It's the last week of my three-week vacation, which seems like a retreat of some sort - the kind that the nuns hauled my arse (along with those of my classmates) off to toward the end of senior year in high school: went somewhere cold and deafeningly silent to face my demons, see the light, and come back raring to spread the love.

I didn't think I'd want to go back to work after just a week off, but I did.  Maybe it's because I decided not to go out of town, interstate or overseas, or because I haven't gone out every night like I would have if I were, say, in Manila.

So what do I have to show for my three-week vacation?  Almost every day was the same: life coaching, workout "Aerobics Oz Style", watch reruns of TV shows I used to like a decade ago only to realize how bad the acting and the special effects were, run errands, watch more TV, wander around the Internet... oh, and, eat.

Today was no different, with some high(low)lights.

- I cleared out some stuff during a coaching session in which I was the client.  It was the eighth of nine sessions, and I think I'd miss having a coach so I'd definitely look into continuing to have one.

- I've only seen hail a few times, so today I actually enjoyed sitting down by my window as grains of ice sprinkled on to the ground.  I've always thought of myself as a big kid.

- A friend whom I've known for 20 years (*gawd!* we were classmates since second grade until we were high school freshmen, then we went to the same university) just got engaged and she asked me to be one of her bridesmaids.  I'm not the marrying kind but I'd gladly travel halfway around the world when my friends ask me to be part of their wedding.  Any other friends planning on getting married soon?  You might want to keep in mind I'll be in Manila in December and in the US (in Los Angeles, but I'm just presuming at this stage) either Spring or Summer 2008 for weddings, and help me minimize my carbon emission from flights and save on airfare.

- After dragging myself away from the TV, I went grocery shopping to get four cents off a liter of gas (er, I should say petrol since I'm in Ausfriggintralia) and fill the tank because for some reason gas is cheapest on Tuesdays.  I didn't expect a queue, which was silly because naturally everyone would want to get their fuel on Tuesdays, so while waiting for my turn I turned on the radio and the first song that played after the ads was Alanis Morissette's Ironic.  Either my life's so boring or I take pleasure in the simple things, because the song brought a smile to my face - I haven't been driving long (I only got my license - a probationary one at that - last Thursday), I'm just discovering the joys of having a car, and I thought of the song's video in which four Alanises were in a car and it was also winter.  Oh, and, today  was the first time I pumped gas by myself (yep, some Filipinos could be so spoiled). (So that's how it feels, driving a small car with a tank full of fuel...)

- One of my coaching clients called tonight to say she just saw my invitation to dinner on Saturday (the first time in more than a decade that I'm officially celebrating my birthday), and that she'd love to join me and some of my friends because I've been a big help to her.  Wow.  That reminded me why I love being a coach.

And that was it for July 17, 2007.  Good thing I don't have to do this every day - it's not easy looking for the day's highlights.  Then again, maybe I've just conditioned myself to think that there's not much excitement going on.  The good thing about beliefs is that I can always change them as I see fit.

So what the heck - my life's fabulous!

For months now I've consciously been working on attracting an abundance of what I believe would serve, support and nurture me.  The journey hasn't been totally snag-free (I take full responsibility for that) and I trip up every now and then, but I know that happens when one is reclaiming One's Power and unlearning lifetimes' worth of limiting attitudes and behavior.

Imagine, if you will, how shocked I was when I read one of the things I got in the (snail) mail today: it was from the ambulance service, trying to scare me into forking out $60 a year for membership because, as they claim, "somewhere there's an accident with your name written on it".  It goes on to say how you might think you're young, healthy, careful, and lucky, BUT (at least this is what I perceived their message to be) everyone will have an accident that will cost $5,500 in ambulance bills, and it might take you months to recover from injuries and the last thing you need is to worry about how to keep the money coming in to pay the bills, and oh, what about your poor family, blah blah blah...

I was so incredulous and utterly shocked, I felt the blood rush to my head until it hurt.  How dare them send a bunch of lies to my mailbox!

I know it's absolutely up to me how to interpret the world within me and around me, but if that isn't scare-mongering, I don't know what is.  Some people might disagree and say one never knows when one will be in an accident or have a terrible dis-ease, but I believe I attract and am responsible for everything that happens to me - both the good and the seemingly not-so-good.  That's my belief, and rest assured in your comfortable little nook that I won't even dream of ramming it down anyone's throat.

I tore the letter (after I got a whiff of it, of course - yes, I could be so nerdy: I love smelling books and paper in general), which was some sort of booklet that reminded me of pop-up books from kindergarten because it had some fancy cut-out areas and colorful images on it. Tore it good so that my name was not on any piece of paper with crap on it, and off to the recycling pile it went. Come to think of it, I have a mind to burn it: I always make sure my greenhouse gas emission is minimal, so I figure I have allowance to burn some tiny pieces of paper in some sort of release ceremony every once in a while.

Maybe that piece of junk mail was a reminder of my progress - how much (or less) I have gone away from the conditioning and mass hysteria that produce scared little robots.  Maybe it is a reminder of how much work I still have to do to help myself and, somehow, every being I encounter along the way.

I am conscious of the Divine Power within me and around me, lovingly guiding and protecting me.  I am always safe.  All is well in my world.

And so it is.