November 2nd is National Look for Circles Day. What?!?!

Days dedicated to special things have always intrigued me but this one really stumped me. From what I could find, it doesn’t look like anyone knows who created “National Look for Circles Day” and why. Which is interesting and got me thinking….so often we search and search for things that are right in front of us.

The idea is to look for circles throughout the day.  It reminded me of when I play car bingo or do road trip scavenger hunts with my son.  So often I will be driving and think, “oh we won’t see one of those” and all of a sudden Jake will say “Look mom! There it is!”

When going through life, it is so easy to feel like we are searching and searching for something when in reality the answer lies right in front of us. Circles are everywhere, just like beauty and happiness. If we focus on the negatives, that is all we will see.

Make a plan to look for as many circles as you can today. Notice how many are all around you. Here is a site that has ideas for scavenger hunts and games that you can do with your coworkers or kids. Then I challenge you to make tomorrow your “Look for the positive in everything day.” Turn your challenges into opportunities and instead of feeling like you are spinning in circles, go out and find your positive circles.

Related articles

• Power of Positive thinking and How to use it. (lifeiwanttolive.wordpress.com)
• Positive Thinking (poemsandponderings.wordpress.com)
• What is Positive Thinking? (corporatewoowoochick.com)
• 12 Proven Ways Positive Thinking Helps Your Career (onlinecollege.org)

Where your loved one spends their final moments here on Earth is very important. Those final moments with your loved one are going to be in your memory forever, so you want to make sure the conditions are just right. You want to ensure that your loved one is as comfortable as possible and the atmosphere allows for you and your loved one to say your goodbyes in private. Ultimately, this is a decision only your loved one can make, so you’ll want to provide them with a few options and information about each option. Here are just a few things your loved one will want to consider when making the decision about where to spend their final moments.

Dying at Home

It’s hard to accept that your loved one has reached the end of their journey here on earth, but there comes a point when there truly is nothing else that can be done to bring them back from the terminal illness or injury that pulls them away. When that time comes, your loved one may decide they want to die in the comfort of their own home. Here are just a few reasons why dying at home might be the best option for your loved one:

• It’s familiar – They don’t have to face their death while confined to the stark walls of the hospital
• It’s private – They can say their goodbyes in the privacy of their own bedroom
• It’s flexible – Their final days can be lived out at their own pace, eating and sleeping can be done on their terms, not the rigid schedule of the hospital
• It allows your loved one to maintain a high quality of life as they can be surrounded by their friends, families and any possessions that might make their final days more enjoyable

Dying in the Hospital

The majority of people still die in the hospital. Although spending your final moments at home may provide your loved one with the most comfort and familiarity, there is an element of safety that is given up when you leave the constant care and attention of the hospital. If your loved one decides to spend their final moments at home, there will be a care-giver and possibly in-home medical professional, however it’s not the same as having a full medical staff at your disposal. Here are some of the reasons your loved one may decide to spend their final days under the care and attention of the hospital staff:

• Doctors and nurses can monitor their condition and help them through the process of dying
• Round-the-clock pain relief and symptom management
• The strain of care is taken off the family so the final moments can be spent enjoying one another’s company rather than working to care for your loved one.

Ultimately, this is a decision that must be made by your loved one. As a loving family member or friend, do your best to provide them with their options and be supportive of whatever decision they make.

Related articles

• A Place of Rest (justmehibana.wordpress.com)
• How should you talk to children about terminal illness? (blogs.independent.co.uk)

Have you ever thought about your feelings toward death and dying? When you think about losing your loved one you probably feel sad, angry, bitter, hurt. When you think about yourself dying you probably feel scared, alone or disappointed. These feelings are very common among individuals in our society. Since death is perceived so negatively, our instincts tell us to avoid talking about it. Maybe by not talking about it we won’t have to face it? Or it could be that talking about death only makes it more real.

The truth is, death can be a lonely journey if we are forced to keep our thoughts and feelings to ourselves. Whether you or you’re loved one has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, or you’ve recently lost your loved one, it’s so important to have someone to talk about as you work your way through grief.

Dying Matters

That’s where Dying Matters comes in. Dying Matters is an organization that helps people to have important conversations about death before it’s too late. Due to a lack of communication about death, many people have last wishes that go unfulfilled. According to Dying Matters, 81% of people have not written down any preferences about their death. That’s why it’s not surprising to learn that 63% of people would prefer to die at home, yet 53% of deaths happen in the hospital.

Dying Matters offers organizations, like community groups, health care facilities and even private groups or individuals, support and assistance in changing peoples’ attitudes toward death. Even though it may be difficult at first, talking about death and dying ensures that your loved one, and even you when the time comes, will have the kind of life transition that makes them comfortable.

The Sailing Ship 

What is dying?
I am standing on the seashore.
A ship sails to the morning breeze and starts for the ocean.
She is an object and I stand watching her
Till at last she fades from the horizon,
And someone at my side says, “She is gone!” Gone where?
Gone from my sight, that is all;
She is just as large in the masts, hull and spars as she was when I saw her,
And just as able to bear her load of living freight to its destination.
The diminished size and total loss of sight is in me, not in her;
And just at the moment when someone at my side says, “She is gone”,
There are others who are watching her coming,
And other voices take up a glad shout,
“There she comes” – and that is dying

- Bishop Charles Henry Brent (1862-1929)

Related articles

• Facing the Fear of Death (psychologytoday.com)
• What the dying need from us (grammarofgrief.wordpress.com)
• When you know you are dying (sporeflections.wordpress.com)

Here is your Healing Thought of the Day…You are Safe.  You will learn new ways to connect with your loved one and their spirit.

Try imagining this healing thought…

Be still and you can feel your loved one’s loving presence around you…you can feel the love and care of your spirit guides and angels.  They are here for you now and they will always be here for you.  Just believe that you have this special bond and it will happen.

Know that you are safe and loved from above.

Everything will be okay.

And has always been okay.

You are safe.

In the Arm’s of an Angel, May You Find Some Comfort Here – Sarah McLachlan

I need someone who believes that the sun will rise again, but who does not fear my darkness.  Someone who can point out the rocks in my way without making me a child by carrying me.  Someone who can stand in thunder and watch the lightning and believe in the rainbow.  Fr. Joe Mahoney, Concerns of Police Surviviors Newsletter 

Are you_____?  Fill in the blank:

• Sensitive
• Loving
• Good Listener
• Caring
• Present in the Moment
• Non-Judgmental
• Comforting
• Empathetic
• Supportive

We need you. These are the characteristics of those who support the bereaved.

It’s the beginning of a new year, and many make new year’s goals and resolutions, but when you are in the midst of grief this may not seem possible.

Can you envision your life after grief?  If even for a moment, try to let your grief go…and perhaps get a glimpse of what life still holds for you.  Imagine answers to these questions…

• Can you envision life after grief?
• What will it look like?
• Where will you live?
• Who will be your friends?
• How will you fill your time?
• How would your loved one want you to live?  Happy, fulfilled, enjoying each moment?
• What is your loved one telling you?

Now write down what you felt.  If you’ve gotten a glimpse of what you life can be like, hold onto this thought, and remember you will journey out of grief into a new found appreciation of life.

• How will I ever move on? Grief Questions Answered…. (withsympathygifts.com)
• Blissful reprieve (canverses.wordpress.com)

Today marks the 15^th anniversary of my mother’s death.  When I turned on my computer today, I received information about the Archangel Azrael.  It seemed very fitting for me today, so I hope the information below may help you on your grief journey.  The information is from  ‘You may not believe in Angels but they believe in You’, and discusses discovering spirituality when grieving.

Archangel Azrael is the keeper of souls. 

• He bathes, heals and nourishes departed ones
• He sings over them
• He comforts them

Once the soul is renewed and refreshed, then it returns to the Universal Planes to undertake the rest of its journey. Each step, a step closer to Ascension.  At the point of Ascension the entire soul merges with the Light.  The soul is now able to serve on a much greater scale for the whole of humanity.

Archangel Azrael is also the overseer of those souls who are still on the earthly planes and are grieving ….

He takes them in his wings of love and softly and gently strokes away loss and pain

•  Your tears are Angel medicine
•  Tears heal your soul

Know that your loved ones are still beside you, on the inner planes, and that their love for you is their eternal bond and promise

Help your departed ones to be free and happy on their new path …… they will never leave your side.  In releasing your departed ones, you can heal your own soul …

• Your ‘unconditional love’ is recognized by God and source ….
• Many new blessings will be bestowed upon you.

Archangel Azrael Keeper of Souls

Related articles

• Archangel Azriel: The Illusion of Death and Dying (aquariuschannelings.com)
• Notice that you are making progress on your grief journey (withsympathygifts.com)
• After Death Communication, Continued (griefhealingblog.com)

Hang on when riding the roller coaster of grief.

Image via Wikipedia

You can yell and scream all you want as your grief hits all those curves and dips and bumps, but don’t give up.

Hang on to hope. Hang on to love.  Hang on to memories.  Hang on to life.

Know that a bad day just means you can “start over” tomorrow. Have realistic goals that you can meet. Be fair to yourself.

We all have bad days that blindside us, the ups and downs of the grief, but these bad days also enable us to feel the beauty of a good day, the love of a friend, the power of a gorgeous sunset, the peace of a serene lake, or the joy of a child.

Hang on!

• More from With Sympathy Gifts….Grief is Like a Roller Coaster…Hold On! (withsympathygifts.com)

Prescription:  Patience, 100 mg.  A daily dose of patience (100 mg) each morning will fortify you to be patient with yourself, giving yourself time to grieve. Don’t be in a rush. Wallow in your grief. Feel every emotion. “Name it and claim it,” as TV’s Dr. Phil advises. You need to have patience while grieving.

Listen to your heart. Do what helps, not what others think you should do. Feel the burdens of anger, guilt, loneliness, sadness and confusion slip away as you deal openly with each emotion. Go slowly.

Discover what you can do, and do it with all your heart.

Each day, I did what I could, which was only a fraction of what I had accomplished before. I just didn’t have the energy to deal with everything. I had to learn to pick and choose what would make up my day, doing only those things that would give me a lift. Whenever I got overtired, I was a puddle of tears, so I had to learn my limits. Patiently, I had to “reinvent” myself as I created my “new normal,” the new me doing the new things that brought some joy back into my life.

By Elaine Stillwell Grief Digest Magazine – December 7, 2012

• Decide how others can and can’t help you during grief – your bill of rights! (withsympathygifts.com)
• Allow The Healing To Begin (thelightbeyond.typepad.com)
• Grief Support from Chelsea – You will make it through… (withsympathygifts.com)
• Voices of Experience: What I’ve Learned from Grief (griefhealingblog.com)

Grief and the Holidays: Pay Attention to Yourself.  These words are worth repeating.  The holidays are difficult when you are dealing with grief and have lost someone, so self care is critical.

Rest when you need too.  Listen when that little voice tells you that you’re too tired to shop and buy one more gift. Give yourself the option of not attending another party.

Be sure to let your friends and family know what you are up for, and what you are not up for. Pay attention to what you don’t want to do, and what others can do for you.  As you become aware of these things, share them with others who can help you do these things.

Ask for help when you need it.  Most people want to help you, and simply just do not know how.  Give them the opportunity to help you and don’t try to do everything your self.

The holidays are the season of giving, and others do want to give to you!  Let them know what you need.

• Understanding and Managing Grief, December 4 – December 10, 2011 (griefhealingblog.com)
• How To Cope With Grief During The Holidays (heartachetohealing.com)
• Grateful Grieving (ashleydavisbush.com)