In this day and age you would think people are intelligent enough to know NOT to leave their children in a vehicle unattended.  As some of you may know I am Australian and our summers in Queensland can be very hot and humid.

It isn’t unusual to hear about sun safety on the television and radio and in particular not leaving children or pets in vehicles in the heat.  I have never actually seen anyone do this until last week.  I was on a mission to get to our local post office before closing time.  Always a bad idea as there is a lineup of people on the street.  After a good 15 minutes or so I made it to the front, attended to my parcels and headed back to my car.  As I did so I passed a vehicle in the parking lot with all the windows wound up and 2 young children sitting in the back strapped into their car seats.  They were about 3 and 5 I suspect.

I kept going to my car but then thought better of it and doubled back to see if the children were ok and if indeed I could find their parent.  As I approached the car the little boy had beads of sweat forming on his top lip and forehead and I began to panic.  I tried the door which was locked and solicited the help of a passer by.  Between us we convinced the little boy to unlock the door. As he did so and we were attempting to get some air into the car his mother appeared out of nowhere.  Needless to say she was unimpressed with our presence.  I told her how dangerous it was to leave little ones in the car on such a scorching day, she responded by telling me she had just slipped into the post office for a moment.  The same post office I had just spent the last 15 minutes in.

I watched as she spoke to her children in absolute shock, as I went to pull out of the capark she turned to me and said “It really isn’t that hot in there for them you know” – I was dumbfounded – sure it wasn’t, all the windows were wound up, who knows how long they had been in there and it was pushing 40 degrees outside.

Parenting courses – where the hell are they and why aren’t they compulsory?
Mary-Ann Roche

Hi friends! What’s up? I hope you’re having a fantastic life!
I love stories. That’s why I love reading books, watching movies and animated films, and listening to people. Let me share with you an inspirational story. It is the story of a mother fish and baby fish…
Baby Fish:  Mommy, mommy, please help me!
Mother Fish: What is it my baby?
Baby Fish:  I want to have fun today. I want to be happy.
Mother Fish: Ok, my sweetheart, we will have a walk (or is it swim?) together.  We will have a tour of the ocean.
Baby Fish:  Yahoo! Thanks mom! I’m so excited!
Mother Fish: Okay, get your feet (or fins?) ready? Let’s go!
Baby Fish: I’m ready! It’s gonna be a fun day with my mom!

The mother fish and baby fish start their walk (swim)

Mother Fish: Sweetie, do you see that big coral reef? That’s where I met your dad.
Baby Fish: Wow, I guess it’s a love at first sight encounter! hahaha
Mother Fish: Yes, We both were hit by the arrows of cupid.  We fell in love with each other, the first time we met.  I can’t forget our first date. It was romantic.

They reach a very beautiful place in the ocean.  It’s like a paradise. It’s filled with colorful plants with different sizes and shapes. The water is sparkling and clear due to the rays of the sun that permeates the water above.  There are various precious gems and stones and rocks of different sizes as well.  And the most spectacular spot is a gigantic and shining shell with a huge pearl in it.

Baby Fish: Wow! Mommy, what is this place? I’m mesmerized!
Mother Fish: Baby, this is where your dad and I had our first date.  This is the most beautiful place in the ocean.  Our date was the most memorable and special day in my life! He treated me like a queen then! There was a school of fish serving and serenading us! I can’t forget that day!
Baby Fish:  Wow, I wish I were with you then.  hahaha.  Mommy, I’m so tired and thirsty! Please help me. I want to drink.
Mother Fish: My child, I can’t understand what you’re asking me. What do you want again?
Baby Fish: I want to drink Mommy!
Mother Fish: Honey, you don’t need my help for you to drink. We are swimming in the ocean.  Water surrounds us. You just have to open your mouth to receive it.
Baby Fish:  Thanks Mommy!
Mother Fish: Water is overflowing all around. Just open your mouth! You can drink water as much as you want. The amount of water you can drink will depend on how big you will open your mouth.
Baby Fish:  Thanks Mom!

And the mother fish and baby fish continue to enjoy having a walk (swim) together.

It’s sad to know that there are people who are not enjoying great things that life has to offer… there are teenagers who cannot maximize their skills and potentials…  there are adults who are not successful in their chosen career… there are married people who cannot create and maintain healthy relationships that last…  there are students who cannot excel in their studies…  there people who are poor and will remain poor forever…  there are people who always complain about their situation in life…  there are individuals who are and remain losers in life… WHY? Because of one and single reason…  They have a SCARCITY MENTALITY! They think that only few people in this world deserve to be happy and successful.  They believe that there is a scarcity and lack of opportunities in the world.  They feel that the resources of the universe are not sufficient for all the people in the world.  It’s on the first come and first serve basis. There’s nothing left to the last and the least in the world. The fittest, strongest and luckiest survive because they are the first to grab the opportunities, and the first to receive and own the resources.

But, this should not be our mindset!  The scarcity mentality lets us suffer more.  It limits our world. It deprives us of the great things we deserve to receive.  It paralyzes our heart and closes our hands, and so we lose a lot of opportunities!  It’s high time to replace our scarcity mentality with ABUNDANCE MINDSET.  The world is oozing and overflowing with thousands… millions… gazillions… limitless great and fantastic things.  Let’s learn from the story of the mother fish and baby fish.  We are swimming in an ocean of joy, peace, love, abundance, opportunities, prosperity, good health, and amazing things  in life!  We just have to open our mouth.  We just have to open our mind and heart! Be expectant always!  Be ready to receive all things that you want and need! There is no scarcity of resources, but there is a scarcity of readiness to receive them. Open now! Get ready! Behold and see miracles and wonders happening in your life!  The riches of the world are enough, or even more than, what we all can imagine and more than what all the people in the world need.  Abundance surrounds us. The amount of what you will receive will depend on the size you will open your mind and heart. Welcome to the feast! Enjoy the unlimited buffet we can all partake.  Best things, a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put at your lap!

Hi friends! What’s up? I hope that you’re enjoying life and making the most of it. I can’t but share this funny story about my child. When he was still small, he loved to drink milk, He could survive the entire day just by drinking his milk, and he could not last a day without it. One time, he showed me his glass filled with milk to its brim.  He would show me a gesture asking and begging me to give him more milk.  But, though I wanted to him more milk, I couldn’t.  Why?  There’s no more space for more milk. No matter how loud he would cry and no matter how persistent and persuasive he could be, I still could not do anything about it.  There’s no more space for more milk.

This funny story reminds me of one of the laws of the universe. Before I discuss it with you, allow me first to emphasize the word LAW.  Compared with a theory or assumption, a law is 100% true, correct and applicable.  A law is based on natural law which no one can defy.  A law expresses how the universe works and operates. Whether you believe it or not, you can’t do anything about it.  For example, the law of gravity states that whatever goes up must come down.  It happens all the time. No one can stop it from happening. A law is absolute.  Let me share with you another law of the universe which I will focus on in this article.

THE MORE YOU GIVE, THE MORE YOU RECEIVE! Nature hates space.  It fills any vacuum that it sees.  And so, the more space one has, the more things will be poured on him.  Each of us is like a glass.  If we are filled with so much things, there is no more room to receive new and better things.  We need to empty ourselves so that we can receive more.  This explains why giving, sharing and helping are taught, practiced and encouraged in different faiths and various cultures.  It’s a law that everybody understands no matter what language we speak, what culture we live, in what place we dwell and what creed we uphold.  If you want to be loved more, share love with people around you.  If you want to have more money, share your money and gifts with people who are in need.  Give and it will be given to you.  A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over will be put into your lap.  This is how the universe works and operates.

A closed hand can’t and will never receive anything.  It’s only an open hand that can receive.  Open it to reach out to those who are in need, assist those who are hopeless, extend it to those who are down, and share it with those  who lack.  In doing so, you’re opening your life to the boundless, limitless, infinite and overflowing abundance of the universe.  Receive more peace, joy, strength, healing, miracles, prosperity, love and wisdom as you empty your glass. And So, what are you waiting for? GIVE! SHARE! REACH OUT!  Great things are in store for you! Empty your glass now!  THE MORE YOU GIVE, THE MORE YOU RECEIVE!

Hi friends! Let me share funny stories of funny people in our place. Let me share two of the many funny people whose paths I always cross.  Every morning I always meet Mr. X and Mrs. Z.  Sorry for not revealing their true identity.  I don’t want to hurt people’s feelings, and I don’t want them to be put on the spot and be embarrassed.  Before preparing breakfast, I always go to the grocery store to buy stuff I will cook for my family. When I enter the grocery store, I always see the frowning face of Mrs. Z, she would always complain about her life. She endlessly talks about her miseries and problems. His husband left her, and she blamed him for not doing his part to maintain and strengthen their marriage.  She complains about her son and her daughter. Her teenage son got hooked on drugs and became a school drop-out, while her young daughter had to stop schooling due to unwanted pregnancy.  To top it all, she always expresses her dismay towards her boss and officemates in the workplace because they made her workplace second to hell.  Her day won’t be complete if words of negativity would not come out of her mouth.

Let me share with you another funny person I know. I always meet him in the neighborhood. Mr. X always blames other people for the problems he experiences in his life.  He holds accountable the government for his financial crisis due to recession. He condemns the owners of cars for his lung ailment due to smoke belching. He points his finger at the friends of his kids and incriminates media for the misdemeanors of his kids.  He would put the blame on other people for all the bad things happening in his life.

Sad to say, my dear friends, many of us are like Mr. X and Mrs. Z.  We do not want to be held responsible and accountable for all the things that are happening in our lives. We blame others except ourselves.  We are fond of uttering negative words when we rise in the morning until we retire at night.  We are not aware that we are the captain of our ship, the composer of our song, the artist in our stage, the painter of our canvass, the master of our life.  We create our destiny. All the things that are happening in our lives are products of our choices, consequences of our actions, results of what we always think about, manifestations of what we consistently utter and outcome of what we attract.

I will share with you 6 powerful truths that will empower you and change your life!
1.  You are what you repeatedly do.
2.  You attract all the things that are happening in your life.
3.  If you want to change your world, you need to change your world.
4.  The more you think of the things you do not want, the more you attract them.
5.  You have to power to create your own world through your thoughts, words, feelings and actions.
6.  If there is one person to be blamed for all the things happening in your life, it is you!  And, if there’s one person who can fix and improve your life, it is you!

My friends, may this video help you reshape and transform your life!  You’re life is like a clay! You have the power your create and shape it! Use your power to your advantage! May all your dreams come true!

Hi friends! How are you? I hope you’re having a great day. It’s time again for me to share with you some inspirational insights about life.
While I was taking my breakfast and watching TV last week, I stumbled upon a music video of Bee Gees’ Tragedy.  Though the song is sung in a lightly and joyful manner, its lyrics crushed my heart.  It’s about the real impact and effect of tragedy in a person’s life.  Truly, it’s the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone.  The chorus goes this way.

♫ ♪ Tragedy, when the feeling’s gone and you can’t go on,
It’s tragedy. When the morning cries and you don’t know why,
It’s hard to bear. With no one to love you, you’re goin’ nowhere.
Tragedy: When you lose control and you have no soul,
It’s tragedy. When the morning cries and you don’t know why,
It’s hard to bear.
With no one beside you, you’re goin’ nowhere. ♪ ♫

What tragedy have your experienced? It may be a problem in the family, a misfortune, a loss of a loved one, a sickness, a financial crisis, a relationship breakdown, a failure, a calamity, a conflict with someone, or anything that broke your heart and destroyed your life.  Indeed, a tragedy is hard to bear. It entails a lot of strength and courage to bear, face and overcome it. This explains why many people would breakdown, lose hope and give up.  It has both emotional and psychological effects on a person, and eventually pathological effects (like psychosomatic sicknesses). It slowly kills a person. And so many cannot move on and go on with life. It is like a drug that deadens every area/aspect of a person and  kills him slowly, if he does not know how to handle and cope with it.
Here are effective tips how to handle tragedy in life.

Tell others about it. Don’t be embarrassed and shy to share it with your friends and loved ones. Look for people who will listen to you. Telling it to others will lighten your burden and ease your pain. You need to open up and release your bottled emotions and feelings about it. Don’t keep it within yourself, or else you will implode or explode.
Restore your life. Move on. Life should continue and should not stop right where tragedy hit you. Continue doing what you’ve doing. Don’t let it affect your work, career, relationships, health, etc.
Accept it. Don’t deny it.  Learn to accept that you are hurt, offended and affected. Don’t ignore it. It will haunt you. It lengthen the time to undergo the process of overcoming it.  Having the courage and humility to accept it solves 90% of the problem.
Grieve for it. Feel it. Mourn for it. Hate it.  Cry over it. Acknowledge your feelings. Let your feelings flow. The more you let your feelings surface, the better you will feel. Don’t repress your emotions.  Let it flow. Let it go. This stage takes time, but should not take forever.
Exist with it. Accept the truth that tragedy is part and parcel of life. Live with it. Accept the fact that every person in this world faces and will face a tragedy at some point in his life.
Deal with it. Don’t run away from it. Don’t ignore it. Face it.  Look for ways how you can use it to your advantage. Discover lessons you can learn from it.  Take it as an opportunity for growth.
Yearn to be happy.  Look at the positive and brighter side of life.  Life is beautiful! A tragedy is just a dust or speck in the canvass of life.  Recognize and focus on the beauty of life.

And so, next time that Tragedy will hit you, always remember and know what to do with it, T.R.A.G.E.D.Y.  Sing and take it the way Bee Gees sing it.

♫ ♪ Tragedy, when the feeling’s gone and you can’t go on,
It’s tragedy. When the morning cries and you don’t know why,
It’s hard to bear. With no one to love you, you’re goin’ nowhere.
Tragedy: When you lose control and you have no soul,
It’s tragedy. When the morning cries and you don’t know why,
It’s hard to bear.
With no one beside you, you’re goin’ nowhere. ♪ ♫

I wish you all the best in life. Live, Laugh and Love!