I like the way Chatty interprets Eagle's screen name. so true!

Eagles fly above the storms. They fly alone. They have sharp vision. Eagle Heart indicates you have a strong heart. I too love your wisdom and compassion. I fight fear a great deal and am sure it's a direct result of all the negative stuff I've been through recently. Maya's quote is cool. Hang in. Hang on! And laugh lots...

Thanks Jabber.

Something I read not long ago - can't remember which book, was it "The Shack"? - has stayed with me and helped tremendously in facing these storms and losses. I can't remember the exact words, but the gist of it was that there is a golden nugget of wisdom/learning in every single event/circumstance that we find ourselves in. The journey isn't so much about getting there as quickly and as cleanly as we possibly can...it's about living through all the dark patches, storms and pain and finding the golden nuggets of wisdom within each patch and then carrying that wisdom on into the next chapter of our journey. For me, that's helped me so much, to stop worrying about tomorrow or further down the road, but to breathe myself through today, helping others through and learning whatever it is I'm meant to learn today for the next patches of life.

Eagle, it sounds like The Shack. I devoured that book.

While speaking with my brother about my dad's health, I said several times, "One day at a time." That's enough.

Phillipians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Oh to live a life like that! It sounds so easy, but is tough when you were born with the worry gene.

Let go. And let God. Gee, that's easier said than done!

I find that gratitude can turn many things around, or at least, turn my mind around. One silly example (not a "fear" example), it seemed that everywhere we went, and I mean everywhere, I had to change the toilet paper roll. Didn't matter where we went, whatever house we were in I had to hunt for the roll and put it on the roller. On our last trip to visit hubby's relatives, it was constant! I found myself grumbling about it...then one day heard God ask me "and what if this was all I ever asked of you?" And I responded "Well, if I knew it was you asking me to do this, I would do it gladly." And immediately that scripture came to mind - whatsoever you do...you do to me".

Since then, I've begun to see the blessing in changing the roll - the list is long when you think of it...many people in the world don't have running water...I have running water, an indoor toilet, toilet paper (a precious commodity in most of the world), a warm place to sit, nice fragrances to dissipate the not-so-nice fragrances...the list goes on...I can do this with everything. Doing dishes - how lucky are we to have food to put on those dishes! And hot running water, soap, a place to cook the food that went on those plates - again the list is endless when you start thinking reasons to be grateful.

I have to remember this gratitude thing when I'm confronted with fear...perhaps even the attempt to come up with things to be grateful for is a distraction from the fear!

Eagle, it is always difficult for me to answer your posts. Your words, wisdom and empathy for others often leave me feeling inadequate. This is not an easy task, my friend.

I am so happy that you booked your trip to Nova Scotia. I know you will have a wonderful trip, just as you always do when you travel.

I feel lucky to have an ingrained positive sense of my own self-worth. While there are times I am insecure, it has never overwhelmed me as it does others. I believe it is something innate, as well as something learned. I hold you in my heart, and know that you will continue to address your struggles as you move forward.

Please read, re-read JJ's words, and the words of others that believe in you, love you and know that you are truly all that you want to be. You are one of my personal heros.

Eagle, I think Anno's post speaks for all of us.

I will say that one way I practice gratitude is that every time I get into my car to go somewhere, I first give God a list of things I'm grateful for. I don't turn on the radio, I don't talk on a cell, I speak to God and tell him simply THANK YOU for ... and then I list them.

Some days it's things like the gas in the car, or the car itself, so I can go visit my grandchildren. Other days it is for being able to pay my bills...and sometimes, it's simply for having just the right amount of ___ to go into the recipe I wanted to make that morning. Simple, complex...it doesn't matter. When I start saying thank you for a few things, others come spilling out, big and little, and I find myself amazed at just how much I have to be grateful for! I believe I could drive to Texas and back and not get finished.

So I just talk it out and say THANK YOU.

By the time I reach my destination, I'm so full of joy even a bad Elvis impersonator couldn't upset me. You know?

Anno, thank you so much for your wonderful words. Funny, but you're one of my personal heroes too, and I draw much inspiration and courage from your experiences and wisdom in dealing with all that you have to deal with.

I'm probably going to sorry to share this, but here goes...one of my greatest hopes - and greatest fears - is meeting you wonderful women. I try to be everything I believe in, but am sure that when/if you ever meet me in person, you will be terribly disappointed, because I'm not even close to being "eloquent" or wise in person. I get all awkward, flustered and incapable of functioning comfortably in unfamiliar surroundings and especially spontaneous situations. That's not enough to ever keep me from actually meeting any of you, but it IS a fear...which I try to ignore, but it doesn't make it not so. T

o hear you share that I, in any way, shape or form, leave you feeling inadequate is ironic.

JJ,
I have to share one of the most powerful gratitude experiences I've ever had. I was washing dishes, there were a lot of them, and everyone else (all hubby's family) was sitting in the living room. The kitchen is small, I like it when hubby gets time to play with his grandchildren, and was ok with doing them all. But it was tedious. So I started praying...first it was thank you for the food that was on the dishes, then it became this amazingly powerful thing...as I held each dish or glass or piece of cutlery, I thought of all of the people responsible for bringing that item to my sink...do you have any idea how enormous that list of people can get? People in factories, people who support the people in factories, truckers, packers, people who forge the stainless steel, people who paint the dishes, people on assembly lines all along the way...my imagination carried me through the entire process and all of the people who had touched that dish or that glass or that fork...not to mention all the people responsible for the FOOD - farmers, plowers, harvesters...let your mind just try and ripple through all of that. By the end of the dishes, I felt connected to the entire world, because there would definitely be a global connection to most of those things reaching the stores/my house. Oh, and then I had to also thank God for all the people responsible for building my house and the sink, etc, etc.

VERY powerful. Really opened my eyes.