THANKFUL THURSDAY - A GREAT DAY

Thankful Thursday once again and it is a very different day from yesterday when it was sunny and warm.    Today is wet, cold and windy with thunder and lightening.

It has been a good day and it was a day with a good start and with a positive attitude.

Life can be grey and dreary and the only one who can change how things are going is YOU.  You are responsible for your attitude to everything and being positive is a state of mind.   Being positive is good for our health - worries and stresses can pull us down.

A positive start to a day can come if instead of rushing out of bed you just stay there for a few moments and think of all that you have to be thankful for and how blessed your life is.

Be positive about your life, your health, your family and how you spend your days.   Of course there are going to be worries and cares that are not easy to move, but those good things are still there in spite of the fact that you may be looking for a job, have problems with a child's behaviour, coping with elderly and frail parents, looking for new direction etc.

The good times should buoy you along - a holiday, a day off work, a meal you didn't have to cook, coffee brought to you when you come home, a movie with friends - all of these things should bring you joy and carry you on your journey.

Take care on your journey - life is a journey and not a destination and truly the joy is in the journey.    Friends along the way make it extra special.

Thank you for visiting the Musings of My Heart and for sharing my journey with me - each day is a thrill and pleasure.

Love and hugs,

IT'S FABULOUS FRIDAY AND THE WIND IS HOWLING.

Good Afternoon and welcome to a wet, windy and very wintry afternoon in my little corner of the world.   The entire State has been under a sever weather warning for damaging winds and hail for over 12 hours and remains thus.  Such a different day to yesterday when the sun shone and the sky was blue.

We are blessed with a pewter coloured sky today that is full of heavy clouds holding much rain.  It is certainly an inside day and a day that calls for comfort foods and my slow cooker is seeing active service again with another big pot of soup.

There are lots of puddles about and when I checked my letter box I just couldn't resist splashing in those in the drive way and I could hear my new neighbours laughing from their front porch.

Waiting for the storm to pass is going to take a while here from the forecast - we have rain forecast every day until next Thursday and whilst the weather is like winter - it is also spring like because of the way it is so changeable.

I have a raincoat, an umbrella and a car so it isn't going to affect me too much.

It's funny how the weather affects us in so many ways - the grey skies often make people feel miserable - but I am very much a winter person and like to snuggle up warm and cosy with a book.

It is a Fabulous Friday - each Friday is as I make my journey through life - "

"some days are diamonds and some days are stone."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQW87VU__Pc

Please enjoy John Denver singing Some Days are Diamonds. Just click on the link above.   

Following Fabulous Friday comes the weekend and I know how much those of you who go to business, school and factory long for these two special days for rest and recreation.  Two days of less routine, two days with those you care about, two days to go visiting friends and family or just to kick off your shoes and take some time for yourself.   I hope you can find some special time over this coming weekend to sit and talk, read, have coffee with friends, do some shopping.    To those who keep "the home fires burning" - I hope you enjoy having your loved ones around you and that it is indeed as special time.

Summer is drawing to a close in the northern hemisphere so those of you who live there - please make the best of these last few weeks and enjoy splashing in the pool, sitting in the shade with long cool drinks and feeling the warmth of the sun because soon enough the chilly winds will blow.  Cram as much as you can into your weekend now that your children are back at School after the summer break.

Thank you for visiting the Musings of My Heart - again a heart filled with wonder at the many special things that have happened to me.   I am not a victim I am a survivor and I will not be defined by the things that have happened to me.   I am me, alive and well and loving life.  I am determined to be present to each moment of my life and hope that I can encourage you to be present to each moment of yours.    Don't miss a thing - enjoy it all.

Love and hugs,

POSITIVE THOUGHTS ON WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY

Good Afternoon on Wonderful Wednesday - a day where in my little corner of the world the wind is blowing strongly, the rain is pouring down and the sky is grey - well that's one minute and the next the sun is shining and the sky is changing to a watery blue.   Spring is definitely in the air and the bulbs are flowering and the blossom petals are presenting a carpet at my feet.  One minute I am sure we have spring and the next we are back in the pewter greys of winter - I am certain Mother Nature cannot make her mind up quite yet as to what to do.

Spring is beautiful and we need lots of rain to make it special with flowers and blossoms and I am certain the daffodils are dancing a welcome routine.

 The Transplant Community is saddened by the loss of a lovely young woman who had a heart transplant but gained her angel wings yesterday - and I try to fill my mind with the positive thoughts that she had a few extra years due to her transplant and that they were happy and healthy years.  It is a tight knit community and everyone feels the loss of a member and it brings us all back to the thoughts of just how lucky we are and encourages us to fill out minds with positive thoughts.  Dance on the wind Lisa you will be greatly missed by many who called you friend.

We are very aware that we live on borrowed time and positive thoughts help us to make it through each day with a song in our hearts and gratitude in our souls for the gift of life.

I claim positive thoughts as I travel the journey of my life and I am pleased and proud for all those who journey with me and share the ups and downs of the journey for certainly, the joy is in the journey.

How are you travelling your journey today ?   Are you happy or are you blue?   Claiming positive thoughts will dispel the blues and miseries of life - it may not always go as we would like it to or as we had planned, but we have today and that's all we are promised.   Take today and look for the little things that bring a smile, remember to share a kind word or deed, make a phone call, send a message and be positive about your journey.  Share the little things in life with those who travel with you, be sure that those you love know that you love them.  

My words for 2013 are EMBRACE and CELEBRATE and I encourage you all to embrace your life and to celebrate it in every way possible.   Walk through the leaves, splash in puddles, sit in the sun, dig your toes in the sand and walk at the waters edge.  Breathe deeply of the salt sea air and be refreshed.   Walk by the River and watch as she speeds on her way singing.

Listen to the music that stirs your soul and sing loudly and long, laugh with children, smile at a stranger and feed your soul.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IyDjhyqZps

Enjoy Enya and her song  "How can I keep from Singing."

Thank you for visiting the Musings from my Heart - a heart a little saddened but with so much to be positive about  "how can I keep from singing.? "

Love and hugs to you all and peace and joy for your journey.

SECOND BITE AT THE CHERRY

Welcome to my Thursday evening where the storm is raging and the winter wind blowing and rain falling heavily at the moment and the days when cherries are available in abundance are yet to come for us.   Our northern hemisphere friends have the sweet pleasures of summer fruit at the moment and I know they enjoy it.

Cherries are my favourite fruit (although there are others close by) and I enjoy the summer days with a bowl of cherries, some shade and a good book.   Turning the pages slowly as I read and spitting the pits into a bowl.  To have the sweet sweet taste of cherries, I must also have the pits and how I handle them is up to me.

I can moan about them or I can just spit them out and go on enjoying the beautiful cherry flavour and that's what I do and intend to go on doing.

I can't have the cherries without the pits, the sunshine without the shadow,

the rainbow without the rain but I can spit the pits out, turn my face to the sun so that the shadows are behind me and I can put up an umbrella in the rain.

Life is very tough for many people at the moment with severe illness, family members who are in the last days of their life, those who are ill in the grip of an illness that only a transplant will save them from and those with children who will always be children and linger in the shadows of childhood.

There is little I can do to ease the pain of these dear people, but I can be supportive, prayerful and encouraging.

I can be an advocate for the things I believe in and as a living, breathing example of the success of organ transplantation that's my intention to be part of a team to educate and inform members of the community about the very special wonder that organ transplantation is.

I have friends who are actively involved in this all over the world and next week a dear friend is stepping up to the first meeting post transplant. 

It is rather like going to AA - when asked who you are and what is your connection to transplant  my response is "I am Linda and I am the very fortunate recipient of a new liver".   It is wonderful to share with people the difference that transplant has made in my life and the lives of many I know.  I have contact with many people in various stages of their recovery - one back to work almost full time, planning trips, gardening and living each day present to the moment.    Another walking daily, riding a bike, walking the dog and celebrating life with a thankful heart.

As a group we are very blessed to have been the recipient of an organ because someone made the decision that when their time came they wanted to "donate life" and they did the most important thing of all

THEY DISCUSSED IT WITH THEIR FAMILY - so that there was no doubt in the minds of family members as to what their wishes were.

Wherever you are in this beautiful world - if summer is your companion and summer fruits on your menu, or if you are relishing winter soups, breads and casseroles, sometime over dinner - bring the subject up and make sure that those who love you KNOW and UNDERSTAND what your wishes are ~ it will help them very much at a time of immense sadness and stress.

Have the conversation, register, talk to friends and give others like me the chance for a second bite at the cherry of life.   Yes there are the pits of medication, fatigue and constant blood tests and check ups ~ but they are nothing at all to pay for the price of life itself.

Life for me is definitely A BOWL OF CHERRIES.

Thank you for visiting and sharing the musings of my heart - one which is constantly aware of how blessed I am to be alive, living well and loved.

A heart that is thankful for my bite at the cherry and for the lives of those I love that have been saved by organ donation.

Love and hugs,

Linda.  

RUBY TUESDAY AND THE ANSWER IS BLOWING IN THE WIND.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIFxbOZezhE

Peter Paul and Mary,  Blowing in the Wind.

This image is very much how things are in my City this morning - windy and cold and my choice of song for today was not difficult - it had to relate to wind and who better than Peter Paul and Mary to tell us that the answer is blowing in the wind.  We have patches of blue sky, white clouds and suddenly sharp and heavy downfalls of rain/hail.

This Blog has had a face lift - we both need one and much cheaper, easier and less painful for me to do it here and I guess it is only the first of many changes. It is rather like my life - something in constant change.  I am happy with the pink bows and until I tire of it that's what we have.

Winter is such a lovely time - I thrive on the cold and warmth that can be generated by comfort foods such as soups, a good book, a warm room/bed a ride in the car which gets warm from the sun.  

Other things warm me too - letters in the mail, a parcel too and phone calls and emails giving me good news.  My heart is warm although my feet are cold.  Narelle emailed me and put my mind at rest by telling me her Mum is now wearing an emergency alarm in case she has a fall again when she is on her own.  Mary's own decision without our nagging which is a nice feeling for  her -Narelle said (talking about her Mum) "It shows me she is still "in charge" of herself"

My Mailbox had lots of nice things this morning and it was a delight to come home, make coffee and read "real" letters sent by "snail mail" mostly from overseas.

If the answers are "Blowing in the Wind" - what are my questions ?

Oh there are many and lots to which there cannot be answers, but it stimulates my brain to pose the questions. In posing the questions I sometimes find the answers within myself.

Someone recently made a statement to me about did I ever ask why I had to walk the path I did and ask "Why Me?"  Honestly no,  I never asked "Why Me" - it seemed very logical to me "Why not me?" and that it was all part of a plan for my life.  During the worst times of my transition from illness, through transplant and to recovery,  I recall being thankful that it was me and not my daughters who were going through it all.

Don't be afraid to ask questions, and I hope for you there will be answers which bring peace of mind and contentment.

My sunny sky has turned grey/black and the rain is tumbling down - but I am warm and dry and thankful for all that I have.  I am doing what I like to do - writing, listening to music and have a lovely coffee.  All is well.

It is amazing how much joy can be found in the little things - look them out and find them and I wish you for a day filled with rainbows, ribbons, lollipops  and all happy things.

Please take care and come back soon and check The Musings from My Heart.  Your visits are important to me and I hope that my words touch your life and bring warmth to your heart and your day.

Love and hugs,

WINDY WEDNESDAY and 77 WEEKS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrZRURcb1cM

Fleetwood Mac - Dreams (Thunder only happens when it's raining)

Welcome to a wet winter Wednesday - and we have had our share of rain and thunder and very strong winds.  I love the winter months when snuggling up in a warm bed is delightful, but the damage caused by strong winter winds and flooding rains is heartbreaking.  We have had lots of trees down and many houses have lost their roofs.  (not sure when the spelling of more than one roof became roofs because I was still under the impression it was rooves)   but Praise be no one has been hurt.   I acknowledge the work done by the Emergency Service who venture out of their own homes into the dark of night to help people who have received damage.

I have achieved another milestone in my life today - 77 weeks ago I was in surgery and receiving the gift of life - another family in the midst of the grief at losing a loved one stepped forward and I was the lucky recipient of a liver.   I am alive and well and I wake each morning with a thankful heart knowing how close I came to not being here at all.

I am an passionate campaigner for Organ Donation and for those new to reading "The Musings from My Heart" let me please encourage you to have the family discussion about Organ Donation and to sign up to the appropriate register where you live..
"Don't take your organs to Heaven - Heaven knows we need them here."

This is the link for Australia:
http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/public/services/aodr/register.jsp

I was supported by an amazing team - medical, support staff, nursing staff, friends and family and I am here today because of the way I was carefully and prayerfully supported.

The wind seems to have died down and the sky is a little brighter but still cloudy from the volcanic ash from the eruption in Chile - so many thousands of miles it has traveled and it is on the second trip around.  Our airline system is in chaos and causing lots of difficulties.

I understand that parts of USA are having summer storms and lots of rain - same rain, same storms but ours is cold and yours is warm.

I hope that your Wednesday is wonderful and that you can find something to be thankful for - spend time with your children, splash in puddles, walk in the rain, stay cool, stay warm - LIVE LIFE.

Thank you for visiting and reading "The Musings from My Heart - a thankful heart this morning.

Love and hugs,

MONDAY MORNING WITH A SONG IN MY HEART.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guSUeKN6Fv8

Dinah Washington - With a Song in my Heart.

Good Morning and welcome to Monday - a beautiful morning in my little corner of the world. Our stormy weekend seems to have eased.  The wind has abated and although we are forecast for showers again today it is much calmer.   It is a beautiful morning  - a very watery sun is trying to peep through the pewter grey clouds.

I have walked through my garden and the earth is looking rich and brown and very damp - it smells lovely, there are raindrops on the leaves and all this gives me a song in my heart and a spring in my step.

I love music in all its forms from classic to country and I like singing and to sing (must be my Welsh heritage I think) and yesterday as the wind blew and the rain drops pelted my window I was aware of the music they were making.

There is music all around us from the tap tap tapping on a keyboard to the rippling laughter of children.  A full and swift river rushing to the sea makes it's own music, the breaking of waves on the shoreline makes music too.  The purring of a kitten, the slow and sweet breathing of someone in sleep, raindrops on my roof, The clackety clack of a train, church bells ringing and the sound of voices I love are all music to me.

Stop in your world and hear the music that surrounds you  - it is there in the little things like the rustle of the leaves on the trees you walk beneath, the crunch of your footsteps on a gravel pathway.  Be aware of all the beauty that surrounds you and stimulates all your senses.

I have woken this morning with a headache (storms do that to me) but that will pass and once more I shall take my medication and get on with my second chance at life.   Life is good - I woke in a warm and comfortable bed, my football team won, I listened to the music of my choice and I am 

ALIVE and LIVING WELL.   

Find the song in your heart, and sing it loud and strong and celebrate your life, your loves, and enjoy our beautiful world.  Whatever the season for you there is beauty and joy to be found and somewhere in your day you will hear Mother Nature making music and I hope you enjoy it.

It is with a song in my heart that I say thank you for visiting "The Musings from my Heart" and I send love and hugs to you.