Oh, about sixteen years ago, I was spending Christmas as a newly divorced, single mother. I was 26 years old and my son was three. I worked two jobs, just to afford to live in a housing project, in a very scary neighborhood. I had no Christmas tree, I had no money, I had no gifts for my little boy. Not one! Talk about depressing...

Thank God for the U.S. Marine Corps. and a very special friend with a very special family.

There are those who walk among us whose only delight in life is to break the spirit of others. These people have no distinguishing marks to identify them by; they appear to be average people, but they are not. They seem to have the need to build themselves up, not by striving to be good people, but by tearing others down.

In today's world one might find it a little difficult to find things to be grateful for. There is so much negativity floating around the cosmos: war, intolerance, political scandal, homelessness, hunger, victimization of a multitude of sorts; the list could go on forever. But why is there so much negativity? Could it possibly be that negativity is what most people focus on? The Law of Attraction states that we manifest that which we think about. We draw to us the things we are preoccupied with. Therefore, it stands to reason that the world is in such a pathetic state because that is where we focus our energies; our thoughts.

Eve Ensler, the American playwright, performer, feminist and activist, wrote the following about Sarah Palin.

Being a victim in any sense is not a happy thing, or something to rejoice, but there are those in this world that wear their victim status like a badge. Look at me, feel sorry for me because I am a victim. Do these people ever stop to realize that they are in the position of being repeatedly victimized because they focus their energy on being a victim, rather than being a survivor?

So many victimized women today could be free of their abusers, if they could get past the notion that they are helpless to change their situation. The idea of helplessness is a lie, which has been told and perpetuated by the abuser. This is another method they use to assert control.