I received a late Christmas card this year.  

     Late meaning it arrived in my mailbox on New Year's Eve, 2015.  The card had a drawing of a cute Bunny on the front and I knew immediately the Christmas card was from my dear friend, Abby who loves bunnies. We had lost contact for a few years but she always sent me a card at Christmas.

     I first met Abby through a mutual friend of ours who connected us because she felt that it would be good for us to know each other. You see, Abby and I have many common bonds. We are the same age, and size, we are both blondes, and other similarities. These commonalties that we share were not the reason that our mutual friend felt that she needed to connect us. Abby and I have both lost our teenage daughter's, and their deaths happed the same year.

     Abby's daughter Suzanne, died in a car accident on her way home from college late one evening. My daughter, Nicki died from a malignant brain tumor that lingered for three years. Both Suzanne, and Nicki were nineteen years-old when they passed from this earth into the arms of a loving God.  Abby's daughter had a sudden death, my daughter endured pain and suffering for three-years undergoing, chemotherapy, steroids, surgeries, and many hospital stays.  Abby and I often talked about the issue of sudden death, or lingering death. We concluded that there is no better way to lose a loved one, especially a child...No easy way. How we die we is not a competition. 

                                                Losing a child is the worst tragedy of all. 

     So back to the Christmas card that Abby sent to me... In another letter she wrote that her husband, Bill had been diagnosed with cancer, and that it was terminal. I never got the chance to visit him to say goodbye before he died, but I thought about him, and Abby everyday. 

    When I opened Abby's Christmas card this year, I saw a photo of Abby, her son and her daughter in law, holding a baby, Abby's new grandson. 

                                                                    Smiles so big! 

    Inside the card was a small piece of paper, 4 1/2 X 2 1/2,  it fit in the palm of my hand. On the front of the card was a subtle drawing of Jesus. With his right hand knocking on a door, His left had holding a rod. I turned the card over and there was a photo of William Carson Myers, Abby's husband. He had a big smile on his face, as the sun was setting in the background. Bill passed away on July 11, 2014. 

    We are all going to die at some time. What took my breath away was the bible verse that was inscribed below Bill's  photo...

                                      "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past."

                                                                  Isaiah 43:18


                                     Look the verse up there you will find the meaning of life!

What Is It About Men?

 

FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH

            I was doing some research on Men and came across this information from Shape.com 

They surveyed 14 guys ranging in age from 19-56 to find out what they wished that women knew about them.   

1. Time Flies When You’re a Man

“There is ‘man time’ and ‘woman time.’ For men, time goes by faster than for women. Einstein tried to explain this with his theory of relativity and I think it was all about trying to get along with his wife. So, the next time a guy doesn’t call or text a girl back right away or it’s been two weeks since he last said ‘I love you,’ just remember that it doesn’t mean he doesn’t care it, it just means that time passes differently for him.”  – Dr. Tom Hacket, 44, World-renowned Orthopedic Surgeon and Team Doctor for US Olympics Snowboarding

2. You’re More Powerful than You Think

“In that single moment when you glance in our direction, we lock eyes, and all we feel is our heart beating through your chest, you have us. And there is absolutely nothing we can do about it!”  – Alexander T. MacGregor, Jr., 19, Editor-in-Chief of The Boulevardier

3. We Like Shopping with You… Sometimes

“Things I wish women knew? If you trim your hair, don’t get upset if we don’t notice. Help us along by actually wearing it in a different style that day. Also, we actually like going shopping with you, as long as you let us pick out your outfit. And, sometimes we wonder why someone as amazing as you wants to be with us.”  – Lalo Fuentes, 34, Celebrity Trainer

4. We’re Not so Different

“At the gym, men are just as self conscious and check themselves out in the mirror just as much as women do. In regards to cooking, men can do more than BBQ. All you need to do is ask—but be sure to do it after the game! Oh, and, men do like salads, especially if they are topped off with bacon!” – Chuck Hughes, 34, Chef and Cooking Channel host

5. Your Teenage Tendencies are a Major Turn Off

“A few things: Insecurity is a major turn off, using the acronyms ‘lol,’ ‘lolz,’ or ‘rotfl’ should not be used by any female above the age of 15, we don’t like being called ‘dude,’ ‘friend,’ ‘bro,’ or any combination of the above because you are not our male friend, thinking Justin Bieber is cute is not cute, and finally, going to the bathroom in pairs is bewildering to us.” – Beau Davidson, 30,Country Music Recording Artist

6. I Have No Secrets

“I’ve always been told that women know everything.  Is that not accurate?”  – Steve Berry, 56, New York Times Bestselling Author

7. DVDs Don’t Make the Perfect Gift

“I wish women knew that just because we talk about our favorite movie all the time, we don’t want it on DVD as our Christmas gift. We already own it. Actually, we don’t want DVDs period. It’s 2012.” – Matt Ritter, 30, Comedian

8. There’s Always an Exception to Dating Rules

“For every rule or guideline to dating that you read about in magazines, there is always an exception!” – Kyle Erickson, 25, Celebrity Publicist

9. You’re Beautiful When You Don’t Try so Hard

“I wish women knew even though we appreciate you taking hours to get dressed and ‘put on your face,’ it’s no longer necessary. Superficial beauty catches our attention but natural beauty keeps it.”  – Thomas Edwards Jr., 26, Founder of The Professional Wingman

It seems obvious that men just want women to accept them for who they are and not for who we expect them to be. After all our brains are wired differently. 

Respect for each other, and accepting each other unconditionally can be the key to success. Listening, understanding, loving, forgiving, and wanting to succeed are factors for love to stay.

If Mars and Venus are to align it will only happen through understanding that we have take some steps to accept each other, forgive each other, and love each other, then let some things go. 

If we can choose to leave one thing unsaid at the end of each day we may have peace, and harmony. 

Photoshopped

      Teenage Girls ~ Obsessed with Selfies & Photoshopping   

Some teenage girls across the country have found the secret to making themselves appear flawless through he art of photoshopping their many selfies, and other images of themselves. 

Not only do these select few spend hours making themselves look perfect in their photos, they then post those sexy photos all over the internet to draw attention to themselves. 

There was a time when photoshopping was used to enhance models to grace the covers of magazines. Now with so much free technology middle, and high school kids spend hours a day using apps and other means to enhance their selfies, and photoshop  themselves. Not all but some girls constantly post photos of themselves in various poses mostly with their breasts exposed and with little clothing. 

It's concerning that more and more young women are putting their sexy photos on the internet for free, creating a fake image of themselves for others.  

Self esteem comes from the inside not the outside. None of us are perfect, but the self-obsession that some teenage girls have with themselves is self destroying. The teenage years always come with peer pressure but not all succumb to the dangers. Many young woman believe that intelligence is beautiful. Creating a false image on the outside will never bring happiness, because it's not real. By photoshopping yourself you are creating a false image, and a false impression to others. 

Learning to love yourself, being honest, humble and true build self-esteem. Of course we all want to look our best, but taking hundreds of photos of yourself, and then changing the photo to appear flawless is having an obsession with yourself.

We all want to be our best selves but being our best is being honest, and real. Loving yourself and accepting your genetic beauty with flaws is okay. If we all cared more about our character, and accepted one another for who we are and not how popular, and flawless we can make ourselves out to be, we would create a better world. Truth is we can't fool others they can see right through us so we just look desperate and insecure. 

If we put ourselves out on the internet through whatever social networking venue we choose it should be with honesty, and sincerity. 

Photoshopped photos are fake. 

Be honest, be real, love yourself, be proud of who you are. If you are not happy it won't come by spending hours photoshopping yourself to attract people to you. Go out and do something amazing. Help someone, volunteer, earn a scholarship to college, mentor someone. 

Get over yourself, and Get Real!