Do You Have A Wicked Inner Voice?

I am getting ready to begin my next two classes for college and had some much-needed down time before it starts tomorrow. In addition, no TV in my home for the last week due to some lightening damage while I was gone. However, I found it useful to work on getting the word out there about my book Pocket of Pearls. I also have found myself with a harried voice inside of me, but I stop and take a deep breath and challenge myself to be kind. I will do well in school, while giving it my best.

The emails keep coming in and women are gravitating towards finding healthier self-talk. Excellent! We all need this guidance since we have to live with ‘us’ 24/7! We are the ones that have to hear ourselves, never escape our voices – day in and out. Don’t you want a soothing, comforting voice encouraging you and yet supporting you too? You can find this!

Wouldn’t today be a good day to start giving you some support and kindness? The Pocket of Pearls workbook is affordable on everyone’s budget at $10 from Amazon or Barnes and Noble online. You are worth this investment month after month to stay on a healthy path. This is a streamlined workbook that fits nicely in your purse, so you have it wherever you go. I have had a couple women tell me just seeing the journal in their purses ‘reminds’ them to stay on this path.

If any of you have any questions or feedback on the book, please go to my website and email me! I would love to hear from you and help you get started if needed.

Have a fantastic day!

Merna

Sweet Summer Day

It is another beautiful sunny summer day in northern Iowa. The ground is pretty dry here, which seems strange with the extreme flooding South and Eastern Iowa had just had last week. I am running down the list of things I wish to get done outside today, one being mowing, which takes hours on my acreage. However, I do love to mow and it gets me outside to do many things. My thoughts are still with the flood victims daily and praying for them.

The first thing I do each morning is check my email accounts, I think most of us do this – right? :) I received an email from a woman who just received her Pocket of Pearls book in the mail from Amazon.com. She started reading the book while waiting in line at a drive through and the introduction drew her in. She sent me a heartfelt note of her initial reaction and Thank You for writing this workbook; she knew this is exactly what she needed for herself.

Until it is brought to our attention we can convince ourselves that our inner voice is ‘fine’. Well is it? Don’t you deserve it to be encouraging, comforting, and hopeful? Isn’t this how you treat your loved ones? You deserve more than just ‘fine’. For many people, this thought of looking within is VERY scary and this stops them from trying. Remember, your soul is good, kind, and caring... Do not be afraid. You have me in your pocket daily with you on this journey of finding a strong inner voice inside of you. You deserve the best life has to offer!

The voice, that so many of us have, that tells us to try and be perfect will wear us down internally and we are not aware of it’s power. I challenge you to take your first months’ journey with a Pocket of Pearls workbook to learn about you…Learn about the voice that fuels you daily, and find once again that sweetness to YOU. Your first month may be the hardest, but the most powerful since it is your first huge step. Kudos! Remember, healthy change takes time and your second month will be even better.

Here’s wishing you a wonderful Summer Sunday!

Merna

The Flooding in Iowa

I just returned from my Pocket of Pearl workshops in the Quad cities area of Iowa. I was staying with my sister and her family when the flooding in Iowa occurred. She lives about 1 hour away from the Cedar Rapids area; however, many in her community were being affected as well. All over South and Eastern Iowa the flooding ruined homes, businesses, and blocked roads.

We watched it on the nationwide news of CNN, the reports were frightening, and it was still raining. My stay was extended a few days since many roads and highways in Iowa were flooded. As I watched family after family interviewed, my heart went out to them. Many were without their homes and did not have flood insurance. Flooding was taking place in many areas of Iowa, while having a sad death toll as well. I am keeping them in my prayers daily that they find the strength to get through this.

We could not believe the flooding nightmare after watching and hearing of the Tornado’s that swept through Iowa the week before. My home in northern Iowa just had a weekend of serious ‘just misses’ with tornado's. However, Parkersburg, Iowa was wiped out. Many, many homes and businesses were completely flattened in a mere few minutes. In addition, to the Boy Scout camp in western Iowa that took the lives of 4 people.

We shake our heads and try to understand why, but there isn’t an answer we can accept. This is the time where people truly reach out to one another and where strangers step up to help as if they are family. Please keep the Midwest in your prayers and thoughts daily. It will take a long time to rebuild these cities and homes, and they will need your positive and healing energy during this time.

However, in some parts of this area life did go on as normal as possible. I attended my Pocket of Pearls workshops and met so many incredible people. Each person I personally spoke to connected with the need to find a softer voice for themselves. Many of the workshop participants purchased additional books for friends, while solidifying with me where to purchase their second month’s journal.

If you are interested in having a Pocket of Pearls workshop in your area, visit my website and click on the ‘Contact Merna’ in the upper right hand corner, click on the small Icon.

I leave you with my thoughts and prayers for the disaster victims and their families.

My Best,

Merna

The Path of Creating This WorkBook Series...

Hello!

I am on my much needed break from school and work this week, while preparing for my first Pocket of Pearls workshops in the Quad cities area in my home state of Iowa. As I was preparing for my interactive workshop using my workbook, I decided to read it once again. I read the introduction out loud in my home to get the feel of sharing it with a live audience. I have to say, these memories of my younger life still bring tears to my eyes; good and bad memories.

During my first year of sobriety in 1986 and being a young lady of 22, it was scary. For me, what was scarier was what I learned about myself in that first year and the relationship I had with Merna. It was very harsh and undefined. Our 20's are all about finding out who we are and I didn't have a clue. It really was the beginning of many things in my life. Back then, I lived on Sanibel Island, Florida and had returned to this state after rehab in Minnesota. I believed Florida was the place for me and my future.

After 1 1/2 years of living on Sanibel Island I missed home and my family, so I moved back to Iowa. By trade, I had been a hairdresser since I graduated from cosmetology school when I was 19. However, this last year and a half on Sanibel I worked in a health club and discovered a whole new world of fitness. It was a new door that opened for me and I studied everything I could get my hands on. We had a huge stack of fitness magazines in our lounge and I borrowed them nightly to absorb it all like a sponge.

Even tho I seemed to have left living in "tropical paradise" to go back to Iowa, it was definitely 'going home' to me. Many individual's move to Florida to discover this wonderful world of living in a tropical place. However, once you get there you realize how many jobs you need to work to survive and pay the rent. There were many times i had 3 jobs at once to just make ends meet. There was very little time to enjoy 'paradise'.

However, I have no regrets about the second time I lived in Florida. I originally moved there when I was 19 and spent two years on Sanibel as a hairdresser then also. I had a short year at home in Iowa in between, which is when I ended up in rehab. In total, I lived on Sanibel and the Ft. Myers area almost 4 years. I do had aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents near by, but working so hard didn't leave much family time for me.

When I moved back to Iowa for the last time I took away some very valuable lessons in life, a new trade {aerobics}, a couple life long friends, and my journaling of a softer voice.

It does not matter where you are and what you are doing, there is a silver lining to each experience we have - we just can't see it when we are sitting in the middle of it. That is normal and to be expected. We need to heal, find our way out, grow, and look back to see how far we have come, while treasuring it. This is the process!

Each workbook I have has a part of me and some of my very tough journey's in life.Once I reached my 30's my journey became harder. You will learn about this in each workbook...

Everyone has had very tough moments in their life and it is not a competition of who has it worse. We all have to find a way through our own life, while healing the tough spots. We each have to survived OUR life, so find a healthy path. Pocket of Pearls is an amazing workbook to get you started with a healthy path for YOU!

If I hadn't started on my inner voice back then, I wouldn't have grown within myself. However, I had to go through the bad to realize how deflating and demeaning I was to myself. It is time to change this and help others. This is what I want to share with you. You are NOT alone here at all!

The emails I have received about this workbook are incredible and each woman related to it immediately! It touches a soft spot in many women who realize they need work in this area, but never knew where to start. Here is your first stepping-stone and a powerful one at that. Doing this workbook, month after month,it is a great gift to yourself to stay on a healthy path.

Take care and I will see you next week!

Merna