I just started reading Dr. Wayne Dyer's book
Excuses Begone! for the third time. Each time I get more and more out of it and more and more determined not to let excuses get in the way of my becoming the full and complete person I am supposed to be. My Mom died at Easter time with so much left to give, with so much talent still left bottled up inside. She was still so much afraid of life and what she had to give. Dad gave her a necklace for her birthday that said "live, love, laugh" something I think she was learning it was missing from her life and was trying to put that philosophy into her life. She made my sister, Pam, promise to give it to me when she died because she felt that of all her children I was the one missing that philosophy the most. Mom received the necklace in January and died in April, not much time for her to use it. I wore it for a long time, then put it up and only recently got it back out again. It's time for me to use it to the fullest; to "live, love, laugh" to become the person I am supposed to be; to fearlessly live to leave the excuse behind so I don't die afraid of life with all my talents left bottled up inside. This message seems to be coming from all sides, finding the necklace, finding the book, a receptionist who reminded me that I didn't want to die with my talent bottled up inside, to the unexpected death of a friend my age, to the anniversary of my mother's death. Serendipity coming into my life once again.
I edited and will print up this photo to remind me to live life fearlessly, to keep up my current zest for life. The clouds are exploding out from behind the dark trees that had been hiding them and lighting them up on the way. The clouds also remind me of the Pheonix's flames from which I can burst forth reborn. (PLEASE CLICK ON PHOTO TO SEE MESSAGE MORE CLEARLY)
n stops for a few days we get a different kind of mushroom. I've never seen such a variety of mushrooms in all my life. I've said that before and still more and different kinds of mushrooms keep popping up. The newest ones are bright red and seem to match the bright red of the leaves right now. Since my goal and priority for October was to get this blog up and tweeked I have several groups of mushrooms from different rain times that have been sitting around waiting to be edited and organized. I have learned that the blog will always need some tweeking to keep it fresh and interesting but it won't be the drain on me that the start has been. I now know lots more tricks and tips and where to go. I really think I did well in acc
omplishing my goals for October; I posted 27 posts, and my blog sure looks a lot more professional. I'm also learning to toot my own horn and let people know about my blog. My niece JoAnn used to say " You've got to toot your own horn, or someone else will use it as a spittoon." Pretty smart considering she was in her teens whe
n that was her favorite saying. That attitude got her a job as a disc jockey at a local radio station instead of flipping burgers as a teen. Pretty nice. Thus far I have received favorable comments from those who have visited my blog and this has done wonders for me personally. I have learned many things and not just how to take pictures and use a computer. I have grown in courage to try new things, not long ago I would not have had the courage to do this blog. I've overcome a lot of my shyness, I talk to complete strangers (in safe situations of course) and take pictures of them. I pull over to the side of the road to take picture and have even had the police stop and talk to 
me without getting flustered. The setting of my goals for the past couple of months has seen much in my personal growth, especially with sitting down and thinking through my thoughts and putting them into words for the world to read.
lance in my life. I need to balance this blog, MyShutterSpace, and Facebook. They each play a different part in my life on the computer. I need to get out in the world more, as much as my health will allow. I've been asked to do a powerpoint presentation on the 14th with my photography for a special women's night out at church, considering I've never done a powerpoint presentation I've got more learning to do. I also need to do more to increase my health so I've decided since I've been doing so many deep knee bends taking pics of mushrooms I'm probably strong enough to go 
back to swimming at the gym. Something I love to do but have put off. Lots of things have gotten a little off balance and since I have so little strength and energy it doesn't take much to get off-balance. This month's priority is balance; something everyone must apply then reapply again as we go though our lives.
