Simply Thankful

Very simply, I am thankful for my life.

 I am SO thankful for my little boy and the opportunity to be his mother.

I am thankful for my family and all the extremely kind people and forgiving people who have helped us over this very difficult year.

I am so thankful for all of my experiences to grow

I am so thankful for the amazing year and the strength that God blessed me with.

I am thankful for ability to be as silly as we want to be!

What a blessing to be a Mommy.  My gratitude journal is full of Thankfulness today.

Moving toward a Better Brighter Future

This is a perfect quote for today.  In the past, I know that I allowed myself to care for someone so much that I would overlook even the basic human "nice" qualities in order to keep yourself in that relationship.  Love is a strong emotion, and it is OK to love, it is OK to hurt over love loss.  What is not OK is to not see the true image in front of you while you are experiencing these emotions.  The past two days have brought up some difficult memories for me and for a few moments I have found myself wandering back into the past.  But I know that the past is definitely not what I want for me and my little guy.

Our future is so much brighter than the past.

Some of the memories of the past were sweet, and some of the people in my past were as sweet as they come and I am very sad that they are not a part of our lives anymore.  But I can't let my feelings towards them blur the cold hard facts of what has actually happened to us.

You only learn when you can accept what has happened and move on to a better brighter future.

I usually don't like the "Keep Calm" quotes, but this one works  for me!  For a few days now my spirit has been tried and tested.  But today I stand with a firm resolve and commitment to the goals that I believe are best for my little family.  There will always be people trying to stop you from acheiving your goals and there will be people helping you acheive your goals.  Make sure you surround yourself with the people who are helping, not hindering.  It doesn't make you a bad person to let go of negative people, it makes you a smart person.

Stay with the goal

Remember to stay with your goal AND keep your character and integrity while doing it!  It isn't impossible, just a little difficult 

Difficult times? Yes..... giving up.....No!

So here we go again. It was expected and amazingly it seems that it will be a win win for me no matter which way it goes.  Sometimes if you remain quiet a bully will say all he needs to say that actually ends up helping you.  Yes it is hard, but it will all be worth it!  

Your Choice, Hope, Healing, Joy or Darkness

I found this little quote on Hope this morning.  It always amazes me that I never looked at the word HOPE like this.  Hold On Pain Ends.  How true!

Then I found the other quote.  Healing Comes when we CHOOSE to move toward brighter things in our life! Or as my wise sister likes to say "Today, I chose Joy".  

Why wouldn't you "choose joy"?  Maybe it is difficult to let go of all the dark things in your life simply because of fear.  Fear of whats on the horizon.  Yes, sometimes change is scary, but it is a Wonderful Scary!  

I love the fact that day after day, We are building a  Brighter Happier Life and that little nemesis; "change", hoping for "change", working toward "change"  just isn't so scary anymore!

Perfect

My Gratitude Journal starts today!

I was listening to a talk show on the radio last night and the woman was discussing how to brighten up your day, every single day for the rest of your life.  Doesn't that sound interesting?  I really did think to myself, I want to brighten my day and my little guys day every single day for the rest of my life.  So I continued listening....She said, very simply.  Keep a Gratitude Journal.  Every day, every morning and every night take a few moments to write down what you are grateful for.  It can be as deep as the love that me and my little guy share or as light-hearted as someone who helped me out to my car with my little guy and my groceries.

I love this idea, what better way to make sure you smile in the morning and the night than to remind yourself just exactly how blessed you are.

Say A Prayer, Trust in God and Smile

If you knew anything about my situation you would know that there was a time in my life I could have chosen to be where I am wanting to be right now.  I don't consider it a "bad decision" I just consider it a decision that I made without being shown all the facts!  But recently I have learned that I have a really good chance of getting to change our situation!  I honestly believe that this is our chance to do what is right for us!  Positive thinking not only gives you hope, it gives you a smile, it gives your dreams a chance to flow.  In the end, it will all work out.  If it hasn't worked out yet....It isn't the end.

Stand with Grace and Dignity

One of the hardest things I am finding in dealing with an ex is not to participate in the ranting and raving, basically through Text Messaging now.  I have to remind myself to stand strong, but stand with dignity and grace.  My younger brother sent me a talk where Elder Holland reminded us: Speak the words of an Angel and act as if you were a Angel and nothing else.  

I like to remind myself, an Angel is protected, An Angel has Grace.  Whatever will happen will happen.  But how I handle this situation may help or hinder the process.  So today I am chosing no not join in, instead to keep singing a song in my head that my Grandmother loved.  

I missed the opportunity to sing this at her funeral because I was to worried about trying to fix an un-fixable relationship.  It has been hard to forgive myself for that, however, I know she knows that I was trying to the best for me and what was once my family.  I just didn't know that my family had already been ripped apart by someone else.  Had I known, I would have much rather stood in the church and sing this song as her praise.  

She and my other Grandma are the angels that I learn from and lean on now.  

Loner Smile

What a great quote!  

Think about it!  

How often do you sit alone, with yourself and just smile? 

Do you sit around smiling because the blessings that YOU ARE BLESSED with are just that great?

Next time I am alone (Which is every other weekend)  

I will make sure to take the time to smile with myself.

Something great is on the horizon

I've often wondered why I feel like just when I get ahead of things, life takes a turn and I have to fight harder and be stronger.  This quote help me realize that there are great things on the horizon and I have two choices.  I can either give up and surrender to all my trials, or I can fight harder.  I choose to fight harder.

I really want to be part of the something great on the horizon!

Today was a difficult day for me.  One year ago today I clearly remember all  the promises made to me that we're never kept.  I thought about staying home in the comforts of my home and the loving arms of my little guy, but only for a moment.  Then I realized I could do this.  This year I have overcome so many challenges and sadness.  My inner strength is now a force.  I wasn't about to let a memory stop us from moving forward.  So tonight my little guy and me made our own memories and I made promises to him that will be kept.  Change the thought; change your life. 

Moral of the story.  Get up, Get Dressed and Get Going.  Your life will never change unless you have the courage to walk through the doors you are afraid of. 

Smile Smile Smile and then Smile some more

It is so funny how quotes are sent to me by friends at the most consequential time.  I laughed when I read this one.

This is a great quote and most of the time it is tested and proved positive!  Except for yesterday.

I was sitting in my car at a red light and lo and behold my ex drives up next to me.  I know he saw me because he glanced over.  So I do what I always do when I see someone I know...I smiled and waived.  That is just me.  However I didn't get a smile or a wave back.  He looked away with a scowl on his face.  I thought to myself, someone is an unhappy camper.

Moral of the Story.  Smile at people even if they don't smile at you.  Don't let anyone take that smile away.  When you smile, your eyes shine, life shines and your heart feels better.  I know this because my little guys smile makes my life shine every single day.

People may try to knock you down from the outside, but the only person that can knock you down from the inside is yourself.  Smile at yourself, smile at others....Most of the time you will get a smile back and when you don't it will be the non-smiler missing out, not you.

A Double Fortune

Today we stopped for Chinese after swim.  The woman at the counter let my little guy pick our fortune cookie.  When we got home, we ate dinner and then cracked open our cookie.  To our surprise we had two really great fortunes inside the cookie!   

Moral to the story:

Have Patience and in the mean time, help someone who needs help.

Mommy Strong

 I think this is one of the most amazing things about Women, Mothers specifically.  Women constantly get knocked down, get back up and begin again.  I have many  friends who are going through this"beginning again" process, some from failed relationships, some from failed career paths, no matter what their story, all of these women in my life are beginning again and they are doing it beautifully.  I am blessed to have so many inspirational women in my life that I can lean on.  I hope I can be an inspiration to them as well.

Going the Distance

I often wondered why I started training to be a distance runner.  By reading the quote, I just figured out why.  God knew that I would need the strength to endure what I am going through now.  I use my running analogys alot in life.  I tell myself all the time, I have ran 2 marathons....I can handle anything!  This is a great quote that is going up on my wall.  I think I will blow it up into Poster Size.