NewMe v.2012 has been installed successfully

I know this seems like a total ego shot. It is fun to post a picture when you feel good about the way you look. But, what is most important about this picture is the way I feel.
At the end of 20069, my second husband called me at 8:15 on a Monday morning shortly after I arrived at work. He said he was leaving. There had been no prior discussion of our marriage being in trouble and it was just 5 weeks after he became an American citizen.
I spent 2010 crying in denial, trying to believe all the times he said he loved me it was real. By the end of the year, I was able to reframe the milestones of our relationship and could see, from the moment we met, if someone was going to be scammed with love, this was an example of what it could look like.
I spent 2011 pulling myself out of depression, slowly rebuilding my feelings of self worth and confidence. My bedroom was a cluttered mess with dust balls in the corners. I was tired more than I was energized and I didn’t care very much about the way I looked.
Today, I appreciate how amazing I am. I don’t mean to boast or brag. There is nothing different about me than anyone else. I just learned to open my eyes and believe. I learned to listen to the people who love me. I listened to positive characteristics which were reflected back to me. I committed myself to honor the part of me that sees the good in people. I am not going to be prosecuting attorney collecting evidence on how people shouldn’t be trusted. I am not going to close myself off to being in a relationship again. Yet, would anyone fault me for being bitter or for not trusting people?
Don’t say “Annie, you are amazing.” Instead say and KNOW you are amazing and have the ability to overcome any challenge.
I still have some healing to do. Though my room is clean, I sometimes cringe and growl at the thought or mention of a certain country. I smile and laugh at myself and know it will eventually pass.
Install NewMe v.2012
~~ Believe in Love ~~ See the beauty in people ~~ Appreciate the magic in everyday happenings ~ Take time for prayer, meditation, journaling or silence ~
YOU are amazing

~~ MY WISH FOR ME AND YOU THIS VALENTINE'S DAY ~~

Every February we celebrate Valentine’s Day; we focus our attention on who we cherish and who cherishes us. We seem to measure it in flowers, chocolates, beautifully written cards, romantic dinners and getaways. For anyone without a special partner, it can be a sad hollow day, making a valid case for not having love in our lives. We measure our worthiness of affection with a check list. If any of the requirements are missing we can feel deprived, resentful and sorry for ourselves.
When we look to material things to determine our value, we don’t see the all encompassing worth and love that each of us possess. Love is not missing in anyone’s life. We are just looking in the wrong direction.
Hurt and fear know their job very well. They put obstacles in our path and will never stop trying to divert our attention even when we do see past them.
When we allow ourselves to see the pure innocence in everyone in our lives, we experience perfect peace. We may not be able to hold onto this thinking for very long, but if we memorize what it feels like, when we feel down ~ empty ~ unlovable ~ deprived of magic ~ we can exchange those feelings with belief ~ understanding ~ compassion ~ and forgiveness. Remember you can get back. The more you bring yourself to perfect peace, the easier it becomes.
Why is it so important to forgive those who have hurt and betrayed us? Why do we need to see them as innocent at their core? Because when we do not allow others the right to make their own painful choices, even cruel intentioned choices that have hurt us very deeply, we will not, absolutely will not, be able to see the innocence in ourselves. We will not be able to feel the peace and love that are ours.

Take your eyes off of the checklist and look in the direction of real love.

Is this easy? No, it is difficult to coax ourselves out of mistaken beliefs. What can we do? We can look to books, meditation, prayer and friends who also believe this for guidance, support and encouragement.

Whether you have a special someone or not, take your eyes off of the checklist and gaze in another direction. You will see a ~ beautiful ~ loveable ~worthy ~ person and you will feel the magic of the day we honor love.

My wish for me and for you this Valentine’s Day
~~ Eyes that see Magic ~~

What are your secrets? Do they haunt you?

Who in your past knows your secrets? Are you mad at them or afraid they will reveal your tenderness to others? Thus leaving you to be mocked and ridiculed.

Who have you shared your soul with? Is it safe?
What will you do to protect it? How do you protect your soul?

Who knows your secrets?
Did someone just come to mind that makes you nervous?

Whose secrets do you know?
Are they safe with you or do you feel powerful because you know?
Are you embracing their secrets as a weapon and feel a sense of control?

What are your secrets?
Shame? Childishness? Irresponsibility? Betrayer? Selfishness? Liar?

What can your secrets be?
Giver? Provider? Inspirer? Guide? Lover? Healer?
Would you want these secrets known?

If you melt into the courage and reach past the prickly shield you use to protect your vulnerable inside, you will see there is nothing you need protect. The blinding light within you dissolves the unnecessary shelter.

Let your secrets be that you are an anonymous giver, a source of prayer for family, friends and strangers or a wish for peace for those who cross your path.

Your secret is your powerful light. You are hiding your gift from those it would benefit.
By letting your glow emanate past your fearful protection, you will bath those in your thoughts and vicinity with grace and respect.

When anyone shares their love with you they are joining their light with yours. It is impossible to be burned by your own radiance. Resist the impulse to join another if they retreat to the shadows.

Have your secrets be a source of inspiration because they bless the lives of those you encounter.

What are your secrets? Do they haunt you?

Every Broken Hearted Girl Needs a Web Guy

Every girl going through the crisis of a painful breakup while developing her own business will need a web site and a web designer. I suggest a guy. Along with his masterful, graphic design skills, he makes her laugh, calls her ‘dude’ and frequently uses the phrase ‘it’s all good’. Because he sees her potential while heartache is blocking it from her view, he pushes her past the self imposed limits she would have very contently settled for.

Ladies, take my word for it, you don’t need a new boyfriend, what you need is a web guy. If he hosts your site, you get a committed relationship without the drama. He reliably returns all calls and emails, compliments you and gently walks you to the vision your self-confidence is too shell shocked and afraid to believe.

During one of the darkest periods of my life, while I was cowering, licking my wounds, gasping to believe the pain would end, I was presented with a healing gift in a form I never could have designed or imagined. A web guy brought me back to life. He listened to my ideas and, by blending them with his gifts, transformed them into art. His agenda was to fill his canvas using my thoughts as inspiration. He let me go without question when I needed to take a break and was motivated and ready to continue when I recuperated and came back.

Breath taken, speechless, I present to you my websites, AnneGambina.com and MyDivorceDietPlan.com. My designer is the insanely talented, passionate, ever patient Danny Glix. (Also referred to by me as ‘Oh Great and Powerful Webmaster’, ‘Sir Glix’, ‘Lestat’, ‘Danny, Danny’ when I was hyperactive and my heartfelt, favorite ‘My Danny.’)

The moral of the story, if your heart is broken and you need to recreate your future and your dreams, start your own business and get a web guy. Not only would I recommend you share mine, I would be deeply grateful because he would receive after giving so much to me. No need to be jealous on this one. Really good web guys can handle lots of girls.

My Divorce Diet Plan by Anne Gambina

Fourteen months ago I started writing a quickie, giveaway book to use for marketing myself as a Life Coach. In exchange for an email address, I would send a short, quirky book about The Divorce Diet. I was creating so much content, it was difficult to keep it short. Then I made the big decision .... I would write a longer book .... and sell it!!
I set timelines I stuck to, but there were parts of the book that just weren't right. I would spend time trying to force myself to get the words to say what I wanted them to express, and it wasn't happening.
I stopped forcing myself and trusted that when the time was right, the words would flow out of me.
I see now that I needed to go through all types of healing before I could completely finish the book.
Today, December 13th, I just finished the final draft. Today happens to be the 49th birthday of my brother Kevin. Kevin passed away at age 27. It took years and years and years to grieve his loss.
My Divorce Diet Plan is a book about love. It's about grieving and healing from a terrible loss and it is about love.
I have chills because I finished the book today. I could not have forced myself to finish it a day sooner. My brother had his hand on the pen too.
Off to a publisher ..... Standby for more exciting announcements!!!

{cant remember if I ran spelling and grammar check?}

The Exercise Plan | Binge and Purge

Shhhh .... Sneak Preview of an exercise from My Divorce Diet Plan, coming soon!!!

The Exercise Plan | Binge and Purge

GOAL: To go through the grieving process and get it over with!! You are sad right now anyway, so make productive use of the time. If you hold onto painful feelings and negative thoughts they will continue to aggravate your peace of mind, cunningly, calling for attention in indirect ways. Want an example? Imagine yourself in a pool with friends. Hold a balloon under water and then try to enjoy yourself. You need two hands and constant attention to keep the balloon under the water. With all your best efforts it sneaks past your hands to the surface. You can’t give your full attention to a game or even a conversation.

BINGE: In the spirit of an activity associated with food, we are going to binge on feelings!! Your most uncomfortable feelings are now an ice cream sundae, a big fat steak or an extra-large bag of potato chips. Pick your favorite gorge food and have at it. Binge. Binge. Binge.

PURGE: List every Feeling and the Thought that goes with it. Don’t leave anything out. Do not hold back.

ACKNOWLEDGE: Each feeling and thought must be acknowledged – not judged. It just is. It is that simple. Think of your feelings as comfortable or uncomfortable, rather than wrong or right.

Resent or Forgive?

If I asked you to name five total fools that annoy you on a regular basis, I suspect you would have decent momentum going by the time you got to the fifth person. Then when more names come flooding in, you might have to trade in some of the names for the first five spots. It is effortless to come up with names of people that repeatedly do things wrong, aggravate us and make us feel a bit better about ourselves from just observing their lifestyle.
If I ask you to list five people that you have forgiven for something minor, would you come up with names as quickly? Would you even need to figure out who deserves the first five spots on the list?

What does this say about us? Are we judgmental, horrible people?

No, we are not. We just need to change our perspective a tiny, tiny bit.

My opinion is, when we shift our thinking about what forgiveness in this example is, we realize we forgive much more than we judge!!! We just do it so naturally, we don’t appreciate the kind, caring, compassionate people we really are.

Exercise:
Think of a gap of time in your routine when there is a lot of interaction with people, even strangers.
Think of all the opportunities you have to resent these people; the possibilities are endless
· Dishes in the sink
· Crumbs on the counter
· Socks, enough said
· Traffic
· Parking lots
· Navigating your shopping cart in a store
· Any form of media

When you think about it – we have reasons to resent people all day long!
Let’s say you came up with ten examples of resent able infractions by your fellow human beings in a one hour time period. Given your normal routine, how many of these things would have actually prompted you to really hold resentment? If your answer is one, that means you decided to forgive nine times, only resented someone once and are much better at forgiving than you realized.

So, I ask again. List five people you have forgiven for something minor. With this tiny change in perspective, I imagine the list of people comes very easily now.