Creating Our Destiny

Destiny, some people think it is an undeniable force that propels us to what we are supposed to be in life. Not counting with our will and effort; what is meant to be, will be. I don’t believe it for a second.

In life we are presented with many different options that affects our life. These opportunities brings us potential carreers, love, our husband or wife and many other things. Not all that is presented to us become part of our reality, because in order to do so we must put some effort integrating it into our life.

I guess the best way to illustrate this is by asking you to think back on your decisions, decisions that shaped your present. Looking back you’ll clearly see what actions took you all the way to where you are right now. There is nothing we can do about the past but to learn from it, not only that, but we many have to live with the consequences of those decisions as well.

If I have learned anything in my years of living it is that we are in a constant evolution of our being. We live, we learn, we grow and continue to do so at so many different levels in our life. We perform certain tasks and responsabilities depending on the life stage we are living at the moment; son or daughter, student, worker, partner in marriage, parenting, seeing our kids leave the nest, reclaiming and recreating our nest, retiring, becoming grandparents, facing sickness and death. The reality is that we can’t be the same person throughout all those stages, we develop and utilize different gifts, talents and attitudes that will help us navigate each one them. Some people see change as a threat, they want everything to stay the same including those around them. It’s an impossibility. If we are alive and growing in any way, (physical, mental or spiritual) we are changing. Try to put a stop to our growth and we’ll only become frustated and depressed.

Destiny is something we create moment by moment as we move along the path of life. We might have taken the wrong turn many times, but then again, there are many routes to arrive at the same destination.

Limitless Mentality

“Never put a lid on God. You can’t give God a thimble and ask for a quart. It won’t work. Your plans, your projects, your dreams have to always be bigger than you, so that God has room to operate.” - Mother Angelica from the book Little Book of Life Lessons and Everyday Spirituality.

Playing it safe, it is the most common mentality in order to navigate life without much discomfort. I really don’t know how or why some of us are so afraid to step out in faith. In the past people didn’t have much and in reality they had way more than we do now. They lived simply and work the land with their own hands, it was hard work and many times they gathered their food on a daily basis. There was no way to store food for a long period of time so they learned to get things as they needed, nothing more. Everyone in the family was expected to lend a helping hand and -unlike now- they did it without expecting to get paid for it, it was something they did because they were part of the family. They had to rely on faith and hard work trusting that they would have what they needed.

(Entrance to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament - built on Faith)

When it comes to God there are no limits on what He can do through us. I’ve seen it with my own eyes on the things He accomplished through Mother Angelica, and yet I’m afraid to step out in faith. “Pagan” she called a loan officer once for not lending her money based on faith. She had no assets and didn’t know what her income was going to be until the end of the month. We have been conditioned to work on “sure” ground, on security, on things we can see and touch.

The other day we had a customer worried about submitting a claim to her insurance company in order to do a repair in her house. Her fear was on the increase of her policy if she submitted the claim, now I just wondered, why in the world do we need to have insurance for everything if when the time to make a claim comes we are afraid to claim what we are entitled to? We spend millions of dollars over our lifetime to insure everything we possess and yet we are afraid to claim a portion of it back. What does insurance provides us? In this case absolutely nothing other than to make us part from our hard earn money in exchange for some “security.”

Having a limitless mentality is not stopping to think of what we can do, but on what God can do instead. We are a vessel and only when we allow to be used by Him are we able to do the great things He had in mind for us. They key to limitless is to tap to the source and open ourselves to the possibilities.

I really don’t know why am I writing on this topic today, all I know is that somehow those lines I quoted at the beginning jumped at me while reading the book this morning. I keep waiting to move forward in my life but at the moment I feel frozen in time, afraid of what might come next. I know I should have faith, the one I used to have years ago but that in many ways I’ve lost. I need to get it back; faith that things will get better, that nothing will last forever, that I can do anything through Him if only I tune in to His will in my life at this moment and that my dreams are His way of saying to go on, that there is so much more to be achieved and accomplished in my life.

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Clary Lopez, author of Simplicity, Richness of Life

Anything Is Possible If You Believe

“Anything is possible,” were Kevin Garnett’s words as they won the NBA Finals 2008 after 22 years. Words couldn’t describe the emotions he felt over the team’s accomplishment last night before the Lakers. “I told you!” were Paul Pierce’s words after receiving his NBA Finals MVP trophy.

We have to believe, we have to visualize our goal already obtained and then we have to give it our ALL no matter what we see happening around us. Everything changes in time if we give enough of ourselves to make things happen.

I noticed how every time they played at home they absorbed all the energy from the fans to win their games, last night was no exception, they drew so much that they managed to win BIG. But before we can draw from others we need to dig deep within and be totally present in order to face the moment. When we open our heart and mind to all the possibilities something magical happens and we suddenly are able to explode our God given talents to the max. I don’t know how to explain it other than we experience Heaven on Earth and that’s what I saw in Garnett last night while he was being interviewed; his physical being was there but his soul was elated to another realm.

Yes, anything is Possible but ONLY if You Believe. Dream, believe and dig deep, it is there and you can make it happen!!!

Congratulations to the NBA Champions 2008, Boston Celtics!!!!!

Kenny Loggins signs If You Believe

Living the Now

“To accept the duty of this moment for God is to touch Eternity, to escape time.” - Fulton Sheen

Why is it so hard to just plain live the moment that is before us? The past is gone and the future is unknown to us. Why do we keep living everywhere but the present moment?

There is no way to undo our past and there is no way to jump to the future. I believe it is because we are trying to escape our present situations. It is easier to look back or look forward in that way we completely forget about the present moment. I would personally like to skip times of agony, indecision, loneliness, unhappiness, sadness, sorrow, pain, and depression. I realize all these emotions are rooted in the lack of my Now living. If we don’t live our Now we are not really living, we are in this world but not really present to ourselves or others.

Remember the days when you lived your Now to the fullest, never giving any thought to the past or the future? Not worrying about what people thought and moving along in life. Of course a lot of stupid stuff was done but all in all up to a point we lived. What happened along the way? Where did we begin to lose that way of thinking and began to think of other times? I really don’t know when mine began, all I know is that at this point in my life is wearing me down and I’m tired. To me, worrying about the past or the future is one of the worst robers of happiness, peace of mind and ultimately hope.

So how do we begin to live the Now?

Accept that you are going to die, when? Nobody knows, so start living each and every day to the fullest.

Do all you can today, don’t leave anything for tomorrow.

Don’t compromise every single minute of your life, prioritize and give your time to that which is so important to you.

Take time to be quiet and alone. We all need some down time to recharge in order to be able to give to others.

Take the time to be in nature. There is nothing more powerful than to come in touch through our senses with natures and animals. Stop and look around in detail God’s creation for you.

Find something to do just for fun. Not everything in life has to do with making money, take up a sport, art or volunteer work that will help you be creative.

Spend time with your kids, they grow up so fast.

Start dreaming again. If the doctor told you that you have only six months to live, what would you do? Well, think about it and do it right NOW!

I’m sure you can add many more things here, go ahead! Share them with me.

The Power of Belief

There are powers deep within each and every individual, they were put there by God to be totally transformed and empower to do, create, recreate, accomplish, impact, and fulfill our earthly mission. Many of us live our life ignoring the reasons of our existence, we usually don’t ask ourself the question until a certain stage in our life. Very few find their reason for being early in life, why that is I don’t know.

I have been watching the NBA Finals and one thing that strike me was the last interview with Paul Pierce. He was asked how did they manage to win the game after being 24 points down to the Lakers, at the same time he listened to the question his head slowly began to face up to the ceiling and he pointed upwards acknowledging God and then he said BELIEF. They believed that they could win that game no matter what they were seeing on the score board. Their focus was on believing they could turn things around and they did, winning the game by 6 points. The team that never won a game away from home on the regular season were now making it happen, not only that but they want to win the NBA Championship in California today.

I guess many of us understimate the power of belief in our life. When we believe somehow our mind gather the necessary strength to make things happen. Every action begins in our mind. If we believe something is possible somehow we overlook the obstacles and find the way to reach our goal. The complete opposite happens when we don’t believe, we see every single obstacle and lose hope when we don’t see how to overcome them.

So to the power of belief, for the Celtics that will put it to the test tonight and to all of us who continue to believe that many things are still possible in our life.

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Clary Lopez, author of Simplicity, Richness of Life

Learning to Accept Reality

We tend to hope and dream to reach for what make us enthusiastic about life again. There is a fine line between reaching out for what we think we want in our life and fighting with our heart to make it happen. Not everything we want is meant to be. There comes a time when we need to accept the reality that we have to let the dream go, is not easy, especially when you have put some much time and dedication into it.

In dealing with people if you don’t find the other person receptive to what you want to accomplish, in time you will have to let it go and move on. The only person you can control is yourself. I know well how we can contemplate what evolves right in front of us which let us know it is not going to work out and yet we keep justifying everything in order to continue on. Other times we think that it will change but the reality is that just like the mule decides that is not moving anymore so it is sometimes with our situations, we are stuck and that’s just the way it is; unless we dismount and decide to walk or get on another animal we are not going anywhere.

I’m not advocating to give up too quick and easily because there are times when we need to work around a situation in order to make it work but there are times when you know deep inside it is over.

Challenges, failures, fears and disappointments inevitably change and mold us in ways we sometimes wish it didn’t, but in the long run we can utilize the lessons learned to make it work the next time around. In business we learn what doesn’t work and that help us to be more creative in our approach, delivery and execution of our ideas. We need to be intune to our inner wisdom, our intuition, that innate connection we have with the Divine (God), it takes time to develop and dedication to keep it fluid within us but it is what ultimately will guide us in the right direction.

One thing I need to learn personally is to take with me all the positive I received from a situation even if it didn’t work out. There is always something good. Instead of focusing on the negative I need to keep looking at the little nuggets of wisdom I managed to dig out in the journey. Then I need to learn to push the negative far away from my mind and heart, holding on to it will only spoil the next situation I will need to deal with in my life. Trust me, this last one is easier said than done.

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Clary Lopez, author of Simplicity, Richness of Life

BookHomestead.com, my Book Review Store

One of my dreams is to have my own bookstore but as you can imagine the cost to have a storefront is staggering, something I’m not looking forward to have to pay for. I love to be around writers and book lovers in general. Off and online interaction is very important to me.

I’ve been helping authors for a while and it has been a very good experience. I enjoy looking for ways to get the word out about their works and mine. We are not competing but building up strength as we work together towards the same goal; to reach our audience.

I created my own bookstore online, BookHomestead.com, and as I promote it and find more authors and readers to visit on a daily basis I feel alive. My goal is that this site becomes the bridge between readers and writers. Most of our services are free so I’m needing not only the authors but my friends to help me promote the site.

Yesterday I received a box full of bookmarks for the site. I’m willing to mail some to anyone who would like to help me promote the site in their own town. You can give the bookmarks away, place them at the library, bookstores, small shops, anywhere where people stop by a counter top and can take one. If you are interested please e-mail me your mailing address and I’ll be glad to send you some.

You can send your address to services@bookhomestead.com

If you haven’t already, please visit the site. We have a new Featured Author. Don’t miss it!

http://bookhomestead.com

Comments: (From another blog)

DOC (… it would be my pleasure! I’ll send you my address… and I hope to someday have MY book in your store! (if you’ll sell photo books) I have one I’m starting for my family for a x-mas present, but I’m liking how it’s coming out. I may just send you one to get your opinion… because coming from you, well, I would really love hearing what you have to say…good or bad, I would! HUGS!

Tuesday September 25, 2007 - 09:00am (EDT)

GG - … It’ll be my pleasure DOC

Tuesday September 25, 2007 - 09:19am (EDT)

i’m on my way… Flavi told you of my book project?

Tuesday September 25, 2007 - 10:52am (EDT)

GG - … Tell me about your book project Kayak.

Tuesday September 25, 2007 - 12:32pm (EDT)

[dele… Oh Wow, I'll do a write up on this for you for sure and post it this week Clary, I would love to help you promote it.

Also, I know you sent a msg about a “group” and I will get to it as soon as I can, I haven’t forgotten.

Also, have you check out Yahoo! Mash yet? It requires by email invitation, so if you would like to check it out let me know by sending me a msg with your email address. I won’t give your email address away, it is confidential between you and I so no worries.

I look forward to checking out your new site here too but it’ll have to be tomorrow. Tonight I am going to bed super early, I’m already tired.

Congratulations! I am thrilled for you, it’s another exciting journey ahead for you, love it!

Tuesday September 25, 2007 - 03:42pm (PDT)

♥Ana’… visited BookHomestead.com and it’s nice. I pray that all your heart’s desire will come true soon.
Keep on inspiring others as others inspire you… God bless you richly!

Wednesday September 26, 2007 - 11:21am (CST)

Sherr… Would love to pass out your bookmarks, always willing to help out a fellow business.
I also always dreamed of a bookstore but have settled so far with a household and decor on-line store with a friend. One day…

Tuesday September 25, 2007 - 11:33pm (EDT)

Doc I am an avid reader and will be very happy to assist you. Walter Mosley is my favorite writer by the way. I will be in touch.

Tuesday September 25, 2007 - 11:44pm (PDT)

Deant… This is a wonderful idea. Your passion for the written word is inspiring.

Wednesday September 26, 2007 - 11:14am (EDT)

Photo… Clary, I have many poems to go through and clean up and decide which one to compile. There are two-hundred plus that are just sitting here on my hard drive. Everyone wants me to compile them into a book. I know nothing about this and what to do, so if I ever get one compiled, I’m thinking along the line of calling it “Beautiful Woman”. It would be very much a pleasure to hand it over to you for your new site Again I know nothing About compiling one to send to you!

Good luck with this…I know you will do well.

Love Ya!

Not Knowing What to Do

The most difficult thing about dealing with unfamiliar terrain is not knowing what to do. In life we come up to different stages where we need to adjust and change our usual course; health, work, age, financial set backs all have an effect in our daily making decision process. It is not easy to go from the familiar to the unknown.

Anticipation to me is the worst of the emotions in situations when our life is about to change in some respect. A thousand different scenarios runs through our minds and we feel weakened by it. When the moment arrives is not as dramatic as we thought it might be, and at the same time we aren’t as weak as we thought either. We can withstand the blows that life throws at us and even if we fall we can always get up. But it is that moment of indecision that wears us down to the point of exhaustation.

Gambling in Times of Uncertainty

Uncertainty is sweeping the nation, nobody knows when the economy will improve and how to handle it until it does. Especially those young enough for this to be the first time that something like this happens to them. To me this is the second time around but by far the longest stretch of time I had to deal with it. I try to keep myself optimistic about this economic crisis but at times I feel I’m losing hope. Thank God is not enough to lose it altogether and somehow I hang on to the faith I have that it will get better. I try to keep looking at the bright side and notice what I have instead of what I don’t have. I keep hoping for a better day and working to attain new goals and dreams in my life.

Last night I was given what for many people would be bad news, a dear friend is leaving. In any other given time in the past it would have been a big blow to me emotionally but not last night. I somehow thought about him immediately, my concerns and needs were non existent. I only thought of him and what he needs at this moment. I was glad for him, it was a blessing to him to be able to make this move in his life. He was amazed at the reaction and expressed his worries in giving me the news. “I can’t think of me, I have to think of you,” it was all I could say. I heard the words and I knew they weren’t from my selfish self, it was from my spirit and my heart. By doing so I was able to accept a reality I was unable to change and found peace on the uncertainty I will find myself when he finally leaves.

Later on my dad called me excited about making one of his dreams come true. My mom asked me before she put him on the phone, “please don’t say no to your dad, he is so excited.” Never in a million years I would of thought that his dream has been one of mine for a long time; going on a cruise as a family. I think the last time we travelled together we were teenagers and we went to Disney World. Of course I was all excited until the analysis of what it will mean financially hit me and the uncertainty of how the situation will be when the time for this vacation comes, but the reservation had to be made now in order to get a good deal. Do we gamble all that money and hope we won’t have to cancel at the last minute or do we reserve and hope for the best? My dad decided to hope for the best, and I’m not surprised, he is always like that. He always gambles, takes risks and chances in life. Life is too short to worry too much about anything, everything works itself out at the end. Trust and hope are his key ingredients. So many times we stop ourselves from making our dreams come true for fear of the unknown, when in reality all we needed to do was push a little harder. I realize at the same time this opportunity will mean that I would have to make a big sacrifice, everything has a price tag and I must decide if I want to pay the price or not. It is not easy at times but we need to keep moving forward even if it is a millimeter at a time. We can’t stay stuck or we become stagnant. We need to keep our minds stimulated to think of new ways and ideas that might help change our present situation, we need to keep dreaming and even if we need to wait a little more for what we want or need to sacrifice it for the time been, to have the hope that in time it will come to be. That’s how I want to think at this moment. I won’t give up my dreams. I just will have to adjust the manner and time in which I’ll try to make them come true and hopefully it will work out at the end.

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Clary Lopez, author of Simplicity, Richness of Life

Finding a Balance

We all have moments when we feel out of control, without time, without peace, longing to find a way to make things better. Life has a way to suck us in if we are not watchful of what we do.

We can’t live life pretending that nothing matters and that everything that comes our way deserves of our time and dedication. Time is precious and our mind and soul long to spend time with things that matters, that make a difference, they are the only things that satisfied out hearts.

People dear to our heart, those with whom it is so important to communicate with should be at the top of our list. Time and distance could never destroy our true relationships with those we love. Sometimes the bond might even get stronger because they have been put to the test increasing its endurance.

What do you do when you find yourself off balance? What changes to do you make in order to gain control?