My Favorite Crystals

  I decided the next positive post has to be about my favorite crystals. I love pretty much all crystals, but there are a few that are my favorites. My #1 favorite is Amethyst, especially the banded Amethyst. I have one on my desk at work, by my bed, in my traveling bag, in a necklace pendant and I carry one in my pocket all of the time. I am very drawn towards Amethyst, especially in stressful situations. If I'm stressed or feeling anxious, I reach in my pocket and hold the one I keep in my pocket and instantly feel calmer and more confident.

 

  Amethyst is my most favorite crystal because it has so many different uses. I have many different sizes for many different ways of using them. 
  Amethyst is very calming, protective, relieves stress, eases frustration, and encourages peace and courage. It reduces anxiety, helps concentration and helps with decision making. It also works as an anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and can speed up the healing process.

  Black Tourmaline is my next favorite and it is a very protective crystal. I keep The large piece by our front door and a few little pieces in a jar by the back door to block bad energy from coming into our house. I also have some in a little container to hang by the door to the camper and some in even smaller bottles to place in the four corners of a motel room. This crystal also helps with anxiety and helping you stay alert. When you are learning to respect yourself, you can't let in the bad energy and bad vibes from other people so, this crystal is perfect for helping with that.

  Lapis Lazuli is a beautiful blue crystal and is most known for inner peace, trusting yourself and finding truth. When I found out it is good for headaches, I ordered my first one. If I have a bad headache, I hold it against my forehead and I can feel the difference. It may be because I'm placing a cold stone against my forehead, or it may be the crystal doing it's job. Whatever the reason is, I keep one nearby for bad headaches. I also use this crystal for helping with public speaking, boosting immune system and helping to express myself during a job interview.

  White Howlite is also one of my favorites. It is sometimes dyed to look like turquoise or just because some people don't think the pretty white color is as pretty as I think it is. White Howlite has a very soothing energy. It is used to boost patience, helps with insomnia, calms anger and helps with stress. It is handy to have during studying because of the calming energy and it also helps with memory. If we are having a family get-to-gather, I make sure I have one in the room where most of the people are going to gather to take advantage of the soothing energy and to help tensions low. I also have one in a satchel near my bed because it is such a helpful crystal for sleep.

  Red Jasper became one of my favorites when I found out it helps with heart burn. I have suffered from heart burn for most of my life and holding a piece of Red Jasper against my chest helps calm it down. Changing my heart burn medication also helped BIG time.

  Red Jasper is also used for helping with stress, soothes anxiety, and is an encouraging crystal. It is also a good crystal to keep by your bed at night to help calm thoughts that are keeping you awake at night.

  These are just a few of my favorites. I'm only sharing very basic uses for each crystal so feel free to do your own research on the crystals you're interested in.

  Not every crystal is going to work the same for each person. Even though I find amethyst very powerful, you may not find it powerful at all.

Keep It Positive

 I decided I wanted to make sure my blog posts stay on positive topics for awhile. There is too much negative stuff going on right now so I wanted to focus on positive and happy stuff. I decided affirmations was a great topic to start with. An affirmation is a positive statement about what is going on or what you want to happen. You should write your affirmations down to help make them happen and also to help remind you about them. They can be goals, hopes, or just a reminder of something to give yourself a mental boost in stressful times. Keeping the message positive helps you reach your goals, manifests positive energy, and helps with motivation and your mental health.

 

 You can write your affirmations down in a journal, on slips of paper and then put them in a special place, in a note taking app on your phone, or anywhere else you will be able to see it. You don't have to actually read the affirmation every time, sometimes just seeing the slip of paper or the box you placed the slip of paper in helps remind you of what is written on it. Seeing the journal you wrote it in or the page you wrote it on can help you remember what the message is, also. You shouldn't only rely on seeing the box or journal to remind you what the message says, though. Once in awhile, you should read what your wrote down to help strengthen the message and the reminder.

 

 Using affirmations can help with both your long-term and short-term goals and problems. You can also write down multiple affirmations for multiple goals and/or problems and then store them together or separately.

 

The only rule is (and it's an important one) : Only use positive words! Don't use any negative words at all, even if you are using the negative words in a positive way. If one of your goals is to improve your grades and you really need to focus on a specific test, don't use "I will not flunk the test." That sentence has two negative words: not and flunk. Instead, use "I will pass the test." or "I will do great on the test."

 I write my affirmations on a slip of paper and put them in a pretty box with some crystals in it and then place the box on my night stand. When I go to bed every night and when I get up every morning, I see the box and remember what is written in there. I'm not going to share every affirmation I have written, but I will share two that I am very happy about. In January, I had a horrible pain in my arm and we couldn't figure out what was going on. My doctor scheduled an MRI and I was very nervous about whether it would give me definitive results or not. When the MRI was scheduled I wrote: The MRI will show what is causing my pain." Ever day before the MRI and then every day until I got the results I saw the box and remembered what was written inside. While I was laying in the MRI machine for a little over an hour, I also kept repeating the affirmation in my head. Repeating the affirmation in my head also helped distract me from the uncomfortable feeling of being in the machine and the sounds it made. Having that affirmation helped me not freak out about what the results would be and most of all, that I would spend all that money to have the test done and then it wouldn't show anything. My affirmation cam true and I was able to take that one out of the box and add "Physical therapy will help my neck." That affirmation also came true.

 

 I love my affirmation box, but some people prefer writing their affirmation in a journal. It can be a special journal just for affirmations, a bullet journal, your every day journal or maybe just a small notebook that you carry with you every day. Whatever works best for you. I think I prefer my box because a journal can get put in a bag or something set on top of it and then get forgotten. My box is a little harder to get hidden, plus I can put crystals in it to help with the positive energy. You can also use a combination of boxes and journals, if that helps you more.

 

Your affirmations don't have to be focused on a certain goal or problem, either. They can be general statements that you need to remind yourself of occasionally, like "I am confident." or "I am strong." Sometimes, we need to give ourselves little pep talks and having some affirmations already written down can help. If you are having a really tough day (or week) and are having a really hard time coming up with anything positive, you can pull out affirmations and read them. If there is something that consistently triggers your negative thoughts, you can write your affirmations based on them. My general affirmations are based around my job because it is what consistently brings out my negativity. While writing this post, I came up with the idea of using a smaller box for some work based affirmations to keep on my work desk. That will help when I feel like I can't do anything right at work and start to focus on my negative thoughts.

 

I hope this helps you stay positive during these crazy times. Feel free to share affirmations you feel comfortable with sharing or let me know if you need help writing your affirmations.

 

 

My Own Path

  I never thought I would be doing a post about spirituality. First, I'm not saying everyone should start converting to what I believe. This post is about my experience, what works for me, and what I believe. If you believe something else, that is perfectly fine with me because that is what works for you and what you believe in.  I haven't liked "religion" since I was told at a very, very young age that I couldn't go to Heaven because I wouldn't eat my peas. If the only way into Heaven is through eating those nasty little green balls, then I don't want to go anyway! When I was in high school, a new friend asked what church I went to. I told her I didn't go to church and she said "It's ok, God still loves you." That's when I realized how negative most religions really are.

 I wasn't comfortable with all of the rules that most religions have and the thought of  God or the devil watching me all of the time waiting for me to do something bad so they can judge me one way or the other made me extremely uncomfortable. I didn't feel comfortable with some of the beliefs or having to memorize a book and prayers. I like the idea of rituals, but I don't like someone saying it has to be done a certain way, with specific movements and the "correct" words.

Last year, I got interested in crystals and the energies they give off. My research of crystals led to researching Paganism and I fell in love. The best part is, there are no "rules." I can believe what I want, practice how I want and I don't have to worry about some entity judging me all of the time. I love that there is so much positivity associated with Paganism instead of punishments for not doing something correctly or believing the right thing. I can focus on my crystals and candles, or I can research herbs, or some other part instead of someone telling me what I need to buy and focus on. I like that Paganism can be combined with Christianity if I choose to, which helps make family get-togethers less stressful for me.

 Another thing I love about Paganism is, being outdoors enjoying nature is not only a good thing, but is encouraged. Instead of being required to go to a building full of other people and being told what to do and believe, I can go out on the lake and fish, or ride a trail on my ATV, or wake up in my camper out in the middle of nowhere. Being in nature is a way of showing respect to whoever you believe created everything.

 Paganism is very adaptable and I am free to believe what I believe and feel what I feel. I am more comfortable in this positive belief system and I don't have to eat peas! I like that rituals are very adaptable to the resources I have and the beliefs I have. A ritual can be something as simple as my morning routine for getting ready for work. Taking a shower, picking out my clothes and jewelry, making my breakfast and morning cup of tea are all part of a daily ritual to help me get my work day started. Carrying a bag of crystals in my pocket, looking at the bowl of crystals on my desk gives me a quick mental break that helps me feel connected to my beliefs.

 Since I started researching Paganism, I have felt more positive in my overall life. I handle stress better and I am happier. I didn't realize how depressed and negative I had become until I was focusing on the positive things around me. I don't feel judged all of the time anymore, I feel supported and comforted. I don't feel like I'm doing everything wrong anymore, I have the confidence and courage to make and reach my goals. I can fill by own book with beliefs, notes, prayers and rituals and I don't have to share it with anybody unless I want to.

 

Get Back on Track

I'm sorry it's been so long since I've done a post! I got off track due to a neck injury, work problems and family health problems. I am working hard on getting back on track.

When a real train gets off track, the train wrecks. When you get off track with whatever goal you're working on, you have to stop and re-evaluate what happened and why it happened before you wreck. You may need to make some changes to the track (your goal) or the train (the way you are getting to your goal). Here are a few ways I have had to change my trains and tracks over the last few months.

The train traveling on the new job track had to slow down. Right now, there are so many people that have lost their jobs and businesses that have a hiring freeze due to COVID-19, finding a new job is almost impossible. I have had to stop this train a few times to re-evaluate which track it should be following. I'm not giving up on this goal, I'm just having to slow it down and let it stop for supplies (and support) more often. I have kept taking some online classes that have been very helpful and have also boosted my confidence level a little bit. I'm hoping this train can get back to it's normal speed soon.

The health and weight loss train had to take a new track for a couple months while I dealt with a neck injury. Thankfully, that train didn't have to use the surgery track; the physical therapy track worked just fine and I am back to the original track I was on. I'm not as far down the track as I would like to be though, but I keep reminding myself of the detour I had to take and how miserable I was.

I had started a train on a track to make peace with my sister, but that train wrecked in a big explosion not long after it was placed on the track. I grieved the loss of that train for awhile, but then I realized that train was not on a track with a realistic goal attached to it. I let that train burn up. Thankfully, there were no casualties because I hadn't let anybody board that train yet.

The track associated with this blog got turned into a storage area for awhile. The train sat still and became a storage for ideas and goals, but I had to focus on the other trains for awhile to get them back on their own tracks.

When you get off track, you need to figure out how and why it happened and consider making some changes. Do you need to make changes to your train (diet or work-out plans for weight loss goals, study habits for grade improvement goals)? Do you need to change your track (change the type of job you want to obtain or the company you want to work for, change the amount of weight you want to lose)? Once you make some adjustments to your train or tracks, you start working on your goals again.

What are the tracks you are on (your goals) and what kind of trains are you using (the way you are achieving your goals)?