Don't let the moment be over before it's over...

I've spent the last 2 1/2 years going through an internal transformational phase "working on myself".  I've finally come to a realization that much of what I allowed in my life was nonessential.  Now, today, December 13, 2014 there is still much I have to learn but what I have learned and am in the process of learning I will share with you.

Opera's book "What I Know For Sure" starts with a story about how she wanted to tour with Tina Turner and when she had the opportunity she was a little insecure about dancing on stage.  It took her a second to realize that the moment was about to be over and so she enjoyed what was left of it completely.  Soon after she received a gift from Maya Angelou - a CD of a song by Lee Ann Womack - I Hope You Dance.  When I read that I could hardly contain my tears because 8 years ago my aunt Vicky mailed me a book based on this exact song when I was going through my 2nd battle against Cancer.

I am until this day learning how to dance everyday of my life.  I have come to a realization that at the end of our days the memories that we made with our loved ones are the ones that will matter.  I am learning to look at myself in the mirror fully not just on the outside but on the inside.  Our inside is what counts but the tricky part is not just looking, but accepting and be willing to change what we know is wrong. 

I am not near perfect but I refuse to give up.  I refuse to give up because I know that I want to be able to stare at death in the face and say "bring it on" because I've lived a full life, I've helped people around the world, I've raised my children, I've inspired, I've laughed until my face hurt, I've cried out of pure joy, I've danced every day of my life.  And for those moments I will not give up.

There is much to do my friends.  Come, make every moment count... Join us in this wonderful thing called LIFE.

From my heart to yours,
LRP

Life Happens

Ever heard the expression "life happens"? 
 

As your life is "happening" stop and ask yourself this question,  AM I HAPPY?   If you know in your heart of hearts that there is more out there, if you feel it in your gut... stop and recognize that it's your purpose yelling at you to wake the heck up!
 

John Maxwell says that often it's the little things that we allow to consume our lives.   We get so "busy" that we become busy bodies.   Ever heard of that?   You're basically going through life being efficiently busy.   You might think that efficient is good,  don't get me wrong because it is, however  what good is it to be efficient when you're not effective?

Here's my point, LIFE IS GRAND. I'd like for you to give it a try.   I'd like for you to stop with the routine.   I'd like for you to stop hiding.   I'd like for you to start developing your purpose.

It's ok to start simple.   Do some brainstorming first.   Sit down and create a spider outline of the things that make you happy.   From there break each one down.   Don't be generic!  Reach down into the depths of your soul and think about the happiest moments of your life.  Then make a separate spider outline with the things that move you.   The things in this world that make you boil inside.   The things that you wish you could change.   The things that ignite your fire.  Then look at the two lists and connect them.   Chances are that your purpose,  your calling, will jump out at you instantly.  
 

Here's the thing,  you already know what your purpose is,  you just forgot.   So remind yourself and start doing what it takes to get closer to living out your purpose!

Going through the motions of life without living with purpose is like saving tons of money to enjoy a the trip of a life time, packing your bags,  being on a plane for 18 hours, just to arrive to never leave the airport because you immediately catch the next plane back home.

Enjoy that $100,000 vacation you planned!   Keep going,  don't stop and more certainly DON'T EVER GIVE UP!
 

 

 

From my heart to yours,

LRP

Mediocrity

 

Do IT

Waste

What a waste to have been gifted with a talent and refuse to use it.

What a waste to have knowledge and refuse to share it.

What a waste to have something that someone needs and refuse to offer it.

What a waste to have been blessed but refuse to be a blessing for others.

What a waste to receive love but refuse to love in return.

What a waste when your heart tugs at you to perform a good deed and we ignore it.

What a waste when the whole day passes without doing something selfless.

What a waste when we don’t smile.

What a waste when we don’t speak up.

What a waste when we allow ourselves to live by fear.

What a waste when we refuse to look at the good side of life.

What a waste when we surround ourselves with negativity.

What a waste when we refuse to pick up a book.

What a waste when we don’t slow down and enjoy the beauty around us.

 

Stop wasting your life away, we only have a certain amount of tomorrows.

A Nurse I Know

I humbly post this beautiful story written by a dear friend of mine whom I look up to and have a deep respect for.  Sometimes we don't realize the impact we have on others and this story proved that for me.  LRP

 

 

A Nurse I know:

I know of a “Nurse” that works in an environment that is stressful, painful and sad. At least that’s what most people’s sentiments are. This is no ordinary nurse, she has strength, courage & confidence beyond the norm and has the ability to cure those seeking and needing to be cured. What makes this Nurse extraordinary is that she did not receive her education in nursing nor in trade school.

This Nurse has been given her gifts and talents from a different source, a higher source, a higher power, a higher education. What makes this true story more inspiring is this Nurse does not work in a hospital or clinic. She works for the CEO of CEO’s, the Boss of Boss’s, the King of Kings, she is doing God’s providential work by her Purpose.

Lorena a two-time cancer survivor and a young mom of three adorable kids, could have chosen to rest and recover from her treatment, stay home, do nothing and deservingly so. Lorena,  instead of laying soaking or worrying,  puts on her Warrior suit, her “Nurse’s” outfit, her Facilitator of Hope Armor and starts a support group, a group for cancer patients, for those going through a similar fight that she went through, the biggest bought there is, the fight for your life. Lorena could have stopped there and being the Purposeful blessing she is, would leave her Armor and Outfits on. Again, Lorena could have chosen to stay home, however her providential quest was CALLING. Not letting her restricted finances get in her way, Lorena would conduct toy drives. Toy drives for the little souls that would not have received toys for Christmas otherwise.

You see, Lorena is a healer of pain, lifter of stress, enlightener of sadness, and a facilitator of hope. Lorena relieved some of the pain of those undergoing treatment and letting them know there is hope, hope for a brighter future. Lorena relieved the sadness of those little kids not knowing if they would get a visit from Santa Claus, however Lorena is one for their cause.

Lorena’s work you see is not in a Hospital, her work is in the place we call Life. Thanks to her, we can say this world is a little better.

7 years later, a healthy Lorena continues to help and support others.

Not Cancer, Not Again...

Soaking wet in my tiny one person shower I exclaimed to Him and begged him to guide me.  I was diagnosed once again with a more aggressive cancer and I frankly didn’t have time to deal with this sickness.  My son was in 1^st grade, my daughter in pre-kinder and my youngest at home with me.  What in the world was I going to do?  And why had it come back?  I thought I had beaten this thing two years ago!  I began to exclaim…

“Dear Lord, I beg you to please show me what it is that you need from me!  Please God!  There is obviously something I didn’t learn the first time.  Oh gosh, I can’t do this… You know I will not dare ask you why because I believe that you have your reasons but really…. Please! I am only 27 years old what do I need to learn from this?” 

 I begged and begged for an answer.  I instinctively knew that this wasn’t going to kill me however; I had already dealt with this and was feeling so lost, scared and confused.  I realized that I hadn’t learned whatever I was supposed to learn the first time and so I begged for an answer, a sign… something. 

 As gentle as an evening breeze, as warm as the sun on a cold day, in the softest of voices He whispered in my ear, “Ven a mi y yo te librare” (Come to me and I will liberate you).  I immediately pulled the shower curtain open thinking my husband had heard me crying out to Him and was playing a joke on me, no one was there.  I opened the door where my husband stood only a few feet away and I accusingly asked if he had just been in the restroom to which he replied “No, what’s wrong!?”  I had grown pale and weak and was in shock.  I had just been blessed with a direct visit from our Creator of which I was not worthy.

 For the next couple weeks, I cried in the shower, I cried in the car, I cried every moment I was alone and I silently cried myself to sleep every night.  I was horrified trying to figure out how I was going to be treated since our medical insurance had denied me coverage due to a preexisting condition and I didn’t qualify for government assistance either.  In front of my friends and family I was all smiles and secretly, I was falling apart inside.

Emily ~ 3 years old

 One day soon after the shower experience I was in the bath tub with my daughter Emily who was 3 years old at the time.  I lay there and watched this little angle play with the bubbles she had to have in her bath every time.  Lost in thought I was caught off guard when she looked up at me with her huge brown eyes and said, “Mommy, say God Rules”  I was surprised as I am ashamed to say even though we believe in God, we hadn’t installed a belief in her innocent mind yet.  I replied in a quiet tone while she continued to play nonchalantly with her bubbles “God Rules” then she said “Mommy, say God Cares”…. Uh, “God cares…” and she then looked up at me and pierced me with her eyes, firmly demanding “Now say, God is HERE”.  Until this day I don’t remember if I ever responded to her last request because I was in such shock and I knew right there and then that everything that I had been stressing about and what I had been telling people about how everything was fine and that I felt great, was going to come true.  I knew that this disease was not going to kill me and that I had way too much to take care of to go home at such a young age. 

 So, I put my warrior armor on and I begun to fight this disease once again, head on and at full force.  Little did I know this was only the beginning of a long battle yet to come…

From my heart to yours,
LRP

Newfound Freedom

I am finally free.

The childhood nightmare that tormented me
well into adulthood.

The confusion and despair that my mind carried
for so many years.

The pain and anger that lingered within my heart.

It is all gone.

My soul rejoices its new found freedom.

True happiness is now here and for the first time I see the colors of the world.

The purity in the face of a content soul. 

The sound of a child's laughter.

The warmth the sun offers and the breeze that
whispers to me.

All of this that I use to take for granted,
I can now enjoy with clarity.

I have been given an opportunity to be
a part of something great,

that something is we call LIFE.  
I have no right to waste it.

I no longer doubt who I am
and in my ability to be exceptional.

I choose today and always to be a continuous learner and lend a hand to those in need.

When it's my turn to make space for the next to come, I WILL leave a legacy.
I will live out this newfound freedom.

 

LRP

Pursuit of Happiness

We’ve all heard of the Pursuit of Happiness (I’m not talking about the movie, even though I highly recommend you watch it).  As we go through our lives searching for the “thing” that makes us happy we go and buy stuff that we don’t need, to impress people that don’t care or maybe we look for happiness in another human being.  Although those things can make us very happy they are not our happiness.  What took me 33 years to realize is that my happiness is in MY hands, by MY choice, by MY actions.

Seven years ago I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma for the second time, the most curable of cancers according to my oncologist.  When you are diagnosed with cancer, one of the first things that your oncologist will do is stage it.  That just means that they need to figure out how aggressive the cancer is and how far it has spread.  Being a two time cancer survivor I have been staged at a one and two years later at IIA (2A).  The things that I had to experience in order to get my body healthy again are some that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.  However, I will tell you that I am grateful for those experiences more today than I have ever been.  As I mentioned to a couple of friends today, not only do these life experiences teach you more about who you are, they also force you to appreciate the small things in life.

In realizing that dying was not an option, I started searching for more.  More of what? You might wonder… more of anything and everything.  I instinctively knew that even though my life had been spared once for a reason there was an obvious message that I still hadn't received, and I was going to do whatever it took to find out what that was.  In the meantime, I made it a point to get closer to Him, (because let’s face it that’s what some of us do when we are desperate).  And in doing that, I ended up at a church my aunt had invited me to.  At the end of the service, the pastor approached me and said something like this… you know Lorena, you are one of the luckiest persons on earth.  I immediately thought “really? You jerk, I have cancer how lucky is that?”  Obviously I didn’t dare say that aloud.  The pastor must have read my thoughts or facial expression because he then said the following…  You have been chosen to go through this struggle, it’s not going to be easy and there will be days when you want to give up but you have to remember this…  You have been chosen because you are not only strong enough to survive this but you will be an inspiration to many who are going through their own struggles.  You will be a giver of hope.  You will be an example of strength. 

On my hour drive home I gave this some thought and until this very day I allow myself to think of this moment.  I don’t know what moved this man (yes I do) to convey this message to me, but it’s no coincidence that the people around me started flocking to me and talking about how much I had inspired them to be strong through their divorce and/or how I had given them a different perspective on what they thought were “real” issues.  And my favorite was when people would tell me that looking at me made them realize that “if I could do it, they could do it too.”

I am now a two time cancer survivor and have been in remission for almost 7 years, but honestly I had to go back in time to give you that number because I am NOT counting.  I have learned so much especially in the last 2 years and I’ve finally accepted my purpose and have embraced it completely.   I will do whatever it takes to help people reach their full potential in life.  I will be that beacon of hope.  I will deliver what has been requested from me and that is to remind us that we are capable of living our lives to its fullest and we are capable of being our ultimate and happiest self if only we allow it.  In 2006 and 2008 the word STAGE meant a “bad” thing… it brought fear because it would confirm “how bad it was” or how “aggressive” the cancer was.  Nowadays the word STAGE is a beautiful thing… The STAGE is where I will be very soon, spreading my message of life.

From my heart to yours,
LRP

Only the beginning of the 4 year battle

The unique smell that you can only find in cold sterilized buildings had become too familiar to her, instantly reminding her of the taste of iodine and chemotherapy her eyes swelled up with tears, she was having a weak moment.  At 24 years of age she had been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and her Oncologist broke the news to her by saying it was the most curable type of cancers out there.  She had been walking down this same isle everyday for the last couple of months, but today she just didn't feel like being strong.  She thought of the nurse that had told her just a few months back while giving birth to now her 7 month old daughter, "honey don't worry all mothers leave their dignity in the hospital!" referring to her shyness in having to allow the head nurse to check how close to giving birth she was.  

Radiation consisted of her laying on her back completely still and naked from the waste up while the platform she lay on swayed her according to the specifications the Radiologist had entered.  She was so sick of it, the mere smell of the gown made her want to throw up.  She was so exhausted of working full time and caring for 3 children, but she was most tired of pretending to be strong.  Don't cry she told herself... Don't start because if you start you won't be able to stop.

LRP

The Virtue Of A Woman

The Virtue Of A Woman

When God created woman he was working later on the 6th day.

An angel came by and said: "Why spend so much time on that one?"

And the Lord answered:

"Have you seen all the specifications I have to meet to shape her? She must be washable, but not made of plastic, have more than 200 moving parts which all must be replaceable and she must function on all kinds of food, she must be able to embrace several kids at the same time, give a hug that can heal anything from a bruised knee to a broken heart and she must do all this with only two hands."

The angel was impressed. "Just two hands...impossible! And this is the standard model? Too much work for one day...wait until tomorrow and then complete her."

"I will not", said the Lord. "I am so close to completing this creation, which will be the favorite of my heart. She cures herself when sick and she can work 18 hours a day."

The angel came nearer and touched the woman. "But you have made her so soft, Lord."

"She is soft", said the Lord, "But I have also made her strong. You can't imagine what she can endure and overcome."

"Can she think?" the angel asked.

The Lord answered: "Not only can she think, she can reason and negotiate."

The angel touched the woman's cheek. "Lord, it seems this creation is leaking! You have put too many burdens on her."

"She is not leaking...it's a tear" the Lord corrected the angel.

"What's it for?" asked the angel.

And the Lord said, "Tears are her way of expressing grief, her doubts, her love, her loneliness, her suffering and her pride."

This made a big impression on the angel; "Lord, you are genius. You thought of everything. The woman is indeed marvelous!"

"Indeed she is! Woman has strengths that amaze man. She can handle trouble and carry heavy burdens. She holds happiness, love and opinions. She smiles when feeling like screaming. She sings when she feels like crying, cries when she is happy and laughs when she is afraid.

She fights for what she believes in. Stands up against injustice. She doesn't take "no" for an answer, when she can see a better solution. She gives herself so her family can thrive. She takes her friend to the doctor if she is afraid. Her love is unconditional.

She cries when her kids are victorious. She is happy when her friends do well. She is glad when she hears of a birth or a wedding. Her heart is broken when a next of kin or friend dies. But she finds the strength to get on with life. She knows that a kiss and a hug can heal a broken heart.

There is only one thing wrong with her…

SHE FORGETS WHAT SHE IS WORTH."

 

Thanks to:

http://successnet.org/

 

Still Clinging On To Yesterday?

There have been times that life has thrown us a curve ball.  Sometimes that curve ball hits us right in the face, hard.  The initial blow will have us go through different phases such as pain, anger, sadness and eventually in some cases acceptance.  However, sometimes we allow pain to linger longer than it should; our anger turns into resentment and sadness turn into depression. 

As we start the grieving process we must allow ourselves to move on.  As painful as your situation might have been you need to realize that it’s passed and there isn’t anything that happens to us that we can’t learn from.

You might be thinking right now that I don’t know what it feels like to have lost a loved one, or to fear the person who is supposed to protect you;  you might think that I don’t know what it feels like to fear for your life and or what it feels like to be physically, verbally and sexually abused.  And even then these are not the worst things that have happened to one human being.  There are many people out there that have had a much more challenging life than mine. 

Many of us allow these events in our lives to affect us for years.  We carry it with us on a daily basis, we have nightmares of our abuser, we are resentful against those who we thought should have protected us.  We are angry with ourselves for not doing more about it.  We take it out on others who don’t deserve it.  We put up invisible walls and refuse to let the world in.  We convince ourselves that we are not worthy of happiness.   Ultimately we punish ourselves for the sins of others.

Don’t allow that to be you.  Don’t allow yourself to carry the past around for another minute.  Whatever experiences your life has brought you, allow yourself to learn from them.  Turn anger into passion and passion into visions, turn visions into goals and goals into realities! Let go of the past and embrace your future!

 

LRP

So, you think you're trapped?

How many times have you felt trapped, disillusioned, disappointed and afraid?  These are common feelings that we have all experienced at one point or another during our life time.  How would you like to go through life never having to experience those feelings again?   What do you think you need to do or have in order to get rid of these feelings?  Some of you might think, “If I was rich I would never feel disappointed” or “If I was the number one sales person, I would never feel like a failure”…  While these two ideas are great and I encourage you to reach your goals, I want you to understand that while you are committing yourself to your goals you have a choice to never feel these feelings again.

Our whole entire existence is based off of the choices that we make.  Let’s use the often used phrase; “stuck in a dead end job” are you really stuck?  Do you have a choice to do whatever it takes to move on?  YES!  The easy way is to make excuses for yourself or rationalize why you can’t leave that dead end job.  If you take a moment to consider all the choices you have without making excuses or lying rationally (rationalize) to yourself, I am willing to bet that you will find more than one other choice to whatever situation you are in.

Now just to clarify, I am not telling you to quit your job that in your opinion is a “dead end job” because even though that might be your perception when and if you pay close attention you might find that there are opportunities that you had never seen before.

This goes for any situation in life.  The girlfriend that is with the abusive boyfriend or vice versa…    The person who feels lonely… The mother who has a disrespectful teenager… The manager who has a challenging employee… and the list goes on and on.

We can choose to look at any difficult situation and mope about it day in and day out OR we can choose take a microscope and look deeply into what choices we have to change it.  If you are able to turn your attitude instantly into an optimistic one and believe that you are capable of anything that you put your mind to, you will realize that your whole life is about the choices that you made.  Don’t you dare say, it’s too late for me, I’ve already screwed up too much, I can’t fix this...  Those are excuses and an excuse is always the easy way out. 

 

Consider the following and start making the right choices TODAY! 

#1 Change your attitude about the way you see things.

#2 Stop making excuses.

#3 Create the change you want to see in yourself.

#4 Don’t ever, EVER give up!


LRP

 

Are you living or existing?

“One day your life will flash before your eyes, make sure it’s worth watching.”

 

Many of us go through our lives waiting for some grand miracle, saying things like, “when this happens then I can….”  What we fail to realize is that life is happening right now, TODAY.  In the meantime, as we are waiting for whatever it is that we are waiting for, we are losing precious moments in time.  Our lives are slipping by us and the crazy thing (for lack of a better word) is that we are allowing it!

 How long ago did you tell yourself you were going to lose weight, ask for that promotion, change jobs, buy a home, read a book?  Two months, two years, twenty years?  What has held you back?  Sometimes we are so afraid of the “what if’s” that we rather not try.  We forget or don’t realize that we are put on this earth for something great!

 

Now, what is that “great” thing that we were placed here for?  What is our purpose?  You’ve heard “What is the meaning of life”; you need to answer that to yourself.  Take time to stop your busy, loud life and listen to your inner voice.  What is it that has called you since you were a child?  What is it that you’ve always said, “if I could I would”. 

 

What we as human beings fail to realize is that we place our own restrictions.  We easily make excuses for ourselves and conveniently forget that we have a choice.  Everything that we do (or don’t do) is by choice.  Today you made a choice to wake up happy, sad, angry, annoyed… whatever mood you woke up with was YOUR choice.  Taking into account that things happen to us in life that make us go through a range of emotions that are not always popular or the best to have, we still have a choice.  We choose how we want to react to the current state our life is in.  Why not start with some simple steps:

 

Say all the things you love about yourself daily.

When you wake up, make it a habit to look at yourself in the mirror and repeat it out loud on a daily basis.  This is a reaffirmation of what we already know but sometimes won’t admit to ourselves.

 

When asked how you are doing, always say “great!” no matter how you think you are feeling.

This will ultimately become a habit and if you are wording it out loud your mind will   believe and thus make it easier to change your attitude from ok to great!

Smile More!
I’m talking about a real smile, don’t fake it and if you have to fake it, “fake it till you make it"! Actions speak louder than words, smiling will ultimately help you change your mood no matter what it is that you are feeling that day.

 

Take time for yourself to do something that you love!

It’s easy to get caught up in life.  This eventually piles up and you will become an unhappy person.  Don’t say you don’t know what you like to do; by saying that you are admitting something that is not true.  We all have something we are passionate about you just have to listen to your inner voice.

Get rid of the noise.
We live in an era where technology has given us more noise then we need.  With television, the internet, our smart phones, etc. we no longer take the time to go to a quiet place.  Find a time and place where you can think or not think.  During your drive to and from work, while taking a jog, in the shower, or through meditation.  Whatever calls you, use it to find a quiet and peaceful time for yourself.

You only get one life, so LIVE IT!

 

LRP

To second chances...

This morning, as I do many other Sundays; I was watching Super Soul Sunday...  Oprah's guest was a lady by the name of Debra Ford.  I'd never heard of her before but she was talking about a topic that has been too near for comfort for me and several of my loved ones, Cancer (really doesn't even deserve to have a capital C).  So what I got from her was that even as a spiritual leader she herself couldn't and wouldn't accept the fact that she was sick.  She felt that she should somehow be immune to this horrible disease because she had spent so much of her time helping others so why would this happen to her.  She was frank about how upset she had been (note: pass tense) with God.  I found it remarkably interesting that Oprah told her that when she found out she was sick her first thought was that Debra was someone who didn't like to be vulnerable and so in a sense this would make her vulnerable. So the show went on about how she finally accepted it but refused to allow the doctors to tell her how much time she had left (since they told her it was terminal). 

Watching her, I thought that somehow she was ok and that she wasn't dying... I thought that she had been cured.  I was soaking in her strength and courage.  When she said "No, I am NOT dying" I said "Amen Sister!" and I was happy for her... then, at the end of the show there was a beautiful image of her and it read "In loving memory of Debra Ford" she passed away in 2013.

Even though I never met this woman or have even read her books (I hear she wrote many) it's took me almost 10 hours to realize that I was deeply saddened by this.  Over time I've learned to "disconnect" and or change my attitude almost instantly depending on the circumstances.  I'm an optimist who believes in living day to day and taking "motivational baths" several times a day.  This time though, it took me a while to even realize what was going on and why I'd been moping all day.

I understand death and I understand that sometimes it's hard to comprehend why people leave us sooner than we are prepared to let them go.  I believe that there is another dimension out there where our soul gets to be free once it sheds our body and as far as I've been able to comprehend (thus far) I've made peace with this.  I understand my purpose here and I believe in my heart that I will be around for quite a while.  But today, just for today I am saddened because I realize that life is short.  Very short. A blink of an eye short.  And I haven't done enough, YET.  I read some where that "Today, I have 100% of my life left" and I refuse to believe otherwise.  I refuse to sulk in what I haven't accomplished and I WILL continue to ask for guidance in my path of life.  I am a strong believer that things happen for a reason and "everything is part of everything" - Oprah.  I received this message from a dear friend of mine yesterday and when I read it, I became instantly emotional because I am blessed to have this beacon of light to be part of my life guiding me even when I didn't realize how badly I needed guidance.  Even through all that emotion, little did I know that this message would come back with such force less than 24 hours later. 

"Today, I may have encountered some disappointment, an obstacle or two and maybe a bit of discouragement.  However, I have a conviction and peace in my heart and soul in realizing that if I am given the opportunity to rise tomorrow morning I will give it my all once again." - SV

Today I am grateful to have had two opportunities at life.  Two chances to stick around to live my purpose.

From my heart to yours,
LRP