Twofer

Hello and Happy Tuesday!

This blog post is entitled "Twofer" because today, Twosday, you are getting two blog posts for the price of one my friend.  It is a good day for you.

1.  "ESCAPE."

While writing a travel article today, I found myself using the word "escape" several times to describe a vacation.  I found this so interesting.  My thought was, why do we need to "escape" our normal lives?  In Western society, there is an underlying notion that you should work hard and achieve your goals, and toil in pursuit of these goals is not only acceptable but almost... to be expected.  Well... I don't like this.  But I'm trained by years of studying Law of Attraction principles to talk about what I DO like, not what I don't.  So how about this: new paradigm to replace rat race paradigm is that we create a life for ourselves where every day brings the type of joy you would find on "vacation."  The type of life you don't want to escape.  The type of life that thrills you, so that each morning you wake up happy and excited to live it.  To each person, of course, this kind of life would look different.  But it's my wish that we could all have this, and it is my aim to have this for myself.  Here I must give a ton of gratitude because my life is already pretty close to this, and I am so thankful.  In the ways that it is not yet, I simply have more growth and creation to do, and I am excited for that to happen.

2.  Health and Happiness

All of my adult life, I have been interested in "health and fitness."  Having been a professional athlete, a student, a personal trainer, and a yoga teacher at various stages in my life, I have continually researched and experimented with the subject.  The pattern is this: learn something, apply it to my life, see the results, question where and why results fell short of expectation, then expand my knowledge by learning something new, and then the cycle repeats.  The result?  I have tried so many things... the "watch your caloric intake" thing, the various schools of thought on how one should eat as far as proteins / fats / carbs, etc, and countless other ways.  But, what I keep coming back to over the last few years is this:

WHEN I AM HAPPY IN MY MIND, MY BODY IS HAPPY!

Not how much did I eat, of what type of food, how much did I exercise, or any of that.

IF I AM HAPPY, MY BODY IS HAPPY

Stress!  Stress people.  Finally Western world is understanding that stress has a major impact on the body.  Your body is a vessel that enables you to carry out your purpose of joy and full-living on this Earth, and it seeks only to serve you, and enable you to bring your desires to fruition.  If you have scary bad thoughts, your body just wants to protect you by adding fat layers, or by "falling ill" to force you to take a rest or say HEY! pay attention to what is not going right in your life, in your mind... and attend to your needs!

If I live my life by this principle--by making first priority my happiness in every given moment and every given day, and by paying acute attention to my body's symptoms as a way of telling me to pay attention to some area of my life--then I will exude health and "fitness" in my body.  It happens every time, without fail: the happier I am, the more my body radiates health in all the ways I desire.

Of course, our bodies respond to what we truly believe.  So what works for me may not work for you... I respect and honor that.  But it is always my sincere desire that something I share from my life will bring about some added happiness and enjoyment in your own... in any way, shape or form :)

Why, Hello!

Hey!  You!  I remember you.  You used to read my blog a few months ago.  I took a big blogging vacation, but I'm back.  The reasons why are not interesting, agree to skip them?  OK.  Let's continue on then.

Today I am in Sebastian, FL.  For several weeks now, I have felt an internal "push" to take a little retreat.  Just a good chunk of time to myself where I can THINK and begin to CREATE.  For me, a normal step in the growth process of life.

So far it has been great.  I've had some recent changes in life, and though these changes are extremely positive (a decision to switch "career paths" and an awesome new long-term relationship), I still wanted time and space to regroup and redirect my energy and conscious thought to find balance.  From being a balanced individual, I can more fully and properly enjoy these new gifts I have been given in life.

I found a lot of clarity through journalling my thoughts as they came to me.  I was able to form a starting plan: develop my existing passions and also take time to hone my ability to listen to my intuition for my true desires and the ways in which I should go (through meditation, journaling, studying / reading, etc).  I will begin this starting plan right away upon my return to "normal life," and from there I will know where to go next, when it is time.  I have full faith that my life will proceed just as it always has in the past: the right things will happen when the time is right.

All the self-reflection is tiring ;)  I took a nap earlier, and somehow woke up "on the wrong side of the bed."  I could find no reason for this so I decided the reason why was not important.

To escape this funk, I did two things:

1. I sat on my balcony at Captain Hiram's and watched the kids playing in the pool.  I am fascinated by the art of Play, and derived a fair bit of second-hand joy from watching the kids, both in solo play and group play alike.  Very interesting.  Not a lot of frowning going on in a splashy pool.
2. I wrote a big list of people who inspire me and why.  At the same time, it made me feel SO GRATEFUL for these people!!  I quickly detected a pattern in this list.  

Top 5 Qualities My Friends Have That Inspire Me

1. Thorough Enjoyment of Life / Continual Pursuit of FUN!
2. Joyfulness
3. Openness
4. Teachable / Humble
5. Creative

That's all I got for now.  Have a wonderful Wednesday and have some FUN today.  If you're in a bad mood, watch some kids playing, really WATCH them and perhaps you'll become infected by a little reckless joy :)

Better Way to Approach It

I checked my emails this morning, as usual.

I wasn't happy with a couple work emails I had... I felt I was having a bit of trouble communicating creative ideas back and forth with some people I am working with.

Unusual for me to feel anything but excited with my work, because I really love my job.

Thankfully, I have the luxury to set things aside for a later time, so without much thought about it, I decided to let these emails lie for a while.

Taught yoga, had a fun lunch with a couple great girls, saw the dentist. SAW THE DENTIST! The first three-quarters of said visit consisted of me thinking I needed a root canal, after my hygienist examined a small lump above my teeth. I am holistic-minded, and root canals are definitely NOT something holistic people like to participate in (I won't get into the whys here, if you're interested, please do google it). Needless to say, I was pretty bummed.

So, I hoped for a miracle--why not? Miracles happen all the time. Last quarter of my visit: the dentist (whom I love) strolled in, asked me a few questions, and determined I did NOT, in fact, have a tooth abscess. I had a gum abscess that would clear up on its own, with no intervention needed--this is exactly what a holistic-minded individual wants to hear. In my mind, I had just been served the miracle I asked for!

I was SO happy and thankful!!!

Now I re-open my emails, and see them through different eyes. I understand why the miscommunication happened, and am excited to work together to accomplish the projects I have going.

I am so glad I waited to tackle these things when I had a really positive mindset going. What a difference a few hours can make. I feel very thankful.