Dearest Friend

We’ve been talking about your dissatisfaction in your relationship. I can see and hear your frustration and pain. As I’ve had time to sit back and really think about it, I have put together a few thoughts that I hope you take to heart.

I also know and understand how tough it is when it comes to making a decisions about your relationship… and truthfully, sometimes there is no right or perfect answer.

1. Sit still and listen to what your heart (your spirit, your intuition, your instinct, your experience) is telling you. Be HONEST with YOU. Know YOUR limits. Trust YOURSELF. Accept who you have become.
2. You CAN stay because he loves you. You CAN stay because it’s easier than leaving. You CAN stay because you love him. But STAY because it’s YOUR choice.  TRUST yourself. But don’t stay dissatisfied. If you are going to stay, pull out all the stops. Make it WORK. 
3. Remember there is no perfect answer. You have to be willing to live with your choice. Either way, there are going to be tough days ahead. You have to be sure. Sometimes it’s about timing. Maybe you don’t have to decide just yet. Keep listening.

Side note… I don’t believe you can truly trust GOD if you don’t trust yourself.

Sit still and listen to your heart. You will find the answer.

I’m here for you. (period)

Choosing JOY! Jacki

Epic Fail... Old habits are hard to break, but not impossible.

This is my second post…the post after the very first one. You know the post where I declared that I was going to do things differently with my cooking.  I was going to look for recipes and/or develop recipes and actually follow them… which is different from what I usually do… make things up as I go.
Guess what… I messed up already.  

I should talk a little about the failed baking project. It was supposed to be two chocolate chip mini cakes. I found a recipe for butter cake using 4 eggs and I tried to modify by dividing the recipe into a 4th of the recipe. First of all, baking as opposed to cooking (my cooking, that is ) is a very precise science. The recipe has to have certain components in specific ratios. Although I’ve done a whole lot of baking in my lifetime, about 20% of the time I am very careful to follow a recipe, the rest of the time I use mixes. I learned a lot about recipes and baking when I was in Minnesota last year staying with my friend, Karen, who is an excellent baker, and an excellent teacher, and excellent recipe follower… me, yeah... not so much.The real problems occurred when I didn't have the specific ingredients and tried to make substitutions.
I don’t want to concentrate on the failed chocolate chip mini-cakes; instead, I want to talk about what this experience taught me or reinforced for me.

•   Old habits die hard. Just as water takes the path of least resistance, if you’re not careful, even when we start out with the best of intentions, we will revert to what we know… what is most familiar.

•     Change is difficult, even when it is our choice.  It takes FOCUS and DETERMINATION and DILIGENCE. 

 Back to the drawing board or the recipe board. LOL!

 Still choosing JOY! ~  Jacki