A Single Ray of Light

By Carol'n Rose

A Single Ray of Light is a collection of inspirational stories and messages taken from the author's personal life experiences. It is designed to empower the reader to become aware of who he/she really is, to believe in themselves, and to remain steadfast to their hopes and dreams. The author's mission in writing this book is to lift up lives and inspire hope. It is a book of encouragement. Ms. Rose believes that a single word of encouragement can be the backbone of a dream or a ray of hope for someone. All it takes is "one"...one voice, one sign to give another "hope" to continue on. Each of the nine chapters in the book illuminates the paths to self-awareness (finding yourself), self-acceptance (loving yourself), and believing in yourself (creating the life you want to live). The chapter titles reflect the book's message of the importance of learning to love, understand, and encourage yourself. Chapter 1-Hope; Chapter 2-Transitions; Chapter 3-Be You; Chapter 4-Encouragement; Chapter 5-Dreams and Desires; Chapter 6-Attitude; Chapter 7-Everything Counts; Chapter 8-Tranquility; Chapter 9-Live in the Now. "Today there were clouds in the sky. It was all dark except for one bright cumulus sunlit cloud...A Single Ray of Light."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carol'n Rose
• Release date: Jan 22, 2015
• ISBN: 9780986410826

Carol'n Rose

Carol'n Rose, a pioneer and leader in the Empowerment field, has made it her mission for the past thirty years to inspire and motivate individuals to believe in themselves and to celebrate and appreciate the beauty and essence of who they really are. Ms. Rose received her B.A. and teaching certificate from California State University, Long Beach. She taught in the public schools for thirteen years. After relocating to the Detroit Michigan area, she became involved and studied Holistic Health. She created her own company and soon was conducting classes, seminars, and public speaking engagements to a wide array of audiences, including the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, Detroit Medical Center, and the auto industry. In 1997, Carol'n created and hosted a daily empowerment talk radio program, P.E.P. Talk. It was heard throughout the Detroit area for five years. All of these venues have one thing in common. They are a means to provide encouragement and empowerment to the listener. This book, A Single Ray of Light, is yet another venue to provide encouragement to those who need support from one who cares.

Book preview

A SINGLE RAY OF LIGHT

A Compass to Finding Your Way Back to You

Written by Carol’n Rose

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2015 by Carol’n Rose

CAROL’N ROSE PUBLISHER

ISBN-13: 978-0-9864108-0-2

A Book of Encouragement

A SINGLE RAY OF LIGHT

First Edition 2014

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without prior written permission of the author/publisher; except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedicated to my wonderful husband, Gary…

Thank you for supporting and encouraging me on this journey from beginning to end…

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1…Hope

Chapter 2…Transitions

Chapter 3…Be You

Chapter 4…Encouragement

Chapter 5…Dreams and Desires

Chapter 6…Attitude

Chapter 7…Everything Counts

Chapter 8…Tranquility

Chapter 9…Live in the Now

Epilogue

Afterword

Acknowledgments

About the Author

PREFACE

The birth of this book, A Single Ray of Light, has been a project of love of mine for over twenty years. When I began writing it, I did not know it was going to be a book. I only knew I had to write my feelings and thoughts down on paper. Oftentimes, that paper was a napkin in a restaurant, the backside of an envelope that a bill came in, or a scrap of paper I found in my purse.

My audience became the paper that the words were written on. I bought a plastic container and placed all of the notes in it. Several years into the writing, I made the decision it was time to empty the box, read my entries, and decide what I was going to do with them. After I read all of them, it was then that I decided I would organize them into a book. I realized that this collection of my heartfelt thoughts and messages was about my life and how all the changes I had experienced over the years had changed me.

A Single Ray of Light is a book of encouragement. My mission in writing this book is to lift up lives and inspire hope. I believe that a single word of encouragement can be the backbone of a dream or a ray of hope for someone. It was written with the intention of offering to the readers the impetus to believe in their selves and to love and appreciate who they really are. I like to call it a compass to finding your way back to you.

This book is a collection of inspirational stories and messages that are taken from my own life experiences. It is my belief that words of encouragement spoken to another are life giving breaths of support. They give strength to move mountains, the energy to swim great distances, the perseverance to get up on the count of nine, and most surely the light at the end of the tunnel. All it takes is one…one voice, one sign to give another hope to continue on.

Today there were clouds in the sky. It was all dark except for one bright cumulus sunlit cloud...A Single Ray of Light."

INTRODUCTION

A Single Ray of Light

I hugged my teddy bear as tight as I could and the tears were flowing down my cheeks and onto my tearstained pillowcase. I had been crying for it seemed forever. The prayer I said to God on that most fateful night was Dear God, if you let me live through the night, I will do whatever you want me to do. Please let me live through the night. Please show me the way. It was then that I saw a very small light, a single ray of light that shone in that very dark room. It was similar to a light at the end of a long tunnel and somehow that light provided me with hope. I do not know where the light came from. Maybe it was all in my mind’s eye, but I know I saw it and when I did, a peace fell over me. I somehow knew that I would get through that night and a lot of other nights. I fell asleep. When I awoke that morning, I started the day like any other day. I made my children’s breakfast, assisted my six year old son in getting dressed and wished my teenage daughter a wonderful day as she drove off to school with friends. Was this a morning just like yesterday and the yesterday before that or was this day different? I felt like the chains of bondage had just been broken. I had come to a decision before I had fallen asleep the night before. I had told God in my prayers that I would do whatever He wanted me to if I could survive the night. The answer from God on what He wanted me to do was very plain and to the point, I was to handle a problem that had loomed over me all my life. The problem was that I had never been taught how to love myself. I had to learn about who I was, what I liked in life, and what I didn’t like. I had to learn to love ME!

This then was the beginning of my journey of getting to know myself; my special talents, quirks, likes and dislikes, fears, dreams, desires, and most importantly the inner spiritual me. It all started with a prayer and a single ray of light shining in a very dark room.

I share this journey with you in hopes that as you read this book, you too will see your own life reflected; and that each page is a ray of light shining on you.

CHAPTER 1…HOPE

Hope

-A four-letter word defined as the domain of the possible-

A flicker of light

That’s all there is

A flicker of light

That’s all you need

Hope

Never let go of it!

Believe in the impossible

Believe in the improbable

Believe in you

Hope will see you through!

A New World

The journey that led me to this place in my life was simply just that, the journey of life. Our family had migrated from Southern California five years prior to a suburb near Detroit, Michigan. The move was due to my husband’s job transfer and was not of our choosing. I was both angry and sad about the move, but soon I would discover the whys for all the transitions I was experiencing.

The area we settled in was right smack in the middle of a spiritual new age community and it did not take me but a short time to become fully entrenched in it. I had been brought up quite conservatively and had married a very conservative man but I was not born to be conservative. I was a free thinker at heart and this new world I was experiencing felt very comfortable to me. I was becoming the person I was meant to be. I was becoming me! I had discovered the one thing that had been missing in my life, my spiritual life and God. My life took on a new meaning and I felt like I had emerged from the cocoon I had been hiding in for such a long time.

My husband, however, did not make this change with me and I saw that we were losing our connection with one another. We had been growing apart for several years and I knew deep down that my marriage was ending. We attended therapy together and when asked by the therapist what he wanted from me, his answer was, I want her back the way she was. That could never be though, for I had crossed an invisible line that I could never cross back over, nor did I want to. I was on a path of learning to know me and it felt right.

We had been married twenty years, had two beautiful children, and lived what some would call an ideal life. I, however, did not feel that way. I was always searching for something. I did not even know