You decide.

Today, a brief word with a friend made me look at life in a different light.

The things that we do--the way in which we live--whatever lifestyle it is that we have chosen...it does not and will not ever just affect us.

It affects the children that we could one day have...
The children for which we would wish good health, a good life, and a life of all the joys that could be made possible.

If we have chosen to be destructive to ourselves, no matter if it is emotionally or physically, our children will suffer the consequences...and I do not think that it is fair for a child to suffer illness because the mother was a smoker, a drinker, or a junkie. Even if she was battling the diseases of the self -- depression, anxiety, anorexia, or bulimia.... the child will still suffer in some way.

I know that I cannot change the world...but I also know that if I can do anything, let that be to treat my body and my spirit with the love and care it needs. Let it be a movement of the self...to treat it with loving kindness and to be grateful that it was given to me as a gift...so that I could live.

We are, after all, meant to live and then die once we have lived a long and fulfilling life...

We should not die as victims of disease

And children especially should never die from the things which can be prevented by the simple act of me, you, and us, doing the right thing -- living in health and wellness, promoting vitality, and by walking away from our unhealthy thoughts and behaviors.

We can all walk into health together... but the question I leave for you today is.... will you?

An evening of calm

It's been a long time...

Time is one of the most precious things we have. We learn so much with time, and it stands beside us until we leave this world.

My life has been nothing short of a story of struggle, growth, tragedy, and loss...it is a book filled with highs and lows, happy and sad...but most importantly, my life is an example of change...and good change it is.

Only a couple of years ago, I was still just a child; unaware of many of life's obstacles and dangers -- only living, because I knew I had to...but now, 2 years later, I find my life as being filled with purpose; so many opportunities, so many plans, and sometimes nothing but pure and honest faith to get me to where I am going. Sometimes; or most of the time, I have no idea how I am going to do those things or get to those places...but I know in my heart that I will; and that I have to be patient.

...I am going home -- soon... but on the way I have many things I must do. I have lessons to learn, people to meet, lives to change, and tasks to complete. I'm not just living to live...I am living for you, and I am living for everything that I know. I am living for a purpose other than my own. I am given the freedom to do as I please, but the choices I make are not for me.

On this quiet and tranquil evening, I find myself here as I am, and I understand that I am different -- I am not the same; I have become much more different of a person than I ever imagined myself to be. It's the feeling of starting all over again-- receiving a new and untainted gift to live. Freely believing and taking each breath as it comes to me. I surrender to the beating of my heart; the equilibrium of life...the essence of time. I just become me, and me is who I am...no different than you, yet, none the same it seems.
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Lately, I have felt the inspiration to write come back to me; it seems to come and go...but when it comes back, I know that it is because I've been able to get back in touch with the peace and the still in my soul...of which is something that I never again want to let go...

...and 'letting go'....is a subject for yet another day...I suppose.

Goodnight and Sweet Dreams

-Keeper of the Ash Tree

Beauty without Fruit

A beautiful face without a beautiful heart is incomplete in its beauty; but a beautiful heart without a beautiful face has a beauty that is no less than complete.

We often times judge a book by its cover, and do not consider the heart beneath a face. One can be beautiful in appearance; but does their heart truly reflect beauty? One cannot determine whether another is beautiful until first opening the heart and by listening to it speak.

Beauty is warming-- and in true beauty, there is love. It speaks of grace and life... love and hope.
False beauty is merely of the flesh; when our eyes decieve our own hearts, and we pay no mind to the truth

Beauty that is true will radiate out into the world and into the lives of people. It will shine like the stars of a clear night sky. It will move mountains. It will make peace between enemies, and show strength in our spirits.

What is beauty without love....without hope...without faith?

Beauty, like love, must be felt -- because if you can only see it, and not feel it, it is untrue....but if you can feel it - regardless of whether or not you see it - then you will know in your own heart that beauty is real.


*Daily Insight

<3 Ashley

Life and Love

Life springs from deep within. Every day it begins again; fresh, as if life has given us new stems. We reach for the sun on this glorious day--to feel its warmth and to gather its rays. We breath in the fresh air, and we let it all out; knowing that love is, without a doubt...

Each morning, we awake to find a bright and shining sun, air to breath, a life to live, and people to love. Love is carried deep within us; some desire to express it, and others--to hide it. Love is not merely an emotion or a feeling....love is genuine and meaningful. Love is omnipresent. It is all around us. It is in the air we breathe, the promises we keep, the bed we sleep, the people we meet. Love is everlasting and it cares for us completely....it is LOVE....

Love has no ultimate meaning; only that it is Love, and merely Love....just as "I am that I am"; love is, that it is....

Do you love...?
I do.

We choose to live our lives the way that we do...are we happy? Are we angry? Are we sad.....

We choose whether or not living is joyous or if it is not. We decide.

When we learn to love all things; we find greater happiness, and we no longer put ourselves before all matters. We learn to put all matters before ourselves; and in the end, we find that we are at peace with the present, not worried of the future, and not dwelling in the past.
We are content with ourselves, because also, ourselves we have learned to love....

We live in the now...the present is a gift; that is why it is called the "present"...it is a gift of new life, new love, new peace, new breath...totally and completely new...

This gift is deep within you...
Let it shine and let it show you. You are capable; and you know it is true.

Even if you feel that your whole world is crashing down on you; you can still pull through. You are not alone, and you are no less than any other human being breathing on this very Earth. You are loved, and not alone....loved....and never...no not ever alone...

Just reach out and Love will carry you.... With Love, you'll make it through...This, I promise you.