November 18, 2014
The greatest service I can offer is… willingness to do things in a new way.
Until today, you may have been so loyal to your family patterns that you would not step beyond what you have been taught to believe.
Just for today, dare to be different! Dare to introduce a new way of living and being. Dare to climb out of the family tree.
Today I am devoted to recognizing that the patterns of my family tree may be a noose around my neck!
Iyanla Vanzant, Until Today!
I won’t lie. I can be set in my ways about certain things, especially if my way has worked for me all the way up until the time someone says I should try a different way to do it. And as much as I love my blood family, I do not share all of their values and ideas about how life should be lived. With the maiden name of “Jones”, you would think that the world was supposed to keep up with us so we always made sure we were ahead of the pack. Little did I know that all I had to do was be myself and if someone chose to do so, they could keep up with me, not that I would be concerned one way or the other if they did. My family tends to put a large emphasis on money and they lean toward materialistic and monetary ways of showing love and affection which has always made me feel “some type of way” since I didn’t always have the money to do what they can do yet I always have love to give. However, as I grew older, I found myself the way my family did and I started expecting others to show affection toward me with monetary and materialistic gifts when what I truly wanted and needed was sage advice, a fun conversation or just a hug. Now thanks to my husband, I'm relearning how to show/receive affection and admiration. I don’t have to buy your love. Either I have it or I don’t. Starting with this holiday season, I want to try to redirect my blood family’s tradition of exchanging gifts that some of us can’t truly afford to buy and instead share the love and affection we have for each other. I’ve always felt that the best thing to exchange during the holidays is peace and love, not material gifts. I pray my family feels the same way.
PeaceLoveHappiness
Lm…
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