Available on Amazon! – Click below to purchase! Read below for a sample chapter and recipe.  Enjoy!

 

CHEATER, CHEATER PUMPKIN EATER

Cheating is devastating.  There are so many emotions, such as sadness, pain, and humiliation.  It is draining and can conjure up insecurities, blame, and shame.  If it happened or you’re afraid it’s happening, then take a moment and breathe. Anger and panic often end in drastic responses that are later regrets.

This may not be easy and it opposes many other beliefs and blame of him cheating, but look at you.  Observe how you’ve been treating you.  Have you been feeling like you are not worthy of this man, this relationship, or happiness?  Have you been telling yourself the truth about who you are and the person you’re presenting to the world? Do your friends know the real you?  When you are at work, are you being someone completely different than the real you?  There are times when we put on a façade of being someone who has it all together, knows everything, and has no problems at home.  Then we walk through the doors of our homes after work, scream at the kids, and nag the husband wearing a green facial mask and hair rollers.  We then go to work the next day, calm and wearing the beautiful façade of the way we want our life to appear.  Sometimes we’ve played a role so long that we’ve fooled ourselves into believing we’ve become the image of who we want others to see, instead of being ourselves. We forgot to regroup and relax in our true selves and be more of the genuine person who is less polite but more compassionate, who is less concerned about what others think, and more considerate about what others are feeling.  This is cheating!  You are cheating yourself out of an honest and sincere emotion.  You’re lying to yourself if you think that it’s not obvious. When is the last time you looked, everyone, you spoke to in the eye, smiled a genuine smile at a co-worker, or even a stranger in passing?  This is cheating!  You’re cheating yourself out of a genuine connection with someone.  A fake smile is returned in kind.  A genuine smile is contagious and it physically feels good.

Have you held people in your life that you know are not well-meaning and toxic? Do you have friends that are draining, judging, or simply out of alignment with the real you or who you want to be?   This is cheating!  You are cheating yourself out of friendships with people who honestly and truly love you.  You are cheating yourself out of having people in your life who will tell you the truth all the time because they respect you and value you as a person.  They will not lie to you because they are true friends.  Are there people around you who are often speaking from a place of hurt, shame, and/or guilt? This is cheating!  You are cheating yourself from having a relationship that comes from love and protection.

What would happen if you really believed that you were created perfectly and without flaw? What if your flaws were not flaws at all?  What if everyone had some variation of the same flaws? When have you last told yourself that you were a perfect and divine creation, that you loved yourself and meant it? Can you do that?  Can you look in the mirror and do that?  In being true to you, your tolerance for any lie or cheat is low, and you will spot it from a mile away.  If you tell the truth all the time and tell yourself the truth all the time, you will clearly and quickly hear a lie.  When you look into the mirror and honestly tell you that you love you and that you are worthy of a true love, you will immediately notice when someone isn’t holding you in a loving space.  Don’t own his cheating action!  Don’t hide in shame or guilt or sadness of not being enough.  Love yourself enough to reject his cheating actions as something he did for which he must face consequences of his own doing. When you stop cheating you by being a true and genuine person, you will know a liar and a cheater as quickly as you know to turn down the burner when you see hot oil smoking.

TIP:

**Tell the truth all of the time to everyone, especially to you. Then a liar and a cheater will stand out as if they are glowing in the dark.

“The first and worst of all frauds is to cheat one’s self. All sin is easy after that.”

Pearl Bailey

 

Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
·         1 16-ounce can pumpkin puree ·         2 cups sifted flour ·         2 cups sugar ·         1 cup vegetable oil ·         2 eggs ·         ½ tsp. baking powder ·         1 tsp. baking soda ·         ½ tsp. salt ·         1 tsp. ground cloves ·         1 tsp. ground cinnamon ·         1 tsp. ground nutmeg ·         ¼ tsp. allspice ·         1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Directions
Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter two 8 ½ x 4 ½ loaf pans and dust with flour.  Mix together butter and sugar then add eggs (one at a time) and pumpkin puree.  Mix until fluffy. In a separate bowl, add flour, baking soda, baking powders and remaining spices and combine evenly.  Combine all ingredients, mixing thoroughly.  Finally fold in nuts.  Pour batter evenly into pans.  Bake for 1 hour or until center is cooked through.  Remove from pans (using a knife if needed).  Top with pumpkin butter compound (see page 76).  Serve and enjoy!