It’s that time of year. December is coming to a close tomorrow night. Many of us remark about how time has passed so quickly. I am amazed that years did not pass so quickly when I was a child. Now, I can look at all the time that has gone by or I can look forward to all the possibilities that lie ahead.

A few years ago, (I always give away my age when I talk about things that happened “a few years ago”-depends on your definition of few) anyway, back to the subject at hand. A few years ago, a show came on television called Remington Steele. I loved this show! It was about a detective agency,…I digress again. I think it was the second season, second episode where Laura (the main female character played by Stephanie Zimbalist) and Remington Steel (the main male character played by Pierce Bronson) were outside Laura’s house when it exploded. So, Laura is sitting on the fireplace in Remington Steele’s apartment.  It is dark.  It is raining, and she finally cries. He comes out of his bedroom and comforts her by telling her a story of a man who saved for years to buy a ship so that he could work for himself. As the ship was coming into the harbor, it caught on fire. As a young man, Remington thought that his boss would be mad. Instead, he laughed and said, “Just think of the possibilities.” The story may have happened a little differently (it is coming from my memory), but the important part of the story is correct.

We all have growth experiences in our lives. It is how we look at things, how we see our position in life, that makes a difference for us. If we look at “the possibilities” then we learn what we need to know and can move forward in our lives. If we hover over the negative things going on in the world around us, then we can be paralyzed and become negative ourselves. There are many reasons not to do this. Although, as I talk to people, it seems the “easy” thing to do is to dwell on the negative aspects of life.

When I was younger, I discovered that I did not want to wallow in self-pity. So, I gave myself a deadline. I am allowed, occasionally (very rarely, or I miss the point of the exercise), to feel sorry for myself. I can be sorry for myself for up to 24 hours and then I have to let it go and move forward. As the years have gone by, I find that I can’t live in self-pity for very long. I have to “look for the silver lining.” There always is one, you know.

So, empower yourself and your family by letting go of the frustrations; fill your heart with faith and move with power into the next year as you “consider the possibilities.” Life is good and we are so blessed to live in this time where there are so many good things for us to be a part of. Remember to “just think of the possibilities.”

By the way, Laura ends up with a beautiful apartment….

What will you do to empower yourself with the possibilities for the good things in life?

Melissa Williams is an amazing lady!!  I don’t know of anything that she has set her mind to that she has not accomplished!   She is a magnificent wife to her dear husband and mother of two sweet children.  We are delighted to learn from her about the art and delight of couponing.  I often see her post on Facebook about how she saved double of what she spent on her various shopping expeditions.  Enjoy!! (PS–We will post her blog on links as soon as it becomes available.)

Hello everyone! So excited to talk to you about the art of couponing! Thankfully a friend introduced me to this several months back and I have enjoyed every moment of it! Ok maybe not the moments where I realized that I had thrown away a coupon that later would prove to be very valuable!
This “new” way, maybe not new to you but it was to me, is so incredibly awesome I find myself talking to everyone at the grocery store about it! Recently on a spur of the moment, I don’t feel like cooking trip to Publix I spent $50 and about died…I have not spent $50 at Publix in a very long time. The manager happened to be the one bagging my grocery’s realizing my disappointment in the total he said “we appreciate you coming in every now in then without your coupons.” Ok, so I helped increase their profit share on that trip!

To date my best trip I would have to say would be last week, I saved $108.41 and spent a whooping 23cents! They even had to give me one coupon back stating they could not pay me to shop! Another highlight is that a friend gave me a $50 gift card for Christmas, I was able to purchase $325.00 of products with this one card! (If you would like to donate a card to see if I can beat it, I am sure Karin would pass along my address!)

So now that I have your attention, if you are local, my next class is January 7, 2010 @ 7 PM at Magnify Bank, on the corner of 540A and Carter Rd. At this class you can expect to learn all the tricks and tips!

I am currently working on my own personal blog, along with the friend mentioned above who shared this lovely coupon advice. I will be sure to have Karin post it for you to check out! In the mean time my advice is start collecting newspapers…I buy 8-10 a week depending on the coupons (you can check out what will be in the paper on this site: sundaycouponpreview.com). This has been very helpful in planning the amount of papers to buy!
There are many coupon websites out there for you to learn this art. I wish mine were ready for you to view, but–well, its not–so I will share a few of my favorites with you! They are:
Iheartpublix.com
Iheartcvs.com
Dealseekingmom.com
Moneysavingmom.com
Totallytarget.com

These are my faves! Check them out! You will be amazed at what you can find! I never pay for toiletries anymore. Those all come free from CVS, which I would never have thought I would shop CVS for anything other than prescriptions; turns out they have an awesome loyalty program!
There is so much to tell you that one blog post can not possibly cover it all, hopefully this was just enough to spark an interest! If so come to the next class or send me an email!
Hugs, Melissa

A number of years ago, we attended a seminar with Jack Canfield.  One aspect of his teaching over the years is the principle of asking.  As I have come to learn, asking takes a little bit of courage on our part–but asking can bring about blessings to the asker and the askee that may not have come as quickly had one not been willing to ask.

I taught a lesson earlier this month.  In this lesson, I felt the weight of the sensitive topic and also an urgency to convey the power of my feelings about the subject with clarity and testimony.  As I pondered what I could do to present this lesson, I felt an impression to ask a friend of ours to sing a solo.  When I called to inquire of his wife, she told me that he would love to sing in a group but would most likely be uncomfortable to sing by himself.  I knew I could take the easy way out (and if I had been in the same position in the past, I probably would have given up altogether)…but I held up my head and called his cell.  I said a little prayer for help and got…his voicemail.  Thankfully, though, he did call back.  When I inquired about his singing a solo, he responded, “I don’t usually do that [insert a short moment of pondering], but this time I will.”  WOW.  I hung up the phone in a bit of amazement that he actually agreed!  I was so happy; I think I thought I could fly for a second.

A few days later, I had another thought to involve others in my lesson.  I pondered three people I could ask to share their thoughts on the subject.  The first name came quickly to me, and I made a call with no answer.  Okay.  No big deal.  Then another person’s name came to mind…not someone I would’ve thought to ask, but I called nonetheless.  She was busy, but then called back–and when I asked, she said, ”yes.”  Then I made another call.  This dear friend of mine was out with her husband, yet she took my phone call anyway.  She said to me, much like my soloist, something like this:  “You know I don’t ordinarily speak up and share a lot during class, but this time I will do it.”

I could’ve kept quiet.  I could’ve not asked–but I did.  And guess what?!?!?!  My lesson was successful–mostly because of the participation of the people that I asked to help me.  And because they were willing to open their hearts to say ”yes,” even if it was a stretch for them to fulfill my request, they shared a part of themselves.  All were edified.

I felt so blessed by the power of asking.  So–what will you ask for today?

We had a perfect Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we had our family and friends, who really are family, at our home. It was wonderful to be surrounded by peace, love, and the comfort of knowing each other well. Christmas day we had some of our children and grandchildren over and spent a lovely day making gingerbread houses and eating a light meal from the grill (thanks to my sister-in-law Donna who has given me great ideas on many things). While the others watched a movie, my oldest daughter and I played Scrabble. We used up most of the tiles and were spread over most of the board and together we used the remaining tiles so all the letters were used. Her 20 month old son did help us by putting the word “joy” (actually he just put the three letter tiles on the board, he liked the triple word score spaces best and we spelled the word for him). We even took a photograph to save for posterity.

I am not an expert Scrabble player, but together we were a great team. Working together, building our loyalty, our safety and love–these are the qualities we cherish in a family. We plan and work to build these qualities into our lives. We empower our families when we work together.

Hyrum pulled the letters spelling “joy” out of the letter pouch in the scrabble game. Sometimes, joy comes to us when we are spending time with our family and friends. Sometimes, we must work toward a goal to receive joy. Sometimes, our hearts just burst with joy as we celebrate the beauty of our lives.

It is the birth of Him we celebrate at Christmastime who said: “Peace, I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (King James Version of the Bible). This is our wish for you on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. May your heart be filled with peace and with joy. May the next year be more peaceful and more joyful than the last. And may your heart be filled with love for others. This is our Christmas wish for you.

How will you prepare for the New Year?

To all of our readers, we wish you a Merry Christmas from MPower Generations!  We hope that the peace of the season will rest upon you and your generations today and throughout the years of your life.  May you rejoice in the opportunities to MPower yourselves and those around you in the coming year!!

God bless you & yours!

MPower Generations–Mormor, Karin, Marta & Marissa

Our guest blog today is from Mark.  We are grateful for his post which will also be posted on the MenPower Blog.  Mark is the father of five and grandfather of eight.  He loves to read, paint and spend time with his family. 

My father was an engineer and he was absolutely practical. When we bought gifts for birthdays or Christmas, there were some unspoken rules in our family.
When we outgrew Santa Claus (I learned later from my wife that no one should ever outgrow Santa), we were not to make a list or tell others what we wanted. This meant we had to look carefully at our parents and siblings and observe what they might want or need. It seemed improper to leave even subtle hints. All this made us pay more attention to each other.
Every gift given became a measure of connection. The ideal gift was evident in the delight seen in the face of the recipient when the present was opened. A perfect gift was a mixture of joy and surprise when the giver observes the gift revealed some hidden and unfulfilled (until then) desire being met in the recipient. The best gift revealed to the recipient something the recipient did not even realize was a want or need.
At Christmas we all wanted to watch the presents be opened one by one so we could catch the moment of the one or two perfect gifts given. As we got older, some Christmases we drew names or we joined together to gift others so we could pool our money and gift a nicer gift.
A personal gift that surprises and delights is a true gift, and the whole family felt the joy. This led to a profound focus upon the giving.
So maybe our gifting will be better when we do not tell others what we want, when we do not make the list of each person and what we already know they want because they said so, and when we think and observe, and think and observe, and then search until we find that perfect gift. In all our gifting, if we only could gift one or two perfect gifts each year, we would succeed, and not only give the gift-we would give also the gift of intimately understanding and appreciating what someone else dreams of but never thought they revealed to anyone.

Driving home from Publix (our local grocery store) the other day, I was listening to a Christmas song by Hilary Weeks about making room in our hearts for the Savior.  I was sorting through various emotions and to-do lists in preparation for our upcoming celebrations, and I must admit that, though I have tried to make the most of our Christmas celebrations, I have felt a tinge of guilt for choosing not to over indulge my children in gifts this year.

They will get a few presents under the tree (we have never been the family to go overboard spending on tangible gifts; I am more apt to give gifts of time through baking, candy making, carolling, and offering service to others during the holidays and throughout the year), but I keep wondering if they will be disappointed.

So, as the guilt swept into my heart, I shooed it out to welcome the feeling of peace as the song continued.  Tears flooded my eyes, yet they did not fall into my smile.  We were parked in the driveway by now, and Joshua peeked his head around my seat to tickle my neck.  I laughed and smothered him with kisses.  Then I leaned over to Lis who was laughing herself in the seat next to me and tickled her to produce abundant laughter.

In an immediate thought, I spoke these words to her:

This is going to be the BEST Christmas EVER!!!!!

She chuckled a bit more and responded with her usual exuberance:

I KNOW!!! 

Yesterday, my parents celebrated their 53rd anniversary. We tried to call and sing the Anniversary Song, but left it as a message instead since they were gone to a Christmas party. I have been reminiscent lately, so I was thinking about the things I learned in my family. The list is long, but there are some common themes running through.

I think that the most important thing I learned, after knowing that my Heavenly Father loved me and I should obey the commandments, was that, as a family, we take care of each other. Whenever one of us was in a jam or needed help, we all pitched in until whatever was completed. My mom would stay up late typing my papers. I remember one time, especially. We were up working on a plantation for a history project. We glued felt to milk cartons for the buildings. We put green on the ground for grass and set it all up on a board so that I can turn it in the next morning. Mom stuck right with me.

I learned to take care of other people. We always had a houseful of people. My mom and sometimes my dad would cook fabulous breakfasts and huge dinners to feed all of the people they invited to join us. Our friends were always welcome. During High School, we attended a class at church before school. Then, we would bring a group of friends home and my mother would have grits (I am from the South), eggs (made the way you liked them), bacon or ham, fried sweet potatoes or French fries and her specialty, biscuits. We would have juice and milk and chocolate milk to drink. I didn’t appreciate the work she went to then (breakfast was not a meal I ate) but my siblings and our friends enjoyed it.

I learned to be kind, helpful and to keep confidences. My father had his own construction company and was a leader in the church. There were meetings at our house and we learned to never say anything about who came or went from our home. I learned early in life that it is important to keep to myself the things people said to me. I was an adult before I figured out what an important lesson this was.

I learned that love was the key to open the heart of a person. I learned to really care about the people I knew. Sometimes, it was hard to open my heart, because to open your heart, you might get hurt. But, I learned that a heart full of love mends when it is broken and beats to help another person again.

I learned to stay in love with my husband. My mother took care of my father, every little need. Now, my father takes care of my mother, every little need. Over the years, I have learned more from my own marriage about caring and nurturing that most important relationship.

I learned that parents make mistakes. As a parent, I have made mistakes and I recognize them and try to correct them.

I learned to laugh. My mother would get “tickled” at the littlest thing. I remember many times that family prayer was delayed until my mother could quit giggling. And as you know, giggling is contagious, so she was not the only one who had to settle down. But, it was that giggling that helped me learn to laugh at myself and at the negative or ridiculous situations of life.

I learned that at the end of the day, family matters. We love each other, we enjoy being together and we take care of each other. We arrange our schedule to attend the activities of our siblings. At this holiday season, may we love each other, nurture each other and empower one another to reach for the stars.

What about you? How will you empower your family today?

Finals week is usually stressful and straining. This week has been no exception. I have spent much time studying and taking care of myself in order to perform at my best in the subjects that challenge me. I have tried a variety of techniques to make sure I remember all of the important information and taken good breaks to keep from overloading myself. Overall this week has gone well. It has been far less stressful than it could have been, and I think my attitude has had a lot to do with it.

Now, I don’t know about you, but something I struggle with is knowing if I am doing enough. Even if I wear myself out, there is more that I could have done. The same thing is true about studying. Even if I were to read each text book ten times, there would still be something more to get out of it. Perhaps there is a glitch somewhere that causes many people to feel like they need to do absolutely everything in order to accomplish anything. How I have been working to overcome this glitch, if you will, is to tell myself–when I have done my best–that it truly is enough. “No Marissa, you don’t have to read every single written word about the kidney in order to ace your Physiology final; you just have to study the material your professor has given you.” And, “no, you don’t have to worry anymore about this because you have studied.” By telling myself these kinds of things over and over when the self doubt comes in, I have been able to spend less time worrying and more time focusing on the material. I have done my best to keep the stress levels low and been able to do better than I have in the past.

In what way could you change your thinking to mpower your life?

Our guest blogger today is Mormor. Surprise!!! It was my assignment to ask someone to write our guest blog this week, and, well, with all the busyness of life, I didn’t get it done. Oh, no! I apologize, but hope you enjoy an extra blog by Mormor. And I am already in pursuit of a guest blog writer for next week.

There are many seasons in our lives. My children actually visit a client of my husband who has become their friend. She lives in a nursing home not too far from our home. In the last week, each of them has come to me and said, “Mom, we need to go see Mary. We haven’t seen her for awhile. She really wants us to come more often.” The words may have been a little different, but the thought has been the same nevertheless.

We met Mary when my husband invited us to go and visit her. Now, my girls especially, love listening to her life story. One of their favorite times is when she talks about meeting her husband. Mary never raised children of her own; she taught school and helped shape the lives of many children born to other parents. Now she continues to shape the lives of my children who love the stories that she tells of her teaching experience.

Sometimes, Marissa will bake cookies to take to her. On various holidays, we will take dinner to her. Marta will play the piano for her, and our whole family will go and sing to her. She is always grateful for any small kindness shown to her.

I hope that I can always show gratitude for all the small kindnesses in my life. I feel grateful for so many things and I am working on making sure to express my gratitude. Expressing gratitude makes us stronger and happier. Being happier makes us healthier. Gratitude benefits the giver as well as the recipient.

Years ago, it was recommended that we keep a gratitude journal. I like to write down 5 things each day for which I am grateful. When I first started, it was sometimes hard to think of 5 things at the end of the day when I was tired. Not that there were not numerous gifts of kindness to me each day, but I wasn’t paying enough attention. After a few weeks, I found that I preferred to write down things I was grateful for all during the day, so that I would have a record, contemporaneously kept, of the kindnesses of my Heavenly Father and others. I think that I am more aware of my blessings because of writing down 5 things each day.

We can be grateful for little things. Last night, I looked up at the stable covering a Nativity on the piano. Our family was gathered together and I looked in front of me and noticed the pine bough and berries that one of my grandchildren had placed on top of the stable. I never would have thought to place pine and berries on top of the painted stable. Yet, it adds even more of a Christmas feel. Sunday night, Caleb, our 2 year old grandson, called my daughter. She was delighted that he called just to talk to her. Little things mean a lot.

There are so many things to be thankful for. We just celebrated Thanksgiving and now we celebrate Chanukah or Christmas or Kwanza or Ramadan or whatever you celebrate. Each of these holidays remind us of good things, help us to remember the blessings we have been given and helps us to be better people. This is something we can be grateful to share. We have sunsets and sunrises and light and family and friends that make our life better and we can be grateful for the small things we have been given; and on and on goes the list.

Perhaps, you too can begin today to write down a list of things you are thankful for in your life, just a few things, maybe 5, and enjoy the increased happiness you feel as you spend more time being grateful. So, what are you grateful for today?