i think i like abbondanza too /laugh.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

Isn't that a meat tenderizer from South America? /laugh.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

Abbondanza is an Italian word meaning abundance. Seems like abundance can go in all directions -not just an abundance of flesh. Abundance – of love, family, friends, joy, fulfillment, peace, finances. Yeah – it is definitely my favorite!!

i sure could go for an abbondanza of finances right now /laugh.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

i can't WAIT for school to start again…

What's wrong with "rubenesque" or "voluptuous"?

I like voluptuous /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='<_<' /> but rubenesque makes me think of a deli sandwich /laugh.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':unsure:' />

This is a pretty old thread but I learned quite a bit from it. I do believe in karma but on a much smaller scale than the universal. For me, it is simple: put good out there and good will come to you. My husband shoveled one side of the driveway this morning, griped the whole time. I went out to do my part this afternoon. I cleaned off both vehicles and moved them around so they can more easily make it out in the morning. Well, I only shoveled a couple of shovelfuls when someone drives up on their atv with a plow on the front of it! She asked me if I would like some help and I was like "oh ya"! She is my new neighbor, Wendy. Was it timing or was it karma? I say karma, my husband wants to know why good things always happen to me? Sour grapes me thinks!!

I think Karma is a very real force but that it operates over both the short term and over a VERY long time frame, perhaps over many lifetimes. It's the same principle as "cast your bread upon the water and you will find it" from the Bible. It's simple really: you get back what you put in. If you are negative, you will get negativity, or at least it will be your perception that you get a negative result and vice versa.

This was reaffirmed for me when I saw a recent study which found that the secret to being happy is to be grateful. Grateful = positive, right? If you have a positive outlook on life and are grateful for what you have rather than being focused on what you don't have, you are a happy person. That's the short term aspect of karma – happiness in the here and now. If you are also a generous, kind person who helps other people whenever you can, with no thought of reward or recognition, than I believe that you will have happiness over the long haul, or "good karma".

I also believe that we set up our lives to learn certain lessons. I have seen this happen with my brother. In the past few years he has gone thru one bad thing after another but instead of becoming unhappy or bitter, he is taking each thing as a sign that he needs to learn something from the experience. He has truly been thru hell and has come out a much better person. He focuses on what he has rather than what he has lost and he is grateful for his beautiful, smart daughters and for the support of his family and friends because he sees how many people in his situation don't have that. Frankly, he is a much better human being than he was when he had everything. It's horrible that he has suffered, but he has definitely been improved by his experiences.

Obviously, this is just what I believe.

I love this!^^^^^^

Aw, shucks. Thanks. /wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

I've had the good fortune to experience a lot in my 40+ (okay, 46) years and it's taught me that it's not what you have, it's how you perceive it that makes you happy or unhappy.

For example, while my husband and I were living the high life as expats in the UK, the other expat wives were never content. Here we were, living in beautiful homes that the company paid for, driving cars that the company paid for, sending kids to expensive private schools that the company paid for and all that most of these women could do was **** and moan about the fact that their husbands had to work so many hours. Seriously.

On the other hand, I had two dear friends there. One was a Scottish woman who literally went back to work a week after her first baby was born with the baby in a basket at her feet. I kid you not. Her husband worked on an oil rig out in the North Sea in dangerous, horribly cold conditions. They are the happiest people I have ever known. Just being around them was a joy. They have the best marriage ever and raised two of the finest young people on the planet.

My other friend was a transplanted American. She was raised by a father who resented his children and bullied his wife. She was only allowed to get a driver's license after her dad's health got bad and he needed a driver. My friend married a completely emotionally abusive cheating jerk when she was young. She finally rescued herself from that marriage and fell in love with a wonderful man and moved to England with him so that he could stay close to his children from his first marriage. He died a year and a half after they were married from skin cancer, leaving her a young widow in a foreign country. Most people, myself included, would have been so angry at fate that we would be bitter as hell. Instead, my friend is one of the happiest people you could ever meet. She made a new life for herself, traveled extensively and absolutely loves people and life. She misses her husband every day, but she is grateful for the time that she had with him and wouldn't have missed it for the world. She has remained close to both of his sons.

The lesson for me in all of this is that you choose to be happy or unhappy. It's not the cards you are dealt, but how you play them that matters.

I'll get off my soapbox now.