What I Learned Beginning With the Letter A

Affirmations

To keep the ideals, goals, and intentions that are important in the front of my mind, I need to affirm their worth regularly. Meditate and focus on the positive aspects of life.

Abide

To abide, or dwell for a time or a lifetime, in peace and harmony is both a challenge and a gift. To be a better person, I want to abide in my better self, and leave my old self behind.

Angel

We all need an angel to guide us at some point in time. Calling all Angels! I am lost and need their guidance.

Animals

I learned that we need animals. All shapes, breeds, and sizes are needed to make our world complete. I learned that I need to help spread the message that we all need to look out for the cats, dogs, horses, pigs and cows.

Apples

I learned that apples are good for me. Raw or cooked, they help me stay healthy.

Abandonment

Abandonment hurts. It does not matter if we are the one who is abandoned by someone, or the one who abandoned someone else. When we leave a relationship, it hurts. When we leave a job, there is always someone we miss, or someone who misses us, and feels the loss.

America

A little bent, a little bruised, but we hope she is never broken. Stand strong; stand united. For divided we just might fall.

I am a second generation American on my father's side of the family. My grandmother's family came to this country legally, but the process was rife with brutality. Both in her country of origin, and after arriving here in this country.

Still, they persevered without complaint. Being German, they were held in camps, and were treated with suspicion and even brutality. Some people thought they were Nazi spies, while other people condemned them for being Jewish.

They carried on and became citizens. They got involved with people of all faiths and demographics. They did not isolate themselves from others.

I feel like they set a good example for us all.

Almonds

I learned that almonds are good for me.

Adrift

I learned that being adrift with no purpose in life could be both lonely and life changing. When you are adrift in a sea of sorrow you find out who you are what you are. The only way back to shore is to depend on yourself and sink or swim.

Abound

Opportunity abounds in this universe and within our hearts and minds. I learned I should fix my mind on the word abound, and see how many times I can put it in sentences every day.

Absent

I learned that I should not be absent in my own daily life. I should attend this classroom that has been so graciously provided just for me wherever I am, whenever I do anything.

Absolute

There are few absolutes in life. Absolute perfection does not exist in any human. Maybe it exists in our favorite pets. Striving for absolute perfection is like chasing the wind. You just never catch it.

Absolve

I need to absolve, or pardon those who have caused me pain. I need to absolve myself for inflicting pain on me!

Acceptance

When I feel like I am swimming against the current, it is usually because I have not accepted something about a person, circumstance, want, or opinion. Finding within me a place of acceptance for others and their imperfections, even when that acceptance causes pain, is what allows me to truly forgive and move forward.

Action

I can wish in one hand, and want in the other hand and see which hand fills up first. But, unless I take action, I will never achieve my goals. Unless I take action, those I love will never know how I feel. Unless I take action to stand up for myself, those who take advantage of me will continue to take advantage.

Admit

To admit a wrongdoing is to become open to criticism. To admit a mistake is to admit you are fallible. To admit you are wounded takes courage. To admit you love anyway, in the face of pain when that love is not returned, can be courageous. To admit to yourself who you really are, and how you really feel, is a challenge worth rising up to take.

Acknowledge

Acknowledge your dream. Acknowledge your passion. Acknowledge your gift. Acknowledge your fear and your pain and your reasons and your rights. Then decide how you will act on the revelations acknowledgement brings.