Picture courtesy of “Southern Living Mag” Crisp whites combined with punches of bright colors immediately transport you to the coast.
Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and broadly to ideas of rebirth, renewal and re-growth.
It’s almost springtime, and I love this season very much. It’s the time of year where I really do alot of reflection on my life by taking a look at all the things that have happened and trying to find any lessons that I can use to improve my life in a positive way. Spring gives everyone a chance to prune their lives, that’s what I believe. A chance for us to weed away, take out that which does not serve our lives in a good way. Just like we do our spring cleaning with our homes, then spring gives us that opportunity to spring clean our lives and make good on any parts we need to improve.
Find those things in your life you can improve on. Just recently I was watching a matchmaking show on television and there was a woman that the matchmaker was trying to set up but the matchmaker wanted her to do some healing in her life before setting her up with anyone. The woman refused, by saying that there wasn’t anything she wanted to improve on, even though she had been single for three years, she was not willing to work on herself enough to find happiness. We all can improve on something in our lives, no one is infallible or perfect. There is always something to improve on. Maybe you need to be a more patient, kinder person. Maybe you need to learn to love yourself more, work on not trying to talk too much and instead to listen more. If telling the truth have become a problem for you, now would be a great time to own up and come clean to those you have withhold the truth from. This in turn will free you up on an emotional level hence lifting your burden of guilty, and they will inturn appreciate your honesty. Maybe you need to start giving of yourself more, both on a personal level as well as on a charitable level. If your not the kind of person to open up about your feelings to those you love and you like to keep things inside, then let the floodgates open up, don’t be afraid to share your special thoughts with those close to you. Maybe you need to be more trusting in your relationships with those around you, or you need to let others trust you. Only you know your own life so, find something you can improve on do it and don’t make excuses like you don’t have the time or your too afraid to give it a chance. There is always time, a few minutes each day is all you really need.
Spring is also a time that forces us to accept changes. 
Things are definately changing with the weather and this forces us to move outdoors more, it forces us to start to get more active and yes, it forces us into a better mood. We usually find ourselves going along with the changes without realizing it. So, spring is a wonderful time for fresh starts and new beginnings. It really does give us that opportunity to make some really nice changes in our lives that could very well propel us into a long line of “Positive Happenings” for the remainder of the year. Spring is also a wonderful time for love. If you are starting a new relationship this time of the year, then it marks a time of a new phase in your life for you and your partner, something that should be exciting for both people. If your not in a relationship then now might be a good time to start meeting new people through your own friends or social network. If that’s not your cup of tea, and you believe in “Serendipity” like myself, that is– leaving your love life to God and the Universe to help you with it, then maybe joining a club, or taking a trip to your favourite vacation spot would be a great idea if you have the time or the resources to do just that, this trip could very well bring a new person into your life. Always remain open to life because love could find you unexpectedly at a very unusual time or place. Maybe engaging in a new hobby would also be good. This time also represents births, birthdays, graduations as well as new home purchases, building of your dream home and new moves to a new town or city. Just fresh, fresh starts that’s what spring is all about so try to enjoy every minute of it if you can.
Letting Go
Spring is also a great time to let go of all negative emotions or people in your life. If your in a relationship that is not working for you and there is no hope of it going on, then now is good time to start fresh and move on. If you are hanging on to negative emotions that seems to have you bogged down and weighted then now is a good time to get rid of these. Emotions such as intense anger, resentment, lack of of self-esteem, lack of faith, your ability to hold on to material things. Start today by letting go of any or all of these that do not serve you in a positive way. Even if your anger and resentment is justified and you feel you have a right to be angry, trust me when I say in the long run, holding on to the anger and resentment won’t serve your life in a good way.
Acknowledge your pain, your hurt or anger however you feel, but as I like to say, “Package it and mail it off.” Just let it go. Anger and resentment is toxic it not only affects you as an individual it affects those around you as well. Yes, it is difficult to let go of all things unhealthy in our lives, but I guarantee that if you start doing this for yourself today, you will start to feel a whole lot better maybe not right away but in a while you will notice the difference. The sooner you do this the faster you will begin to heal. The best way to deal with this is to take that anger, resentment, pain, hurt and all the emotions you are feeling and pour it into something else. Find an outlet for it. Do you like to jog? Then do that. Do you like to swim? Then take a swim. If you are a person that like to hit the Gym and work out, well do that. Just find an outlet to replace these negative emotions and things will start to improve. When you don’t let go of anger, resentment and hurt in your life it has power over you, and you are no longer in control.
There comes a time in life where you have to “Put your foot down” so to speak, and say, enough is enough when it comes to conflict, stress, hurt , pain, anger etc. Why? Because it causes so much stress and your body doesn’t lie to you, you can feel when your stress and anxiety level goes up when there is conflict. It is up to you to say, “Enough!” All conflict stops today, and you make a conscious decision to start living better. Especially if you are in a household where there seems to be constant round the clock conflict, you really want to “nip it in the bud” so to speak so you can have a more calm and peaceful surrounding. Unless the conflict feels like an addictive drug to you, and if it feels like that then that’s not good, so you need to stop it. Otherwise the conflict holds you prisoner and “who wants’ this for themselves all the time?’” So, take back your power and remove all these unhealthy things from your life and make your surroundings calm and peaceful today.
On a personal note, I have had things happen to me that yes, would cause me to be angry, I have felt hurt and disappointed by many things that have happened in my life. However, the only thing I can say is that, I acknowledge how I feel then I make a conscious decision to forgive and let it go. Why? Because life is too short and I don’t want to waste time wallowing in pain and self-pity when I could be doing something more productive with my life. I also don’t want others to have power over me on an emotional level. So, forgiving someone allows you to release yourself to live a better life. Forgiving someone doesn’t make you weak in fact it makes you stronger. Remember you are doing this for yourself, not for them—-For you.
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." – Anne Bradstreet
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To mark the beginning of Spring, Why not bake this wonderful looking “Strawberry Pound Cake” for yourself or share with family and friends– courtesy of Southern Living Magazine and for once not worry about the calories—-Just enjoy it!
Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Lemonade spritzers and mint iced tea make delicious accompaniments to the Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Pound Cake. (To See Recipe click link): Strawberry Swirl Pound Cake
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Stormie Omartian Prayer of the Day
www.stormieomartian.com
When You Need to Feel Close to God
Dear Lord, I thank You that You have made Yourself available to me. By simply drawing close to You, You will draw close to me. I come close to You now and ask that You would give me a deep sense of Your presence. Sometimes I feel that my life is too much for me to handle, and there are too many expectations I can’t live up to, and there are too many frightening possibilities. At those times I need to be close to You more than ever. I need to hear Your voice speaking to my heart that everything will be okay. Help me to see my life from Your perspective.
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
James 4:8
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Featured Musician of the Week: “Jenny Bapst”
Jenny Bapst Boussaert is 31 yrs.old and was born in Paris, to a French father and a French, African-American, Native American mother. http://www.jennybapst.com/#!about Jenny was raised by her single mother in a lower class, rough-and-tumble suburb, called La Courneuve, on the outskirts of Paris. Jenny Bapst is currently a fashion model with New York Models Modeling Agency working for L’Oreal, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Bandolino, Peter Beard and Robert Cavalli are a few of the clients with whom she has had the privilege to work.
Loving this fresh new sound from Indie artist Jenny Bapst—–“Greater Love” Enjoy!
Watch Video on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6kNqRzruOk
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson is 26 yrs.old better known by 
her stage name Katy Perry, is an American singer-songwriter. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. Perry is of German and Portuguese descent on her mother’s side. She is the second child of two pastors. Perry was incorporated into her parents’ ministry and sang in their church between the ages of nine and seventeen. She was not allowed to listen to what her mother called "secular music", and attended Christian schools and camps. www.katyperry.com
*On a Personal note, I had a similar upbringing like Katy, my Grandparents were so strict, oh, my, gosh! I had to attend church every Sunday, or I am in big trouble, and yes, certain music and television shows were a big deal, they would screen everything I watched on T.V. but later in life I know they meant well. Now, people like Katy, myself and others who were brought up this way become very free spirited and wild at heart, which is not a bad thing and it forces us to be creative too—- We just can’t wait to have fun, oh, my, gosh!
Love this song, Enjoy!
Watch Video on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98WtmW-lfeE
Released Marched 18th!
Watch Video on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U18gtNpUOMA
Mariah Carey is 42 yrs.old is an American R&B/pop singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. http://mariahcarey.com/According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she is the third-best-selling female artist, with shipments of 63 million albums.
Mariah Carey is married to Nick Cannon who is 30 yrs.old (seen here in photo). Mariah is pregnant and she and Nick is expecting twins sometime in early, 2011.
Nick Cannon is an American "actor", "comedian", "rapper", radio and television personality. http://www.nickcannon.com/
Love this song by Mariah, “It’s like that all!”………Enjoy!
Watch Video on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI2cwfluyNo&feature=relmfu
