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Singing the Song You Were Meant to Sing
By Carolyn Allen
Today's Quote: “Are you singing the song you were sent to sing?” (Joe Sabah)
Today is a special day because at Family Home Evening we'll continue a “Christmas in August” family tradition that began over 20 years ago when our oldest, now 27, with a family of his own, was just a little guy. When he was five or six, Christmas seemed so very far away that we decided to celebrate it right then with a “Christmas in August.” It was so much fun, we've been doing it ever since! It's one of our favorite traditions. Tonight we'll draw names. ( The rule is just one present per person, with a limit of $5-$10.)
Next Monday night is the Big Night!
We prepare very simply by buying some holiday paper plates, cups and napkins when they are on sale the end of December, and by keeping a few Christmas decorations at the top of the attic steps.
On the big day I make a very simple turkey dinner by cooking a turkey breast in the crock pot so the house smells right. I toss a big salad and mash a few potatoes. (I don't tell anyone that I use chicken bouillon cubes with a little skim milk instead of butter and cream, and they don't seem to mind.) We always make some sugar-free Jello and for those who want dessert, I have some ice cream and toppings.
We play Christmas music all day, wrap our gifts and decorate a bit. At about 7;00 p.m., we close the blinds, light the candles, turn up the Christmas music, and voila! It's Christmas! As real and as wonderful as December 25.
It's all so sweet, fun and simple that Bob and I go to bed saying "Now how can we simplify the real deal in December????
In any event, we've been doing it or nearly 20 years now .and treasure the memories!
The most important CD to create the Christmas Spirit at our house is the
Carpenter's Christmas Portrait album.
Whether it's Christmas in December or August, we listen to the entire album from beginning to end as we eat around the candle-lit table. Their music brings so much joy and love into a room and into our lives. It still breaks my heart to think of the many songs Karen never got to sing, the many songs that we'll never get to hear due to her early death from anorexia at age 33.
Karen Carpenter was in the height of her non-stop pppularity that began in her early 20's. She won three Grammies, eight Gold albums, ten Gold singles, and five Platinum albums before she died from long-term complications with anorexia nervosa. The music she made was so terrific that she created a record of the most top five hits in one year in the very first year she was in the recording business (1971).
And yet, with the world bowing at her feet, she could never accept her body shape or the family genetics that put her in a bigger-boned category than other young singers and celebrities. Anorexia and an obsession with achieving an unrealistic body shape and weight ended her life at age 33. She was very, very far from “The Top of the World” (one of her hit songs) when she died in 1983.
Everyone I knew cried when they heard the news. Our family personally misses her again each and every Christmas, both the one in December and the one in August.
There will only be one Karen Carpenter. Her untimely death rings to light the curse of unrealistic desires and expectations for mortal bodies. While our own issues may or may not be as extreme, we can ask ourselves this “weight loss made easy” question right now:
”Am I singing the song I was meant to sing? Are thoughts about my weight and body the harmony or the melody for my life?”
Be of good cheer, Even as there's only one Karen Carpenter, there's only one of each of us! When we eat to live, rather than live to eat, and accept with gratitude whatever package the Lord has blessed us with, then we can sing and sing and sing..
Next week I'll share with you the story of how a woman I know found the way to accept the body type she had been given and the strength to lose 55 pounds.
In the meantime, you can sing one of Karen's hits, one that hits the spot for us, too, when the scale is high and life feels low: Get out a box of Kleenex and CLICK HERE to hear Karen sing, and read the lyrics:
SING by Joe Raposa
(who also wrote many songs for Sesame Stree)
Sing, sing a song
Sing out loud
Sing out strong
Sing of good things not bad
Sing of happy not sad.
Sing, sing a song
Make it simple to last
Your whole life long
Don't worry that it's not
Good enough for anyone
Else to hear
Just sing, sing a song.
Sing, sing a song
Let the world sing along
Sing of love there could be
Sing for you and for me.
Sing, sing a song
Make it simple to last
Your whole life long
Don't worry that it's not
Good enough for anyone
Else to hear
Just sing, sing a song.
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| About the Author: |
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Carolyn Allen is the author of 60 Seconds to Weight Loss Success — One Minute Inspirations to Change Your Thinking, Your Weight and Your Life.
She also provides daily online weight loss support for women through her e-newsletter and websites, www.MyWeightLossFriend.com
and www.MyWeightLossTeam.com. She has taught weight loss motivation classes in the Washington, D.C. area for church, public and private organizations since 1999.
Visit her at MyWeightLossFriend.com, or read about miracle tea at www.MyMiracleTea.com. |
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