Aren't porcupines cute??

Well, we all know how cute porcupines are, right?

And we all know just how they defend themselves, right?

But that sure doesn't mean that we each have to get blasted by a porcupine in order to know for ourselves that it would hurt. Right? Right.

That is exactly why I wrote "You Don't Have to Learn Everything the Hard Way--What I Wish Someone Had Told Me". (You can read sample chapters for free at http://www.auntlaya.com/ and also at Amazon by clicking on the photo of the book to the right. ----->)

Be smart. Learn from O.P.M. (other people's mistakes). Asking trusted sources is one good way to make your journey through life smoother. Enjoy the journey!

Love,
Aunt Laya

Simple Chages for Powerful Results or What You Can Learn from Your Dog

It's amazing how powerful simplicity can be. When I was active in martial arts I found that even the black belts all still use (and drill with) the simplest basics that the newest white belts are taught. It's always about doing the basics and we keep building in mastery. Here's one of the most powerful tools we have: speech. The way we use the gift of speech in our daily lives will make a huge difference in success in all areas of our lives. Here are my tips for making talk more positive and life enhancing.

Tip #1
Use positive words when ever you can. "Not good" instead of "bad" puts the focus on "good". Our minds and spirits hear the words and take in what we hear and say. We don't always hear things the way they're meant. If we're using positive words it reminds us where to focus. You'll never hear a negative word from a dog.

Tip #2
Delete Sarcasm.
Sarcasm comes from the Greek words that mean "to tear flesh". Yikes! We'd never hurt someone like that but with so much humor based on sarcasm, we can forget how much a sarcastic remark can sting and hurt. Dogs are always sincere.

Tip #3
No Gossip.
Gossip hurts three people, the speaker, the listener, and the person being talked about. If this one is hard here’s some food for thought: What you say about someone else really reveals more about the kind of person you are! If you listen to gossip about someone, you gotta wonder how that person talks about you. Getting out of listening to gossip can feel kind of sensitive since you don’t want to come off “holier than thou” but it’s well worth the effort. Here are a few “tips within tips” to get out of listening to gossip:
~change the subject, redirect the conversation
~be direct and honest and respectfully tell the other person that you also won't listen if someone wants to talk to you about him or her
~say there's something wrong with the phone connection and that you'll call them back (now you have time to think about how to redirect the conversation)
know that your reputation as trustworthy will rise
once people know that you're not into gossip, they'll stop coming to you with it
Dogs never, ever gossip about anything, ever.

Tip #4
Same rules apply about yourself.
Remember the old “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”? It’s still true and it’s also true about your own precious (as in valuable gem!) self. Dogs never put themselves down.

Tip #5
A kind word goes a long way.
Everyone needs to feel validated. What ever you like to hear is probably what other people like to hear too. A sincere compliment can go a long way. Gratitude is always good to express. Words of encouragement are always well received. Okay, well, dogs can't do this, but they wish they could!




Some cultures teach that you have a certain number of words you can use in your life time and that's it. It's meant to teach that we need to choose our words with care and purpose.



Experiment with this one and see what happens.



Love,
Aunt Laya

Photo credit: Avital (c) 2006

The Lion, the Donkey and the Fox

I just heard this story:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a lion, a donkey, and a fox that went rabbit hunting one day. At the end of the day, they came together and there was a big pile of rabbits in front of them. The lion said to the donkey, "Why don't you divide the rabbits fairly among us." So the donkey made three nice piles of rabbits at which point the lion killed the donkey, ate part of him, and threw what was left on the pile of rabbits.

Turning to the fox, the lion said, "Why don't you take the rabbits and divide them fairly between the two of us." The fox made a big pile in front of the lion and took one scrawny rabbit for himself. The lion asked, "Where did you learn to count so well?" To which the fox said, "I learned from the donkey!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's called learning from other people's life experiences!

Love,
Aunt Laya

P.S. If you haven't read my book, "You Don't Have to Learn Everything the Hard Way--What I Wish Someone had Told Me" go ahead and click the link to the right with the picture of the cover to learn more!

Photo from Morguefile.com, by monosodium, thank you!

Love the Unlovely

I was reading a book* and saw these words: "Love the Unlovely". Those simple words really struck a chord in me. Sometimes the people we love the most do not act so very "lovely" to us. Sometimes little kids are crabby, sometimes it's teens that act "unlovely", or neighbors or parents or… we have the power to set the tone for our lives and love people through what ever is going on. How do you do that?

Here's something a wise woman taught me: when someone is saying or doing things that aren't so nice, it means that person is in pain. “What they really need is a blessing," she told me. So I tried it. The next time someone cut me off in traffic with an attitude, I blessed them. Right out loud I started saying things like, “I hope you get where you’re going safely. I hope you have many joyous times to celebrate with your family. I hope you live to a ripe old age and see beautiful healthy grandchildren.” Even if the driver of the other car is a young teenager, I bless him with these things. Usually they never hear me, but I hear myself. When I start blessing people who are grouchy or rude, I don’t always mean it when I begin but by the time I’m well into it, my heart is open and I mean every word. And guess what? I feel better. The tension in my body is released, I can take a deep breath, and I can move on to things that are more meaningful to me.

I used to work with teens that were placed in a residential treatment facility. They were boys that were neglected, abused or delinquent. I remember one boy who would get pretty cranky. I would sort of sing, “I love you!” He usually just walked away. Once I was the one who was short tempered and snapped, “I don’t have time for this right now.” He smiled and said, “I love you, too!” Boy, it felt nice to have those words come back at me—over fifteen years later, I still remember it.

May you be blessed to look for and find the words that will bless you and others! Take one step, one breath, at a time.

Love,
Aunt Laya

Please note: If someone is abusive or cruel, if they do things that tear you apart body or emotions, you may need to get to a safe place. In this post I'm talking about safe situations when someone is just out of balance with their emotions or mouth! If you need help getting away from an abusive situation; if you feel threatened, please search for safe houses or hotlines in your area, or a telephone hotline where someone can help you. If you're a kid, ask a teacher or counselor for help and keep asking until you get the help you need. Abuse of any kind, sexual or physical or emotional is not okay. It’s the right thing to ask for help to get out of an abusive situation!

*The book is 50 Great Tips, Tricks & Techniques to Connect with Your Teen by Debra Hapenny Ciavola, Ph.D.

photo from www.MorgueFile.com by Dani Simmonds

When's the last time you got silly?

Look around (and look inside) and let yourself enjoy some of the whimsy of life! Bring some cheer to people around you. Remember your most embarrassing moment and see if you can swap stories with someone so you can laugh at yourself. There's always a story that can top yours. Find a good joke and tell it to three people. (or more, and see how many people will return the favor by telling you a joke in return. One good joke deserves another.)

Blessing of the day: May your heart lighten as the days grow longer, may your sense of humor blossom with the coming spring!

Love,
Aunt Laya

photo from www.morguefile.com by patricia

Know what you're forwarding

If you've been checking in here regularly, you know I don't like to complain in general. Here's something that I do whine about. I hate getting e-mail that are urban legend or hoaxes. What does that mean? Somebody out in e-mail land sits around making stuff up for whatever reason and makes up stuff just to see how far it can go. Maybe they want to clog up the e-mail lines or what ever. You've probably gotten at least one of them. You know, "forward this to everyone you know and Microsoft will send you a check for thousands of dollars." Or, "Poor Penny has been kidnapped, please watch out for her." If you check it out, Penny is a photo of someone who's never gone missing in the first place. Microsoft doesn't send checks even if they could keep track of who sends what around the Internet. If you get an email that tells you to do something, warns you about a danger, or quotes some famous person, you can check these stories out before you waste your time or someone else's. I use Snopes:

http://www.snopes.com/

Just for fun, have a look on the left side of the page for the top legends circulating around the Internet to just how many "urban legends" are circulating around.

Stay awake to these frauds and don't get taken. If you do, don't beat yourself up, just learn from it and check things out for next time. We've all fallen for one or another of the hoaxes.

On the other hand, when you get something by email that's true, you'll be able to pass it on with confidence when you know it's right.

Exercise for the day:
Why not take a minute to do an inside check to clear out some old lie that someone told you about your own self? Don't believe the people who put you down. Don't believe the "legends" about your own limitations or weaknesses. Have a look at what your strengths are and the truth about the wonderful things you have done and want to do.

Love,
Aunt Laya

photo from Morguefile.com

Kids, Need to Talk?

Dear Reader,

There are a lot of amazing people out there who have open hearts and want to reach out to take the hand of others in need of some love and support. Here is one online place that you can find some great resources:

http://www.covenanthouse.org/nineline/index.html

They also have a hot line:
Are you or a friend looking for answers to tough questions?

Covenant House Nineline can help.

Call our hotline for advice

about anything - anywhere, anytime. 1-800-999-9999.

It's free, it's confidential, it's 24/7 and it's for you!

If you feel alone, stuck, or scared, call. It's all okay to talk about:

health

running away

suicide

feelings

abuse

relationships

family

or you can go to the forums and just read about what other people are asking about.

http://www.covenanthouse.org/nineline/index.html

If this is something you need, click on the link or pick up the phone. You are worth it.

Love,

Aunt Laya

You are NOT a Fly!

Okay people. Pay attention here. Here's a little story for you.

A fly is flying around looking for a good time. Oh! What's that? He sees something very beautiful. It smells wonderful! Ahhh... the fly lands on it. But, alas! He has landed on very sticky fly paper. He can't move. He dies!

Another fly is flying around looking for some fun. What's this?! He sees something bright and attractive. It smells divine! He sees a dead fly there, but, no matter. He lands. And... alas! He can not move. He is stuck there. He dies.

A third fly, bored to tears, looking for something exciting passes by the scene. He sees the beautiful color, he smells the beautiful smell. HE SEES THE DEAD FLIES! No matter. He lands anyway, it could never happen to him, right? Wrong. He gets stuck, can't move, and dies.

Moral of the story: YOU ARE NOT A FLY! You have a brain! You do not need to learn EVERYTHING the hard way. You can learn from other people's experience, both the good stuff and mistakes to avoid. Now, it's true you have to learn some things the hard way. So as long as you grow and learn, that's okay, go on from there. But you do not have to reinvent the wheel.

You may not BE a fly, but you can, in your own way, take wing and let your spirit fly.

Blessing of the day: May see your own greatness and take wing to do the good only you can do in your own way in this world. And may you shine and be all that only you can be!

Love,
Aunt Laya

Please feel free to reprint this story just as it is and please include this:

(c) Laya Saul, 2007

www.AuntLaya.com www.AuntLaya.blogspot.com

Photo from MorgueFile.com by Scott M. Liddell

http://scott.liddell.com Thank You!

Find your focus

The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.

--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

What is important to you, really important? Look in the direction you want to be headed and you'll find yourself heading in that direction.

Here's the twist: What's really important may not be something that anyone else will ever see or even know about! Maybe it's about overcoming depression, maybe it's about feeding the homeless, maybe it’s about living a happy life after a childhood of growing up with an alcoholic parent. Over coming challenge in a quiet, personal way, is brilliant, even if no one else ever knows! When you change something inside yourself, you are changing the world on the outside too. It could be that you have something very "out in the world" to accomplish. You know when someone is climbing up high people say "don't look down". Keep your focus. Look in the direction of your heart's desire. Keep on track with what's important in the deepest places of your heart.

Find people who inspire you.
Do not underestimate the beauty and purpose of you.
Find your focus. Stay on focus.

Love,

Aunt Laya

Photo from www.morguefile.com by Jadazie, thank you!

How full is your glass?

There are two things that I seem to always come back to when I talk about change or growth or creating the life you want to live:

Action

Perspective

You may not be able to change a given situation in life but you can change your perspective about it. You can change the way you see a situation (or relationship). You can change the way you relate to a situation (or person). You can complain about what you don't have, or be grateful for what you do have. You know this one: You can see the glass as half empty, you can see the glass as half full, or you can see the glass as overflowing. Just make sure your glass is turned up so the blessings can get in there! How you think about things will change you; and when you change you, you change everyone around you just a teeny, tiny bit. To tell you the truth, I don't even know why this works, but it does. Experiment with this. You can go from self conscious to confident and change your fortune.

Or, you may be able to do something, some teeny, tiny little bit. You may be able to take some action, no matter how small it may seem, and change the course of history. Do not underestimate the power of your words and actions. Make one more phone call, send one more email, take one more class, do one more act of kindness, reach out one more time.

SECRET REVEALED:

Are you ready for this? If your intention (I repeat intention) when you are shifting your perspective or taking action, is to uplift and nurture yourself and others, you'll add an even greater degree of power to it.

"Intention is when the mind, with great earnestness,

and of choice, fixes its view on any idea."

--Locke

The teeny, tiny, itty, bitty little bit of change you create today, whether it's in the way you see things or the way you do things, will, over time, make a big difference in your life.

EXPERIMENT OF THE WEEK: Notice each time you have an opportunity to thank someone, then do it. (Even if you paid for a service, say "thank you.") Notice anything different?

Love,

Aunt Laya

Failure!

"Success is not measured by your victories,

but by how you recover from your failures!"
--Vic Preisser

Fail well!

Dare to be average!

Take one more breath.
Take one more step in the direction of your dreams.

Your success is not measured by ceremonies or awards. It is not measured at all. Success is overcoming life's challenges, not all at once, but an inch at a time. Sometimes those inches add up and you seem to have a great breakthrough. You couldn't have had the breakthrough (and neither could any one else) without the inches in between. Success is also treasuring life's gifts. Often--like the lump of coal that, over time and with great pressure, becomes a diamond--we don't recognize the treasures so fast. Remember: "You see what you look for." So look for the gift in every challenge. Look for the sparkle in the eyes of another, and look for the sparkle in the eyes that look at you in the mirror.

You are amazing--*you light up this world*--without a doubt!

Love,
Aunt Laya

Healing Sexual Abuse - a poem about healing

This is a poem written by someone who was sexually molested. It's important for people to know we are not alone in our life experiences. The young woman who wrote this gave me her permission to share it here. With gratitude for her open heart, here it is. Love, Aunt Laya

Abused

by Michal

Falling.

I can't get up.

I sit and cry.

Let it out,

Let the tears flow.

It's natural,

It's part of healing.

Now is the time,

Now is when it must happen.

I can.

The words "I Can't" isn't acceptable.

Push.

Even though you think you can't,

Even though it's so tough that you want to give up.

The harder the push,

The easier it will be.

You need to,

You have to.

This needs to heal.

The wound is still open.

Any touch burns,

They are all a reminder of pain.

Release the anger,

Allow the feelings out.

It's been four years.

Enough.

Time to allow it to heal.

Slowly,

With time and patience,

Hard work will close the hole.

Eventually,

It will only be a scar,

A mark.

No longer will I allow the pain to endure.

The painful memories stop here.

The abuse stops,

I will heal.

photo by cahilus, from morguefile.com, thank you!

Kind Words -- Cheering the Grumpy

Here is the most recent email I received from Partners in Kindness. You can subscribe to one of the most wonderful, healing lists I've seen, full of heart and soul! This post speaks for itself.

I hope you'll be inspired to do something kind. It will change your day no matter what else is going on.

Love,

Aunt Laya
Photo from www.Morguefile.com thank you Kesh!

KIND WORDS--Cheering The Grumpy
"Gratitude will get you Everywhere"

The author wishes to remain anonymous

Edited by Shmuel Greenbaum

Printed with Permission of http://www.PartnersInKindness.org

I live in a high rise apartment building in a large city. One of the gentlemen who lives in my building is an angry person. He walks with his head down and never speaks to anyone. He grunts under his breath loud enough to be heard. People are afraid to talk to him.One day, I saw him with his leg in a cast. I asked him what happened. He only grunted an answer. For me, it was an opportunity to change his life a bit.

I purchased a bouquet of flowers and having sworn the doorman to secrecy, had him deliver the bouquet to our unhappy tenant's apartment. I signed the bouquet's card, "We wish you a speedy recovery" and signed it "All your neighbors at (our address)."My formerly grumpy neighbor now smiles at everyone he meets, since he doesn't know which of these people thought him special enough to send the bouquet. As unhappy as he was, he was still grateful for the get well gesture.It is fun for me to see him talking to all his neighbors, welcoming people into the building and being totally social with everyone. Not one of my neighbors understands what made the change, but I know and so does G-d. Now the readers of this e-mail know and I hope each of you helps to make this practice a full fledged "epidemic".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Cheering The Grumpy"

From Kindness: Making a Difference in People's Lives: Formulas, stories, and insights

By Zelig Pliskin

Printed with Permission of Shaar Press

Wouldn’t the world be a much better place if all the grumpy people would be transformed into kind, loving, and cheerful human beings? Those individuals would gain immensely along with all of the potential victims of their negativity. Imagine telling a grumpy person, "Cheer up," or, "Stop being so grumpy." Will this suddenly change them? Will they stop being grumpy and cheer up? If it were that simple, we’d live in a cheerful world. A group of volunteers would go from person to person and change them. It’s obvious that cheering up a grouch is an art and a skill.There is no magic formula that will work in all instances. But the most effective approach is when you have sincere love for other people. When you care deeply about someone and have sincere compassion you are likely to have a positive effect. Even the grumpiness of people can melt when in the presence of the radiant sunshine of a sincerely loving person.Don’t rebuke a grumpy person. It won’t work. Don’t angrily tell him to change. It won’t work. Enter his world. Understand him. Why is he the way he is? What pain in his life caused him to be this way?If you try to cheer up a grumpy person and what you try to do doesn’t work, don’t blame him. Take this as a message that you need a different approach.If you act too friendly and cheerful when interacting with a person who is consistently grumpy, you are likely to annoy him. One approach is to mirror his grumpy state and then change your state in a way that he follows you as you access a better state. Mirror but don’t mimic his facial expression and posture. Mirror his tone of voice, but don’t say anything that will be counterproductive. Then little by little allow yourself to relax and little by little access a slightly cheerful state. If he follows your example, you will put him in a better state.One of my students related this story to me:I once met a cheerful person who seemed to me that he must have grown up with this attribute."You probably were always a happy person," I commented to him.With a big smile, he replied, "I’m afraid not. I was a difficult child. I complained a lot and was frequently miserable. As a young adult I was highly irritable. People usually got on my nerves. One day, however, I met someone who had a major impact on my life. This person said something humorous and made me smile."You have a great smile," he said to me. "You should see how different you look when you smile from the way you look without that smile. Look at the difference in a mirror. Start with smiling. Speak cheerfully to each person you meet. Experiment for an entire month.""So far my experiment has lasted over ten years and I think I’ll keep it up for at least another ten years."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sponsor Kind Words for only $36! Donations are accepted in any currency. They are tax-deductible in the United States and may be tax-deductible in other countries.For more information contact Shmuel Greenbaum Info@TraditionOfKindness.Org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kindness in Many Languages
To Subscribe and visit our archives, go to:French:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Potentiel_de_Bonte Spanish:http://espanol.groups.yahoo.com/group/LapracticadelaBondad/ Hebrew:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KindWordsInHebrew/

German: http://de.groups.yahoo.com/group/FreundlicheWorte

Russian: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/KindWordsInRussian/

Indonesian: http://asia.groups.yahoo.com/group/KataKataBaik/

Portuguese: http://br.groups.yahoo.com/group/ParceirosNaBondade/

If you or your school would like to translate our e-mails into other languages, send an e-mail to: info@PartnersInKindness.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kind Words is a free weekly e-mail distributed by Partners In Kindness.Although the content of these e-mails contains copyrighted material, Partners in Kindness allows users who register at our website to reprint them in print, on a website, or on an e-mail distribution list at no cost. If you have permission to reprint this e-mail, please ensure that you reprint the entire e-mail (including this notice). Kindness is like music, art, sports or any other discipline -- it can only be mastered with practice, training, and lots and lots of encouragement. That is what PartnersInKindness.org is trying to promote.

The archive for Kind Words e-mails is located at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PartnersInKindness

For further information, please visit our Website http://www.PartnersInKindness.org

e-mail: info@PartnersInKindness.org

Healing Sexual Abuse

"There is nothing we cannot live down, rise above, and overcome."

--Ella Wheeler Wilcox

If you or someone you know has been sexually abused either as a child or as an adult, I'm here to tell you that healing is possible! If you have never been sexually abused, please read what I have to say anyway. If you are a teen reading this, please follow the link and learn about the five stages of abuse and the warning signs of an abusive relationship.

When ever you want, you can go to my website http://www.auntlaya.com/ and click on the chapter from my book about sexual abuse. Or you can go straight to the chapter right now with this link:

http://www.auntlaya.com/auntlaya/Kadima_Sexual_Abuse5.pdf

There are a lot of resources right here on the Internet for you, for your healing. I'll post some of those later on.

Sometimes people ask me, "How can I heal? I'll never be able to forget what happened." That's true, you'll always know what happened to you. Like a wound to your physical body though, it can stop hurting so much and the scar will fade with time. You'll always know what happened to you, but you'll also be able to create a rich life without pain coloring so much of your life. Sometimes the healing process itself is hard. Remember, it's a process, it's not something that happens all at once. Take your time. Be tender with yourself. You are not alone. You are never alone, even if it feels like it sometimes.

I'm loving you up as you take the journey toward healing,

Aunt Laya

Photo by Alex (o0o0xmods0o0o) at MorgueFile.com -- Thank you!

A new twist for New Year Resolutions

What is really important to you? Do you want to start something new? Do you want to stop doing something you don't want to do? Instead of trying to make this goal or dream come true with brute strength, try this: one small step, then another small step. Remember the tortoise and the hare? That little guy just took one step at a time—all at his own pace, and he made it across the finish line. First!

The idea here is to live the life you want for yourself. What is the dream or goal you’re reaching for? Now think of what it will take for you to get that. If you dream of exotic travel, have you called a travel agent? Just take the first step and find out what it would cost you. Then you know how much money to save. Then you can decide how you want to do that. Or you can get creative about bartering (trading services, work for goods or service for goods etc.), or a job with an airline or travel agency. What if you want to get fit? A 15 minute walk two times a week, is that something you could do? A bottle of water instead of a soda once a day isn’t as hard as thinking about a starvation diet (which anyways is not a good idea). If you want a college degree, sign up for one class and show up for it!

If you’ve been reading this blog or my book, you know by now that I encourage people to ask and get help when needed. We are all in this life together. We all do better, feel better, and accomplish more when we work together.

What are your dreams? What is one, teeny, tiny step you can take right now? At the very least, write it down because even the act of writing a dream gives it power. You’ve got that power. Take one small step right now!

You can do this!
Love,
Aunt Laya

'Tis the season

'Tis the season, only sometimes people don't feel like it. The fastest way to lift your spirits is to do something to lift the spirits of someone else.

For great inspiration, stories, need downloads, go see this website http://www.actsofkindness.org

• if you go to the "free downloads" link, you can get ready made certificates and more that you can download, print and give
• click on ecards and send a bit of inspiration
• once you've clicked on any link, a new list will appear on the left side of the screen and you can read some very neat stories of things people have done

If you need a hug, ask for one.
If you have a hug to give, give it.

I wish you and yours a very sweet and bright holiday season.

Love,

Aunt Laya

photo by taliesin at morguefile.com, thank you!

When life is hard

Right now is the darkest time of the year. Our daylight is the shortest (in the northern hemisphere) and night is the longest. Then, on top of that, if you have hard things going on in your life, it's hard to imagine the light at the end of the tunnel.

Today is a love note of encouragement. Life is not meant to be easy. Life is full of meaning and beauty, but easy is not part of the deal. We get that clue first thing. We start all cozy in the womb; as we grow, it starts to get pretty cramped in there until we don't really fit comfortably any more and we get squeezed out! It's not easy. Then, taking that first breath of air is a shocker too. We don't remember how hard all of that was. But it was hard. Okay, it's hard work to get born, and it's hard work to get through school, and it's hard work when we fall on our face, and it's hard, really hard, when we face loss in our lives.

Sometimes the best thing is to sit quietly, either by yourself or with someone who loves you, and just BE. You don't have to fix anything or each other, just be. Regenerate, recreate, grieve, rest, what ever you need to do. Your energy will move in cycles, just like the waves of the ocean moves with the tides.

Even when you are not actively "out in the world" doing things, being you and growing into yourself is enough.

Your soul is a flame that lights up the world. Really.

One of my favorite images of growing is of a crab. When that little shell fish needs to grow, it has to shed its hard protective shell and become very vulnerable. It will usually go and take refuge in some rocks until it grows a new, bigger shell to step out into the world once again.

If you're feeling vulnerable and tender, it's way okay to retreat for a time and take good care of you. If you need cyber {{{{{hugs}}}}} you've come to the right place because I have an unlimited supply of time-released {{{{{hugs}}}}} and you're welcome to take all you like.

With love and of course {{{{{hugs}}}}},
Aunt Laya

Teen read contest! Check it out...

TeensReadToo.com is Proud To Present....

"31 Days of Giving"

A Holiday Spectacular Sweepstakes Event

Of course you'll find a copy of "You Don't Have to Learn Everything the Hard Way" as one of the prizes but you'll also find a "sneak preview" copy of the audio book among the many, many prizes being offered.

Be sure to read the contest rules.

Click here: http://www.teensreadtoo.com

Let me know if you win!

Love,

Aunt Laya