Overcoming Fear and Regret

If I could give my previous post about fear a soundtrack, this would be it.

Consider this post a kind of "love note" from me to you.
May you walk in strength and sweetness and joy.
Keep growing!
Love,
Aunt Laya

Teens, Tweens, Parents, Teachers:

Teens, Tweens, Parents, and Teachers:

I just got an email with this announcement.

Teens and tweens and younger kids deserve to be safer so check it out and stay safe.

Love,

Aunt Laya

Introducing the NetSmartz
Internet Safety 2009 Presentations!

NetSmartz® Workshop has been hard at work updating our Internet Safety Presentations. The new PowerPoint presentations for parents and communities, tweens, and teens are now available for you to download. They incorporate current statistics, our newest videos, and vibrant graphics!

NetSmartz free, multimedia Internet safety presentations are tailored for specific audiences - parents and communities, tweens, teens, and younger children. Our innovative presentations utilize statistics, online resources, videos, and expert tips to educate, engage, and empower children and adults to be safer on- and offline.

Go to http://www.NetSmartz.org/Presentations to download the NetSmartz Internet Safety 2009 Presentations today!

Educate Parents & Communities

This 60-minute PowerPoint for parents with children ages 5-17 and communities includes

Facts of online risks
Statistics, videos, and other resources
Tips for keeping children safer online

Engage Tweens & Teens

Two 45-minute PowerPoint presentations for tweens and teens contain

Animated and documentary-style videos
Candid, thought-provoking discussions
Practical advice and free resources

Empower Younger Children

These 30-minute interactive Primary and Intermediate presentations include

Age-appropriate explanations of online risks
Easy-to-remember online safety rules
Interactive, animated lessons led by Clicky, Nettie, and Webster

Go to http://www.NetSmartz.org/Presentations to download the NetSmartz Internet Safety 2009 Presentations today!

Message to Teens

Here's my latest video from You Tube:



I'd love to hear what you think.

Love,
Aunt Laya

One woman's story of love for the teen in her life

I met a woman who told me the story of her nephew. He was a good kid but started getting involved with some gang activity. She loved him enough to do some homework and make some phone calls. She loved him enough to step out of her "comfort zone" and take him along on a field trip to a funeral home just before the burial of another teen who had been shot and killed. It was a tough field trip for a young teenager. But guess what? Her dear nephew turned around when he saw the reality and consequences of life around gangs.

It took a lot of courage for this woman to do what she did, it was a risk she took for the love of her nephew. It took a lot of courage for that young man to look a dark outcome in the face and choose life.

Maybe you know a teenager (or anyone really) who could use some guidance or direction. Maybe you're the teen who wishes someone would take your hand like that. Don't wait. Offer your hand. Or ask for a hand. Reach out. Touch someone who needs you.

We're in this life together and together we will get through the challenges. Together we'll celebrate the victories. Together.

With love and blessings,
Aunt Laya

Thanks for sharing your story with me E.
If you want to add anything, please feel free to add any comment.

Thank you to Scott M. Liddle (scott.liddell.com) and Morguefile.com for the great photo, again!

Start Over

"Start over" means that even if you made a mistake or made a choice that didn't have the outcome you wanted, you can start over. Right now. Just start over. And you can start over any moment that you need to. You still have to deal with the consequences of a not-so-great decision or action or whatever. So? So, that's okay, deal with it, move on, and take the next step. You’re a little bit wiser and you know what you want a little more clearly.

This is a photo of a blossoming walnut tree. It's starting over after a dormant winter of bare branches. It will take the whole summer for the walnuts to grow and ripen until they are ready to eat near the fall.

Blessing of the day: Start over where you need to and enjoy the miracles that surprise you along the way.

Love,
Aunt Laya

Do you believe in miracles?

The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common. --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Where I live there are signs of spring everywhere. The walnut and fig (photo) trees I can see are giving birth to tiny bits of green life through bear, brown branches. Just have a look at each new moon, which starts fresh as a tiny sliver each month and renews itself into a full celebration of time and opportunity.

If “you see what you look for” and you look for miracles, then what are the miracles you notice? Where is the opportunity to renew—or recreate—in your life, right now?

The miracles of nature do not seem miraculous because they are so common. If no one had ever seen a flower, even a dandelion would be the most startling event in the world. --Author unknown


Blessing for the day: May your eyes be open to the small miracles of each day and may your heart be open to the big ones.

Love, Aunt Laya

True colors

Have you ever spent any time watching peacocks? They are so beautiful and so majestic. But they get a bum rap. When someone is walking around all conceited, people sometimes use the expression, “he’s strutting like a peacock.” I think peacocks are very modest birds though. They are beautiful to be sure. The males are programmed to attract the females for mating but it’s not about ego.

Ego is about people having inflated feelings of superiority. On the other hand, ego can go out of balance the other way when people feel inferior or not good enough. Being in balance is not feeling superior or inferior. Everybody has areas of talent and areas of weakness. How do you value the rose over the orchid or the daisy over the daffodil? The peacock is bluer than an elephant, and elephant is stronger than a fox, a fox is craftier than a frog, and frog jumps farther than an oyster (who doesn’t jump at all), which produces pearls from its challenges.

The ballerina dances and pays the shoemaker for her shoes. The shoemaker needs the truck driver to deliver supplies. The truck driver buys his food from the farmer, who buys his clothes… we humans rely on each other for entertainment, food, shelter, clothes, beauty, strength, comfort.

Truth of the day: Who ever you are, what ever you do, you are a gift to this world!
Blessing of the day: Shine your true colors in the way that only you can do.

Do you want to know a secret?

Your secret is your prisoner; if you reveal it, you will become its prisoner.
(Mivchar HaPenimim 29:6)

I recently saw this quote on another blog.

The next time I went blog-hopping, I found this: http://www.postsecret.blogspot.com/
The (not G rated) art blog where people send in post cards sharing their secret. There can be healing when people know that everyone else has a secret, private place with thoughts they don't want to share with anyone else. PostSecret blog is the place where people can keep their secret "prisoner" and let it out all at the same time.

Another reason I wanted to post the link to PostSecret is because there is link to Hope Line (http://www.hopeline.com/) for people who are thinking about trying to end their pain through suicide. Maybe if people know what other people are holding inside they won't feel as alone. Maybe if people will call 1-800-Suicide (784-2433) they will also know that they are not alone. There are real ways to step out of pain, and there are guides to help you find the way.

Sometimes it's a good thing to share a secret. When my friend told me she had cancer, I could do more for her. Sometimes it's not good to share a secret. Like the quote above, things can come back to hurt you. There are safe places to share secrets and get help. There are lots of wonderful resources. There are lots of people in this world who want to be there for someone in need.

In searching for places that I could connect, share links, network for my own book (which I hope can be a friend to people), I was in awe after just an hour of looking around at just how many wonderful websites there are that reach out to teens and everyone.

Advice for the day: If you need a hand, reach out and ask for help. There will be someone there reaching back.

Blessing for the day: May you always feel the warmth from the Spark of Creation that lives within you.

Er-a-Er-a-Errrr! Wake Up!

This is your very own personal wake up call. What are you avoiding? What are you procrastinating about? Get honest here.

• Do you need to make a phone call? (Call during lunch and it will be short.)

• Have you taken any action toward a dream? A baby step will do.

• Do you need a nap? Power naps are “in.” Or take a gentle nap.

• Have you said “I love you” to someone who needs to hear it?

• When was the last time you said “thank you” with eye contact?

• Where do you need to change your perspective?

• What are you looking for in life?

• Are you being true to you?

• Who are you spending your precious time with?

I don’t know who said this first, but I love the message:
“When you get a wake up call, answer the phone,
and when opportunity knocks, answer the door.”

You have an opportunity RIGHT NOW to take one small action that will make a difference. Just one small thing. Minor tweaking over time has a huge impact! Consider me your very own personal cheering section.

• Read one page of that important book
• Give one dollar to someone that feeds hungry people
• Do one load of laundry
• Contact one business lead
• Say one sincere prayer
• Brush away one tear
• Ease one heart—your heart counts!

You can do this!

Love,
Aunt Laya

What are you planting this spring?

I've been trying to plant flowers in my yard. Here's a little of what I'm learning:

• Sometimes a plant takes, sometimes it doesn't, keep planting anyway. {Sometimes you fall on your face. That's OK, everyone does, get up again!}

• Make sure you know the right season for planting what you want. If you miss a season, it will come around again. {Everything has its season including relationships, personal growth, work, and learning.}
  
• Make sure you give the plant the right amount of shade and sun--where you plant something matters. {Put yourself in the right environment! Be around good and healthy people, read and watch and listen to things that will nourish you.}
  
• Sometimes the dog will dig up what you plant. That's OK, be patient, the dog will out grow it or you can plant somewhere else. {Things don't always work out the way we plan them. That's OK, try again, wait until you mature, or try a different way.}
  

Quote for the day: "I will waste not even a precious second today in anger or hate or jealousy or selfishness. I know that the seeds I sow I will harvest, because every action, good or bad, is always followed by an equal reaction. I will plant only good seeds this day."
--Og Mandino1923-1996, Author and Speaker

What are seeds of good? Kindness, gratitude, charity, joy, rest...

Your Five Closest Friends

In classes about success and business I’ve heard it taught that your income will be an average of your five closest friends. I guess it’s meant to teach that if you want to be rich, you should hang out with rich people. There’s truth in that. Networking is a powerful thing. There’s another saying from old time actress Mae West, “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor. Believe me, rich is better.” I have to say, if I have a choice, I’d rather have money than not. You can do more with money than without. So what I’m about to say isn’t against having money. It’s about choosing what’s most important to you in life.

What if…?
What if it’s true that you are a reflection of your five closest friends? What do your friends reflect about you? In my life, I choose my friends for their integrity, their desire to be kind and do good in the world, the way they accept people for who they are, and their thirst for learning. Each of these characteristics fits one or more of my closest friends. Many wise people have taught that to live a truly fulfilling life, how you relate to others is what really matters. (Like no one on their death bed ever wished for a bigger car!) What you give away (a smile, a charitable donation, a kind word, a helpful act) is the truest reflection of the truest and most lasting wealth.

Blessing for the day: May see what has the highest value in your life and treasure it, create more of it, and then bless others with it.

love,
Aunt Laya

Take just one step at a time

Wow, I did it. I started my blog! I’m glad you’re here. This is the place where I’ll tell you what I’m thinking about, what’s inspiring me, and what’s changing me. This is the place to come when you want a bit of encouragement.

This world is not the easiest place to be. One thing for sure is that you don’t get out of this world without tears and pain. But there’s a secret I want to share with you straight off. If you only have tears, you’re not done. You can’t judge your life by the hard times. It’s kind of like looking at a building that’s not finished and hating it because it doesn’t have carpet. Well, it’s not done yet! If you’re looking at a rose bush, it might start out like a small bunch of thorny stems, all brown and dormant. With time though, the thing WILL blossom. So if you’re having hard times, you have to know that it’s not the whole picture.

Advice for the day: Develop or share your sense of humor. Find a good joke and share it. (I’d love to see the clean ones!) I’ll share the laugh out loud ones here during the month of March.

Bye for now,
Aunt Laya
(pronounced like Princess Leia in Star Wars)