In Training

It is March 28, 2008 and I am getting ready for final exams and to start my fundraising for THE WEEKEND TO END BREAST CANCER 60 KM walk. Today was awesome. I was given two tag days by Loblaws and two tag days by the LCBO. A tag day is where I go sell pink breast cancer items to raise money towards the $2000.00 I have to raise. This year I am walking with a friend and our team is called the BOOBSIE TWINS. That will be fun. And hopefully this year it won't be so hard on my feet as I am walking 6 km everyday now, and hope to have that up to 10K by mid April. By September I will be in good shape for the walk. I am hopeful that I will surpass my fundraising goals, and in the meantime I am losing weight daily by walking. I ordered some cool pink items to sell.

If anyone would like to contribute to my fundraising efforts please click on the link below

http://www.endcancer.ca/site/TR/Events/Toronto2008?px=1973880&pg=personal&fr_id=1254

I best head to bed now, so I can rest and get ready for my walking routine tomorrow. In the meantime I will leave you with this thought..............

Prosperity Box

Tonight I created my new Prosperity Box.

I make one or two a year. My friend Laurie taught me how to do it a few years ago

HOW TO MAKE A PROSPERITY BOX

Make yourself a prosperity box - prepare stuff that symbolizes prosperity TO YOU. It can be a coin (in gold colour), a banknote, a piece (or pieces) of items in green (as green means $), items in diamond shape, or items in goldcolor a red heart or rose petals to symbolize love.

Again, you cannot go wrong so long as you're sincere and the items you put into the box mean prosperity to you. As to the size of the box, it doesn't matter, it can be as small as a matchbox if you wish, or it can be as big as you need. Have your box in hand or close by and you can simply say a prayer by the window facing the moon, but if you cannot see the moon where you live, it's also fine just to say a prayer facing the sky. It is more so your intent that counts and the full moon energy in the air.You can say your own tailormade prayer -

Try to do it before midnight - say around 11pm, but if you can't, it's still fine - as long as u do it at night time.What's more you can do is to light a little green candle (beware of the burning time of the candle especially if you're doing it at 11ish) as you make your box (putting the items in).Make sure you're done (close the box) before midnight.

Place it in a drawer or wherever that's convenient to you, and do NOT open it. Just leave it there.

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When I opened it up to put the new items in it, it was funny to see how many of the things have already come true.

I found a letter that said I wanted to learn Reiki and Mindfulness Meditation,

and I found another letter that said I wanted to take the kids to Disney and go to Belize!

So I carefully selected the items to put in that box and focus on making them happen.

Funny, how often our prayers are answered and we don't even notice. With something tangible like this is it very clear.

I will say my prayer at 11 tonight, and hope that GOD has open ears and eyes.

Peace,

Joanne

Back to the Grind

Time is flying by, and there are so many things to do. I am never bored. Been spending time writing my book, doing workshops, university studies and meditating.

Last week I had another Dream Rebuilding Presentation at the Shelter. The women really seem to enjoy it. I notice that anytime spent not worry about the crisis they are in is a positive step forward. I enjoyed listening to a woman that always dreamed of driving and having her license. She was able to find a car in a magazine, cut it out and regain that as one of her future goals.
I also met another woman that was inspiring to me. She wants to return to school and become a P.S.W. I sure hope that she will continue on that path. She will do a wonderful job at helping those that are sick and frail. It is interesting to see how a a few magazines, a pair of scissors and some glue can bond a group of women together, and get them thinking in a forward direction.
I am back at the shelter again in April to do another presentation. I really enjoy my 2 hours there, and as nervous as I once was, I seem to be coming more confident in my abilities to facilitate a group of people.

My daughter returned from Italy two days ago, and said it changed her life. She is ready to travel now! Already saving for Spain and France. Like mother like daughter I suppose. My youngest daughter is content with a new skateboard and is anxiously awaiting the big melt and spring. She said she is tired of putting on hat and mitts and will be happy when she just needs her short and some running shoes.

It took me a little while to get back into the groove here in Canada. I was stuck on island time. I am just finishing my research paper on the Working Poor in America. Ironically, a country so wealthy and so rich in knowledge can not figure out that there has to be Employer Consortium to eliminate poverty. The answer really does seem simple. The most important thing I learned this week is that in a country like the US and Canada, nobody that is employed full-time, and works all year, should live below the poverty line. It is sad that so many do, and such a huge portion of those are children.

Well ~ it is back to the books, back to the the grind. I am looking forward to finishing up my final year of university and seeing what is next in line.

So Many Options ~~ So much to do

Well I am back from San Pedro Belize, and must say, I am looking forward to returning. I have found a place that warms my heart and the options are endless. When I was there, I felt more alive than I have in years. San Pedro is my natural clock. I wake with the sunrise, and sleep around midnight. My aching bones went away, my nails grew, and my breathing improved.

I plan on buying a piece of land there this year, and hopefully my best friend, Erin will build with me on it. My little piece of paradise far, far away. A small 14 seater plane will fly me to my destination. Amidst the beauty of the sea and the warm air, there is a small part of San Pedro that could use some help.






I saw that there was ample humanitarian work that could be started there. After talking with the school officials, it became clear, that I could get some pilot projects started on this tiny island. Some of the things I was told were desperately needed are:

Sponsor a grade 8 student to go to high school for 1000.00 US per year, there are 35 students who need to go to high school next year, and for half the yearly salary of a US or Canadian teacher 35 deserving kids can have that.

There needs to be sewage in San Mateo and electricity. The smell of San Mateo will stay with me for a long time. There is nothing so disappointing as the SMELL of poverty.

A safe house for women and children needs to be built. I spoke with a female police officer that informed me she would be interested in working on a domestic abuse program.

A donation needs to come from a shipping company to deliver the playground that is waiting to be shipped from Texas to the school so that the children can play in a nice safe playground, and not be surrounded by broken glass and bottles.


I am planning on trying to connect with some church groups, social groups and organizations to see if we can get donations of money, time, and service. After all we are all one. I am looking forward to a day when I will be able to give my time to those that could use the help.

The options are endless where to help and I just can't wait to get started. I also will enjoy after a hard day of work, going to the beach and watching the sunset. Ya! That warms my heart!

Holy Cross School - San Pedro Belize

Feb 2008 ~ My trip to Belize

I went to the Holy Cross School yesterday.

It was certainly an eye opener for me. The first thing I noticed was that the children were so friendly. They welcomed their foreign visitor and were the most polite children I had ever seen. In the classroom, I could hear scuffling of books, papers and saying shhhhhhh, because, of course I am assuming, they have that much respect for Vernon.

I also noticed that this school is modest in it's appearance, but seems to be teaching things schools in North America could learn a thing or two from. I read the writing on the wall myself. Instead of your everyday graffiti, it said , Love your family and Help the sick.

I chatted with Vernon with length and took a walk through San Mateo. I learned of some of the difficulties these hardworking families deal with. I learned how much the community is benefiting from the school and how they would like to to expand, to increase career opportunities for these children to work towards, and judging from their behaviour, they certainly have the discipline and motivation to financially EXCEL in any part of the world.

I hope that I will be able to return year after and see the school grow. Thank you for a wonderful tour, and I am thankful for all the hard work, effort, and love you put into your school. May you be blessed with tonnes of abundance, and goodwill.

Joanne from Canada

Buying Bananas and Vacation Time

I am so excited! We are booked to head to Belize, that is my best friend Erin and I. We booked our tickets and I am looking forward to joining our other friends in Belize. I am also looking forward to visiting the Holy Cross Anglican School. I want to go down to the school and volunteer for a day and see how things are working in a school in a third world country. It will be good exposure for the life I am planning on living.

http://tacogirlblog.blogspot.com/
http://holycrossbelize.blogspot.com/

University is moving along great. I just can't believe how much there is to learn. I have been learning about the poverty in Jamaica and the Kingston Free Zone.

I am just appalled to really learn how much wealth is in so few countries, and how the rest of the world survives or struggles might be a better word. I thought about that tonight when I was buying my bananas. I recently saw a clip in the movie "Life and Debt," how Dole, Chiquita and Del Monte have slave labourers working on Banana Plantations. It was disgusting to see the workers being beat and forced back to work at gun point when they tried to form a union. All because bananas is a big money business. The more I hear about slavery in the year 2008, the more grateful I am to be privledged to live in a country like Canada. The next time you reach for those bananas when you are in your local grocery store, take time to give thanks, for the people in South America that are getting paid 1.00 per day and living in squalor, to ensure that we can send a snack in our kids lunches.

Anger -- WHAT CAN IT DO FOR ME

If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow. ---- Chinese Proverb



WE are all too familiar with the feeling of anger. It can temporarily paralyze us, cause impairment to our vision, hearing and reflexes.It can have long term affects on the human body's ability to function normally causing psychological, cardio-vascular and digestive disorders. In many cases anger can lead to heart attacks and even death. It is a major contributor to divorce, domestic-assault, murder and finally war. Anger is an attack on our natural sense of equillibreum and balance. In it's purest form it is a "get even mentality" that causes much more destruction than rewards.

Anger itself does more harm than the condition which aroused anger --- David MacKay


Yet, as unhealthy and unnatural as anger is to us we are still able to conjure all kinds of jsutifications for holding onto it. Bitter thoughts flow through our minds like a rapid racing river, "he left me for another woman, I was abused as a child, she got the promotion that I worked hard for" or even things much more trivial like the all to familiar "road rage" and someone jsut interupting a conversation can set us on an angry rampage for the day.

Anger is like a poision brewing in our bodies. It affects us mentally, spiritually, physically and emotionally. It is an energy that most people try to avoid. Anger can easily be decribed as cold, hostile and unpredictable. It is therefore essential to our own well-being that we rid our mind body and soul of anger. We must learn the tools for looking beneath the anger, analyse it and never get lost in it.

Generally there are deep underlying factors that erupt in anger and make us see red. Anger is an emotion that does not stem from love, but grows from fear. Some of the many issues that fester into the anger blister are: abandonment, sorrow, injustice, rejection and disappointment. However, if we peel back just one more layer we find beneath all of these feelings is fear.

Anger: an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured. --- Lucius Annaeus Seneca

We may fear failure, success, being alone, not being good enough or worthy but the most crippling of all fears is the fear of change. When some type of fear cripples us we often disguise it with an ugly mask of anger. We can always think of ways to justify anger, and we might be quite right, but the fact still remains that anger only hurts the one that holds onto it.

Taking a step back from the situation and looking at it from a spiritual eye, with understanding and forgiveness allows one to see things from a different perspective, another viewpoint or a fresh clean lense. Anger is a choice.WE can feed it, and baby it, and hold it and pay attention toit, talk about it, and watch it grow into an ugly monster. We have options of letting it go, looking at the underlying fear, being open to change, writing, discussing, accepting and allowing. When disected properly we can make positive change by seperating the emotions from the reactions and heal the heart and cheer the soul. Anger, when looked at deeply can be a valuable tool used to propel us forward into self-growth and discovery, healing and success.
Ultimately anger is a choice, and how you deal with it will be yours.

Don't hold to anger, hurt or pain. They steal your energy and keep you from love. -Leo Buscaglia.