I'm about to make a confession, but please don't tell anyone as it might ruin my reputation as this very zen, spiritual being who preaches to anyone who will listen about living in the moment, and staying connected with your inner sense of peace and calm, even in the most hectic of circumstances.

Ok, here's the confession - I've just discovered that once you are a Type A personality, you will probably always be a Type A personality!! I know my inability to know-when-to-say-when was a major factor in my illness - I pushed and pushed and pushed until my body couldn't hold up any more. I was a mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend and managed a business - and always felt I had to do each to perfection.

Illness taught me that if you don't respect and honor your body, mind and spirit there will be a price to pay. And yet, here I am working like a mad woman the last few months, and most particularly the last several weeks. It is all for a good cause, and I am loving every minute of it, but I am pushing myself nonetheless. The Heal With Hope website is being completely redone, I am finishing a book I have written, and working on developing a line of inspirational products. There is creative work, accounting decisions, and legal ramifications to be addressed...this is in addition to my regular responsibilities of maintaining the current website, answering reader questions, and planning future articles...and of course caring for myself and my family.

I share all I am currently involved in because it is important to the central theme I am trying to put forth - that once you are a Type A you are probably always a Type A. What I have also found is that just because you know better now doesn't make it any easier to walk away from the things you see as your duty and or responsiblity, but it does meant that you are more aware of the price you may pay for all the pushing, and therefore it becomes easier to make the decision to expend your energy on things that really mean something to you instead of wearing yourself out trying to make the rest of the world happy (and believe me they never will be - the more you do, the more you are expected to do!).

The old Andrea would have sat and fussed with this blog posting until it was up to my usual gold standard...but tonight I am going to show the world, and myself, that although I may still be a bit of a Type A, I am now smarter and wiser and know when to say when...and so I say good night!! Because this on-her-way-to-being a former type A is tired and needs to go to bed. Sweet dreams... ~ Andrea ;-)

From a distance it always seems as though everyone else's life is running smoothly, until you get up close and realize that they are dealing with the same struggles, uncertainty, and angst that you are. The problems may be different, but life has a way of being an equal opportunity offender - no one's life is perfect - we all are confronted by challenge every day. And each of us will face various crossroads throughout our lives. Though how we work through those processes may be very different...

It has been heartbreaking to watch thousands of people being forced to evacuate their homes the last few weeks - storm after storm has forced so many to flee, often with little time to grab what they can and leave.

When I first opened myself to the possiblity that my thoughts, actions, and expectations had a direct impact on what I would attract into my life, I wanted to believe it, but truth be told I didn't really think it was possible. But time and again I have proven myself wrong...and in the last year I have come to trust that not only do we have the power to attract the type of energy we want, but also that the Universe will enhance that energy by bringing people and circumstances to reinforce those intentions.

It has been a wild and crazy couple of weeks...my life has been wonderfully full as I spend 8-10 hours each day working on my book, updating and revising the website, and my creative juices were flowing with more ideas than I could possibly handle right now. All was going along smoothly as the healing work I have done was helping me to be stronger than I had in a very long time, and I focused on incorporating all of the spiritual lessons I have learned to help keep me grounded and in a good place.

You've probably heard the quote, "some people come into your life for a reason, some for a season, and others for a lifetime..." I love this, because it really is true - you meet someone, have a real connection with them, but within a short period of time, for one reason or another, they are gone from your life...probably because the reason they were there has now been resolved, and it is time for both of you to move on. Then there are those people that you think are gone from your life forever, but for some reason you continually find your paths crossing again and again.

Several years ago I first heard Dr. Wayne Dyer speak about the transformative power of our thoughts - his message that "when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change" really resonated with me. And so I began my journey of learning how to use this to change the circumstances of my life.

I studied the wisdom of spiritual teachers like Dr. Dyer and developed my own exercises and techniques that enhanced my ability to refocus my thinking and to "retrain my brain"(watch for information about my new book that outlines all of these methods). I began to notice positive changes and so I shared this newfound approach with family and friends. Most were already used to my "far-out" ideas and would just smile, but as they saw my life improve, they began to listen a bit more and some even began to change their lives by changing their thinking too!

Let's face it though, part of the human experience is to doubt and to question, and this belief was no different. I knew that how I directed my thoughts absolutely did have an impact on what I was attracting into my life, but there are always those little nagging doubts, I wondered about the limitations of this power to really change things. But if I ever had any doubt before, I can tell you after this recent experience I don't any longer:

I recently wrote a book and have been in the process of having copies created at a local office supply shop (Staples). Because of the unique nature of the book I was creating an acutal mock-up of what I want the book to look like so publishers would be able to grasp the entire concept of what I am trying to achieve. This process required printing the pages, having them cut to size, printing and laminating the cover, then having it all bound.

The first few copies were perfect - and all went well. But the next day I received a call that they were having problems with the laminating machine and couldn't get it to work right. This was particularly upsetting as I had promised to send the book out that day to someone who was trying to help me get it published, so it was really important to get a good copy completed. I went over to Staples and saw for myself just how bad the cover looked - and it was awful!

The two gals working at the copy center had come to know me and understood how important this project was, and had made over a half dozen attempts to provide at least one good cover. I knew we had to get this done somehow and so thought it was a perfect time to put the power of positive thinking and gratitude into practice. I told them that we were going to work together to attract positive energy to this situation and get the laminator to do what we needed it to do. They had both gotten to know me quite well the last few weeks and just smiled and gave me that "let's just humor her" look I've seen many times before.

I asked everyone to take a deep breath, and then we set an intention that the laminator was going to begin to work perfectly (I said the words, they just smiled and rolled their eyes!), but they did nod in agreement! I then went over to the machine, put my hand on it, and said: "Thank you laminator for creating 3 perfect book covers for me - I need to get this project done and thank you for your cooperation." I then spent a moment visualizing the machine at work and the end result being 3 perfect covers.

They were reluctant to give it another try as they had tried so many times unsuccessfully, but I knew the cover would be perfect this time, and so they agreed to try one more time...

I have to be honest and admit that when the laminator put out three perfect covers I was delighted, and a little relieved - I believe in the power of being able to shift energy by shifiting our thoughts, but this was a machine after all, and I was surrounded by people who didn't really believe it possible. I must say both gals were amazed and the seeds have been planted - they now know that they hold the power to change circumstances that are seemingly impossible to change.

This story gets even better because the next day the exact same thing happened, though it was with a different employee, but the end result was the same! They couldn't get the machine to laminate properly, I came and changed the energy of the situation, and we were able to get the job done!!

Last night when I dropped off 3 more books to be put together I decided to try setting the right energy before leaving the store, rather than have to go back and fix it later...so I went over to the laminator, thanked it for the perfect job I knew it was going to do on the book covers - and left. When I went back to pick up the books, Trisha, the gal who had been there the first time this all happened, was delighted though a bit surprised that she had 3 perfect books ready for me!!

Now I realize that to some this is going to sound crazy - even impossible. Believe me, I completely understand...but I also tell you with 100% certainty that "if you change the way you look at things, the things you look at can change!" Just ask the staff at the Staples copy center! ~ Andrea :-)

One of the great things about age is that you have had time to learn to roll with the punches, and are less and less surprised by the unpredictablity of the unexpected events life can throw your way. I have found that just when I think I have everything figured out, something will usually occur to remind me that I really don't...and I have come to accept the fact that maybe I never will have it all figured out. Because I have learned that life is a process - an evolution -that provides continuous challenge so that we never stop growing, stretching, and learning.

I was recently reminded that that life is always full of surprises...sometimes when we least expect it:

It was a typical evening for me - I watched a little tv, spent some time on the computer, and did a little reading...and before I knew it, it was time to get ready for bed. I am a creature of habit and my nighttime routine is second nature, so I rarely pay attention to what I am doing as I wash up and get ready to get to sleep...but on this particular night I am grateful that my inner voice was on alert and that I was paying attention to it, because for some reason I paused to look down before sitting on the toilet.

And I am so very, very thankful that I did!! Because as I glanced down into the toilet I saw a huge frog sitting on some tissues I had thrown in there earlier!!!! Now I am not talking a toad here - not one of those cute things I used to try to catch as a kid - I mean a full grown, BIG frog!!!! I am sure if you happen to live within a 10 mile radius of my home you probably heard my screams...my husband who is used to me screaming every time I see a bug knew this was not my typical scream and came running. As he entered the bathroom he told me to calm down and stop exaggerating because surely the huge frog I began describing was probably not very large at all. Well, he was in for a huge surprise himself!! He was as shocked as I when he saw this huge frog just sitting there, looking like he was right at home.

After a bit of a chase he was able to catch the frog and put it back outside where he belonged. The only regret we both had after that happened is that we didn't think to snap a picture, as I know that no one would be able to capture that moment was to have a photo of it. The next question was how on earth did that frog get into the toilet in the first place!! We called the city water department to check our pipes for a break through which the frog could have gotten in, but they found nothing amiss. My husband checked vents and anything else he could think of and came up with nothing.

As many of you know, I'm never able to tell a story without attaching some kind of moral to it...so I've decided that perhaps my visitor was actually God's way of reminding me that life is full of surprises - some good, some not - and no matter how prepared you think you might be, don't forget that life is an unexpected journey and we are just along for the ride - so enjoy it, bumps, bruises, and unexpected guests all!!!! ~ Andrea :-)