People
Jacqueline Stone
#325 in People
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Who is Jacqueline Stone?
When I pick up a book, the first thing I read is the author's bio. I want to know something about the person who is sharing their thoughts. This lens will expose a little bit of the person behind the words on my lenses and other sites.
My name is Jacqueline and I'm a Squidoo lensmaster, author, business owner, college student, and mother. I believe in the inherent goodness in people and the future of humanity. I love this world, but don't live as "green" as I could.
What's with the Crutch?
Temporary Conditions
I was on crutches at the Academic Team banquet because of damaged tendons in my knee.
Over a 3-year period, I had 6 arthroscopic knee surgeries, 4 on the right knee. My doctor said I would need knee replacement. I went to a different doctor and he said that every time the other one did a scope on my knees he was cutting the tendons. That's why I got worse after each surgery, not better.
I'm in intensive physical therapy now. The good news is that my knees can heal and I don't need any more surgery! By the end of the year I will be hiking and climbing again. WooHoo!
The moral of the story is: If a doctor tells you that you can't heal, find another doctor.
Over a 3-year period, I had 6 arthroscopic knee surgeries, 4 on the right knee. My doctor said I would need knee replacement. I went to a different doctor and he said that every time the other one did a scope on my knees he was cutting the tendons. That's why I got worse after each surgery, not better.
I'm in intensive physical therapy now. The good news is that my knees can heal and I don't need any more surgery! By the end of the year I will be hiking and climbing again. WooHoo!
The moral of the story is: If a doctor tells you that you can't heal, find another doctor.
My Favorite Gilbert Williams Painting
Favorite Things
I love sunny days with a light breeze and birds chirping.My favorite color is blue. Not just any blue, but aqua, royal and turquoise blue.
My favorite places are Moorea and Sedona.
I enjoy travel and learning about different cultures.
Nothing feels better than spontaneous play with my kids.
Plants and animals around me makes me happy.
I find deep philosphical discussions stimulating.
My passion is spiritual growth and personal development not just for myself, but also sharing it with others.
My favorite authors are Wayne Dyer, Neale Donald Walsch, and Deepak Chopra.
I am fascinated by the study of world religions.
Mint Choclolate Chip is my favorite ice cream. Cold Stone Creamery makes it with brownies mixed in. Yum!
I am NOT a morning person and I need my day to begin peacefully.
I love red rock mountains, babbling brooks, waterfalls, and starry skies.
Silly things make me laugh, like bad jokes, slapstick, and puns.
I like a clean house, but not spotless.
I don't camp out, go fishing, or hunt.
I enjoy rock climbing, hiking, and photography.
I hate to cook. I do it. But I hate it.
I'd rather read a book than watch a movie.
I enjoy doing Tai Chi and Yoga.
I love Papasan chairs, candles, meditative music, and incense.
I don't like Peanut M&M's.
I love singing, but not in front of anyone.
I love to dance, but don't do it often enough.
Awakening Consciousness
Free Presentation
Awakening ConsciousnessI created an affirmation slide show for experiencing oneness and practicing presence. It is now available to view or download free on author Stream. If you have read or are reading Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth" or "The Power of Now" you may get more out of it than someone who hasn't.
This is my gift to anyone who is ready to receive it. Empowerment is not just something we do for ourselves, but something we do for the benefit of all humanity, for all life.
Awakening Consciousness
Mountain Lover/Desert Rat
I grew up in the mid-western United States, where the land is basically flat. The first time I saw mountains, I was in awe of them. I moved to the desert southwest in my late twenties and never went back.
My Favorite Picture from NASA
The Best of Neale Donald Walsch (Plexo)
Happier Than God: Turn Ordinary Life into an Extraordinary Experience by Neale Donald Walsch
<p>Since the publication of his stun more...2 points
Conversations with God : An Uncommon Dialogue (Book 1) by Neale Donald Walsch
<p>Since the publication of his stun more...1 point
The Complete Conversations with God (Boxed Set) by Neale Donald Walsch
<p>Since the publication of his stun more...1 point
Home with God: In a Life That Never Ends by Neale Donald Walsch
<p>Since the publication of his stun more...1 point
Five Wishes: How Answering One Simple Question Can Make Your Dreams Come True by Gay Hendricks
<p>Since the publication of his stun more...0 points
created by jacquelinestone
I love to learn!
Favorite Subjects:
Philosophy
Spirituality
World Religion
Geology
Communications
Natural Health
Highschool Drop-out to Academic Team
You Never Know What You Can Do Until You Try
When I was a kid, my parents thought I was lazy and didn't want to do my homework. They didn't think I was smart enough to go to college. A few years after I dropped out of highschool, I found out that I am dyslexic. I just couldn't read! Once I learned what was happening between my eyes and my brain, I began reading voraciously.
I never needed a diploma to get a job. No body asked for proof back then, they just wanted to know if you could do the job. It didn't become a problem until I had to go to work for the state as a corrections officer. I had to get my GED. I figured I could pass, but didn't expect high scores. I scored well enough that the college offered me a scholarship.
My college career began at 45 at a community college. My second semester, I was able to join Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society of the 2-year college, and began taking honors courses. A year later, I was selected to represent my school in the All-State Academic Team. I didn't even know there was such a thing! My essay and 3.94 GPA earned me a spot on the second team, a scholarship to ASU, and a nice check. All my life, I wondered if I could have made it in college or if I just wasn't smart enough. Now I know that I can do anything that I'm willing to try and work hard at.
This summer I'll graduate with an Associates degree and go on to ASU in the fall. I have a great appreciation for this opportunity because I never thought I could do it.
Going to school has opened up a whole new world of opportunities for me. It made me feel alive and purposeful when I thought I was doomed to a meaningless existence. Everything in my life has changed, in the best way possible.
I never needed a diploma to get a job. No body asked for proof back then, they just wanted to know if you could do the job. It didn't become a problem until I had to go to work for the state as a corrections officer. I had to get my GED. I figured I could pass, but didn't expect high scores. I scored well enough that the college offered me a scholarship.
My college career began at 45 at a community college. My second semester, I was able to join Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society of the 2-year college, and began taking honors courses. A year later, I was selected to represent my school in the All-State Academic Team. I didn't even know there was such a thing! My essay and 3.94 GPA earned me a spot on the second team, a scholarship to ASU, and a nice check. All my life, I wondered if I could have made it in college or if I just wasn't smart enough. Now I know that I can do anything that I'm willing to try and work hard at.
This summer I'll graduate with an Associates degree and go on to ASU in the fall. I have a great appreciation for this opportunity because I never thought I could do it.
Going to school has opened up a whole new world of opportunities for me. It made me feel alive and purposeful when I thought I was doomed to a meaningless existence. Everything in my life has changed, in the best way possible.
Soul Soothing Beauty
Worst Subjects:
Math
Biology
Economics
Marketing
Accounting
Meditation CD's (Plexo)
Through the Open Door to the Vastness of Your True Being by Eckhart Tolle
Journey to the Vastness of Your True Being <p&g more...2 points
Guided Meditations: For Calmness, Awareness, and Love by Bodhipaksa
<p>These three meditations from the Buddhist more...1 point
Don't Bite the Hook: Finding Freedom from Anger, Resentment, and Other Destructive Emotions by Pema Chodron
Listen to an audio excerpt online in MP3 format%u2 more...1 point
Overcoming Fears by Louise Hay
On this CD best-selling author and lecturer, Louis more...1 point
Creating Calm In Your Life: A Guided Meditation and Stress Reduction CD
Creating Calm In Your Life: A Guided Meditation an more...0 points
created by jacquelinestone
In the News
Two reporters did a story on my husband and I when we made the Academic Team.
- Tri-Valley Article
- This is a long article that goes into more of our personal story.
- AZ Republic Article
- This is the shorter of the two articles, with a slightly different take on the story.
What I Strive for
Self-Help on Amazon Voting (Plexo)
Practicing the Power of Now: Essential Teachings, Meditations, and Exercises from The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
This manual-style book instantly dives into Eckhar more...4 points
The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, A Toltec Wisdom Book by Don Miguel Ruiz
Sit at the foot of a native elder and listen as gr more...0 points
created by jacquelinestone
Victim to Victorious
It's All a State of Mind
Much of my life was governed unconsciously by believing that I was a victim of others. At 13, my boyfriend set me up to be held down and molested by him and 6 of his friends. I had been a completely trusting person until that moment. The experience came as a complete shock to me. Once released, I walked accross a freeway thinking that maybe a truck would hit me and it would all be over.
My mother was furious with me for getting grass stains on my clothes. I told her what happened and she said it was my fault. She said I was a slut. Nothing could have been farther from the truth. I had never had sex and had no desire to. I was extremely shy and couldn't flirt if my life depended on it.
After a shower I went down to our basement and laid on the floor, listening to Tchaikovsky. Unrelenting tears streamed down my cheeks to the cold cement. Inside, my soul was screaming, but I lay still, my body numb. I imagined my mother coming down the stairs just enough to see that I was hurting and then comforting me. I just wanted her to acknowledge that I'd been hurt and show me that she cared. She never left my father's side in front of the television upstairs.
The message was loud and clear. I was a bad person and deserved to be treated badly. I had obviously done something wrong that gave those boys a reason to do what they did. It was my fault.
I don't know if I ever fully trusted anyone after that, but I did believe that no one was going to help me, defend me, or comfort me. I stopped expecting love and started trying to be what others wanted me to be so they wouldn't be mean to me.
Love was an unrealistic expectation and good treatment and acceptance had to be earned. I would settle for acceptance because I didn't think I could be loved. I understand now that people want to love, but many don't know how. So many of us go through life with walls around our hearts to protect us from being hurt. Those walls prevent us from loving fully or receiving the love of others.
My work on the Recovering from Abuse blog centers around healing the heart of the victim, but abusers need to heal, too. It is pain in the heart that makes people become abusive and pain in the heart that makes others think they deserve it. The cycle of abuse is passed on through generations but it can be stopped.
I didn't realize the damaging conditioning created by that experience until after I left my second abusive relationship many years later. After my husband nearly killed me, I thought I would never allow it to happen again. It did happen again because I had not found and healed the unconscious beliefs in my own mind that allowed abusive treatment. I now know that to change my life I have to change me.
My mother was furious with me for getting grass stains on my clothes. I told her what happened and she said it was my fault. She said I was a slut. Nothing could have been farther from the truth. I had never had sex and had no desire to. I was extremely shy and couldn't flirt if my life depended on it.
After a shower I went down to our basement and laid on the floor, listening to Tchaikovsky. Unrelenting tears streamed down my cheeks to the cold cement. Inside, my soul was screaming, but I lay still, my body numb. I imagined my mother coming down the stairs just enough to see that I was hurting and then comforting me. I just wanted her to acknowledge that I'd been hurt and show me that she cared. She never left my father's side in front of the television upstairs.
The message was loud and clear. I was a bad person and deserved to be treated badly. I had obviously done something wrong that gave those boys a reason to do what they did. It was my fault.
I don't know if I ever fully trusted anyone after that, but I did believe that no one was going to help me, defend me, or comfort me. I stopped expecting love and started trying to be what others wanted me to be so they wouldn't be mean to me.
Love was an unrealistic expectation and good treatment and acceptance had to be earned. I would settle for acceptance because I didn't think I could be loved. I understand now that people want to love, but many don't know how. So many of us go through life with walls around our hearts to protect us from being hurt. Those walls prevent us from loving fully or receiving the love of others.
My work on the Recovering from Abuse blog centers around healing the heart of the victim, but abusers need to heal, too. It is pain in the heart that makes people become abusive and pain in the heart that makes others think they deserve it. The cycle of abuse is passed on through generations but it can be stopped.
I didn't realize the damaging conditioning created by that experience until after I left my second abusive relationship many years later. After my husband nearly killed me, I thought I would never allow it to happen again. It did happen again because I had not found and healed the unconscious beliefs in my own mind that allowed abusive treatment. I now know that to change my life I have to change me.
I Believe . . .
Meditation Plexo
Have You Tired Any of These Meditation DVD's?
![Nature's Journey [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/11VniWqGL5L.jpg)
Nature's Journey [Blu-ray]
Escape to a mysterious inner universe where nature more...3 points
Meditation for Beginners
Nestled deep in the postcard-perfect French Alps, more...2 points
Relaxation & Breathing for Meditation
Nestled deep in the postcard-perfect French Alps, more...1 point
Qi Gong for Cleansing
Nestled deep in the postcard-perfect French Alps, more...1 point
created by jacquelinestone
Places I've Been
Chicago
St. Louis
Los Angeles
Grand Canyon
Sedona
Tahiti
Hawaii
Mexico City
Las Vegas
Lake Tahoe
Greece
Amsterdam
Orlando, Fl
Puerto Rico
Jamaica
Curacao
Barbados
Venezuela
Martinique
Santo Domingo
San Francisco
San Diego
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Trunk Bay
Searching for God
A Spiritual Journey
My parents grew up Christian Scientist and began raising their kids in that church. I remember wondering why the kids never got to go in the big church. What were all the grown-ups doing in there? Why couldn't we be in the big church? I never did find out. When my borther was hit by a car and in a coma the church told my parents to take him out of the hospital. If he died, it was God's will. We left the church.
My parents didn't go to a different church, they wrote off God all together. We went roller skating on Sunday mornings from then on. All my friends went to church and I went with them every chance I got. I never felt welcomed at any of them because each different denomination said that if you didn't do things their way you would go to hell. That didn't sound right to me. Something inside told me they were wrong.
I gave up on trying to find God through churches and started meditating. I also read the Bible from cover to cover. It told me that the truth is between each man and God. It said things like, "Judge not ..." "Seek first ..." "Love God ..." "Forgive" and "I will reconcile all things unto myself." Those things resonated deep within me and told me that the churches I'd been to were not teaching the truth. They were teaching judgement, not love, and hopelessness, not promises.
Still, I had conflict with the Bible because so much in it contradicts itself. I found the teachings of Jesus to be the most pure, true, and right, but most of the book goes against what Jesus taught. I wanted to live the way Jesus taught, but I didn't think I could. After all, I'm only human.
Over the years, I studied many different traditions and found similarities in them all. I found core values that seem to be inherent in all human beings and a universal longing for reunion with God/the Creator. My own heart echoed this longing, but my religious experience taught me that I can never be good enough to be one with God.
I searched through philosophies and new age concepts to find out who and what I am and what my relationship with God is. One thing became clear; I would have to personally experience awareness of God to find the answers to my questions. I remembered, "The truth shall set you free" "The truth is between each man and God" and "Seek first the kingdom of heaven." I understood that to know God, I must turn to God, not man.
My life took my full attention for many years and my focus on knowing God waned. Eventually, I found myself buried in hopelessness and helplessness. The only way I could turn to God was to go to church. A church helped me when I couldn't help myself. They were loving and supportive in every way. Maybe I just hadn't found the right church before. Even as my life improved, I felt better inside going to church on Sunday and singing in the choir. I was part of a loving, caring community. Singing allowed me to express my love for God and share it with others. Still, something was missing. I needed more than to just worship a lofty God that loves me from afar. I needed that personal, one-on-one connection. It was time for a higher understanding of what God is and my relationship with God.
The movie, The Secret reminded me of many things I read years earlier. It woke me up spiritually. I wasn't into all the talk about manifesting cars, jewelry, and money. Don't get me wrong; I would like to be wealthy as much as any body else. It's just that for me it was more about fulfilling the longing in my heart to know God.
I no longer go to church, but I have nothing against those that do. I believe there are many paths to God and religions can teach people how to live in harmony and kindness within their community. My kids still love church and I believe the foundation is good for them. I do not believe that we are separate from God or from each other. I have had personal experience of God several times and I know what is true for me.
My parents didn't go to a different church, they wrote off God all together. We went roller skating on Sunday mornings from then on. All my friends went to church and I went with them every chance I got. I never felt welcomed at any of them because each different denomination said that if you didn't do things their way you would go to hell. That didn't sound right to me. Something inside told me they were wrong.
I gave up on trying to find God through churches and started meditating. I also read the Bible from cover to cover. It told me that the truth is between each man and God. It said things like, "Judge not ..." "Seek first ..." "Love God ..." "Forgive" and "I will reconcile all things unto myself." Those things resonated deep within me and told me that the churches I'd been to were not teaching the truth. They were teaching judgement, not love, and hopelessness, not promises.
Still, I had conflict with the Bible because so much in it contradicts itself. I found the teachings of Jesus to be the most pure, true, and right, but most of the book goes against what Jesus taught. I wanted to live the way Jesus taught, but I didn't think I could. After all, I'm only human.
Over the years, I studied many different traditions and found similarities in them all. I found core values that seem to be inherent in all human beings and a universal longing for reunion with God/the Creator. My own heart echoed this longing, but my religious experience taught me that I can never be good enough to be one with God.
I searched through philosophies and new age concepts to find out who and what I am and what my relationship with God is. One thing became clear; I would have to personally experience awareness of God to find the answers to my questions. I remembered, "The truth shall set you free" "The truth is between each man and God" and "Seek first the kingdom of heaven." I understood that to know God, I must turn to God, not man.
My life took my full attention for many years and my focus on knowing God waned. Eventually, I found myself buried in hopelessness and helplessness. The only way I could turn to God was to go to church. A church helped me when I couldn't help myself. They were loving and supportive in every way. Maybe I just hadn't found the right church before. Even as my life improved, I felt better inside going to church on Sunday and singing in the choir. I was part of a loving, caring community. Singing allowed me to express my love for God and share it with others. Still, something was missing. I needed more than to just worship a lofty God that loves me from afar. I needed that personal, one-on-one connection. It was time for a higher understanding of what God is and my relationship with God.
The movie, The Secret reminded me of many things I read years earlier. It woke me up spiritually. I wasn't into all the talk about manifesting cars, jewelry, and money. Don't get me wrong; I would like to be wealthy as much as any body else. It's just that for me it was more about fulfilling the longing in my heart to know God.
I no longer go to church, but I have nothing against those that do. I believe there are many paths to God and religions can teach people how to live in harmony and kindness within their community. My kids still love church and I believe the foundation is good for them. I do not believe that we are separate from God or from each other. I have had personal experience of God several times and I know what is true for me.
Remembering
