Recently I met my new friend. We talked for hours, walked in a drizzling rain, went to the beach in the dark. We had a great time and conversation.
In talking with her, I realized how far I came. My attitude towards everything has changed. Like the saying goes, “Do not look for me in the past. I am not there anymore.” It rings so true to me.
I realized all the struggles I been through in the past only made me stronger. The people who treated me unfairly are no longer in my life. Some things that I would be dead serious about before, just made me laugh. I know what I want and nothing will stop me.
By talking to my friend, I glanced into my past and right now. I came a LONG way. Wow! I am not afraid of little setbacks anymore. It only makes me stronger. Setbacks are just a little building blocks that goes to the top of the castle of our dreams come true.
By summing up all our conversations about life and people, an enormous gratitude filled my heart. I am grateful for:
1. My family and friends. You are truly amazing, each one of you!
2. My health. Where I was and where I am now – HUGE difference!
3. My pets who give an unconditional bundles of love and joy.
4. A peace in my heart. Forgiveness plays a huge part.
5. My self-confidence. Gosh, even my back is straight and I see clearer.
6. My cheerfulness and positivity. A simple smile makes the whole difference not only for me, but for others.
7. My creativity and curiosity. I LOVE making ordinary into extraordinary, to challenge myself to see in creative ways.
8. Challenges. They teach me lessons and test me how strong I’ve become. It builds a character, so bring it on. 
9. New opportunities that unexpectedly present themselves.
10. LIFE. I cherish every minute that I am alive!
What are you grateful in your life?
Tags: family, friends, fun, gratefulness, health, inspiration, journal, life, lifestyle, me, opinion, past, people, personal, photo, picture, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, random thoughts, reflections, relationships, self-confidence, thoughts, women, wonderocity
Posted by ineta on Jan 4, 2012 in
starting over Happy New Year! It is a new beginning. Like Winfrey Oprah said, “another year to make it right.” The thing is that we go through changes many times: it could be at a beginning of the year. It could be after some drastic event happening, like changing a job, losing someone, divorce, kids go to college, retirement, marriage, moving to a new place, etc., etc. There is also a saying that major changes usually happen after 7 years.
Lately, I and my friends are going through major life changes, too. So, how to cope with that? How to make changes fun? First of all, I found the greatest thing to do is to get rid of crap. Through many years, we collect so much stuff. Some things we liked before, we do not like it anymore. Get rid of it. Our tastes change. We have so many e-mails that we did not even read, subscriptions that we ignore. Delete and throw away. If we take pictures, some pictures seemed nice before. Right now they’re mediocre – delete them or save them on DVD. There are clothes that we did not wear for years – donate, give away or sell them. There might be some unfinished projects or writings that we never get to finish, or lost interest in them – throw it away.
Also, not only we got to get rid of old, worn, unfinished stuff, but also the same goes with mental stuff. All negativity out – to open a new space for positivity. There might be some people that hurt us in the past. Don’t you wish that some of them would have a “delete” button? We can do it in our mind: we got to forgive them and let it go. Because if we are mad or upset, we only hurt ourselves – let go of anger and hurt.
Or, here is a brilliant idea: Use these feelings to make you go higher. Sometimes anger or being upset gives us a motivation to succeed. We can channel those feelings to make ourselves only better and stronger. If somebody said, “You’ll fail,” just say, “Watch Me” and strongly believe that you can do anything you wish and do it.
Also, while we clean old or bad energy out of our lives, we open doors to new opportunities. The thing is that in this process of getting rid of the stuff, the new ideas come. In working on these ideas, we got to communicate with people. That’s how we start something new and exciting.
Moreover, we shall not take on a new crap. If people do not treat us right or be negative, we have every right to walk away or change a subject. We do not need their negativity in our lives. Let’s surround ourselves with friends that lift us up, inspire us, and encourage us. No more drama and no bullshit. Also, no more excuses.
Tags: friends, Happy New Year, how to cope with a change, how to make space for new, how to start over, inspiration, journal, life, lifestyle, major life changes, new beginnings, opinion, past, people, personal, photo, picture, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, ramblings, random thoughts, reflections, relationships, self-confidence, self-esteem, starting over, thoughts, women, wonderocity
Posted by ineta on Oct 22, 2011 in
kindness While going to the shop today, I noticed a young man jump from his car across the street by red light. He went in front, picked up a wood piece (probably with a nail in it), run to the sidewalk and put it down, so nobody would have their tire damaged. The wood was to the side of his car, not in a way of his way of going. It was so kind of him to think of others.
Not everyone notices simple acts of kindness of others, but these kind people are among us.
When we open our hearts and minds, we think of others’ well-being, and the world becomes a more beautiful place.
How can we be kind to others today?
Tags: act of kindness, inspiration, journal, kindness, life, lifestyle, opinion, people, personal, photo, picture, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, ramblings, random act of kindness, random thoughts, reflections, stories, thoughts, wonderocity
Posted by ineta on Sep 2, 2011 in
being powerful,
persistence,
vision 
I never knew what mind can do until I tested my own mind to see well. See my previous posts how it all started Seeing Miracle and a follow up a week or so later at Seeing Miracle Continues.
It’s been 7 months now since I took my glasses and never again I put them back on. For the people who read my previous posts, you are probably wondering if it really works, how my vision is now.
Also, I came across a discussion board on the web where my website and my post “Seeing Miracle” was mentioned. I could not believe all the skeptics out there who were a majority. One tried to walk without glasses, but at the end he put the glasses back on. Next day, he got a headache and vowed to never try this again. Next, others were wondering why squinting does not work all the time. They were discussing Bates method, and some were even furious about misleading information. There is a huge discussion going on, and most people liked the “safety” behind their glasses and were afraid to persist. I totally understand them. It is pretty scary to go out when all you see is a blur.
After reading this discussion board, I checked my eyesight according to the chart. I did not use the chart for awhile. I read 20/40 with absolutely no problem. This is by the way a legal vision for driver’s license in Florida. Then I even read 20/30 line without any problems. Then 20/25 was next. I read that, too. 20/20 was a bit blurry, but with a little eye adjustment (by blinking and breathing a bit), I read the whole 20/20 line. That’s the first time ever I was able to read the whole 20/20 line! I was so excited. My right eye is usually weaker. So, before I read only a half of the line. Pretty good, isn’t it?
I wish my 20/20 vision would stay without an eye adjustments. My vision still fluctuates from around 20/30, 20/25 to 20/20. Lately, probably from 20/25 to 20/20. My eyesight adjustment now comes naturally. I do not squint. Squinting just stresses our eyes and might give us a headache. I deeply breathe, blink my eyes, stay in the sun whenever I get the chance. It comes so easy that I do not even think about it.
I train my mind to see through everything. Sure, on stressful or cloudy days, it becomes a bit blurrier. Sure, it would be so easy to put the comfort blanket – eyeglasses on, but I refuse to do so. I am persistent to see no matter what. So, with more adjustment, I see well again.
On happy days, I have prolonged great vision without adjustments. Also, I find if I look into computer for a long time, my eyes become more blurry. Then I take a break, or change my vision field by looking someplace else.
Also, my success depends on my attitude. I do not concentrate on what I do not see. I concentrate on what I’m seeing instead. I am super excited to see things that I only required eyeglasses to see.
I am so in love with the world I am seeing: larger than I used to see through my glasses. So, this is what I learned in my journey:
1) Determination and a strong belief are the keys.
2) Persistence to see through everything.
3) Resistance to give up and put the glasses back on.
The mind is so powerful. We usually underestimate how powerful it is. Our mind and our bodies are connected. If one thing is out of balance, another one will be, too.
The book might not be for everyone. It might not work for everyone, or others might not even try it. There might be many skeptics out there. However, these are my own experiences, and miracles do happen if you have a huge belief in them. Here are other people’s experiences in a book review from Amazon book readers. Decide for yourself, be daring, but please use a common sense and be safe.
Tags: books, how to have a great vision, how to see without glasses, inspiration, journal, life, lifestyle, links, mind over body, no contacts, no eyeglasses, opinion, personal, philosophy, photo, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, ramblings, random thoughts, reflections, seeing miracle, seeing without contacts, seeing without glasses, seeing without laser surgery, self-confidence, self-esteem, stories, thoughts, training in seeing, wonderocity
By thinking how our mind affects our world and searching the web, I came across this little story. I took it from website called
successconsciousness.com. This is basically my view explained and being put in a story line:
The Villager and the Happy Man
By Remez Sasson
In a small village in the valley, lived a man who was always happy, kind, and well disposed to everyone he met. He always smiled, and had a kind and encouraging word to say whenever necessary. Everyone who met him left feeling better, happier and elated. People knew they could count on him, and regarded him as a great friend. One of the village dwellers was curious to know what his secret was, and how he could always be so kind and helpful. He wondered, how is it that he held no grudge toward anyone, and why he was always happy. Once, upon meeting him in the street he asked him: “Most people are selfish and unsatisfied. They do not smile as often as you do; neither are they as helpful or kind as you are. How do you explain it?”"When you make peace with yourself, you can be in peace with the rest of the world. If you can recognize the spirit in yourself, you can recognize the spirit in everyone, and then you find it natural to be kind and well disposed to all. If your thoughts are under your control, you become strong and firm. The personality is like a robot programmed to do certain tasks. Your habits and thoughts are the tools and programs that control your personality. Become free from being programmed, and then the inner good and happiness that reside within you will be revealed.”"But a lot of work is necessary. Good habits have to be developed. The ability to concentrate and to control the thoughts has to be strengthened. The work is difficult and endless. There are many walls that need to be to climbed. It is not an easy task.” Lamented the villager.
“Do not think about the difficulties, otherwise this is what you will see and experience. Just quieten your feelings and thoughts, and try to stay in this peace. Just try to be calm, and do not let yourself be carried away by your thoughts.”
“Is that all?” Asked the villager.
“Try to watch your thoughts and see how they come and go. Stay in the quietness that arises. The moments of peace will be brief at first, but in time they will get longer. This peace is also strength, power, kindness, and love. You will then realize that you are one with the Universal Power, and this will cause you to act from a different dimension, not from the selfish, small, limited ego.”
“I will try to remember your words,” said the villager and continued, “there is another thing that I am curious about. You do not seem to be influenced by the environment. You have a kind word to everyone, and are helpful. However, people treat you well, and do not exploit your goodness.”
“Being good and being kind do not necessarily point to weakness. When you are good, you can also be strong. People sense your inner strength, and therefore do not impose on you. When you are strong and calm inside, you help people, because you can, and you want to. You then act from strength and not from weakness. Goodness can also go with power and strength, it is not a sign of weakness, as some people erroneously think.”
“Thank you very much for your advice and explanation”, said the villager, and went away happy and satisfied.
My note: It all starts with us.
Tags: friends, happiness, inner state of mind, inspiration, kindness, life, lifestyle, links, love, me, opinion, peace, people, personal, philosophy, photo, photo inspiration, picture, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, random thoughts, reflections, relationships, self-confidence, self-esteem, stories, thoughts, wonderocity
Posted by ineta on Jul 23, 2011 in
being powerful I was not sure what I was dreaming about, but I woke up with a compelling question in my mind, “How to write a book that would be captivating?”
I thought of that for a while now. I wrote several chapters, but it just did not struck a cord with me. There goes self-criticism again, “Not good enough.” And, there was that question again right after I woke up.
When I went to my computer, I came across an article “53 Mind-blowing, Psychology-Proven Facts You Should Know About Yourself” in Business Insider website. I skimmed through topics, read some chapters, and my mind kept searching for something more when all of the sudden, there it was, an answer to my question, even psychology proven: “People Process Information Best in Story Form.” There was even an example of structure of the story. My question just got answered.
Curious thing is that when we ask ourselves a question, our mind can’t help but has to search for an answer. It looks , scans the outside world until it gets it.
It got me thinking. How about if we ask ourselves empowering questions, instead of waiting what the day brings? Would that be a great jump start of the day? What questions can we ask ourselves?
Here are some of questions that are coming to my mind:
What do I want to accomplish today that is important to me?
What can I give more to the world?
What is the scariest thing I can overcome today?
Who could I pretend to be (looking in my desired future)?
How can I think outside the box?
How can I make a world a better place?
How can I develop a needed skill?
What can I cause today?
How can I give more love today?
What question can you ask yourself that would make a huge difference in your and someone’s world?
Resource that I found for an answer to my question is:
Business Insider story line
Brain is busy while you sleep
Tags: fun, how to write a book, inspiration, life, life questions, lifestyle, links, me, opinion, personal, philosophy, photo, picture, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, powerful questions, questions, ramblings, random thoughts, reflections, self-confidence, stories, thoughts, women, wonderocity
Posted by ineta on May 19, 2011 in
abundance,
being creative We often seek many things outside ourselves: love, respect, abundance, success, compassion, etc., etc. We think, they are hidden from us and we seek them in people we meet. We expect, and when we do not find what we are searching for, we continue to go on to this never-ending treasure hunt. Where is it? Why it keeps eluding us? Why can’t we find it?
What if all this treasure of abundance lays inside of us? What if we think of ourselves as source of abundance? What can we find? Better yet, once we realize that what we are searching for is inside of us, what we will do with it?
Let’s open this treasure chest and see what we can offer to the world. To some people, abundance might come from creativity. To some, might be from love. What we have inside of us, that’s what we project to the world. If we have a love in our hearts, we do everything with love. If we hold notes of creativity, we can create a beautiful music of our creation.
What our hearts consist of? What can we share with the world?
What is inside of my treasure chest? It is an inner knowing that I translate into words, a beauty that I capture through photography. All this will be summed up into books, websites, drawing… – sharing what I see and feel.
How about you? What do you want to share with the world? What is waiting to come out? What is in your treasure chest?
Tags: abundance, art, creativity, inner knowing, inspiration, life, love, opinion, personal, philosophy, photo, photo of heart, picture, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, random thoughts, reflections, sharing, thoughts, treasure hunt, wonder, wonderocity, writing
Posted by ineta on Mar 25, 2011 in
self-confidence There is a fine line between being alone and feeling lonely. Yet, some people think it is the same. When we are single, our friends constantly want to “fix us” up with somebody. We are not broken. They think, we are alone; therefore, we must feel lonely.
Being alone is a physical state. It might be a transitional phase when we choose to have a time to ourselves. It might be a time when we need to heal, or we are too busy to think about relationships. Either way, we choose to be that way. We are comfortable in our skin. We are self-reliant and independent. We just enjoy to spend time alone and in the process we grow stronger. We get to know ourselves better, our wants and needs. We do not need to depend on anybody to make us happy.
On other hand, feeling lonely is a state of mind. It is a state when we do not know ourselves well enough; therefore, we are not comfortable. We can have somebody next to us and still feel lonely. When we feel lonely, we depend on somebody for our own happiness; we rely on somebody to tell us who we are. We are not comfortable in our skin. Therefore, we long for somebody to fill that gap, to show our best when the answer lays in our own hearts.
How to heal loneliness? The thing is when we are not happy with ourselves, nobody will bring happiness to us. At first, it might appear that way, but it is an illusion, and it will be a short-lived. To cure loneliness, we got to find our passions, our loves, what makes our heart sing. We got to re-discover ourselves and pursue our dreams. When we are comfortable in ourselves and when the time is right, we might meet someone who will compliment us (not complete us).
Tags: alone, curing loneliness, family, friends, happiness, inspiration, life, lifestyle, lonely, love, men, opinion, people, personal, photo, picture, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, random thoughts, reflections, relationships, thoughts, women, wonderocity
Posted by ineta on Mar 14, 2011 in
longevity,
wisdom I found this really interesting from book Ageless Body, Timeless Mind by Deepak Chopra. It made some great points about quality of life we choose to have, and how it affects our longevity.
“Trying to articulate a specific “longevity personality” is too constricting for centenarians – the benign, quiet, wise grandfather or grandmother is only one type among many. Living to be 100 also happens to selfish, sarcastic, and unsociable people. The common thread is a sense of self-sufficiency that runs much deeper than personality. To support this point, a 1973 study in New York of seventy-nine healthy people 87 years of age and older found that they almost never went to doctors, were never found in nursing homes, and were rarely in homes for the aged.”
“Jewett’s study saw longevity in broad terms, and the majority of the factors he came up with were subjective, having to do with how these people felt about themselves. In comparison, the purely objective factors linked to long life were few and very general.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Not seriously overweight or underweight
Little weight fluctuation over their lifetime
Good general muscle tone
Good grip
Young appearance to skin
Still drives a car and engages in physical activity
PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
(Including Lifestyle and Behavior)
Superior native intelligence, keen interest in current events, good memory.
Freedom from anxiety, few illnesses, not prone to worry.
Independence of choice in their vocations. They tended to be their own bosses. They worked at farming and in the nursery business, and in the professions of law, medicine, and architecture; others headed small businesses of their own, and in a few cases large businesses. The majority did not retire early.
Most had been hard hit by the Depression, which came along in their fifties and sixties, but they recovered and built new futures.
They enjoyed life. All had a degree of optimism and a marked sense of humor. They responded to simple pleasures. Life seems to have been a great adventure. They could see beauty where others saw only ugliness.
Great adaptability. While many cherished childhood memories, all preferred living in the present with its many changes.
They continued living with satisfaction from day to day.
All may be described as religious in the broad sense, but none exhibited extreme orthodoxy.
They were moderate eaters but willing to experiment. No special diets. Diet included a high variety of foods high in protein, low in fat.
All were early risers. Average sleep was between six and seven hours, although they rested in bed for eight hours. (Shortened or interrupted sleep is typical in old age.)
No uniformity in drinking habits. Some drank moderately, some drank too much at times, some abstained.
Smoking – some abstained, a few had smoked very moderately but had long since given it up, a few were inveterate pipe smokers.
Medications – used less medication in their lifetimes than many old people use in a week.
Most drank coffee.
Tags: Ageless Body Timeless Mind, books, business, Deepak Chopra, Dr. Stephen P. Jewett, economy, food, health, inspiration, life, lifestyle, long-lived people, longevity, longevity characteristics, longevity personality, nutrition, people, personal, philosophy, photo, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, reflections, research, reviews, survey, thoughts, wonderocity, work
I can’t thank enough my brother Markus Urban and author Jacob Liberman, O.D., Ph.D. for giving my eyesight back (see my previous post). It feels so incredible! Each day, I feel spurs of joy when I start seeing something new. A few nights ago, for the first time I saw a Big Dipper, and the sky filled with the brightest stars. I see more and more stars now. All without my glasses! Even nights became brighter. Now, I started to see smaller street signs, numbers on mail boxes, a menu board at Starbucks. Each new seeing is a victory. According to the eye chart, I went from 20/200 to 20/30 in two weeks. Now into 2 and a half weeks, I read 20/25 line, and saw 4 letters in 20/20 line. I left my eyeglasses and I did not put them on since I started this journey. I even drove through a little fog and in the rain day and night without glasses. Interestingly, rain made my vision even more clearer.
My vision is not constant yet, but I have longer and longer periods of great seeing. One blink – I see everything absolutely clearly, another blink – it becomes a little blurry (but nothing like it used to be), a third blink – all clear again. When outdoors and in the car, I see it better than being inside in the artificial light. Sometimes, I see double or triple, but with adjusting blink it goes to normal again. When that happens, I think it would be neat to capture what I see on the camera: like a triple moon or a handsome double guy. LOL! It all depends on light, my mood, my thoughts, how I react to people’s conversations. If a person is stressed out, I find myself putting blur blinds because I feel that person’s energy, and I do not like it. If the person is excited and enthusiastic, my vision becomes really clear. The same is with my thoughts. If I get excited, the vision becomes really clear. If I start to worry about something, the blur comes back. The blur is not like used to be, though. I used to see only fog. Therefore, when I would get up, I would automatically put glasses on. Not anymore. When I wake up, in the first minutes, my vision becomes clearer and clearer (especially in the last few days, as at first it would take 15 minutes to half an hour for vision to clear). Also, if I stress to see, it does not work. If I relax and breathe, I see so much better. Interestingly, the faces I start to see are so smooth. Still have a hard time to see them in a distance, but I’m working on it. Again, outside I see them so much better than inside in the low light.
This experience is unbelievable, and I am determined to have a perfect vision. I can’t believe I do not need glasses and contacts anymore. Without glasses, I feel as if somebody lit up my world. It is not everything about my vision either. The whole outlook changes. I feel like I am peeling blur layers one at the time.
First layer of blur is fear. Some people are afraid to try this. How can anybody go out in the world when all they see is blur? Self-doubt sets in. “What ifs” will boggle the mind. I dove into this experience straight without any doubt. If author could do it, so can I. Bravery, determination, and persistence came into my world.
Second layer of blur is self-constriction and staying in the known. Some people think, “It is great for you, but I’ll wear my glasses anyway. I just got my new prescription.” Although it was unfamiliar to me, I had no doubt I’ll succeed. I opened doors widely to a new possibility of seeing, and I am succeeding. Freedom came into play. If I just breathe and relax, I see better. If I stretch, freely dance, I see better, too. When I dance, I express myself more through freeing motions. I feel music with all my senses. I let it flow through every fiber of my body.
Third layer of blur is a “wall of protection” (that’s huge for me). To be safe, we often do not take chances. When people hurt us, we start not to trust anybody. We build a wall. It is all about our thoughts and emotions. Early memories might flow in, the way we felt before we needed glasses: What we did not want to see, could not see a way out, did not understand. I used to be really shy. I did not trust anybody, including myself. So, it might be one of the reasons why I had difficulty to see faces. Right now, I’m re-framing my mind and the faces I see are so soft. They become more clearer each day. All it takes is to be open.
Life is incredible and I love seeing it without constricting glasses, fears, and self-limiting beliefs. I want to see more, experience more, touch and feel more. My self-expression is wide open. Anything is possible, even a miracle of seeing, if we persist and really believe.
See how it all started: Seeing Miracle
See my latest update here: Mind over Body
Tags: being open, books, eye health, eyeglasses, freedom, freedom of expression, health, improving vision, inspiration, Jacob Liberman, journal, life, lifestyle, links, Markus Urban, me, natural improving of vision, no glasses, no more glasses, overcoming fear, overcoming self-doubt, personal, photo, picture, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, random thoughts, re-framing mind, reflections, review, seeing, seeing clearly, seeing miracle, seeing without contacts, seeing without glasses, seeing without laser surgery, stories, Take Off Your Glasses and See, taking chances, thoughts, training, wall of protection, wonderocity
