TWELVE WAYS TO KEEP SMILING! - how to live & not die

[TantriNura56]

A few nights ago, a stranger came online in my Yahoo Messenger and said she is a Malaysian living in Australia. She wants to chat with someone from home. I said Im free, so let's chat.

As we chatted on, she began to trust me and told me about her personal life. Her husband of 10 years died and they have no children. She is in deep depression and is looking for men like her late husband. It is as though her life ended too with his death. From the way she talks, I know I cannot advise her from racial or religious aspects. although these are the two factors that we have in common. I try to be tactful as possible.

I suggested this forum to her, so that she can shared her life experiences with us here and get feedbacks which in a way can console her griefs. She really need help because she cant let go.

[bulbir]

we must live and well for great guy

for death is a fearful thought.
Much as we do not like to know or even hear it, but it happens and daily for people are born everyday and die too.
We cannot run away from death. It is a reality and living is a dream.
And it can happen to anyone anytime! One can be a child, and adult or an elder. The death angel just comes and say ‘it is time let us go’.
And often death strikes when you lest expect, that makes it a more horror episode!
The lost of child by any parents is a great tragedy. It is almost unbearable.
How I wish the young do not die premature. To me all people must live a full life and when that is over they may call it day, not before.
And for parents to see their kids go before them, is a very sad and tragic part of life. It makes living almost
unbearable. It can easily paralyse anyone .And it so hard to accept this situation.
But do we have a choice is here? No, nothing at all.
It is His order that young, adult, and old go, when the great God commands. He made us He decides when to call it day!
We have no say here for GOD - Generator, Operator and Destroyer- has the final say.
He decides. We are his obedient servants. We cannot question what he does and why. He plans the way he wants, and have them executed!
In Sikhism we call it the "Bhana -Rajee- His will. His command take effect, who are we to say, can wait lah- you know good God so much yet to do…
A little more time to play and care for my grand –children and then I am ready- No, we would never be.
We would continue to give excuses and excuses. He knows man! So he decides, as much as we do not like!
Death is set from the day we depart to this world. The time to it marches on by seconds.
We Sikhs believe that we came here at his will and we depart at his command. No negotiation, arguments here, he may pluck you when a you are a child, he may in adult years or he may say you are old enough to go man, so lets go!
They say the whole world is like His garden with a many plants ( humans) of hue and colour.
He decides when to pluck, or not to. Or He may even just ignore some of them, for a long time and then one day say, man time is up! We are mere puppets. He calls the music and we dance, like it not.
So baffling and complex is death that when it strikes a dear and near one and more so prematurely, you are left stranded, you just do not know what to say or do!
And as they say when we lose someone dear and near, we loose a big part of ourselves.
And this part cannot be put back again, never! Sad but true.
But that said and done His will prevails and do what may. We just have to learn to live in his will.
But Prayer gives us strength to bear his command.
Remember all good or bad has come from the Almighty Lord, trust in him he knows what is right!
As they say if God brings you to it, He will bring you through it!

[phhteik]

Thank you Mr. Bulbir Singh for your message .

One secret I have not revealed in my self-healing is that I LISTEN to inspirational audio cassettes.

And Dr. Leo Buscaglia is one of my great mentor. He makes me LAUGH and CRY when I listen to " THE ART OF BEING FULLY HUMAN ".

I also watch HEALING VCD such as that from BENNY HINNS.

They are all good sources of healing energy.

Perhaps, you will be able to find your own sources of HEALING.

Books by KATHRYN KUHLMAN are rich sources of real life testimonies of people who were miraculously cured. Her books include :

1. I Believe in Miracles

2. Nothing is Impossible with God

3. Never too Late

This faith healer has passed away, but her legacy lives on in her books.


I also listen to tapes by Og Mandino, Zig Ziglar, W Clement Stone, and others whom I believe can input their self-help knowledge to me. I have profitted from their astute sharing.

Those ladies who have constant health problems big or small will be comforted by that fantastic woman LOUISE L. HAY whose books include :

1. Life !

2. Heal Your Body

3. Love your Body

4. You Can Heal Your Life

5. The Power Is Within You

Louise L. Hay teaches HOLISTIC HEALING and is very popular overseas.
Those who want to contact her can write to

Hay House, Inc.
P.O.Box 5100
Carlsbad, CA 92018-5100
USA

Visit the folloeing websites

''hayhouse.com

''louisehay.com

I would advice those women who want to read her good books to write to her. Her writings have also cured many MEN from CANCER and many other ailments... by correct living, thoughts, food, exercise and so on.

Hope this short posting will help those who CANNOT help themselves.

The phone numbers in my book says to call:

Hay House, Inc ( United States of America )............
(760) 431-7695
or, (800) 654-5126

They are the PUBLISHERS of her HEALING books

[bulbir]

phhteik
God does all good and bad, believe it
And GOD stands

G- Generator
O Operator
D Destroyer

like it or not. I truly believe

bulbir singh

[phhteik]

good reply

[TantriNura56]

Hi again.

Ok.....how do I begin? As Asians, when a tragedy happened, we always think it's the will of god that it has happened. But when I chat with my online friends from america or Uk, they think differently. They said that it is difficult to believe in god now because if god really exist he wouldnt make his people suffer. That made me think deeply. Im a muslim and of course, in my faith, we place our fate and destiny to the Almighty. We planned but He decide. Does a tragedy makes a person closer to god or push him further away?

[phhteik]

TWELVE WAYS TO KEEP SMILING!
- how to live & not die

Recently I bought a cute inspirational card from MEMORY LANE GIFT SHOP.

It has a message from Douglas Pagels . I hope it will be useful to you all in 2008.

Hold on to your dreams, and never let them go

Show the world how wonderful you are!

Give circumstances a chance, and give others the benefit of the doubt

Wish on a star that shines in your sky

Take on your problems one by one and work things out

Rely on all the strength you have inside

Let loose of the sparkle and spirit that you sometimes try to hide

Stay in touch with those who touch your life with love

LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE and don't let adversity keep you from winning

Be yourself, because you are filled with special qualities that have brought you this far, and that will always see you through

Keep your spirits up!

Make your heart happy, and let it reflect on everything you do!




HENRY J. KAISER
When the sky falls down, look at the bright side of life. THIS is the advice given by HENRY J. KAISER to his workers years ago.

It happened that a severe storm had washed out all his construction efforts, and there were nothing but MUD everywhere. THERE IS A SAYING :

3 women looked out from prison bars.
When Mary woke up she saw MUD everywhere.
Lulu saw STARS in the sky at night.
But when day breaks, and it is about noontime, Celine the Lion saw a CLEAR BLUE SKY.

CELINE the LION was the only prisoner who looked at the bright side of life.

It is reported that Henry J. Kaiser asks his workers why they are so despondent.

" THERE IS MUD EVERYWHERE, BOSS ! "

Mr Kaiser said, " I do not see any mud ."

" How can you say that, boss ? ", the workers asks incredulously, pointing at the soggy ground.

HENRY tells them, " I LOOK AT THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE. I LOOK AT THE CLEAR BLUE SKY ABOVE, isn't it beautiful? "

And from that fateful day onwards, ALL his workers LOOK AT THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE... AND SAW ONLY A CLEAR BLUE SKY. The mud was only in their mind. It does not exist. This is how Henry J. Kaiser became a successful man. . . by looking at the bright side of life.

( THIS story was told personally to me by a MR DALE GALLOWAY. )






THE POWER OF INTENTION as described by very successful author Dr Wayne W Dyer will have the potential in priming our pump in 3 important areas of our life:

[1]. Our career ' out there '
[2]. Our family life
[3]. Our work@home preoccupation

Priming the pump has 3 succinct benefits :

[1]. The past is taken care of
[2]. The present is taken care of
[3]. The future is taken care of

........................... those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible ! [ from ''vizdepot.com ]

HAPPINESS IS OVER-RATED

To spend a life time searching for that elusive ingredient called HAPPINESS is like chasing after the wind.

Here today, gone tomorrow.

That is so certain for all of us here in the FORUM.

A better way to live a life would be to passionately DO IT NOW. The death of famous JOHN DENVER, JOHN LENNON, PRINCESS DIANA, JOHN KENNEDY or the KANDOS Chocolate King of Ceylon Mr. Upali shows life can be wiped out just like that. The local newspaper is full of stories of people HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW.

ACTION speaks louder than words, and the criteria of a good life well lived is encapsulated in those 3 words " DO IT NOW ". iF YOU DON'T live NOW and do it now, there is no life at all. We are staring death in the face every day.

Recently my fellow students in Sydney lost a brother/brother-in-law. This shows me that however brilliant or rich or successful you are, the end is death. Everything in life is volatile and uncertain. DEATH IS CERTAIN. Like a mad dog, it will catch up with you, and tear you to pieces.

This is the fate of everyone.

If I want to keep myself busy, I do it now.

FORGET ABOUT HAPPINESS. Happiness is over-rated. Live now. Do it now.

NO ONE CAN HAVE IT ALL.

......... " row, row, row your boat,
gently down the stream,
merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
life is just a dream " (FROM WAYNE W. DYER's inspirational cassette tape)

run to the shop and get your own copy of Dale Carnegie's ` How To Stop Worrying And Start Living ' today

STOP WORRYING AND START LIVING
( DON'T sweat the small stuff. AND it's all small stuff. )


I found the answer to the pertinent question * ` how to live and not die ? ' when my friend gave me a photostat copy of the following words of wisdom.

Hope it is relevant to YOUR meaning of life.

If You Are Unhappy

*** ONCE UPON A TIME when JAMES BOND wasn't yet licenced-to-kill, when cineplex was unheard of, when people watched black-and-white movies at night in an open field, when the water you drank came from a deep well, and when grandmother went shopping in a bullock cart, auntie Hetty Sumarijanto told the story of a nonconforming sparrow named LITTLE MISS GOLDEN SPARROW, who refused to fly south for the winter. After much persuasion from her fine-feathered friends to join them on the expedient journey to the south, she decided to stay put. The other sparrows sped away to the warm weather in the south.

The winter was so cold LITTLE MISS GOLDEN SPARROW saw three Shih Tzu dogs and five strong Persian horses froze to death right before her very eyes.

So Little Miss Golden Sparrow flew south in a hurry. It was too late. Ice formed on her wings and she fell to earth in a barnyard. She was half dead with frost, and could not move an inch. LITTLE MISS GOLDEN SPARROW said,

" Good gracious, I Am Going To Die Here. "

So she said her Hail Mary.

Then she recited The Our Father asking God to pardon all her sins. She then moanfully sang the sad hymns `ABIDE WITH ME' and `NEARER MY GOD TO THEE', and she then waited patiently for the end of the world, resigned to her fate.

She said her prayers. Her very last prayer was THE PRAYER OF JABEZ.

At this point of time her prayers were answered.

A bloody cow appeared out of nowhere and shit on LITTLE MISS GOLDEN SPARROW. Little Miss Golden Sparrow said,

" I Am Going To Die In The Bloody Shit. "

But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

The cow dung act as a very warm and comfortable blanket and kept her alive.

( Note: There is a Chinese saying,

"WHEN THE SKY DROPS ON ME,
I USE IT AS A KING COMFORTER." )

The hot shit melted the ice on her feathers.

Little Miss Golden Sparrow was so happy in the warm shit, she started to shout,

" PRAISE THE LORD! "

" Hallelujah! "

THEN SHE SANG the hymn ` what a friend we have in jesus ' .

THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY THE HYMN " To God Be The GLORY ".

Finally she sang, " AMAZING GRACE " , followed by the hymn " ROCK OF AGES ".

She even sang the national anthem! Such was her new-found joy!

By a stroke of bad luck, or is it Bad Karma (?), GARFIELD - that big fat cat - was passing by, and hearing the chirping and hymn singing and national anthem singing as well, this big bad "puddy" cat came in to investigate the sounds.

Garfield cleared away THE hot and spicy SHIT, found LITTLE MISS GOLDEN SPARROW and promptly ate hot and spicy KENTUCKY FRIED SPARROW.

the moral of the story

1. EVERYONE WHO SHITS ON YOU AND CURSES YOU AND BULLY YOU AND SAY YOU ARE A LIAR AND RACIST,and call you SATAN, and asks you to keep all your bad karma and unhappiness to yourself IS NOT NECESSARILY YOUR ENEMY.

2. EVERYONE WHO RESCUES YOU, WHO SAVES YOU, WHO PRAISES YOU, and becomes your best friend, AND WHO SAYS YOU LOOK SO BEAUTIFUL AND SEXY, and who gives your diamonds and designer jewellery, AND WHO GETS YOU OUT OF THE SHIT IS NOT NECESSARILY YOUR FRIEND.

3. AND, IF YOU ARE WARM and happy in a pile of SHIT, keep that gap of yours shut, don't open your mouth and make a lot of noise. Just keep quiet like in a library and you will live and not die.

PRECONCEIVED IDEAS ........... we all feel intimidated and humiliared when someone challenges our opinion 'cos we are sure we are damn right and they are wrong. Our peconceived ideas prevent us from thinking out of the box.. PREVENT US FROM REALISING " I am happiness. If I am happiness and I carry it with me everywhere I go, then I bring THIS THING CALLED HAPPINESS to all the activities of my life. I bring it to my breakfast in the morning, and I bring it to my travels. It is me and I am it and there is no distinction made. Happiness is me, I am happiness, wherever I am is happiness. Wherever I am is fine. "



To take calculated risks we got to stop THINKING ALL THE TIME and just take action step by step cautiously, and assessing later if it is the correct action. For example, we can take a sabbatical. Do nothing. Allow ourselves to be bored. ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE HAPPINESS. Stop worrying and start living.

Paradoxically, not doing anything is actually doing something positive and constructive. It is like making a choice to not make a decision. By refusing to think about the problem, the answer comes without difficulty. A miracle.

.... by stopping our STINKIN' THINKIN' , we joyfully START LIVING. We build a solid attitude foundation for ourselves so that when "things" are good our attitude is good. When "things" are bad our attitude is still good ----- which means that soon "things" will be good. We know that we do not PAY A PRICE for success. WE ENJOY THE BENEFITS of SUCCESS. We pay a price for failure. We know the benefits of a good healthy self-image.. and thereby enjoy ALL the benefits life has to offer. WE BRING THIS THING CALLED HAPPINESS TO THIS THING WE CALL A PROBLEM.

I say, "Happiness is me. I am happiness. Wherever I am is happiness. Wherever happiness is, I am there. "

Again, I say, " It is not working, but I can still be happy. "

I AM BRINGING THIS THING CALLED HAPPINESS TO THIS THING I CALL A PROBLEM.

When I am doing that constantly, then I am not saying, "I am deficient, there is something wrong with me," in terms of having a problem, but " I AM TERRIFIC. I AM CHOOSING TO BE IN THIS RELATIONSHIP IN THIS WAY, OR I AM CHOOSING TO RELATE TO MY SPOUSE IN THIS WAY AND AS TERRIFIC AS I AM ABOUT IT, IT STILL ISN'T WORKING FOR ME. BUT I CAN STILL BE HAPPY. "

happiness is encapsulated within the wisdom of THE FOURTH NOBLE TRUTH. happiness = THE FOURTH NOBLE TRUTH. happiness is the Path Leading To The End Of Suffering.

There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. This is the very soul of THE FOURTH NOBLE TRUTH. Congratulations to you all. You have all found THE PATH LEADING TO THE END OF SUFFERING at last. Say now to yourself, yes now, please, " I HAVE FOUND OUT THAT happiness LEADS TO THE END OF SUFFERING. IN MY WORLD, NOTHING EVER GOES WRONG. "

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

You and I have made it safely to the HAPPINESS shore on the other side of that great raging river.

You and I are safe now.

this is the reward for DISCOVERING HAPPINESS.

May you be well and happy.

*books that help me a lot ...

1 : THE POWER OF RESILIENCE

2 : Your Best Life Now. ... Author : pastor JOEL OSTEEN

----------------------------------------------------------------------- *UPDATE :4th Decmber 2007 (Tuesday)

ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE VEHICLE FOR PERSONAL CHANGE IS symbiotically bonded in A SINGLE WORD beginning with the alphabet P and ending with another alphabet R.

It has 6 letters of the alphabet.

PRAYER will bring a plethora of pleasures (if it is answered) or, if not answered, will give plenty of headaches.

THE SERENITY PRAYER calls upon us sentient beings to be at PEACE whether we can change or cannot change our circumstances. But how many sentient beings CAN be happy in an "unhappy situation"?

HERE is the answer to unanswered prayer, in a word, THE LAW OF ATTRACTION. Pastor Bruce Wilkinson saw the suffering of millions of sentient beings who are blocked by an INVISIBLE WALL OF UNANSWERED PRAYER. He wrote the most SHOCKING and most WONDERFUL book ever on prayer. In his tiny book THE PRAYER OF JABEZ , he guides us to the open domain of answered prayer.

Many sentient beings hate this book.

MILLIONS ENJOY THIS BOOK.

I found out about this book when it was reviewed in THE STAR newspaper about 7 years ago.

It is worth reading, if you want to THINK BIG in happiness, career, friendship, and so on.

3 : The Secret. RHONDA BYRNE.

4 : THE ULTIMATE BOOK OF MIND MAPS

5 : THE LUCK FACTOR ( change your luck and change your life )

6 : The Success Principles

7 : BATTLEFIELD OF THE MIND ( Winning the Battle in Your Mind )

8 : ACRES OF DIAMONDS. Russell H. Conwell

9 : SEE YOU AT THE TOP - Zig Ziglar

10 : REAL SUCCESS

11 : THE GREATEST MYSTERY IN THE WORLD - Og Mandino

12 - THE POWER OF NOW .. author : Eckhart Tolle

13 - RELIEF WITHOUT DRUGS ( the self-management of stress, pain and anxiety ).

Author : the late Doctor Ainslie Meares ( 1910 - 1986 ), M.D., D.P.M. of 45, Spring Street, Melbourne, Australia.
copyright 1967 by Ainslie Meares

first published in Gt. Britain in 1968
SOUVENIR PRESS LTD.
95, Mortimer Street, London, W.1

published in USA byDoubleday & Co., New York

also, COLLINS Fontana Books paperback edition in 1970
Collins Clear-Type Press London and Glasgow

Angus & Robertson ( PAPERBACK edition )
An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, Australia
25 Ryde Road,
Pymble,
Sydney NSW 2073,
Australia.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road, London W6 8JB , United Kingdom
PUBLISHED in 1995
Copyright by Estate of Ainslie Meares
( printed in Australia by Griffin Paperbacks )

14 : " BOUNDARIES " [ when to say YES, when to say NO to take control of your life ]
copyright 1992 by Henry Cloud and John Townsend
ZondervanPublishingHouse
a Division of HarperCollinsPublishers
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
printed in the United States of America

15 : TEN SECRETS FOR SUCCESS AND INNER PEACE ... copyright 2001 by Wayne W. Dyer

16. THE SECRET OF THE AGES . Robert Collier ...... friends in this forum, you cannot afford not to buy THIS ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS book on THE POWER OF PROSPEROUS THINKING and THE LAW OF ATTRACTION.

BOUNDARIES

Is your life out of control?

Do people take advantage of you?

Do you have trouble saying no?

HAVING BOUNDARIES IS ESSENTIAL TO A HEALTHY, BALANCED LIFESTYLE. A boundary is a personal property line that marks those things for which we are responsible. Boundaries define who we are and who we are not.

BOUNDARIES AFFECT ALL AREAS OF OUR LIVES:

*Physical boundaries helps us determine who may touch us, how, and when.

*Mental boundaries give us freedom to have our own htoughts and opinions.

*Emotional boundaries help us deal with our own emotions and disengage us from the harmful, manipulative emotions of others.

*Spiritual boundaries help us distinguish God's will from our own and give us renewed awe for our Creator.

OFTEN, WE FOCUS SO MUCH ON BEING LOVING AND UNSELFISH THAT WE FORGET OUR OWN LIMITS AND LIMITATIONS. WE MUST SET HEALTHY BOUNDARIES WITH OUR PARENTS, SPOUSES, CHILDREN, FRIENDS, CO-WORKERS, AND EVEN OURSELVES ---- BOUNDARIES THAT GIVE US FREEDOM TO WALK AS THE LOVING, GIVING, FULFILLED INDIVIDUALS GOD CREATED US TO BE.

Boundaries are a natural phenomenon. In the solar system, each planet moves only in its own space or obit around the sun, within its boundary. It is all 100% perfect movement. No collision is possible. The earth itself never move closer or further away from the sun. If it comes close to the sun, all human life will cease, as the earth will become a fireball. If it goes away from the sun, we will have an eternal winter till doomsday. And since we are on the planet earth and is part of the great mystery of nature, we also have to abide by the law of nature: THE LAW OF BOUNDARIES. It is obvious to some people, but there are people who violate this law, setting in motion all kinds of conflicts on earth. Unless we live in peace based on THE LAW OF BOUDARIES, and respect other people's space, there will be no peace.

I found a great nugget of wisdom on page 45 of THE SUCCESS PRINCIPLES by JACK CANFIELD. Here it is :

WHAT OTHERS THINK ABOUT YOU IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS

Nick Vujicic's web site : ''lifewithoutlimbs.org
Watch the FULL SCREEN video of this wonderful man without arms, hands, and only a small foot swimming under water in his family swimming pool.

to see the video, click " Video & Audio ", then you can select the video I watch by clicking on the following words :

Click here to get to know Nick and see his amazing video.
see him brush his teeth and hair,
shaves,
moves around at home,
and yes he even swims!

If you are looking for THE MEANING OF LIFE, Nick Vujicic can give you the answer. Please visit his web site now. You will find the meaning of life according to Nick Vujicic's positive paradigm shift. Nick's message to all of us is this:

PUT LIMITS ASIDE AND LIVE LIFE WITHOUT LIMITS.

*DELAY GRATIFICATION for a better future*

Life has many meaning to different people.


I once lived with Mrs. Perler and her Hungarian son Otto Perry @ 102 Windsor Street, Paddington in New South Wales and I really enjoy Mrs. Perler's Hugarian goulash dish and her heavenly SPAGHETTI WITH MEAT BALLS steaming hot with smelly PARMESAN CHEESE, washed down generously with icy cold Lime Fruit Cordial. MMMMMMMMM! Delicious.

And sometimes Italian GELATO ice cream was served at Sunday lunch time. That life in Sydney was like living in heaven.

And when I study for my matriculation at De La Salle College, that was the most enjoyable part of my life on earth. One naughty kid got a WHACK with a slender cane on the bottom from the headmaster Bro. Claude during assembly time. THIS IS THE MEANING OF LIFE. JUST ENJOY IT.

I heard my wife innocently said to me one night : " LIFE is really strange and funny. When we die we are no more on earth. "

From that day on, I have been pondering over the topic : WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE ?

People die like flies during the Tsunami tragedy. And those who live must be wondering, " WHY am I ALIVE? WHY are my children dead? Why must my boyfriend drown in the killer waves? "

People like to say, " ONLY GOD KNOWS THE REASONS. "

The CYNICS, doubters, SKEPTICS and SCOFFERS say : There Is No God.

A university graduate operated an optometrist shop at Komtar in Penang.

He collapsed and died during a badminton session with friends. He was 37 . Why did God take him to heaven?

Sometimes in our life we have to learn to DELAY GRATIFICATION as advised by M Scott Peck in his book " The Road Less Travelled ".

We do not know whether our so called success is really that good. Sometimes bad luck can eventually turn ito a blessing in disguise. This sort of thing happens to everybody .. but it is not so easy to understand. We know it intuitively that " oh yes, life is not so horrible after all. "

Recently a rich and famous corporate figure died when a 2 ton metal sheet dropped on his BWM. Why, o why? What is the meaning of life on earth? To succeed in life and to die so tragically?

Many die of cancer, but Lance Armstrong the former Le Tour de France champion did not die. Visit the web site :-

''lancearmstrong.com

Lance Armstrong's former fiance Sheryl Crow has breast cancer. Sheryl's web site is :

''sherylcrow.com

THE FOLLOWING NEWS WAS POSTED BY SHERYL CROW AT HER WEB SITE on 17th March 2006 :

"It's still about firsts, it is also about all the open doors......" Sheryl

Hey Everybody,

I cannot begin to tell you how much your cards, messages, letters, flowers, and prayers have meant to me these last few weeks. Needless to say, this has been a really challenging time for me and as I have always said, I have the greatest, most generous fans in the world.

I am doing really well. Strangely, I feel clear and optimistic...perhaps more than ever. I am on day 4 of my 33 radiation treatments and am feeling really good. As you know, my breast cancer was detected very early and I am completely blessed that it was removed and all I have to undergo in the way of treatment is radiation, strictly for preventative measures. I am told I will suffer fatigue starting about week 3 and some redness and some skin irritation in the final weeks. My great radiologist did tell me that my left breast would be firm and perky when I've completed the treatments and I asked if she could go ahead and radiate the other while she was at it. She said no.

I am also told that for the month after my treatment is complete, that I will probably my most tired. Believe you me, I will be taking it easy because I will be gearing up for our summer tour, which I am already looking forward to. It is my favorite time to tour and I feel certain, for me, it will be a celebration every night of how lucky I feel with this life I have been given.

My intent this year was to make this my year of firsts. In my usual fashion, I've been trying to drag everyone along with me. Chris Hudson tells a funny story about our agreement and how our first achievement was scuba diving for the first time ever. Being diagnosed with cancer was not on my shortlist of things to attempt during 2006 but here it is and it has really presented me with a whole new challenge and that is to stop everything that I'm used to doing and to really show up for myself. Luckily, I am surrounded with such strong, amazingly inspiring, and devoted family and friends. I feel like I'm floating through this on the backs of all those who care about me.

I keep saying how optimistic I feel. I will tell you that old saying of how when one doors closes, another opens....well, I would like to amend my intention for this year and say although it's still about firsts, it is also about all the open doors in front of me.

I can't wait to see you guys. Take care... and ladies, don't forget to get your mammograms!

love and peace...and good health!

sheryl

[posted 3/17/2006 U.S.A.]

Louise L. Hay can also teach you how to live and not die. Please visit her website:

''louisehay.com

''hayhouse.com