I am giving myself the freedom to persue my strengths.
When I made the decision to focus upon my writing and  create a new website as a information portal to self-help and activism, it seemed like a weight lifted off my shoulders. i am lucky to be in the unique situation, where money does not matter - my husband makes plenty so that I would not have to work outside the home, one day in my life - so I am free to pursue my passion without pressure, with the focus on helping others, and enjoying my actions, at the moment that I am inspired to do so.
For about a year, I thought having my own business would be cool - and it was - but once it took away from my passion, and the mundane part took time away from helping people, which I originally invisioned as being a Life Coach, I found myself less helping, and more marketing.
How am I good to anyone - and to myself - if I am hunting down leads, and arranging newsletters - while the people who could use my help, can not afford to hire a Life Coach in the first place?
Now I learned so much from that year though - how to set up a website in a hurry, how to find information for all kinds of subjects, that allows people to grow, how to become more agressive, when I need to find help for someone, how to ignore other people's comments about not being conventional.
All these things will help me help others, for the only fee that I want to charge - knowing that someones life is better, because I was able to point them into the right direction.
What more can you ask for in a life time?

The first independence day, I celebrated, was the day after my wedding, 18 years ago. Coming from a background of total control, and being married to a man, who celebrated freedom of choice, it was somewhat a culture shock for me.
I stood there with all the choices in the world in front of me. For the first time in my life, I was told, I can be anything I want to be, and have his full support.
Instead of choosing, I went numb. I did not know how to handle independence.
Fast forward to now.
Nothing reminds me of the little scarred girl, I was 18 years ago. I have gone so many times against mainstream now, that no-one expects me to take the regular path - not even my parents, who controlled every move I made before I met John.
Learning from their mistakes, I choose to teach my children the independence of choosing their own life paths.
The freedom of choice - that is the core of independence to me.

Lately, I have moved from being the victim of my childhood, and the person pointing a finger of what could have been done better, to being able to forgive, and now being able to see some beauty in the people who helped raise me. I choose to see the positive now, the lessons I learned, the intention behind actions. One of the pods here, helped me connect to the fact, that even though I am an American by choice, I can no longer ignore the fact that I was  raised in Germany. I am finally able to separate what has happened to me in my childhood with the location of my childhood. That took me a long time. The same goes for the language of German. While I am an avid reader, and love the beauty of English-speaking poetry, song, and literature, I could not connect with the German heritage in me.

Awareness shifted.

Now, I have to practice this awareness on a daily basis, and the multicultural setting that is here on Gaia assists me in that.

Thank you to all of you, because each and every one, who has touched me in the time I have been here again, brought a lesson.

I am reminded of Louise Hay wrote in one of her books "If the student is ready, the teacher appears." Thank you for being my teachers.

Peace

Claudia

Follow me to Kathy's (Kes~) blog, for the great thought on this human right:

http://kathysmith.gaia.com/blog/2008/6/in_your_view_what_life_stage_is_the_human_family_in

Have you ever thought about the things your child owns, and the rights that come with that ownership? Do you consider anything you have given him, his property under his sole ownership, things that he can choose to do with what he pleases?
The right to won property extends further then us adults being able to buy things and to have our rights to have what we please protected from others, it also extends to the rights of our children to determine what to do with their property. While teaching kindness and compassion, we also want them to have self-determinism, which includes what they call their own. That means they should be allowed to share or not, take things apart or proudly display their items. Your want for convenience and what you consider order should not overshadow the human right of your child to determine the usage and ownership of his/her property.

I have come to realize to not waste my time waiting for what I want to have or experience, but to actively create what I am looking for, may it be by selection through appreciation, or by deliberate action and intend.

peaceful, exited, connected

My transformation seems gentle in steps, not like being hit by a train, but through everyday learning, softly stepping further, coming closer toward the realisation of Oneness, and what it really means. Each day, a silent moment comes, where a thought emerges, or  whispered words reveal. Books show up, when they need to, friends guide at the right moment, nothing harsh, just revealing more and more each day - then i look back over a period of time, such as a year, and i realized how different i am, from that moment in time. i smile at who i was, then go back to now, knowing that another gentle lesson will be whispered my way, and i am looking forward to the next step in this soft, ever-occurring transformation.

I am celebrating today the marriages of the many gay and lesbian couples, that wed in California. This human right should  - and now in some instances does -  apply to all, straight or otherwise.
This right should include the following:
1. The right to choose your partner - and the elimination of forced marriages.
2. The right to choose a partner outside of your faith, race and/or origin, with no fear of harassment, discrimination, threat of annulment or legal problems.
3. The right to live, work, grow and raise your children in the country of your spouse, if you choose to relocate.

Peace and Love

Everyone should have a right to claim a country as their own, may it be through birth, or as a country of choice.
While I agree with the preserving the right to a nationality, as I am growing in the awareness of the fact that we are all one, I question the need for identification with a nationality. Surely, I will add my current location of where I am on my profile, but does this current location define me any less or more then my original hometown and country?
What do you think?

Peace