Today is Q and A Day!

I received a question from a male survivor of child sex abuse about forgiveness. Usually you think forgiveness is all about the offender, when forgiveness covers a lot more – like yourself!

I thought this question was very fitting for many of you too, so I chose to answer it on my blog instead of privately.

How Do You Forgive Yourself?

Question:

I did a great deal of self-harm to my body … how to you forgive yourself for something like that?

Answer:

Okay, ready? Here’s something that may sound a tad odd, but it’s true – you behaved the way you knew how to at the time.

Back then, you reacted and let the pain out the only way you knew how. You coped with what tools you had at the time.

So guess what that means?  It means you’re A-Okay! You’re right where you’re supposed to be.

It’s not only about forgiveness, it’s about judgement. Stop judging yourself. You’re in school – the school of life.

It’s like people addicted to anything from smoking to eating. They’re using what they know how to use to cope with anxiety and fear. Once they find something to replace it, they no longer need what they were using.

The same goes for self-harm and self-abuse. You were using what you knew how to use. When you’re raised by wolves with no one protecting you, let along teaching  you how to love and lead a balanced life, you have to work with what you’re given.

It’s like getting the wrong textbook when you start school. There you are learning and studying and repeating what is shown to you and BAM! You find out you have the wrong textbook.

So if you were raised by an abuser, you will most likely abuse yourself and others – Until you retrain the pathways in your brain! Until you get a new textbook.

This is exactly why I wrote the Be Your Own Hero Workbook, and why the biggest buyers are therapists.

It is completely possible (and rewarding) to learn new tools, new behaviors and new ways to love yourself and others.

So, How Do You Forgive Yourself?

You give yourself a break.

Do you yell at the two-year-old because they haven’t learned multiplication yet? No! You applaud what they are learning and add new lessons. And you make it fun!

You realize that by abusing yourself, you were just repeating what was taught to you.

You graduate to new ways of thinking – and loving.

Right now, you say to yourself “Wow, I’m glad you hung in there with me. That was a hard class. You’re awesome. Let’s go to the next class, shall we?”

Then you quit letting your abuser keep abusing you by abusing yourself.

You were born into this world a divine spark of Spirit.

Then you were taught some lame stuff that you just have to unlearn and relearn some good stuff.  It’s that simple. It’s like you were just put into the wrong class with the wrong textbook.

Now you’ve found the exit, go out, go down the hallway and go into that Loving Class with a much better textbook.

Forgiving yourself is rewiring the old thought patterns.  Read Be Your Own Hero and see what I mean.

Here’s a new textbook! You can scroll through it here.

How Do You Forgive Yourself?

Are you scared to get married?

That was the question today for Q and A Day!

Are You Scared to Get Married?

Me? No. Not me. I’ll tell you why (and how I think I killed a chipmunk) in this video:

I’m super duper excited to get married, but sad that I may have killed that chipmunk.

We are having a hootenanny of a wedding and our guests should be more nervous than us! Haha.

That’s because Costumes are required! Yes, we’re having a dress-up party wedding.

Everyone is taking it really seriously too. Some people are going with the Adult Halloween Costumes and coming all decked out. Some are coming in their hunting attire (hunting for love!) and some are coming really casual – the exact opposite of how they usually need to dress up for weddings.

And the dress up doesn’t have to be like Halloween Costumes, in fact you can go to that site under “seasonal” and then “Thanksgiving” and you can pretty much find anything there that will work for country wedding theme – the Prairie Wagon Train!

A Dress-Up Wedding Party?

Are there chipmunks? I hope not!

Whoever comes in the turkey custom is probably front runner to win the pie!  Yes, there is a contest.

Please dear Lord, don’t let anyone come dressed as a chipmunk.

So, am I scared to get married?

No way.

Do I think I killed that chipmunk? Yes. And it makes me sad.

But my hubby makes me happy, but easing my mind about it.

What are you NOT scared of
and maybe think you would have been?

Related posts:

1. If the Buddha Married… he would have better sex
2. Love & Country Wedding Bells
3. Funny Wedding Registry Story

Here is my first Dance Off video with #Bloggersdance since it is the first Monday of every month all summer.  It’s May!

Kerry from HouseTalkN.com (don’t you love her fancy url?) started this whole craziness. Link Up Your Videos and use the hashtag #BloggersDance to join the party – link up your video! 

Let the Dancing Begin!

Idiot Heart

You like that hawtness? How about a photo?

BloggersDance started for me with Good Girl:

The nightgown started with this post about vlogging:

Here is Your Dare:

Link up with us, share it everywhere and use the hashtag #BLOGGERSDANCE

Related posts:

1. angelashelton sent you a video!
2. Bloggers Dance Off
3. Bloggers Dance Off ~ Summer Series #BLOGGERSDANCE

Can planning a country hootenanny of a wedding go to your head?

Something happens to a girl who goes from Malibu to Maybury.
Like she starts looking for used tractors for sale.

I’m not kidding.

I used to drive this:

I love Volvos. I really do. If I ever see a Volvo backhoe for sale I may have a joy overdose.

Seriously.  I went from the Volvo to this:

I loved that truck. But now out in the country we need serious 4WD and that awesome truck was my great country meets city truck. I had it for years and loved it. I sold it to be “green” and ride my bike.

Now this little guy looks pretty hot:

I know! Who would have ever known, right? You can’t imagine what this guy could do in the country and just how useful it is. Now we search the web for used trucks for sale  and farm tractors for sale. HAHAHA

I’m fine. I am. You can worry when I start asking for a used bull dozer.

This was my first post about tractors.

I’ve shared about my love of chickens and coveting the chicken coop - but really? Tractors?

Ever driven a tractor?

Don’t you wanna?

What are your thoughts on camp? I’m not talking about camping, I mean camp as in Summer Camp.

Do you send your kids to camp?

Did you go to camp? Have you seen my film?

Reading all these mommy blogs (yes, I’m kind of addicted now), I see that many are sending their kids to camp. Some of them look at it like school and say school is the big babysitter. Ouch! Sorry to all the good teachers out there.

But it got me thinking about camp.  Would you send your little kids to camp? I start to have a bit of a nervous feeling about counselors and lurkers and creepy old dudes.  But then again I went to Girl Scout Camp as a kid and absolutely loved it.

And that was not me who peed. I was not the one who peed in the bed. Wasn’t me. I know it was my bunk, but some critter must have snuck in at night and squatted. Yes, this is how I justified the pee circle when I was 8.

Oh, camp…

What about a Summer Camps for Teens?  Now that makes sense! Send your teens to camp.  But then I’m like AHHHH are you crazy? Teens? You did just say teens and camp in the same sentence, right?

I went to camp once as a teen. It was a spiritual camp in the Swiss Alps. Fancy! I was so excited to be with my age group, meditating in the beauty of the mountains and lo and behold I get there and most of the teens are more interested in hooking up, breaking rules and partying than sitting in meditation. Go figure.

BUT to me that means there must be other good kids out there, ones who are interested in kayaking, boating, fencing and the many other things you can do at a camp besides being bad.

I’m such a goodie two shoes! Who knew?

As long as all the adults in and around the camp are trained in D2L’s Stewards of Children, I’m good.

Did you go to summer camp?

Did you wet the bed? Be honest.

Okay, I did! It was me. Weeeee

11 years ago today, me and my small crew of four left LA in a 33 foot RV to begin “Searching for Angela Shelton.”

Thank you for getting the DVD and sharing it. It’s amazing how many people continue to be touched by this journey. Let me tell you, Spirit made this movie. I was just along for the ride.

Searching for Angela Shelton – the fold-out version with Spanish subtitles, director’s commentary (that’s me!) and extras.

Please “Like” the Facebook page and share it with others too. This little film has always continued via word-of-mouth.

Here is the first bit of the book I wrote about it:

Finding Angela Shelton

Day 1

Los Angeles, 2001

I have a big mouth.

If I had kept it shut I wouldn’t be staring at the thirty-three foot motor home sitting outside of my house right now. I’m about to drive it around the country and meet other woman who share my name. I just wanted something to do during the summer. I’m a writer in Hollywood and we’re faced with the Writer’s strike. I had to figure out what to do during the strike. Most of the people I know in the business are putting together reality TV shows. Some of them are doing documentaries. The only thing that comes to my mind quickly is to do a theater piece about my life. I’ve already written a movie about my mother called Tumbleweeds and I was brainstorming about other experiences in life to write about while I was meeting with HBO. I was there pitching another movie and the producer asked me if I had any ideas for a documentary. I laughed and offhandedly suggested that I drive around the country and meet every other Angela Shelton and call it “Searching for Angela Shelton.” I’m not really Angela Shelton. I changed my last name when I was eighteen and I’ve always loved my chosen name. Angela Shelton has a ring to it that I like a lot.

“I could go meet myself through all the women in America,” I suggested. “I’ve looked myself up before. There are many of us. I was trying to put together a theater piece around my name too. But a documentary would be awesome.”

“I love it!”

“It could be really inspirational to women actually, uniting them through one name.”

“I think it’s awesome,” she said. “And it’s really funny. You can collect all the Angelas and go to Vegas. We could have an Angela Shelton convention with matching hats and jackets. You could even have a big bus with ‘Searching for Angela Shelton’ along the side. Hysterical.” She clapped her hands together and reached for her phone. We had a hit.

I was walking on cloud nine when I got home. I was so sure that HBO was going to fund my idea. I was so sure of it that I got on AOL People Finder and found the various Angela Sheltons all over the country and started calling them up.

It turned out that HBO did not fund the film because they had already funded another one about a name. I told them that my movie was about women in America, not about a Jewish guy having 12 other Jewish guys over for dinner. But, their mind was made up.

There were many many times during the journey that the plans were changed and what I thought would happen was drastically different than what I set out to do. But I was hooked on Angela Sheltons. I loved them. I kept calling them. They kept calling me back and we were on the road for 57 Days that changed my life forever.

Finding Angela Shelton, Recovered

Have you seen the film or read the book?

How did either of them affect your life?

Please share. I love hearing your stories.

Plus, there will be others who read your comment and it may lead them to their healing. It happens all the time. Please share.

Related posts:

1. Get Searching for Angela Shelton on Amazon!
2. Searching for Angela Shelton en español
3. Snag Searching for Angela Shelton

Okay, I’m sorry to my friends because if you know me you know that I miscarried twins. So reading The Twins Made It may be a tad confusing.

But the twins did make it! Just not my twins.

I have to share this. This message and the video started off my morning – in tears – and I had to sit and cry for awhile.

Then I got super happy again just at the pure beauty of this world and how you have no idea how you help others, even in the little ways you are simply yourself.

I received this message:

I, and my family, have been through really hard couple of years. Now that we have made it to better days, I have been trying to thank all the people who helped us.

Although you didn’t know it, you have been one of them. My oldest boy really likes you as the Safe Side Superchick, and there was a period during the fall of 2010 that he was watching that video at least once every day. I think he was looking for comfort, certainty, and control. Thank you, so much, for giving that to him, because we were not able to.

I made a little video to celebrate our getting through the storm. It doesn’t go into everything we have experienced, just the most important part.

I hope this makes you love those around you just a little bit more. It sure made me hug everyone.

I’m so happy for this family! I’m so happy for happy endings!

Related posts:

1. I made the Google Cut!
2. Loving Yourself, Made Up or Not

Do you think Weddings are a RACKET?
I do!  Hahaha – I DO!  Get it?

It’s Q & A Day and I received a question about weddings!

Question:

I LOVE your idea of the wedding book “invite.”  What are some other fun ideas that you’re incorporating into your wedding that do not involve the regular wedding racket?  My fiancee and I are getting married next year, and we want it to be out of the box and FUN.

My Answer:

Thank you for asking. I love our wedding book too! Here are many more ways to have fun and not involve the usual wedding racket:

Number one thing – Don’t Follow Rules except for one:
Number One Rule: Have Fun!

1. Make Fun Invites

“Regular” invites are so ridiculously expensive. Oh lordie. For what we could have paid for frilly fluffy hard to read cursive raised writing notecards, we made 156 page books instead!  Bonus!

I wrote a post all about how we made The Best Wedding Invite Ever!

2. Serve Pies Instead of Cake

Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/yoursecretadmiral/

Make the food fun too! Instead of a cake (which are crazy pricey!) serve pies!
Or cupcakes. Or a stack of cookies.
Make it fun and delicious!

3. Pick a Fun Theme

What’s the theme of your love? What do you love to do together?

• Watch Kung Fu movies? Make it a Kung Fu theme, gotta come in a uniform.

Where did you meet and/or fall in love?

• Was it at the circus? Make your wedding a carnival theme! No clowns.

Where are you from? Or where to wish you were from?

• Love the South? Make it a Country Wedding!

4. Make it a Dress-Up Party!

Instead of boutonnieres we're tying flies

To elaborate on the theme – make it a dress up ceremony and party!

Everyone  has to come dressed up and that does not mean suits and tie dressed up.  That means full on costume dress up.  That means all of your guests too! It makes it way more fun for everyone. They get really into it too, especially when they know everyone else is going to do it too.

You can even make the dress-up part a requirement for attending!

Our theme is Prairie Wagon Train so in our invite book we had pages about dressing up Wagon Train style. We suggested people dress up in whatever Wagon Train meant to them.  They have really taken it seriously. Some people are coming as Native Americans even, complete with feathered headdresses.

I so cannot wait to share pictures.

Our only rule was that there are no high heels allowed, unless they are boots – as in cowboy boots.

 5. Wear What You Want!

Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildjinjer/

Want to get depressed? Go try on wedding dresses!  I’m dead serious.

I’ve never seen such depressed sad faces as I did on the brides I was sharing the floor with at various wedding gown boutiques. Depressing, I tell you! Depressing. Not only do some of those gowns make you look two hundred pounds bigger than you really are but the color white looks good on…. hmmm…. wait I was going to say Snow White, but she isn’t wearing white either!

And that does not mean you have body issues, either, it means you want to look fantastic and be comfortable. That’s hard to do in a typical wedding gown. Of course if you go with couture, that’s an entirely different story. Go get yourself a Claire Pettibone dress if you can. Lucky lucky girl!

Or if you’d rather have a CAR instead, go with a bridesmaid’s dress and have them make it in whatever color you want.  Yes, you can do that! They also come in white and ivory and cost about 1/10 what a wedding gown does.

I love hearing that wearing color to get married in is becoming more of a tradition. LOVE it!

I’m wearing a green dress. (I’ll share pictures afterwards.)

6. Have the Ceremony and Party at the Same Place

Don’t make people drive to another place. Have it all in the same spot. Then your crazy aunt doesn’t have to sober up. In fact, I attended a wedding once that was a big very fun party and the ceremony was a surprise!

All of the sudden the groom clinked his glass and everyone turned to see what he had to say. Then their friend (who had been ordained for the day) married them. It took all of 4 minutes. We cheered and partied on.

My hubby and I are getting married in a flower field and the big tent with the 6-piece Country Band and BBQ is in the field right next to it! Walk on over with your Mason Jar full of moonshine!

 7. Sell Tickets to Your Event!

World's Columbian Exposition Collection at The Field Museum

Don’t have the money for the whole thing?  Sell tickets to it. Or sell ads in your wedding book.

Gone (or possibly paused) are the days when papa had to pay for his daughter’s wedding.  Sometimes, papa ain’t got no money – Madoff made off with it.  Or papa is a jerk and not in the picture or papa does not support the choice of groom for his bride, or in some cases bride for his bride!  Woooweee!  Breaking Rules!

Your ticket could also be your invite, you know.
You could get really clever with this.

It could be a raffle ticket! 

Sell raffle tickets for whatever price you want and then call out the winner during the reception.
At our wedding, we’re having a dress-up competition. Who has the best Prairie Wagon Train outfit wins a pie!

8. No Assigned Seating

Don’t stress yourself out about who sits where and next to whom and who hates who and who’s a jerk and who’s too much of a lover. Let it be a “sit wherever you want” set up. Give people a reason to mingle.

In fact, instead of place settings, how about name tags?  Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.

You could even play Duck, Duck, Goose!  (See how I snuck some Duck in there?)

9. Register For What You Want & Need

Your registry doesn’t have to be housewares. You could ask for trees! (That’s our new persimmon tree btw)

There is a site called HoneyFund.com that allows people to gift you with parts of your honeymoon. The food, drink and entertainment part that is. For example, you can put an option on there that says “Dinner for two during our honeymoon, 50 bucks” or you could totally switch it up and say “Dinner for two at our wedding! Pony up cousins!”

Don’t be afraid to ask for help, especially when you’re serving food, drink and have music.

10. Make a Fun Photo Booth

Don’t have all the picture fun be just for you and your love. Get everyone involved!

Depending on your theme, make a photo booth to match. You don’t have to pay for one of those actual photo booths either. We’re painting a big sheet of wood with a fun country scene and propping it up in the trees.

Put the camera on a tripod a few feet away and voila – you have a photo booth! You can have a friend or family member (hopefully a sober one) man the camera or you can trust that whoever is up next will have the prior person snap the picture.

Then collect those photos on a huge photo card, save them (don’t give them away at the wedding) and print them as your thank you cards!

You didn’t have your photo taken, oops, not getting a thank you card!  Even more of an incentive to have some fun!

11. Walk Down the Aisle Together!

And finally, want to really break rules? Walk down the aisle together! You’re both special and pretty. (pretty handsome!)

We are even walking up the path that is facing the seats so everyone doesn’t have to do that turn-around crane-your-neck-to-see the bride (and the groom in this case since we’re walking up together.)

The whole having your father give you away is a tad creepy if you know my family history. (hahaha) And my three adopted dads, well, I couldn’t decide and picking just one would not be fair to the others and it would be really weird if I walked up with three men. Awkward. Although we are talking about breaking rules here!

But again, number one rule of all is to – HAVE FUN!

 What are some ways you broke Wedding Rules?
(and no, I don’t mean divorce)

Related posts:

1. Break the Cycle – Break Glass!
2. Cyber Bullying, Bullies and Annoying Rules in School
3. Love & Country Wedding Bells

What’s Your Sign? What about your mood?
What about making your own sign?

No, Really, What’s Your Sign?

Could you imagine if you could make your own signs? What if you could lead people to your house and your mood?

Like the above. What if that was the sign that was up before someone picked you up for a date or something.

Giggle giggle giggle.

I’m busy doing the last little bits of planning this country wedding of ours (are the last bits never ending?) and I’ve been prowling the internet for sign making stuff.

We need stakes, wood, paint and whatever else it takes to make –>
awesome country signs!

I was looking about how to make your own Traffic Signs and lo and behold you can! You can actually create your own  Street Signs!

I’m thinking something like:

  ”FOLLOW YOUR HEART – THIS WAY –>”

If you have just met me, well, look at it. Don’t you just love it? I love it.

Ducks Against Raping Ducks – so something I would have said. HAHA.

And guess what? Mayor Gia could (if she wanted to or gave us permission) make her own Road Signs.

Could you imagine a road sign with “Don’t Rape Ducks in This Area” or of course my little reminder – Stop Raping Kids, Go F Yourself.  There are certain places I’d love to put one of those up in the middle of the night.

Oh I love this sign making business.  And there I was looking for “Wedding” and and I stumble upon another duck idea. Go figure!

Had to share.

I’m back to planning my #BLOGGERSDANCE  moves. Are you in?

Okay, so if you’re read my blog over the past few weeks, you know I’ve been snatched up by the Mommy Blogger Community and it’s Kerry’s fault from HouseTalkN.com. I know many of you do not have kids and when I talk about my children’s books you’re like AHHHH, NOOO!

But come on now, life does evolve. You never know what will happen next.

This is my only baby right now

My precious Norma dog. She is the light of my eye and has my heart. Seeing her get older is killing me. I don’t want to talk about it or I’ll cry. But she’s having a miraculous turn-around!

I will talk about these crazy wine guzzling blogging beeactches I’ve befriended – all said with such love and admiration! They all have kids. And then there are other friends of mine who are either pregnant or new moms and here I am just getting married so gimme a minute, I’m not quite in the mommy club yet but boy have they got me thinking about it.

But reading these blogs recently has definitely got me thinking. For example, I was reading My Cloth Diapers & What I Do With Poo and it seriously had me pondering poo – and all the things to look forward to!

Kids poo every day.

They also eat every day too.

They grow out of their clothes in like half a minute.

They need to go to school. And if you’re like me and cringe at what is or is not being taught in school, you’ve got to become homeschooling parents.

Then there’s trips to visit actual places in history, being the teacher I’d want to be.

Then they probably need their own ATV.

Then a tractor.

And a car. Not a beater car. It would have to be a Volvo.

OMG the list is endless.

I started to consider a different kind of kid:

But then awesome kids like my little nephew, who is talking – and I mean seriously talking in full sentences at the age of 2 – remind me of just how worth all the expenses, work and pain they are.  And after miscarrying twins, we are back on the horse so to speak – TMI!

Then I was sitting at a fundraiser for the animal shelter and here comes this awesome, and handsomely dressed young boy. He was about five and sported a full gentleman looking outfit, complete with a riding cap. (He so made me think of Tilda Pinkerton!)

He also got me thinking about serious things like -> boutique kids clothing. Oh boy, here comes the Barneys-aholic!

No, but wait. There are some places, okay maybe like Ladida that maybe, just for one second get me thinking about designer childrens clothing.  WHAT? NOOOOO!!  Stop her right now. She’s not even pregnant and she’s window shopping on the Internet.

Okay, I love this cutie pie little outfit from Marie Chantal  –>

And Le Merchand De’toiles‘s little star baby number –>

And then I saw this piano number by Shatsu and I was like, wait, I want one of those in my size!

I do intend to put an electric guitar (and any other instrument in the universe that my kids want) in their crib, their room, and all around the house for easy access.

Like here, honey, would you like an a grand piano for your second birthday? Oh, did you want that trumpet? Sure! And no, I don’t mean actually put an electric guitar in their crib. I mean that figuratively but still, you get the point.

I am pro garage band.

But I know, or so I’ve heard, that children come into this world just as they are. They like what they like and they want to do what they want to do. While some parents try to force careers on kids, I’ll be the one who offers to drive them to their favorite concert as long as they can play that riff.  And maybe if they wear that awesome hat too.

OMG Do you see me?? Posting about BABY CLOTHES!? Look what these MOMMY BLOGGERS have done to me!

HELPPPPP!!!

Wait, did you say WEDDING?

Yes, I Am Getting Married

I’m tying the knot this summer with my first love.

We are having a hootenanny of a country wedding and we’re breaking all kinds of “Wedding Rules” too – we even made a book as our invite that also serves as our gift instead of having regular wedding invites.

You know me, I tend to break rules and certainly do not follow a traditional role. I know, I  have a big mouth too and I have to say something -

WEDDINGS ARE A RACKET!  There, I said it.

But I understand the concept of the registry, especially after seeing how every possible “wedding” thing is overpriced. I get it. I understand.

So We Registered!

We registered locally to support our community and locally owned business. Plus, they mainly sell Fiesta Wear.  Yay!  Of course we chose green.

But then our out-of-state friends wanted online shopping options.  Maybe because our local store refuses to have a website!!  WHAT? NO WEBSITE? Oh country life. I love how people in the city vs the country think differently. It makes me giggle and I can usually understand both sides – except for that website part.

We need our online shopping, people. Especially when your friends want to gift you with things!

But holywow, there are so many online stores to chose from.

Have you heard of Become.com? It is a site you can do product searches all across the wide web.  It’s like a shopping search engine. Holla.

But what in the world do you register for?

We want Kung Fu movies, so I did a search on Become for Kung Fu Movies and found a huge long list – makes me happy happy.

But of course you can get all practical like searching for coffee stirrer holder or maroon comforter or even a gliding bench for the porch? (I want one of those.)  We needed a large coffee press but should you register for things you’d never buy for yourself instead like a coffee creamer holder?

I did a search for “Wedding Registry” and got loads more ideas!

We shared a list with friends and family and of course they have the option of not getting you anything you want – HAHA. Or giving you a Giggle Gift as in a Gag Gift.

Like my girlfriend sent us a big box. In the box were awesome cloth napkins with turkeys on them. LOVE! And a large size coffee plunger press thingy. Both of which were on our list.

Then there was an extra something, wrapped. As I pulled out the coffee press, my hubby-to-be pulled out the smaller gift and unwrapped it. It was a pair of fuzzy pink handcuffs. Oh lord.

Meanwhile, I’m busy admiring the coffee plunger and say, “Haha, she probably got us this because she broke mine so many times.”

Of course hubby-to-be is standing there holding the fuzzy pink handcuffs and thinks I mean she broke my pair! HAHA –  As if I had a pair of fuzzy pink handcuffs…

Hubby: “Really?”

Me: “Oh yeah. We broke a lot of these.” – Still meaning the coffee plunger!  I used the plural because we did go through many of them.

He just stood there with this uh, okay, wow look on his face.

Needless to say, the fuzzy pink handcuffs have become a bit of a joke around here. Thanks, girlfriend!

What did you register for?

Related posts:

1. Love & Country Wedding Bells

Freaked out, depressed, angry, resentful, panicked, anxiety ridden or super sad?

It’s time to heal and move on. Come on! There is no need to stay loaded down with your past, especially if there was abuse involved because if that’s the case, why let someone who hurt you continue to hurt you because you are not living a life you love?

Agreed?

Ready to Move On?

Need a little Help?

Helen Richey Collection Photo

I hate to hear that you or your loved ones are down in the dumbs or dealing with any kind of pain. That does not make me happy, but the truth is that we all need help sometimes.

After reading many blogs this week – I’ve got my link party pants on – I read how many people are going through some sadness, anger and anxiety.  Then I got calls from a few old friends who had hit some speed bumps in life and needed some pep-talking.

You never know when you’re going to be sideswiped with something horrible, so it’s a good idea to be armed with some good tools and resources.

Everyone has a story and there is always a new one.

Be compassionate with people, you have no idea what they have been through.
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For those who have just discovered me (FUN!), you may not know that I am a bit of a trauma and recovery expert.

Yes, it’s true. I spent a decade researching and speaking to over 30,000 survivors of trauma and those who work with them.  Okay, so I’m one of those authorities. How would you ever know that if you read my posts about coveting chicken coops?

Because there is life after trauma, that’s why! There is happily ever after life too.

That said, there are bumps in the road and times when you need some resources  - like maybe right now.

I could go on and on and on about it, but here’s a short list.  Check out these sites –>

Useful Psychology and Mental Health Sites

• Psychology Degree Online has an awesome list of different types of psychologies and resources.

• Psych Central is an extensive site for psychology and mental health resources.

• Resources of Psychologists has just that. Why not read up on what they are reading?

• Survivor Manual has years worth of posts with various healing techniques,

• Good Therapy helps you learn about therapy and find a therapist.

• TFT Videos help you get past panic and anxiety – for free.

The good news is that it does get better, especially if you want it to.

There are so many different avenues to healing out there that there’s no excuse to remain in pain unless that’s what you want. And sometimes it’s good to just sit in a feeling and feel it.

Even if you have no money, there are loads of free resources out there, and free videos like the ones above. I created those after I saw how TFT really helped me. I share what I know and what I’ve been through.

If you’ve moved on, hooray!

If you’re in the thick of it, please seek out what works for you.

And if you’re living happily and loving your life, share this info with someone who is struggling, because like I said above everyone has a story and you know many of them.

How are you doing?

Related posts:

1. Finding Angela Shelton