I'm Running a Marathon

Wendy called last week and said that its the last day to sign up for the St. George marathon. It was already well into the evening, and although we had talked about waiting a year, I went on line and signed up! We just have to wait to see if we get picked in their lotto.

Our first item of business...SHOES
So Wendy and I decided we needed running shoes. We went to the runners store to buy the exact shoes our feet needed to support us as we run. Henry came along...almost more than he could handle. It wasn't so much that he wanted to pull down every shoe and play with it like a car...that wasn't it at all. The poor guy had to sit there and watch his mom RUN through the store. I tried a neutral shoe on and ran down their little path so they could observe my stride and see if I was pronating. Once was a little embarrassing for the little guy, but he handled it well. Then they had me try on shoes that would correct my stride, and run down the path again. He was good with that. I think it was when they asked me to squat down in my shoes...that put it way over the top. Immediately he demanded that I sit down. After that he begged me to sit down every time I got up to run...I'll tell you, the boy just can't take his mom out in public anymore!

Second...
Sooo, I'm a little out of shape. Okay, I'm a lot out of shape. Really, I'm in a good, round shape, but that doesn't work if you want to run a long long way. That just means the marathon itself won't be the only marathon I will be running...I have to get into good physical shape. I'm finding that's a lot more difficult than finding a pair of shoes. I went online and found a 16 week training schedule...perfect! The only clincher is that I need to be able to run for 30 minutes without stopping by the end of next week. Our first conditioning run will be 3 miles...I have to be able to run 3 miles just START training! Last night was my first jog...3 mile jog. To be honest with you, I don't think I actually jogged even half of that. I couldn't jog even 10 minutes without stopping! I have sooo far to go to be ready to START conditioning...I'm not giving up...

Creating Peace

By Rebecca Linder Hintze
May 2009
Greetings!

Do you feel as if the world is conspiring against your efforts to create peace? The daily news paints a bleak picture for our world. Does this leave you feeling hopeless and afraid?

On top of that, do you find that your kids are loud or fighting? Are you frustrated when you're unable to pay bills, upset when you find yourself arguing with a spouse or family member, or exhausted from experiencing stress on-going at work. In the midst of your daily unrest, do you believe peace possible?

Absolutely, peace is possible! Despite all the unrest and turbulence around us, we have the ability to choose to remain peaceful, hopeful, and positive, and enjoy happy, healthy, and fulfilling lives.

While it's not likely that any one of us will solve all the chaos that exist in our external world, thankfully we each have the power to resolve the conflicts that reside in our internal worlds and adopt habits that create more peace.

How do we resolve inner conflict? Truly, the answer is long enough to fill the pages of books! But for now, I'll quickly summarize a few simple ways to begin living a more peaceful life.

Tip #1: Look inside. Happiness, peace, a sense of well-being and self-worth come from the inside out. Not from the outside in. Instead of wasting time pointing fingers around us, begin focusing on resolving internal conflict first. Once the chaos inside lessens, our external world will seem more relaxed.

Tip #2: Be your best friend. And as you do so, you'll discover your authentic self--what uniquely defines you. Never in the history of the world will there ever be another person just like you! Also, take care of you! Often we have to give ourselves what we wish we could get from somebody or something else. When we rely too much on others and depend on material things, we feel out of control. As you become your own best friend, you will feel more self-reliant, confident, and less stressed.

Tip #3: Manage yourself wisely. Understand what is within your control and what is not, and then use your personal power to manage situations, others, and your emotions properly. First of all, all that you fully control is you--your thoughts, feelings, actions, and behavior. Others have the same personal agency. Exercise your right to control only when it is appropriate. When it isn't appropriate, choose to manage your response by respecting the freedom others have to act within their appropriate power.

Tip #4: Know your emotions. As you apply tip #2 and become your own best friend, develop a healthy internal communication process--one that keeps you aware of your own thoughts and feelings. As you stay on-top of your emotions by acknowledging and processing through them, you'll find tremendous internal peace that will carry over and affect your external world in a powerful way. As you begin to understand your own emotional responses, you may identify negative thinking. If so, re-frame your thoughts so they are healthy and accepting. (For more on healing destructive thought processes, see Healing Your Family History.)

Tip #5: Seek out what's positive. Particularly, find the gifts in the unexpected and uncontrollable circumstances of your life. All of us would like to have the power to create a plan and then perfectly manage the steps by which we arrive at our final destinations. However, the universe simply doesn't always work that way. Life surely brings unexpected results and unexplained paths--many which feel negative. Within the most challenging experiences (ones that we might like to wish away--like our current economic state), seek to find the treasure. We find great peace when we acknowledge the blessings of trials and suffering early on and relinquish our attempt to control situations we simply cannot change. Also, to successfully follow this tip, you may find it necessary to tune out negative communication (including television, radio, internet, etc.) that prevents you from thinking positive.

Tip #6: Stay Faithful. When we have a sense of assurance that no matter what happens, things will eventually get better, and that somewhere, someone trustworthy is in control, we feel much better. This sort of peace is not dependent on circumstances. Rather, it allows you to see beyond your surroundings and fix your eyes on a point in the distance that allows you to hold steady on your course and ride out the storm. As you strengthen your faith and grow spiritually, you'll find the greatest peace possible. Now, more than ever, it's time to search for spiritual answers and find peace in personal prayer and meditation.

For this month's homework, apply these tips and make them your natural and intuitive responses to life. As you seek positive, personal change, your influence will help create peace for our entire world. Watch the youtube video to see just how many lives you may influence!
Many blessings,

Rebecca Linder Hintze
Author, Healing Your Family History
©Rebecca Linder Hintze, 2009.

Henry's Unbirthday Party

Wednesday night I was taking the kids to their Youth Night. They were all carrying wrapped presents because they were celebrating their "unbirthdays". Henry rode in the car with us. He was convinced that it was Heather's birthday, and when we dropped them off, he was very sad when I didn't let him go to the birthday with them. As we drove away he just yelled at me and said, "I'n MAD!" No amount of reasoning could console him. He just kept yelling"I'n MAD!" I then shifted my tactics and said "Henry, just blow your mad out!" His little cheeks puckered up and he started blowing with all his might. He insisted that he was still very Mad, so we kept blowing. Thank goodness he was in the back seat! He really had a wild spray going on! I asked him what color his mad was, and he said it was "bue" (blue). Not really sure of what to make of his bue mad, I had him blow until it was all gone, and we were laughing.

When we got home we cut a brownie so it looked like a piece of cake. Then we put a pretend candle on it. I sang "Happy Birthday" to him, and he blew out his pretend candle. I handed him an imaginary gift (imacculately wrapped, of course). He took the gift and pretended to open it. He was quite excited, and I asked him what it was. He said it was a dinosaur. I handed him another gift, and he excitedly pretended to open it to find another dinosaur...which he was also excited about. Then I handed him a third gift. This one was huge, and heavy. He took it from me and placed it on the table. He was sooo excited to open it and find...another "big, big dinosaur". He ate his "birthday cake", and went to bed with a big smile on his face. How I love my little angel.

DANGEROUS CROCODILES

Weekly Wisdom
by Rebecca Linder Hintze

While on vacation in Mexico years ago, our family toured a swamp near the ocean that was said to house a 25-foot crocodile. A young, small Mexican man was our guide. With enthusiasm, he walked my family (and a few others) onto a wooden ramp that sat a foot or so above the muddy water and had a railing made of logs. Walking forward I kept my eyes out in the distance hoping to get a view of this huge reptile.

Initially, I didn't see anything off the ramp other than swampy land--though on the ramp, to my surprise, I noticed a piece of raw chicken lying near my feet. I began to take note of the distance between the log rails, and decided it might be a good idea to grab my smallest child and hold onto him--after all, who knows what a 25-foot crocodile is capable of, especially if he's hungry! It wasn't long before our guide began his speech. He explained a bit about the region, and then turned his focus to the swampy water. I was shocked and very amazed when the guide pointed out that crocodiles were lurking all around us! They blended into the environment so well that to an untrained eye, they could not be easily recognized. Come to find out, just under my feet rested the monster crocodile that I expected to see off in the distance. And the worst part--his lunch (the chicken that the guide brought with him) was sitting right next to me.

Like these crocodiles, dangerous influences can destroy our lives and our families if we aren't aware and protected. There are steps we can take to assure our safety (which I will discuss over the next few weeks).

Most importantly, let's emphasize that we can avoid falling into thought patterns and beliefs that feed the root cause of most dysfunctional patterns--that is-- a lack of knowing our individual worth and our inability to manifest our value due to fear. This is a like a 25-foot crocodile that has the potential to do a lot of damage.

Here are some of the internal thoughts that feed this dangerous problem:

· I'm not good enough
· I'm not loveable
· I'm worthless
· I'm powerless
· I never get what I want
· I'm bad because I'm not perfect
· I have no value to society
· I'm a failure

When we feel small inside, we naturally create big egos to cover up our pain. Many may never know our internal suffering ... even we may suppress it and act as though nothing's wrong. Consequently, many in our world are suffering through painful lives, wondering where the destructive behaviors came from and not knowing how to heal them.

We move further away from dangers that threaten our happiness when we have a solid sense of self (not vanity) and we eliminate our deeper fears that we are worthless, less than others, and unloved.
For this week's homework, evaluate your position. Are your negative thoughts placing food for a destructive pattern? If so, take steps to get to the bottom of it. Ask yourself, "Where do these thoughts come from?" "Why do I hold on to them?" "How do they affect the ones I love?" For more help, seek assistance from the five-step process in Healing Your Family History. You are also welcome to join me May 7th, from 6-8 p.m. in Round Hill, VA for a FREE seminar where I'll share simple and easy tips to break free of destructive patterns. Lear n More

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With love,


Rebecca Linder Hintze
Author, wellness counselor
©Rebecca Linder Hintze, 2009.

Fiji

We're here on Fiji! This is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen! This whole island is one great big mountianous tropical garden. We left LA on Thursday night, and arrived in Nadi Saturday. Then, we took a long scenic drive part way around the island to Suva...the place where we'll meet our missionary.

Today is Sunday...Carlsbad's Saturday...March 1st. We went to a Fijian ward. Although the language was different, I got so much out of the meeting. Because they didn't have a pianist, the chorister stood up in front of everyone and sang the introduction...then everyone joined in. I loved it! They all sang out with their beautiful Fijian voices, in all their harmonies. The hymn? How Firm a Foundation. I didn't understand a word, however I knew every word they sang. It was absolutely beautiful. In the middle of the hymn one of the sisters came back to us, and gave us her book of hymns which had all the words in Fijian. We were able to join them in their own language. For testimony meeting everyone stood up and spoke their own Fijian language. Again, although I couldn't understand every word they were saying, I picked up a word here and there...Jesus Christ, Thomas S. Monson, Relief Society. They poured their hearts out as they bore their testimonies, and we could totally understand their hearts. They loved the Savior and His Gospel.

The children were adorable. They happily ran up and down the isle during the meeting. They ran around in their sunday dresses and bare feet. I loved that the little deacons wore their white shirts and ties with their lava lavas on (a skirt), and no shoes. The girls proudly carried their personal progress books which were well loved and used. Many of the people were barefooted. (These are my kind of people!) ...and the men proudly wore their lava lavas. We were all there with one purpose...to worship God. I loved worshiping with these people.

We have found the Fijian people to be quite friendly! On our way to Suva we drove past the little villages. The people would wave at us as we went by. Suva, the main city on the island, pretty much closes down at 1:00pm on Saturday, and stays closed until Monday. We asked a merchant why this was, and his comment was that they like to be with their families. Today we saw many families in their sunday best walking to church. I love being here!

So the highlight of our trip is just 2 days away. We get to pick up our missionary! I can't wait! We will fly to New Caledonia with him, and we will get to meet people he's taught, and see the areas he has served.

It's such a privlege to be here. We have a hotel room overlooking the ocean. The sun is getting low, and it's somewhat cloudy which only means one thing...a beautiful sunset! Gotta go!

The Hike

Yesterday our family went on a nice four mile hike. Today my legs are in way over the top killer pain. Why? Because I hiked FOUR miles!!!! Now that felt so good to say. That is all for the record. Truthfully, I lied. I dropped everyone off at the trail head and drove to the top of the mountain with Henry. (There was no parking at the trail head, so we got that job by default...probably a good thing.) Today my family laughs at me as I hobble around with sore muscles...and they are all fine!
I have just had to explain that Henry and I hiked far more than 4 miles walking around and waiting for them at the top. We went to the Hale Observatory which was quite interesting. It's a HUGE telescope at the top of Mount Palomar. ( I will say that there was a pretty big flight of stairs to get where we could see it....and the little man and I had to go see it a couple times while we were there...)

So today I'm thankful for 1) there was no parking lot, 2) I got a good workout in spite of the kind of hike I took, and 3) once again, it's a reminder that I want to get in better physical shape.

And of course the moral of this story is...ummm....if you're going to take a four mile hike, hope there's no parking lot at the trail head so you can drop everyone but the little man off, and drive to the top. It's better exercise...

What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage

Here's a fun article a friend gave to me a few years ago. It was written by Amy Sutherland. Enjoy...