I'm a College Student!!!

   The new Monster's Inc. movie stands as one of my favorite animated movies this year.  Mike, the one eyed monster with high self-esteem, is the character I can most relate to.  It cracks me up that he goes through life not even seeing the obstacles to his dream of being a scare monster; I love Mike's positive motivation.  Nothing will stop him from reaching his goals.  Meanwhile, other monsters are negative and cannot understand Mike's vision of success as theirs are so muddled and lackluster.

     I can relate to this character 100%.  Almost seven months ago I embarked on finally achieving my goal of returning and finishing my college degree.  I am not your average aged college student, so returning to a place of education that houses students roughly the age of my own child made me feel out of sorts to say the least.  The age disparity was the least of my worries.  My stress stemmed from the class subject matters.  I had not been back to school in so many years and was worried about not understanding the modern day concepts taught.   Once the classes started, my stress was unfounded.  My mind casually nestled itself into the subjects easily and absorbed every ounce of knowledge.  It was as if it soaking the knowledge in was quenching my minds long standing thirst.  My surprise was one of happiness and fulfillment.  Returning to college revived me in a way I never thought would happen. 

     Returning to college opened up doors in my mind that had long been secured and left dusty and cobwebbed.  Once these doors were cracked open, floods of creativity poured out of them.  I realized that I had strengths in activities I had always shied away from, like poetry.  Now writing, poetry, photography and other creative processes exude out of my mind.   It was a difficult journey to decide to return to college.  I struggled within myself to find reasons not to return.  At the time I was living through my doubts and negative thinking.  Once I snapped out of the destructive thinking phase, I got back on the track to my goal of gaining my degree.  Returning allowed me to find myself once again and pursue avenues I had not dared to in the past.

     My happiness at returning to college pervades my life daily.  It is not possible for me to contain my pride and happiness since I am finally where I want to be.  My family is proud of my excellent grades and I am proud of myself too.  My gratefulness at being able to attend college is beyond measure and I daily encourage my kids to reach for that goal too.  I think the only thing that my entire family is not thrilled about is that, like Mike the Monster, I am constantly running around yelling “I’m a COLLEGE STUDENT”!!!

 Remember your long forgotten goals?  Pull them out of the dusty cobwebs and start toward them again! Have a positively blessed day everyone!!!

Thankful for the Freedom I Enjoy!

As evening falls, the sounds of rockets and the flash of colored lights fill the darkened skies.  Squeals of children screaming at the spectacular vistas bring smiles to all around.  At times loud "kaboom" sounds startle those caught off guard, though giggles follow the momentary fright.  Looking around, you see families gathered at the end of their driveways looking in every direction of the sky for glimpses of the half a dozen firework displays in the immediate area.  The festivities of the day are culminated by these joyful shows of colorful splatters in the sky.  Earlier in the day families and their friends gather to eat bar-b-cue, swim, play games and enjoy each others company.  The theme of the day shows enjoyment of the fundamental freedoms our forefathers fought for in the Revolutionary War.  Today we reflect on those brave individuals who took, in the past and still take today, a stand for their freedom and for the freedom of future Americans.  As we see the rockets red glare and hear the sounds of bombs bursting in air above our heads,
we should all be remembering all veterans past, present and future who make this a possibility.  I for one remember and pray for our veterans daily and am truly Thankful for the Freedom I Enjoy!!! God Bless America! Happy 4th of July!!  Have a positively Blessed day!!

The Universe Makes It Right

     Yesterday my son asked me about a situation in which I had a loss of funds. He was very concerned over the loss since it involved his lack of enthusiasm and motivation that made me lose the money.  A little background on me, I have been unemployed for a year and a half and am currently in college.  Funds are tight at the moment and my son is concerned about money we could use.  Anyway, I told him I was not worried about it and neither should he.  He asked me why I had such a nonchalant approach to the loss.  I relayed to him my belief that "The Universe makes everything right".  He looked at me very baffled.  I explained to him my theory.
     I began with the theory of energy.  Energy is finite.  You cannot make it or lose it.  Energy is transferred not lost.  Energy is recycled over and over again throughout the world and universe.  I feel the same about everything that happens in our universe.  When I have a loss, someone else has a gain.  If I feel ill, maybe someone feels better.  If I am feeling sad and lonely, someone out in the universe is happy and loved.  I truly feel that everything and everyone on the planet and the universe are interconnected.  With that, I believe that my loss of money is someones gain.  When the universe is ready I will have those funds returned to me in one way or another.  My son looked at me like I was a wacky hippy and shook his head while he walked away.
     My belief comes from my desire to be positive.  Maybe the need for me to believe that through my negative experiences  someone on the opposite side of the world could have a positive experience drives this belief.  I would certainly hope it to be true. I really hope that my children take this theory with them throughout their lives so they will know that every action or inaction they make affects others.  Hopefully this will drive home the point that all humanity is interconnected and dependent on one another.
     So today I took my golden retriever to get groomed.  He was pretty stinky and needed some pampering, as he has been recovering from an ear infection.  Long story short.....his expensive grooming tab turned out to be free!  The universe is awesome!  I told my son when I got home and he was shocked.  I said, "I told you the Universe would make it right!"  So I hope someone that may read this blog, who is experiencing a difficult time in their lives, take from it that patience and positive thinking will see you through until the Universe makes it right for you!
     Have a positively blessed day!

A Poem for My Son-"Maturation"

Maturation

By Positive Lulu

~Of the first our eyes fell upon you,

We knew the wide world you would pursue

~You are smart, unique and absorb all knowledge,

Our pride you raise for deciding on college

~Through this transition and growth to maturity,

Our support, advice and guidance again you’ll see

~So go forth and achieve your dreams of animation,

But first let’s enjoy the day of your graduation!

*I wrote this poem for my son who will be graduating High School this week! 

Memories.....Like the Corners of My Mind

Over the years I reflect on times gone by and remember all the good and bad times I have experienced.   I don't ever wish that bad experiences never happened because that would in turn change who I am now. No I don't wish they never happened, I just try to extract from them whatever lesson I can and move forward and make sure that I don't repeat that experience in my future. After all I wouldn't be the person I am today if I had not experienced both the good and bad.

Memories to me are like so many books I have up in that library I call my brain.  Every once in a while it is nice to dust off one of those books and relive a time in your life that made you happy to be a kid, excited that your first kiss was so thrilling, nervous that you won't pass the driving test the first time.  Of course sometimes dusting off those scary books isn't as tempting but you need to at least read a few pages of that book so that you aren't haunted by the things you fear.

Every once in a while I get reminders of books hidden way in the back in the corner of my mind that have several inches of dust on them. I dust off the cover and barely recognize it.  I think to myself...is this even my memory? Did that get re-filed in the wrong library? Of course once I open the cover long forgotten memories start to trickle back to the fore front.

 It's fun to relive long forgotten times in your life and think back to how you felt and how the world was around you.  Just today I was able to relive a time in my life that was fun and carefree.  I was on facebook just looking at pictures on different friends pages when a face came across my screen.  I had not seen this face in about 36 years but I just new who it was!  I couldn't believe my eyes! It was my best friend from first grade!  She had moved away back then and I was heartbroken.  She was the sweetest friend I had ever known and she was gone and I didn't know whatever happened to her. 

I thought about my best friends many times over these 36 years very fondly and wished her well in whatever she was doing with her life.  I always pictured her in my mind as the petite, blond girl with a sweet smile.  I never in a million years expected her to suddenly come up on facebook on another friends page and smile at me like she did so long ago.

Of course I did not delay!  I sent her a friend request and hoped that she would at least remember my name and where I new her from.  I didn't think she would have the same cherished memories I had from my childhood.

Not long after my friend request I received confirmation of her friend acceptance and she wrote me asking if I was the person she new in first grade.  That made my day!  She remembered me!! I hope to continue my corespondence with my best friend from first grade in the future.  She was such a positive person to me at that time in my life when other things in my life weren't as bright and happy.  I will always consider her a blessing to me.

I used to fear my old library of memories but as time moves on I have learned that dusting off those old memory books can sometimes lead to some wonderful new memories and can also lead to positive revelations from whatever good or bad experiences you may have had.  But you know me I think that all memories can only bring positive things if you let them and see them in that light.

So I hope these few words will help you to want to brouse through that library in your mind and dust off a book of memories or two and delve into those forgotten memories.  You never know who you might reconnect with!
Have a positively blessed evening!