A couple of weeks ago my friend, Jean, was dismayed because her patients weren’t showing up in the Oriental medicine clinic where she is an intern.

I told her to be more confident in herself.

In the past she had some regular patients who loved her acupuncture treatments so much that they even gave her gifts.

So, it was somewhat humbling to Jean to not have her patients show up while all the other interns on her shift were getting patients.

I told her she shouldn’t take it personally, and she said that’s what her supervisor told her.

Then she learned the reason why one of her regular patients had not been coming. She had to go to Australia due to the unexpected death of her mother. So, that confirmed that it had nothing to do with Jean.

So then Jean gained confidence in herself and in her treatments.

But then it continued to happen…no patients for her on her shift. Jean was again starting to take it personally. My encouragement to tell herself that she was an excellent acupuncturist helped somewhat, but not completely.

Then Jean bought the book, ‘You Can Heal Your Life’ by Louise Hay. As Jean put into practice what she learned from Louise, she experienced positive changes…
Read the complete article »

The other day I caught myself being guilty of the very thing my husband had recently been discussing. I wasn’t using the Laws of Attraction to help me. But more on my guilt later…

Brian had told me that he got upset when he was helping a friend, Bill, move some office equipment using a dolly.

Why did he get upset?

Because as Brian tried to guide the dolly for Bill, he heard Bill angrily say, “Don’t try to manage me!”

And as the day progressed, Brian heard Bill tell him those words again and again as he tried to help Bill.

Ouch! How words can hurt, especially when said in anger… by a friend you’re trying to help.

So, Brian was hurt, and he told me about the incident when he came home. He wasn’t so sure he wanted to continue his friendship with Bill… Bill seemed too full of negativity, and Brian didn’t feel appreciated.

Next day Brian went again to continue helping Bill.

And you know what Brian did?
Read the complete article »

Just a few weeks ago I joined Twitter.

Now if you don’t know what Twitter is, it’s a website (twitter.com) through which users can send brief messages for free.

Although Twitter was designed so that you could tell your friends and others what you’re doing, Twitter has evolved.

What I like best about it is the positive quotes and messages I receive. Some of them really touch my heart while others inspire me.

I’m wondering…

Have you heard or read anything positive lately?

Or…

Read the complete article »

I’ve been following a story in the news….a story that had a very ugly beginning. Since it was such an ugly story, I only skimmed it.

Here’s what happened. A family was driving from a spot of recreation and they were shot at by a man and wife who had signs on their property saying that trespassers will be shot.

Several of the family members were injured. One of the children, a seven year old boy, died from his injuries.

Now that has to be terribly devastating for a parent, right? I can only imagine how that would affect me, but I won’t go there.

Instead, let’s go to how the story turned beautiful.

Read the complete article »

It was in 1998 that I began one of the most difficult challenges of my life. What began as a large ugly red spot on the top of my left hand turned into something I would never have imagined.

Because my husband urged me to go to a doctor, I finally did. But I was reluctant to go. I was pretty sure the ugly spot was eczema, and I knew that medical doctors prescribe steroid creams for such things.

My brother Robert had warned me about steroids. He suffered from eczema on his hands for many years and had studied remedies and their effects.

What I remember him saying was that at first the steroid creams work well. But continued use just makes the eczema worse.  So he chose to use natural remedies.

What should I do?

With Robert’s  words in mind I chose to go to my allergist rather than a dermatologist. And I ended up with a steroid cream prescription. So I used the cream, and it was working well.

And then the eczema got worse…much worse… and  it spread to my right hand.

It was months later, and we had a holiday weekend trip planned. The eczema was so bad that I wrapped my hands in gauze because the skin on my hands was so raw.

So on Labor Day weekend we were in Corpus Christi, Texas. My husband insisted on taking me to the emergency room to get my hands checked. Although I was fortunate to be free of pain, we endured a long wait for patients with urgent needs to be treated.

Have you ever had to wait in an emergency room?…

Finally, I got my turn. The emergency doctor recommended an antibiotic to prevent infection, so I recited a long list of antibiotics to which I was allergic. He then prescribed an antibiotic which wasn’t on my list.

And I faithfully took the pills.

Several nights later, back in Houston, I had an allergic reaction to those pills…..not a severe reaction… just a rash, but I was a bit worried about it. So my husband drove me to a clinic that was open at night.

At the clinic I told the doctor what had happened. His remedy was to give me a cortisone shot. I told him that I was reluctant to take any more steroids because of my experience using steroid creams.

But he assured me that this is what’s best for my situation, and he would give me a low dose.

Well, he was a medical doctor, far more educated than I was about the human body. So I accepted his remedy.

Did I make the right choice?

Read the complete article »

By: Joyce Marie

My husband, Brian, finds happiness from saving bees, one bee at a time. Where does he save bees? Right in our backyard.

Just outside his office is a swimming pool, and since there is a door right there by his desk, Brian frequently goes outside for a break - when the weather is nice, of course. While out there, he scans the pool for any unfortunate bees that are struggling to get out. Almost every day he finds one.

When he spots a bee exerting all its energy, going in circles in the pool, Brian makes his move. He wants to save the bee that cannot fly because its wings are wet. Picking up the bee on his finger, Brian knows this bee wants to be saved.

The bee clings to his finger, and Brian has no fear of the gentle bee. The poor bee is disoriented, not knowing where it is. It just wants to survive, and it is grateful to be on Brian’s finger.

Brian nudges the bee to keep it moving. As he watches, the bee tries to dry off. It raises its rear end upward and uses its little legs to wipe itself dry. Then the back end of the bee goes down and the front end goes up. The bee then uses its front legs and feet to dry its head and antennae.

The wings of the bee are stuck to its body, so Brian lifts up the wings to help them get dried out. After a while, the wings begin to whir like a helicopter or the propeller of an airplane. Then the bee zooms off, like a helicopter!

As Brian watches, the bee heads toward him,

Read the complete article »

Do you have a dream that is yet to be fulfilled?

What’s stopping you?

Perhaps you need some inspiration.

And who better to inspire you than Susan Boyle. Before this week, Susan was just an ordinary, unemployed 47 year old woman from Scotland.

And then…

Read the complete article »

It was less than a year ago, May 2008 when it happened. Seeing is believing, they say. So, I’ll let you see how to find happiness through my storytelling.

My husband, Brian, and I were in Canandaigua, New York visiting his relatives. One evening six of us were sitting in the living room of Peter and Josephine having a grand time laughing and enjoying ourselves.

Maine coon cat

I noticed that their cat, Bootsie, a Maine coon cat, was prominently positioned by the dining room table. I’d say he was about 15-20 feet away from where I sat. And what was most interesting was that he sat clearly visible to us with his back towards us.

What did that mean? That was definitely cat body language, wouldn’t you agree?

Bootsie could have gone into another room for peace and quiet, if he so desired.

But no!…

Bootsie seated himself where all of us could see his back and not his face!

So, anyway, as I said, we were enjoying ourselves. Then Mike and Gloria and Peter and Josephine wanted to hear me sing some of the songs I had written…..and I happily obliged.

When I started singing the song I had just written a week or two earlier, guess what happened next….

Read the complete article »

The Laws of Attraction were in action for me today. I had decided to write a post about overcoming fear and had an idea in mind about what to write.

Then when I checked my email I found an email from Dr. Joe Vitale. I noticed it last night with its subject line announcing a free teleseminar on how to attract money. Since it was late last night when I saw it, I decided to wait until this morning to open it.

That was a wise decision! The teleseminar was today. I listened intently and took many notes as Dr. Vitale was interviewed by Annie Jennings, head of her own highly successful PR firm, Annie Jennings PR.

Since I enjoy and learn from hearing Dr. Vitale’s interviews of notable people and the insightful questions he asks, I was very attracted to this teleseminar.

I previously heard him quote someone as saying:

“ I’m totally satisfied. I just want more.”

Don’t you want more?

Because I have big dreams of helping lots of children as well as adults, the subject of attracting money was very attractive to me.

In today’s interview Dr. Vitale talked about how your conscious mind wants money while your unconscious mind puts up a psychological barrier. You both want and fear money at the same time.

So there he was talking about fear! Remember that I said I had planned to write today about overcoming fear?

He mentioned fear again when he was talking about…

Read the complete article »

When I moved from Texas to New York many years ago, one of the things I noticed about people there was how they responded to the question “How are you?”

The typical response in New York was “Not bad”.

In Texas I was accustomed to getting the response “Fine.”

What strikes you most about the difference in those responses?

Did you notice that in the first example, the focus is on negative words, and in the second example, the response is a positive word?

Do you know what Mother Teresa said regarding an invitation to an anti-war demonstration?

She said she would not attend an anti-war demonstration, but that if you invited her to a peace rally, she would go.

So, what does that illustrate?

It shows that Mother Teresa focused on the positive. She would not go to an event that was against something negative, but she would go to an event for something positive.

Her answer is in line with the Laws of Attraction… What you think or talk about comes to you. You attract what you focus on.

How can you apply that to yourself?

Positive Affirmations

Why not create some positive affirmations to answer the questions that follow?

I wrote some example answers to give you a head start, but you should give an answer that most speaks from your heart’s desire. What do you want to attract? Beginning your affirmations with “I am” is very powerful.
Read the complete article »

Last month while walking in the park along the bayou near our home, my husband and I were stopped by the sound of loud pecking….loud and very persistent pecking.

So we looked around and spotted a woodpecker on a small bare branch of a tree. Very busy was this little bird, pecking away.

What struck me as odd was that the branch he was pecking on was quite small.

I felt as if he was there to make sure we saw him on that tree barren of leaves in February.

So when I got home, I pulled out my book, Animal Spirit Guides – An Easy-to-Use Handbook for Identifying and Understanding Your Power Animals and Animal Spirit Helpers by Steven D. Farmer, Ph.D.

I let the pages flutter to the Woodpecker page where I read:

“If Woodpecker shows it up, it means:

You’re entering into a time of abundance and plenty.”

Among the possible 5 meanings for woodpecker showing up, I instinctively knew that was the one for me. I know that I am attracting abundance now that I am on the path intended for me.

What about you?

Are you on your intended path?

Are you taking actions to allow the laws of attraction to work for you?

Or are you just accepting what comes, resisting change?

Isn’t it time for you to get out of your comfort zone?  To challenge yourself?

Why not let yourself be inspired by these lyrics from my song, ‘Uplifted and Inspired’?

Read the complete article »

If you read the About page of this blog, you know that I was co-owner of a fashion clothing store for many years. While that may seem like a fun and glamorous career, it included a lot more work and stress than it did fun and glamour.

Most of my time there was spent in the back room doing paper work. And I do not enjoy that.

When I chatted with customers, it sure seemed like they had a lot more fun in their lives because they had weekends off to do fun stuff.

I heard about their Caribbean vacations, cruises and frequent trips to Las Vegas and envied them.

Since our store was open on Saturdays, my only day off was Sunday….unless I was on a buying trip. And if you love to shop, you’re probably thinking how much fun that would be.

While I enjoyed seeing the new fashions, it meant making lots of decisions about what my customers would like and what sizes to buy. Not to mention…what colors?

So I took tons of notes on as much as I could each day. I never saw any other buyers take so many notes, but I knew it helped insure that I received what I ordered….not what the manufacturer chose to substitute.

Then at night in my hotel room, as I fought trying to stay awake, I reviewed the notes, struggling to remember all the clothes I’d seen that day.

Which ones should I eliminate?

For the next 2 to 4 days I followed that routine. Then upon returning back home, I went through the numerous pages of notes to decide which items to buy.

Too much paperwork!

I had to work within a budget, too, so that was challenging. Our livelihood depended on selling what I bought for women, and on what my husband bought for men.

Since I did the bookkeeping and bill-paying for the store, I had to catch up on that before and after the buying trips. My life was revolving around those trips….five of them a year. It seemed that as soon as I was about to get caught up, it was time to prepare for another trip.

Can you feel the stress?

I sure could, so when we had the rare chance to take a vacation for a few days, we headed to the Caribbean.  There in the Caribbean our stress floated away in the clean air and the clear turquoise and blue waters as we sailed and snorkeled.

We had fun dancing to the happy tunes and lyrics and beats of the native bands… And eating….delicious native fruits and fresh seafood and tasty Caribbean style dishes.

Walking on the white sand alongside the ocean was delightful. And watching the sun gradually disappear into the Caribbean Sea was such a treat.

Being there was so relaxing that we would completely forget about our business back home. It was truly a way to relieve our stress and to rejuvenate ourselves.

And that’s just what you need, isn’t it?

Read the complete article »