Julia: July 2009 Archives
I don't think I ever told you the story of my sleep study to see if I had obstructive sleep apnea.
That's where your airway collapses in your sleep so you can't breathe
and eventually (if you're lucky!) it wakes you up so you can breathe
again. This happens over and over and over again during the night, so
you never get quality sleep and it can lead to all kinds of very scary
things I won't enumerate here, plus just a general drag on your system.
Long story short, I went to the sleep lab last month, got wired up with about a million wires (I am only just barely exaggerating--look at the guy in the wikipedia article I linked to above!) from head to toe--well, lower leg, anyway--and then had to sleep under observation. After about 4-5 hours, the sleep tech came in and said I'd had the required number of "episodes" for them to try a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine. So in addition to all those wires, I now had a mask over my nose and mouth, blowing air at me. Amazingly, I somehow managed to sleep.
I got the results of my study week-before-last, and it turns out, I was having 108 episodes of apnea per hour--but with the CPAP, none. So I was prescribed a CPAP machine with a built-in humidifier and supplemental oxygen as my oxygen saturation was very low. I got all my equipment day-before-yesterday, and started using it last night. Amazingly, I somehow managed to sleep 8.5 hours with the device on. It takes most people a while to build up their hours on it.
Now, don't get me wrong--it was weird and somewhat uncomfortable, but I think I just knew it was going to be my salvation, so I decided to tolerate it no matter what. So glad I did! I've been getting up every 60-90 minutes every night for a couple of years, with a full bladder and having to go to the bathroom. I was amazed when the sleep doc told me that apnea can trigger a chemical in the body that causes urine production and that I was not likely having kidney failure as I secretly feared! And sure enough--using the CPAP, I only awoke and went to the bathroom once last night, and wasn't even desperate to go, but I always remember Mom's admonition "Just try anyway."
I will say, glad as I was to have made it that long on the CPAP, I felt horrible when I woke up--like I'd been run over by a truck. It was stressful to have the mask on, but I believe I just need to get used to it. The mask does a number on your skin and makes deep marks on your face, the straps of the mask smash your hair down, and I was hot all night from my face being masked in plastic, so the perspiration plus smashed hair yielded a horrifying hairdo. (Here's a photo of a mask not the exactly same but very similar to what I've got) So it's not without a price, but I have to believe the sleep will compensate for any adjustments I might have to make. I am counting on better sleep to help me with all sorts of things!
On a different note, we are going to be without Internet service indefinitely as we change ISPs so as to get greater bandwidth. That's just become a necessity and as challenging as it is, we just have to bite the bullet. I'm hoping to get some things done that don't require being connected. We'll see! I'll be checking my email daily. If you have my old personal email address--the one that starts with mjulia, it is no longer valid. If you need to get in touch and you don't have my new email address (my first name @ my web address), just use the Contact feature at juliarogershamrick.com. Please think happy thoughts for me that my Internet withdrawals are minimal, and my sleep is fabulous!
Long story short, I went to the sleep lab last month, got wired up with about a million wires (I am only just barely exaggerating--look at the guy in the wikipedia article I linked to above!) from head to toe--well, lower leg, anyway--and then had to sleep under observation. After about 4-5 hours, the sleep tech came in and said I'd had the required number of "episodes" for them to try a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine. So in addition to all those wires, I now had a mask over my nose and mouth, blowing air at me. Amazingly, I somehow managed to sleep.
I got the results of my study week-before-last, and it turns out, I was having 108 episodes of apnea per hour--but with the CPAP, none. So I was prescribed a CPAP machine with a built-in humidifier and supplemental oxygen as my oxygen saturation was very low. I got all my equipment day-before-yesterday, and started using it last night. Amazingly, I somehow managed to sleep 8.5 hours with the device on. It takes most people a while to build up their hours on it.
Now, don't get me wrong--it was weird and somewhat uncomfortable, but I think I just knew it was going to be my salvation, so I decided to tolerate it no matter what. So glad I did! I've been getting up every 60-90 minutes every night for a couple of years, with a full bladder and having to go to the bathroom. I was amazed when the sleep doc told me that apnea can trigger a chemical in the body that causes urine production and that I was not likely having kidney failure as I secretly feared! And sure enough--using the CPAP, I only awoke and went to the bathroom once last night, and wasn't even desperate to go, but I always remember Mom's admonition "Just try anyway."
I will say, glad as I was to have made it that long on the CPAP, I felt horrible when I woke up--like I'd been run over by a truck. It was stressful to have the mask on, but I believe I just need to get used to it. The mask does a number on your skin and makes deep marks on your face, the straps of the mask smash your hair down, and I was hot all night from my face being masked in plastic, so the perspiration plus smashed hair yielded a horrifying hairdo. (Here's a photo of a mask not the exactly same but very similar to what I've got) So it's not without a price, but I have to believe the sleep will compensate for any adjustments I might have to make. I am counting on better sleep to help me with all sorts of things!
On a different note, we are going to be without Internet service indefinitely as we change ISPs so as to get greater bandwidth. That's just become a necessity and as challenging as it is, we just have to bite the bullet. I'm hoping to get some things done that don't require being connected. We'll see! I'll be checking my email daily. If you have my old personal email address--the one that starts with mjulia, it is no longer valid. If you need to get in touch and you don't have my new email address (my first name @ my web address), just use the Contact feature at juliarogershamrick.com. Please think happy thoughts for me that my Internet withdrawals are minimal, and my sleep is fabulous!
I was really
psyched about today because, without going into detail (may do that
later!), I had a day lined up where there was a lot to do and
everything fit together perfectly schedule-wise. I woke up feeling
really happy about the day's activities and how well things were lined
up. But by the time I saw Rick, just minutes after arising, things had
shifted. (He gets up much earlier than I do.), He notified me that a
phone call had come in with the message that one very important part of
the schedule had changed. I was immediately annoyed. More than annoyed.
Gee whiz, the ego-mind does not like to be flexible! I went from sweet
to sour in only seconds.
I sat down at my desk and the first thing that caught my attention in the morning's email was today's Easy World Power Thought: "There is no place I'd rather be than Easy World." (I know others have really appreciated the daily EWPT reminders--this is the first time I've really let myself benefit!) I realized that I was far from Easy World at that moment.
So, I invoked EW and relaxed. I thought, "What would being in EW with this apparent disruption to my schedule look like?" And I realized that if I were truly in EW, at higher vibrational frequency, I'd be clear that everything that happens, no matter how it appears, is always for my benefit. I truly felt the power in it and knew that even though I didn't understand how or why, the way things were unfolding was going to work out better than my rigid mental idea of how I had thought things would be. Wow--the difference in how I felt just assuming that understanding was quite amazing! From sour back to sweet, instantly.
As it turned out, I ended up having more to do in my office today than I'd been expecting , and not as much energy as I'd have liked to get it all done, and so it was a relief not to have to go out to the appointment after all. I took a quick nap instead which made the rest of the afternoon flow really smoothly. The appointment got moved till tomorrow, at an even more convenient time than originally scheduled, and as it turned out, there would have been no particular advantage to my going today, even though it had looked for all the world that there would have been. Relaxing and trusting in Divine Order made it so that in doing the things I did do today, I was able to have an easy, flowing time instead of a hectic one. Easy World!
So, here's a question for you. I posted it on Twitter today and it got re-tweeted several times (I guess people could feel the truth in it!): What might happen if you decided everything that occurs is for your benefit?
I sat down at my desk and the first thing that caught my attention in the morning's email was today's Easy World Power Thought: "There is no place I'd rather be than Easy World." (I know others have really appreciated the daily EWPT reminders--this is the first time I've really let myself benefit!) I realized that I was far from Easy World at that moment.
So, I invoked EW and relaxed. I thought, "What would being in EW with this apparent disruption to my schedule look like?" And I realized that if I were truly in EW, at higher vibrational frequency, I'd be clear that everything that happens, no matter how it appears, is always for my benefit. I truly felt the power in it and knew that even though I didn't understand how or why, the way things were unfolding was going to work out better than my rigid mental idea of how I had thought things would be. Wow--the difference in how I felt just assuming that understanding was quite amazing! From sour back to sweet, instantly.
As it turned out, I ended up having more to do in my office today than I'd been expecting , and not as much energy as I'd have liked to get it all done, and so it was a relief not to have to go out to the appointment after all. I took a quick nap instead which made the rest of the afternoon flow really smoothly. The appointment got moved till tomorrow, at an even more convenient time than originally scheduled, and as it turned out, there would have been no particular advantage to my going today, even though it had looked for all the world that there would have been. Relaxing and trusting in Divine Order made it so that in doing the things I did do today, I was able to have an easy, flowing time instead of a hectic one. Easy World!
So, here's a question for you. I posted it on Twitter today and it got re-tweeted several times (I guess people could feel the truth in it!): What might happen if you decided everything that occurs is for your benefit?
Who says that taking the path of least resistance is the lazy way through life? The Difficult World Dictator, that's who!
When did the notion of going in the direction of open gates and open
doors become less heroic and praiseworthy than battering down closed
ones?
The more I view society from what I now understand about Easy World, the more I realize we've been had. And not by somebody else, but our own ego-minds in agreement with the collective ego-mind formed by all the other egos that have ever dictated human thought and behavior.
The harder something is, the more worthwhile; the more valid? I don't think so!
What if the path of least resistance is the path being provided by Spirit? What if those doors are open for a reason? What if they are your invitation to your highest possibilities? What if you're keeping yourself from the treasure to which the path leads by thinking the path is not worthy because it is easy?
And, what if the closed doors are closed because there's a truer way to go--a way that is open and clear--and you miss that way while you're busy procuring the battering ram and trying to muster the strength to knock that door down?
Does this sound like blasphemy to you? I understand. We've been trained--brainwashed--to think in terms of struggle as being noble, valuable, and indicative of our integrity. And of the most valuable things being kept from us by closed doors. But what if that is a lie to keep us from fulfillment and joy?
Sure, somewhere along the line, we've signed up for adventures in duality--in Difficult World--but if you're feeling the call, as so many of us are, to align with the Design for Harmony so as to experience greater ease and joy, it may just be your time to reconsider some of the many deceptions the DWD has perpetuated. A really powerful one to start with is this notion that the path of least resistance is anything but a divine gift to be relished and used, and the very indicator of what is true for you.
When did the notion of going in the direction of open gates and open
doors become less heroic and praiseworthy than battering down closed
ones?The more I view society from what I now understand about Easy World, the more I realize we've been had. And not by somebody else, but our own ego-minds in agreement with the collective ego-mind formed by all the other egos that have ever dictated human thought and behavior.
The harder something is, the more worthwhile; the more valid? I don't think so!
What if the path of least resistance is the path being provided by Spirit? What if those doors are open for a reason? What if they are your invitation to your highest possibilities? What if you're keeping yourself from the treasure to which the path leads by thinking the path is not worthy because it is easy?
And, what if the closed doors are closed because there's a truer way to go--a way that is open and clear--and you miss that way while you're busy procuring the battering ram and trying to muster the strength to knock that door down?
Does this sound like blasphemy to you? I understand. We've been trained--brainwashed--to think in terms of struggle as being noble, valuable, and indicative of our integrity. And of the most valuable things being kept from us by closed doors. But what if that is a lie to keep us from fulfillment and joy?
Sure, somewhere along the line, we've signed up for adventures in duality--in Difficult World--but if you're feeling the call, as so many of us are, to align with the Design for Harmony so as to experience greater ease and joy, it may just be your time to reconsider some of the many deceptions the DWD has perpetuated. A really powerful one to start with is this notion that the path of least resistance is anything but a divine gift to be relished and used, and the very indicator of what is true for you.
There's a cool book launching today (Wednesday, June 8) titled What's Your Body Telling You?
that I think you will want to know about! I was immediately interested
in it when I heard about it. I haven't yet read it, but from all I can
gather about it, it is definitely one I will be reading! I was truly
sold when I saw that it has a foreword written by the author's good
friend, Gay Hendricks. (Did I tell you Dr. Hendricks graciously
endorsed Choosing Easy World, my upcoming book, as well?! He did! And so did Marci Shimoff, another one of What's Your Body Telling You?'s endorsers! I'm so excited!)Here's a message from the author, Steve Sisgold, and the scoop on all the great bonuses available if you buy the book today:
I
am a Taurus, a 'Year of the Ox' optimist who prefers not to focus on
fear and worry, yet I can't ignore what's happening all around me. With
today's economic climate, people all over the world are feeling higher
levels of stress in their professional, financial and personal lives.
But like Einstein said, "We can't solve a problem with the same
thinking that created it."
Your conscious mind may not tell you what you need to know. It is living in the past, projecting into the future, and creating stories around the truth. We need to stop relying on our IQ (mental intelligence) and consult our other ally, our BOA (body awareness intelligence). I've found the fastest way to raise my BOA is to ask myself, What's my body telling me right now? (Hence the title of my book!)
I've asked that question at least 10,000 times in sessions, seminars and talks across the country, and have helped thousands of people learn to navigate successfully through life's challenges using proven BOA techniques for concentrated focus and confidence, so they can discern truth from fear and avoid dangerous impulsive reactions.
As you read What's Your Body Telling You? you will identify, release and change the subconscious beliefs that sabotage your happiness and success. You'll learn to shift from confusion to clarity in an instant, becoming proactive and inspired in making important life decisions, and learn to communicate with far greater effectiveness and clarity in both your personal and professional lives.
Purchase one or more books on July 8th from Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com, and receive valuable bonus gifts from dozens of bestselling authors including Wayne Dyer, Marci Shimoff and Jack Canfield. Buying on July 8th will also qualify you to be entered to win a private 4-hour coaching session with me. Multiple book sales will qualify buyers for private sessions, as well!* Please invite your friends to buy my book on that day to receive the bonus gifts and private sessions, too.
This book is filled with many inspirational tales including how I followed my own body's instincts all the way to India to receive miraculous gifts, and went into the darkest corners of Poland and Germany, where I was joined by my colleague and friend Gay Hendricks, and had one of the greatest healings of my life.
Order your books right now and receive bonus gifts by going to www.whatsyourbodytellingyou.com/book
Order your books right now and receive bonus gifts by going to www.whatsyourbodytellingyou.com/book
Your conscious mind may not tell you what you need to know. It is living in the past, projecting into the future, and creating stories around the truth. We need to stop relying on our IQ (mental intelligence) and consult our other ally, our BOA (body awareness intelligence). I've found the fastest way to raise my BOA is to ask myself, What's my body telling me right now? (Hence the title of my book!)
I've asked that question at least 10,000 times in sessions, seminars and talks across the country, and have helped thousands of people learn to navigate successfully through life's challenges using proven BOA techniques for concentrated focus and confidence, so they can discern truth from fear and avoid dangerous impulsive reactions.
As you read What's Your Body Telling You? you will identify, release and change the subconscious beliefs that sabotage your happiness and success. You'll learn to shift from confusion to clarity in an instant, becoming proactive and inspired in making important life decisions, and learn to communicate with far greater effectiveness and clarity in both your personal and professional lives.
Purchase one or more books on July 8th from Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com, and receive valuable bonus gifts from dozens of bestselling authors including Wayne Dyer, Marci Shimoff and Jack Canfield. Buying on July 8th will also qualify you to be entered to win a private 4-hour coaching session with me. Multiple book sales will qualify buyers for private sessions, as well!* Please invite your friends to buy my book on that day to receive the bonus gifts and private sessions, too.
This book is filled with many inspirational tales including how I followed my own body's instincts all the way to India to receive miraculous gifts, and went into the darkest corners of Poland and Germany, where I was joined by my colleague and friend Gay Hendricks, and had one of the greatest healings of my life.
Order your books right now and receive bonus gifts by going to www.whatsyourbodytellingyou.com/book
"Steve Sisgold reminds us that we've
lost touch with our most reliable guide - our body. What's Your Body
Telling You? offers wonderful tools to help you reduce anxiety and
create the happiness you truly deserve."
-- Marci Shimoff, Star of The Secret and NY Times bestselling author of Chicken Soup for the Soul and Happy for No Reason
"Within a short time, using the information and practices Steve offers, we manifested everything that had once seemed only vague dreams before, including appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show twice."
-- Gay Hendricks, Bestselling Author of Conscious Loving
"Steve Sisgold is one of the best facilitators of change I know. This book will take you where you want to go"
-- Kenny Loggins, Grammy Award Winning Recording Artist
-- Marci Shimoff, Star of The Secret and NY Times bestselling author of Chicken Soup for the Soul and Happy for No Reason
"Within a short time, using the information and practices Steve offers, we manifested everything that had once seemed only vague dreams before, including appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show twice."
-- Gay Hendricks, Bestselling Author of Conscious Loving
"Steve Sisgold is one of the best facilitators of change I know. This book will take you where you want to go"
-- Kenny Loggins, Grammy Award Winning Recording Artist
Order your books right now and receive bonus gifts by going to www.whatsyourbodytellingyou.com/book
Let me know what you think of this book if you buy it! Since I'm a big proponent of learning your body's communications system for the purpose of following your Spirit's guidance and staying in alignment, I believe this is right up my alley, and yours!
Alright. I said
I was going to update you on things in my life so here goes. I won't
get to it all, but I'll tell you of my visit with Donna and the magical
aspects of it at least!
June 25 (the day Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died), my buddy, Donna Michael, whom I've talked about many times on this blog, came to Denver from Nashville for her annual visit and INATS (International New Age Trade Show) . This year, instead of hanging around town, spending time in my garden as we often do, I decided to take her to Golden to Bridgewater Grill (scene of the infamous kidnapping by my husband back in 2005 and, prior to that, our fun discovery in 2004) for lunch. I'd thought maybe from there, we'd go on to Idaho Springs to the little coffee shop we like there. It had been awhile since I'd been out and about and the expedition sounded like fun.
So, I picked her up at the airport with ease (we've got this routine down after so many years!), and headed west on I-70 to Golden. Coming toward us was a line of storms, and I wondered briefly if it even made sense to go. We've had a Spring and Summer of cool, wet, sometimes violent weather, and I was not eager to be on the Interstate in a severe thunderstorm. Storms have the tendency to really freak me out, especially when driving. But something told me to just press on, and we never really got into any stormy weather at all, though it stayed overcast as we ate our lunch outdoors on the fabulous patio overlooking the river (or is it a creek? I'm not sure!).
It was a lovely time and the setting was perfect. The only blemish was that I got a call from Rick just about the time we were finishing up with lunch with distressing news. The storms that had passed us by on the road had dumped a huge amount of rain and bb-sized hail at our house, and Rick had wanted me to be prepared for what I was going to find. He described it by saying "It looks like a rose bomb went off in the yard." Needless to say, I was not pleased that the garden had been attacked, but what was there to do? So I shrugged it off and took a deep breath and focused on the moment and the fun time we were having.
By the time Donna and I got all caught up on what each other had been up to, it was too late to go to Idaho Springs. My goal was to have a maximum amount of fun and togetherness while still dropping her off at her hotel, way the heck and gone from our house, in time to miss some of the usually horrendous rush-hour traffic on Interstate 25, the only sane route home from where she was staying. So, we spotted a little European-style cafe across from the restaurant and just decided to have a little dessert and coffee / tea there.
We split a tiramisu crepe that was fabulous, the little cafe was delightful, and by the time we were done, we were realizing that the window of opportunity for avoiding the intense traffic was closed and we were gently kicking ourselves for leaving Golden so late. When she asked to stop at the grocery store so she could get some fruit and such, I didn't hesitate as I knew we were in for traffic either way and I wanted her to have what she needed. (Yes--I did need to choose Easy World! And I did--over and over!)
Not wanting to stress my knees, which had been challenging me, I let her go on in and I waited in the car. I waited and waited and talked to Rick on the phone and waited and waited. "What the heck is she doing in the store?" I wondered. When she finally came out, she described having to traverse the store 4 times to find what she needed, and commented that it was strange. Then, she had gotten behind someone in line who had multiple issues that delayed her checkout.
So we were far later leaving Golden than planned and I prepared myself for the traffic. Oddly, however, we made the half-hour trip from there to her hotel with ease, I dropped her off, contemplated stopping at the gas station but decided against it, hit I-25 South, and even though there was some slow going, it was not bad at all. Just as I reached my exit and escaped the highway, all the lanes going South stopped, and the skies opened up again. Rain was coming down in mighty torrents and visibility was severely diminished. I managed to cover the last couple miles to home through neighborhoods going very, very slowly and with my wipers going full blast. I was shocked when I came within a few blocks of my house to see what looked exactly like the dregs of a Spring snowstorm on the north sides of houses! It was hail, piled up six inches high in places!
I just barely made it into the house before the lightning started and before it was pouring too hard to get out of the car. Rick told me that this was the 4th round of storms for the day, and that the earlier ones had been the worst he'd ever experienced in 40 years of living here! (Have I told you that I really, really do not like storms?) He said the neighborhood roads had been flooded and had been impassable for much of the afternoon. That was backed up by the video I was seeing on the news of an intersection only 2 blocks from our house where cars were submerged in water up above their wheel wells, and another intersection that had been flooded earlier in the day that I had just minutes before passed through! I had somehow managed to hit the one window of time that would have gotten me safely and easily home that afternoon! If I had been an hour earlier or a few minutes later, it would have been a hero's journey to make it home. As it was, it was only slightly inconvenient.
Let's just say it gave me a new appreciation for trusting Divine Timing and for my Higher Self, who knew not only how to arrange the timing, but guided me to the best place for me to have a lovely, mostly Easy World-day and not have to go through the storms and watch my garden annihilated (And, yes, it was.) I won't dwell on the sad details, but it was quite a disaster area. Since that day, we've had several more bouts of damaging hail, so my garden is not its usual glorious self, but it's healing, and I'm just grateful it's still alive! And that I am, too!
June 25 (the day Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died), my buddy, Donna Michael, whom I've talked about many times on this blog, came to Denver from Nashville for her annual visit and INATS (International New Age Trade Show) . This year, instead of hanging around town, spending time in my garden as we often do, I decided to take her to Golden to Bridgewater Grill (scene of the infamous kidnapping by my husband back in 2005 and, prior to that, our fun discovery in 2004) for lunch. I'd thought maybe from there, we'd go on to Idaho Springs to the little coffee shop we like there. It had been awhile since I'd been out and about and the expedition sounded like fun.
So, I picked her up at the airport with ease (we've got this routine down after so many years!), and headed west on I-70 to Golden. Coming toward us was a line of storms, and I wondered briefly if it even made sense to go. We've had a Spring and Summer of cool, wet, sometimes violent weather, and I was not eager to be on the Interstate in a severe thunderstorm. Storms have the tendency to really freak me out, especially when driving. But something told me to just press on, and we never really got into any stormy weather at all, though it stayed overcast as we ate our lunch outdoors on the fabulous patio overlooking the river (or is it a creek? I'm not sure!).
It was a lovely time and the setting was perfect. The only blemish was that I got a call from Rick just about the time we were finishing up with lunch with distressing news. The storms that had passed us by on the road had dumped a huge amount of rain and bb-sized hail at our house, and Rick had wanted me to be prepared for what I was going to find. He described it by saying "It looks like a rose bomb went off in the yard." Needless to say, I was not pleased that the garden had been attacked, but what was there to do? So I shrugged it off and took a deep breath and focused on the moment and the fun time we were having.
By the time Donna and I got all caught up on what each other had been up to, it was too late to go to Idaho Springs. My goal was to have a maximum amount of fun and togetherness while still dropping her off at her hotel, way the heck and gone from our house, in time to miss some of the usually horrendous rush-hour traffic on Interstate 25, the only sane route home from where she was staying. So, we spotted a little European-style cafe across from the restaurant and just decided to have a little dessert and coffee / tea there.
We split a tiramisu crepe that was fabulous, the little cafe was delightful, and by the time we were done, we were realizing that the window of opportunity for avoiding the intense traffic was closed and we were gently kicking ourselves for leaving Golden so late. When she asked to stop at the grocery store so she could get some fruit and such, I didn't hesitate as I knew we were in for traffic either way and I wanted her to have what she needed. (Yes--I did need to choose Easy World! And I did--over and over!)
Not wanting to stress my knees, which had been challenging me, I let her go on in and I waited in the car. I waited and waited and talked to Rick on the phone and waited and waited. "What the heck is she doing in the store?" I wondered. When she finally came out, she described having to traverse the store 4 times to find what she needed, and commented that it was strange. Then, she had gotten behind someone in line who had multiple issues that delayed her checkout.
So we were far later leaving Golden than planned and I prepared myself for the traffic. Oddly, however, we made the half-hour trip from there to her hotel with ease, I dropped her off, contemplated stopping at the gas station but decided against it, hit I-25 South, and even though there was some slow going, it was not bad at all. Just as I reached my exit and escaped the highway, all the lanes going South stopped, and the skies opened up again. Rain was coming down in mighty torrents and visibility was severely diminished. I managed to cover the last couple miles to home through neighborhoods going very, very slowly and with my wipers going full blast. I was shocked when I came within a few blocks of my house to see what looked exactly like the dregs of a Spring snowstorm on the north sides of houses! It was hail, piled up six inches high in places!
I just barely made it into the house before the lightning started and before it was pouring too hard to get out of the car. Rick told me that this was the 4th round of storms for the day, and that the earlier ones had been the worst he'd ever experienced in 40 years of living here! (Have I told you that I really, really do not like storms?) He said the neighborhood roads had been flooded and had been impassable for much of the afternoon. That was backed up by the video I was seeing on the news of an intersection only 2 blocks from our house where cars were submerged in water up above their wheel wells, and another intersection that had been flooded earlier in the day that I had just minutes before passed through! I had somehow managed to hit the one window of time that would have gotten me safely and easily home that afternoon! If I had been an hour earlier or a few minutes later, it would have been a hero's journey to make it home. As it was, it was only slightly inconvenient.
Let's just say it gave me a new appreciation for trusting Divine Timing and for my Higher Self, who knew not only how to arrange the timing, but guided me to the best place for me to have a lovely, mostly Easy World-day and not have to go through the storms and watch my garden annihilated (And, yes, it was.) I won't dwell on the sad details, but it was quite a disaster area. Since that day, we've had several more bouts of damaging hail, so my garden is not its usual glorious self, but it's healing, and I'm just grateful it's still alive! And that I am, too!
I have so much
catching up to do on this blog, it's a little overwhelming to
contemplate! And I'm just not feeling like taking that on right now.
Instead, I'm going to share some words of wisdom:
AND
More soon!
Criticizing--anything or anyone, especially *yourself*--blocks Love, drops your vibration, and keeps you from experiencing wisdom, creativity, joy and authentic power. It's a trap, indeed. Knock it off!
The more allowing, accepting and embracing you do--especially of *yourself"--the more wise, creative, joyful and authentically powerful you are.
AND
A really powerful, potent affirmation that has been working for me is "Thank you for my healing." I've sometimes needed to say it dozens of times a day, but, I'm thrilled to report, it has been working amazingly well. :)
More soon!
