The world lost another woman of strong devotion this past week. Mother Teresa dedicated her life to providing comfort and compassion to some of the poorest people of the world. Followers of many different religions paid their respects to Mother Teresa this entire week. Many call her a “Saint”….that may be, but to me she is a true example of what being human is all about. Peace be with you, Mother Teresa, you have returned Home, and left our world a better place because you were here.

You took the time to love,

Jennifer Avalon
© 1997 Jennifer Avalon

Each one of us chooses what it is we want to be and want to give in this world. Through our experiences, good and bad decisions are made. The people we become can greatly affect the world.

This past week the world lost a great ambassador for human kindness and love. The outpouring of grief around the world has been astonishing. Although she was the Princess of Wales her outreach spanned many continents. I live here in America and I must say I have never seen anything like this since the death of President Kennedy. Most British consulates in my country have been flooded with flowers and letters of condolences. Rarely does a person’s mourning extend beyond their own country.

I think something even more important is going on. Diana represented a number of qualities that we hold special in our hearts. Because of the suddenness and shocking nature of her death many feel they were not prepared to say goodbye to one more person of great kindness and compassion. The Princess was able to reach out to many people of different races, and religions. Somewhere inside she saw people as equal, as one. Her death, once again, represents to us the loss of some of our best qualities. We search for other people to fill the void, which is not easy. Her thirty-six years here were filled with pain and happiness….but in the end she did make a difference, and in some way she showed us a part of ourselves.

Peace be with you, Diana

You took the time to love,

Jennifer Avalon
© 1997 Jennifer Avalon

Inner strength is something we all need to keep us going everyday. Many times we look and see that the well is close to being empty. We search to find ways to replenish that well so that we can find the drive and the passion to continue on in our desire to evolve into better people and succeed at our goals.

Time and time again I too see my well go low….the demands of life these days are sometimes overwhelming. I just keep asking myself, how can I get it all done? I don’t know if I ever can get it all done, but I try. This is why I believe it is so important to surround myself with people who encourage and support, and if that is not possible, there is always The One Who Listens….God, and also, in my case, Jesus Christ. When I find that nobody understands me, I know I can turn to somebody who truly sees me for who I am, and is there to help me along the way to accomplish what it is I feel I need to do in life.

From the letters I receive many people out there feel lost and abandoned. They look around for help and it seems nobody cares and nobody is listening. There are people who care….but I do believe it is important for a person to develop a relationship with God. Like all relationships, for it to blossom and continue to grow it must be dealt with on a regular basis. Many say they believe in God, but how many have a personal relationship with Him? God is there….all you have to do is ask. But really, the asking is the hard part because that involves believing that someone IS there….in other words, Faith.

My Faith is what gets me through in many cases. It is my core…it is the strength that I draw from to carry me along the way, when all sometimes seems hopeless. To me, nobody knows me better then God and Jesus.

I encourage everybody to develop their personal relationship with God….just as if you were developing a relationship with a friend or family member. In my life it has helped me understand myself better and to see the bigger picture.

Take the time,

Jennifer Avalon
© 1997 Jennifer Avalon

We all want to have the freedom of choice to choose how, when, and where we live. With that, comes the realization that our choices of freedom have ramifications, both positive and negative. When choices are made correctly a person is showered with praise and sometimes anointed with some sign of brilliance. But when mistakes are made, the blame is planted on the first foreseeable person or object. Example: “It’s your fault this happened”.

I find it interesting how easily God enters into this scenario. As we are given the freedom from birth to make choices, is it fair for us to blame God when we make the wrong choices? Yes we can pray to God for guidance, but once we pray is it fair to hold Jesus or God fully responsible for the outcome? If we cherish the pursuit of freedom and find anything less than it some form of slavery, is it fair to want freedom until we run into trouble and then let God take the blame for our mistakes?

I believe that free will and choice are very important components in our existence here on Earth. I think there is a very good reason why God has given us the ability to make choices. Maybe what happens to us along the way is seen as an evolution of the soul, and with each choice from free will we show God and other people who we are, and where we are going. Sometimes it’s very easy to hurt people, and sometimes it’s very hard to love them….but it’s important for us to find ways around the roadblocks of our emotions.

God is often looked upon as some form of dominating, controlling force, but He has given us the choice on how we live our lives…..what better way to say “I LOVE YOU.”

Take the time to love,

Jennifer Avalon
© 1997 Jennifer Avalon

We assume that the people we love, family, friends and co-workers truly know who we are deep down inside. We think that how we feel and think is automatically and correctly seen by others that we interact with on a daily basis. Sometimes that can be so far off from the truth. How many times have we heard the words, ” I didn’t know you were like that” or “I didn’t know you look at things that way”…. the point being it is so easy for people to misjudge us.

Communication is probably one of the most important tools that we must learn to use correctly. When communication breaks down everything is up for grabs……any miscalculation can solidify. There are so many people who speak different languages and different dialects of that language that it is so easy for one word to mean one thing to one person, and something else to another. Add to that the way we were raised, and our religious upbringings, and it is easy to see how things have become quite messy.

How many people who live together all their lives really know each other? Just because you’re married 50 years doesn’t mean you truly understand the person who shares your space. We keep so much of what we think and how we feel bottled up inside. We assume that the other person must know what we think and feel because we live together. It’s almost as if we believe we can read each other’s minds at will. Well we are not God, we are human, and we make mistakes…. but they can be corrected. Don’t be afraid to ask questions…you may be surprised at the answers.

Ask somebody who is close to divorce what happened? Yes sometimes they did marry the wrong person….but many times the communication between the two of them collapsed. I think it’s very important that members of families take an hour or two a week to discuss things that are on their minds. You may not like what you hear, but at least you’re hearing it. And they too hear you. All points of view should be respected….this involves sitting around a table looking at your family as individuals, not as masters and slaves, or whatever. If you take the time to listen, you may regain love and see things differently. Once you get past the anger, you may find peace.

If we can do this with our families and relationships, perhaps we can do this with the world…..please God.

Take the time to love,

Jennifer Avalon
© 1997 Jennifer Avalon

I try to look at life as one big classroom, a place where we learn about others, ourselves and hopefully the work that really matters. I believe there is a reason why each one of us is here. We are born and we die but what’s really important is what we learn in-between.

Every morning class begins.

We are tested, we interact with our fellow classmates, we share information, we struggle to progress. Some are gifted in one way, some are gifted in another, but as we look around, we start to see the uniqueness and the differences in the contributions we make to this place called Earth. It isn’t perfect, this place called Earth, and yes there are bad students, people who refuse to learn, people in pain, and people who are lost, but they too matter. In this classroom none of us have all the answers, but what’s important is that we try to find them. Effort, in the end, I believe, is rewarded. Yes it is easy to sit back and watch others do the work, but is that what we’re really here for?

So, what is the work of the classroom? To contribute? Help? Or sit back and do nothing? Doing nothing is very easy. The work is giving, loving, sacrificing, understanding, caring and keeping faith, so that we can bring a little bit of Heaven to our classroom called Earth

As we attend class everyday, watching us is God. Our struggles, our successes, our fears and triumphs are noticed. I know many have given up on God, but the Shepherd does feel for His flock. As we move on in life, we take with us all the things that we learn in the classroom. We may never learn everything, but the work we leave behind is so important…it says we were here.

At the end of our lives, we receive our report-card. Some do well, some don’t. But on that card, it’s important that we get an “A” for effort. We may not have done all that we came here to do, but we tried……and God knows if we’ve tried.

Take the time to love,

Jennifer Avalon
© 1997 Jennifer Avalon

We all go about our lives everyday interacting, doing jobs, trying, hopefully, in our own way, to succeed at some level of accomplishment…. but sometimes our choices are not the right ones. We can lead ourselves down the wrong road, cross the wrong street, and before we know it we’re halfway on a journey that at some point we see is the wrong one. Mistakes are miscalculations that we should not fear making. None of us have all of the answers all of the time. But we continue to put tremendous pressure on ourselves to be perfect. Failure, for some, is just not acceptable, but how else do we learn?

Perfection is a trap. It sets you up for the situation that anything short of it is unacceptable. Perfection is also a weapon that can be used by you and against you. For a brief moment, it is obtainable, until the next mistake. A baseball team strives to win the most games in a season. If it wins miraculously all its games that season the team is then set up to duplicate the feat next year. Anything short of winning every game again becomes unacceptable. They are looked upon as losers, even if the number is 99%. So too are we in life.

It’s important to do your work to the best of your ability…to strive to get better…a job well done. But reward yourself along the way….look back and say “How about that! I did it!” To me, life is a journey along a road that sometimes bends and weaves…once in awhile it’s important to stop and look back and see how far we’ve come before proceeding to the next destination. Where the road ends, only God knows, but to get there we need sometimes to reflect and recharge before continuing on. Each one of us writes the book of our lives….it may not be a best-seller but it’s important that it makes a difference. Many of us make a difference, but we don’t allow ourselves to see it.

We’re all too busy chasing what we haven’t done, instead of rejoicing in what we have accomplished. Yes strive to be better, by all means, but don’t lose track of how good you’ve become through your mistakes and insight.

Take the time to love,

Jennifer Avalon
© 1997 Jennifer Avalon

Things these days just seem to keep going faster and faster….there never seems to be enough hours in the day to get everything done, but we carry on and try the best we can. I don’t know about you, but as soon as I learn something the next week there is either an upgrade, an extension, or a continuation to further learn. This has to do with everything…newspapers,television reports, on-the-job learning (computers, etc.) Yes I know progress is important, but it is very easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of information that we are being bombarded with everyday. It is very easy to feel that if we don’t learn fast enough we will be left behind.

The time that we have available often has to be split up into sections…..time for family, time for friends, personal reflection, and work. I recently read an article that said that most working parents prefer time at the workplace to time at home. They look at home as their second job, that is less controllable. These days we have a lot on our plates. Just about everywhere I go I see people just trying to keep their heads above water. Television and magazines, etc. show us people who are wealthy, successful, and short of nothing…the “beautiful people”. I’m sure it must leave many feeling “What did I do wrong?” Why aren’t I “keeping up?” Well most people in the real world are struggling. In 1953 a man on minimum wage could afford a new house, a new car every 3 years, and his wife could stay at home to raise the 2 children. What happened?? Yes I know Wall Street is booming, and the unemployment rate is very low, but something’s wrong with this picture.

I am a singer/songwriter….and I believe artists are supposed to be able to see, reflect, and sometimes offer solutions through their art. What I’m seeing in many people’s eyes is pain, confusion, and disbelief at what is happening around them….almost like a train that has been derailed. I believe that there are two parts to our existence, the body and the soul, and if the eyes are the true “windows to the soul”, then many souls are hurting.

I don’t have all the answers….maybe none of us do….but each of us have SOME of the answers, and perhaps with God’s help we can start to paint a new picture. We’re all in this together.

Take the time to share,

Jennifer Avalon
© 1997 Jennifer Avalon

Every one of us at some point or another are guilty of believing that people we care about will always be there for us and always be available. But I’m afraid that it isn’t necessarily so. Many of us seem to have a tendency to put off things we want to say and do until tommorow….. sometimes we run out of tommorows.
Our mothers, fathers, family and friends are the core that we interact with everyday. We must always realize that there are no guarantees that each one of them will be available to us at will. By thinking that they will always be there, we can very easily take them for granted. The good deeds and the contributions that they make to our lives can sometimes go by unnoticed. We casually can mutter a phrase like “Mom’s always there”, “Anne’s a great friend”, “Isn’t Dad great?” like a programmed response with not a second thought to it.

Then one day, out of the blue, the phone doesn’t ring, the letters stop coming…the person is gone. At that point we begin to realize just how much we’ve lost. The space that’s left in our lives that was once full is now empty. Regret starts creeping into our thoughts that maybe we didn’t say enough to the person while they were still here. Even though it is very hard, and sometimes impossible to change the past, we can change the present. Look around….think about who in your life contributes to your development on a regular basis…and those that you, too, help. “Thank you” is not a very difficult phrase to say…but its meaning to a given person can be tremendous.

It’s okay to tell people how much you need them and how much you love them. Do it while they’re here.

Take the time to love,

© 1997 Jennifer Avalon

My last essay had to do with how important it is to recharge our batteries, so that we don’t run out of energy. This week I’d like to expand a little on that, to bring up the topic of energy levels.
I don’t know about you, but I find sources of positive inspiration vital to my everyday outlook. After a hard day at work, coming through the door and seeing a beautiful painting or smelling a wonderful fragrance can do wonders as a pick-me-up. It’s a good idea to find places around the home that can become sources of positive energy, perhaps like a certain phrase hanging on the wall that brings about a smile to your face and to others. In my case, music can create a wonderful form of atmosphere to relax and inspire. We all need times of relaxation and stimulation.

Because of the level of negative energy we are combatted with every day it’s important that we supply ourselves with at least an equal amount of uplifting sources. I sometimes look at people as little cars, meaning, what kind of gas do we fill our tanks with? What kind of mileage can we expect from the gasoline that we choose? Yes I know some people are going to say, “is she crazy…cars?” But I use the metaphor because, as with a car, you get out what you put in!!

The spirit, too, needs positive affirmation. It’s not a bad idea to keep a Bible and or other forms of spiritual reading material around the house. Yes I believe the soul too can be depleted and need a re-fill.
So the next time you look around your home think about ways to make it a more uplifting environment for you and/or your family….and at work, a flower on your desk, or a special photograph can do wonders for that certain time of the day when you feel depressed or hassled. People do react to the messages you send out daily. Like a pebble thrown in a pond we create concentric circles that affect others, and eventually ourselves too.

Take the time to enjoy,

Jennifer Avalon
© 1997 Jennifer Avalon