AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER?

Every Friday I pick up two cheeseburgers, fries and a large coke from Macdonalds. It costs me $4.36.

I take it a mile down the road to a busy intersection. He is always there. It's his corner. I figure he is in his 40's but he looks like a 60 year old man who has had a hard life. His right foot looks like it was broken at the ankle and never set It's difficult for him to even walk.

I know he is homeless. He always has that backpack with everything he cherishes stuffed inside.

Both streets are very busy. I always honk and pulled to the side. He hobbles over as I roll the window down. Today I hand him the bag and drink. "God bless you ma'am. I can't tell you how hungry I am. Thank you so much." I always watch him take it back to where he was standing. He takes his time opening the bag and laying everything out.

I'm always amazed by his gratitude. $4.36. I probably misplace more than that in change every week.It reminds me to be grateful for every thing, large and small, that is in my life.

It is up to us to help the less fortunate. And there are oh so many in our country who do. Not the government. Not programs. US. Americans. It's part of our DNA.

Love your neighbor as yourself. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Are we our brothers' keeper? I think we are.

And there is just no better feeling than the joy of giving to someone you know can never do anything for you. Giving helps others but it helps the giver more.

You can never out give God. He will always return it. Shaken. Pressed down. And overflowing.

It takes so little to individually help someone who is less fortunate than we are. The blessings are overwhelming.

I challenge everyone to be a blessing to someone this week who just needs a little help.

copyrighted 2015

caryn cannatella

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THE CHRISTMAS BONUS

THE CHRISTMAS BONUS

If you are lucky enough to get a Christmas bonus at your job, be grateful. Even more than that, tell your boss or bosses THANK YOU and tell them how much it means to you.

Did you know that many people who get that bonus every year never even say thank you? I can't even imagine. Christmas Bonuses are GIFTS. You don't really earn it. Whatever you get is more than you had.

I have gotten bonuses that ranged from $25 to thousands. I was just grateful for the $25 as I was for the thousands.

Appreciate your Christmas bonuses. Your company doesn't have to give them and isn't obligated to give them. If you work for a small company, those bonuses come out of your boss' pocket. It is his/her money and they choose to give it to you at Christmas.

So, if you got one or you get one, take 30 seconds and tell the person who made it happen Thanks you. If you can't tell them in person, call them. If you can't call them, then text or email them. I'm telling you that it will mean so much to them.

Gratitude is a way of life!

copyrighted 2014

caryn cannatella

Skinny Fiber Sales:  www.caryncann.com

THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

I wanted to share something with ya'll. Today I was at the bank cashing a check. I watched an old man (he might have been younger than me but he looked tired and old). He was bent over and using a cane. He was clean and carrying a back pack. I don't know about where you live but if you see an adult carrying a backpack in Houston, they are usually homeless and carry everything they own in that backpack.

I watched him walk through that strip parking lot picking up trash and putting it in the garbage. When I finally got my cash, I decided to drive over and talk to him. I got out of the car and said hello. He said, "I don't mean to bother anyone, ma'am." I told him that he wasn't bothering me.

I said, "I noticed you were picking up garbage and putting it in the trash can." He said, "Well, you know people just throw trash everywhere these days." I said, "I really appreciate it and I want to give you this gift card to go across the street and get you something to eat and I want to give you this cash for Christmas."

He was sitting on the curb when he looked up at me, with tears in his eyes and said, "Thank you so much. I'm a veteran waiting on my disability."

I had actually cashed my weekly allowance for twice what I usually make it out for so I went back to the car and got more money to give to him. I told him, "I have had a very good year and I want to share it with you." He said, "How did you know?" "God told me."

This old, tired, veteran of our armed forces put his head in his hands and cried so hard his shoulders shook. I thanked him again and wished him a Merry Christmas. Several minutes later I was on the street at the traffic light and I glanced over and saw him where I left him. His head was still in his hands and his shoulders were still shaking.

So why am I sharing this? Because there are many people out there who just need a little help. We all hear about the spirit of Christmas but too often it seems to be centered around what we buy as gifts or what we get as gifts. These people are invisible to most of us all year long. Find someone who needs a little help this Christmas and just help them. It doesn't have to be a lot. It doesn't even have to be money. It could be a blanket, some gloves, a coat you don't wear. You will feel the love emanate from that person.

Make the Christmas Spirit come alive this year. It will make your Christmas so special.

copyrighted 2014

caryn cannatella

Skinny Fiber Sales:  www.caryncann.com

THE RUINING OF THANKSGIVING DAY

THE RUINING OF THANKSGIVING DAY

October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln, set aside the 4^th Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving for the blessings bestowed upon this Nation and her people by God, the creator.

This day has always represented a time for families to gather together and enjoy their bounty as a family.    It’s a day to step away from work, jobs, stress, etc.  and enjoy the time spent with family and friends being thankful for all the blessings in our lives.

The first 20 years I was married, my family was my husband, Jim, and myself.  Some years we spent with extended family, sometimes with friends.  Often it was just the two of us but it was still a day of being together, away from our jobs and enjoying that day of just being together.

When Ashlie arrived in August, 1992, I decided that we would have our first full blown Thanksgiving dinner.  Every year since, I have spent 3 days getting ready for our Thanksgiving meal.  What started out as a huge meal that provided leftovers for days has now become a meal that is just enough for lunch and dinner.   Although the homemade dinner is great, the food is not the important thing.   It’s having us all sitting at the dining room table, having everyone share what they are so thankful for this past year and just getting to spend time with family and friends.

I understand that there are people who will always have to work on Thanksgiving.  First responders and health care workers are needed and are critical to have on this day, like any day.  There are industries that require 24 hour employees.  However, most of these companies work to make sure that their employees have either lunch or dinner to be with their families. 

Now, in our beautiful country, the United States, a new trend is happening.  Retail stores have decided to be open on Thanksgiving.  There is no reason for this decision other than greed.  Don’t their employees deserve to have this day off to spend with their families?  Is the CEO of Sears, Walmart, Target, ToyRUs, Kmart, JC Penneys, just to name a few, going to be working on Thanksgiving?  Or is he or she going to be sitting around the Thanksgiving table with his/her family & friends laughing and giving thanks for their blessings?  Couldn’t they remember to give thanks for their employees and decide that they, too, deserve to have this National Holiday off with their family and friends?

I hope these CEO’s will put profit aside for this one day and show their gratitude for all of their employees who work every day.  Give them this Thanksgiving Day off so they can celebrate with their family just like you CEO’s are.

And you can help this happen.  Stay home on Thanksgiving Day!  Refuse to shop these retailers on our National Holiday of Thanksgiving.   There is nothing you buy on Thursday that you can’t buy on Friday.   If the stores are empty on Thanksgiving, the CEO’s will get the message.    If you choose to go out after you stuffed your belly and participate in this, then you, my friend, are just like the CEO’s.  And who knows, maybe next year your employer will decide that you don’t need your Thanksgiving off and will keep your place of employment open.  Will that be when you decide it’s wrong?

The choice is yours.  Let’s keep our tradition of Thanksgiving what it was meant to be.  A day of family and friends enjoying being together with food made with love and the sharing of blessings and thanksgiving with family and friends.    Choose to stay out of retail stores on Thanksgiving.

copyrighted 2014

caryn cannatella

Skinny Fiber Sales:  www.caryncann.com

WHEN PEOPLE LEAVE YOUR LIFE

WHEN PEOPLE LEAVE YOUR LIFE

Today on my way in to work I started thinking about some people who chose to leave my life and the lives of my children.  The first couple of years after this happened, I admit it bothered me.  It made me sad.  I finally decided that all I could do was accept and respect their choice and move on.

While I was roaming around those memories, the song "He lifts me up" came on the radio.  I started thinking about how I have been lifted up during this past 15 years without them in my life.  I have been blessed with friends coming into my life who are like family.  Men and women.  Older and younger.  When I need them, they are always there for me.  I have a beautiful woman who is only 5 years older than me who calls me her daughter.  It makes my heart so full.  My children have always been the center of my life and they are even more so now as they grow into adults. 

I thought, it's true that I have lost those 3 people from my life.  But look what I have in return.  Brothers and sisters, a mother, friends who know the true meaning of friendship.  And I have a rock solid relationship with my kids. 

Sometimes we look at what we have lost rather than what we have gained.  My life is overflowing with blessings and love.  Don't waste a day thinking or mourning for something that was.  Spend your time thinking about what is.  Open your heart and life up to the possibilities of the blessings that can come to you when you stop trying to relive the past.  Move into the now and see what has come into your life that maybe, just maybe, you would have missed out on if others hadn't left your life.

And then take a big ole' breath and exhale while you say, "I am truly blessed".  Because you are.

copyrighted 2014

caryn cannatella

Skinny Fiber Sales:  www.caryncann.com

NOTE TO MY YOUNGER SELF

NOTE TO MY YOUNGER SELF

Hey girl!

None of the terrible things happening to you now will even matter in the future.  You will grow into a strong, independent woman.  The ones who sought to destroy you and break your little spirit failed. 

You will rise from the ashes and become the woman you were always meant to be.  It's your heart, your goodness, and your faith that will keep you on the path that will lead you to the best parts of your life.  No one can ever stop you from pursuing your dreams and reaching them as long as you believe.  And at every point along the way, trust me, there will be people who enter your life that will help you down that road.  Your spirit of forgiveness and gratitude will become the touchstones of your life.

You, my sweet child, aren't just going to survive.  You are going to thrive and be a beacon for others.  Keep these words in your heart.  Some day you will look back in amazement at how far you have come.

And I do.  Every day.

Feel free to leave a note here for your younger child.  I would love to read them.

copyrighted 2014

caryn cannatella

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YAKKITY YAK

YAKKITY YAK!

Do you have that inner voice that talks smack to you all the time?  You know the one.  It never has a kind word to say to you.  It knows all your shortcomings and failures.  And it is never shy about pointing them all out to you.

There was a time that I denied having an inner voice that was discouraging and a finger pointer.  Now I know that it wasn’t that one didn’t exist.  It was that I was so used to hearing it yakking at me, that I no longer could differentiate that voice from any other.

That voice told me I was fat and a failure.  How many times did I hear that voice telling me how I didn’t measure up and never would.  That voice could take a great conversation I had with a friend and convince me that there were hidden meanings.  It didn’t take much for me to believe the lies. 

Yes, they were lies.  Everything that little but persistent voice said to me was a lie.  That voice never said, “Great job, Caryn!  You jogged a half a mile.”  No, this gnat of a voice would say, “I wouldn’t call what you do, jogging.  More like walking and not very fast at that!  You’ll never be a jogger!”  This voice would tell me how fat and ugly I was and that it would never be any different because I was a loser and a failure.

During the past year on my last weight loss journey with Skinny Fiber, I struggled when this little tyrant would start blabbering to me.  Sometimes I could ignore it; sometimes I couldn’t.  I remember one 24 hour period that I just couldn’t deal with it anymore.  I bought me 20 mini ice cream cones (I gave myself some points for not buying the regular size ice cream cones!  Lol) and I ate them all in that time.  Yeah, I felt disgusted.  Yep, I felt like a failure and a loser.  I thought “how can I convince people how great losing this weight is when I failed so miserably?” 

Two things happened that day.  The first is I decided that the next day I would go back on my program and forget about the ice cream cones.  I also decided that day that I didn’t have to listen to the inner brat taunting me, accusing me and tearing me down.  I could just decide to block out the sound of that bull dozer voice.  It would be up to me from now on.

Since then I have done so much better.  First, if I want something sweet or gooey, I get one at a store where they sell them in singles.  Once it’s gone, it’s gone but I still have the satisfaction of having had some, just not lots and lots of it.  The second thing I did was to stop listening to that voice.  Oh, not only did it ridicule me and remind me of every failure, it would try to convince me that this weight loss journey was no different than any of the other hundreds I had been on.  It tried to convince me that boy am I going to be embarrassed when I fail, again, and all of facebook, my SBC family and people I don’t even know on social media realize I was a fraud, a failure, and worthless, again.

Not this time!  When I hear that voice trying to convince me that I shouldn’t exercise, I get proactive.  I might jog twice that day instead of once.  When it tells me what a failure I am, I look at the clothes I am now wearing…sizes 16 and a few 18’s.  That reminds me that the voice is a liar!  When it taunts me with “people are staring at you and making fun of you jogging”, I refuse to listen.  I get out my videos and look at my legs.  How strong they have become in such a short time and how they are starting to look like the legs of a runner.

I’m telling you this because I know I’m not the only one with that miserable little voice that would rather see you lying in a heap on the floor crying than to see you in charge of your life.  Mute the brat!  You don’t have to listen to it!  Write down examples of all the successes you have had in your life and especially now on your own last weight loss journey.  

Do I still hear that cranky little troublemaker?  I do but not as often anymore.  You don’t have to either.  Decide to shut the noise down and live in a space where you revel in your successes and not your failures.

copyrighted 2014

caryn cannatella

Skinny Fiber:  www.caryncann.com

IT'S YOURS FOR THE TAKING

BE GRATEFUL & BE BLESSED

Sometimes I just lie in bed and think about my life. Now, I'll admit I have had some crappy years out of my 61 years. Some worse than others. In 2003 I was alone, totally alone, except for my children. I thought my life was a mess I'd never get straightened out.

You know what happened? I decided to declare daily how much I was blessed and write down daily what I was grateful for. In the beginning I wasn't able to see all my blessings as clearly as I do now. Some days it was just "I'm grateful for my job (which I hated)." "I'm grateful for my home (hated it too)." "I'm grateful for my children (none of us liked each other much back then)." "I'm grateful for my car."

But you know what I happened? I started being able to name many things that I was grateful for. During those next 4 or 5 years I became grateful for everything. And the more grateful I became, the more blessed I was.

I no longer think about the times in my life that were hard, that I was mistreated, that I was abused. I just look at my life as a whole. I have so little stress in my life. Every day I remind myself of my many blessings.

I now have a family that includes my best friend and all her family (those Diaz's are the best). I have a best friend who shares my home. My son, Cody, is doing well in his job and is making great progress financially. My daughter, Ashlie, has been at her job a year and a half, planning to attend college and is in love with a great man. And her boyfriend, Daniel, has now become family. I still consider my ex to be a part of our family.

If you want to live a life that is pretty much stress free, be grateful for what you have, no matter how little or much it is. And then declare daily how blessed you are. I guarantee you that if you do those two things, you will see an amazing change in your life. I know. I have lived it!

Be grateful and be blessed! It's yours for the taking.

copyrighted 2014

caryn cannatella

www.caryncann.com

BEING POSITIVE

BEING POSITIVE

Maybe it does for some, but for most of us, we have to choose and make a concerted effort to be positive! But we can do it! You just get up in the morning and said aloud, "Today I will be positive".

Now I'll tell you, it doesnt' change instantly. Like all good things, it takes time. I know! It doesn't seem right that negative things that root immediately and positive things that time. But that is the way it works. Once you start doing this everyday, you will find that the positive days far outnumber the negative days.

Try it. What do you have to lose other than bad days.

copyrighted 2014

caryn cannatella

www.caryncann.com

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

As you lay your head down tonight to go to sleep, do this.  Close your eyes and one by one think of the blessings in your life.  No problems, no stresses, no worries.  Just blessings. 

You will begin to feel a deep peace and such a sense of gratefulness.  When you fall asleep you will have cushioned yourself with gratitude.  And with gratitude comes more blessings.  

When you forget to be grateful, you block your blessings.  Open up your heart to having an attitude of gratitude and just watch the showers of blessings that come into your life.

You will be amazed.  I am - everyday.

copyrighted 2014

caryn cannatella

www.caryncann.com

THEN I WOULD BE HAPPY FOR SURE

THEN I WOULD BE HAPPY FOR SURE

If I were someone’s wife

If I had children in my life

Then I could be happy for sure.

If I had more money

If I had another Honey

Then I would be happy for sure.

If I owned my own home

If my kids were all grown

Then I know I’d be happy for sure.

If my husband were alive

If my children came by

Then at last I’d be happy for sure.

I’ve spent all my days

With the ifs in my way

Not caring to live for today.

The years came and went

And my life had been spent

On this two letter word of lament.

Copyrighted

Caryn Cannatella

1984

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CAN A NEGATIVE EVENT BECOME A BLESSING?

CAN A NEGATIVE EVENT BECOME A BLESSING?

When something goes wrong in your life do you see it as a setback?  I have noticed that when something goes wrong, and it could be small or large, we tend to view it as negative.

I have learned and believe to my core that when bad things happen, God can turn it into a blessing.  Sometimes I don't see how He can, but he does.  Sometimes He will use it to put into motion a plan to take care of something you have requested of Him.

Yesterday I had to buy two new tires.  Today a new battery.  I feel blessed.  There was a time when I wouldn’t have been able to even buy either.  I would have been worrying what wouldn't get paid this month.  I no longer live in that place. But more than that, I live in a state of feeling blessed and being grateful.  I didn't always live with that attitude.  

Since changing my life to blessed and grateful, I am just amazed how God turns negatives into blessings in my life.  I don't believe God causes bad things to happen.  But I do believe that He can take a bad situation and make it a blessing for me....if I just let him.   I could tell you about some of the times that He has put things into place over a long period of time to be bring blessings into my life.  Many times He is working in the background to bring about your blessings.

Believe He will do it for you.  When you stop believing, you close the door for Him to keep working.  Try it just once.  You will be amazed!

copyrighted 2014

caryn cannatella

www.caryncann.com/?SOURCE=BLOG

ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

Are your thoughts on what you don't have in your life or what you do have?

I used to live my life in the "Why not me?"  mode.  Why didn't I have a better job?  How come I didn't make more money?  Why couldn't I live in a nicer home?  Why Why Why. 

About 11 years ago I started changing my focus.  Instead of wondering why I started being grateful.  I would say out loud what I was grateful for.  My eyesight.  My hearing.  My children.  My car.  The birds.  Air conditioning.  Heat.  Toilet paper.  Electricity.  Indoor plumbing.  The fact I could buy whatever groceries I wanted.  My job (even though I hated it).  So many things in my life I just took for granted.  No matter what chaos is going on around you, there are many things to be thankful for.  Everything in my life became an opportunity to be grateful.

My life didn't change overnight.  It was a process in me.  I can tell you that it does change your life.  I live the most amazing life.  It is everything I want it to be.  Sure, there are parts that are still changing and improving but I wake up every day believing that my life is the best life in the world!

I live such a blessed life.  Even the little bumps that occur in life (and there are bumps, big and small) just don't seem like much in the grand scheme of my life.  What I have noticed through this past decade is that it becomes easier and easier to be grateful in all things.  And the more grateful I am, the more blessed I become.

I know that the change that happened is me.  I changed.  If you want to change your life, take a moment each day to find something to be grateful for.  You will find abundance in doing so.  I know.  I'm living proof.  

Join me in my last weight loss journey with Skinny Fiber @ www.caryncann.com

copyrighted 2014
caryn cannatella


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