Down South Sisters- Gift and Thrift

“If God created this world we live in now for our time on earth with all of it’s wonder and surprise and infinite beauty…. What must he have created for our Souls after we leave this place?”

If we remember that God is the one who created our final home then we will know with rock solid certainty that is must be beautiful and wonderful beyond our ability to grasp.

For me, that takes a little bit of fear out of the prospect of moving on from here to there.

ok… it was too late for me to do this cholesterol control thing… I just got out of the hospital with a brand new piece of foreign object (Stent) in my heart.

I should have listened 10 years ago when I was cautioned about my high cholesterol… started to exercise, corrected my diet, added supplements. But I didn’t and here I am.

So start now, right now, TODAY…

Also… I should have listened to my symptoms long ago… aching in my arm (like a toothache), discomfort in the center of my chest, constant belching, fatique.. it was all there.. I just didn’t listen.

Hopefully, I can start now to prevent anymore blockages but for all of you out there who aren’t there yet… PLEASE listen to your doctor and start to make corrections NOW and if you do have symptoms don’t wait.

AND YES.. I am now on a Statin.. not what I wanted but it may have helped if I had started taking them earlier. IF YOU ARE NOT going to correct with diet then Statins may save your life.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but it is reality.

Unless we change our ways early… we will deal with the consequences later.

I am rock solid undeniable proof… if you need it.

Ok I am back where I started with my original belief

that

God does not intervene

God set the world in motion

We make choices and go down paths and life hands us the good and the bad

God is there to guide us when we make the right choices

When we make the wrong choices

and when life hands us a load of pooh pooh

BUT I have to believe he doesn’t intervene otherwise I would be mad at God all the time and I would have to believe that God is not a just God….

so that leaves me with my original belief… back where I started.

As much as I want to believe in divine intervention and fate and destiny and that somewhere a benevolent being has a plan… I just see no evidence of that whatsoever in my life or the lives of others.

What is see is, now and then, an event that either we can’t explain or don’t understand and that we somehow attribute to God or the Universe because it makes us feel better.

My faith in the fact that there is a God has not wavered or weakened because I speak to him every day but I simply can’t believe that he took one house with a Tornado and not another, or that he decided a certain football team should win the championship, or that he decided to give this one good woman cancer and this one not, or take this baby but not that one, or let the children in Ethiopia starve but give us more than we need…. what kind of God is that?

It seems that every smart thinker in history has always advocated doing the things you are most afraid of.

I am most afraid of being embarrassed so my love for music and song has been greatly inhibited by my fear.

I have an audition for America’s Got Talent on Feb 3rd… I will be facing my fear and conquering it on that day. My goal is to just get through it.

Wish me luck.

and good luck in facing your own greatest fears

I will update you on what happens

OK… the physical store location is over and done….

We are moving on.

It feels good I have to say.

I enjoyed the time I spent at the store but now I will also enjoy this new adventure.

Down South Sisters Collectibles EBAY Store 

Focus, Foward Movement….

It is so hard to see the end of something you love and not feel sad.

All the wise words in the world will not change the way you feel.

I must grieve. It’s that simple. Seeing the last few breaths of life in the store is a hard one.

Yes I am sure God has something greater in store for me.

Yes when one door close, another one opens.

Yes I still have faith that all will be ok.

Yes I need to let go of attachment to results and things.

Still… I am sad. Simple and without doubt. SAD.

I have been keeping a very simple journal each day based on something I heard on Oprah’s OWN Super Soul Sunday.

I started out with just writing down the statement

“What do I really, really, really want?”  and answering it every morning.

AND

“What was my happiest moment?” every evening and answering it.

It has turned into a daily ritual with a few added things as follows:

I write down “What do I really, really, really want?” and I answer it

“Exactly what I have”

Every day.

First,,, I really do want exactly what I have. I have a job that I love, I have a husband I adore, I have a family I love, I have all the basic necessities. What more could you want?

Second..I discovered that what I have right now is enough and that my personal problem is that I don’t think I deserve what I have right now. Wow…

The exercise of writing down my happiest moment has made it very clear to me that my happiest moments are with the ones I love. Whether it’s on the phone with my sister Patty, or having breakfast with my sister Neva, or talking to my Mom, or sitting on the sofa with my husband, or doing my daily texting back and forth with my daughter or my best friend.. those are my happiest moments. It has also made me look for those happiest moments like a small child looking for a surprise… I know it will come… I just don’t know when… Another WOW… what a great gift this idea was.

Finally, I have added the following to my morning ritual:

I write down the following statement/prayer and then take just a moment to breathe it in:

“There is someone I can help today. Let me keep my eyes and my heart open so that I may see them.”

Your Mantra is that phrase about yourself that you hear over and over in your head and only really stop to recognize when someone like me says….

“What is your Mantra?”

Mine has always been

“There will never be enough Money. You will always be Poor.”

So, no matter how much money I made in my life, no matter what I was doing, how hard I was working, how much I tried to manage my finances. The MANTRA kept playing and of course the money was never enough.

First ask yourself

“What is your Mantra?”

Then ask yourself

“Is it working for me?”

If the answer is no then you have to go about the business of changing it to something that will serve you better.

That is what I plan to do.

I have noticed something touching in the store this week.

We have a really huge selection of books.. old books, new books, inspirational, funny, children’s, cookbooks…

I have noticed a tenderness and sweetness in how our customers are looking at, touching, and handling our books. It’s like they all know collectively that the end of books as we know them is looming on the horizon. Electronic data and information are flooding us with options that don’t involve the book as we know it.

I love the smell, the touch, the physical sensation of a book, a newspaper, a magazine. I will miss those things and I am glad Down South Sisters can be at least one small part of keeping these precious treasures intact and in the right hands.

Our customers will hold and cherish the books they purchase in our store.

They love them as much as we do.

I have come to the conclusion that at the end of my days when I am looking at that last setting sun….

The following WILL NOT matter:

The leaves in the yard

The full gutters

The bathroom that needs remodeling

The shoes in the hall

The dishes in the sink

The clothes in the hamper

The car that won’t start

The keys I can’t find

The job, the house, the ‘stuff’ I had

And on, and on, and on, and on

And the following WILL matter:

Who I loved and who loved me.