please those of you who are hurting let us help you, we are hurting also. we truly need each other to get through this. each and everyone of us is special and unique and have something to offer. we can offer peace, love, comfort, a shoulder, we have an over abundance of this stored up ready to share with you. lyn feels true to her friends to keep their names confidential, but what if one of you were the ones who lifted me up one day without wanting anything in return other than knowing i was going to be ok. well, i'd like the chance to pay if forward. whatever your spiritual belief, God loves you so much. and i love you.

I was just taking a walk and I was thinking about how successful people always say they had many many failures first before they achieved success. I'm sure success can have many definitions. I was trying to tell myself that picking myself back up is just what I have to do and I can still reach my goals in life.

I'm not one of those making it on the other side yet but I'm looking really hard for some constructive ways of working through all this. I'm willing to share anything positive that helps me so that I can help others along the way too.

"We can support someone in finding his or her own Truth. We can lay down boundaries that protect our lives. We can take steps to help others be safe. But in the long run, each of us must live our own lives and make our own choices."

Cara Lumen

"Let life touch you. Let yourself be moved. Yes, it will hurt sometimes. But far, far deeper would be the pain if you were to build an impenetrable wall around yourself. Immerse yourself in the intensity of life. You were born not to hide but to live, so do it every day. Go ahead and laugh, go ahead and cry. Jump and smile and hug and sing, run and dance and shout. Let life get to you. And be truly moved by the awesome wonder of it all."

Ralph Marston

Raising hand... yes, still hurting here... trying to be ok, but girls just left with stbx for the weekend.

I always get more depressed when they're gone. no real friends around me... this sucks.

AAAwwwwww - lythegal - so sweet - no problem - will try since I am happy about the snow today.

OK, this is PAUL HARVEY
(not me) but it's good and I apologize if anyone is offended. I am simply sharing it and hope you find some truth.

By Paul Harvey

I would gain control of the most powerful nation in the world;

I would delude their minds into thinking that they had come from man's
effort, instead of God's blessings;

I would promote an attitude of loving things and using people, instead of
the other way around;

I would dupe entire states into relying on gambling for their state revenue;

I would convince people that character is not an issue when it comes to
leadership;

I would make it legal to take the life of unborn babies;

I would make it socially acceptable to take one's own life, and invent
machines to make it convenient;

I would cheapen human life as much as possible so that life of animals are
valued more than human beings;

I would take God out of the schools, where even the mention of His name was
grounds for a lawsuit;

I would come up with drugs that sedate the mind and target the young, and I
would get sports heroes to advertise them;

I would get control of the media, so that every night I could pollute the
minds of every family member for my agenda;

I would attack then family, the backbone of any nation. I would make
divorce acceptable and easy, even fashionable. If the family crumbles, so
does the nation;

I would compel people to express their most depraved fantasies on canvas and
movies screens, and I would call it art;

I would convince the world that people are born homosexuals, and that their
lifestyles should be accepted and marveled;

I would convince the people that right and wrong are determined by a few who
call themselves authorities and refer to their agendas as politically
correct;

I would persuade people that the church is irrelevant and out of date, the
Bible is for the naive:

I would dull the minds of Christians, and make them believe that prayer is
not important, and that faithfulness and obedience are optional;

I GUESS I WOULD LEAVE THINGS PRETTY MUCH THE WAY THEY ARE!

Love knows no age or species

Tsunami Survivor

NAIROBI (AFP) - A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise, in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa , officials said.

The hippopotamus, nicknamed ! Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean , then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him.

"It is incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a 'mother'," ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park , told AFP.

"After it was swept and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother. Fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together," the ecologist added.

"The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it follows its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother," Kahumbu added.

"The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender! age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with t heir mothers for four years," he explained.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUzgToWoA-U

I agree Lyn. So many people are hurting and the holidays just magnify the pain. We are all here for all of you.
Thanks Lyn.

Geez - I forgot to add that the Paul Harvey post was him saying what he would do if he were the devil - hope it makes sense now - brain dead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BH_7uL-2jQ&feature=related

ok.. thanks for the song Larry, but I found this version and made the mistake of watching it. Now I can't stop crying. ???

Took me back too many years... I actually sang this song in a High School talent show, but I was only 12 years old. My dad was in charge of the talent show and made me sing... lol. I wish I was that strong and fearless now.

Thanks Lyn!

You mean this site is supposed to be about support and NOT attacking in personal journals?

We are all in different places in our healing. Some od us have endured SIGNIFICANT abuse from our spouses. Its so hard to heal when we are attacked in what should be our safe place. Makes us feel like we are getting nowhere.

Sorry...I'm venting....