December will be a quiet month for SCS. As many of you know already, Debra had a health crisis of her own in November. She experienced a swelling in her abdomen, and—after being examined by three different physicians—had surgery to remove a “grapefruit-sized,” benign tumor on her left ovary. She had a complete hysterectomy on Monday, 26 November. As I (Joel) am writing this, she is still in the hospital recovering. Barring complications, she should be back home by tomorrow, 1 December.
We will move quietly into the end of the year and the end-of-year holiday season. And speaking of the holidays, Debra’s new book, Stories From My Heart, would be a great gift, either for loved ones or something for gifting yourself.
Whatever holiday you are celebrating, we wish you the best and offer our love and gratitude for your support and wish you peace and happiness for the season and the New Year.
Here is what Debra had written about December before she had her health emergency:
Since ancient times, much lore has surrounded the solstice. In our modern times, every December brings with it the sense of things coming to an end, but this year has an amplified sense of impending change. An internet search brings up all sorts of opinions. Here is one:
Without even worrying about the Mayan calendar, the words of Nostradamus, the prophetic dreams of Daniel or the revelation made to John, I have taken the definition to heart and concluded that we have experienced the apocalypse.
Debra had not planned on having surgery the end of November, but the timing was convenient for her time in Florida. Most of us are very aware that, in our personal and professional lives, things are definitely changing.
Here is a holiday gift you can take to heart. The message is found in many cultures, including the story of the grandfather who takes his grandson out into the desert and tells him to look up at the stars all night, criticizing them the whole time. The following day, he was told to again look up at the stars all night, this time praising them the whole time. The grandfather then asked his grandson what the stars did. To the best of his ability to discern, the stars did not react to either the criticism or the praise. The grandfather simply said, “Be as the stars.”
A similar version of this message is found in the children’s book, You Are Special, by Max Lucado. It is the story of the Wemmicks, small wooden people, made by Eli, the wood worker. Punchinello was one of the Wemmicks who was very affected by the “dots” of criticism put on him by other Wemmicks, until the day he met Lucia.
Curious as to why the “dots” did not affect Lucia, Punchinello went to ask Eli. The “dots” did not stick on Lucia because she did not care what the other Wemmicks thought of her. She only cared that she was loved by Eli.
Eli told Punchinello, “The stickers only stick if they matter to you.” As he said that, the first of the “dots” fell to the floor.
Beginning in January, each Beyond Mastery newsletter will have an overall theme, with Debra and Joel each writing one longer article. As 2012 comes to an end, the truth may be for all of us that we have already experienced the apocalypse and we can go on and enjoy 2013 as the beginning of the rest of our long and happy lives….