Sometimes I wonder what is real. My perception of that word has changed dramatically over my lifetime. There has been a lot of talk about "getting real". That seems to be a current buzzword again. It just keeps getting recycled. I think it means the same thing as it did years ago. I think what has changed is me.

I've been trying to get real about myself for a year now. Peeling away layer upon layer of the outer shell that was so carefully constructed as a protection. I've been taking inventory, searching for answers, closing my eyes to the obvious at times…all in the name of finding myself. Where did I go? Where have I been? Where do I want to be?

I got tired of all the stuff I needed to change. So, I started focusing on my good points. So tough for most women to do. Tough for me, I confess. So I backed up a little. I started saying "thanks" every time a negative or self-pity thought bumped into me. I became grateful and thankful and appreciative. I went back in time, stayed in today, and projected into tomorrow. It worked. I started feeling better, acting more confident and felt comfortable following my new path.

	You need to claim the events of your life to make yourself
	yours.   When you truly possess all you have been and done,
	which may take some time, you are fierce with reality.
						Flonda Scott Maxwell

I don't know what the next minute will bring, the next hour or the next day. But I do know that I am as real as I can get as long as I am aware that any change or alteration I make in myself at this moment, is a step towards God's reality for my life. It is a step away from denial and a prayer away from grace.

I am face to face with my fierce reality: how about you?