Melody Beattie has a great meditation in her book The Language of Letting Go , which is one of my favorite daily affirmation series. She writes:

“What if’s” can make us crazy. They put control over our life into someone else’s hands. “What if’s” are a sign that we have reverted to thinking that people have to react in a particular way for us to continue on our course…Today, I will not worry about other people’s reactions, or events outside of my control. Instead, I will focus on my reactions. I will handle my life well today and trust that, tomorrow, I can do the same.

Lately I have begun experimenting with a new way of thinking my way through my day. I realized that my traditional pattern – to expect the worst and feel relieved when something less than that materialized – was leading me ever further away from the life my heart truly desires......for complete article click HERE

Q: I am the mother of a bulimic. Right now my daughter and I are estranged. She suffered physical and sexual abuse from her father as well as body issues because she is an athlete. Her road to recovery includes overcoming depression, post-traumatic stress and eating disorders.....
A:Thank you for writing to share your love and concern for your daughter. The most important thing to understand as you and your daughter undergo the process to recover from what happened to her, to you, and to your family, is that sometimes we can see where we want to go, and can get to, long before we are....to read full Q&A click HERE

Last month I announced a wonderful partnership with MyEDHelp.com to launch the 'Dear Shannon' Q&A Column as a service to MyEDHelp members and YOU! Here is a reprint of last month's question from 'Dear Shannon':

Q: Dear Shannon, I am sorry to bother you especially when I know you probably get a lot of e-mail but I just want to ask one simple question. What do you when you have lost hope after ten years of struggling and are about to just give up rather then have to fight through another day. This is where I am right now and I am kind of scared....
A: Thank you so much for writing – your question is deep and powerful and I am honored to share my thoughts with you. So….what do you do? Isn’t that the question to end all questions! Well, for starters, let me tell you that I do understand from the inside out how you feel because I have been there. And the most important discovery I have made out of that time in my life is that nothing worth having is ever easy to come by ....to read full Q&A click HERE

As most of you may have discovered by now, the 'Behind This Mask: there is someone real' online support community I have monitored for MySpace.com for the past several months has been temporarily suspended. The fault lies with MySpace. They deleted the group without our permission. If you would like to see the group reinstated, PLEASE write to MySpace as frequently as you can to ask for the group to be reinstated. Together, we may be able to accomplish what I have not yet been able to accomplish on my own. Thank you in advance for your support of all 250+ members of this wonderful group!

Here is how to contact MySpace (you must have an active myspace account to follow this process):
1. Log in to your MySpace account
2. Click on 'Help' at the top left hand corner of the page
3. Scroll down to where you see 'Contact MySpace' on the left, about mid-page down, and click on that
4. From the drop-down menus, choose 'Groups' and 'Other'
5. Click on 'No, Email Customer Service'
6. Enter this (or similar) message: REPEAT REQUEST. Dear MySpace, please reinstate the active group Behind This Mask: there is someone real, located at this URL: http://groups.myspace.com/behindthismask. The moderator's URL is: http://www.myspace.com/smcutts. We rely on this group for support to recover from eating disorders. Please reinstate this group ASAP.

We have created an alternative to the MySpace group where you can go to share your thoughts with me and other members of the support community. Membership is free - all you have to do is create a confidential screen profile.

Here is how you do that:
1. Visit the Key to Life website HERE
2. Click 'Create a Confidential Login Identity HERE
3. Login in to the chat any time you need support!

For those of you who are new this month to the Good News community, you may not be aware that Shannon also offers one-on-one coaching and mentoring through Key to Life. To find out more about scheduling individual time with Shannon, or to set up your individual meeting with Shannon now, click HERE

Do you have a related question or topic, or an inspirational poem or story you would like to share with other readers in a future edition of Good News?

Would you like to send a message of encouragement and support to those who contributed questions for this month's e-zine? (NOTE: all messages of support will be received and published anonymously in future editions of Good News)

If you would like to submit a question and/or send a message of support please send it to Shannon c/o Good News by clicking HERE

NOTE: Good News is sent by invitation and subscription only - if you have received this e-newsletter in error
or no longer wish to receive it, please hit reply and let us know! Peace.