In listening to a first “basement” recording from my first book I have one word.

Grateful.

I am so grateful for all the help I have received. I am so grateful for all the growth that has taken place. I am grateful that my voice has grown in courage and in strength and I am grateful I can celebrate how far I have come from what used to be my thinking around my circumstances.

These words from the end of the chapter sum it up.

“The mistake of accepting less than you need and convincing
yourself you would be fine was the ultimate heartbreaker. I
was left out on a limb of my own choosing. Good luck getting
off the limb without the fire department, the S.W.A.T rescue
team and every known form of coaxing you could find.

I was young. I didn’t understand the bargain I had made. I
didn’t understand the choice I had given up, and I didn’t
understand how it would betray me. I was caught up in the
youth and rapture of being in love. It took a long time to
release the recriminations.

So, who needs roses.”

What story are you telling yourself right now? If it is something less than a grand magnificent story about how amazing you are and that your needs are important. It is time to change it.

You are not your circumstances. You are full potentiality. You are full possibility. You are who you are. Be that. Today and every day. Share that with yourself and others.

As Oprah said “your life on earth expands exponentially when you can find a way to give what you have to somebody else.”

In opening this door into my experience my hope is, as always, that it will illuminate the fact that there is a different way ahead, a way where you can choose to ask for more from yourself than you did yesterday, where you can show up and be different when the day breaks than when you went to bed and where you can expect more from those in your life by giving more and expecting more of yourself.

Lots and lots of smiles and love!

You can listen to the recording of The Bare Melcessities here on Beliefnet.com.

You will need to click through two links to hear the recording. Please excuse the recording quality… it was a test that includes the soundtrack from Mack and Mabel sung by Robert Preston and Bernadette Peters and has a humm and a buzz that ebbs and flows through the recording…

The Bare Mel Roses Chapter Melanie Lutz

This chapter was inspired by Jerry Herman’s luscious words and music from Mack and Mabel, which beautifully tells the story of Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand’s tragic relationship.