It's showtime folks...

Have you ever noticed how life is like a series of theater acts all put together? Every day we go to rehearse or to play a part, we wear all sorts of customs, use all kinds of voices and personalities, it all depends on who is our counterpart, it can be our families, strangers on the street, co-workers, the old, the young, the animals even nature itself. 

Over the past ten years I have had more experiences, challenges, lessons, accomplishments, hardships but most of all ‘Aloneness’ than I can remember. I don't know how many times I made videos or wrote articles talking or writing to the computer, as if talking to someone, that I have all over my computer and my blog, because I felt the need to say the things that I haven't gotten a chance to say, most of all to my children who are the two people I love the most in this our world. 

I guess you can call them the lessons you learn along the way when you decide to take this path or that one. They all take you somewhere, maybe not where you think you would wind up but when you get there you're supposed to asses the end result so that you can either keep on going in that direction and not look back, or re-think your choices and decisions, pick yourself back up and start on a different path.

I remember when I moved away from Mexico City where I was born and raised. I was young and married, we upped and left everything we knew and moved to this tiny little town by the name of Tecate, Baja California where they produce the beer, so that my husband could do his year of social service and we could follow our dream of moving to the United States and start a different lifestyle and my personal lifetime dream of starting a family, we'll find happiness we thought! 

Our year there was fascinating to say the least, but that's only looking back, at the time it was filled with desire and excitement but we also lacked more of what we needed than what we had. It was very lonely and we had to do with very little of anything. 

Twice a week we would go to a little remote village where the Mayor of this town allowed us to use a small hut to give Medical Services to the people who lived there and couldn't reach a doctor. I would "Play the Role" of a Nurse/Assistant/Receptionist for my husband who was a Medical Student doing his year of Social Service. We would charge the patients $1 one dollar and give them the free medication that we collected from the Red and the Green Cross.

Their gratitude was immense and they always gifted us with some fruits or vegetables from their crops, or some food they had cooked and that was a feast for us.

I remember the only thing that kept me feeling alive was the mail. I used to obsess with the mailman. In those days there was no internet and we certainly didn't have any money for long distance calls so we relied only on the mail. I thought: "I was the one who left everyone so if I want people to think of me I have to write" and I did every day to someone. Not only did I write, I used to keep a notebook where I wrote who I had sent a letter to and when, to see how long it would take others to reply back. Some people wrote back for a little while, some now and then but most never wrote back. 

Forty years have passed and I'm still writing, that must mean something, only now I do it for myself, to remember my own adventure especially when I didn't have anyone to witness it with me. 

In such a long path you can imagine how many challenges you encounter, sometimes you learn from them but sometimes you miss the mark and another challenge arises to teach you what you didn't learn the first or many more times...

Well it’s yet another day, I must wrap this up and go take it on and make the best of it!!! I’m excited to think what it will bring.

It’s Show Time Folks…

Hugs xoxo

@nit@

The mistakes we make along the way and the lessons they teach us...

It was exactly 10 yrs. ago give or take a couple of weeks that I found myself making the biggest and most difficult decision that I’ve had to make my whole life, that of destroying the family that it took me a lifetime of blood, sweat, tears, losses, so many emotions, so much work and effort and yet it all seemed effortless because the love and joy that came along with it. Something happens along the way and the joy starts turning into pain, and when the pain becomes greater you need to make a decision as difficult as it may be. You need to take advantage of the pain in order to grow and become a better version of yourself on the other side. We don’t have any control over what anybody else says or does so we have the responsibility to take control of our lives and our happiness in order to be that person that overflows joy and thus able to give it to those you love, otherwise you don’t have anything to give.

That decision I took wound up changing the lives of MANY people, not to mention those I’ve encountered in my path these past ten years. I don’t even want to think about the decisions I’ve taken that have turned into disasters, although I really don’t think it could have been any different. If I were allowed to pick all the ‘mistakes’ I’ve made along the way and fix them, it doesn’t give me any guarantees that the end result would be a better one, different for sure but not necessarily better.

I was just looking at a little video my daughter took in our cute little townhouse her and I were renting at the moment. I was having so many challenges at the time, my mom was dying and I couldn’t even take care of her because of all the challenges I was dealing with, and I was working full time on top of it. People started feeling the right to talk about me, to judge me but nobody came to ask if I needed any help except for my daughter, she could see what my life was really like and could spot the mistakes I was making that at the time I couldn’t see. 

One day she came to me with the idea that I must have a dog. Well I've had dogs for MANY years, my daughter being an animal lover brought home all sorts of critters as well but the presence of a dog was always there, we had four at one point, and I suffered every time I lost one as if it was my child, not to mention the care they require so I immediately said ‘NO MORE DOGS FOR ME’I was free to do anything, go anywhere, why would I want to tie myself again with a dog, but she managed somehow to convince me and looked for the one she knew I would not be able to resist and found it. She was a 4 wk. old Maltepoo (maltese/poodle) mix that looked just like the most beautiful stuffed animal with an adorable personality on top of it. 

First we named her Sydney but for some reason it just didn’t stick and every time I wanted to call her I would think ‘Which city in Australia was it?’ jaja so after a few times that happened we decided to change her name to Chloe and that was definitely a perfect fit. And that wasn’t it, she was smart, happy, cuddly, and she was born on the same day my daughter was born, March 20th, my two blondies were now living with me. My daughter loving dogs as much as she does would play with her, and she is a great and patient trainer, so before long Chloe was dancing on two feet while turning in circles, she would sit for a long time watching TV, sit, lie, crawl was a given  and our daily long walks through the park where I would find places to set her free to run and chase the ball or run after my daughter were the joy of the day. 

And then one day that all would end, first my daughter left for college and Chloe and I stayed back alone, my life routine turned boring and the challenges kept on coming, then the desire to move on became so strong that it must have put a blinder on my intuition. 

It was a Saturday I remember that much, I was sitting at a restaurant that looked like the soda fountain shops from ‘Happy Days' waiting for my son to come out of a class. I had been doing that every Saturday and Sunday for months. I’d drive him there and go to this place that was next to a Movie Studio and sit there for a couple of hrs. to read or write while I waited for him. One of those Saturdays I called my niece in Israel and she suggested why not move to Israel for a while and something lit up inside instantly, I remember saying to her “Yeah, why don’t I”

The process turned out to be quite a bit more difficult and lengthy than I thought it would be, I had to become an Israeli citizen in order to receive all the benefits and that took me 6 months to achieve. Then I had to make sure that my father was going to be cared for, I had a leased car, a townhouse full of furniture and stored all the memories of my past in the garage, that all had to be tended to. Some decisions I made here were not the best I could have made but at the time was all I was able to manage on my own. 

And then came Chloe, I never thought that would be the one thing that would turn out to hurt me the most. I had already given away so many priced possessions and was almost ready to go and then found out that I had to jump through more hoops to take Chloe with me, another 2 month delay. I didn’t even know what living in Israel would mean for me, where would I live, work, etc. My daughter of course pushed for me to take her that it would be a great mistake on my part to leave her, and gave me very valid reasons but I was getting so exhausted and so restless and ready to leave that I took the energy I had left, decided to take the shortest route and left Chloe behind with a great young woman to have an even better life than I was giving her, and I went out to look for a better life for me. 

I saw Chloe once more just before I left and she was already different, she had been totally shaved and my furball looked thin without the fur, she was happy to see me but just as happy to get back with her new mommy and the woman who said no more dogs before my daughter convinced me of getting Chloe now has Diego, the companion I picked up off the streets of Tel-Aviv, a partially blind mutt, without too many teeth and all gray around the face, and gave him a chance at a better life like so many along the way did for me. We bring each other as much joy and companionship as Chloe and I did.

Life is to be lived, not regretted, I look back at the last 10 yrs. and I’m not sure there is anything I would change because isn’t the end result what’s really important? What I remember the most about my life adventure are all those moments that once made me cry as my fondest memories and highest accomplishments. 

I must definitely keep on coming back to the Geiser in Tecozautla, this place is magical for me, anything can happen here, this time I even brought Diego, from the Streets of Ramat Gan to the Geiser in Tecozautla, no doubt life is a miracle. Anything can happen, And now I’m outta here ‘Attracting Dreams!’

May you attract all of yours too.

Much love everyone xoxo

Anita and Diego ;)

Help Other People First

Hello everyone, I trust that you all had a great day and are managing to sit back, relax and ponder on what your accomplishments were, if you had more wins than loses, and what you learned.

None of our days are the same, some we like more than others, but they are all important and as such we must live them.

It's time for me to do just that, so I thought I'd stop in and leave you a little something to end your day well.

Hugs, 

@nit@ xoxo
Help Other People First
by Gary Vurnum
===========================
Zig Ziglar got it right when he said “You can have anything in the world you want if you'll just help enough other people get what they want.” By giving first you set up a chain of events, which, although not always obvious, will move you closer to your goal. Always help without expectation of getting something back…and you will undoubtedly get some help in return.

Action Point:

How can you focus more on the other person instead of yourself? Take some time today helping someone without a direct benefit to yourself. Do this every day for a month. This will benefit you in two ways. Firstly…you will generate a good feeling between yourself and the people you help, and secondly…you will begin to receive the benefits of your action in return. Try it and find out for yourself!
=======================

If G-d brings you to it......

I thought this was a nice story to share with you...it looks long to read, but it truly isn't...not to mention that it is well worth it!

I decided to give it a title since it didn't come with one, and I have no idea who wrote it, a good friend of mine from childhood sent it to me.

I'm just like Rose, I take classes every chance I get, travel as much as I can, anywhere, I'm fearless, daring and thrive on adventure, and if the opportunity arises, I'm there!

Hope you enjoy the story as much as I did, and remember to be like Rose, it's the only way to be!

Hugs,
@nit@
If G-d brings you to it, He will bring you through it!
(Thank you Rose!)

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being. She said, "Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?"

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Of course you may!" and she gave me a giant squeeze. "Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?" I asked. She jokingly replied, "I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids .." "No seriously," I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

"I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!" she told me. After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this "time machine" as she shared her wisdom and experience with me. Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, "I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.

" As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, "! We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it!

There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old.

If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets." She concluded her speech by courageously singing "The Rose."
She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives. At the year's end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago.
One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.

REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL. We make a Living by what we get, We make a Life by what we give. G-d promises a safe landing, not a calm passage. If G-d brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

--- We are all like one-winged angels. It is only when we help each other that we can fly.

--Luciano de Crescenzo