Thanksgiving - Things I am thankful for

1) Being alive and Healthy
2) Being a Bahai
3) My quirky but fantastic husband
4) My wonderful family
5) My little cutie patootie dog Bebo
6) My friends
7) My freedom
8) My life in general
9) Having a fantastic relationship with my parents
10) Having an amazing sister - who has really grown up in the past few years and turned into a beautiful woman!
11) My job.
12) My home.
13) My upcoming trip
14) Modern Technolgy
15) People who care

The global crisis - how it hits home

Well as everyone is well aware, there is a global economic crisis affecting the world today. How long it will last, the full effect of its impact, and many other things are still greatly unknown. For some, they are aware of it but it doesn't really directly impact them. I am feeling the direct hit, not in the way many others are, but I could potentially lose my home in the US. I am lucky that I have a life to turn to outside of it, so while its a major bummer, my "life's not over" so to speak. But there are other things. My company is laying off people. Again, I am lucky, I am not being laid off. However, a good friend of mine at work very well maybe. It's still a bit of limbo in that they may find another role for her, but its not known yet if that will be the case, and she may not want it if they do find one. It's a bummer. I had 2 relatively close friends at work and if she ends up leaving, they will both be gone. I mean I will stay in touch. We will try and hang out socially, but its not the same as seeing the person everyday and having someone to chit chat with at work.

I feel very fortunate to still have my job and be relatively ok financially, but its tough to see so many people suffering and all because some stupid corporations were greedy and did a lot of things they shouldn't have to make a quick buck and now its having a huge snowball effect and a lot of innocent people are getting hurt because of it. I know this is all a part of humanity's growing pains and there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but its still difficult to take in sometimes. It is also scary knowing there really is no such thing as security. I mean at any time you could go from having a great job to being unemployed. It's crazy!!!

Anyway, my heart goes out to anyone who is truly directly affected by this financial crisis and I hope things change and don't get a lot worse before they get better. I still think the answer lies in a balanced focus on the material and spiritual, but that's a whole other blogpost which i've already somewhat written about.

The Time is Now

Today we see the entire world is crumbling around us. Economic stability is lost, giant corporations are going out of business, people are losing their jobs, their homes and so much more. If ever there was a time where change was needed it is NOW. The change necessary is not anything we have ever had in the past. The vision needs to be a spiritual AND material one. It's been proven time and time again, the old ways just don't work. We need to stop focusing on our material needs only and start to see that the solution lies elsewhere. I believe the Baha'i Faith has the answers. I respect everyone's right to their own beliefs, but these are mine. I think the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh will guide the way and help humanity to live up to its great spiritual potential. I think its worth a few minutes of everyone's time to at least look into what the Bahai Faith teaches, and if you don't agree with it, so be it, but you never know, it might be the answer to all of your prayers!!!

*The Bahá'í Faith is the youngest of the world's independent religions. Its founder, Bahá'u'lláh (1817-1892), is regarded by Bahá'ís as the most recent in the line of Messengers of God that stretches back beyond recorded time and that includes Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, Christ and Muhammad.

The central theme of Bahá'u'lláh's message is that humanity is one single race and that the day has come for its unification in one global society. God, Bahá'u'lláh said, has set in motion historical forces that are breaking down traditional barriers of race, class, creed, and nation and that will, in time, give birth to a universal civilization. The principal challenge facing the peoples of the earth is to accept the fact of their oneness and to assist the processes of unification.

One of the purposes of the Bahá'í Faith is to help make this possible. A worldwide community of some five million Bahá'ís, representative of most of the nations, races and cultures on earth, is working to give Bahá'u'lláh's teachings practical effect. Their experience will be a source of encouragement to all who share their vision of humanity as one global family and the earth as one homeland.

*I got this information from www.bahai.org. For more information, please visit the site directly or reach out to me and I will help however I can.

Half way there - success is in view

I have officially lost 5.1 kilos since I started my diet and exercise program a little over a month ago. That is a bit more than 11lbs. I am feeling very proud and also feeling like I can do this. My initial goal was to lose 10kilos by the end of this year, I am halfway there. Once I reach that goal, I will likely set another one. Either way, its a good thing! I know that I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I am so happy that I have stuck to this and am FINALLY going about weightloss in a healthy manner. I have done so many diets in my life and yo-yoed in my weight loss and gain, but now I think this is the right way to do it and will make keeping off the weight more easy. I've been moderate, i mean if i really feel like having something then i do, just in small quantities, and i am very good about exercising regularly. Anyway, just sharing a bit of my success with those of you who have cheered me on and supported me, I really appreciate everyone's vote of confidence, it's paying off!!! 5 more kilos, here I come!!!