"Stella" LOVES doing her yoga too...I can't get my mat out without her running over to do one good "up dog" and "down dog"! I think she actually thinks I get it out just for her;) Have a fit, fun, fantastic Friday!!
A Belief Is Just a Thought You Keep Thinking...
When's the BEST time to plant a tree? 20 years ago. When's next best time? RIGHT NOW! I just heard this in a seminar this week and it's SO true! It's not too late to DO what you should've DONE!! It's not too late to be the person you always knew you could be. Believe in yourself. One of my favorite quotes from Abraham Hicks is... "A belief is just a thought you keep thinking." Change your story, change your beliefs about yourself right now if they are not the beliefs that make you the best you, the happiest you, the most empowered you that YOU can be. I'm in the process of learning how to do this for myself and it's amazing how much happier I feel throughout my days. If you learn how to love yourself MORE...not from an "ego" place, from a place that makes you BELIEVE that you're worthy, that you're capable, that there's nothing that can stop you from living the life others only dream about. The only person holding you back is you.
Think of something you KNOW you should have started a long time ago. Take a moment to think back when you were younger...what were your dreams? What did you WANT out of life? So many people lost sight of their dreams...so much so that they forget what they were or that they even had them because "life gets in the way". Most people can say what they don't want instead of what they do want. That's okay! That's actually a great place to start. By knowing what you don't want....you can decide what you do want. That's the first step. That's the beauty in the "contrast" we have in life...without it we wouldn't be able to truly LIVE our dreams.
Do something different today....change your story today....make a list of all the things you WANT out of life today...and watch what the universe starts to deliver.
Are you a hero? The book that inspired me toward something I never thought I'd do.
My husband and I LOVE going to bookstores and browsing the magazine and books...it's kind of our "thing " we love to do on a Sunday afternoon if we don't have anything else going on. To tell you this story, I need to backtrack about 11 years, before I even met my husband. I was at a place in my life when I was "unsatisfied". I had a good steady job, but it wasn't my passion. I made enough to get by on my own, but not nearly enough to feel secure. I was frustrated and couldn't see a way out of the life I felt "stuck" in.
One day, I wandered into Barnes & Noble, not looking for anything in particular...right away a book caught my eye. I picked it up, read the back and it said it was a book about "feeling". Oh, a self-help book...NOT. I had never bought one of "those" before. Back on the shelf it went, and off I went to explore the fiction I was used to... As I walked around, I couldn't seem to get that book out of my mind. It was the strangest sensation, I know it sounds crazy, but it was a very strong feeling that I needed to read that book. So, reluctantly, I went back over, picked it up, and looked it over again. I didn't understand it at the time, but I WENT WITH IT.....
Well, long story short, this is how I came to learn about The Law of Attraction. My life has never been the same since. I know now without a shadow of a doubt that I attracted that book into my life. That book was called "Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting" by Lynn Grabhorn. To this day, I have read other books on the subject that have blown my mind, but this book remains my favorite for that reason. Just as I am writing this, I looked up how to spell her last name and learned that Lynn Grabhorn died shortly after that book came out. She definitely touched my life and I think that is exactly what she set out to do...help people... so to me she lived a very full life.
My life made an amazing shift for the better after reading that book...and FAST. Things started to fall into place. Solutions for problems started to come easily. I was fixed up with my husband. I became excited about life again. Things CHANGED...for the better.
Today, my husband and I are very aware of the Law of Attraction. We read about it, listen to seminars and workshops about it, and practice it...and it does take practice. We feel so grateful to have the knowledge that we have control over where our lives are headed. When we have things that are unwanted in our life, and we sometimes do...we KNOW why. Just knowing that is everything...because we know how to get back on track.
So, that brings us back to present day. My husband and I walked into Barnes & Noble recently and I walked up to the first table near the entrance with all the new releases...and I picked up a book. It was called "Hero" by Rhonda Byrne. I looked it over, somehow knew I was going to buy it, but as I went to put it down, I noticed that there were NO others like it on the table...so I held it in my hot little hands. At that exact moment, I remembered that day 11 years ago, and smiled to myself. Was it happening again? Did I attract this book for a reason? This time I KNEW. That's what can be so fun about the Law of Attraction...when you're aware of it and can feel it in action, it's exhilarating. As my husband was looking at magazines, I browsed the bookstore, giddy and excited, and didn't see another copy of that book ANYWHERE on any the display tables...nowhere in sight. I knew that one copy, at that moment, ended up there for me to find. I just didn't know why yet.
We went across the street to a coffee shop and after sitting down in the window with my hot tea, I opened the book to a random page and I read..."Something good is just about to happen." Wow. I felt excited. I read about 30 pages and as we left to go home, I couldn't wait to finish this book.
The next day, on my chalkboard wall in my dining room, I erased my grocery list and wrote, "Something good is just about to happen." Each morning over the next few days I'd see it and get excited to start my day, KNOWING that something good was coming my way. One evening, my husband and I were excitedly chatting, having a glass of wine, just overall excited about some things we had coming up. I don't even remember how it started, but all of a sudden he said, "You could help people, you should share what you've learned about health, and fitness, and style, and staying young, and the Law of Attraction, and goal setting..." That was it. At that moment I knew that was exactly what I needed to do. I know that there's someone out there that I am meant to touch. That very night I started putting together this blog Happy WifeStyle.com...knowing nothing about how to do it, learning as I went, excited to help someone to be happier and healthier than they are right now...I don't know what's to come, all I do know is that I feel more passionate and excited about THIS than anything I've ever done before. Am I a writer? No. But that's not stopping me. I know this is what I'm meant to do. Just yesterday, as we flew to Maui for an amazing week of training with our Chiropractic and Life coaches, with some of the most amazing, inspiring people I've ever known...one of my very best friends is sitting right behind me on the plane. Guess what she was reading.....yep, Hero. There it was again. We hadn't even discussed it. I just smiled to myself...this is going to be one extraordinary week.
Gain confidence in just 30 days - The 30 Day Discipline
Have you ever tried a 30 day discipline? It's a personal growth tool that is very powerful. We all have things in our lives that we know we SHOULD be doing, or should NOT be doing for that matter…but it seems so overwhelming to make a change that we have to stick to for the rest of our life when we are already set in our ways. So we do nothing. We stay put. We do what is more comfortable.
The 30 day discipline is a great way to make small changes, develop new habits...and it's SO simple. When you think about making a change only temporarily it doesn't seem so hard anymore. You will still feel great for having completed it! You will have developed a new habit and may find you want to continue! When you finish the 30-days, you will be surprised at how much confidence you've gained by completing it! You will feel a sense of accomplishment. We all want that feeling to last because it feels good. Doing a 30-day discipline is a great way to get that feeling:) The best part is, if it doesn't suit you, that's OK! You can go back to your old habits AND still feel good about your accomplishment.
All you have to do is try…don't give up, commit to 30 days and then re-evaluate. Maybe when it's over, it has become a new habit and you want to make it a lifestyle change. Maybe you're still not so sure...you've gained confidence but you're still not sold. That's OK too! Try another 30 days, or 60, or 90. Whatever you need to do to move closer to your goal.
So, what will happen after you complete your 30-day discipline? First, you'll have gone far enough to establish a habit. It will now be easier to maintain than it was to begin. Second, you'll break the addiction of that old habit in that amount of time. Third, you'll have that feeling of success (you'll have 30 days under your belt!), this will give you the confidence to want to continue. Fourth, and this is the best one…you will have 30 days of RESULTS which will give you a great outlook on what to expect if you continue! This can help you make more long-term decisions.
Make a list of 30 day disciplines you'd like to try. You can always start with something small and tackle the harder ones once you've gained more confidence. Here are some ideas…what could you do each day for 30 days?
Do my 30 Day 7 Minute Workout Challenge!
- Watch no TV (this included watching shows on the internet!)
- Eat NO refined sugar
- Don't eat after 8:00pm
- Drink Ginger Lemon Tea each morning, first thing
- Take a 30 minute walk
- Exercise for at least 30 minutes
- Spend 30 minutes on organizing your home or office
- Give up soda, cigarettes, or coffee
- Drink at least 64oz of water
- Read for 1 hour
- Write in a journal for 1 hour
- Write down 5 things you are grateful for
- Wake up earlier
- Go to bed earlier
- Think or say NO negative thoughts…THIS is a tough one, not many people can get through this one…but the fun part is…to keep trying!
Ok, GO FOR IT!! I'm really excited to hear from you all, feel free to share your stories with me!
A day at the bay
I love that we live in Northern California, Petaluma to be exact. It is unbelievably beautiful this time of year. The hills are so bright green I feel like I'm in Ireland! We went for a Sunday drive today to see where the day took us. My husband just got a GoPro and he wanted to play with it so he can learn how it works…we got some beautiful footage just driving but he hasn't downloaded it yet. I did put it on the dash to get a road pic...
We drove out to Bodega Bay and went to our favorite Clam Chowder spot right down the hill from Bodega Head and got some red chowder to split. I LOVE clam chowder but had never tried the red because the white is SOOOO good! But now that we're eating right, the red doesn't have all the cream, so I gave it a go!! It was fantastic!! I loved it, it had a kick to it too!
We parked out at Salmon Creek and watched the surfers while we ate our chowder:) We drove around some cute neighborhoods and stopped by the surf shop…then I remembered I'd been wanting to stop by Gourmet Au Bay! It's a wine tasting room, right on Highway 1, that I remember seeing an article on in Sunset Magazine where they have wine flights served on little wooden surfboards! So my husband said, "OK...if you really want to". (We live in wine country, but sometimes getting my husband to go wine tasting is like pulling teeth.) He always ends up enjoying it when we go though;)
I got a flight (because I wanted the surfboard!) and my husband got a glass of Pinot and we headed out to the deck out back that overlooks the bay. It was beautiful…sunny and calm, and the wine was quite good;) No attack birds in sight;)
Before leaving, we browsed the gift shop and saw a couple of signs that made us laugh...
My husband thought that last one was hilarious! We talked about heading home, but decided to head to Tomales Bay to our absolute FAVORITE spot for oysters. The last two times we went it was cold and windy, and today was gorgeous, so we took advantage…and headed toward The Marshall Store. You order inside, and they have all kinds of oysters to choose from. You then sit along the highway on these old wooden tables…it's a good people watching place. A few years back we went and the only other people there were a bride and groom, all decked out…she was in a full blown wedding gown! How cool is that!?
Here's a pic I took in the past when we took some friends, a couple dozen of some different kinds...
This time we just shared an order of 6, and went without all the bacon and saucy ones today...AND we left that tasty garlic bread on the plate for the very first time!! Honestly, I didn't even want it. Our new Paleo lifestyle has knocked out my cravings, it's amazing…I didn't miss it at all. I feel indulged eating this way, not deprived at all! Glad we stopped in! If we ever have people visiting that aren't familiar with the North Bay, we always take them the The Marshall Store…it's always a hit.
We drove home from there to still catch some sunshine in the yard, look over the pics from the day, and give our Frenchie "Stella" some lovin'…she missed us;)
Why Most People Are Afraid to Be Happy
You say you want happiness. We all do. But the truth is, you’re scared shitless of it. Completely bat shit crazy of having it because lo and behold if you get it, if you experience it and get used to experiencing it, you just might lose it. Well here’s a little 411 for you: so am I, and so is everyone. That’s our first problem. The second one is this: most of us wouldn’t know happiness if it appeared on our doorstep and introduced itself. Happiness. What is it? We walk around striving for it, hoping for it, and looking for it in all the wrong places; but the truth is, most of us wouldn’t recognize happiness if it tackled us in broad daylight and held us down screaming: “I’m here, I’ve arrived, I am your happiness, see me, see me, SEE ME.” I know this one like I know the palm of my own hand. I was a miserable child. From the outside I looked happy and carefree, but on the inside, for as far back as I can remember, I longed to be happy one day. Back then, happiness was simple in my child’s mind, it consisted of staying in one place for more than a year, escaping my mother’s harsh tongue, and dodging creepy, lurking relatives. Even as a small child, I kept thinking: “one day I will be out of this house and on my own, and then I will be happy.” Trouble is, that search and that anticipation lasted beyond leaving my childhood home. It followed me through college as I longed for graduation day and dreamt of escaping my studies — then and only then, could I be happy and free. Of course once I entered the job force as a diligent nine to fiver, happiness awaited me after work and on the weekends. Happiness lurked about in my mind’s eye through anticipated vacations surely delivering happiness within those fourteen days of no work bliss. But did it? Hell no. Happiness was never in any of those end point intellectual destinations. Happiness did not arrive when I fell in love, got married and walked down that isle. Happiness did not arrive along with my huge bonus checks and yuppy lifestyle. And happiness certainly did not arrive when I worked my ass off to fit into that bikini and take that trip to an exotic island. Happiness never arrived because happiness wasn’t an outside job. It was, and is, an inside one. One that we are all entirely terrified of grabbing. Grabbing the brass ring of happiness means that we hold still for a little while and look around at the life we’re living. Happiness lies in acceptance and gratitude for what is. Happiness lives in the smallest of small things: the scent of the morning grass when the sprinkler first hits lawn against early light; happiness hangs out on the little hairs of your dog’s ears back lit by sunlight, and happiness exists in the way a lover’s arm feels heavy across your back as you struggle to claim your side of the bed. You see, happiness is so tiny and so small that it’s fleeting if you don’t take the time to see it. I write about happiness on my blog, and teach forty day workshops on rebooting yourself so you can live a life you love. My entire message to the world is about positivity and happiness; but the truth is, most of the positive spin we try to put on things is horse shit. We live empty lives searching for happiness, while touting yoga mantras and positive affirmations. Truth be told, our habit of putting a positive spin on things is actually like frosting a cake made of crap with beautiful frosting. It’s a lie and it’s not a pathway leading to true happiness. True happiness takes courage. I’m talking the vulnerable, put yourself out there and look like a total fool sort of courage. It’s not easy. You’ve got to be willing to break from the norm, appear uncool and stop caring so damn much about what other people think of you. We’ve ALL got to take the time to slow down, break from this crazy pace in life and take a minute to sit and stare at the sky without checking for a text, listen to the birds without multi-tasking in our heads, and walk the dog without the cell phone while risking a missed call. We’ve got to shelve our egos and say yes to love, open ourselves up to being hurt beyond hurt again, and say hell yes to taking chances. Yet most of us aren’t willing to take a small chance on anything. We say we do, but we don’t. We say we will, but we won’t. You don’t. You know you don’t. You play it safe and color between the lines like a good girl or a good boy. You’re afraid to open up and be vulnerable and say to someone: “you know what, I adore you, I love you, I’m afraid you might leave me one day, and honestly I’m afraid period.” We’re all afraid. We’re afraid to relax and enjoy life and instead we work long hours to make that money to go on that two week vacation that in the end…ends. Then we’re left with pictures and memories that fade quickly and credit card debt that doesn’t. If you would slow down and appreciate what you have daily, happiness might just poke her head out from behind your back and say: hey, here I am. If you would count what you’re grateful for on your finger’s and toes every single morning and every single night, you might start to sense what happiness tastes like. When you realize that the fact the sky is blue, the sun rises everyday, and the beat of your pet’s heart are all miraculous, happiness might just start to let you catch her scent. But instead, we find it easier to chase after happiness which is insanity. Chasing happiness is like trying to catch your own shadow. It’s not possible because it’s part of you. Happiness is inside of you. It’s not out there, it’s in there. But there’s no way to reach it unless you slow down, get quiet, and stop for a little while to notice. They say that time doesn’t exist, and those same scientists say that when you break anything down, you’ll see a bunch of moving atoms that when you break those down, you’ll see nothing but space– empty space. They say that there’s no out there either. This means that there’s no time, there’s nothing but empty space and there’s nothing out there. Kinda boggles your mind doesn’t it? Well, if that’s all true (and it is), there is no where out there to find happiness. Psst…because it’s inside of you. Ask anyone dying of Cancer, or going through hell. When life pulls the rug out from under you and you’ve got nothing to grab onto, or hope for, there’s a crystal clear clarity that comes. In those moments, you realize well shit, the smallest of things make me pretty happy right now because that’s all I’ve got to hold on to. And in those moments of hell, you finally realize lo and behold, happiness is in the way my child’s hair smells after an afternoon nap, it’s in the feel of my dog’s paw on my leg and it’s in the way my partner’s eyes look when they say I love you. It’s not out there after all. It’s right here in front of me. But that’s only half of this troublesome equation. Even when we do start to recognize happiness, we’re afraid to grab onto it and trust it. We’re afraid to actually relax into enjoying it because God forbid, what if we taste it and start to like it and then lose it? What if? What if? What the F if? Yeah, that’s the absolute deadliest of problems we all face in this quest for happiness. We’re more comfortable wishing for happiness than we are actually noticing it and enjoying it. Our entire society is based upon anticipation and hope. Striving for what’s next, what’s better and what’s around the corner. All that anticipation and striving delivers us right into the next moment, but you know what?Happiness is back there behind you, like a shadow, in the now moment. Happiness is the polar opposite of someday. It’s the complete antithesis of one day, and it’s never to be found in the when. Happiness is here now if you relax enough and have the balls to accept it. Being grateful for the job you have and realizing that regardless of how you feel today, you’re in this job for a reason. At one point you wanted it. At one point you hoped for it. That partner of yours? At one point you wanted them, but because you’re always searching for what’s better or what’s next, you don’t take the time to appreciate what you’ve got right there in front of you. And that body of yours? I’m betting if you lost your right leg tomorrow, you’d long to have that chubby little cellulite filled inner thigh back again, wouldn’t you? So relax and let yourself realize right now: you have everything you really need right here. If you relax and appreciate what you’ve got, chances are you might actually slip into a grateful moment; and if you’re really brave enough to totally relish that moment, happiness just might slip over you like a soft warm blanket of goodness- so good in fact that you slowly let you eyes close and let that sweet satisfaction of happiness embrace you for a little while. — - See more at: http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/us-dont-balls-happy-gmp/#sthash.DUf5W30V.dpuf