Discover Yourself: What is your philosophy of life after death?

Years ago, I gathered up hundreds of journal prompts and put them on labels and into a cute little box for my "Discovery Journal Prompts". I would then, put my hand into the box and pull out a label at random and that would be the perfect prompt for me for that particular day. Great plans, right???


I haven't done a thing with them since...until now! Welcome to my Discovery Journal Prompt! If you'd like a badge to put on your page, please go here.

Here's today's...

What is your philosophy of life after death?

Okay, a deeeeep subject this week.  Interesting that today is my birthday and were looking at life after death on a day that I am celebrating my life.

The answer to this question is so subjective and I think there must be as many answers to this question as there are people on Earth.  I, myself, have believed a few things in my life--depending on which religious faith I was following at the time.

At this point in my life, I am not following a particular religious doctrine because there is not one that I have found that seems to teach what I believe about spiritualism.  I believed that after death people are reincarnated on the Earth again to live another life.  I have believed that we go to Heaven after we die and that we live a perfect life after we pass on--if we lived a "good" life on Earth.  If we did not life a "good" life then we go to Hell for all eternity.  I absolutely do NOT believe that any longer!!!  I actually do not believe in "Heaven" or "Hell" as I was taught when I was younger.  I do not believe in "Hell" at all.  I do believe in a form of `Heaven` but only on this plain of existence, not in the hereafter--it`s what you make of your life here on Earth that determines who you live; in `Heaven` or someplace darker.

I think there is a part of me that still believes in reincarnation to some degree.  I like the thought of us being "humans having a spiritual existence" and that each time we come to Earth we learn more an more about true spiritualism (whatever that is--wink).  I like the idea that if we live a completely unconscious existence on Earth and are about victimhood then we live a very unhappy life and we get a chance to have a "redo" and get it more right. 

I do believe there is something after we pass, that Earth is not all there is, but the fact is I don't have a true belief in what really happens.

I can tell you the one experience I had when my father passed away and how close I felt to him after he passed away.  I felt him with me while I was grieving--not in human or ghost form, just his presence near me.  I talked to him a lot and felt (didn't hear) him talking back to me.  I can still feel him with me when I think of him and call him to mind, `what would dad think of this?`

The last religious philosophy that I followed teaches that we all return to the Universal Energy that everything is created from.  That's probably the closest to what I believe happens--that explains to me how my father was so close to me, he was all around me and he was me to some extent.  If that makes sense to anyone I'm not sure but it does to me.

Have a great week!!

Discover Yourself - How, when, and where did you learn to drive?

Years ago, I gathered up hundreds of journal prompts and put them on labels and into a cute little box for my "Discovery Journal Prompts". I would then, put my hand into the box and pull out a label at random and that would be the perfect prompt for me for that particular day. Great plans, right???

I haven't done a thing with them since...until now! Welcome to my Discovery Journal Prompt! If you'd like a badge to put on your page, please go here.

Here's today's...

How, when, and where did you learn to drive?

Even though this is not a really "deep" or internal subject, I was delighted when this prompt came up because my learning to drive is, what I think, a funny story.

We have a cottage property about 2.5 hours southwest of the city I live in and we spent every weekend and any holiday there from May to October every year when I was growing up.  We started going there when I was about 6 or 7 and so a lot of my history happened there.  One of the major things was my learning to drive.

Like most people, I am a people watcher and I learn a lot by watching what other people do--either to do what they are doing or not.  I used to love to watch my father drive from the backseat where us kids would be sitting.  And my father was a good driver.  I could hardly wait until I could learn to drive.  I am the youngest of three children, two older boys, and I'm the youngest by 5 years so it seemed like an eternity until "my" turn came.

So...I decided not to wait until I was 16 and one day when I was 14 and my parents were out for their daily walk after supper, a friend and I decided to take the car out for a drive.  Now, our cottage is on a road with a base of shale so it's very slippery and gravel is added on top.  When the gravel is new the pebbles disperse under feet and tires pretty easily and our cottage property is on the bottom of a VERY steep hill...

Well...Jay and I jumped in the car, she would drive down the hill and turn around and I would drive back up and we'd park the car and no one would know the difference, right?  The plan was working fine until I started to go uphill and found the tires spinning, and spinning, and smoke coming from the back of the car, and the car felt like it was just going closer to the ditch and I was getting scared, and then I looked up at the top of the hill and there were my parents, walking down...

Busted!  I turned the car off where it was and started walking up the hill with my head bent down knowing I was in deep, deep trouble--and deserved it.  My father walked passed me and said "wait in the cabin".  Jay and I went to the cabin with my mom and we sat there waiting for my father to come in and give the punishment--whatever that would be.  When he finally came in, he sat down and looked at us and asked what happened?  I told him how I thought I'd be able to drive the car and I didn't mean to cause any trouble and how sorry I was.  Well...then he surprised the heck out of me and asked, "how do you think you did?"

I shakily answered, "fine, until I got stuck".  And my dad laughed and that's when I found out about car gears and new gravel.  My parents must have talked after that because they decided that I should learn how to drive properly and both of them would take turns taking me on the old farmers roads in the area of our cottage property to show me how to drive.  And they taught me how to drive up steep hills with fresh gravel.  I am really grateful for them for letting me learn so early. 

At 16, I got my learner's permit with my first attempt, although I missed some items and was in the "grey zone" where I could have passed or failed, the driving instructor told me I was a strong driver and could tell I was just nervous.

I haven't stopped driving since.  Driving to me is one place I feel the freest, especially on the highway.  I have a sense of control, and know I am a very, very good driver in many different road conditions.  I've had my share of accidents, and speeding tickets (okay, I do love to drive fast too), but it's been over 20 years since either of those has happened, thankfully.

Thanks for reading!!
C.

Discover Yourself - What are the things you love and admire most about your mother?

Years ago, I gathered up hundreds of journal prompts and put them on labels and into a cute little box for my "Discovery Journal Prompts". I would then, put my hand into the box and pull out a label at random and that would be the perfect prompt for me for that particular day. Great plans, right???

I haven't done a thing with them since...until now! Welcome to my Discovery Journal Prompt!  If you'd like a badge to put on your page, please go here

Here's today's...

What are the things you love and admire most about your mother?

Ahh, mothers.  The women we are most attached to and yet, can push our buttons like no other person on the planet.  Today, though, I only want to focus on the positive side of this relationship--sometimes it's just too easy to forget how much we love and admire our mother's as venting about them (or anyone else for that matter) is so "normal" in today's society.

My mother, Rose, IS someone I truly, truly love and admire.  She has overcome personal struggles and let-downs and even with advancing age, remains vital and an important part of our family and the community she lives in.

One of the reasons my mother remains so vital is that she is tenacious (I had to look up a synonym for stubborn because it isn't always bad--wink).  Once my mother sets her mind to something, there is virtually nothing that can disuade her.  This, I beleive, has served her very well.  A few years ago, she had knee replacement and she was home and mobile by herself within 2 weeks after the surgery.  She stayed in the hospital for one week, with me for one week and then refused to stay any longer--she just wanted to be home.  My brother's and I tried as hard as we could to keep her here--she lives 2.5 hours away from us--but she was determined.  And, she did great.  Totally floored us and had us eating our words that she wasn't ready to take care of herself.

One of the other things I admire so much about my mother is how involved she is in her community.  When I was growing up, both her and my father were very much involved with the Boy Scouts of Canada--they started when I was a toddler when both my brother's were involved and they both contributed to this organization for well over 35 years.  They had their own Boy Scouts "troops" that they ran each week as well, they trained regionally other leaders, my mother wrote some of the training material--she's published!  When they moved to the town they live in now--after their retirement in 1992--they brought life to a failing Boy Scouts area.  Both were still involved to some degree with the provincial groups until my father passed almost 8 years ago.  An interesting side note, at my father's funeral, it was very cheering for us children to see the honor Boy Scouts provided my father by the number of people who wore their Boy Scouts uniforms to his funeral.

My mother is no longer involved in Boy Scouts, but she is very involved in her community in other ways--she is on the board of the Healthy Community in her town, she is on the board of TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), she is on the board of the Communities in Bloom.  She also writes at least 2 newsletters that I can think of--the sorority she belongs to and one other place that I can't think of what it is now.  All this and she volunteers at the local library 2 afternoons a week sorting and shelving their books, a one hour walk every morning with  her dog, coffee chats with the ladies in the morning, singing at the Personal Care Home Monday mornings, and...I think that may be it--but that is a whole LOT!  My mother is 78 years old--and I know that one of the reasons she remains so vital mentally and physically is because of how involved she is in so many areas.

Add to all of this (and I'm sure I've missed a lot--all of the above was just off the top of my head) I can tell you that my mother is very generous, she has a very warm heart, a ready smile on her face, and she's cute as a button!!

I'm sure you can sense my obvious pride in my mother and how much I truly love her.  She has been a stable force in my life and I am so very, very glad she is my mother.



We are not born at once, but by bits.  The body first, and the spirit later.  Our mothers have the pain of our physical birth; we ourselves suffer the longer pains of our spiritual growth.  - Mary Antin

Discover Yourself - What would you do if you had wings?

Well, it's been a long, long time since I began the idea of Discover Yourself and I did it only for a few weeks and then got caught up in other things (read procrastinated).  With the beginning of the new year, I am starting it up again.  If you'd like to learn more about it and have a badge to put on your blog, here's the first post.

On Monday's I will post a  new question that will hopefully help me gain some new discovery of myself.  Anyone is invited to share along if they wish.

This week's question, What would you do if you had wings?

When I first saw this question, I loved it.  Just the idea of being able to soar about in the sky like birds do.  Wouldn't that be just one of the coolest things every???

I think about the movie, Michael, with John Travolta--not the fact that he was so messy, but how the wings looked and moved about on their own, as if they had an itch or a twitch.  Also, the TV show Saving Grace, which is, unfortunately, no longer on TV--Earl the angel was pretty cool with how his wings lifted up and the light shown down on him when he was ready to take flight.

If I had wings, I'd be able to fly to work, it would take me much less time than driving--although I'm only a 5 minute drive from home right now--but there's still stop signs with traffice held up and some days I would love to be able to fly right over it.  Patience, while driving, is not one of my strong suits.  I love to drive, but on the highway is the best.  But, if I had wings, I could fly out into the country to visit my mother or my cousin or other scenery around me in the Province I live in.  I might even be able to fly to Cape Breton and see it again.

I have a quote on my desk that is about spreading our W.I.N.G.S and I think it's appropriate here...

All success begins with spreading your W.I.N.G.S.

--believing in your worth,

trusting your insight,

nurturing yourself,

having goals,

and devising your

personal strategy.

- Unknown

I like this quote too...

Compared to the age of the Universe,

you are new to Nature.

No one can really predict to

what heights you might soar.

Even you will not know until

you spread your wings.

- Gil Atkinson

 

Discover Yourself #3

This week's Discover Yourself prompt is:

What I learned from my parents about money is...

Ahhh!  Life is very interesting...money/finances has been a huge focus of my life lately as I have been struggling, so that this question came up is VERY interesting!

My parents were both raised in "the Depression" my father, born in the late 1920's and my mother the early 30's--I grew up with lots of stories about how tough it was for my parent's families.  For example, mother's story - going to a movie cost a nickel and that nickel was hard to come by so when my mother was able to go to a movie it was such treat for her that she had to live on those memories for a long time.

For my father, life was also tough, he talked about being given a dime and having to go to the store to buy his mother cigarettes.  He also talked a lot about how he had to bike everywhere--his stories seemed to indicate he loved that though.  He would ride his bike to Lake Winnipeg (an hour's car drive at today's speeds) or other places in the country side--he would sleep in farmer's fields if he got tired.  Another great story that my father had that would have us kids rolling our eyes was how he had to walk five miles to school, barefoot, in the snow, uphill, both ways!!!  ;o)

When I was growing up we did not have a lot of money, my mother went to work out of necessity when I was in grade one and that was a hard adjustment for the family as she had been home all of the time before that--my oldest brother who was 14 at the time became the surrogate parent and he was a tough task master (but I digress...). 

Just about every meal we had was based around ground beef--to this day, I am not a fan and very rarely cook with it unless it's extra lean and there's lots of seasoning (meat loaf), or sauce (spaghetti sauce).  We also NEVER had real milk in the house--it was too expensive--we had powdered skim milk (yuck) but none of us kids would drink it.  I was not given breakfast during the week--I don't know why.  In fact, I didn't realize that not having breakfast was abnormal until I was in my 20's and was talking to a therapist about something and that came up.  She was appalled that I was sent off to school without breakfast and had to find my own lunch often too.  I asked one of my brother's about it and he also, at almost 30, didn't realize that there was anything wrong with not having breakfasts provided as a child.  Now, of course, I realize that was one of the reasons I had trouble in school.  I remember leaning my stomach into my desk at school, to stop the hunger pains, before lunch just about every day.

We were not able to purchase a lot of "back to school" stuff--well...certainly not the "cool" clothes because they cost too much.  So, instead of Wrangler's I got Jack Spratt's and instead of Nike's I got some other no name brand.  At the time I was very hurt because I wanted to "fit in" with everyone else. 

My mother, however, always seemed to find the money to purchase what she wanted--she would take me on these shopping trips but not buy me anything and if I whined about that I was told I was ungrateful.  She would hid the purchases from my father.  This was a hard memory.

Now...after all is said and done, we did not starve, we were well provided for, adn we were loved, had a LOT of fun--we just didn't have enough for the "extras" or luxuries in life.  An "aha" moment--because of my spending habits I still don't have room for the "extra"s or luxuries in life--hmmm.

Once my financial challenge has been worked through I AM starting to save a bit of money each payday for the passionate things I am working on in my life.  I am also going to start a "debt snowball" by starting to pay off my lowest dollar amount debts and then using that money to move up to the next dollar amount, etc. etc.

Thanks for listening as always!

Discovery Journal Prompt - Discover Yourself

This week's Discover Yourself prompt is:

Did you go to your high school prom?  Why or why not?  Any special memories?

I actually didn't attend my high school prom.  I graduated in 1983 (Yes, 27! years ago!) and, at the time, I spent all of my time with my high school sweetheart who was two years older than me.  And we had gone to his prom in 1981.  Below is a picture of me before he picked me up for his prom.  Can you believe this???  It sure takes me back...

And here's my "cap and gown" picture from 1983...

When I graduated, I was very proud of myself, as I had some emotional struggles in grade 11 was not able to attend school.  I took correspondence courses to keep up with my graduating class, however and made it back to my high school in the last semester of grade 12 and graduated with the rest of the students I had started school with in elementary school 11 years before. 

Nice to remember these "simpler" times...

Thanks!

C.

Discovery Journal Prompt - August 17, 2010

This week's Discovery Journal Prompt is...What was your favourite fairy tale or bedtime story as a child?  Why?

I really had to think of this, there were so many books as a child that I read or were read to me.  I remember the "classics" - Sleeping Beauty, The Princess and the Pea (which I didn't understand--and still don't), Cinderella, etc.  I don't have any memory of loving any of those, but I do remember loving Dr. Seuss books--The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, etc.  I loved the pictures in the books and the thought of green eggs and ham just made me laugh out loud!  Dr. Seuss had a way of really appealing to a child's imagination that was incomparable back in the mid-1960's.

Thinking of my childhood and "favorites", also helped me to remember my favorite song.  I used to ask my dad to sing it to me all the time when I was in the bathtub--where I thought it was most "appropriate".  The song is "There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea".

I don't know if this is something that everyone knows or not but here's some of the lyrics:

There's a hole in the bottom of the sea, there's a hole in the bottom of the sea, there's a hole, there's a hole, there's a hole on the bottom of the sea.

There's a log on the hole on the bottom of the sea, there's a log on the hole, on the bottom of the sea, there's a hole, there's a hole, there's a hole on the bottom of the sea.

And it continues adding things...

There's a bump on the log on the hole of the bottom of the sea...
There's a frog on the bump on the log...
There's a wart on the frog on the bump on the log...
There's a flea on the wart on the frog on the bump on the log...

Here's a link to a video of the song that I found on YouTube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60NzLdjrbFI

I think I used to beg for that song just about every time I had a bath--it's one of my favorite memories with my dad as a child.  My dad had a great ability to make me laugh and I loved that so much about him. 

It's especially nice to remember those times as he passed from this plain about 7 and a half years ago.  I still miss him very much!

Thanks for reading...

C.

Discovery Journal Prompt - Discover Yourself

Years ago, I gathered up hundreds of journal prompts and put them on labels and into a cute little box for my "Discovery Journal Prompts". I would then, put my hand into the box and pull out a label at random and that would be the perfect prompt for me for that particular day. Great plans, right??? 

I haven't done a thing with them since...until today! Welcome to my Discovery Journal Prompt debut!

These are not necessarily emotionally hard prompts to answer, they're more journal prompts to get you to go inside and think about yourself--memories, wants, whatever.  Not sure how  many are going to follow along, but you're more than welcome, if you wish.  My intention is to do one prompt each Monday.

Here's today's...

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. - Helen Keller

What closed door do you keep staring at?

My first thought was "sh**t, why did I have to pick that one!!!" But...it is a recurring theme in my life. I know that I am doing or keeping things in my life that are not supportive of my BEST SELF, so...grab the bull by the horns and let's discuss.

So...even more interesting...I had written a lot about the closed door of love but, when I read back over all that I had written, what came to me is not that I keep looking at the "love" door that has closed but...that I keep looking at the closed door of my PAST and not looking enough towards my open door of happiness that is my future or, better yet, my present time!!! How's that for a breakthrough???

I tried to keep the words that I had written but do a cross out text on them but as I was working on that, I accidentally deleted them...so...that also says to me, that I need to let go of the story of my past--and quit claiming it as mine. I do not wish to be the story or stories of my past any longer. I'm done with it!!!

Imagine girl jumping up and down, raising her arms in triumph to the ceiling (raising the ceiling). Yay!!!

C.

If you wish to put the beautiful "Discover Yourself" button your blog, please feel free to do so.  Here's the coding/button: 

<a href="http://ceannesbestlife.blogspot.com/2010/07/discovery-journal-prompt-july-26-2010.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEM1qqKzc2h68WUxVP0c3uw3vFe20mUqOD2t_hpFUJGjSHb0CdR6D5ufzkT59my3HRE3kTCP0p0IbidHDLll0oU5dkY00cSLoRO-T56ghYzwcg6KQfuv9AN_aJmnVJe5oTzSBbfzE7IBg/s1600/Discover+Yourself.bmp" width="150"></a>

And thanks!!