Wishing you a Blessed Easter.  ~Pat

On that same thought train I saw this post waiting and it is so much like spring, wanting you to look forward, realize the life you have to live so just had to share it with you all!  Are you listening?  

~Pat

Tomorrow is Easter... where has this month gone? Our lives just keep getting busier and busier and are we really living or going through the days??  I need to remember this as much as pass it on to all of you...

~Pat

Being alone is not often easy. But to hear that little voice inside of us we need silence. To be alone in silence... to know who we are and what makes us happy. To know ourselves. After that it is easy to be who you are and let others see the real you. 

~Pat

Gratitude. Something we often have to search to find, many times take for granted those very things we should be grateful for. Each day try and find at least 5 things you are grateful for and say them out loud. It becomes easier to do and much easier to find things the more we do it. Before you know it, you will be doing it automatically!

~Pat

I was so surprised and happy to see a comment!!  I am hoping that some of you get brave enough to tell your healing process secrets... it may help others! There are so many hurting people out there that do not get any positive feed back. Why? Is it so hard to say something nice to someone? Give them words of support? Take time to listen? I remember the old quilting bee's, the women would sew and talk, share problems, listen, support each other. We need more just groups of friends getting together to do something they all enjoy and being able to share, support each other, listen and ACCEPT all!! No judgement or it won't work.  

Ok, my words of wisdom for today. :D  ~Pat

Exactly!!!  Tell yourself that daily and never forget! 

~Pat

How often do we hold ourselves back?  Often without realizing it. What have we missed in doing that?  Starting today, be ready to take that adventure called life and see where it leads you!  

~Pat

Still in the vein of belief, believing.... and faith. We know that on a foggy day what was there yesterday is still there today. But for those things we can't see, don't know... we need that belief, or faith that it will happen. Focus on the positive, keep having faith and move forward toward your dream!

~Pat

Make sure you not only tell yourself that daily, but that you also BELIEVE what you say!  

~Pat

I just realized I missed posting yesterday! Will have to do extra today.

Belief. Every thing really comes down to if you believe or not believe in.... 

yourself, your dreams, God, a Higher Power, the truth, your family, your friends.... the list can go on and on... belief for such a small word if such a very big subject and huge in our lives. Without some type of belief there is no hope, nothing. Do you believe in your dreams? Are you focused on them and feel sure they will happen. Are you working toward them, if only very tiny increments and only within your mind? 

Believe.  

In the end, it is totally within and up to you. 

~Pat

This one is more difficult... I don't totally believe that as I think we all need people in our lives. To what degree depends on each of us. And maybe I am not seeing the true meaning. To walk alone you must be strong. I may need alone time, but I also don't want to necessarily be alone all the time. If I had to be, would I be that strong? Would I be content? I guess this is one of those posts that each of us must deal with on our own and at our own levels of dependence. Good Morning!!

~Pat

Just a little bit ago I was speaking about that need for peace in our lives. Before closing I ran across this post also... thought it would go well with the earlier post. I will leave you dreaming of a summer day, warm place to be at by the water with your inner peace.

~Pat

It is very cold out today, we were just getting warmer weather and old man winter returned. I ran across this older post and thought, perfect for today's post on the blog!  Friends and a nice warm fire...what could be more perfect? No matter what state your life is in at present, there must be a place of peace either that you can go to physically or a corner of your mind that you can retreat to. Peace within ourselves is essential to be able to hear our inner voice.  I wish you peace in your life today!  

~Pat

I normally try and keep it all very positive on Smoothing, whether it be here on the blog or on the Facebook page, but I ran across this on a Facebook page called Surviving Abuse. A very powerful page about surviving with survivors often telling their own stories and feelings... and this one I found particularly wonderful? disturbing? related with??? Please read it through. As a sexual abuse survivor, I have many times and still do fight with much of this same type of emotional upheaval/anger that springs from some unseen/unknowing place to disturb my day, my peace of mind, my life. If you are on FB, check out the link that goes with the name Surviving Abuse and show them some love.  ~Pat

When all of the thoughts wind down after a day of suffering, I ask myself "why did I allow myself to feel this way all day?" I feel almost trapped in my own emotions. A sharp blizzard swirls around my insides through the day, and as I feel the anxiety rendered by my body I feel helpless to the whirlwind inside me. I still get through the day. I make the best of it. But the whirlwind of anxiety swirls about and subjects me to a disconnection from reality despite my best efforts to remain plugged in and aware. How desperately I wish to leave behind the bitter thoughts I have towards others - I feel like I am in a war against everyone which I never declared. I am always noticing how selfish, ignorant, or plain against me everyone is, even when its not true - but I don't want to view other people that way. It cost me a couple relationships. I am at war with everything, and my mind and body don't seem to notice I never authorized this anguishing battle. I'm tired of angering myself over things I don't want to be angry about, and turning myself against everyone though I put every ounce of effort I have to maintain a very cordial disposition. But the mask doesn't help what I feel, because inside I want to tear down everything. I have so many unmet needs, so many unmet wishes, and so many unhealed wounds. Somehow my psyche believes the best way to resolve this situation is by attacking myself. Its obviously a war I don't want to fight. For some reason when I was abused for all those years, I learned to attack everyone and everything I observed from the realm of my mind. All things were enemies. All was hopeless. And now, this attitude is making it very hard to make up for all that love I never got and all that time I lost. I am standing in my own way - or rather my subconscious is. I am spun around on a merry go round I never wished to board, and I want to learn how to get off. My mind is working against me - but then again life hasn't been very kind to my mind either. -Jarryd

We all have the power within us, we just have to realize that 1) we have that power, and 2) we learn to tap into it. As we focus on ONLY positive, we bring positive energy to us. If we entertain any negative thoughts, we bring negative.  

Please feel free to comment on any of the posts. I would love to hear your feelings. It also may help others if what you share is the same thing they happen to be dealing with. Thank you!

~Pat

There are always times it seems when we are sure things will NEVER be ok.. but they will. You just have to focus on the positive outcome you want and stay focused on that, while telling yourself  "This WILL Happen".  Keep the faith!

~Pat

Sarah-Pink's Hope is a wonderful page that you really should check out if you have the time. She holds a special place in my heart and is always there with a kind word and lots of love.  You can find her on Facebook at Sarah-Pink's Hope.

~Pat

I am sharing this from a page on Facebook called Bereavement Journal ~ Recapturing the Joy

~Pat

Bereavement Journal ~ Recapturing the Joy

19 hours ago

Good Morning Everyone !

In conjunction with a share I posted this morning on behalf of The Peace Art Collection page, (which you may wish to look at before reading this post), I have decided to post the following message and trust none of you will mind.

I would like to share a few beliefs I hold around the homeless people of the world and provide some food for thought in an effort to perhaps shift the perspective much of the world’s population holds towards those less fortunate, a perspective which I believe is rather narrow-minded and somewhat skewed.

There is a huge stigma attached to this issue and collectively, I believe those of us who are not homeless have a responsibility to at least attempt to educate ourselves on what we can and should be doing to assist in eradicating the stigma that we have contributed to having been placed on the homeless.

We now reside in a world where homelessness can no longer be considered less than prevalent, and the the homeless are now a group of diversity.

The world is currently operating in a way that the time will come when the resources we have become so accustomed to will no longer be available. The time will arrive when we are going to be required to become totally self-sufficient. Are you a survival expert? I would suggest that no, the average person who has a home, a job, food, a car, money, etc., would be lost if forced into survival mode. We have become a society of one that depends more on the externals, than on self.

Would this not be the one reason why when we approach a homeless person sleeping on the street, we should do anything but step over them as though they do not even exist? Kindly allow be to be so bold as to suggest that the homeless are the survival experts of the world and have tons to teach. They should be treated with the same level of respect or better yet, even a higher level of respect that we give to those who are not homeless. Every person comes into the world to serve a purpose and perhaps the purpose of the homeless is to be our teachers at the appropriate time. Every person on the planet has value and something to contribute to the betterment of all of humanity. Allow me to share a story about a homeless person. I will paint a picture that perhaps may be far removed from the view some people may have relative to the homeless.

A few years back, someone I know was conducting business in Seattle , WA, a city which is no stranger to homeless people. This person was walking to an appointment, dressed to the nines, and looking rich. The only thing she had with her was an attaché case, no purse, etc. While stepping over homeless people, she came to an intersection and was waiting at a traffic light, when a man poorly dressed, dirty and scraggly looking, wearing an overcoat approached her and said “do you have any money”? She was feeling nervous - sound familiar ? - and replied “no, I don’t” . The man looked her up and down and again said “you sure you don’t have any money”? Again she replied “no” and continued on her way. Upon returning to her hotel from her appointment, she once again met up with the same man who, this time, blocked her way, and said again, “are you sure you don’t have any money”, to which she very nervously this time, replied “no, I have already told you I have no money.” The man slowly reached for his overcoat and started to open it, reached his other hand inside, pulled out a tin can with change in it, shook it in front of her and said “well, how much do you need?”

We all have times in our lives when we are dependent upon others for all kinds of things, including survival, and I would hope that one will begin to no longer underestimate the value of any other human being, regardless of their lifestyle or circumstances.

My wish in this post is for you to take a minute to ponder the foregoing and to always remember that very old adage “never judge a book by its cover”.

~ HUGS ~ Love Deb ♥

~Pat

I have found lots of wonderful pages on Facebook and some are allowing me to share their items with you.  These three are just a sampling from a wonderful little page called Amazing Recovery Journal.

If you are on Facebook, give them a look and a "LIKE".  Thanks!!  

~Pat

Good Morning! The sun is shining, it is finally out of single digits or at least feels that way... Wishing you a wonderful day!  

~Pat

Love yourself....

~Pat

We first have to know and accept who we are... and once that happens, you allow others to see you and love you for the real you. It is worth the effort!  

~Pat

Stay positive and focus on the outcome you want to have happen. Things will happen. 

~Pat

Don't you wish that you could say this with complete honesty? I do. I try. I guess that is all we can do is keep trying to be grateful, look forward and be the best we can be!!  

~Pat

If life moved in straight lines, it would be easy and we may not learn anything.... but with curves? We must learn to bend and flow with them.   ~Pat

Never under-estimate the power of support for one another.

~Pat

“Wisdom Of The Aged”

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream.

The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him.

She did so without hesitation.

The traveler left rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But, a few days later, he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.

"I've been thinking," he said.

"I know how valuable this stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me this stone.”

~ Sometimes it’s not the wealth you have but what’s inside you that others need.~

This was found on a wonderful Facebook page called In the Garden of Hope & Love. We thank them!! ~Pat

Entitled Smudging Prayer I have no idea who wrote it or who created this beautiful image but am thankful to whoever did:- May your hands be cleansed, that they create beautiful things. May your feet be cleansed that they might take you where you most need to be. May your heart be cleansed, that you might hear its messages clearly. May your throat be cleansed, that you might speak rightly when words are needed. May your eyes be cleansed that you might see the signs and wonders of this world. May this person and space be washed clean by the smoke of these fragrant plants, And may that same smoke carry our prayers, spiraling, to the heavens.

~Pat

The fact that we are NOT like everyone else is wonderful!  How boring would it be to have us all the same? We are not perfect, we have wrinkles, scars, faults...but we are unique, special and very worthy!  Remember to tell yourself that daily!  ~Pat

Always remember we can start a new beginning at any time... several times a day, each morning, what ever we need until we are content with where we are. Don't let the past rob you of today!  

"Remember to stop to look at the beauty all around you...see the miracles. It helps you to recognize those miracles in your life!  ~Pat

Miracles are often something we do not look for. We watch for disaster, problems, illness, almost anything negative. But miracles?  That is what we should focus on... and the positive in our lives. Start to focus on positive and look for those miracles.    ~Pat

Welcome to Smoothing Ragged Edges Blogspot!

Welcome!! 
I would like to welcome everyone to the Blog of Smoothing Ragged Edges.  This blog is dedicated to all of those who are in need of positive input, to help heal those emotional scars from what ever reason. Perhaps the past or even what is happening right now in your life. We need the positive to focus on to help us get away from all of the negative in our lives. Negativity brings more negativity. Before I forget, I will give the page name for the Facebook page "Smoothing Ragged Edges" as well. Again, welcome... and enjoy.