One of the most asked questions that any Consultant will hear is, "What's going to happen in my Love Life?"  It's one question that practically everyone has on their minds and it's little wonder why.

Without love, Life can feel empty and hollow.  It's the "substance" that Life lives on and grows on.  It's the very thing that makes our lives worth living.  However, it can also be one of the most miserable parts as well!

Whether single or married, our "Love Lives" can bring some of the biggest pains, some of the worst struggles, deepest hurts and wounds and, some of the most trying times in our lives.  It's also one area of our lives that can make or break many of the other parts of our lives as well.  When our Love Lives aren't going well, it seems that everything else in our lives also either go downhill or, we no longer care about as much. 

I hear a lot of people's accounts of their struggles with love.  Even those who are supposedly in "committed relationships" are often just as troubled, if not more so, than those who are single!  When single, we are looking for "The One", when in a relationship, we can wonder why we are in one and whether there is "someone better" out there for us.  There are very few people that come to me who are truly happy with their current loves. 

So, what makes us all strive to find that love and have it our lives when it can make or break us at times?  Why do we continually seek it out?

The answer to that one is very simple.  It feels so good when it is right! 

So, we'll all keep on struggling to keep love in our lives and we'll all continue to work to make it good and feel right.  But, that also means that we are also going to have to continue to accept that there will be cons along with the pros to having it.  

But, just remember one thing.  When a love is meant to be, it will be.  While we all have to put work into love, we shouldn't have to "force it".  If it's sincerely there, the work load won't be as great.  If it's not truly there, we'll find ourselves uneasy, upset, lonely and hurting.  It's in learning the difference between the two that can save us a lot of pain. 

Bottom line is.......you're not alone!  Everyone is seeking love!  It's part of who we are as both humanbeings as well as spiritual beings.  It's what makes the world go 'round!

I admit it.  Like millions of other people, I got caught up into the Facebook Rage.  My personal email inbox is now filled daily with notifications that people have sent me drinks, blown me a kiss, sent me virtual plants that will take 4 days to hatch into something like a teddy bear or a gemstone flower, requests to take challenges, add fish to my aquarium, feed my vitual pet, pet other people's vitual pets and nudges that it's my turn on a vitual scrabble game.  As if there aren't already enough things to do and not enough time to do them all in!

My generation hasn't fully caught onto this latest craze yet.  Up until this point, it's been more or less contained to those of at least a decade or more less than mine.  However, that is quickly changing.  We, older folks are now finding that Facebook is another new way to add "stress" into our daily lives! 

While I love keeping in touch with old friends, saying hello and sending them a plant or a drink, wave, or a hug, I'd really rather be doing it in person as opposed to virtual gestures in cyberspace.  By no means am I ignorant of the wonders of the world wide web and it's capabilities.  I am actually quite well oriented with it and very proud of being self-taught at it all.  The problem lays in the idea that we are all seemingly wasting vast amounts of time, chained to these computers, typing out messages to people that we could be spending time with on the phone and not the least, actually getting together with in person! 

I watch people in cars, walking, in malls, and just about everywhere else a signal can be picked up, stumbling along, not concentrating on where they are or, what they are doing, cell phone nearly glued to their ears.  Just about 8 out of 10 people that I see nowadays are on one at any given time and everywhere I go.  Given the fact that we spend inordinate amounts of time on these little pieces of technology and coupled with the fact that we spend hours more on things like Facebook, one has to wonder whether anyone truly gets together in person anymore?  Is there even a need for us to see one another in person?  Are we even in "the moment" when we are on these things?

I have friends all over the world and for that, I am grateful to have these types of technological wonders as it saves me tremendous sums of money in phone calls or in having to go to the post office to mail off a regular letter.  It is also instantaneous.  Click a send button and we can send a hug, card, flower, our our deepest thoughts and feelings in one fell swoop.  Two minutes later, those way across the other side of the world can receive it.  Again though, that makes it dreadfully sad that we are using this technology with people who we could just as easily see in person!

Does the convenience of these web based product allow us freedom or are they actually balls and chains and hiding devices?

I can certainly tell you one thing here.  Facebook has made me one busy woman.  I am so busy feeding my virtual cat, petting other people's cyber animals and sending them gifts that I scarcely have time to pet my real pets!  Instead of doing my laundry, I am sending everyone a virtual beer or tequila sunrise.  Instead of reading a good book, I am too busy returning cyber hugs, toilet papering someone, or adding another fish to their virtual aquarium.  Rather than planting real flowers, I am sitting on my fanny here, sending out plants and flowers on the web.  And, rather than reading a good book, I am far too engrossed in trying to keep up with my friends in taking cyber quizzes and comparing scores!

There are actually days now where I dread going to my computer to check my email!  I now find myself gritting my teeth at seeing 14 emails which tell me that friends have left me my daily virtual messages and gifts on Facebook because that means that I feel obliged to return the favor lest they think that I am being rude! 

As if there weren't enough things to do in a day.  As if there weren't other ways to be "friends" with people. 

Perhaps, I need to clear my Facebook profile now and simply write............

OUT LIVING REAL LIFE!  CALL ME.  WE'LL DO LUNCH!

Call me a "Summer Fanatic" but, I'm about at the end of my rope with this Winter of 07/08!  One more snowfall and I'm about a hair's width away from packing bags and moving down south to somewhere warm! 

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I'm fed up with the shovel, the boots, the coat, scarf, mitts and sometimes hat (when I'm not worried about having a good hair day that is).  I've heard this winter referred to as "The Winter That Won't End", "FrankenWinter" and everything down to explicatives that I cannot or will not repeat here.  Suffice it to say that I'm certain that I'm not alone in my feelings.

I looked out the front door this morning as I attempted to grab my mail from the box right outside my front door.  Leaning across, ever so carefully, I managed to stay with my feet implanted on the edge of the door frame to keep my feet from getting wet however, in all of that manipulating, I didn't look to see that the mailbox cover had a fresh layer of snow on it from some "flurries" overnight and ended up with a soaked shirt sleeve.  Can you hear my words at that point?

The news this afternoon, also confirmed that I was not alone when it reported what they are considering as a new phenominon, "Snow Rage".  Apparently, people are so fed up with this winter that they are resorting to tactics that no normal thinking humanbeing would resort to.  People are actually nearly in fisticuffs over a shovel full of snow being placed on their sidewalk by a neighbor, taking out replica guns to one another, hitting each other's cars with snowballs and even chasing snow plows down the street. 

I've NEARLY gotten to the point of wanting chase a snow plow driver down the street a few times this winter after having dug out the snow drifts, I've had a plow come by and bury the driveway entrance back in again with MORE snow than I had just dug out.  "Turn the blade in the other direction, Moron!" I've found myself muttering as I've gone out to dig out the mountain of packed ice laden snow! 

I'm even finding myself cursing as I'm trying to swing the car around huge mounds of snow left on the sides of the road, wondering where in the heck all of this promised snow removal efforts have gone as they haven't touched my street at all. 

That doesn't even touch the number of times I've tried to be thoughtful and ended up getting stuck in snow banks while trying to give other drivers more room to get past me.  Silly me for being "nice"!  I should have rammed my way through like they did.  Not one of them has stopped to ask if I needed help getting out!  Not one.  So much for being "nice" during The Winter From Hell!

If there's one thing that I do know (and, doesn't require being a Psychic Consult to predict this much), this winter WILL end eventually.  The grass will be green, the trees will be full of leaves, flowers will beautify our surroundings again with their wonderful color and we'll all go back to being human once again.  Every bad name that anyone has called someone else during this winter will be forgotten as we bathe in the warmth of the sun, lay on beaches, sit outside to sip on Iced tea or, enjoy a decadent ice cream sundae.  However, we may also be in for what they will eventually term, "Heat Rage" too!  SIGH  Will we ever be happy?

For now, I'm just trodding along with everyone else, trying hard to keep my temper and my sanity in check while waiting for the warmer Spring weather to grace us with its presence and melt away these Winter Blahs and Rage.  If there's one thing that I do take from this winter, it will be an entirely new appreciation for HEAT and greenery!  I will NOT complain about the heat this summer.  I will not complain about having to cut grass, or weed my flower garden.  I will not complain about my neighbors' stereo blasting during the warm days.  Uhhhhh.....well.......I may have gone a bit too far on that one!  I'll likely have a few choice words for that one!

But, oh well....who is "perfect"?  *smile*

Call me a "Summer Fanatic" but, I'm about at the end of my rope with this Winter of 07/08!  One more snowfall and I'm about a hair's width away from packing bags and moving down south to somewhere warm! 

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I'm fed up with the shovel, the boots, the coat, scarf, mitts and sometimes hat (when I'm not worried about having a good hair day that is).  I've heard this winter referred to as "The Winter That Won't End", "FrankenWinter" and everything down to explicatives that I cannot or will not repeat here.  Suffice it to say that I'm certain that I'm not alone in my feelings.

I looked out the front door this morning as I attempted to grab my mail from the box right outside my front door.  Leaning across, ever so carefully, I managed to stay with my feet implanted on the edge of the door frame to keep my feet from getting wet however, in all of that manipulating, I didn't look to see that the mailbox cover had a fresh layer of snow on it from some "flurries" overnight and ended up with a soaked shirt sleeve.  Can you hear my words at that point?

The news this afternoon, also confirmed that I was not alone when it reported what they are considering as a new phenominon, "Snow Rage".  Apparently, people are so fed up with this winter that they are resorting to tactics that no normal thinking humanbeing would resort to.  People are actually nearly in fisticuffs over a shovel full of snow being placed on their sidewalk by a neighbor, taking out replica guns to one another, hitting each other's cars with snowballs and even chasing snow plows down the street. 

I've NEARLY gotten to the point of wanting chase a snow plow driver down the street a few times this winter after having dug out the snow drifts, I've had a plow come by and bury the driveway entrance back in again with MORE snow than I had just dug out.  "Turn the blade in the other direction, Moron!" I've found myself muttering as I've gone out to dig out the mountain of packed ice laden snow! 

I'm even finding myself cursing as I'm trying to swing the car around huge mounds of snow left on the sides of the road, wondering where in the heck all of this promised snow removal efforts have gone as they haven't touched my street at all. 

That doesn't even touch the number of times I've tried to be thoughtful and ended up getting stuck in snow banks while trying to give other drivers more room to get past me.  Silly me for being "nice"!  I should have rammed my way through like they did.  Not one of them has stopped to ask if I needed help getting out!  Not one.  So much for being "nice" during The Winter From Hell!

If there's one thing that I do know (and, doesn't require being a Psychic Consult to predict this much), this winter WILL end eventually.  The grass will be green, the trees will be full of leaves, flowers will beautify our surroundings again with their wonderful color and we'll all go back to being human once again.  Every bad name that anyone has called someone else during this winter will be forgotten as we bathe in the warmth of the sun, lay on beaches, sit outside to sip on Iced tea or, enjoy a decadent ice cream sundae.  However, we may also be in for what they will eventually term, "Heat Rage" too!  SIGH  Will we ever be happy?

For now, I'm just trodding along with everyone else, trying hard to keep my temper and my sanity in check while waiting for the warmer Spring weather to grace us with its presence and melt away these Winter Blahs and Rage.  If there's one thing that I do take from this winter, it will be an entirely new appreciation for HEAT and greenery!  I will NOT complain about the heat this summer.  I will not complain about having to cut grass, or weed my flower garden.  I will not complain about my neighbors' stereo blasting during the warm days.  Uhhhhh.....well.......I may have gone a bit too far on that one!  I'll likely have a few choice words for that one!

But, oh well....who is "perfect"?  *smile*

With these latest snowfalls, it's hard to believe that we're fast approaching Spring.  A lot of us in Toronto are looking out at snow piles on our front lawns, unable to see a place to park, driving down streets that are so narrow from the heaps and mounds of snow that they now resemble "donkey trails" and are limited to one lane of traffic even on a two-way street.  Yet, it's March and we're being told that Spring is just a couple of weeks away.  It's hard to fathom.  The difference between what we're seeing and what the calendar says just doesn't add up.

Our lives are much like this situation.  We know that somewhere down the line, our lives are going to change.  No matter what it is that we're facing now, it's not going to remain that way.  Eventually, there will be an end to whatever it is that we're facing right now, even when we can't see that end coming.

When I was out there shoveling the other day, looking up at a mound of snow so high that I could barely lift another shovel full onto the top of the mound, I had to stand back and take a rest for a moment.  I stood looking at the towering white mass in front of me, feeling that this winter feels as though it's never going to end.  Even if there were to be no more snow, the mound that's there now, would take quite sometime of warmer weather before it's finally gone and allows the wonderful grass beneath it to surface and turn green once again.  I couldn't even imagine seeing the blooms of flowers cutting through the surface anytime soon.  Yet, the calendar is telling me that it's supposed to happen.  I just simply could not fathom that Spring is around the corner and we'll be out of this horridly long and extra tough winter anytime soon.  There seems to be no end in sight.

The fact is, our lives can be very much like this winter.  We may feel that we are in the middle of a neverending winter and that the "Spring and Summers" of our lives are nowhere in sight.  All that we can see at this very moment are the huge "snowpiles", waiting to break our backs, shoveling out from underneath it all.  It feels like it's never going to end and judging by the piles in front of us, there is no hint of a change coming anytime soon. This is when we have to hold onto faith that there is a Spring and a Summer coming our way eventually.

No matter what we see in front of us right now, no matter how large that "snowpile" may seem to us, there is always a "melting" coming along with warmer and better weather.  We may not be able to see that "end" or see the forthcoming "better weather" but, we need to hold onto faith that there will eventually be an end to it all one way or the other. 

Like Spring, our lives also come with a time of "renewal".  While we all have to go through the "winters" in our lives, we also will have our "springs".   Just like the snowpiles out in front of our homes and lining the streets that cause so many headaches, problems, detours, slips and falls, isolation and so many other negative things, warmer weather will eventually melt these problems away.  The sun and the warmth, the green grass, the blossoms, the warm breezes will all eventually return.  Like the cold and the snow, it's all simply a temporary season that we will all pass though and get back to the "warmth" and beauty.  Nothing lasts forever and the only constant in life is CHANGE!

So, as we pass through the last remaining dregs of winter and perhaps, another snowfall or two, count your blessings because we know that it's going to all end eventually.  So, will the problems in your life. 

Like Spring, there is renewal waiting to break out after the harshness.  The harsher the winter, the more appreciative we are of the Spring and Summer.  In turn, the harsher our problems, the more we appreciate the warmth of their solutions. 

Spring is around the corner.....both literally and figuratively in your life!  Hang in there.