My breath catches, my eyes smile as the little noise rises from my iphone and a message from my daughter on Mothers Day, “facetime?”.  YES yes yes!  Not too long ago I would not have known what that meant.  Today it means face to face with my two grandsons and their beautiful mom.  A special Mothers Day moment to be cherished for a lifetime.  We won’t capture this moment ever again. I rush home, and prepare.  Skype is a blessing of free communication and face to face talk with the family.  Luke can see me and once realizes we are chatting says “Grammie, come.”  He is wanting me to be where he is.  The tears of joy well up in my eyes even as I write this.  And in that moment my heart was even bigger than it had been a moment before.  Painful sensation in my chest, tingling and then love pours from me through my home computer to the little boy who seeks the real essence of our relationship through the computer screen.  I remind him of the times we had together recently, “remember the goats?”.  His eyes roll a bit to the right as he accesses a file folder in his brain and bring forth a memory of not so long ago … a little over a month must be a long time in a 2 year year olds mind.  He finds what he seeks and says “GOATS”.  We talk of hot tubs and back hoes and other reminders of our last days together in person.  Later in the chat, when it is time to go, he kisses the ipad at their end …. Saying good bye to grammie. A while later they call me on the phone.  The second best way to say “I love you” on Mothers Day.  I speak to Luke.  I tell him in our private language “bucket of kisses from grammie” and I know he is listening and leaning in to the phone by the way he breathes.  He can hear me.  He can feel my heart and he is back in that moment when we were together.  And then, I sing the song I sang when we were together, La la la  la and I hear his little voice resonate with mine in the same frequency.  Our language of love.

THE  PERSON  I  INTEND  TO  BECOME

Self confident / Believe in myself / Positive to everyone I encounter

Successful and secure, financially, spiritually, physically, emotionally

Healthy and Strong / Safe and Protected

Giving and Generous

Interested and interesting / genuinely curious and lifelong learning / innovative / creative

Inspired and inspiring, supportive, loving and empowering

Peaceful and happy, content with what is, mindful of my actions and their impact

Zero debt and donating generously to support and empower women of all ages, globally

World traveler with over 100 others

Travel at least 3 times a year, each year.  Take my family with me at no cost to them

Supportive and loving mother, daughter, grandmother, wife, friend

Best selling author of significant book.  Successful blogger of travel stories

Founder of HerWay Travel International, global resource community for the world of women

Strive for Highest and Best in all I do

Live in Easy World, My life lived joyfully and with ease

To love myself exactly as I am

“To think well of myself and to proclaim that to the whole world, not in loud words, but in great deeds”

Who was that person and what was the lesson?  Why do I put myself out there?  And when did it start?  Great questions.  Not sure I need to spend much time on the answers.  Let the questions hang in the air like an unfinished sentence…..

I met a man today who was raised on Anthony Robbins from childhood!  What a start in life that would be …. What potential is awake when that is your early life support.  What a gift he will be as a father and partner and friend.  He will change the world by his impact on this new generation.  He is a brilliant, sensitive and strong man with a vision.

By putting myself out there I get to experience and practice my higher self.  My skills become more honed and my vision more clear; my message and my presence influencing others.  Was I of any assistance to this person in search of answers?  I believe in my core that I had a premonition of him today and my day was in preparation for our meeting.

After talking about Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, “Don’t Bite the Hook” cd by Pema Chodron, and Zero Limits book authored by Joe Vitale … I pulled out of my bag two identical blue pages with the words I had written this morning in my blog.  So perfect the synchronicity and yet how basic the skill to connect, listen, ask questions and lend support.

I am in awe of my day.  I walked through a grove of old gnarly oak trees around Cedar Hill Golf Course and truly saw the beauty in them.  So much to learn and experience.

“I love you.  I am sorry.  Please forgive me.  Thank you.” Ho’oponopono.

Financial Freedom and being a Grammie

Wanting to make the world a better place probably started when I had children of my own; a larger and grander sense of purpose.  Safety, protection, prosperity, comfort, health, strength, happiness; all factor in to the future goals I began to set for myself even back then in the early 80’s.  Of course there was my heart’s desire even before that, however I can say with certainty that I was unconscious and making decisions that were not often in my best interests and even contrary to what I now know as my special purpose.

As my career as a probation officer (specializing in youth services and then even further to working with girls who find themselves involved in youth justice) developed, so did my sense of self as a helping professional, as a caring person and change agent, and a conscientious parent.   

Oh, the mistakes I made!  Mostly I am afraid, with my children, the most precious of all my interactions.  As I grow each day and uncover more about my authentic self I come to see that while my intentions were always good, my commitment to change, to follow through with integrity and knowing my true purpose were not always foremost.

Today, at age 54, I can most certainly state that I am investigating, learning and practicing daily those actions that I believe are more in line with who I am and my goals for myself.  And now with the super-extraordinary “special beyond belief” relationship I am developing with my grandchildren I see even more clearly how my actions impact the world.  Their world, my world, the world of my children (now adults) and all of the world that I encounter.

I am coming to accept personal responsibility for all that comes in to my awareness; at home and inside my mind and body, as well as globally, with all women everywhere, and their loved ones.  Everyone has a parent and someone who loves them.  Everyone is my responsibility.  My thoughts and actions are my responsibility.  I shall continue to strive for the financial freedom which provides me the vehicle to travel and inspire, impacting all the women around the world and thereby their loved ones.

May I be safe and protected.  May all people be safe and protected.

May I be peaceful and happy.  May all people be peaceful and happy.

May I be healthy and strong.  May all people be healthy and strong.

May I be wealthy, financially  free and generous.  May all people be financially free and generous.

May my life be lived joyfully and with ease.  May all people have lives lived joyfully and with ease.

May I love myself exactly as I am.  May all people love themselves exactly as they are.

“I love you.  I am sorry.  Please forgive me.  Thank you.”  Ho’oponopono

Hi, I have decided to try to post more regularly and more often.  So much happens in between my travels that is significant.  My life is happening and I need to show up and write about it!  I hope you will join me.

I believe in living my vision and passion for creating abundance and financial freedom.  I start with great health and vital energy and I succeed in all areas of my life so I can live my dream to travel the world with my family and friends. 

I am presently enjoying safe and healthy weight management using the www.matoldietinfo.com program.  It works and is easy and I get to eat Chocolate Cake for breakfast!  Gluten free foods are important to me and I have enjoyed the convenience and variety of the ones I use on this program.

I attended a Disney travel presentation a few nights ago and won the grand prize.  No longer one of those people who never wins!  I will be traveling hopefully with my eldest daughter and her family, my grandsons and heading to Disneyland in spring 2013.

Also planning to travel with my partner and his daughter and her husband, as well as my dear friend to Europe end of September for Rome round trip cruise, Seminar at Sea, with Royal Caribbean International.  Being a travel agent has its perks!

Also making plans for group of us to be in Europe on a cruise with Princess from 2 Sept to 23 Sept.  More on that another day.

My dreams are reality.  I have vision boards around me and I see the future as it unfolds before me.  I set it in motion by my intention and enjoying the creativity of my life.

BOOKS BY THEIR TITLE

For as long as I can remember I have loved books. Not for reading so much, although at times I have fallen in love with specific books. Gone With The Wind; One For The Money; The Mists of Avalon; Outlander: and many books about King Henry VIII and many unfortunate wives.

Now I am exploring an ereader and with keen interest I discover a delight, likely unintentional by the creator, but truly appreciated by me. I find that I can shop for books by their covers. By their titles. And then download, for no cost, the short “free preview” and have the books lining the lovely virtual wooden bookshelves on my ebook library. What a delight.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to my World
The Moveable Feast
A Year in the World
Adventure Divas
Avoiding Prison and Other Noble Vacation Goals
Belonging
Best Girlfriend Getaways Worldwide
Brunetti’s Venice
Cinque Terre Sights
Color Your Future
Count Your Blessings
CruiseShip Tricks
Daily Inspirations from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
Day Tours of Rome: Passage to Roma 2010
Discover Your Destiny
Drive: The Surprising Truth
Educating Alice: Adventures of a Curious Woman
Easy Travels in South Africa
Family Wisdom from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
Ernest Hemingway on Writing
Fly Solo
For the Love of Ireland
Green Hills of Africa
Grow Rich! With Peace of Mind
Hitching Rides with Buddha
How I Write
How to be Rich
How to Sell Your Way Through Life
Incontinent on the Continent
Italy, the Magic Land
I’m Off Then
Left at Home
Make Your First Million in Network Marketing
Margarita Nights
Napoleon Hill’s Golden Rules
Napoleon Hill’s Keys to Success
No Vulgar Hotel
Navigating the World of Network Marketing
Novel Destinations
Queen of the Road
Roads Less Traveled
Running Away to Home
Sailing Alone Around the World
Slow Journeys: The Pleasures of Traveling by Foot
Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude
The 100 Best Volunteer Vacations
The 7 Step System to Building a $1,000,000 Network Marketing Business
The Best Advice I Ever Got
The Best Travel Writing 2011
The Best Women’s Travel Writing
The Color Code
The Greatness Guide
The Leader Who Had No Title
The Master Key to Riches
The Metabolic Plan
The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
The Spontaneous Healing of Belief
The Tao of Travel
The Thank You Economy
To the End of the Earth
Today Matters
Top Secrets for Getting Started in Network Marketing
Travel Agent Secrets: How to Plan Your Vacations Like a Pro
What Would Napoleon Hill Do?
Who Will Cry When You Die?
Without Reservations
Words in a French Life
You Inc: The Art of Selling Yourself
Your Magic Power to Be Rich

Do you wish you could find out about other people by the books they read? By the titles that line their bookshelves and are stacked by their bedside tables? By the collection saved in their ereaders?

My life is an “open book” and your are welcome to join me on my journey of self discovery as I wander through these and countless other magnificent titles. I hope to share many more with you and hope you can share a few with me.

There is a taste of brilliant writers lined up on my bookshelf in my new ereader (Thanks Steve and Mom!) and I am up at the buffet, taking a wee taste of each. There are some brilliant writers I would never have discovered had it not been for the boring words I use every day scrambled cleverly in a title of the book.

And then inside, ahhhhh the magic is handed over. The real essence of the author, the soul of the person is revealed in a taste of letters and white space. I am so excited to explore the combinations and transmutations.

Must run now and find my next title …. Tba.

GRAMMIE-LOVE: the exploration 27 Jan 2011

Today I begin another fantastic journey. This time not on cruise ship, no flight to far away lands. I return to family and home. So much has changed, the journey will explore just how much is the same.

I moved to Revelstoke in early 1984, January actually. I had been living in Calgary prior and was newly married to a man who lost his employment and through family connections of mine, my brother, was able to secure a job with the railroad. I left my employ in Youth Probation (my dream job) to start a family in Revelstoke.

I became pregnant almost immediately by my calculations. 9 months later, Sheena Dawn was born early in the new day of 6 October. She was birthed in to the world in such glory and was love, immediately.

And now, I am returning to that place as Sheena is about to give birth to her second child, also in Revelstoke. The first grandchild for me, Luke, was born in June a year and a half ago in this same town, same hospital, same nurse on duty. I sat in the waiting room, as my mother had for me, waiting to offer support if it was necessary and otherwise, holding love and space for the miracle to happen within reach.

I met young Lucas that morning of his birth in the same hospital. I spent his first week of life close by and savoring the precious moments of holding his lovely tiny frame in my seasoned aging hands. Smelling him, cooing with him, singing to him, dancing and rocking and holding his sweet self. Loving his very being and asking for nothing less in return.

I have had a few occasions to hold him since and now he is walking, running and speaking to the world in monosyllables. He is unaware, I am sure, of the change about to take place in his world. Even his mom won’t surely remember what happens when a new being arrives and takes the center stage for a while. When instead of constant center of attention and wonderful limitless love and time, there arrives another interesting party, a tiny bundle of life and smells and noises. Luke will learn to be patient and kind. He will learn to share and be shared with. He will see the world forever changed.

I long to be with him. I was not a first child and I don’t know what that feels like. I know that I want to be with his mother and with him as this new chapter of his life, her life and my life begins. I so wish my mother was with me here as well. I guess this journey I must learn to do on my own this time.

For those following my blog, you will know that my mother now resides across the other side of Canada snuggled in her apartment, living among her family and friends from her youth. She is truly home. I am still a bit displaced as I find my home wherever my heart and my children are.

For the next few weeks I believe I will be “home” with Sheena and Luke. I will be immersed in their world, and the transition to this new world that arrives with the birth of another little soul.

I will witness the event, hold tight to the love and hugs and books and stuffed toys, cars, blankets and other objects once belonging to this small family of 3. Soon to be the family of 4.

I look forward to this precious time and leave much undone and waiting for my return and knowing for sure that this is a time to hold fast and be as present as I can to feel the subtle yet significant shift in the world population and the life in my family.

Travel alone is a cherished activity. I know it is selfish to say and even more selfish to do. To enter mindfulness in travel. To allow my attention to drift to the gal sitting next to me watching cartoons on her lap top Mac and now reading a complicated University level textbook on the functioning of the brain. And all around people shuffle about, some solo and some with young families, children pointing out discoveries in delight, parents a bit tired from an already long day preparing for this ferry travel. I allow my thoughts to wander, I bring them home and take another breath. Let that one go, take another one in, and so goes my thoughts.

GRAMMIE-LOVE: the exploration 27 Jan 2011

Today I begin another fantastic journey. This time not on cruise ship, no flight to far away lands. I return to family and home. So much has changed, the journey will explore just how much is the same.

I moved to Revelstoke in early 1984, January actually. I had been living in Calgary prior and was newly married to a man who lost his employment and through family connections of mine, my brother, was able to secure a job with the railroad. I left my employ in Youth Probation (my dream job) to start a family in Revelstoke.

I became pregnant almost immediately by my calculations. 9 months later, Sheena Dawn was born early in the new day of 6 October. She was birthed in to the world in such glory and was love, immediately.

And now, I am returning to that place as Sheena is about to give birth to her second child, also in Revelstoke. The first grandchild for me, Luke, was born in June a year and a half ago in this same town, same hospital, same nurse on duty. I sat in the waiting room, as my mother had for me, waiting to offer support if it was necessary and otherwise, holding love and space for the miracle to happen within reach.

I met young Lucas that morning of his birth in the same hospital. I spent his first week of life close by and savoring the precious moments of holding his lovely tiny frame in my seasoned aging hands. Smelling him, cooing with him, singing to him, dancing and rocking and holding his sweet self. Loving his very being and asking for nothing less in return.

I have had a few occasions to hold him since and now he is walking, running and speaking to the world in monosyllables. He is unaware, I am sure, of the change about to take place in his world. Even his mom won’t surely remember what happens when a new being arrives and takes the center stage for a while. When instead of constant center of attention and wonderful limitless love and time, there arrives another interesting party, a tiny bundle of life and smells and noises. Luke will learn to be patient and kind. He will learn to share and be shared with. He will see the world forever changed.

I long to be with him. I was not a first child and I don’t know what that feels like. I know that I want to be with his mother and with him as this new chapter of his life, her life and my life begins. I so wish my mother was with me here as well. I guess this journey I must learn to do on my own this time.

For those following my blog, you will know that my mother now resides across the other side of Canada snuggled in her apartment, living among her family and friends from her youth. She is truly home. I am still a bit displaced as I find my home wherever my heart and my children are.

For the next few weeks I believe I will be “home” with Sheena and Luke. I will be immersed in their world, and the transition to this new world that arrives with the birth of another little soul.

I will witness the event, hold tight to the love and hugs and books and stuffed toys, cars, blankets and other objects once belonging to this small family of 3. Soon to be the family of 4.

I look forward to this precious time and leave much undone and waiting for my return and knowing for sure that this is a time to hold fast and be as present as I can to feel the subtle yet significant shift in the world population and the life in my family.

Travel alone is a cherished activity. I know it is selfish to say and even more selfish to do. To enter mindfulness in travel. To allow my attention to drift to the gal sitting next to me watching cartoons on her lap top Mac and now reading a complicated University level textbook on the functioning of the brain. And all around people shuffle about, some solo and some with young families, children pointing out discoveries in delight, parents a bit tired from an already long day preparing for this ferry travel. I allow my thoughts to wander, I bring them home and take another breath. Let that one go, take another one in, and so goes my thoughts.