It’s a gift to have more than one choice available. We live in a world of a myriad of decisions and a multitude of options. You can change your mind or re-select anytime.

That is freedom.

There are war torn victims, refugees without shelter and starving stomachs all over the world. I find myself asking what is it I can do? I have had this concern since I conceptualized it as a young child. Perhaps that is why I am such a worry wart.

In my own luxurious world, I give, grieve and write what I can. It is a both a curse and a blessing to be sensitive, to find significance in the minutest, to have your soul touched by every wail. How does one stave off the haunting images of suffering? I refuse and cannot even if I willed it, put armor or ice around my heart.

My dream of interviewing, researching and annotating human stories via historical events has never gone away. Too late to become Christiane Amanpour. Too green to be Isabelle Allende. I just have to be true blue Cecilia Steger and return to the authentic me, over and over.

This coming year, in 2017, wherein the world is shaking up and down and all around, I will find my voice, I will seek answers, I will report back, I will do what I can to strike a chord in you too. A selfish act. I do not want to be alone in my anguish nor do I want to be isolated.

“This is my country too,” a woman screamed at the electoral college vote yesterday, while those around her chanted, “SHAME” in unison, responding to the outcome. You know how it went down. Right?

Mark Twain has been attributed to remarking,

” History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”

Forecasting the future is a bit like predicting the weather and I see the storm coming. What I do with that early information is prepare, share and warn others. It seems like the most decent thing to do. Doesn’t it?

In the Tibetan Buddhist practices there is a meditation named Tonglen. I know I have posted about it before but it is worth mentioning once again. You breathe in all the pain of the world, and you exhale love, solution and peace. You take in the dark, dusty truth and you send out light. 

There is a profound bliss in returning to your first stifled vocation. There is a certain release I feel in my shoulders.

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”
 – Aldous Huxley

Are the things that happen to you related?

Everything is determined by your actions, values or beliefs which ultimately determine your choices.

What does the underlying pattern of your life look like? What keeps popping up? Is there a flow of learning? Can you connect the dots?

If you ask for help, listen to your higher self, intuition or soul: you will be making the right decisions for you and only you, perhaps.

Leave your ego at the door, as they say and check in with the stuff your best self is made of.

The most powerful thought I can have is to believe in myself.

Is it tangible? No, but it can translate to wonderful successes!

I create the life I was gifted with an attitude of joy and thankfulness.

I release all toxic people, ideas and past events. Instead of I am not worthy, good enough, young enough, talented enough or strong, disciplined, etc. enough….

I say to myself, “Self, guess what? I am a talented, organized and enthusiastic woman who writes, gardens, cooks, paints, learns and teaches well. I am enough. I am worthy. I am gifted and use my talents to bring beauty, order and joy into the world.”

These words are invisible beliefs that can transform my world!

Especially during the holidays, when everyone seems to be rushed, busy and stressed, stay true to your gratitude diary. Few people are caroling around you but you can make the Christmas spirit come alive by jotting down in a journal or an app how much you appreciate; big and small things, inner and outer accomplishments, important and seemingly insignificant circumstances, friends and moments.

All you need to do is write a gratitude list. Write 5 things you are grateful for, everyday. It immediately adjusts your perspective. Do it for the next 10 days till Christmas and you won’t believe how quickly it can change your happy meter. You will want to make it a daily habit and continue it into 2017.

It can be about anything.

I am grateful for this new day. It is a blank slate. I can ingest, digest and share love and self care today.

I am grateful I don’t have a “fixed” schedule, per se and can follow my own timetable.

I am grateful for the awesome view from my bed, outside the balcony.

I am grateful for our newer, beachy, whitewashed floors that feel so good on my feet and are so easy to clean.

I am so grateful for my blog my son gifted me (back in Dec 24th of 2011) so I can just write whatever, any way I want to.

“I’m going to make everything around me more beautiful. That will be my life.”

– Elise de Wolfe, a famous designer/decorator

“Don’t wait for someone to bring you flowers. Plant your own garden and decorate your soul.” 

-Mario Quintana

“…in demanding attention from someone else, you are giving away pieces of yourself that are too valuable to lose.” – Iyanla Vanzant

“Authentic self listens to the ‘voice’ which supplies all the imagination. – me

“It’s in the grey area extremes and lows where light and dark become whole.” – me