 Written by: Betsy Karp
My entire family and I went to go see one of the last shows of “War Horse” at Lincoln Center in NYC. I’m not sure what all the hoop-la was all about. We found it very hard to sit through and six out of the eight of us really had a hard time keeping our eyes open. My mother and father managed to stay awake even though this was their second time seeing it. How they did that, I don’t know. So many people loved it. I found it to be painful and boring.
We went to go eat afterwards at P.J. Clarks and had the perfect table downstairs in the back. It was a round table with a red and white checkered tablecloth that sat all eight of us. I was telling everyone about the workshop I went to and how we were asked to name one thing or one person we were grateful for. Scott, the eldest grandson who adores my father, blurted out with great enthusiasm, “Papa, you are caring and generous and you always put everyone before yourself. There isn’t anybody that can say ONE negative thing about you. You are the most well rounded person I know and I love that!”
Marc, the youngest grandson, chimed in, “Papa, you are my role model and you give and give without ever taking. You are so generous, caring, hardworking and intelligent and you are the best grandfather I could ask for.“
My mom had tears rolling down her face and I saw my father’s eyes swell a little. My dad said, “See sometimes going to a bad show brings out the best in all. Thank you!”
My sister interrupted and said, “Wait! I have something to say. Thanks Dad for always being there. You are my friend, my mentor and my hero. I admire and respect you, and love you with all my heart. I am proud to be your daughter.”
So then it was my turn and I stated, “Dad you are Remarkable! You are the most devoted, dedicated and compassionate father, as well as the hardest working, honest, and warmest man I know. Actually, I think you are getting younger than older in your years and I adore you.”
All you have to do is meet my father to see what everyone is talking about. My Turkish friend Sumru recently met him and said, “your father’s warmth radiates from him and his being. He is even warmer and nicer than you described”.
My father has taught me so many invaluable life lessons and he is the one person I look up to and always want to make proud. He, in turn, makes all of us so proud and we are grateful that he is our Dad and Papa too!
Who are you grateful for in your life? Reach out and make that person feel great today too!
*Please comment below and share with your friends.*
Hugs,
Betsy Karp,
Founder of i adore me
 Written by: Betsy Karp
"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity."
- Gilda Radner
Wouldn’t it be so much easier if we all just let go and tried not to control the way we wanted our lives to turn out? I think it would. Lately I have just lived in the moment, being present and being me. I have never felt better. I don’t know the outcome of anything in my life right now--love, career, where I will end up--but I have faith in me and the choices I am making for myself. For the first time in a very long time, I can honestly say I am not trying to control anything. I am just letting life unfold in front of my very eyes. I’m actually a little surprised how I am enjoying all of this. Just being is pretty cool, if you allow it.
Yes, it’s important to have a plan and set some good intentions for what you want to achieve, but then you must have faith in yourself and the Universe, surrendering it all. The power of the universe is magical and miracles happen if you allow it. Actually miracles and opportunities are waiting for us everyday. We are the one’s that must open it up and let it happen. Where are you right now in your life? Are you controlling it or letting it go?
Try and let go and see what opens up for you. Step into uncertainty and look at it as a new adventure. Bring back the kid in you and just enjoy your life a little. Relax, let go, take a walk, do something kind for someone else, wear the color yellow and be sunny and cheerful. Bring positivity back in your life. A shift in perception is all you need to do this. If you lighten up and let go I bet you will be magically surprised as to what happens. Isn’t it time you lived your life with passion and purpose, expressing all you that you want and desire?
Make uncertainty your best friend. Be okay with not knowing what is going to happen, and let the miracles of life show you what it has in store for you. I would love to hear about all of those miracles.
*Please comment below and share with your friends.*
Hugs,
Betsy Karp,
Founder of i adore me
 Written by: Betsy KarpTake one day at a time. Being present is enough. Don’t look back and grieve about your past for it is gone. The future has not yet arrived, so let your worries go. Live for today and enjoy your day. Today is all you’ve got!!! Make it a day to be cherished and remembered… Open your heart Chakra by using the color Green in 2013. Happy New Year! *Please comment below and share with your friends.* Hugs, Betsy Karp, Founder of i adore me
 Written by: Sutton Schuler
I am social, but very much so on my terms. My independent nature can turn day in and day out, relationships into work. Although I love hosting a cocktail party, attending an intimate dinner, or just making small talk with the older couple sitting at the bar, I noticed I was declining invitations left and right.
And lets face it; there are those very chilly late December nights that are not conducive to going out, especially after a long week of work. The last thing a lady wants to do is rush home to change, powder her nose, and re-heat a curl in her hair. And this was just the case last December when I found myself on the phone with my mother, complaining about having a dinner invitation and lacking the energy. She simply said, “Oh Sutton, just say yes and have fun!”
And with that, I bit the inside of my cheek, mixed a stiff drink, and committed to the required stages of primping. I figured a fun hairdo, along with the gin, would be a sure fire way to get me excited. Well it failed, and I was late to dinner.
But within five minutes of walking in the door, I was into another drink and in deep conversation with new and old friends. In between stories I sat back in my chair to observe the room. And at that moment I had to smile at myself for being so happy when just an hour earlier, I was dead set on a date with my pajamas and a movie.
It was one of those moments when I realized that at this point in my life, I will practically never say “yes” to something I would regret (except for that extra martini). Whether it is dinner with friends, a long run in the park, or a trip to Brooklyn, I decided to just say “yes” to everything.
Once I made the conscious decision to do so, I realized just how often I was saying “no”. My inner loner personality never wanted to commit to anything, because heaven forbid I would rather be doing something else, even if it was nothing at all. But at the end of the day, it is
Written by: Sutton Schuler
 Written by: Betsy Karp
I can’t stop thinking about the tragedy and massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Fri, Dec. 14th. My heart and my condolences go out to all of those who lost anyone in this unthinkable, unfathomable occurrence. I am sending wishes and love to all those that are mourning and in deep, terrible pain.
I keep having this vivid visualization of 20 little, white angels in a beautiful circle, all holding hands with white snow coming down all around them. They are warm and toasty in their beautiful, white, down jackets and matching fleece berets, and they’re singing “Jingle Bells.” Everything is so pure and white, clear and clean, and the sky is lit up with so many beautiful stars. But there are perfectly, 20, brilliant stars shining down on each one of them. They are joyful and their spirits are so filled with love.
I keep picturing this over and over so that I can let go of some of the dark, angry, black and horrible feelings I have of this terrible tragedy. 20 little angels are singing, are loving and their spirits and souls are forever in our hearts. They are so pure and so loved, even for those who did not know them.
Take a minute now, close your eyes and envision what I have been visualizing. See if you can try to imagine these beautiful, 20, white, little angels. It is said that our spirits and our souls leave our bodies when we pass on, so let’s all remember and embrace them. If we all put our energy and love together for these families, just think how much lighter they will start to feel.
Life is so precious. It could be gone in an instant. So take some time today and remember how special the people in your life are. Don’t take anything for granted, because we don’t know when our time on this planet will be up. Look up in the sky tonight and let those 20 little angels shine on you.
Please comment below and share with your friends.*
Hugs,
Betsy Karp,
Founder of i adore me
 Written by: Steven M. Goldsmith
All of life is about accepting change and letting go. We lose loved ones, people move away, the elderly pass on, flowers perish and trees fall. We have pets that touch our hearts and leave us with grieving sadness. We have Grandparents who make us feel special, then move onto a higher plane leaving us feeling empty. But we don’t have to feel sad or empty. Now I’m not saying it doesn’t hurt and it isn’t sad. Of course it is. But it is also the natural progression of life and it benefits us more to accept it, breathe and move on. As Francois de la Rochefoucauld so eloquently put it, “The only thing constant in life is change.”
Now, I have been struggling with what I want out of life lately. I’ve come to a fork in the road and I’m not quite sure which way to go. It’s scary and I often don’t want to make a choice…I want things to be as I have always expected them to be and have been used to. But the universe has a different plan…Change!
I am an actor by trade but have been on the fence of whether or not I want to do it anymore. I’ve had some challenging auditions lately and have been putting a lot of pressure on myself. The pressure naturally only makes it worse, but I haven’t figured out how to “let go” of that pressure yet. This was really magnified the other day when I had a pretty bad audition; over the days that followed, I kept beating myself up for it. I held on with such ferocity, as if I might die without the self-inflicted abuse.
I had no idea how to take my mind off of…well…my mind, so I took myself on a date to see “The Life of Pi.” At first I was cynical and wasn’t enjoying it, but once I relaxed and put my focus on the movie instead of my most recent “failure,” I was drawn in. But nothing hit me quite like the quote at the end of the movie: “All of life is an act of letting go, but what hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye” (now what he meant by “not taking a moment to say goodbye” might have been one thing, but I interpreted it to stand for many different situations. It can also stand for forgiveness).
This knocked me over the head, smacked me in the face and jolted me out of my negativity. “All of life is an act of letting go…” I was holding onto this terrible audition and feeling like a failure, telling myself over and over again that I would never be great and that I destroyed chances I may never again get. Holding onto this thought, at the time, was akin to not being able to let one off of life support…I couldn’t say goodbye to it.
Now I realize I was being overly dramatic, but in that moment, that was how I was feeling: hopeless, sad, grieving and lost. I couldn’t let go of my “story.” But if I just “let go” and allowed myself to “say goodbye,” it would be done. It wasn’t still happening to me. The audition wasn’t an endless torture in a chamber of horrifying tools. The horrifying tools were my thoughts and the chamber was my mind. It wasn’t still happening, yet I kept playing it over and over and over and over again in my mind like someone was holding a gun to my head saying, “YOU MUST FEEL SHAME AND SADNESS FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE.” And what for?
I’ve been so unsure of my current path as a performer, being faced with this fork in the road of possibly leaving the business and starting over, that I put an exorbitant amount of pressure on this one audition to prove to me that I was “supposed” to stay in the business. It proved to be the opposite. And maybe it was a nudge to say, “keep fighting, stay the course and don’t give up”; who knows. That’s not the point. The point is to learn to let go, say goodbye (albeit, grieve a little to feel the loss so it can be fully released) and go with the flow. Accept the natural progression of life (mistakes and all), accept change and move forward, not backward.
Yes, many horrific and tragic things happen in this world--things far worse than a botched audition--but once it has happened, there’s nothing we can do to change it. We can’t go back in time to “fix” or “stop” it from happening. Once it’s done it’s done, and the only thing that seemingly keeps it going is the mind.
A fork in the road, a bad audition, a loved one passing on, etc… These are things that we’re not meant to hold onto, but we tend to anyway. We do so because it’s hard to be faced with failure and loss. It leads to change, which leads to a different direction and eventually toward a new beginning.
Change is a gift that gives us a chance to release old hurts, learn something new, discover something great and start with something fresh. Who would we be if we stayed in the present and accepted the constant change in the world and in our lives? What wouldn’t we miss? What would we give ourselves permission to do? Byron Katie, the author of “The Work,” says that when we examine depression and sadness, the only thing that ever makes us unhappy is our RESISTANCE to WHAT IS. I truly believe that if everyone learned to “let go” and “say goodbye,” we would live a much more rewarding existence and co-existence. Letting go and saying goodbye…bitter though it may feel, sweet it actually is.
***Please comment below***
I found this beautiful video on YouTube. It is an inspiration to me. There is a famous poem by Oriah Mountain Dreamer entitled, "The Invitation," and it is incorporated in this video below. It was uploaded onto YouTube by CreativeRain. I invite you to not only watch this video but read the poem underneath the video. I hope it inspires you as much as it inspires me!
Hugs,
Betsy Karp
The Invitation
Oriah Mountain Dreamer
Canadian Teacher and Author
It doesn't interest me what you do for a living
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dreams
for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life's betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.
I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your
fingers and toes
without cautioning us to
be careful
be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand on the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"Yes."
It doesn't interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after a night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.
It doesn't interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the center of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.
© 1995 by Oriah House, From "Dreams Of Desire"
Published by Mountain Dreaming, 300 Coxwell Avenue, Box 22546, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4L 2A0
Right now I have a lot of hope in my heart. I have hope for our country. I have hope that we can move forward as a united nation now that the election is over. I have even more, positive hope that President Obama will do what he set out to do 4 years ago. I have hope that my dreams and my passions of i adore me’s success will come to fruition. I also have a deep hope and courage within myself to keep going, never giving up. What do you have hope for?
Please enjoy this video. I hope it will inspire you as it has in me…
*Please comment below and share with your friends.*
Hugs,
Betsy Karp,
Founder of i adore me
 "The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are!" Joseph Campbell
Are you living your truth? Do you feel that you are truly being honest with yourself each and every day? What is it you can say about yourself that is “uniquely you?”
I believe that everyone has a true, special, unique gift to share with the universe. Most of us want to share something that we are passionate about or truly great at, but then we shy away with lingering doubts, continuously asking ourselves questions like, “Can I do this? Am I good enough? Do I have what it takes to make all of this work?” The answer is a BIG YES! But it takes guts, courage and a tremendous amount of persistence to make your special gifts a reality. Here is the thing one needs to ask oneself: “What can I do to serve?” It’s about this instead of what you will get.
There is only one you and you are worthy of happiness, doing what you love to do everyday. Embrace you, and learn to appreciate and love you. You have special talents and strengths that no one else on this planet has. It is your job, however, to find that gift. Follow your inner guidance, listen to your own spiritual GPS and be honest with yourself. Isn’t it time to get out of your own way, breaking down those walls of fear, isolation and shame, and start living your truth? Once you open up and let go, you will be amazed at what you see in your-SELF.
The biggest relationship we have in life is with ourselves. Yes, we may lucky enough to be loved and have parents, friends, lovers and children, but it is you that has to make your life work. You don’t need anyone’s permission but your own to make your dreams come true. What’s truly amazing is that once you step into your truth, you give yourself permission, you start to take action and the universe supports you. It has your back, door’s open, new opportunities arise and synchronicity begins to work it’s magic.
It took me a long time to truly believe in myself and to have the guts and courage to start “i adore me.” It was something that was inside of me, yearning to come out. I knew I had to do this. I needed to do it for me just as much as I needed to for others. It was learning to self–love and to take care of me with love and respect. It’s an evolving process as well as a daily journey.
At first I had my doubts and fears. So many people thought I was NUTS! Many people said to me, “Really Betsy, i adore me? No one can really say and mean that. It’s too hard. It makes people sound so full of themselves.” My reply was, “I adore me is about feeling self-complete, not self-conceit”. Again, people stated, “Just forget about it! It’s not going to work!” But I had a deep feeling within my gut that this was what I had to do. It is my calling and my truth. I listened to me. I was in alignment with my mind, body and soul and I didn’t have a choice.
It's amazing how three simple words, “i adore me,” can cause such a reaction within people. I am so happy now that I am persevering and sharing my message and vision with the universe. It is a gift to you to say and feel the words “i adore me.” I am thrilled that others want to share their truth and stories through their own blogs within the “i adore me” community. It’s about creating a movement of self-love. It’s a journey of self-exploration in finding all that is great about YOU, and building on that while sharing your gifts with the world.
So please share what is “uniquely you” about YOU, and stand in your true power…
Please comment below and share with your friends.*
Hugs,
Betsy Karp,
Founder of i adore me
 I am still glued to the TV and I feel grateful that I have power to watch it. It’s devastating what Hurricane Sandy has done. People have died, homes were destroyed, communities gone, and people’s livelihood’s shattered. It’s heartbreaking at times to watch all of this. Foundations have been ripped from the ground and need to be re-built. This is the time to be part of your community by helping others and joining together to make a difference one layer at a time.
The class I am going to teach next week to my middle school students is about building a foundation, creating structure in their lives and what it means to be part of a community. The synchronicity of all this is unreal. Unfortunately, I now have current examples to speak about. The one, truly important lesson that I’m really going to focus on with them, as well as myself, is the gift of gratitude; to be alive, to have food in my refrigerator, heat in my apartment, and the power of a working computer to write this blog.
Times like these really do wake you up to what’s important in life. We all sweat the small stuff. The lesson here is to appreciate and be grateful for the small things in life that we take for granted: power, hot water, and running water for that matter. I heard stories on the news of many people without water and working toilets. Acknowledge and appreciate the water you have, because that is gratitude. It’s something as simple as that!
In the eight years I have lived in my apartment in NYC, I have never seen my local grocery store run out of food. Well, yesterday they did. It was incredible to see. I wish there was more I could do to help people…more food that I could personally give. I feel the pain of the suffering people when I hear their emotional stories. They’re just heartbreaking.
One story was the silver lining of it all: a child was born in a gymnasium and everyone there was lending a hand. So maybe you can reach out and see whom you can help or lend a hand to. Possibly donate some food or offer someone a warm place to stay. It’s times like these that teach us to reach out and be part of our community, helping others. Be a strong support system and help someone rebuild his or her foundation. You will feel so good and so will they….
Please comment below and share with your friends.*
Hugs,
Betsy Karp,
Founder of i adore me
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