Love

Something Always Comes Up Missing If We Have Bad Company

What happens when we hang out with the wrong people quote

We have to stay away from the Negative Nancy’s and the Debbie Downers. They will steal things from us that may take years or never for us to restore.

These thieves I mention, are energy vampires. And they will suck us dry if we let them. But fortunately we have a choice! So let’s choose wisely and protect our harmonious bubbles. Shall we?

© Angela Bininger and The Empowerer, 2009-2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this websites author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Angela Bininger and The Empowerer with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Love Them Anyway

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© Angela Bininger and The Empowerer, 2009-2018.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this websites author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Angela Bininger and The Empowerer with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

What Do You See When Looking At A Confederate (Battle) Flag

confederate flagA Nashville news station asked viewers their opinions on the removal of the Confederate flag from state buildings in South Carolina etc. Walmart also announced the removal of all products with the Confederate emblem from their stores. I stated my opinion, not realizing the amount of support I would have. It was the day of constant Facebook notifications.

My opinion:

I see history with that flag. Leave it. Hate is from within. It has nothing to do with flags, or anything/anyone else. Unless people lived in that era, they should see it as history. We were taught it in school. That’s history. If you hate it otherwise and seeing it stirs bad feelings, that was taught at home. And that hatred is from within.

Do you think of mistreated Christians when you see a Christian flag? Or mistreated gays if you see a gay flag? Do you think of the white Irish slaves when you see their flag? I don’t. To me they are flags. A person who sees negative was taught to see it that way.

Example:

If you took a group of first graders to look at mass amounts of flags they would see flags. They wouldn’t point out a specific one and say “THAT one has to go. It is evil!”

Fast forward years of being taught mixed with ones own feelings, life experiences etc. And take that same group in their 50’s. They would have stories for most both good and bad, and possibly resentment and hatred for some at the very sight of them. Why? They learned to.

The responses from the news post encouraged me to dig deeper and ask around. So I took it a step further in effort to prove my point. I took a poll. Here are the results.

Question: What do you think of when you see this flag?

Age 4   It has staz like the staz on my “shut” (stars, shirt)

Age 6   It has the same colors like the America flag

Age 8   I see you have a flag in your hand (uncontrollably giggling)

Age 10  I think of BIG monster trucks. 

Age 14  I think of the civil war and how the south lost

Age 16  I think of racism

So there you have it. Racism and hatred is a taught/learned behavior.

It is not the flags killing people. It is not a statue that represents history and things our society has overcome that is killing people. It is not the guns killing people. It’s people killing people.

People who were taught to never see the good in something, yes, those people are the ones killing people. You know, those people who were never taught how to love. We should remove those people, not the items in this world they blame for their heartless actions. Those items represent history, and are a reminder of how far we have come. And people like the Charleston shooter, are a reminder of how far we have yet to go.

Make Today Matter

walkEverything is temporary. Our homes, our cars, our health, our minds, our bodies, our children, our family, our friends, our pets, and all material items. Although some seasons last longer than others, what and who we have today can be gone in the blink of an eye. As we all know, life is short and nothing is promised to last forever.

Make today matter. Love yourself. Leave nothing unsaid. And let people know what they mean to you. Release the negativity and embrace the positives. Love your enemies. Be kind. Be polite. Be courageous. Be strong.You’ve got this.

Mom, How Do You Know If You Are In Love?

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My daughter asked the age old question….

“Hey mom, how do you know if you are in love?”

My answer was quite simple. At least it was to me. And although it took me many years of my life to figure it out for myself, I felt like I could give her a legitimate answer.

But first, I had to start with what my definition of love is.

Love Is:

When you give of yourself and think nothing of it. You want nothing but to see the other person happy and for them to benefit. It is sacrificial, and you expect nothing in return.

Sometimes love can mean being with the person forever and getting married, and sometimes you love them enough to say goodbye. But when it is true love, you can feel it. You just click.

You respect each other and get along, and you don’t try and change the other person. You work together. It is a partnership with two people who are the best of friends.

You laugh regularly. You cheer one another on. And you feel like there is nothing that life can throw at you, that the two of you can not handle together. 

Now, being in love… that can be tricky!

But as for me…..

How do I know that I am in love?

For starters, I still count the hours until he gets home from work and we get our family time, and time as a couple. I still get butterflies when he touches my hand. And no matter how bad of a day I have had, one hug makes it all go away.

I look forward to every conversation we have, from religion to politics and everything in between. I love getting to know him more every day. I love the simple ways he shows me on a daily basis that he loves me.

I am simple. So is he. And together, it is just something magical.

And when you are in love…. it is magical. Nothing anyone says will make you feel any different. And every day, you love them more than the day before.

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Loving Endlessly

So many people waste time and energy loving people incapable of loving them back. The relationship is dead, yet they hang on until that frayed rope finally snaps. They make themselves sick with worry.

Instead of focusing on whats wrong with that part of our lives, we need to focus on what is right everywhere else. There are plenty of people who already love you. There are also plenty of people you have yet to meet, ready to to love you too.

© Angela Bininger and The Empowerer, 2009-2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this websites author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Angela Bininger and The Empowerer with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Love At First Sight, Is It Real?

ImCo-DependentBWMany people ask the question “Do you believe in love at first sight?”

Had they asked me 20 years ago the answer would have been no. But if I was asked today, I would say absolutely without a doubt….YES, I do believe in love at first sight.

Why yes? One might ask.

I knew from the second I saw my guy. I was lovestruck. There was just something about him that was different than the rest. It is hard to explain, but I just knew. There was a connection before the exchange of words. I was mesmerized. And I was somewhat frozen.

What happened was….

I was just minding my own business singing a song and out from around the corner he came. He walked towards the stage and then stopped just a few feet away from where I was. And then we locked eyes as I continued to sing. When I was done singing, I knew I was ready to start loving. This one had me before we even said hello. And so the love story began.

It truly caught me off guard. It was just so unexpected. So random. And well… flat out magical. At the time I was in a very bitter, anti-relationship, man bashing place in life. And the morning after I had met him, I walked into work and said “I met my future husband last night” and they looked at me like I was insane. They thought I was joking at first. But no, I was so serious.

To this day he is my best friend, and I love him with all of my heart. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for him. He is the peanut butter to my jelly, the peas to my carrots, the salt to my pepper, and so much more.

I still get butterflies when he touches my hand. I still count the hours until we get home to one another. And I feel so thankful and blessed for all the ways he has shown and continues to show his love for me. He is my rock.

Love is so many things, and I feel like we have them all. It is patient, kind, willing, sacrificial, giving, understanding, accepting, loyal, faithful, and it is forever. Once you finally find it that is.

The Depths of Love

We are fools for love or thinking we have found it only to find out in time…..

“That was not it!”

But one thing is for certain….

we either always love them or we never truly did.

Are You Waiting For Change?

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If we are waiting for someone to change in order for us to feel fulfilled and happy then we are wasting our valuable time and energy.

As we now change comes from within. And we can not change others. We can only change how we deal with them. And some are just best not to deal with at all. It keeps us healthier mentally and emotionally.

If someone else’s actions or lack there of are hurting you, then it is time to walk away. We have to protect ourselves. We are the only ones responsible for our own happiness so it is up to us to look out for what is in our best interests.

Some Love

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© Angela Bininger and The Empowerers, 2009-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this websites author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Angela Bininger and The Empowerers with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.