I love the fact that when my heart is right I see God-sightings all around me.  Not a day goes by when I don’t see God’s had in something that touches my life.

Today is no different.

For the past several weeks I’ve had a “service” warning light that occasionally comes on when I’m driving.  When it first happened I had just picked up my car from the shop because of a broken fuel pump.  I called the dealer and inquired about the service light and was told not to worry about it because it was probably just resetting from the replaced fuel pump.  So, I didn’t worry about it.

However, as the weeks went on, the light came on more frequently.  Several days ago I noticed that when I would make a right hand turn while braking my brake light came on as well.  “Humph, that’s interesting,” I thought “but, I’m not gong to worry about it.”

It seemed with each passing day both lights came on more than they went off.  I began thinking I needed to get my car back to the shop.  But, several people had advised me that neither light was a big deal and that the car was fine, after all, it drove well.  Besides, I don’t have time to take my car to the shop.  I’m preparing for a client workshop, have several meetings each day this week and am helping my daughter prepare for her missions trip (she leaves on Friday.) But, my intuition kept nagging me telling me I needed to get the car serviced.

So, I made time to take it to the shop first thing this morning.  I had a great chat with one of the men who works there (we are both from California so we have a natural affinity for each other) and enjoyed talking with the shuttle driver who brought me home all the while wondering if I was over-reacting to these lights.  “Better safe than to be sorry,” I reasoned.

A short while later I received a call saying that indeed there was a problem with the car.  The brakes were about to go out and needed replacing.  A few hours later the shuttle driver was back in my driveway and off we went to the dealership (I take my car to the Saturn dealer.)

After I picked up my car I was driving my daughter on an errand for her upcoming trip and I was overwhelmed with gratitude.  “Thanks God for keeping me safe despite my failing brakes and for prompting me to take the car into the shop.”

Had I not listened to my intuition who knows what awful thing may have been awaiting me.  At the very least, I could have been greatly inconvenienced had my brakes failed on the way to my client workshop or next week on the way to my personal retreat 200 miles away from home.  However, now I can drive with confidence knowing my car is safe.

Choose a Better Life by choosing to listen to your intuition.  It may just be God’s still small voice protecting you from a disaster.

I am a day late in posting this week.  It wasn’t that I forgot.  Yesterday was my birthday and my husband and I were traveling back home from a long weekend away.

This poem was given to me by a dear friend.  There is a long history behind it (it was discovered in a co-worker’s grandfather’s drawer after he passed away), but the words are as poignant today as they were when it was penned.

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,

When the road you’re traveling seems all uphill,

When the funds are low, and the debts high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit

Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is strange with its twists and turns,

As everyone of us sometimes learns,

And many a failure turns about,

When we might have won had we stuck it out.

Don’t five up thought the pace seems slow,

You may succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out,

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,

It may be near when it seems so far,

So stick to thin fight when you’re hardest hit,

It’s when things seems worse that you must not quit.

Choose a Better Life by choosing not to quit.

It is interesting how life often throws us curve balls … those unexpected annoyances that change our plans.  One minute we are heading to lunch with a full afternoon of meetings and the next minute our plans are derailed by something completely out of our control … curve ball.

This is what happened to me last Thursday.  I had just finished a client meeting (which, by the way, had not gone at all as I envisioned, not bad, just different) and my husband and I were headed for a sushi lunch. - When we are both in town we have lunch together once a week.  This gives us the opportunity to reconnect, go over our schedules, discuss our careers, and simply have a few minutes of alone time. – It was a sunny day and the traffic was not particularly heavy.  I was at the end of an intersection when I realized a car was running a red light and heading into my lane.

You guessed it, despite my slamming on the breaks and swerving, we collided.  Thankfully no one was seriously injured and the other driver pulled off the road and admitted the accident was his fault.  We spent the next hour waiting for a police officer to arrive and take a police report.  As we waited, the other driver and his passenger paced back and forth, argued, and complained that their day had been truly awful and that their vacation (they were headed out of town for the weekend) was now ruined.

As I watched and listened to the other driver and his passenger, I kept thinking, “How sad, you are choosing to have a bad day.”  I tried convincing them that it was still early in the day, they were not hurt, the officer would be done with his report shortly and they could still enjoy a long weekend away.  But, they were having no part of what I was saying.  So instead of wasting time trying to reason with them, I decided I’d reschedule my afternoon appointments and just sit and wait for the whole thing to be over.

Unfortunately, even after we wrapped up at the scene of the accident, the accident was still not “over.”  I am spending a lot of time dealing with insurance companies and adjusters trying to get my car repaired … curve ball  And I’m still having pain in my neck for which I’m seeing a doctor and which limits the amount of time I can spend working … curve ball.

As with everything in life, these curve balls bring the opportunity to practice choosing my attitude and my response.  I admit that the situation has been frustrating.  The other driver has disconnected his phone and not followed through on his commitments.  His insurance company cannot locate him and as a result they cannot process my claim.  In addition, my claim has been transferred three different times to three different adjusters and I am forced to cover my own medical expenses at the moment.

However, as I have been conditioning myself to Choose a Better Life it is becoming easier and easier to see the good side of things, even with curve balls.

I am thankful that there was not more traffic on the road when the accident occurred and therefore more cars were not involved.  I’m thankful the other driver had insurance and that he pulled over.  I am thankful that no one was seriously injured.  I’m thankful for the police officer who responded and took a report.  I’m thankful for cell phones with cameras so we could take pictures.  I’m thankful for my Blackberry that allowed me to contact my afternoon appointments.  I’m thankful the weather was good and we were not caught in the rain (we’ve had lots of rain lately.)  I’m thankful that, eventually, my car will be repaired.  And I’m thankful for doctors who will help with the pain.

Life is full of curve balls, but I’m thankful those curve balls don’t determine the quality of our lives.  Our response to the curve balls does; and our response is something we control.

Choose a Better Life by choosing to be thankful for the good, looking for the positive and taking control of your actions despite the curve balls that come your way.

So often we don’t pursue our dreams because we feel like they are too lofty, out of our reach, simply impossible.  We see the road blocks and give up before we even begin.

I know we can achieve great things if only we take the first step and trust our ability to take the next.

I recently read a quote in a little book titled New Beginnings by Sian Keogh.

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

Choose a Better Life by choosing to take the firs step.  Do what is necessary.

To those readers in/from the US …

Happy 4th of July!

I hope you enjoy today and that you find a way of celebrating our freedom and the men/women who sacrifice so much to make it possible.

To the servicemen/women, past and present, who serve and protect our country I give you my deepest appreciation and say THANK YOU for all you do.

To my readers outside the US, I hope you have a fantastically blessed weekend.

As you know my posts have been absent for the last two weeks (I did give fair warning.)  For 12 of the last 15 days I have been on a 1600 mile road trip with my mom and youngest daughter.  We visited the gorgeous mountains of western North Carolina, drove through the rolling hills of Tennessee, enjoyed both sides of the great state of Virginia, visited the harbor in Baltimore and ended up on the beach in Virginia Beach.

Throughout the trip we stopped and visited with friends and family … some I had not seen since I was a child - over 30 years ago.  What a joy it was to spend time with them again.

One thought repeatedly rand through my mind while I was on this trip, “Wow, this is amazing!”  Whether I was standing at the top of a 2280 foot mountain in the Blue Ridge Parkway, at the bottom of a 404 foot waterfall, or sitting on the beach looking out into the Atlantic Ocean I was mesmerized by the beauty of creation.  And even though my eyes saw my surroundings I could not fully comprehend the beauty.  The more I tired to take it in, the more I realized I just couldn’t digest it all.  Thinking of just one color … there are hundreds, if not thousands, of shades and hues of green.

The night before we left for home, I was sitting on the beach watching both kids and adults play in the ocean as the waves rolled onto shore.  In the distance I could see a few boats and cruise ships pass by.  All the while I was thinking that for as much as I see above the water, there is another world below it as well.  A world full of colors and animals I’ve rarely seen.

As I was trying to wrap my mind around this bounty of life, I realized that I am but a minuscule part of creation.  In light of the universe I am but a grain of sand.  And the “issues” that I deal with are virtually non-existent by comparison.  I realized just how small I really am.

And yet, as tiny as I seem I know that nothing matters more to the Creator of this amazing universe than I do.  I am not dwarfed by creation in the eyes of God.  He sees me, He knows me (warts and all), He loves me, and He is overjoyed by the thought of me.  And with everything that happens each second of each day, God is not distracted from me.

The same is true of you.  Despite the enormity of creation, God knows the number of every hair on your head.  He knows every thought that passes through your mind and every emotion you feel.  And amazingly, his love for you never waivers.   He loves you with a love that is deeper than the oceans and higher than the tallest mountain.

Choose a Better Life by choosing to embrace your standing in this universe and in the eyes of the Creator.  Nothing is more important to God than you are.