"For God does speak—now one way, now another--
though no one perceives it. In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds."
 ---Job 33:14-15 
 
As I continue to focus on my fourth quarter review it has been helpful for me to go over the topics I listed in last week’s posting to be assured that I am practicing what I am encouraging others to do. The topic Dream Work immediately caught my attention. I remembered a significant dream I had the previous week that I had failed to write down in my journal. I often encourage our grandkids to jot down their dreams and then we can work on understanding them together. I was disappointed I was remiss in noting and interpreting this dream of mine.
 
Following is what I would consider a very significant dream. “My wife and I stopped over to visit my mother at her house. (My mother has been deceased for fourteen years.) I was so happy to see her. She looked terrific and had prepared several desserts for us. She opened the refrigerator and there was nothing but desserts in it. When it was time to leave, I felt sad that we had to leave and at the same time, I was very happy that we had taken the time to visit her”.
 
I use several books along with the website dreambible.com to look up the symbols in dreams. The following are the symbols I deemed important in that dream and the interpretation of them.
 
Mother. Anything your mother says in a dream sheds light on what awareness or intuition is guiding you toward in your life.
Refrigerator. The continuation of goals, plans or situation. Restarting something.
 
Desserts. Indulging in celebrating your success. Something worthwhile is happening.
 
I will be very brief with my interpretation of the message I got from the symbols and also the confirmation I received. My mother knew how I always would be so enthusiastic about my goals in life. She was encouraging me to pursue my goals, was preparing me for something worthwhile that was getting ready to happen and that I would celebrate my success.
 
The week following this dream I felt very enthusiastic about keeping my focus on  my goal of lighting one candle at a time. I did not want to let this become a “numbers game.” I have always envisioned inspiring others to live a positive life of their dreams. It has just become very motivating to me to realize that touching just one person is an amazing miracle. Then out of blue I started receiving personal letters confirming the connection my blog is having with readers. The following correspondence touched me at a soul level and is a condensed version of that “testimony.”
 
“I wanted to let you know how inspiring your last blog about the “Fourth Quarter Review” was. After I created my dream board back in January, I tried to create the things I wanted, Then I read your post and I sat down and took a good look at my board and really focused on it. That’s when I realized that I’ve been creating more of those things than I thought. For example last month I started exercising (again), but this time I really created a routine. In a short period of time I’ve noticed my strength and stamina are increasing. (For me this is huge!) You’ve inspired me to finish strong this quarter and that’s what I intend to do. I am also considering what I want to accomplish for 2020. Thanks for all of the positive advice-keep posting.”
 
I truly believe we continue to connect with our loved ones that have passed. They are cheering us on to the finish line and want us to achieve our goals and dreams in life. This was definitely confirmed to me by what happened following the dream I had.
 
It has been my experience that having a notebook and pen on your nightstand is key to jotting down the symbols of your dream as soon as you wake up. Once you get up and start doing other things it is easy to forget about important parts of the dream. This week you may want to take positive action and get that notebook!

Bad news travels at the speed of light; good news travels like molasses.
                                                                                                ---Tracy Morgan


I  overheard a conversation in the grocery store about the terrible things happening all around the country. I thought to myself how amazing it is that they missed some of the good news that is out there! Just this week there were several uplifting articles in the newspaper. Ironically the positive news is not headlined. However, it is there, usually not quite as obvious as I think it could be! I typically find “good news” because I urgently search to balance the constant deluge of bad news that dominates broadcasts and social media.

                                                    Good News

·        Unemployment rate fell again reaching a record low of 3.4%. At the same time the construction industry employed 303,000 more workers nationally compared to 2017.
 
·        America has a massive truck driver shortage. About 51,000 more drivers are needed to meet the demand of Amazon and Walmart. Efforts are being made to allow 18-year-olds to drive trucks across the country. Great salaries will be offered for entry level young people. 
 
·        Wall Street closed higher again this past week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at an all-time high.
 
·        The US economy logged its best performance in nearly 4 years. Output expanded 3.2 % in the first half of 2018.
 
·        A friend called to let me know about the positive message etched on the glass bathroom door at the hotel in which he is staying. The following message covered the full length of the door: Have a Great Day! Be Grateful
 
·        Food and Wine magazine surveyed supermarkets that it considers “regional gems.” Dorignac’s, a local supermarket in our area, is listed as a “supermarket hero” and is listed in the top 10 in the country.

The last two items may seem somewhat trivial but in my way of thinking they reinforce the point that great things are happening all around us, but one dose of the evening news can destroy anything positive and refocus our thoughts and outlook in a very negative way.
​
There are many other life-changing positive things happening around the country. I would like to offer encouragement to my readers to share in my comment section one positive thing that is happening in your area of the county. You will be helping good news travel like the flow of fine wine instead of traveling like molasses.

Your most precious, valued possessions and your greatest powers are invisible and intangible. No one can take them. You, and you alone, can give them. You will receive abundance for your giving.
                                                                                      .---Clement Stone


 
We are living in a time of abundance much greater than our parents or grandparents could have ever imagined. I can understand their fear of letting go of any material possession because they did not have the resources to replace anything. Today we have so much “stuff” many people are renting storage units to hold on to possessions that they are not using. The current self-storage industry statistics that the annual industry revenue is $38 billion and there are 50,000 units in the country.
 
In addition to storage units many families never park their car in their garage because it is filled with “stuff” they may need. I was amazed by a  family who had most of their 4-car garage filled with possessions their married children were not using. On an emotional level  this is holding on to the past. On a physical level this keeps our daily environment cluttered. It is blocking energy of both emotional and financial abundance.
 
In the book Feng Shui Your Life by Jayme Barrett she states the following:
“Cleaning clutter and cleansing space are the first steps in creating awesome energy within yourself and your surroundings. Just as an artist paints a masterpiece on a fresh canvas, a clean environment is essential for you to implement Feng Shui effectively. If you start with a clean slate, your dreams and goals will manifest much faster and easier.”
 
My wife should have a master’s degree on clearing out clutter to allow the flow of new energy to come into our home. There is a bag in our office in which we discard the things that are not being used.  When it gets filled we bring it to one of the Habitat for Humanity donation bins set up in various locations near our home. Recently she reminded me that some of the shirts I was wearing were getting frayed around the collar. There were other shirts I just never wore. I threw away the old ones and put the good ones in the “recycle” bag.
 
A  few days later we went to the department store and sport shirts were marked down 50% . I decided to purchase two of them to replace the ones I gave away. When I paid  the cashier, she said that for today only   they were giving an additional 50% off the 50% marked down price. I love a bargain! As insignificant as this experience may seem it reinforced the principle that holding on to things only blocks attracting new things into our lives. 
 
You may want to start at a slow pace by looking at the clothes you have in your closet that you have not worn this year. Gradually remove them, put them in a storage bag, then at the end of the week drop them off to a charitable donation center. The next step would be to look into those hidden spaces where unused things are stored such as  the attic, garage or storage units. Decide on one thing at a time that you want to give away. The positive energy flow that can occur when we make even the smallest effort is worth it. It opens the doors to new abundance.

“A small house can hold as much happiness as a big one.” This was the message our nephew recently got from a fortune cookie. It was timely that he shared this message because I had just experienced a powerful confirmation of this truth.
 
Our good friend’s 94-year-old mother passed on July 3. The funeral was last Saturday, and interment was out of town. This made it necessary to schedule the celebration of life gathering on Sunday at her house. It was the family home in which she and her husband raised their four children. They were married 60 years when he passed 12 years prior to her passing. Their tradition was to have the entire family there on Sundays for lunch. That tradition continued until 3 months before her passing. The house is 850 sq. ft. with one bath. It was all they needed!
 
The size of the family has grown from 4 to 40+: four children and their spouses, eight grandchildren and the spouses of those married, and 24 great grandchildren. A larger facility was considered for the gathering considering the numbers, but they all unanimously decided it had to be in the house in which so many great memories were created.
 
My wife and I were blessed because of our lifelong friendship with her son to participate in this event. There was certainly a sadness in their loss but also so much joy in sharing the “MGILY” stories that have impacted their lives. We just learned how she decided on that acronym as the name she chose as her grandparent name. Fr. Seelos always put those initials on the top of all his correspondence. When she saw that on his letters in visiting his shrine, she learned it meant “My God I Love You.” And she knew that said it all for the precious relationships with her grandchildren. She truly was such a positive inspirational person and she did indeed have a tremendous impact on the lives of her family. Her “way of living” will influence many generations. The following are just a few thoughts written by her grandchildren about her impact on them:
 
·         “She always had a smile, never a negative word said about anything or       anyone.”
 
·         “She enjoyed sitting on her swing under the big oak trees and always thanked Jesus for sending a breeze.” (Ironically on the hot July day of the gathering at her house a cool breeze came through now and again as we sat outside to eat.)
 
·         “I don’t think a day ever passed without her helping someone or praying  for those in need.”
 
·         “Nursing was her calling in life and it was a beautiful way for her to be of service to others.”
 
·         “She was a woman who lived her life serving God by serving anyone who needed help.”
 
·         “I would say she is the only person who resembles a Living Saint.”
 
·         “What wisdom in her statement! It takes two to fight and she refused to be the second party.”
 
·         “Those whom she nursed back to health said, ‘They were touched by an angel,’ an angel whom I had the pleasure to call my grandmother.”
 
Many years ago, we took a road trip with Vivian and her son. Every time we got into the car she would say a prayer “Matthew, Mark, Luke and John bless the wheels we’re rolling on.”  We are still influenced to say that prayer every time we get into the car. Our grandchildren have said this prayer with us since they were toddlers. Our grandson came home from school this past year and said he got extra points on his third-grade religion test because he knew the author of the four gospels:  Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  He told his teacher he knew that because that was the prayer we say every time we get into the car.
 
Yes, all this wisdom came to so many from a person living a very modest lifestyle. An ordinary person who truly lived and loved in a very extraordinary way. Adjectives such as positive, lifegiving, uplifting, grace-filled only touch the tip of all that was Vivian. MGILY’S energy and spirit was contagious and has influenced many beyond her immediate family. She has left the world a better place for all of us to enjoy.
 
 
 

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…It’s about learning to dance in the rain”.
                                                                                                                     Vivian Green
 
If I do not practice what I teach during the storms of life my message has no value to others. In the last few months I have not posted anything on my blog. I keep telling myself if I am not experiencing anything but challenges who would want to read about that?
 
Despite what has been happening I have practiced daily meditation and journaling. I have written down positive affirmations even though they were contrary to my feelings and what I was experiencing.
 
I have also continued to read the many positive blog postings to which I subscribe to and have reduced my TV news watching to one 30-minute broadcast. I replied to one of the blogs by saying I am embarrassed to say who I am because I am working so hard to remain positive during these difficult times. The reply I received really touched me and encouraged me to write a posting today. That remark, “Part of being authentically positive is acknowledging our other emotions and dips in energy too,” motivated me.
 
Now let me back track to the series of events of the last few months.

• In January our washer and dryer had to be replaced. Then the floodgates opened.

 
·        A visit to the dentist for my semiannual cleaning revealed a major filling was loose and the tooth would require a crown.
 
·        My battery went out on our car.
 
·        My piriformis muscle went into severe spasms requiring multiple Chiropractic and physical therapy treatments.
 
·        My wife developed severe cellulitis from a scrape on her elbow and had to be hospitalized for three days.
 
·        Several months ago, the airline had a one-day sale on airline tickets. I purchased tickets to travel to visit our friends in Tampa. Because of my wife’s situation and my back pain the flight had to be cancelled. (Hopefully we can reschedule the trip later.)
 
·        While at the shopping center the band broke on my gold watch that I
received at retirement.  It fell on the floor and broke in several pieces.
 
·        Less significant but still inconvenient, our toaster started toasting the bread only on one side. It needed to be replaced.
 
·        Then came the “biggies.” Within three weeks my iPhone, iPad and home computer stopped working and needed to be replaced.
 
Though it may be minor this next event was the last straw. The weather was beautiful this week, so I decided to cook our lunch on the grill. I lit the grill and proceeded to prepare our meal. Twenty minutes later I went back to check the meat on the grill and discovered there was no flame and no heat. The burners would not light. This triggered my breaking point. I told my wife “I just do not know how much the human spirit can take.”
 
My wife quietly brought the food inside and started cooking it on the range top and oven. She looked at me and burst out laughing! We both just laughed hysterically! That was the beginning of letting it all go. It was within a few days that I received that reply and I could write again!
 
One of the tools I have shared with many people over the years is the value of having a Prosperity Budget. After personally working through these trying events, I can assure you it is an invaluable tool that eases resolving unexpected expenses.