LFC= Love, Forgive , and Create. A reflection on the gift of living at my fullest capacity.

My father came to the U.S. in January of 1967, landing on a Friday & starting work the following Monday. Born in Argentina to parents that came from Austria looking to find work in the early 30’s. My father was disciplined man, also very strict & frugal. For most of his life he worked as a “machinist” in the Los Angeles area, and married my mother in the late sixties. My parents divorced in the early 80’s, and I spent several years in a foster home, with my mother ultimately getting full custody. After age 14, I didn’t see or speak with my father for over 30 years. The Friday before Christmas 2014, he walked back into my life, showing up at the shop I co-owned & ran with my sister. Over the past years, I had sent him cards that his wife had intercepted, but he did manage to get one with the return address. Later I found out that my father had made a decision to find me that year, 2014. He had sold his duplex in Venice Beach, was retired, and had been livi...

First thing to becoming your own “Superhero” is realizing that it’s all you, and that no one is coming to save you! You can learn to take positive actions that make you feel powerful, and those can lead to good things happening in every part of your life. How do we start? First, by adopting a “Super-hero” mind-set, and starting to take actions that empower you to make positive changes in your life. Believing that you can is powerful, and that starts with a small steps that can become everyday habits. 1) Have self-awareness: Learn about yourself in order to understand your strengths, weaknesses, goals, and values. Self -awareness is your beginning of personal growth & empowerment. What’s your super-power? 2) Define your goals: Take a look at your life, and make clear decisions about where you want to go, and what you want to do with it. Make a list of career, relationship, health, or personal development goals, and begin to take steps to achieve them. Prioritize...

Our feelings are primarily there to guide us, and learning to acknowledge, accept, and express them can be truly beneficial for everyone. When we Acknowledge that we are having “feelings”, it’s good, showing us that we are aware of them. Feelings are neither good or bad, they are simply part of who we are. Sometimes feelings can be very helpful, by showing us what’s important, and what makes us happy, sad, or angry. If we can Accept our feelings, feel them, sit with them, we can gain more understanding from them. We may have little power over feelings when they arise, but we can choose what to do about them. This is our responsibility & decision. Imagine our feelings as “visitors”, that come to stay with us for a little while, revealing things we may need to know. This is natural & can be helpful, it’s when the feelings decide they want to “stay in our system” for awhile, that can be harmful. It’s up to us to accept & acknowledge them, then let them go. This m...

The main idea and concept of a “God Box”, is a place where you can store your written prayers, intentions, & even the future dreams you wish to manifest. You can also ask for help or guidance around a certain situation. If you have a need / desire you want to surrender, and you believe in something bigger than yourself, Higher Power, God, or Spirit, then getting a God Box is a good idea. You will need an actual container with a lid. It can be a box, a can, or even a jar. It can be plain or decorated, big or small, as long as it has a lid. Once you have your “container”, you can write out your wishes, intentions, prayers, and desires on a piece of paper as they come up. If you wish, write them out as a letter to God, asking for what you need. This is a powerful act of surrendering, and letting go . It is a ritual of sorts, and you can choose how & when you do it. I use my God box at least 1X or 2X a week. I put almost everything that I need help with, from big things ...

One of the most loving things we can do for others & ourselves in this lifetime is to practice forgiveness. The term “practice forgiveness”, is to do it in the best way we know how. We may not do it “perfectly” hence the word practice. Yet to try brings value to not just the other person, but to ourselves, for it is a scrubbing of our spirit that washes us clean of negative emotions. When we feel injured or find fault with another persons actions or decisions, judgements can form, and resentments can grow. These can cloud our vision and quite literally take up space in both our minds and our bodies. The injury we feel can cause anger, and the negative emotions can make our jaw clench & tighten, and our blood boil. These negative emotions can move into the body, much like a person moves into a house, and not leave. They act up, behaving like the very worst tenants ever, wrecking havoc in the home that is our body. This can result in “dis-ease” of the body and soul, a...

Self love can start with letting yourself have fun” or, giving your self permission to have fun. Re-parenting yourself & taking time to enjoy life in a nature setting. Almost any form / place in nature can be healing, and studies have shown that when we take ourselves out in nature it can be pleasant, healing, and relaxing. A simple way I have found to “re-parent” myself, is by letting myself do the fun things that I loved / enjoyed as a child. One “Easy way to empower yourself” is by trying new things, and starting small works best for me. This means to take something I already like to do & expand on it, taking it a step further. For me, exercising in nature is fun, one favorite way is going to different parks on excursions and giving myself time to sit / be in nature. A favorite place I went as a child was the “L.A. Arboretum”. As an adult, this can be the perfect outing for or myself when I need time alone, or am looking for inspiration. The grounds are large...

“Wait, pause…don’t take any sudden actions or make decisions before you have given yourself a moment to think, or maybe even run that thought by a fellow or friend. This advice was so foreign to me, it was like watching a cow flying past me with a set of wings. I couldn’t digest the idea of “waiting” when I had learned that by taking fast action, my problem could be solved. Not only was the problem solved, but I didn’t have to sit and wonder what was happening. Sitting still and wondering made me feel so uncomfortable. In my past world, I was always in a reactive mode instead a responsive one. In the book “Don’t Worry, Make Money”, author Richard Carlson, Ph.D. states: “The reactive mode is one that feels stressful. In it, we feel pressured & are quick to judge. We lose perspective and take things personally.” Over time, the word pause became part of my vocabulary, and when broken down the word can mean: P- postpone A- action U- until S-serenity E-enter s ...