Daily Messages from Dr. Standley

So there we were, the three of us, standing in the corner of the balcony when all of the sudden I started disappearing from the picture. My sister's Cis and Ahinawake somehow managed to squeeze me out of the picture, AGAIN! All you could see was my head floating above and between both of them. Oh they think that's so funny when they crowd me out of the picture. Some things never change. I may be the youngest of the three girls but I am still the tallest (5'8") and I will always manage to get my mug in the picture somehow, even if it is my gigantic floating head. I would post a picture from last night but every picture that was taken kept showing one of 'them' in a bad light. (hahaha . . winky wink) We'll try again later today.

My sister Ahinawake is in town this weekend because her son Greg is graduating from college. So me, Cis, Ahinawake, Dave (Ahinawake's husband), Sheyahshe (Ahinwake and Dave's daughter) and Greg (Ahinawake and Dave's son) all hung out and got a little silly last night. Then here came the sister stories and before you know it, I became the brunt of the jokes, AGAIN! As usual, they pick on the little sister. Some things never change.

My brother Tom (the oldest) is also coming in town this weekend for the graduation. Heck, Tom was just in town last weekend for his daughter Morgan's dance competition and then after that we hit another one out of the ballpark. My other two brothers Sam and Jerry live here in St. Louis as well. This will be the first time in forever that all six siblings have been in the same city at the same time. If you've been coming to this website long enough then you know how much I Love my siblings, so needless to say, I'm on Cloud Nine right now. And I do see all of my siblings fairly regularly, including Ahinawake who lives in Cherokee, North Carolina. I even have my own room at my sister Cis' house. When it comes to relationships, even though I have yet to hit the 'romantic relationship jackpot' . . . I can tell you that I have hit the 'sibling relationship jackpot'. Some things never change.

This morning's Musical DLG ™ (Download from God ™ ) called, "Grammar Rock Adjective" by Schoolhouse Rock came as a bit of a surprise. I don't typically wake up to children's music. My grandson Big Tree and I have a lot of fun watching Schoolhouse Rock video's on YouTube. It reminds me of my daughter Karmen and I singing these songs when she was his age. Big Tree sits on my lap as we play and sing one song after the other. Our favorite Schoolhouse Rock video's are, "Conjunction Junction", "Interjections" and "How a Bill Becomes Law". I even downloaded them onto my iPhone so when we're driving around he can play the video's and we sing along. Actually Big Tree can't stand my singing except for when I'm singing Schoolhouse Rock video's and then he can't get enough of my singing. It's weird but true! We enjoy Schoolhouse Rock so much that my daughter Karmen just bought the DVD.

As soon as I heard "Grammar Rock Adjective" play in my head I was taken back to high school. As a senior and president of Student Council this required me to read the morning and afternoon announcements over the intercom. This was my first experience communicating over the airwaves to the masses. Since I was also an office aide, I had to arrive at the principal's office early enough to accept all of the notes that were to be announced and then quickly formulate in my brain exactly how I was going to broadcast the school news.

For instance, someone might bring in a list of all the wrestlers who won their match the night before along with the wrestler's individual point spread. If our wrestler crushed his opponent, well by golly I made it known. Even if a wrestler won his match but it wasn't necessarily a conquering defeat, I would have the school on the edge of their seat just waiting for me to say that final result. There's no doubt, I certainly gave the morning and afternoon announcements color and animation. Even the Math Team's brilliance came through the airwaves with calculating and numerical spirit. (winky wink)

One morning as I was shuffling through the notes and silently framing all the words in my brain, the office secretary sharply said, "You use too many adjectives!" I took a moment to think about how I was going to receive her chiseled remark. I stayed silent for a few moments and then just to clarify her words I kindly and respectfully said, "Are you commenting or are you asking me to change my style of communication?" She just looked at me as if she didn't know what to say. Then she abruptly turned around without saying another word and started typing again. Inside I was winky-winking myself.

There's no doubt about it, I am an adjective girl. Okay, I may even be a bit over-adjectivee. I'm all about being as descriptive as possible. It doesn't matter if you are communicating your feelings to your mate or communicating your symptoms to your doctor, I think it's important to be as descriptive as possible. In other words, don't tell your mate that you're angry if you are really hurt. For Goodness sake, say you're HURT! And don't say it doesn't feel good if you are really in pain. Geez, say you're in PAIN! Most recently I was talking to another doctor about a patient of his that we both knew. He made the comment about the patient's "discomfort" and I said, "No, she's in pain!" The problem is that the patient wasn't very descriptive; therefore, the doctor interpreted the pain as discomfort. If the patient grins and bears it, then rates her pain as so-so, then how would he know? Not only was this patient minimizing her pain but she was withholding vital information from her doctor without realizing it. BE DESCRIPTIVE FOLKS!!!

For some reason, the Universe has me on a roll with clients trying to get them to be more descriptive, not only with their mates and family members but with their doctor as well. Folks, people only know what you tell them. It's not fair to make them guess how you feel and you'll only be hurting yourself if you aren't descriptive. Burning is not stinging! Stinging is not throbbing! Throbbing is not sharp! Angry is not hurt. Hurt is not uncomfortable. Uncomfortable is not resentment. Now, go unpack your adjectives and BE MORE DESCRIPTIVE!!!

Yesterday was absolutely unbelievable trying to upload the website. My FTP program, which means 'file transfer protocol' was just running wacky. An FTP program transfers files from a computer into cyberspace. Well the whole wacky experience sounds pretty dang Mercury Retrograde to me. Heck, I even have a back-up FTP (through the back door set-up) so that I never have to deal with FTP issues. My back door FTP set-up was created so that I could at least post a Daily Message to alert you to any problems. Oh well, such is the 'illusion' of a planet moving backward. Remember, no planet EVER really moves backward. It is an illusion but our response to illusions are very real. Read about Retrograde Motion here!

So I responded to the illusion in a way that made me feel better. After I went for a bike ride and burned off some frustration and calories, I relaxed my shoulders and worked on something else. I ended up going through the entire Laboratory Test button (23 pages) and updated all of the information. Yes, laboratory test values do change with research so I run over to that section about every six months to make certain the information is up-to-date.

Then I moved over to the Spiritual Progression Path button and got that section of the site back on track. I also made it over to the Prayer List page to clean up that page and get all of the new prayer postings up. Yesterday I was given the opportunity to get everything back on track and so I did.

So you see folks, Mercury Retrograde is an opportunity for do-overs, second chances, reconsidering and catching up. It's a time for you to improve, mend, develop, progress, increase, make good use and evolve. Mercury Retrograde is also a perfect time to forgive, pardon, excuse, exonerate and reconcile. You get a chance to do something different than what you did the first time around. Then when Mercury Retrograde goes direct again on May 31, 2009 you will move forward standing in a different place than you would have had Mercury not gone Retrograde. A glitch in timing may actually be giving you . . . perfect timing.

This morning's Musical DLG ™ (Download from God ™ ) came at the most perfect time (as usual). There's no doubt about it, for several months I've been in a wonderful space of quiet reflection and minding my own spiritual progression path. Many of you may have noticed an easing up in my pace. I do enjoy minding my own business and asking myself, "Now what? Where do I want to go from here?" I believe it's up to me to make my Life work in the way that I want it to work. I get to choose. Oh I just LOVE that about me. (winky wink)

I would have never been able to remain in clinical practice seeing patients every single day. I knew that fact when I was still in school. I remember my boyfriend at the time 'trying' to pressure me with these words, "You have to practice! That's what you're going to school for!!!" And I would respond, "No I don't and no I'm not. That's what you went to school for, not me!" I didn't really know what I was going to school for but practicing certainly wasn't 'the reason'. I did it because it made me feel Good, I liked it, I was drawn to it and so I did it. THAT I did know, everything else about it was open season and now here I am using that education to do whatever the heck I want. I knew when I was in clinical practice there would come a point when I would stand in the phrase, "Been there, done that!" I know how I am.

There's no doubt, I'm a highly cyclical person and I know my cycles. I look back a year ago and smile at the progress my spirit has made since this same time last year, mostly on a personal level. I've had an absolute amazing Saturn Retrograde both personally and professionally. I feel like shouting out, "I can see! I can see!" and mean every single word of it. I look back 30, 20, 10 and 7 years ago and smile at the progress my spirit has made since that time. I'm in one of my cycles right now where my spirit needs more and I'll know it when I find it. I can guarantee you that I am actively looking for it, whatever 'it' is. Until then, I'm still in a state of quiet repose and reflection, enjoying every minute of where I am this very minute and excited about where I may be in the next minute.

When I woke up to this morning's Musical DLG ™ (Download from God ™ ) called, "Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver, I knew that my quiet repose over the last few months has been bringing me closer to my 'it'. I listen to the words below, "I know he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly" and wonder how I ever made certain things in Life more important than being able to witness an eagle fly.

The real interesting thing about this song is it begins with the age of 27, which is about the age of a person's first Saturn Return. That's when Saturn returns to the same sign it was when you born. The Saturn Return period occurs at the ages of 27 to 30 . . 58 to 60 . . and from 86 to 88. Now I'm not in my Saturn Return but the song did bring my mind back to that time in my Life when change was occurring, which was when I first decided to go to college. I have quite a while before my second Saturn Return but still, I awoke by being taken back to my 27th year. I was literally 'born again' in so many ways when I was twenty-seven. I seriously doubt that I will drastically change careers again as I have so often done in the past because I honestly feel that I am 'in the midst' of where I am supposed to be. I feel that this part of my Life (the website and my writing) is one that actually has longevity and something that I can do or stick with so to speak. All the same, I'm feeling very 'been there, done that' and know that another change for me is definitely eminent.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH
by John Denver
[Lyrics below the video]

He was born in the summer of his 27th year
Comin' home to a place he'd never been before
He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again
You might say he found a key for every door

When he first came to the mountains his life was far away
On the road and hangin by a song
But the strings already broken and he doesn't really care
It keeps changin' fast and it don't last for long

But the Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
The shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullabye
Rocky mountain high (high Colorado) rocky mountain high (high Colorado)

Now his life is full of wonder but his heart still knows some fear
Of a simple thing he cannot comprehend
Why they try to tear the mountains down to bring in a couple more
More people, more scars upon the land

And the Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
I know he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly
Rocky mountain high

It's a Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
Friends around the campfire and everybody's high
Rocky mountain high (high Colorado) rocky mountain high (high Colorado)
Rocky mountain high (high Colorado) rocky mountain high do de do

It's interesting how over the past week I have been wrapped up in the question mark, "What's my dream job?" And then the other night I click on the television and see the guy who won the "Best Job in the World" as the caretaker of the islands of the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia. Then this morning while working I was listening to Hoda Kotbe and Kathie Lee Gifford in the background talking about a new job opportunity that someone else has put out into the world but this one involves wine tasting in Sonoma County (California). All they have to do is enjoy the wine, get paid $10,000 a month and then blog about it. That's pretty much the same deal the caretaker receives, only he has to enjoy the islands, blogs about it and gets paid over $100,000 for the year.

I'm always 'on my job' trying to figure out how I can make my work even more enjoyable for me. A few weeks ago I was talking to a woman on the phone and she remarked how she thought it was great how I do what I do to help people. I said, "Oh no no no! It's not like that at all. I do what I do for me. I do it because I enjoy it and it makes me happy. I don't do my work 'for' anyone else but me. This is where I fully admit to being wonderfully selfish. The great thing about it is that in the midst of me creating my own happiness and being fully committed to that end, I in turn help other people. That's the icing on the cake and then I get even more happiness out of it as a result. My work (website) is about my happiness. If I held everything in that I wanted to say, then I'd explode under my own power. I'd probably be an anxious fitful woman with all 3,000 pages of this website bottled up inside of me just fuming to release into the ethers. I would be unhappy if I didn't say it. So I found a way to say what I want to say without forcing anyone to listen to me . . and then botta boom batta bing bang POPCORN . . I just so happen to help someone else by being true to me, which makes me feel Good too and therein sits my purpose or mission. I have to be committed to my own happiness. It just keeps coming back to me and what God created me to be. I'm as committed to me as He is."

I think the main problem in not realizing our calling or purpose in Life is in denying that our happiness exists in the first place. Even if you say, "I just wanna help people," it still goes back to doing something that makes you feel Good. It's about you! You wouldn't want to help people if it made you feel miserable. Heck, that doesn't even make sense. This is why I always push my clients in the direction that makes them happy first. No one sets out to seek a job that makes them miserable. If you are truly committed to your happiness, then what others think really doesn't matter. Who cares!?! So what is your dream job? Start at you and then everything else, including the people you help will fall right into place. I think I have a pretty dreamy job because I can be anywhere on the planet doing anything I want as long as I have a cell and computer connection. And even if there wasn't a cell or computer connection, my website still runs without me being present. Dang, it doesn't get any better than that! I'm still here talking to you no matter how you slice it! I could be on a beach, but here I am. I could be on my bicycle, but here I am. I could be in the grocery store, but here I am. I could be anywhere . . but here I am.

I believe my first job in Life is to seek my own happiness. Little children have this down cold since they are so freshly out of the womb and haven't yet been slathered with too many restraints and contractions such as -- couldn't, wouldn't shouldn't, can't, won't and don't. Little children live their day only seeking fun and happiness because that is precisely what we have been programmed to do. Then we humanize ourselves to such an extent that embracing our own happiness 'first' is something that we should feel guilty about. Well not this hippy chick! I believe it is 'my job' to be happy and being 'on my job' is living my Life. THAT IS MY JOB! As a parent, it would really sadden me if my daughter (Karmen) or my grandson (Big Tree) were unhappy and actually settled into an unhappy state. You can only imagine how God must feel as our Ultimate Parent when he sees one His children (us) do the same.

I have a thing for greatness. I just Love it when people go further than what is expected or required of them. I Love it when people find it within their spirit to push further than their perceived limitations. I Love it when someone takes something non-physical (a thought) and creates something physical (a company that employs people). I Love it when someone takes their passion and morphs it into invention, innovation, discovery, design or enlightenment. And what I really is Love is when someone overthrows an obstacle and creates something spectacular out of it.

Take for instance fitness guru's Susan Powter and Richard Simmons who both at one time were severely obese individuals. They flipped their energy over like a dang pancake using the greatness of that energy (obesity) to create something even 'greater' out of it. I Love stories like that! No matter how negative something is on one side of the equation, it's equal and opposite is on the other side of the equation. Who can deny that Susan Powter and Richard Simmons weren't always in the field of health as obese individuals. As obese people they were fixated on health alright, only it was in the negative format. When they flipped their energy over, they were still fixated on health but now it was the other side of the equation. Susan Powter and Richard Simmons are two classic examples of why I always say, "Whatever you should be doing with your Life, you've been doing it your whole Life."

I receive a ton of health journals in the mail and sometimes I have to remove myself from my own personal space and go somewhere else to read and get caught up on the latest and greatest health news. Yesterday (Sunday) I plunked myself down at the library pretty much most of the day until I fell asleep in the comfy chair with a lap full of journals and eventually woke myself up snoring. As I sat there trying to snap myself out of a 'research hang-over' a scene flashed before my eyes. I was reminded of a friend in college who wanted me to talk her friend out of transferring schools. Her friend was aggravated with a few professors because they weren't teaching according to his needs, so he wanted to transfer schools. As we stood in the hallway, she pressed me to talk him out of it but I refused. I told them both that the teacher can only teach so much in 50 minutes and it was up to each of us to take the ball and run with it. It's impossible to teach everything we need to know in 50 minutes especially with regard to the human body and 50 bucks says no one in that school has read every book in the library or researched every journal. If he was only going to give each class 50 minutes of his time, then he and his patients were going to have a rough way to go and I'd make certain that I never referred any patients to him. Then I said, "Hasta la vista, baby!" I've never been one to sugar-coat anything. (winky wink)

When I returned home and before I started my workout I went online to a few message boards to see how the P90X program was going for other people. These message boards weren't necessarily on the P90X website; I just wanted to see what other people were saying about their own progress. I've lost 20 pounds now and my body is getting tighter and stronger every single day. My calves feel like concrete even when I'm relaxed and my arms will soon look like Angela Bassett's. (winky wink) Obviously the program is going well for me but I'm also putting in the time. I did notice on these message boards that there were clearly two very different types of people. There were some people who were the 50 percenters, who put in 50 percent and always had an excuse why it wasn't working for them. Then there were the 500 percenters who put in 500 percent and had no excuse and every reason why it was working for them. As I always say, "When it's the Truth, it shows up everywhere."

Google: Yahoo: BING: ASK: MSN:

Google: Yahoo: BING: ASK: MSN:

SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE

DESCRIBE IT WITH ADJECTIVES

PERFECT TIMING

BEEN THERE DONE THAT

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH
by John Denver
[Lyrics below the video]

ON MY JOB!

WHAT SHOULD YOU BE DOING WITH YOUR LIFE?

ARE YOU 50 OR 500?

SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE

DESCRIBE IT WITH ADJECTIVES

PERFECT TIMING

BEEN THERE DONE THAT

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGHby John Denver[Lyrics below the video]

ON MY JOB!

WHAT SHOULD YOU BE DOING WITH YOUR LIFE?

ARE YOU 50 OR 500?

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH
by John Denver
[Lyrics below the video]