My mother was in excruciating pain with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Thus, for years, I sought, searched, warred, and even spiritually crawled through battle after battle, when I could no longer stand ... as I wanted to learn how to heal! When I could no longer crawl, I begged God to hold on to me, to not let me fall. It would have been easy to have given up had there not been a greater love than for myself.

Only, through that, what God taught me was inner healing ... zillions of ways that cleaning inside of cup would cause outside to take care of itself. As a result, my insides were clean!!! And, that is what I share with whomever will receive.

However, stress, hurt, and loss of everything I'd ever loved or placed any faith in, other than God, (often emotional abuse in name of religion, from those who hate whatever they don't understand) finally caused an inner explosion of sorts, a breakdown, and I developed an anxiety disorder that left me without ability to even remember who I'd just sent an e-mail to. All short term memory was gone. I could barely stand when holding on to something, making walking through a room by myself next to impossible.

None-the-less, I was determined that Satan would not stop me from serving God and I began spending 18 hours a day sitting and (mostly) sleeping at computer. Then, when I'd finally give up and lay down, sofa was only a few, hunched over, steps away. The good news is that I got to help hundreds in building their web sites, encourage many to work together instead of against each other, and several individual ministries were developed. God can always turn what Satan is doing into something good!

However, for next 6 months, I used a cheat sheet of sorts ~ just to get out daily e-mails ~ sending apologies for repeats. The next few years, of not moving from computer, wreaked other havoc on my body. Since doctors offered no solutions except more drugs, I began seeing a Chiropractor ~ as when body is in correct alignment, it can gradually heal itself. The process of making a come back had been at a snail's pace ever since. But, every little bit counts.

Though, not even Chiropractor could correct it all. So, when I learned of an area church that believes in healing, I became excited ~ finally, someone who believes God, too! Thus, I requested them to pray over me. Of all things I've ever heard about phony faith healers, none of it was true.

After church service, not a show of any sorts; it was semi-private when they prayed. All they did was touch whatever part of body they were praying for. And, they knew to pray for things I hadn't even requested ... like lymph nodes! All I know about that is, when this seems to be year for cancer in our family, my tests came back negative.

In addition, instantly, my shoulders went into right alignment, something that hadn't happened since sixth grade! And, curvature in my back was gone!

We tend to fill our lives with activity and with 'stuff'. It's supposed to mean we're successful, that we're fully living. The reality is that it usually just leaves us feeling overwhelmed, crowded and with a longing for a simpler, quieter life. By filling every minute of day, we find ourselves with no time to be 'quiet', to go within, to find inner peace that allows us to be creative, productive and free. By having too much stuff, we feel cramped, stifled and burdened. We feel restricted by 'too much' of everything and this impedes our ability to do what's truly important to us.

It's not necessary to go down to bare minimum, but it is essential that we give ourselves room to grow and time to be reflective. And there is a pervasive effect. Simplifying your life in any area gives you more 'space' in all areas. Try it!

To get you started, here are a few ideas to simplify your life. Get prepared for a burst of energy from doing each one of these.

1. Clean out your closet.

Throw or give away what you no longer wear. [Recently read a great tip for this. Take 10 minutes to re-arrange all hangers in your closets back-wards, with hook facing front. Once you've washed or cleaned something, hang it up with hangar facing usual way. After a time you've set (3 to 6 months, after a 'season') get rid of all clothes whose hangars are still facing front. This is an easy and almost painless way of cleaning out closet!]

2. Keep your inbox clean.

Delete as much as possible as soon as you've read it. Use a simple folder system to file rest. Use large groupings such as chronological time (January through December, rolling year). Filing by topic, unless it is a large project, seldom works. [How often have you found 4 folders on same project, all called something different?]. Use tools available in your mailbox to auto-filter email. Choose a primary email reader and have all others auto-forwarded to that email box. Most email readers allow you to automatically delete or file mail from specific individuals.

3. Schedule a breather.