Memorial Day – Thank You!

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On the last Monday of every May, we take time to celebrate, honor, and remember those who have paid the ultimate price for our freedom and way of life. “Greater LOVE has no one than this; to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13

Source: Memorial Day Pics from Yahoo

The Memorial Day tradition started with honoring fallen soldiers of the Civil war. Over the years, it has expanded to include any fallen hero who has died protecting America. Here at The Love Chronicles Blog, we pause to offer a moment of reflection and acknowledgment of the great commitment necessary for a hero to decide to enlist in the armed forces.

Following the Memorial Day tradition, we salute the fallen heroes and their families who have made a life of freedom possible. We offer a big THANK YOU for their sacrifice and commitment. India Arie has created the perfect song and a YouTuber named Ron has created a great photo video to go along with the song. This is a great tribute. Take a look and listen…

Until next week,

Pernà

Patience, Young Grasshopper!

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This past week, I’ve had so many opportunities to work on being patient. I’ve shared with you that I’m working through a health transformation and while it’s going well, I am not seeing results as fast as I’d like to see them. I’m sure you can identify with me when I say, it seems like it takes ten times more effort to shed the unwanted weight and bad eating habits than it does to gulp down the sweet treats that helped me to pack on all this curvyliciousness (haha, the spellchecker did not know what to do with that word)! Even though it seems as if it is going slow, I’m still committed to eating well and exercising. Going slow in the right direction is so much better than going fast in the wrong direction. I know for sure that each day I’m feeling and looking so much better.

Source: http://pin.it/dgKQUuo
Source: http://pin.it/dgKQUuo

On the work/life balance front, I’ve committed to reclaiming my creativity. I’m happiest when I have fun things to do outside of work. I know it will take some major patience on my part to embrace my creativity. It seems that I lost so much of the creative side of my brain when I decided to study and then subsequently choose a career in STEM. In addition to patience, as I work my adult coloring book, or sew my headbands in exotic fabrics, I’ve started reading Julia Cameron’s work. She is the author of “The Artist’s Way” books; actually it’s a movement. Take a minute to read up on her techniques to help unblock creativity. Developing creativity helps to improve our attitude as we wait/work patiently to achieve our goals.

On the garden front several of the berries, herbs, and veggies are growing well. However, the zucchini and cucumbers are requiring a bit more patience than I expected. Last year the cucumbers were the continuous bumper crop; however, this year they seem to be producing well initially, but they die after only a few inches of growth. I’m going back to the drawing board and checking the basics to help ensure that I’ve set them up for success. You know sometimes despite our best efforts every endeavor; even ones we’ve been successful at before, has the potential to require more from us than we expected. In these moments we must have the patience to retrace our steps, course correct, and then keep moving forward.

Learning to be patient takes growth and commitment. It may not come all at once, but if we are brave enough to keep committing to our dreams, goals, or relationships, every day, we will develop this elusive virtue. Take a listen to “Patience” from the Dream Girls soundtrack; it will motivate you to keep working for the greatness that is destined to be yours!

Until next week,

Pernà

Celebrate Your Life!

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This past weekend a good friend and I attended Miska Productions’ “Celebrate Your Life” conference at Unity Church. It was absolutely amazing and totally worth the vacation day from work! The event started with great excitement as Michael Beckwith and his wife taught us to celebrate by standing in gratitude. He suggested that there are three phases of gratitude:

  • Looking for something to be grateful for
  • Being grateful for the current challenges we are facing because they show our great potential as we overcome them
  • Being grateful for nothing in particular; just grateful for what is…
Celebrate_your_life
Source: http://www.unityhouston.org/event/celebrate-your-life-at-unity-conference/2016-05-13/

Michael also gave us great insight into how to approach day-to-day situations. He suggested that we identify the current problem or challenge we are facing. Ask God how best to solve the challenge. When we receive the answer, it will lead to an action or set of actions which we can implement. Sometimes these actions help us to develop a way of life.

Problem/Question/Answer/Action/Way of Life

Gay Hendricks shared a beautiful story about how he found the love of his life; his wife of 36 years. He told us that, “Love is the only thing big enough to accept its opposite.” I was very inspired by this quote. It is a great measure for me to check myself against when I ‘think’ I’m demonstrating Love, but I’m really judging, showing anger, or just plain missing the Love boat in my relationships.

Anita Moorjani had a near death experience and she learned that many illness and life challenges are caused by the fact that we make decisions out of fear instead of Love. We can sometimes get ourselves so caught up that we fear the fact that we are afraid. In these moments she suggests that we take the first step and accept that we are afraid. From acceptance we can move into peace. We can then experience gratitude and then finally experience Love.

Fear/Acceptance/Peace/Gratitude/Love

Bryant McGill has a great story of personal triumph. The main sentiment of what I took away from his session is that we can only be ‘free’ by connecting to God’s vision for our lives. That is, we should always check our spirit’s response to man’s systems and recognize them for what they are.

There were so many quotes from Bryan’s session that resonated with me. Here are few I’d like to share:

  • Tell your truth and let your friends adjust {Your real friends will be okay with your authentic self}
  • Reunite with yourself {In other words, always stay connected to your own heart and soul}
  • Children are the best of what we can become {Making our way back to our childhood innocence, curiosity, love for learning, love for life, and love for others will heal us}
  • You cannot learn from what you dominate {I love this quote! Being willing to maintain an egalitarian environment will ensure that everyone has an equal voice and allow for creativity, innovation, and continuous learning.}
  • We have been remade in the image and likeness of our cultural creator {If we are awake in our spirituality, we will be able to recognize when we are following cultural norms versus being led by God’s plan for us}

Marianne Williamson’s session focused on helping us to understand that human suffering can result in great triumphs. She was very passionate about the fact that our culture has spent so much energy medicalizing sadness and depression versus helping us to understand that there are times in our lives when these are healthy responses to difficult circumstance. She suggested that most of our sadness can be overcome by connecting with our spirit, feeding our physical bodies with nutritious food, exercising, and communing with our friends and family. Here are a few quotes from Marianne that I felt were worth sharing:

  • Some of our best lessons come from dark nights of the soul
  • People who have raised heaven; have first looked into Hell
  • You have very little power to change people who can feel your underlying contempt
  • Part of what spiritual discipline does is to give you the ability to master your impulses

Iyanla Vanzant focused on “The Power of A Fall Down.” She shared her personal triumph over the passing of her daughter, the dissolution of her 42 year marriage, and her bankruptcy. Her raw descriptions of what she learned and how humbled she became were very authentic. She responded to several questions with deep and thoughtful responses. She taught us that “A Fall Down” will teach you:

  • to let go and that everything is recoverable
  • what really matters
  • that a deadline is not as important as a lifeline (to God)
  • what brings you joy
  • that it is unloving and unkind to ask people to do what they do not have the capacity to do (e.g. some people cannot go through the tough times with you)
  • just how flexible you are (Iyanla found out she could eat generic meat, but she couldn’t give up Heinz ketchup and Hellman’s mayonnaise)

Iyanla also advised us to give our lives a theme song. She made her grand entrance on this song. I’ve adopted it for my new anthem. Take a listen and see if it doesn’t make you want to march down a church aisle with a choir robe on.

Until next week,

Pernà

Happy Mother’s Day

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Today is the day we take time to celebrate motherhood. For many of us our mother was our first teacher and the role model for showing love and acceptance. I’m grateful to have a mother who has loved me, sacrificed for me, and has taught me the value of loving and supporting others. I am eternally grateful that her influence motivated me to always seek the best in others and to help those who are hurting and in need of love and acceptance. I’m thankful for a mother who prays for her children; offering protection as they make their way onto the path created for them by God. Dorothy Helen (…she is going to kill me for using her middle name…) I LOVE YOU!

“Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her”. Proverbs 31:2

Mother's Day_Pic
1st Picture: Upper Left is my Mother and she’s in each picture. 2nd Picture: Upper Right is my Great Grandmother, Lower Left is my Grandmother

“…and forsake not your mother’s teaching. Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you”. Proverbs 6:20-22

For many of you this may be a time of sadness and longing as you reflect on a mother who has passed away. Please know that her greatest joy is that you prosper and are in good health. I want to encourage you to remember the light she brought into your life; to feel her spirit surround you when you are still. I am convinced that we still have a connection to this deep love if we take the time to access it and allow it to wash over us during meditation or still moments.

My dear cousin shared a practice that she has with a friend. On Mother’s Day her friend, knowing my cousin’s mother has passed on, calls her on Mother’s Day and offers a “Happy Mother’s Daughter Day” greeting. I love, love, love this idea! So to each of you, who are missing your mother, please know you are her greatest legacy.

For those of us who still have the opportunity to commune with our mothers in the flesh; let’s cherish this time. I want to encourage you to make reconciliation and communion with her a priority. You both need each other in order to fulfill your assigned purpose. Enjoy each other today!

Jamie O’Neal has captured so fantastically how I feel about my mother…take a look and listen to this powerful video.

Until next week,

Pernà

Plant Power!

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Over the past three weeks I’ve been working on improving my health and wellness. An important part of this journey is increasing my nutritional awareness and including more plants in my diet.   “Plant Power” is a term I learned after reading Rich Roll’s article in my Lifetime Fitness magazine. I’m really digging it and have upped my gardening game by adding a second elevated garden to increase my ability to eat healthy organic foods right from my backyard. Once everything is in full bloom, I’ll take a photo shoot of the gardens and share them with you. For now, take a look at a few of the plants that we are eating from already…

Pernà’s garden: Upper left - mint, Upper right - blackberries, Lower left - green peppers, Lower right -malabar spinach
Pernà’s garden: Upper left – mint, Upper right – blackberries, Lower left – green peppers, Lower right -malabar spinach

My eating right and exercising routine is going well. I’m using several tools to assist with improving my fitness level. I love the way I feel and my clothes are fitting so much nicer. I’m looking forward to learning more ways to include plants in my diet and have reduced my meat consumption significantly. They say if you do something for at least 21 days it will become a habit. This week will mark 21 days so I’m hoping this commitment will stick. I know the gardening bug has bit me as this is year two for me on that front and I continue to expand the list of vegetables that I will grow.

The “Plant Power” life is good so far. Listen to Rich and Julie’s trailer to their “The Plantpower Way” book. I found their recipes to be delicious.

 

Until next week,

Pernà