Any Day Is A Good Day To Die

Dear Friends and Family:

Last Tuesday was just an ordinary work day until Glen got a frantic call from his nephew, Jessie, telling him his sister, Sheila, had been taken to the hospital and they thought she was dead. They were able to get her heart beating but she was on a respirator and it didn't look good.

As I lay tossing and turning in bed that night, the question of WHY ran through my mind. WHY, did this happen to Sheila? WHY, did my brother, Steve's wife Tammy, have to die two months ago? WHY, was this happening? I turned back over and fitfully fell back to sleep. Right before my internal alarm clock went off, while I was still in that dream state, and old long gray haired Native American Indian came to me and said: "Any day is a good to die." As I woke more fully I thought: "So this is your answer?" "Any day is a good day to die?" So I started to ponder what Spirit was trying to tell me.

As we watched over Sheila the next few days I saw the love for her. As her children, Jessie, Marcella, Amy,and Steve would hold her hand and tell how much they loved her. To her brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, friends and loved ones that came to be with her. They all came to share their love they had for Sheila. We all wanted her to recover and share her gift of laughter with us. She was always laughing.

As the news grew grimmer, we prayed for a miracle. "Please God give us a Miracle. Let Sheila be with her loved ones here." We would wait and watch for that glimmer of hope 24 more hours. But as we each came into her hospital room Friday morning and they took her off the anti-seizure medicine to check for any response she began to shake violently. No one wanted to see her suffer anymore. It was time for us to let her go.

Oh the joy and peace she experienced as she met her loved ones on the other side. I can hear her beautiful laughter as she greeted them. I am happy for her. But we are left behind to miss her.

So as I have pondered these last few days on what Spirit was trying to tell me last Wednesday morning. I would have to say this: "If, any day is a good day to die. Then, any day is a good day to live also." We must all remember that each day is a gift from God to be with our loved ones. To be able to tell them how much we love them. To enjoy the beauty that surrounds us and share it with others. It is my prayer that we will all love one another each and every day. Because, ANY DAY IS A GOOD DAY TO DIE.

Love to All of You!
Kathy Carlson

A very personal story about the fact that AsYouThinkYouAre!

As my profile states, I am a pattern breaker. I firmly believe that my children are involved in breaking the pattern cycle in our family and of the families of origin of myself and my husband. This is a picture of my oldest son, Andrew with his daughter Hannah over a year ago. Andrew shortly after that picture was taken was incarcerated on some pretty serious charges - no suprise, drug related. He's been in jail since October 7, 2009 and has been in three county jails in this time frame. I received a letter from him recently that I want to share a part of, here publicly. He talks of being "back in Salt Lake today" in his letter, as he was recently transferred. He writes:
"It was a beautiful drive. I saw three reservoirs on the way here. Starvation, Strawberry and Jordanelle. Everything was so green and bright. I am and I feel like I am seeing the world with brand new eyes. I am a brand new person! I feel stronger now and have more peace than I ever remember having before. I feel so powerful! EVERY THOUGHT AND DECISION I MAKE ON THAT THOUGHT DETERMINES THE DIRECTION AND STATE OF EXISTENCE I WILL BE IN FOR THAT ENTIRE DAY IT SEEMS AND ONTO THE NEXT... I pray for you both everyday. I hope that someday I can give back to you 70x7 those things you have given to me. But if not, I hope to give to my children all that you have given to me and 70x7 more. I love you guys with all my heart. (He's had a son born while incarcerated and this is about him):
...Bless him that he will always exercise and have his Liberty, Agency and Freedom righteously throughout his life."
I rejoice in his words. I have hope of a brighter future for him. He's clearing addiction in himself and for a host of progenitors that came before him, that struggled and never knew any other way to be and then they left this world. He speaks of wanting his son to know Liberty, Agency and Freedom. Liberty to break free of chains that bind. Agency to always be able to choose. When under the influence of certain drugs, choice is gone without EXTREME measures to get it back. Freedom to live a life free of substances that alter how you feel and change who you are and how you respond in life.
I honor my mother who showed me first hand, my entire life what a life of addiction looked like. I saw exactly what I didn't want for myself. I hoped to not "pass on" addiction to my kids. Two of my children struggle with drug addiction. Is it my fault? "Each generation blames the one before...", a line from the song, "The Living Years",(contained in playlist, scroll down). The truth is my mom did her best. I did mine. Is it possible we agreed before we came to this life that we'd act and be for those we love, in a certain way, to assist each other in growth and healing and truly understanding what it means to be alive? Perhaps. It's been my experience - when contemplating this very idea, that the latter is true. My mom was willing to show up FOR ME, the way she did, so I COULD EXPERIENCE what I came here to learn. To OVERCOME ADDICTION! To assist others on that path as well. (Read "The Little Soul and the Sun," by Neal Donald Walsh and 2 Nephi 4: 5-7 in the Book of Mormon)
I welcome your responses, your insights and any questions that may arise in reading this.
I love this son of mine and his two brother's with all my heart and soul. I love their father, who shares in my passion to see this through and eradicate addiction from our family lines! It is ALIVE AND WELL currently in BOTH! Probably in yours too! Overcoming and being better today than you were yesterday is what it's all about!
Kandy.

A little something on the topic of Congruency

I recently heard the following story about Ghandi.
A mother trying to teach her child that she should eat only 'good for your body, healthy foods', told her she should not eat sugar. She went to Ghandi and asked him to please tell her daughter to NOT eat sugar.
Ghandi responded by saying: Come back in one month.
The mother, a little frustrated and confused, but didn't argue the point, left and came back in one month. Upon returning she repeated herself and asked Ghandi to please tell her daughter to not eat sugar.
This time he did not hesitate and told the little girl to NOT eat sugar, that it was not good for the body - and that our bodies are temples and should be honored and cared for as such.
When the mother and her daughter were leaving she turned and asked Ghandi why he didn't just tell her daughter that a month ago?
His response to her was, "A month ago, I was eating sugar."
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I love this story! It speaks volumes about congruency in our hearts and minds. Do what we say and do, line up with what we think and feel about situations and concepts? This is an area of my life where I've had to do some real work. I grew up in a situation where a big show was produced daily! We were living one way in our house behind closed doors and acting 'as if' when we walked through that front door and out into the world. What was modeled for me was IN-congruency. I had to first become AWARE that there was such a thing as congruency and then I had to really honestly DESIRE to know a better way and then I began to PRACTICE being congruent. Another way to put congruency is HEART and MIND ALIGNMENT. Are my heart and my mind on the same page? Today, I live the majority of my life in heart and mind alignment! Am I perfect at it? NOPE! But I've done a ton of work and have re-learned a better way to be and do and live from a place of CONGRUENCY!!

Wellness

'Wellness' means "with certainty", "in a thorough way, completely". I've chosen the title "Wellness" Coach because of the Physical, Emotional, Mental and Spiritual - all encompassing approach to healing that I ascribe to.
Kandy Graves - Provo, UT
www.asyouthinkyouare.com
Kandy Graves - Provo, UT. Wellness Coach, emotional health, mental health, physical health, spiritual guidance, heal your body, heal your life!

The Brain Doesn't Know the Difference!

Somatic Markers:
There are traumatic events in our lives that we lived through and although we may not consciously think of these daily, they have left their mark "on" us! They are represented by an "electrical charge" in the brain called a somatic marker. A current event, a comment someone makes or even being in the presence of a particular person can "light up" this marker! (Typically called triggers). We are immediately back in the pain of the "original" situation. I have personally benefitted and assisted hundreds of others to benefit from "the process" and working through the emotions associated with these markers and the decisions we make about ourselves in these situations. We are holding on to these decisions as if they were really the truth of who we are. Not true! We are divine!! Through the use of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), Speak Out Feelings and Guided Imagery, we can "diffuse" or lessen and even fully erase the electrical charge around the traumatic event! It's in this process and at this time where we present the possibility to the brain of a different way of perceiving the event. At AsYouThinkYouAre, we are committed to assisting you to find and live in peace. Learn to LIVE life, instead of having Life live you!

Perception

"The voice in the head tells a story that the body believes in and reacts to. Those reactions are the emotions. The emotions, in turn, feed energy back to the thoughts that created the emotion in the first place. This is the vicious cycle between unexamined thoughts and emotions, giving rise to emotional thinking and emotional story-making." Eckhart Tolle, The New Earth.
The truth is, what we THINK is our reality. The PROCESS can assist you in REFRAMING traumatic events of your past, to "tell a different story!"
~~THE BRAIN DOES NOT KNOW THE DIFFERENCE!!~~

AsYouThinkYouAre - "A Journey of a 1,000 Miles begins With a Single Step."