Several years ago during the holiday season I was at a low point with my health, and to top things off I was dealing with a difficult dental problem that just wouldn't seem to go away. It's a long story, but the point is I suffered greatly, not only from the dental issue, but the problems that developed after dental treatment that added stress and toxic exposure to an already overwhelmed body. It was a tough time emotionally and physically, but I eventually made it through and was glad to leave that experience behind me.

Well, it's a new holiday season and that same area in my mouth is acting up again. Of course it started the day my dentist and endodontist closed for the holidays, and they won't reopen until the 2nd of January, so I can't have a professional evalutation done. At first it was like deja vu ...my first thought was,"here we go again"!!

But I am filled with so much gratitude because as I look back on the last two weeks I realize that I have grown so much spiritually and intelletually, and now have the skills to better cope with a situation like this. I know that the more I focus on the problem, the greater it will become. I remind myself often that everything always works out, and I keep the faith that will be the end result in this situation too. I use the tools I have learned, like EFT, to resolve the emotion involved with a difficult situation, and that is so helpful. And of course the Universe always provides when we are open to it - and a great new practitioner has entered my life who has offered some useful suggestions to improve things. This wonderful acupuncture practitioner uses a technique called color therapy - combining the use of color with acupunture. Using a blue light (which is calming) she was able to calm the nerve that appears to be causing the problems.

And so today a circumstance that would have set me in a tailspin a few years ago, now appears to be an opportunity to demonstrate my ability to cope with the obstacles that I now know is just a natural part of life. The difference now is I know that I can deal with any circumstance that comes my way because I have faith - in a Higher Power and in myself. ~Andrea

The presents are stacked high, the refrigerator is full of good food, and we await the arrival of family and friends...

But I can't help but think that pain and suffering doesn't pay attention to dates on a calendar - there are those whose lives are not rich with blessings, who will know no relief from their struggle, who are faced with insurmountable odds...and many who have no home, no food, no family, or friends.

So I spend these moments in the early morning hours of the beginning of the Christmas holiday giving thanks for all that I have been blessed with. And I will take time today to send thoughts of peace, love and positive energy into the Universe...directed at those whose lives have not been so blessed.

Lynne McTaggert, author of The Field and The Intention Experiment (www.livingthefield.com), has conducted experiments documenting the transformative power of our thoughts, particularly when large numbers of people participate...and they have discovered that what we think can and does have an impact on the world around us. So I ask you to join me - to think peaceful, loving thoughts and focus on all of the positive goodness in your life. There is no greater gift you can give yourself, or share with the world.

Merry Christmas!!! ~Andrea :-)

As I sit here wrapping up the last of the holiday gifts, I can't help but reflect on the many gifts I have been blessed with this year. Maybe it is a sign that I have really grown spiritually, but for the first time in my life I can truly say that "things" have lost much of their meaning to me. I enjoy and appreciate the finer things in life, but I have come to know that without physical, mental and spiritual health, possessions are meaningless.

And so this year when I write thank-you notes for all of the thoughtful gifts I have received from family and friends, I will make sure to send a note of thanks to God and the Universe for blessing me with so many amazing gifts this year...

...Thank you for the angels you have sent into my life who have shared their varied and vast knowledge with me: Charlene, who has guided me so lovingly on my spiritual journey...Evelyn, who has taught me so very much, and not just about computers!...and Ruth who has provided great insight and helpful tools to deal with past and present issues. And I am also so very thankful for the gifts of love I receive each and every day from my amazing husband, my precious family, and dear friends.

I am grateful for the eternal gifts God has blessed me with - confidence, fearlessness, strength, perseverance, determination and focus. I have done things this year that I never would have believed possible...and continue to dream dreams that have no limits. My life, as all lives are, is full of great challenges, but I know they are really opportunities to grow, create, and dream.
~ Andrea :-)

Christmas is a little over a week away and I have just received the best gift I could ever ask for!! According to an article by The Associated Press, "being [up to] 25 pounds overweight doesn't appear to raise your risk of dying from cancer or heart disease, says a new government study that seems to vindicate Grandma's claim that a few extra pounds won't kill you."

Now before I give more details from the article I want to say that I would love to lose the extra 10-15 pounds that I have been carrying around the last few years. I eat an almost perfect diet (really!), I try to exercise as much as my physical limitations will allow (well, most of the time I do!), but the pounds just don't seem to want to come off. I've blamed my metabolism slowing down, menopause, age...just about anything I can think of, but the fact remains that no matter what I seem to do, those 10+ pounds don't seem to be going anywhere!! As a person who is very invested in doing all I can to be healthy, this has been very frustrating as everything I have read suggests that to be healthy you have to be thin.

What great news to hear that if you do all the right things and can't get those extra pounds off, it's OK!! Now the caveat to this study is that although it suggests you can be "fit and fat", it did indicate that people who are overweight have a greater risk of death from diabetes and kidney disease. And people who are more than 30 pounds overweight are considered to be "obese" and are at higher risk for cancer and heart disease.

But right now I am going to concentrate on the GOOD NEWS! I will continue to eat the right foods, exercise as much as possible, and do all I can to be as healthy and fit as possible...and then I am going to stop worrying about those extra pounds, and give great thanks to the folks who did this study and gave me a wonderful Christmas gift - the gift of being able to completely and totally love myself, just the way I am!! ~ Andrea :-)

Life can become pretty overwhelming, and when you are living with an illness, it is even more unpredictable and challenging.

I put a great deal of effort and expend an enormous amount of energy working at being healthy...I spend time looking for my blessings and chasing away negativity, keeping my focus on what I want to draw into my life...I work hard at doing as much good as I can for others, as well as being a loving mother, wife, friend and neighbor.

Every once in a while though it's all just too much, just "one of those days" - one too many symptoms to cope with, and feeling like I will never be able to fulfill all of my obligations, or live up to the expectations others have for me - or that I have for myself!

And that is when I have learned to give myself permission to take a "time-out" - to stop pushing, plotting and plodding and give myself a pass on trying to do it all. I read for the pleasure of it, not to learn something. I go for a walk to enjoy the experience of it, not to push myself as much as I can to get "cardio" benefits. I refuse to feel guilty if I have to say no to someone. I go to bed when I feel like it, not because the clock says it is time to do so.

The amazing thing is that I almost always wake up the next day refreshed and energized - ready to tackle whatever life has in store for me. Life seems so much easier and less complicated - well, at least for the moment!! ~ Andrea :-)