[Andrea Barnett Budin]

WELL, HELLO BACK TO Y'ALL. YOU MAY NOT HEAR FROM ME OFTEN, BUT I THINK OF EACH OF YOU ALL THE TIME.

MARIE! LOOK AT YOUR FINE SELF! AN ACTUAL PICTURE OF *BELIEVE*. WONDERFUL TO SEE YOU! LOVE HOW YOU ALWAYS SHARE YOURSELF WITH THE GANG. SHEILA, YOU AND YOUR BROOD ARE A TRUE DELIGHT TO SET EYES ON. AND MARY ANNE MY OLD FRIEND, THANKS FOR YOUR SWEET PERSPECTIVES AS WELL. BARBARA, I HAD NO IDEA, BUT I DO ALWAYS HOPE MY RAMBLINGS ARE TOUCHING SOMEONE(S)... A SHOUT OUT TO MELANIE! HEY!

A RECENT THING I TYPED OUT -- NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO SHARE I THINK. NOW THAT I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION...

Time is precious. Priceless. Yet it costs us nothing.

You can do anything you want with it, but you can't own it.

You can spend it, but you can't keep it.

And once you've lost it -- there's no getting it back. It's just -- gone.

So, choose what you do with Time well. Use your power to choose what you will think about all day and what you will focus your energy on carefully. Spend it wisely and prudently.

MARY ANNE, I DO THINK THE WORLD NEEDS TO HEAR EACH OF OUR EXPERIENCES. BUT I HEAR YOU ABOUT NEGLECTING TO FOCUS ON THE MOMENT.

WE ARE A PART OF ONE ANOTHER'S REALITY. WE TOUCH ONE ANOTHER'S LIVES. WE EACH INFLUENCE ONE ANOTHER. LET OTHERS KNOW THEIR AFFECT ON YOU. SEE YOURS ON THEM. EXPRESS YOUR EMPATHY FOR THEIR SITUATION AND THE STRESS THEY ARE UNDER. A SMILE, A KIND WORD CAN CHANGE ANOTHER PERSON'S DAY, AND LIVE WITH THEM LONG AFTER YOU HAVE MOVED ON.

I LOOK WITH MY HEART. I DON'T SEE A STRANGER. I SEE A *THOU*, A SACRED BEING. WE ARE EACH SPECIAL, VULNERABLE, IN NEED OF A HUG.

But I believe we musn't lose sight of the fact that -- how you will feel each moment (as it scurries by and disappears)is an art to cultivate! As you thus choose how joyful you will be, others will feel similarly, as they share Time with you...

I continue to live AS IF. As if my desired destiny is on its way to me. I work hard at not obsessing about it, not demanding it, just BELIEVING I can call it mine. Fear and Faith cannot occupy the same space. So this is how I deal with my fears. I do think we all have them, after all...

I have learned to consciously choose to live moment to moment, hour by hour. Otherwise my head spins as I contemplate the *what ifs*. I choose to ground myself in The Now and drink in the Essence of being alive! Most days. I sometimes fail. Flounder. But I know I will do better, tomorrow...

I live with an open heart. I am a vessel for Universal Love. I know it sounds hokey, but it's how I see the world. I thought you should know this. It is such a wondrous Life Lesson I have gleaned!

I pray you too will find this Enlightenment for yourself, and derive great benefit from it.

I wish you Health and Happiness, Harmony and much love...

Always thinking of you,
Andi