Sunday "Cawfee" Klatsch! 4/13/14

Good Day friends! It's Coffee Klatsch time!!

What a difference some sunny weather makes! Alas, due to some technical difficulties there is no Sunday Stew to share with you (hopefully it will return next week), but I'm still quite inspired to make our Cawfee Klatsch fun and thoughtful....and thank you ever so much for joining me today!

Spring has finally sprung here in my beloved Jersey and I am loving it! Despite seasonal allergies, I am still ecstatic that the trees are budding, the grass is starting to grow again and flowers are blooming! All signs of life renewing and the cycle continuing and COLOR returning to the world is a glorious thing! It makes me very happy and I can say it truly is helping to shake the Seasonal Affective Disorder back to a level that is more than manageable. The sluggish feeling has gone away so much that my hubby and I have actually returned to the gym several times to use the pool for our exercise (including this very morning). Now THAT is truly saying how much better I'm feeling!

My new car- "Cawfee"!

Big news for me is that I just bought a new car! It's a mocha-brown, 2014 Chevy Sonic Turbo hatchback. I decided to name it Cawfee because of it's color, and the pronunciation is very Jersey. I have never bought a brand new car before. Yeah, you read that right...I'm nearly 49 years old and never had a NEW car. I've had plenty of new-to-me cars, but this thing is way different. It's bluetooth enabled, has satellite radio and a remote starter! Holy shit people...do you get what I'm saying? This thing is more advanced than most of the stuff I have in my house! It felt scary...not bad, but just an overwhelmingly big ticket item that I was afraid to take home with me. I'm not used to such things...

My mixed emotions were probably due to several things. 1-As I said, I have never had a new car before (paid in full) and it feels like a complete luxury purchase. 2-It is a major purchase that was made with money left to me by my parents. 3-I am very uncomfortable with money-having it, earning it, losing it-and when there is 'more' of it, a fear creeps up as if someone is going to 'take it' from me.  That last part is actually something my hubby and I have in common. It could be why we live as modestly as we do and usually only allow ourselves occasional treats (books don't count-those are ESSENTIALS).

From the beginning when I was a child, I was taught 'Money is the Root of all Evil'. We scorn greedy millionaires, sneer at those who gamble everything for that one big score and still we idolize those who make millions and millions of dollars, seemingly for nothing. Mixed messages abound in the world on hating the rich, yet striving to be one of them. Then, if you grow up not having 'enough' money, it becomes a thing to desire, but also fear losing. I grew up a middle-class kid...my husband was poor. I struck out on my own when I was an adult with a barely livable wage. Out on my own with no substantial income, I racked up debts and lost sleep with fear of how to pay my rent and basic bills...food usually came last on the list. My husband was actually homeless for a short time after his hitch in the Marine Corps and he joined the Army just for the security of '3 hots and a cot'. Money...the sheer focus on earning it and losing it, damages our spirits. We have enough and yet, deep inside, it's never enough. No matter how secure you think you are, the media will be happy to let you know that the boogeymen are just waiting to take what little you have and leave you with nothing. Money becomes the source of an all consuming spiritual paralysis.

Spiritual paralysis is combination of fears. The fears can come from very real experiences, like when my husband was homeless. But they can also be the products of being force fed false information by our sources and even our friends and families. How many times already have I heard "I'm so jealous." from FRIENDS who learned of our plans to move to California next year? Those words taint any good wishes they proclaim, and create a layer of negative binding energy around us. When our own doubts and fears rise, as they will do from time to time, the ability to continue to move forward is affected by how much we let those bindings tighten around us. If we let those negative energies set, then they become part of the energy we carry. We allow ourselves to become paralyzed by the negative energies around us and within us.

Need some ideas on where to go to get some more positive JuJu in your life?  Need some ideas on how to get out of that limiting Spiritual Paralysis and into a world that believes in infinite joy?  Well here are a few links of some very excellent places to start!

Global Pay it Forward Experience  This is very cool! A website devoted to the 'PIF' movements around the world! And since April 24, 2014 is Global Pay it Forward Day...what better time to check it out! Look at all their links (including their Facebook pages) for ideas on how you can be part of a Global collective to make blessings a part of every day in many ways...

Tiny Buddha: Simple Wisdom for Complex Lives This is one of my favorite sites when I need a boost of positive thought, STAT!! Quotes, challenges, forums, blogs, inspiration, videos and more. The right words and images to get you moving toward a more positive frame of mind, but not ignoring the lessons and challenges that surround us daily. Awesome site...

The Daily Dawdle Okay...why so serious? Being positive also means being able to laugh, smile and sit in awe (okay, maybe dawdle) at some of the wild and weird moments in life. Take a look at some of the things that people have challenged themselves to create, the things animals do to make us laugh, and find ways to sneak out of mind-numbing work for a few moments to remember that feeling good really does feel GOOD!

That's all for this Coffee Klatsch....but as always I'd love your feedback and suggestions! May your life be filled with joy and laughter...your way...every day...in any way you can find it!!!