I Love my Father, But..........

I love my Dad, and I want to help him, but some days I don't know how. I feel so guilty. He gave everything he had to help me be who I am today and now he seems so... helpless, so confused.... and other times he is angry and belligerent. He can be so stubborn at times! He gets something in his head and you can't tell him any different, no matter how hard you try...... I don't know what to do! He can't live by himself anymore. He forgets to eat or he turns on the stove and forgets to turn it off. I am afraid he will set the house on fire on day.... I try to talk some sense into him, but you think he will listen? NO, not my father, he is so stubborn, so bound and determined he is going to be independent. What am I going to do? I can't stay there with him all the time, I have my own family to care for and run after. He makes me so angry! I just want him to be safe. I want him to be OK.

Many of us in the "Sandwich Generation" face this same dilemma. How do we take care of our own family and our parent at the same time. When you are faced with this situation, it is easy to get overwhelmed by emotions. To feel so responsible that it is hard to think clearly. Over the next few days and weeks, I will be discussing this situation at length.

What help is available for us? Is there anyone to help us make the decision? How do we know what is the right thing to do? How do we "do the right thing" and not feel guilty?

Six Minutes to Success

Dear Friends
Once, a man named Joe and his little girl were crossing a wooden-bridge in Tarrytown, New York.

Joe was kind of scared so he asked his little daughter, "Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you don't fall into the river." The little girl said, "No, Dad. You hold my hand." "What's the difference?" Asked the puzzled father. "There's a big difference," replied the little girl.
"If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go. But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens, you will never let my hand go."

In any relationship, the essence of trust is not in its bind, but in its bond.
As you may already know, over the last 40 years of Bob Proctor's life he's been holding people's hands and leading them step-by-step across the bridge to a life of richness and success.
If you allow him to hold your hand... he promises to keep your faith and lead you to a world of insane wealth and prosperity.

Click here to find out exactly how he'll be holding your hand and leading you step-by-step to the other side of the bridge: http://store.sixminutestosuccess.com/?aid=594182
Warmly,
Christine

Does Reaching For Safety = DANGER?

I wrecked my bike today. Out for a slow, leisurely ride with my husband and I wrecked my bike! Can you believe it? No rocky trail, no treacherous downhill, just low curb at the edge of the road. How did I manage to do that you might ask. And rightly so. Just a little curb, how could that cause me to wreck my bike???

I was wondering the same thing as I picked myself up and brushed off the bark mulch. I looked down at the huge road rash on my leg and my first thought was, "Well, I guess I will be wearing slacks for a few days." I would really hate to have people asking me how I hurt myself, and I would be too embarassed to tell them...

As I thought about the accident and I got done yelling at myself for being so "stupid and clumsy," (Isn't amazing how those old tapes spring to the surface. Thank you, my brothers - I guess you are never far from my heart.) I realized that the reason I crashed was I was being overly cautious. I had slowed my speed and tried to approach at a slight angle. Well.... the angle was too narrow and my speed was too slow and I ended up picking myself up off the ground.

I find that I do this in life sometimes. Sometimes I labor over a decsion and take tentative steps when I should just let go and do it!! I either need to go for it or forget it. A half way comitment is no commitment at all. I am making a commitment to GO FOR IT!!!!

I am choosing to go for my dream. I am throwing caution to the wind. What is the purpose for living if I hate what I am doing. I choose to life my life to the fullest and follow my dream. Are you going to join me?? Are you going to follow your dream? or are you going to choose safety?

Is It a Pebble or a Mountain?

When I come upon a situation, and I have to make a decision... Sometimes it is very easy and other times it is very difficult. Sometimes the decision or problem is so small that it is barely a pebble in my path and other times, it seems like I am asked to climb a mountain when I have to make a choice.

Pebble or mountain? What makes the difference? What makes some decisions mountains and other decisions seem so small and insignificant? Sometimes a decision seems small because we feel it is "out of our control." Other times it is because it is a learned response. Still other times it is because we really don't care one way or another.. we leave it up to others to choose.

What makes a decision a mountain? What makes a choice hard to make? The reason some choices are hard to make is because they are very important to us, to our families, to people we care about. We are afraid to trust ourselves to make the right choice.

When I am faced with a difficult decision I ask myself the following questions:

1. What is the emotion I am feeling around this decision? (Is it fear, anxiety, excitement, overwhelm, confusion, indecision....)

2. What is the basis for this emotion? ( Fear of failure? Overwhelm at the size of the project or decision?...)

3. What support do I have in making this decision? (We don't get support unless we ask.)

4. What is my "why"? Why do I want to do this? (If our "why" is big enough the choice is simpler)

5. How would I feel, what would my life be like if I am successful with this decision?

6. What would my like be like if I choose not to try?

7. What is the "worse possible outcome" if I to do this and it fails. Can I live with it?

Most of the time, after answering the above questions, I find that as my mother frequently told me: I am "making a mountain out of a mole hill." The reason I tend to do this is based in emotional thinking. I allow my emotions to color my thinking. I focus on the emotion of the moment instead of the outcome I am looking to achieve.