Yesterday, as I was putting away a tool in my garden shed, I spotted this bright gecko sunning himself. He was taking a short rest from a busy day, jumping from leaf to leaf, climbing on my garden art and looking for small bugs to feed his gecko tummy. I stopped a moment to watch him and take in the beauty of his natural habitat, my garden. There are many creatures who call my garden home...some of them act like I am intruder instead of the lady who paid off the mortgage. I have a number of various "volunteer" cats who wander through, sit on my patio furniture, lounge on my adirondack chairs and sun themselves on my iron table. They act annoyed when I show up in "their" yard and they will

In the words of  Ricky Bobby of "Talladega Nights", "if you're not first, you're last!" That attitude says no ma

Belonging develops over time as we connect with others who accept us. Family is the first opportunity we have to belong. The bonds of love f

Self esteem is SO much more than how you "feel" about yourself, "think" about yourself or how you "see" yourself. Our thoughts and feelings go up and down, up and down like a roller coaster. Our feelings are all over the place like a bowl of spaghetti dropped off a toddler's high chair. Feelings can create quite the splatter in our lives, the same way marinara sauce will make it across the room when flung by a two year old. There are times when the happy and comfortable feelings have us "walking on sunshine" and other times when we are just plain "down in the dumps". If our self esteem is based on the highs and lows of our emotions, it is as slippery as jello to hold on to. I propose that th