“Your Mother Almost Killed Me, Her Best Friend!”

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Why do we do the things we do? Have you ever taken the time to figure out what is behind your actions? What is causing you to do the things you are doing?

Maybe you’ve had a little more time to contemplate your actions since the pandemic. I know I have. Several of the programs I’ve taken have asked me to dig deep to find my WHY! Why I do, or don’t do, certain things.

Many of you know I started delivering dahlias to a memory care facility in town a few months ago. I’ve been posting on Facebook various photos of the dozens of dahlias I deliver each week to them.

The reason “why” I’m doing this started with a phone call back in 1984…

“Your Mother Almost Killed Me, Her Best Friend!” Eleanor said in a raging voice! Eleanor was my mother’s best friend.

That call was the beginning of major change, a turning point in my life – in all our lives!

My mother had moved from Southern California to be close to her grandchildren in Northern California. She lived about a mile away from us, an easy walk for my kids to spend time – lots of time – with their grandma.

There had been a recent change in her behavior. My mother was having trouble balancing her checkbook. That was back in the days when we didn’t have computers, just calculators. This situation was unusual, but I didn’t give it much thought.

Eleanor had flown from Los Angeles to San Jose to visit. They both were looking forward to seeing each other. They had been best friends since they met in grammar school, nearly 60 years earlier.

It was late afternoon when I got this disturbing call.

“Linda, you can’t let your mother drive anymore!!! You have to take the keys away from her! She ran several RED LIGHTS! She didn’t stop at any “STOP” signs or signals! A car just missed hitting us! We were almost killed! She could have killed someone – anyone – a child!

It took this drastic event for me to grasp something more was happening to my mom – something more than not being able to balance a checkbook.

My mother was suffering from a rare disease known as Jakob-Creutzfeldt Disease, at least that is what it was called back in 1984. (It is now called Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease). It is a rapidly progressive disease that causes dementia, muscular weakness, and ultimately death, which in her case was less than 18 months from the first signs until her agonizing death.

I was ill-equipped to handle this situation. Only a month earlier I had major emergency surgery and lost an enormous amount of blood. The doctors were not able to continue a blood transfusion due to a severe allergic reaction I had when they first started. I almost died. I was weak, foggy-headed, and barely able to walk around my own house much less care for my mom.

Finding a “home” for her was an exhausting, difficult process. There were numerous “nursing home scandals” happening in our area at the time. I visited all within a 25-mile radius of our home and they were horrific!

Ultimately, I chose a nursing home that cared for patients with dementia. Alzheimer’s was not being addressed yet. Boy, have we come a long way – thank goodness!

What I discovered in that process was actually Feng Shui principles although I had never heard of Feng Shui at the time. It took years for me to learn and understand Feng Shui, which is how the built environment affects every aspect of our life.

A key take-away when visiting and interviewing the various nursing homes was how they felt. How they made me feel. How it made the staff feel.

The one I chose was one that felt “like home.” It had children close by it (a preschool next door) with the sound of children laughing and playing; there were a few cats and small dogs on the premises; and flowers. Lots of flowers! Some growing in a garden, some cut flowers throughout the facility, and even flower wallpaper.

This story is my WHY to many things I do in life!

 

WHY I want to spend time with family.

WHY I want to create spaces with good energy.

WHY I love to play in my garden.

WHY I love to grow flowers and share them.

WHY I know what to look for in a care facility – any health care facility, especially memory care.

WHY I know that flowers mean the world to those with dementia.

WHY I know that flowers mean the world to those who work in a memory care facilities.

WHY flowers bring JOY to those who give, receive, and see flowers!

They even bring tears of joy to those who see me deliver the flowers each week. This includes the smile and, “No problem!” comment I received from the male FedEx driver whose truck I momentarily blocked while delivering last week’s 7-dozen blooms!

Why are you doing the things you are doing? What is your deepest WHY in life?

Please share with me in an email, on Facebook, or in a personal note.

Blessings,

Linda Lenore



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How Can I Bring In More Money Into My Life? – Feng Shui FAQ

How Can I Bring In More Money Into My Life? – Feng Shui FAQ

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As I have mentioned many times before regarding Feng Shui, the entrance to your home is one of the most important features – if not the most important feature – to consider when looking for a home with Good Feng Shui. We want the front yard to be beautiful, colorful, full of life and vitality with healthy trees and shrubs, free of weeds, an inviting walkway to the front door, an easy-to-see-from-the-street front door and an overall “welcoming” vibe to it.

Other qualities we want are:

– Meandering or curving walkways to the front door

  • – Walkways that start at the street, not just from the driveway.
  • – Have a door close to the front of the actual building, not tucked back from the front of the building.
  • – No building stretching out in front of the door on either or both sides – to the left and right of the door.
  • – The above blocks the GOOD Chi from finding the door and affects the occupants’ career options. One side blocks career options for men, the other for women.
  • – Mature trees, but not in direct alignment with the front door and the street.
  • – A cover over the doorway for protection from bad weather.
  • – Equal amounts of the five elements.

Sweep up the leaves and other debris from around your front door by sweeping them toward the door, not away from it. To find out why, get my MP3 recording of "A Fresh Start" by clicking on my signup box on my website pages.
Sweep up the leaves and other debris from around your front door by sweeping them toward the door, not away from it. To find out why, get my FREE MP3 recording of “A Fresh Start” by clicking the image above.

The five elements are wood, fire, earth, metal and water. We want a balance of these elements in the natural world around us (as well as inside.)

1. Wood = Green = Rectangles

2. Fire = Red = Triangle

3. Earth = Yellow = Square

4. Metal = White = Circles or Half-circles

5. Water = Blue or Black = Waves or Curves

Rate your front entrance using these criteria. For each one of the above qualities you have in your front yard and entrance to your home, subtract one from zero. Yes, you will have a negative number.

You’ll want to add at least one item that attracts “Good Feng Shui” for each negative item you have. Then start adding more items to create a positive number. A number around 9 or more will greatly improve the “good energy or chi” to bring you the Good Things in Life!

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