Good Morning!  I want to thank everyone who not only shared your "connected" comments but also to everyone who is taking the time and reading these blogs.  I look forward to everyone's comments and appreciate your kind words.  I want every one to remember that my one and only intent with these blogs is to SHARE all of our views.  I know I sound like a broken record sometimes.....but here it goes again.  We can make someone's crappy day turn into a okay or even great day if we share our insights and let people know that we all have those days.......I want to find out if each of you will be okay when I get a great feedback from one of your comments to share these.....They may create a huge shift in someone's life which can help them enjoy their journey more so.  I will ask permission from you before I share......Have a great weekend and Peace!  Also, I hope you all enjoy the following "connected" moments....Please share them with whomever you feel is having a "moment".  Love you!

1      1st  Post     Hey Sandi... I really enjoy your blogs, first of all. Your how I stay connected has stuck with me and I am glad you put out a reminder. I have two things... I often pray, especially for patience and wisdom to do well. The thing that I really do when I am just having one of those everything sucks kind of days is take a good hard look at all of the things I have to be thankful for. I know how lucky I am to have a home, food, a good husband, healthy and smart kids, a job, etc

2)        2nd Post    How I stay connected.  This was a definite soul searcher!!!! When I get myself in frenzy or just feel it coming on I definitely tell myself to SLOW DOWN... I reach for my prayer book and take the time to read them... I now try to look at the problem and say does it really matter or am I overlooking it.... I also have a close friend of mine that has gone thru some terrible,  yet miraculous recovery of lung cancer... she has shown me that some things really are not that big of a deal!!!! I do feel some peace with the new me. I  want to share a saying a dear friend sent to me... only to CONFIRM that what I'm doing is what I need to be doing...It’s my CHOICE!!! An old man once said. There comes a time in life, when you walk away from all the Drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you Laugh, forget the bad, and focus on the good.  So love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones who don’t.  Life is too short to be anything but Happy!!! Falling down is a part of Life, getting back up is Living!!! Ta ta for now... And keep up the great work!!!!

3)         3rd Post   The more positive influence that we can share with each other, whether it be online or in public, the better we all are. One of my favorite ways to feel connected is taking the time to look someone in the eye and ask them how their day is going and then listen to their answer. Another favorite is when I see an older person in public and look them in the eye and just say "hi". The smile and sparkle in their eye is such a great reward for just taking a few seconds to be kind.

4)     4th Post        Sandi, I'm not 100% sure if this is what you want, but ... I try to comment on face book always to bring a smile or to help someone make good decisions in life, I may fail sometimes but, only because written comments have no tone, times are hard for a lot of people we all need to know that where there for each other even if we can only afford to share a smile, to as many as you can each day, reach out, make that effort !!!

5)         5th Post    There are two ways I try to maintain my connection. One is through simple moments of purposeful mindfulness throughout the day. Moments when I step back and become totally present. Some periods of time, these moments are more frequent than others and I am always trying to practice making it more of a habit.
The second way is a routine that is a habit- about 5 evenings a week, before I put the kids to bed, I close the bathroom door and reflect for anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes, depending on the night. With my favorite peter, Paul and Mary cd covering the noise of the house, and scented candles, I do a combination of the following: meditation, journal writing, and yoga. My reflections surround the issue of what spirituality is to me, what my truths are, purpose and life and other related things. My journal writing includes both an entry of "10 things I am grateful for," (which has a much more powerful impact than I anticipated), and longer entries about the topics above. I try to not write in the first person as a rule in order to keep my focus on matters of spirituality and not on the ego-rational, material world that makes up distracting chatter and - often- chaos, and sometimes takes my focus off track.
Got to run put the kids to bed.
I am proud of you. Your posts are wonderful.
I wish we lived closer and wish the years did not keep marching on so quickly, leaving college years further and further behind!