Be a princess !

Looking at the stats of Blogger always encourages me and gives me joy!  I wanted to thank all of you who read my blog because you have made it all worth it.  I see that people are reading this blog from countries far and near and I feel blessed.  I have tried to make the blog user friendly, but I understand that it is far from ideal.  Part of the reason is that I am still not home.  It has been very challenging for me to start this blog as my Ipad is broken, and the only computer I have available has a spell check that is in Spanish.  Oh well we do what we can, we get lemons and make lemonade.  Regardless of all the challenges I have had in order to start this blog, it has been a privilege.  I see all the people that are reading it and it gives me joy and a sense of connection to all of you. 

I want to thank you for following my blog,  and most of all I wanted to thank you for buying the book.  To all of you who have bought "Princess in Overalls"  I wanted you to know that my plan is to recover the costs of having published this book and then after that I will donate the rest to charity. I already have a "Princess in Overalls" in mind.  Her name is Raquel and she is a mom of two.  She lives in poverty and her kids eat on the floor, they do their homeworks on the floor and they wonder were the money will come for their next meal.  Regardless of this Raquel is a true Princess in Overalls, she is full of joy and with a heart full of love and full of hope.  Her little girls are Princesses in Overalls too.  They are fun loving and full of dreams.  My dream is to adopt them, want to adopt them with me?  Buy the book and recommend it, in this way we can change the world of these beautiful family.  Yes we will change the world one Princess in Overalls at a time.

If you have not gotten the book yet, I want to encourage you to buy the book.  The blog has summaries of chapters that are not in order. At the moment I try to select the shortest chapters.  Why? Well because I am typing from scratch every chapter I summarize, and because I have a million things to do.  This means the chapters are not following a chronological order.  If you want the story to flow and to truly make sense you would want to buy the book. Also if you are like me, you love sitting under a tree, or next to a window sill with your coffee.  And you love the fact that you can highlight it, make notes and lend it to others, yes if you are like me then hurry and get yourself a copy.  I have a link to Amazon.com here in the blog (right margin) that you can follow if you want to buy this beautiful book.  If you do not see the link just go to Amazon.com and type "Princess in Overalls"  and you will see it there. 

If "Princess in Overalls" is touching your heart, help others get inspired by getting them familiar with the blog.    I wanted to encourage you to be a princess in overalls and share your favorite post with others using the Facebook, Pinterest etc. buttons.  

Last but not least feel free to contact me either by leaving me a comment or sending me an email, that would make me very happy.  When I see there are people from Ukraine, China, Luxemburg, and so many other countries following the blog I feel like meeting you!    So I promise I do my best to answer every email I get, and any questions you may have!  If you want some advise, some encouragement or simply someone to talk to just get in touch!  Just give me some time, sometimes life can get hectic for me.  But you can pour your heart to me ....I am here for you.  

Don't be afraid to be a "Princess in Overalls",

Blessings Carolina 

Happiness is at hand !

I am convinced that half of our problems would go away if only we were able to surrender to the beauty of being alive and being loved by God. Yes, let’s pause for breath and think about all the reasons why we can be happy, instead of all the reasons why we think we are unhappy.  If we just took the time to smile and delight in a simple moment of joy, then we would be able to see that it is in the little things that happiness is hiding. It is in the ability to appreciate the everyday things that we start feeling tranquility and joy. 

• Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we, could find happiness in the simple, sweet moments of our lives? 

• Wouldn’t it be great if, like “little ones,” we were able to seek the sweet juice of life without allowing trivial things to get in the way?

• Wouldn’t it be just perfect if we could stop and make an effort, even if for a minute, to detach ourselves from problems and from the monotony of the everyday and aim for the extraordinary? 

Some of us are just never satisfied, always desiring what we do not have, and this is truly sad. If we only could find happiness in the small things that make our lives unique, then happiness would be in our hearts most of the time. We must stop ourselves if we find ourselves complaining about our circumstances. We must try to wake up asking ourselves:

•            Why is it that we are never satisfied with our situation?

• Why is it that once we achieve one of our goals, we immediately ignore what has been achieved and set our eyes on the next thing? 

• What am I grateful for?  

If we are willing to be like “little ones,” then, like them, we will find a million reasons to be happy and a million things worth enjoying. Big moments in our lives fly by, leaving us only memories. But simple, small reasons to be happy are waiting for us every day! If we can learn to find joy in these little things, and use our memories to boost our morale when we need it, to bring a smile to our lips when we feel we just can’t go on, then it will be possible to find ourselves happy most of the time. And isn’t that what everybody wants?

 To be happy is a choice. It is our choice. Nobody can make us happy but ourselves. Nobody can come and inject happiness into us. Happiness is found inside ourselves. It doesn’t matter where you are the type of house you own, the country you live in, the vehicle you drive, the job you have. It doesn’t matter what you have lots of jewelry, a good-looking spouse, great clothes, a pet or any other thing. You will always find yourself with you guessed it yourself![2] What does this mean? It means that unless you learn to find happiness inside yourself, happiness will always be a myth, a desire, but not your reality.

Wisdom to contemplate:

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!”

(Philippians 4:4)

“Happy the people so blessed; happy the people whose God is the LORD.” (Psalm 144:15)

---

[1] For this thought, I am indebted to Anthony Robbins, Awaken the Giant Within (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992).

[2] Anthony Robbins, Awaken the Giant Within.

Let's be little !

Can we go back in time?

Isn’t it a mystery how “little ones” live in a mix between reality and fantasy; never truly sure of what is real? They dream so intensely that when they wake up, they bounce around in joy, trying to replay every detail of their dream. They are convinced that, in fact, they lived through whatever experience they had. These “little ones” are positive that the daydream, vision, illusion or mirage actually happened. I can’t help but wonder: 

• Are these experiences real? 
• Are “little ones” somehow able to actually go to these magical places? 
• Do their imaginary friends really exist? 
• Do angels really come and play with them? 
• Can they see things we don’t? 
• Who are we to say no?

After all, it has been so long since we ourselves were “little ones” that maybe our perceptions have changed. We are so certain of what the limits are that we do not allow room for the unexplained. Our minds quickly disregard our experiences as a dream due to something we ate, or as something for our psychiatrist to explain as coming – because of too much stress.

Our awareness of the extraordinary often fades away as we get older. Maybe because it is then that we start learning about our limits, about what is possible and what is impossible. For the “little ones,” there are no limits to what is possible, only undiscovered frontiers to which they are determined to go. And it is this determination that makes all the difference.

So let’s think for a moment: 

What if “little ones” have a way of entering different “dimensions”? 
What if they are able to experience a multitude of worlds, 
being here and there as they please? 
We should not be afraid of this possibility. After all, are“little ones” fully here yet?

What I mean is that “little ones” are like heavenly beings for whom nothing is impossible. They seem to fluctuate between heaven and earth maybe because when we are little, we have an easier time keeping a strong connection to the heavenly realm and to the unknown dimensions of God’s created universe.

I deeply believe that we should not tuck away the “little one” in us. Why do we have to stop being “little” on the inside? As we grow up, our body changes and ages, we gain knowledge, we become wiser (hopefully!). But the fact that our body and intellect can and will grow does not mean that we must sacrifice the “little one” that we once were. We are all “little ones” deep inside. The problem is that some of us hide that part of us in a deep dark corner and suppress it. Some of us have almost forgotten how to get in touch with that part of ourselves. But we all have been “little” before, so if we allow ourselves to regain contact with the “little one” we once were, we will be free to fully enjoy all the things God intends us to enjoy and to experience all that He has in store for us.

You must be wondering what I mean by “little.” Well, what I mean by “little” is the person, big or small, who:

·   Is keeping alive that side of himself/herself that knows how to trust and love completely…both the people in their lives and God our Father.

·  Does not know ego and does not know how to fake emotions¾what you see is what you get!

·   Is always willing to learn more.

·  Finds joy in simple moments.

·  Is not afraid to love.

·  Is eternally seeking and searching for happiness.

· Is not limited by anything and is not afraid to dream.

If we give value to that side of us, we will have much richer experiences, and we will be able to stay more easily connected to the heavenly realm. We surely will be connected to God our Father by always believing, hoping, enjoying, trusting and allowing ourselves to have a perfect balance between our mind, our body, our heart and our soul a good balance between our humanity and our spirituality. 

When we maintain the connection to our heavenly Father, we can enrich our lives and those of others by shining on them the graces that we receive, sharing the love and the peace that light up our lives. Let’s allow our “littleness” to surface and take over our hearts!

Wisdom to contemplate:

 “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” (Mark 10:14-15)

“Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” (Luke 18:17)