Did you see the moon last night?

 The brightness, the wonder, the beauty! We went out to take some pictures and called my brother to make sure he was going to get some too. What can you say...if you saw it, you understand what the big deal is now.  If you missed it, pictures are already popping up online. The moon was closer to us than it has been for many years and that meant we could see it better and stand in awe!

Gets us back to the need of “Staying Alive” and knowing it is the foundational need we all share in life. Nature is so good to us, most of the time. There are natural disasters, and when these occur, we wonder what happened? We ask:  How can we help? As we seek ways to do what we can, with what we have, we are humbled with all we do have in our life. We see that Staying Alive is not so easy for any of us; that our life can change in an instant.
 
If your health is good, be grateful. If you have friends that you can trust, have fun with and just enjoy time together, be grateful. If you have all the "stuff" you need in your life, see what you can share....and be grateful. If you can make time to be with you, to hear your heart, know your self and find out where you best fit in this world, be grateful. If you have a job you like, a place to share your gifts and talents be grateful.

As Spring comes, enjoy time alone, enjoy time with others, enjoy the beauty of nature and think of those who are living through disasters. See what you can do to help. Pray. Find ways to hear what others are saying. Keep your self in a good place emotionally, spiritually and physically. We can all improve here and there, so do what you can, while you can. We never know what tomorrow will bring our way.

This day, be grateful. Seeing the moon can remind us of our significance and how little we are too. Seeing the moon shine and beam can bring awe to our hearts and souls, wonder to our thoughts, and peace to our souls. We can be still and know we are not in charge. What a relief! 

A New Year!

2010 is gone and 2011 is just starting, what will we do? What will se do with our time, energy, strength and how will we feel at the end of this year?

I love the idea of beginning with the end in mind while living in the present moment.

There may be some “clean up” to do in our lives as we begin again, but we can. There may be some planning to do in order to become who we want to be while being who we are too…again, we are able…we have more power than we realize.

Let’s start the year with freedom and boundaries in mind. We do this quiet naturally actually. We are so fortunate to have so many freedoms and we are able to set boundaries for our self, get the help of others or if we just wait and do nothing, often boundaries will be set for us.

Look at each area of life and think about how YOU want it to be. A few examples are:

Spiritually: What disciplines do you desire to develop; prayer time, journaling, quiet time, time in nature to just be, walk or reflect? Do you need a community to share your ideas about God with and to join in worship with at times? What will you do for you?

Emotionally: do you need to ro-do your moods at times? How do you want to do that? Cognitive work, behavioral work, medical interventions, attitude adjustments, what do YOU need to consider?

Physically: How are you doing with the freedom and boundaries to eat what you want when you want? Do you need to make some adjustments in your intake and activities? You can! We live in a “land of plenty” and we can use a multitude of ways to be as healthy as we can be, develop our strength and learn to listen to our body. Today is a good day to start.

Financially: What are your goals? How much can you save weekly, even $1.00 matters; there are many ways to save and some banks offer easy ways to do it too, check it out. Take a look at the 21 day financial fast (Google it) and try it out. We all can be happy with what we have and use it wisely or we can blow it and regret it…and there is a lot in-between too. Take a look at where you are and where you want to get, set some realistic goals and get advice if needed.

There are so many ways to look at freedom and boundaries, let’s use this time to explore what we have good, what we are grateful for and build on the good. Let’s let freedom and boundaries work with us and for us this year in every area of our lives.

Wishing the best to each of us…enjoy, be in health and use wisdom, share joy and be in peace J

What we need now is...love...remember the sone?

 

What keeps the world going round and round “…it’s love, sweet love..” so the song says…and it is true…Love helps a bunch! We all need to love, be loved and have a sense of belonging…love and belonging start in our families.

Our Christmas was filled with love this year because of time with familyJ Some locally and some long distance, but the warmth and feelings of knowing we are loved, and love, fills our heart no matter how many miles we are apart….and it did for us this year and are extremely grateful, we do not take this for granted at all. Spending time with those we love means so much to us and when we get to have them close enough to hug, all the better J . We hope you are having a lovely holiday too.

The season is not yet over, but we are coming to the close of another year. As the year comes to a close we take time to reflect, to regroup, to plan ahead and to ponder…what matters the most in life anyway? We never know what the future holds, let alone this afternoon. We can get stuck in rut, have a cloud of depression come visit us, we can get spoiled, we can take for granted many things in this life that can all change faster than we ever imagined. A call back from a doctor with news on a simple blood test can reveal a health problem that can change our current way of life, an act of nature, an accident, news from a loved one about a health situation in their life, or any number of things can happen to us.

We need relationships at those times and to have to build them in a time of crisis is not so easy, sure it can happen and does, but how much better to already have some friends and family to lean on and to support in good times and tough times. 

The saying goes: “We never know what we have till it gone.” Let’s NOT let that be our song…let’s love, be loved and enjoy it all along our journey of life. We need one another, be blessed and be a blessing this day, this week, this year….start now, this hour J

Enjoy being and becoming….Happy days are ahead J

Christmas is coming soon…and that means the topic of Love and Belonging comes up, like it or not.

This can be a tough one for many people. This time of year is the best for others.
 
The holidays are a good season for those of us that have love in their life and feel a sense of belonging.

For those of us who do not feel a sense of belonging and feel they have failed at love, or feel unloved or unlovable, this time of the year is extra hard.

Some have love but can not feel it; some want love and can not find it; some have love and don’t know it.

Some have places they know they belong, are wanted and are cherished, others do not.

Some of the missing love and belonging is only imagined but seems real, and so is real.

We have to learn to love our self first and that can take a life time! We need to forgive our self, get up and go again and this can be tough.

We need to look for the good in us, see our intentions, even when we mess up. Often we are far too hard on our self.

We need to realize if we have one or two good people in our life that we call friend, we are blessed, even if these folks are family, we are blessed and fortunate to someone, even one, that knows us and loves us just as we are and we do the same for them.

Life is a time to learn and grow, to be and become. Hope your holiday season is good and you feel loved and a sense of belonging. If not, I hope you can and will soon.

Love and belonging are so vital for each of us. May we all find it more and more in the coming year and enjoy others. Maybe we be pleasant and enjoyable too

The 5 Needs in Life

Love and Belonging

The holiday season is good time to talk about Love and Belonging; these needs are part of the five basic needs we all share in life.  Our attitudes and behaviors are often a reflection of how we do or do not meet our basic needs. Some people do not feel their need for love and belonging is met at all: they long to be loved, to belong, to feel and know they matter to someone, somewhere. Others are genuinely aware that they are unconditionally loved, and easily experience a sense of community. Still others have lost a loved one and this time of year can be very difficult.

All of us need and want to feel loved and desire a sense of belonging; we will often try different ways to get these needs met. Sometimes we use healthy ways and sometimes we do not; such is being human. God, in His ongoing grace and unconditional love helps us in ways He knows we can understand and accept. Sometimes He will help us see we already have what we seek and need, and He will help us embrace what is ours. Other times, He will help us find ways to meet these needs and discover love and a sense of belonging with others.

The need to love includes giving and receiving love. Love is a gift, it is good, love is pure, holy, and respects the giver and receiver. Love is kind, gracious and precious. Love can help us remain healthy or sometimes regain our health. Love can come to us easily at times and at times, we have to put forth some effort. Love can take work, self discovery and self discipline too.

The need to belong is also a need that makes our life better and can help us be healthy. Belonging does not just happen for everyone. Some are born into families unable to provide a sense of belonging; however the need to belong is still there.  Belonging takes time, effort, curiosity, consistency, self discipline, and at times we need a hand to experience a sense of belonging. We can reach out to others, but at times we need to be reached out too, and when those hands come our way, we need to let them help us. This can be hard for some people.

We are all responsible for meeting our own needs, but often we need some help. Helping others can take a little creativity and even courage. This holiday season; let us be His eye, ears, and hands a little bit more than we usually are in our daily life. Let’s look for ways to let His love flow through us maybe we can begin to help someone feel they belong by talking with them, inviting them over, then maybe in the New Year we can develop a new friendship.

I hope you have a blessed holiday season; love and let your self be loved; enjoy a sense of belonging and try to help others find a way to belong too.

What do you think? What has been your experiences?

Welcome to Our Blog.

We will talk about each of The 5 Needs in life that we all share. Each month we will have a theme and will focus on specific need, however you can write anything about any of the needs if you wish to do so. We care about what you think and experience, so join us often.

This is for fun and education.

This is NOT a therapeutic service. This is Not meant to replace other services a person may need such as counseling or medication. If you need these services I will be happy to send you referrals if you request them.
 
For now, let’s learn how we each meet the different 5 needs in life.

Let’s share what we feel God says about the needs too. Let’s enjoy our journey and share what we know, respect what others say and remember the golden rule: Do unto others as you want them to do unto you. We will not put anyone down here.

If we disagree (which we will) we can do so in love and with grace. Let’s keep it simple, pure and enjoyable. Thanks for joining in. Your thoughts matter here.

Enjoy the journey, remember we are becoming who we will be, be proud of who you are and will be too,

Wendy