Vacation....

For the first time in years I'm taking a vacation. No long term plans, just to relax and do things around the house that I haven't had time to get to, and to spend time with family and friends. I forgot how nice it is to not have to squeeze everything into 2 days. I'm so grateful and wish everyone could experience this.

My husband and I cleaned and rearranged our "tornado shelter" so that we can put a ping pong table down there. More ways to share fun times with family.

Laughter is good for the Soul!

I had so much fun last night enjoying my family being together. We cooked together, ate together and then played together. We played this great game called Mexican Train. It's a game of dominos with a Mexican twist. We all just laughed so hard as we appreciated the uniqueness of each of the wonderful characters in our family! Krysta, we missed you! Carena and Nicole, it was great to have you there as part of our family.

I hope you all find a way to laugh and have fun today. I truly believe the purpose of life is joy! Last night I fulfilled my purpose.

Forgive and forget

Growing up, my mom's mantra was forgive and forget. When I had an argument with a sibling, friend, anyone, she made us kiss and make up! Yes we giggled and laughed, but we did it! That simple act held so many lessons.

The overall lesson is forgiveness, but within that big lesson are so many little lessons. The first is to be able to stop the fighting and look into each other's eyes and say your sorry. Secondly to take action to embrace the other person even when it didn't feel comfortable is a lesson in going beyond your feelings to do the right thing. It's an acknowledgement that the relationship with the other person is more important than being attached to your point of view or a negative feeling. It's a statement that you are in love and acceptance of the other person, and of yourself. Contrary to what some might think, it takes a strong person to do all of these things; a strong belief in yourself and your self-image.

As a life coach, I feel I need to say that it's important to be in touch with your feelings and to know when a relationship is harmful. If your relationship has gotten to the point where you are beginning to feel that you are in danger, then it's still possible to forgive, but rather than kissing and making up, you may need to walk away and then forget! First and foremost you need to take care of yourself and being in an abusive relationship is not taking care of yourself!

Forgiving is an act of opening yourself to trust the person you love one more time. It's hard to make yourself vulnerable. As you practice it more and more, it gets easier.

I'm learning from my parents with Alzheimers the art of forgetting! One day I did something that my dad wasn't so happy about and the next day he simply forgot about it. He had no hard feelings, didn't bring it up to hash over what happened and why. It's just gone, and each new day brings a new start. How wonderful to be able to do that...to let it go, to forget it. It's one thing to say you forgive someone, but then are you able to let it go and not bring it up again? Are you able to simply forget about it? If you are, you are an amazing person.

Being in love and acceptance sounds so easy. As easy as being able to forgive and forget and to keep on loving and trusting in the goodness of the other person.

How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons!

I'm so excited. I met with the Director of Rising Stars this morning, Sylvia Hecht, SSND. Rising Stars is a tutoring program for kids in the inner city. I asked if she would be interested in having me tutor the kids how to read with a program I used with my children. they were all reading at 4 years old. She was really excited and is going to speak with the Principal of a school on 85th and Villard in Milwaukee. It feels so good to be able to do something for my old neighborhood.

Go to this link if you want to check out this program. It's a simple book that takes maybe 10 to 15 minutes a day! http://www.startreading.com/

It's always darkest before the dawn!

Someone very special to me was feeling a little down last night. She is normally the bubbly one, giving inspiration to everyone around, so it was a unique opportunity to see her in a valley! We played the Mexican Train Game which uplifted everyone's spirits.

This morning I left her a little note that said, "Take heart...it's always darkest before the dawn! I have had the biggest battles with discouragement in my life right before I received the biggest blessings! Have faith! The blessing is right around the corner! I love you,

Today she had some amazing experiences, and her spirit is back! Never give up, I've begun to see the valley as a wonderful sign that soon the struggle will be over.

Time to land!

Yes, it's time for me to land! Center myself, ground myself, whatever you want to call it, I'm jumping off the whirlwind I was swooped up into over a month ago! It's time for me get back to my life.

I read a speech today that was given by another woman who was put in the position of being a caregiver to her parents. If you'd like to read the article the link is: http://service-guide.blogspot.com/. It was an affirmation that everything I'm experiencing caring for my parents is normal (it's always nice to know you're normal!!). The things that resonated with me were when she mentioned that when things got too overwhelming she and her husband went on a 12 day cruise! Even my sister in her own sensitive way was mentioning to me little "inexpensive" getaways that I could take advantage of.

I take these little hints from the universe to mean it's time to start making time for things I enjoy. So, I'm going to begin to fill up my schedule with things I love to do and take the focus off caring for my parents. It's time to put my life in balance again. I'm looking forward to my vacation the last week of August.

I'm so grateful for my family. I'm so fortunate to have children I love, a husband who is supportive and brothers and sisters who are always there to listen and support and even have fun with! In their own gentle way they show me it's time to land, time to get my head out of the clouds and come back to my heart. From my heart I will again be able to give to my parents.

My sister gave me this gift yesterday, when she was trying to support me in my relationship to my aging parents. I was feeling guilty about my dad's unhappiness in his living situation. It helped me come back to my center.

Happiness comes from within. It is within us, we create it with our attitude and heart! The core of my happiness comes from being grateful. The greatest tool I received as a Life Coach is the understanding that the vibration of gratitude super-cedes all other vibrations. If you are feeling fear, negativity, anger, loneliness, or any other lower vibration or feeling, take yourself to a place of gratitude. You need to FEEL grateful. If you are having a hard time doing that, try to remember a time when you were genuinely grateful for something; a moment in your life when you were so grateful that you were moved to tears. Go to that feeling and allow yourself to feel that. It is impossible to have any negative feelings when you are in the presence of feeling gratitude. Be grateful. There is so much to be grateful for.

I wish you a day of happiness and gratitude. Once you bring yourself to this place of gratitude, you will exude happiness, and everywhere you go you will bring this happiness with you.

I love you, Kathy