hymn, "It is well with my soul" and the proverb "This too shall pass."

Simple Abundance  What Women Want  (Nov. 27th)

• "A nap is not to be confused with sleeping.  We sleep to recharge our bodies.  We nap to care for our souls."
• "'No day is so bad it can't be fixed with a nap.'"  Carrie Snow 
  

Day 52: 313 days left…88 books to go!

Simple Abundance  True Thanksgiving

•  Happy Thanksgiving Americans! 
  

Day 51: 314 days left…88 books to go!

Simple Abundance  Meditation for Bad Girls

•  "It's so easy to be wicked without knowing it, isn't it?"  Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables...L.M. Montgomery (author)
• A few things that sounded interesting about Sarah's take on "Bad Girls":
• "Have been known to torture those who break the hearts of pals."
• "Bad girls listen to Billie Holiday."
• "Know the importance of regular waxing,"
• "Bad girls use cigarette holders; really bad girls attend cigar dinners."
• "Bad girls like disguise: they like presenting themselves as perfect moms, ice princesses, and librarians."
• They "Bare their midriffs, never their souls."
• "Bad girls don't just want to have fun, they make sure they do.  Bad girls are committed to the philosophy of personal pleasure."
• "Most of us are only bad girls in our dreams."
• "Bad girls realize this isn't a dress rehearsal.  Real life is what you make of it."
• "You can be bad.  You can be good.  You just sure as hell better be authentic."

And that's the word from Sarah today!

Day 50: 315 days left…88 books to go!

Simple Abundance  Playing Hooky

•  Good advice on taking a day off every now & then to indulge yourself...read a book with a box of fancy chocolates, don't answer the phone, get a spa treatment....relax & rejuvenate...I absolutely agree that this is important...but it is a luxury that not everyone is able to actually do, only dream of...
  

 

Day 49: 316 days left…88 books to go!

Simple Abundance  Riding the Big Kahuna (Nov. 16th)

• "We're in this world, but certainly not of it."
• "How we feel about ourselves, the joy we get from living, ultimately depends directly on how the mind filters and interprets everyday experiences.  Whether we are happy depends on inner harmony, not on the controls we are able to exert over the great forces of the universe."  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Weather Report  (Nov. 17th)

• "It's terribly amusing how many different climates of feeling one can go through in a day."  Anne Morrow Lindbergh
• "The only way I got sober was by acknowledging my dependence on personal drama to a Source stronger than my instinct for self-sabotage and finally surrendering the theatrics."

The Blessing of Friends  (Nov. 18th)

•   This is an exceptionally useful chapter for me...I value my friendships so much, but I constantly have trouble putting effort into them & let them weaken or lose ties altogether...
• "God speaks to us through all those intimate chats, conversations, and confessions."
• "Above all, let your friends know how much you love them.  Tell them frequently how much you treasure the gift of their friendship."
• "Friends are people who help you be more yourself, more the person you are intended to be."  Merle Shain

The Kindness of Strangers  (Nov. 19th)

•  "From this day forward, start becoming consciously aware of your encounters with strangers.  Look for them.  Smile.  Make eye contact.  Strike up a conversation.  You never know."
• "Be kind to strangers.  Let strangers be kind to you.  Think of it as a positive exchange of comfort and compassion in the circle of life."

Blessed Be the Ties That Bind  (Nov. 20th)

• "Try to make the effort.  Not having time, or 'meaning to', really doesn't cut it.  None of us have time, all of us mean to. We can all do it, once we make thoughtfulness easy with a system"
• "Simone Weil believed, 'To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul.'"

  Wow!  A lot to think about from today's readings.....I NEED to make more of an effort with my friends....that quote above hit me hard....no one has the time & everybody "means to"...but that doesn't cut it.....it really doesn't.... 

Day 44: 321 days left…88 books to go!

Simple Abundance  Heaven Watching Over You

•  Today's reading wasn't in-line with how I believe with spiritual realm exists...I'm not convinced that there is a specific angel who is guardian over just myself alone & I certainly would never bring myself to name them...but, that's me....!
  

Day 43: 322 days left…88 books to go!

Simple Abundance  Miracles

•   "Actually, the real miracle is not the event, but how we perceive the event in our lives."
• "Nothing real can be threatened.  Nothing unreal exists.  Herein lives the peace of God."  Marianne Williamson  "A Course in Miracles"
  

Day 42: 323 days left…88 books to go!

Simple Abundance  The Gaps

•  Interesting study on faith & doubt..."Faith breaks a heart in order to make it Whole."  I agree with this assessment..."learn the hard-way", "You have to walk through the valley in order to reach the mountain-top"...these are all saying I believe to be true...God brings joy in the morning, through the heart-ache..."This too shall pass"..."It is well with my soul"...only that first quote is from this book....the rest we just all know....but I would say believeing the last one is the surest way to have a whole heart after it is broken...knowing that God has a purpose to come out of whatever you're dealing with and being able to say that your soul is well with His outcome...now, THAT'S faith...
• "Perhaps the doubts must be acknowledged, accepted, embraced, and pushed past before our faith is strong enough, not just to talk about, but to sustain."  That's an interesting point at the end there...that being strong enough to talk about our pain is important...but being truly sustained in faith beyond that is where the real fortitude shines through....some people get up the strength to talk about it but can't take the next step to live their lives & see what more there is to engage their souls that is out there waiting for them....
• "Faith is not making religious-sounding noises in the daytime. It is asking your inmost self questions at night- and then getting up and going to work."  And see, I would say that faith is asking your inmost self or God rather, questions at night & throughout the day and living-out the answers....because you WILL get answers....and it's acting on those answers that's important...not just wrestling with the issues in the comfort of your home at night....that won't save the world, or your neighbor next door....

Amazing Grace

• "Grace fills empty spaces, but it can only enter where there is a void to receive it, and it is grace itself which makes the void."  Simone Weil  "We access grace like every other spiritual tool, by asking for it specifically and regularly."  "Now that you're awake, gratefully and expectantly ask for one day's portion of grace."
• Totally agreed!  You have to ASK for grace & you have to make room for it in your heart and then grace WILL be given to you & you'll be amazed at what you're capable of when abiding in His grace...when we're full of ourselves, our pride, our belief that we deserve to be treated better....there's no room for grace....

Celestine Moments

• "Strike up conversations with strangers who sit next to you or someone interesting-looking who makes eye contact.  Be receptive and alert.  See how many celestine moments you can accumulate in the course of a day.  The more open you are to synchronicity's role in your life, the more magnetic you become to Divine assistance."
• I believe I let this be me this evening...two members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints came to my door while my roommate & I were in the middle of viewing a chick-flick...and instead of rudely telling them, "I'm not interested!"  as I normally would have, I indulged them, I let them ask me questions, I took the time to answer them and crazily (possibly), agreed to them coming back to my house tomorrow at a set time, to discuss their faith!  I'm still not sure how I'm going to handle that or what God could want me to learn from the experience....but I was receptive & alert to a conversation with strangers, I made myself open to a potential celestine moment and I actually do feel more magnetic to God's intervention in my life after doing so...I will provide an update on the outcome tomorrow!

Answered Prayers

•  "We pray to meet our soul mate, instead of praying for the grace to become the woman our soul mate would be attracted to; we pray for wordly success when what we really long for is a sense of authentic accomplishment; we pray for more money, when what we need is a change in our relationship to money.  We pray for a certain outcome in any given situation, when what we should be praying for is peace of mind, no matter what outcome occurs."
• Absolutely agree!!!  Wow, Sarah & I are on a roll together with the past 4 days' readings!  Great advice!
  

Day 38: 327 days left…91 books to go!

Simple Abundance  The Sacrament of the Present Moment

•  Reading complete...!
  

Day 37: 328 days left…91 books to go!

Simple Abundance  Rising to the Occasion

• "Coping well enables you to see beyond the circumference of circumstance, so that the Real in the center o fyour daily round is not hidden by happenstance."

Shepheard's Hotel

• Oooh, a reading about romance!  "He knows that I was created in a burst of passion, for romance.  So were you."  Ha, ha!  I don't truly believe that I was created for romance...but I as a woman, do have a yearning for it always!
• This reading from yesterday's date calls us to remember "The romance of living that we let slip away every day because real life forces us into prudence."   
• "When you acknowledge your romantic impulses, no matter how implausible or impractical, you strengthen the intimate connection with your authentic self.  Connection with those who cherish and love you unconditionally.  Connection with those things that fuel your passions, feed your soul, keep you alive."
• "What must you do before you die?  Where must you go?  What worlds must you conquer?"

  This reading prompts me to finally make a bucket list...something I've always wanted to get down on paper, but never have.....

Everyday Life is the Prayer

• I love it and take notice when two or more of my daily readings are on the same topic...one of today's Love Dare readings was also on prayer...and ironically enough, or very likely, not ironic at all...Jay & I have been lacking in a real committment to prayer...I find it fairly effortless to pull out the devotion book to read & discuss together or sit down here at my desk and read my Bible & blog about it...but to take time to pray....is more difficult.  Sarah says in this reading that she believes women pray in many forms, many of which are not audible...but what I need is a dedication to intentional prayer...
• "In its purest form, prayer is conversation.  Communion.  Connection.  Intimacy."
• ..."instead, by praying you will increase your awareness of it (love)."
• "Women pray because we need to talk to Someone who's really listening."  And this last line reminds me of the words of Elizabeth Elliot in "Let Me Be a Woman"..."In order to learn what it means to be a woman, we must start with the One who made her."   
  

Day 34: 331 days left…91 books to go!

Simple Abundance  The Goddess Within

•  Descritption of the goddess, Vesta..."Vesta is the one who urges women to be quiet, to sit, to gaze, to listen, to prepare delicious meals, to bring beauty into our daily round, to live through our six senses, to create a sacred haven of security and serenity set apart from the world in order to protect all we cherish.  Vesta is the ancient goddess who calls on us to focus our creative energies on the Real."
  

Day 33: 332 days left…92 books to go!

Simple Abundance  Return of the Goddess

•  Reading complete...
  

Day 32: 333 days left…92 books to go!

Simple Abundance  Caring for Your Soul

• I missed "All Soul's Day"...a day to be more aware of nurturing the souls of others & in turn, nuture your own....I have bookmarked it for next year to remember to do something extra-caring throughout November 2nd next year....

 Becoming Real

• "Once you are Real you can't become unreal again.  It lasts for always."  Margery Williams  References made to "The Velveteen Rabbit" throughout this reading..."Real isn't how you are made.  It's a thing that happens to you.  When a child loves you for a long, long, time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."  The Velveteen Rabbit  "In order for us to become Real, we must become lovers of real life in all its complexity and uncertainty." 
  

Day 30: 335 days left…93 books to go!

Simple Abundance  Becoming More Magnetic to Money 

• "The path to personal wealth is regular saving and sharing, controlling expenditures, living debt-free, increasing prosperity throug prudent investment, protecting the bulk of your wealth from loss, owning property, establishing a future income for old age, and increasing the ability to earn money through perseverance."  There were a few ideas in this chapter that are ahead of where Jay & I are in our finances right now...there isn't a $100 bill to be had to carry around with me to remind me of my abundance....maybe one day!

Make Room for Mystery, Awaken to the Magic

• Reading complete...

NOVEMBER....."November's beauty radiates from within."

Embracing the Ebb

• "Earthly souls ebb and flow in sorrow and joy according to the seasons of emotion, just as the seasons of the natural world move through the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.  These are the days to be grateful for the harvest of the heart however humble it might be, and to prepare for the coming of the year's closure...This too shall pass."
  

Day 27: 338 days left…93 books to go!

Simple Abundance  Affirming Abundance

•  All about tithing today...lots of great advice...tithing is something Jay & I are already committed to, so I'm not going to hash-out the highlights of this lesson...but encourage you to read it!
  

Day 26: 339 days left…93 books to go!

Simple Abundance  Financial Serenity

• Great advice today...I'd like to take some time to see if I can put this into practice...
• "...there are certain actions we can take to increase our wealth.  The first is choosing to live on less than we earn, so that we can save and share more.  
• Many of us want savings accounts in theory, but psychologically resist them.  That's because we associate savings with deprivation instead of gratification.  For in order to save we must do without something else.  What we don't consider is that having a savings account enables us eventually to experience authentic satisfaction instead of the cheap imitation of instant gratification...
• How much would you save?  Start with whatever you can, but aim for ten percent of whatever money comes your way, depositing it in your account before it goes somewhere else."

  I shall let you know if I pull this off!

Day 25: 340 days left…93 books to go!

Simple Abundance  Quieting the Wants

• I LOVE that the quote to today's chapter is from the author of "Where the Wild Things Are"...which Jay & I just saw in theatre last night!
• "There must be more to life than having everything."  Maurice Sendak 

Day 24: 341 days left….94 books to go!

Simple Abundance  Spending Habits 

• "'Acting as if' can improve the quality of our lives enormously, with one exception: spending money.  You can't act as if you have all the money in the world if you don't.  You can't spend money as if there were no tomorrow if you can't cover the check..."
• "Extravagance offers gratification and a feeling of abundance.  Asceticism endows simplicity and a sense of security.  Simple Abundance offers it all."
  

Day 23: 342 days left...94 books to go!

Simple Abundance  On Paying Bills

•  Talking about how we can view paying bills in a more positive light..."We can pay for those services more serenely, even when we're strapped, by remembering that all financial transactions really boil down to an exchange of energy.  Someones provides us with energy in the form of heat, light, food, gas, clothing, shelter, the ability to speak to others over airwaves or watch movies from the comfort of our couches.  We reciprocate by paying for those services through energy in the form of money."
• Remember that all U.S.D. currency has "In God We Trust" inscripted on it...and in God we should trust all our money woes to...
• "Guard me against the arrogance of privilege, against the indulgence of feeling that I don't have enough, and the poverty of spirit that refuses to acknowledge what is daily given me...Keep me truthful in knowing where I spend, where my values actually are."  Gunilla Norris "Being Home"
  

Day 22: 343 days left…94 books to go!

Simple Abundance  Worrying about Money

•  "Worrying about money sends toxic signals: fear, lack, deprivation.  When your subconscious mind continually receives negative impulses, it duplicates in your daily round whatever it was instructed to manifest, such as fear, lack, deprivation."  Agreed!  Less worry always equals more happiness, especially about money.....