Albert Schweitzer said it well,
“Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light.”

To truly understand this statement, we may need to experience the flickering or even the extinguishing of our light, or our mental vision. Our light can flicker or even go out through experiencing the loneliness of losing a loved one, the devastation of losing a job, or the difficulty of dealing with family challenges.

It is our choice to be consumed with our own problems and needs, or chose to be compassionate and reach out beyond ourselves to the needs of others.

Being overly concerned with our own needs can be the cause of much of our anxiety and stress. Our world shrinks when we use our energies primarily to solve our own problems rather that reaching out to help others with their problems.

Why do we not reach out to others on a regular basis? Time constraints are often an excuse. Time needed for job duties, time needed for family and social duties. Just not enough time!

I encourage you to read the following quotes carefully and let your heart guide you.
 

Closing thoughts:

In the big playground of life, you can’t swing alone.
Ziggy by Tom Wilson

There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart…pursue.
Michael Nolan

And now here is my secret, a very simple secret, it is only with the heart that one can see slightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.
Antoinede Saint – Exupery

The greatest treasures are those invisible to the eye, but found by the heart.
Anonymous

Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eyes.
Anonymous

The greatest goal of the human heart is to reach down to another.
Unknown

I invite you to check out our membership site where you can read the differences between the The Physical Eye v/s The Heart Eye and download the many helpful resources.

2008 CONTRACT

After some very serious & cautious consideration…..

your contract of friendship has been renewed

for the New Year 2008!

It was a terribly hard decision to make,

so try not to screw it up!!!

My Wish for You in 2008

May peace break into your house
and may thieves come to steal your debts.

May the pockets of your jeans become
magnets for $100 bills —
or at least enough to keep you comfortable.

May those same jeans end up two sizes too big
as you miraculously lose the same few pounds
you’ve resolved to lose every New Year’s Day.

May love stick to your face like Vaseline
and may laughter assault your lips!

May your world be filled with the riches of family
& beautiful, rewarding relationships.

May you find that ever-elusive extra hour each day
to meditate, decompress, exercise, laugh,
call a long lost friend or simply
to stop and smell the roses.

May happiness slap you across the face
and may all your tears be tears of joy.

May the problems you had
forget your home address!

May you exercise & appreciate the joy
of giving of yourself to others — as a mentor, a friend,
an ear, a volunteer or in the form
of financial contributions, as you can.

May 2008 find you & your family in good health,
and may you do YOUR part to maintain
or work toward a more healthy lifestyle.

May your life be filled with the Good Lord’s blessings,
and may you take the time & have the sense
to recognize them & be thankful.

In simple words ………..

May 2008 be the best year of your life
– to date, that is!

Happy New Year, My Friend!!!!

Print this Blog, post it, and read its important message whenever you need a lift!
Until next time, this is Nurse Audrey saying:
Go for it and make 2008 your best year ever!

Yes, there are times when we may feel this way, but if we look at life through the eyes of entitlement, we will be disappointed. There will always be an inward battle between what we think we deserve and what life doles out to us.

In the end it comes down to anticipation vs expectation.
How disappointing life can be if we expect to be treated fairly and kindly all the time. Yes, we can anticipate that relationships and life in general will go our way, but can we always expect it?

This is the blueprint that we need to take through life and to instill into our children’s lives as well. It is never more important to do this than at this time of year, when their eyes light up with anticipation of receiving the many gifts on their list.

A final thought:
If we want to live in the sunshine all the time, we must live in the desert. Yes, it is the wind and the rain in life that help us develop into the kind of people who can touch others and ultimately find fulfillment in life.     

I am going to let the Blog have a rest over the holidays and will meet with you again early in 2008.
May you have a restful season and I look forward to connecting with you in the New Year!

Until next time, this is Nurse Audrey signing off.

In a rather inappropriate way he began to bother the customers in line, and then proceeded to grab the food of a customer who was already eating. All eyes were on him. “How dare he come and disturb our day, try to take our food and generally make a nuisance of himself. Who does he think he is?”

I asked my friend if he did anything about this situation. He said no he did not as he himself was surprised and disturbed by this man’s offensive behavior just as were the other customers.

What would I have done – what would you have done in this situation? What should we have done? Let’s look at this man from a different perspective. What is it like to live on the street—no warm bed, no caring family, no one to go home to? What is it like to be hungry and smell food while looking for shelter, and then enter a restaurant and see well-dressed people buying and eating at booths?

What went wrong with this man? Was he abused as a child? Was he led astray by his own choosing? Why is he homeless now? I believe many of those who appear outwardly “successful” may only be a few house payments away from being homeless themselves.

What would have happened if someone had approached him and said: “Hello, my name is …, I will buy you a meal. What would you like to eat? Please sit down and I will bring it to you”?

Do you suppose that such a small act of kindness would have touched his heart? It may have been a long time since this man had received a touch of kindness such as this. I don’t believe that we should reward bad behavior by giving in to unreasonable demands, but we could sit down with this fellow, and while he’s eating explain that by being respectful to others, we would receive from them a more favorable response to our own needs. People are more willing to help the needy if they are not rude and aggressive. This could be a valuable teaching lesson on how to develop some needed social graces. 

Yes, there are opportunities every day to look past another’s behavior and discover deep within the heart some repressed goodness. 

I encourage you at this Christmas Season to look for opportunities to reach out to those less fortunate in a non-judgmental way, and see what positive changes you will experience yourself and what impact this will have on others as well.

Your comments are welcome.
See you next time,
Nurse Audrey

Let’s take a leaf from the pages of their success

• You may feel like an underdog on your job, among your circle of friends, or in your own sporting game.
• Begin by remembering that “Everyone loves an underdog!” You don’t have to remain one for long.
• Identify your areas of strength and weakness.
• Change the way you view yourself.
• Believe in your ability to succeed (this can turn into positive motivation for your life).
• Act out your belief and watch others begin to believe in you too.
• Remember, you are what you believe.

But you don’t have to feel like one! Change the way you view things; see yourself as being successful in every endeavor; and don’t be a quitter!

   “Go Riders/Bombers” May the best team win!

Enjoy the game, and until next time this is Nurse Audrey signing off!

If we do not remember the sacrifices made by those who have died in battle, their lives will be almost meaningless. They died doing what they believed in. They died for us, for their homes and families, and friends, for a collection of traditions that they cherished and a future they believed in; they died for freedom. The meaning of their sacrifice rests with our collective national consciousnesses; our future is their monument.

Here is some interesting information about Remembrance Day
http://www.rockies.net/~spirit/grief/grief05.html

The History of the Poppy

A writer first made the connection between the poppy and the battlefield deaths during the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th century. The writer remarked that fields that had been barren before battle exploded with the blood-red flowers after the fighting ended.

During the tremendous bombardments of the First World War the chalk soils became rich in lime from rubble, allowing ‘popaver rhoeas’ to thrive. When the war ended the lime was quickly absorbed, and the poppy began to disappear again.  After John McCrae’s poem In Flanders Fields was published in 1915 the poppy became a popular symbol for soldiers who died in battle.  Three years later an American, Moina Michael, was working in a New York City YMCA canteen when she started wearing a poppy in memory of the millions who died on the battlefield.

During a 1920 visit to the United States a French woman, Madame Guerin, learned of the custom. On her return to France she decided to use handmade poppies to raise money for the destitute children in war-torn areas of the country. In November, 1921, the first poppies were distributed in Canada.

Thanks to the millions who wear flowers each November, the little red plant has never died. And neither have the memories of the thousands of brave soldiers who have, and continue to fight for our freedom.

The story of soldier Gordon Cameron
http://www3.sympatico.ca/berdusco/gord1.htm

May we all take time on Monday November 11th to remember!

See you next time, Nurse Audrey signing off!

These specific buildings gave us a wonderful idea for a trick on Halloween night. “Why not turn over an outhouse?” This idea was met with a resounding “Yes!” from my three compatriots. The procedure of disengaging the outhouse from its moorings would take the strength and agility of all four of us, for if we did not watch our footing, the trick would have definitely been on us! Accompanied by my three partners in crime, we waited till dark and then picked out the outhouse belonging to the person we most wanted to target. Stealthily, we crept to the building. After sizing it up, we put all four sets of hands on the front door and pushed with all our might. Slowly, the building creaked over its most important contents. Finally, with one last push, it fell onto its back, exposing the dark contents below. Needless to say, with the trick completed, we were out of there in a flash to collect the rest of our treats.

We could hardly wait to get to school the next day! As we approached our one room schoolhouse, we could see a group of kids in deep conversation. “I’d like to get the people who pushed over our outhouse; I almost fell into the hole.” This coming from the poor kid whose outhouse we had targeted. Looking innocent while stifling our laughter, we kept our little secret while thinking of who we could target next year.

Yes, it seems like all of the fun has gone out of Halloween!

P.S. I have changed a lot since then!

Until next time, this is “Nurse Audrey” signing off.

I just felt that I had to compliment her on the amazing mane. I approached her and said, “Your hair is so beautiful.” She nodded, and said, “Thank you,” looking pleased and puzzled at the same time as she thoughtfully examined the tomatoes. I continued making my way through the shelves of green and yellow peppers when it suddenly dawned on me—she was wearing a wig! My face flushed through several shades of red as I thought of me complimenting this woman on her lovely head of hair.

Have you ever felt embarrassed after giving a compliment and later finding out that things were not what they appeared to be? But practicing giving compliments, to be sure, is not a thing to be regretted if it is done with sincerity. 

On another occasion, I was again making my way through the isles of the local grocery store when I noticed an elderly lady. I observed her with interest because she was decked out from head to toe in her “Sunday best.” Unknown to her, however, was that my day did not begin on a positive note. Bombarding me since early that morning were some stress issues I had to deal with. To say the least, I was not in a good frame of mind when I met her there. However, seeing her decked out so attractively caused my attitude to take an about face! I approached her and commented on how nice she looked and how this made me feel much better. This small gesture seemed to lighten both of our days. My stress had lifted because I paid attention to someone other than myself, and she was blessed because I had taken the time to speak with her and notice the care she had taken to look special even if only in the grocery store.

So you see, in life, we win some and we lose some!

To help put yourself on the winning track over stress, check out my resources.

Until next time, this is “Nurse Audrey” signing off.

Thanksgiving should not be celebrated and relegated to just one day a year, but instead thanksgiving needs to be a state of mind. Yes, a state of mind that can be with us all year long, encouraging us to have a thankful heart 365 days a year. Talk about a stress reliever!

I invite you to read this poem and contemplate on each sentence.

Thank you for the gift of life,
For letting me be me,
For all that I can know by words
And all that I can see,
For all the music I can hear
And all the songs I sing,
For all the joy that comes to me
And all the joy I bring,
For all the food that I can taste
And all the sweet scents smell,
For all the loved ones I can touch,
Who love and wish me well,
For all the beauty of the world,
Ever fresh and new,
I don’t know whom else I can thank,
And so I’m thanking you.

Why not print this poem and post it in a prominent place as a reminder to be thankful.

A final thought:
Give thanks in all things!

Till next time this is “Nurse Audrey” signing off!

As I meditate on this I can’t help but compare the seasons of planting and harvesting to the different seasons we go through in our lifetime. We are born, each one of us, with such potential. Our life begins as a seed planted, hopefully in good soil. Like a seed that is planted and watered, it eventually germinates and grows into a useful plant. Likewise, we as humans grow and mature through the nurturing and teaching of trusted caregivers. We become useful and productive citizens, bearing good fruit that will be a blessing to others. As time marches on, we grow old and the colder weather of life comes with its accompanying frost and snow, signaling the end of life. 

As we journey through life, we need to take stock of how we navigate through the different seasons. I realize that not everyone is rooted in fertile ground; some have been planted in hard ground and some even among thorns. Nor does everyone have nurturing caregivers to help their seedlings grow into healthy plants.

Should life not have progressed as planned, take heart; it is possible to restore the years that have been lost and still be the best you can be, despite where you are in the season of your life.

Restoration is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves and others.

I invite you feed back and until next time, this is ‘Nurse Audrey’ signing off.