Living Proof

How do you get rid of fear? I've been searching for the answers all my life through therapy, through prayer, through spiritual gurus -- you name it. Anita Moorjani, the author of Dying to be Me had some great advice in her book and to myself personally, however she experienced an NDE (near-death experience). I guess you can say she has proof, while many of us sit here wondering about all the "what ifs" in our life. I can only speak for myself when I say that my fear stems from the fear of death and the fear of the unknown in the afterlife, because let's face it -- without proof of our faith, it's just that: a belief system. Being a bit of a hypochondriac, my fear of eating peanuts, shrimp or getting stung by a bee are all seen as "irrational fears" -- but is it? So, "Deb fears bees," which basically equates to, "Deb fears anaphylactic shock," which equates to, "Deb has a fear of dying." It has gotten better to where it d...

I haven't smiled in a long time... It's interesting to see how people envision "beauty" on themselves as well as others. Ever since I have been learning how to love myself, and trying the best to take care of myself without the unrealistic goals of being a size 2 or perhaps getting a little 'work' done -- I have never felt so comfortable in my own skin like I am right now. Call it the confidence of being in your 40's or...something else. Granted, I'm still a work in progress, but work in terms of being a better person or someone who can at least help somebody else. My focus in life isn't about size, looks, taking inventory of materialistic things -- that's all meaningless to me. And with the lack of focus on those particular things -- I have been taking care of 'me' for once, so that I can be of better help to someone who needs me. I've heard, "Wow, you look incredibly happy." and I think to myself, wow -- I do ...

Lately, I've been reading a lot of books regarding spirituality, near-death experiences and overall ways to cope with the mind's inability to shut the hell up. One of the books that I particularly enjoyed was called, The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. I know, I know, I'm like a decade late on this best seller, but I feared it may have other belief systems that went against mine. I'm more open to other belief systems today, but surprisingly, they referenced a lot about Jesus in this book. The main gist is to separate yourself from your physical mind and become your "Being" -- your "soul" and observe what the mind does to you or what it conjures up. And once you witness and notice the thoughts, all thoughts seem to dissolve, as if you caught your own mind undressing. That's the best way I can describe it, because this book can be very 'wordy', the the point of dropping it and picking up The Cat in the Hat instead. I guess it's very ...

Working from home sometimes takes its toll. Most of the time, I am very busy or just very content being at home. I'd rather make my own dinner, drink my own wine and be in the comforts of my own dwelling. Don't get me wrong, we go out quite often, but not when the forecast constantly calls for snow and ice storms.  If I'm not working, I have a million hobbies, ranging from art, music and of course, reading books from different authors and genres. Since I was getting a bit frazzled by all the snow and ice that left us homebound for quite a spell, my sister Dawn suggested that I should purchase, Dying To Be Me by Anita Moorjani. I'm old fashioned -- I need to feel the pages and not bother with the migraines of staring into a tablet. Anyway, it's a story of a woman who battled with cancer and eventually, experienced a near death experience, (NDE). Dawn and I were discussing our continuous grieving process after our father had lost his battle with cancer, and how it ...