You Are The Sunshine Of My Life

YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE
by Stevie Wonder (1973)

You are the sunshine of my life

That's why I'll always be around,

You are the apple of my eye,

Forever you'll stay in my heart



I feel like this is the beginning,

Though I've loved you for a million years,

And if I thought our love was ending,

I'd find myself drowning in my own tears



You are the sunshine of my life,

That's why I'll always stay around,

You are the apple of my eye,

Forever you'll stay in my heart



You must have known that I was lonely,

Because you came to my rescue,

And I know that this must be heaven,

How could so much love be inside of you?



You are the sunshine of my life, yeah,

That's why I'll always stay around,

You are the apple of my eye,

Forever you'll stay in my heart



Love has joined us,

Love has joined us,

Let's think sweet love

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Think of what we have and NOT of what we don't have...

Have a Great Christmas!

I Am Letting Go Of Worries

"There is nothing that wastes the body like worry,

and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed
to worry about anything whatsoever."
-Mahatma Gandhi-

I have wasted too many hours of too many days worrying about bills and bank account balances, time and deadlines, teenage kids, sleep, stress, work... about the future and life itself. But then I realized that worrying about whatever difficulty I faced never got me anywhere.

And so, I decided to unwind the nerves in my mind, took a deep breath and let it all go. I quietly reminded myself that everything will be okay. I also resolved that--

If I catch myself worrying again about something that doesn't matter, I will just STOP worrying about it.

If I catch myself worrying about something that DOES matter, I will stop worrying about it -- and START TRYING to fix it.

After all, I deserve a life where, even if some people are insensitive and unkind, I am not going to mind because the blessings in my life far, far outweigh the burdens.

I will never again let a single thing rain on my parade.

Think of what we have and NOT of what we don't have...

Have a Great Christmas!

Life's Magical Moments

The truly magical moments in life
are those special times that seem to happen
when we least expect them, but need them the most.
If you are willing to let positive things
randomly occur in your life,
unique situations will happen
precisely when the time is right.

Call it destiny... or fate...
or anything else you want to name it --
that's the magic I am talking about.
It's those "out of the blue" moments,
like falling helplessly in love
when you vowed never to again,
getting a second chance
when you've already had three,
or finding out someone cares about you
the way you care about them.

Life's magic is everywhere.
You just have to open your eyes a little wider
and take a closer look at the world around you.
Don't worry about where you have been.
Give your smile away to the people you meet
and watch your future unfold
filled with dreams of where you are going.


By: Deanna Beisser,
Author of "What Tomorrow Will Bring"

Think of what we have and NOT of what we don't have...

Have a Great Christmas!

Embracing Sunshine's Warmth This Christmas

It used to be that there were 5 periods in a year (after January 25, 2005) when I fell into deep depression... no matter how I tried to fight it, it just sent me spiraling down without warning. Fortunately, I have learned how to bounce back easily through the years. Awareness has made me more conscious of and in touch with my emotions. I don't allow myself to go through dark periods anymore if and when I can help it.

Christmas was one of those periods.

Not this time though. Christmas this year will be bright and sunny for me.

The sun that's shining in my life now is brighter than anything I have known. Its warm rays touched my life like no other... So warm and so bright that I can hear the Christmas carols and appreciate the little light bulbs that adorn the trees AGAIN.

As one song goes, "endings are beginnings of beautiful things." But life never really stopped being beautiful, did it? I am so glad I can see its beauty once more... and that's because the sun's glow proved too bright to ignore.

Sunshine on Christmas... I can't wait.

Think of what we have and NOT of what we don't have...

Have a Great Christmas!

The Butterfly Story ~ A Lesson In Life... A Christmas Message

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it had and it could go no further.

Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. And we could never fly.

This story has been retold so many times. But since it is Christmas season already, it pays to remind everyone that the only way to live a truly meaningful and satisfying life is by learning how to count your blessings despite the hardships, adversities and struggles that you are going through. Remember, no one is spared from them.

"I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet."

It is all a matter of attitude (the right one at that).

"If you concentrate on finding what is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul."

By looking at your challenges as blessings in disguise, you get to act positively and more objectively. However, if you continue to dwell on the hard knocks, wallow in self-pity and get on the blame game, not only would you NOT be able to get your act together but you will also end up with long-term deleterious effects on your mind and body.

So when the going gets rough, remember (and never forget!) that you are made of tougher stuff that can keep you going.

Think of what we have and NOT of what we don't have...

Have a Great Christmas!