Got problems?

Who doesn't right?



Ahhh but no worries because every problem brings incredible gifts.

When I was in the middle of water pouring through the ceiling in my upstairs hallway, through windows and the back door and snow was piled so high we thought we'd never see our back stairs again worried about how would we escape if God forbid there was a fire (Tom told me we could jump out the window and land in the snow pile on the side of the house) I was feeling stressed to the max. People were telling us it would cost at least $2500 to clean the roof and remove the ice dams. Feeling overwhelmed at that point was an understatement. But Spirit is always at work if we open ourselves and ask for help.

First I saw a post from one of my friend's on Facebook that we could submit a claim to our insurance company. Water from above due to ice dams is covered in home owner's policy. We have worked with our agent for years and he was wonderful in helping to initiate the claim. The process went very smoothly and we will be getting additional monies as more damage was revealed as the snow and ice melted.

We needed to do work on the house and the ice dam damage gave us the push we needed.

In the midst of my panic, I was somehow able to hear Spirit suggest "two words" duct tape. There was a political joke about someone predicting the apocalypse and the answer to every problem was two words - duct tape. It certainly was the answer to our problem to prevent further water damage.

And then the Universe sent us Eddie the roofer who only charged us $400 to clear the snow off of the roof; explained to us what was causing the ice dams and that all we needed to do was put some holes in the ceiling to allow for quick drainage. Once the snow was off the roof, the leaking would stop. It took trust and faith in this total stranger that the leaking would in fact stop.

He also told us about Mass Save to have our insulation replaced and to get a home energy audit. We saved $2000 to get new insulation, have proper ventilation for our bathroom fan (which was in violation of a safety code), have work done to prevent ice dams from forming in the future and have already saved over $20/month on our electric bill from the energy audit.

Eddie also referred us to Mike the electrician to have the electrical work done. Mike also found code violations and brought us up to code while he did the repairs from ice dam damage.

As good fortune would have it, Eddie has not only been doing roofing, but does contract work. Next week we begin the final phase of repairs.

I am taking this opportunity to clean and have our home reflect the positive and amazing shift and transformation that is happening in our lives. We will buy a few new things but running things through the washing machine and doing a good scrubbing is really all that's needed.

I am taking it room by room and relishing in the transformation while the process of repairs is happening in other rooms.

It's amazing to feel the energy shift ...

So got problems? Who doesn't right but oh the gifts and treasures we discover wrapped up inside of the problems when we open up to the goodness and benevolence of the Universe. Just remember...



Be blessed! Journey well! To all good things...

My latest book, "Journey Well" is now available on Amazon along with all of my inspirational books. 50% of book proceeds are donated to the Massachusetts Resiliency Center, a safe, welcoming space for survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing to heal and stay in touch with one another; a virtual hub for a widely dispersed community whose lives have been impacted by the tragic events of April 15th and the events that followed.

When terror struck the world's oldest and most beloved marathon on April 15, 2013, it was a defining moment in Mary McManus’ life and the lives of all those in Boston and around the world. It was her wake up call to return to the sport and community that have been medicine and a lifeline for her throughout her marathon of healing the late effects of paralytic polio and experiencing 9 years of domestic violence as a child and adolescent. Mary captures the essence of Boston Strong through her experience of the 2014 Boston Marathon and as she profiles the people who are Boston Stronger. Through her blog posts, poems and journal entries woven together with excerpts from her memoir, “Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility,” you will experience, through one woman’s journey of transformation and healing, that no matter what happens to us, we can all learn to journey well.

Choose Happiness - I'm a Cockeyed Optimist

Anna McNuff posted a video on Facebook in which she said, "Welcome to today. It's pouring with rain for the 3rd day in a row. And I've got about 30KM to run. The way I see it - you can do two things you can get miserable or you can get happy and I'm gonna get frickin' happy so I'm smiling and waving and talking to the sheep and singing ... it's only 4 hours of running...come on!"

There is, in each moment, an opportunity to choose happiness. Now please understand that I'm not saying we choose happiness to the exclusion of other emotions. There are times when we need to express sadness, anger, and frustration and allow those feelings to move through us.

What's important is that we not stay stuck in those emotions that weigh us down and that we practice choosing happiness.

When I wake up in the morning, I give thanks that I am alive to greet a new day. I meditate and allow nature's soundtrack to feed my soul; sometimes it's the rain on the window, the birds singing or our cat purring next to me.

This morning as I felt free floating anxiety and old thought patterns wanted to sink their tentacles into me, I had this image of pheresing or dialyzing my beliefs. Pheresis or dialysis is a way to purify the blood. I recognized the old thoughts and after imagining them being whisked away, thought about all the amazing people and things in my life that I am grateful for. I started to percolate a poem about pheresis of beliefs and had fun with word play. When I thought about my latest creative endeavor, Feel the Heal, an Anthology of Poems I felt happiness and joy.

I tapped into the energy of healing, of hope and of possibility as I train for the 2016 Newport Marathon. I thought about how I graduated from Aquatics Therapy at Spaulding Rehab to now do strength training on land (or as I did today, took advantage of a week long free membership at Wave Health Club to do strength training in the pool) and do lap swimming for cross training as I embrace and embody my inner marathoner.

Visualizing and imagining my upcoming races both in the short and long term brings me happiness and joy and supports my body's healing and sense of well being. I read stories, listen to music and choose people to be with in my life who also choose happiness and optimism. I am learning to say yes to me and am mindful of how I expend my energy making sure that what I am choosing supports my sense of well being and happiness. I'm learning how to play and enjoy and feel good in my body.

If I solely looked at appearances of my medical record and psychosocial health history, I would have every reason to be very depressed. If I scrutinized the scars and the shape of my body rather than feeling happy that I am doing everything I can to heal and be in the best shape possible, I would be miserable. But I choose to look beyond appearances because I know everything is in flux, always changing, always improving and I remain committed to the outcomes I want in my life that support happiness, peace, comfort, safety and well being. As Nellie says in "South Pacific":

"I just can't work myself up to getting that low."

"I'm stuck like a dope on a thing called hope."



So some may call me a cockeyed optimist but first, last and always, I choose happiness.

Be blessed! Journey well! To all good things...

My latest book, "Journey Well" is now available on Amazon along with all of my inspirational books. 50% of book proceeds are donated to the Massachusetts Resiliency Center, a safe, welcoming space for survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing to heal and stay in touch with one another; a virtual hub for a widely dispersed community whose lives have been impacted by the tragic events of April 15th and the events that followed.

When terror struck the world's oldest and most beloved marathon on April 15, 2013, it was a defining moment in Mary McManus’ life and the lives of all those in Boston and around the world. It was her wake up call to return to the sport and community that have been medicine and a lifeline for her throughout her marathon of healing the late effects of paralytic polio and experiencing 9 years of domestic violence as a child and adolescent. Mary captures the essence of Boston Strong through her experience of the 2014 Boston Marathon and as she profiles the people who are Boston Stronger. Through her blog posts, poems and journal entries woven together with excerpts from her memoir, “Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility,” you will experience, through one woman’s journey of transformation and healing, that no matter what happens to us, we can all learn to journey well.

Perspective, Conditioning and Living in the Moment

When I went through my Facebook stream this morning, I found this powerful and poignant post from my friend Donna Santoro Judge who has been living with cancer for the past 8+ years. She was given six months to live at one point but she is thriving and continues to move through the storms that cancer brings with grace, humor, integrity and a fierce Spirit.

As I look out our window all I see is snow. From the inside it's beautiful, magical, and mystical. On the outside there is a different view. The flakes fall one by one portraying their own story. How did this one shape and why are they all different. Each snowflake is created with it's own personality. They float down gracefully as if each one is an angel from heaven trying to touch our souls.
I know the snow looks angry and I know so many are sick of it, but take it in, each flake, each shape, each personality, and each angel. Maybe Mother Nature is not mad at us, Maybe, just maybe she sent so many angels to us, because let's face it a lot of us need angels.
I think maybe it's a lesson for so many. Everyone sees all this snow as overwhelming. We all wonder where will we put it? So many say how much they hate it. Well the clutter of snow everywhere you look is the same image in the mind of anyone who is living with a life threatening illness. It's so easy to look at the copious amounts of snow and so difficult to see each flake for what it is, just as for us, it's so easy to face your own mortality every day and it's so hard to get back to that moment you are alive and well.

She put the snow and storms of the past several weeks into perspective for me.

We are conditioned now to react to the weather and to the weather forecasts. We narrow our view to see how it is inconveniencing and impacting us and our world. We are in this cycle of fear and uncertainty. I found myself getting caught up in it. It's easy to do especially when I had a lifetime of being conditioned to experience fear and to want control over what I had no control over living in a chaotic violent household.

But we are not destined to be conditioned to fear.

When we live in the moment, all fear melts away. When we tell ourselves all will be well and all is well, all fear melts away. When we reframe our perspective as Donna did away from anger and to love and feeling the love and support of the Universe no matter the conditions, all fear melts away. The warmth and love in our hearts may not be able to melt the snow; we'll have to wait for Mother Nature's help to do that but caring for ourselves and one another in the midst of the storm can and does melt away the fear to reveal the gift of the present moment!

Presence from "A Celebration of Life"

Presents
gifts of awakening and awareness
come in the oddest of boxes
illness
old age
death
presence always presenting
opportunities
for transformation
the physical body
an illusion really
yet necessary
if we are to experience the fullness of life
the journey is the destination
being present
receiving all the gifts that presence presents.

Journey well!


"Journey Well" and all of my inspirational books are available on Amazon.

"Journey Well" is a book about resilience, strength, courage and how we are able to journey well no matter what conditions life hands to us. I profile the people who are Boston Stronger and share how 4/15/13 was a wake up call to me to return to my healing path from contracting paralytic polio at age 5 and 9 years of domestic violence as a child and adolescent.



50% of all book proceeds are donated to AccesSportAmerica where people of all ages and abilities achieve higher function and fitness through high challenge sports and training.