Friday Focus – 1/6/17

The new year is here already and it’s crazy to me how fast the holidays just flew by this year. The holiday lights are coming down in the neighborhood and I can feel the city settling into it’s new groove.

Over and over again this week I keep coming back to the theme of owning your own happiness.

For example, as if it were a test, yesterday I was speaking to a customer service agent and I was taken aback (almost speechless) by the cut offs, short answers, and overall tone of this person. Despite all this I decided not to wallow in anger and reminded myself that we all own our own happiness.

Sure, something not so pleasant happened. It was an event. But does it mean you have to stay angry? Continue reading “Friday Focus – 1/6/17”

Happy This Year

I came across this book unexpectedly. To be honest when I saw the front cover of the book and read the title I didn’t think it was a book I’d be able to relate to. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s important to work on your happiness but it just all looked… so cheezy… 😉

And then I picked it up anyway and flipped through the pages. I was hooked. It was simple to understand, there were personal stories that as a reader I could relate to, and the way in which Will Bowen explained the principles made it that much easier to really take in and apply it to my life immediately!

Continue reading “Happy This Year”

Richmond District Farmer's Market. San Francisco, CA

The Zone vs. Paleo Journey

Yesterday I wrote about how I found Paleo and why I still follow this way of eating. I’ve found that it’s truly a lifestyle and I love the way it makes me feel.

While it may have sounded like an all too easy transition to cut grains, gluten, and processed foods, I wanted to share a bit more about why I was miserable on The Zone (Enter The Zone: A Dietary Road map), how it affected me psychologically, and how I made the transition to Paleo.

Continue reading “The Zone vs. Paleo Journey”

Why We Get Offended and What To Do About It

If there’s one thing that makes the human relationship (no matter how light or deep) more complicated is the fact that we are fully capable of being offended – very easily I might add  😉

No matter how silly the statement, oftentimes the other person has no idea you’ve been offended! And yet, as humans we’ve grown up in a world full of walls, words, experiences, and wounds that would ultimately leave us a little bruised. It’s no wonder we keep our distance from those that have tendencies to trigger us.

While there are a variety of coping mechanisms, I’ve come to learn one particular method (or two) that helps defuse the situation rather quickly.

Continue reading “Why We Get Offended and What To Do About It”

Does Money Buy Happiness?

With money you can buy a house, but not a home.

With money you can buy a clock, but not time.

With money you can buy a bed, but not sleep.

With money you can buy a book, but not knowledge.

With money you can buy a doctor, but not good health.

With money you can buy a position, but not respect.

With money you can buy blood, but not life.

With money you can buy sex, but not love.

~Chinese proverb

Series on adrenal fatigue

How I Recovered from Adrenal Fatigue Pt. 3

In the last post on Adrenal Fatigue I shared some of the tools and tactics that helped me to overcome adrenal fatigue.

If I look back now it was almost a two year journey to heal all the wounds that likely led to having adrenal fatigue in the first place.

Yesterday’s post inspired me to write the third installment on how I overcame adrenal fatigue. Why? Because the theme in yesterday’s post was the exact mental model I needed during my journey for complete healing.

In the beginning stages of adrenal fatigue I was a mess. Yet I had hope. And it was this hope along with my driven type A personality that created a complete plan toward the road to health and wellness.

Continue reading “How I Recovered from Adrenal Fatigue Pt. 3”

Letting Go of Form When It Comes to Expectations

This is probably one of the hardest lessons when it comes to the human mind… Often times when we have a desire for a certain outcome whether it be a job, weight on the scale, soulmate, car, whatever it may be… our minds have a way of knowing EXACTLY what we want and if not exact, it knows to be disappointed or elated (more disappointed than not) once you’ve reached a certain point in time.

I am often humbled and embarrassed when I remember the times I was so determined to make something work, only to have, what seemed at the time, the door shut in my face so fast and so hard I could have felt the physicality of it. Oh yes, anyone ever had that moment?

Continue reading “Letting Go of Form When It Comes to Expectations”

Friday Focus – 12/16/16

Can you feel Christmas in the air? And if you don’t necessarily celebrate Christmas… perhaps you feel the holiday cheer? Everyone seems to be more relaxed, cheery, and overall happy. I love these warm, fuzzy feelings and I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts 😉

Yesterday, I tried what seemed to be the best flourless peanut butter cookies, but alas… I ended up scratching my head in confusion wondering how 200 people gave this recipe a 5 stars. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to add an extra tablespoon of coconut oil… it seemed like a good idea at the time?

All that said, it seems only fitting that for this Friday Focus the theme is…

Continue reading “Friday Focus – 12/16/16”

Elizabeth Gilbert Big Magic

Two Pivotal Moments in Big Magic

I love audio books. Especially since I travel often and find myself sitting in traffic (a lot)! When the list of unplayed podcast shows 0 I can always rely on Audible for a good read.

Since I love learning new things my Audible playlist (and podcast for that matter) are entirely comprised of psychology, health, business, fitness, or memoirs. Currently, I’m almost through this incredible book, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, by the incredible author Elizabeth Gilbert. The cherry on top is that Elizabeth herself is reading to you!

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As I am near the end of the book I am grateful Elizabeth reads the book herself. There is something about hearing the emotion, investment, experience, the living proof of how this book came to be through hearing her words.

There was a pivotal moment in the book I couldn’t have been more grateful for. Actually two pivotal moments that truly struck me. And of course I took these two moments as a reminder to my own self and took my own interpretation* which you can find below.

Continue reading “Two Pivotal Moments in Big Magic”