Tag Archives: Happiness

OTHER

Birthday Reflection!

Today is my birthday. Believe it or not, I am 37 years old!!!

Sometimes I stop and wonder how I got to be this age and where the time has gone. I remember when I was a kid and thought that people in their 30’s were old and over the hill… lol

Now it’s dawned on me that I am in my late 30s. But I am much too young to be 37, right? I mean I don’t feel 37.  But what does feeling 37 really mean? I have no idea. All I know is that I feel better now than I did in my twenties. I am fitter, healthier, and so much happier in my personal and professional life. I feel positive about life and excited to see all that my future holds!

I can say that my thirties have proven to be, so far, the most fulfilling, enriching, meaningful and life-enhancing decade of my life. Not only have I found more peace and love within and for myself, but I also found the courage to change careers, open a business and make fitness my full time gig. I started running, swimming, and completing in numerous endurance events around the world, traveling to over 10 countries. I’ve started on this brand new and exciting journey that has completely rejuvenated me and I could not feel more proud, excited, and grateful. I think that I have found my calling and purpose in life, and have to say that when you find it, magical things happen.

I know that I am a very lucky lady and feel truly blessed. I wake up every day and thank god for my life. And as I take a moment to reflect on the last 37 years here are some words of advice that I have to offer.

A few words of wisdom from this 37 year old- (in no particular order)

1. Stop wasting or wishing your life away. It’s time to stop existing and start living!

  • Hate your job? Find a new one.
  • Want to run a marathon? Do it!
  • Want to visit another country? Charge it and go.

You’re not getting any younger and tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, so live today.

2. Stop getting in your own way! You are the only one stopping you from living the life you want and the life you have imagined. Things may get tough and when it does, you can give up or you can continue to preserve and follow our dreams.  It is up to YOU!

3. Don’t work too hard. There is more to life than your job. Spend time with family and friends, take time to travel and explore, just be present and live in the moment.

4. Let go of negativity- people, things, whatever it may be. Don’t allow others to bring you down or hold you back. Surround yourself with people who encourage you, support you, and inspire you.

5. Try something new. Ten years ago, I never thought I had a runner’s body and I was deathly afraid of the water, but now I run marathons and compete in triathlons. I’ve realized that I am capable of so much more than I gave myself credit for. So try something new, step outside your comfort zone, you may surprise yourself.

6. Take time for you every day. Go for a walk, run, yoga class, read… whatever it may be, remember to care for yourself and do things that fill your cup.

7. Love yourself and be kind to yourself. Stop with the negativity and putting yourself down. Stop hating yourself for everything you aren’t and start loving yourself for everything you are. You are special and have many things to offer this world. Believe in you!

8. Pain is temporary. Stop allowing yourself to be hindered by it.  When you hit rock bottom, you feel like you are never going to be able to crawl out from that hole… but that’s not true.  Bad things may happen but you cannot let them define you or have a lasting impact on your life. Learn from the pain you endure, but then let it go.

9. Karma is real. I’ve seen it happen personally and for friends. If you give more, you’ll get more. The energy you put out is what you get back, so be good & do good.

10. Gratitude is the key to happiness. It’s powerful and it works! Always be grateful for what you have; no matter how bad things seem, there’s always someone who has it worse. “Gratitude is an attitude!”

 

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OTHER

Keep a Contented Heart

happiness-projectA couple years ago my husband and I read The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.  I recently revisited this book because I’ve begun to find myself needing a few reminders about what happiness means and how to find happiness in our life, especially when things become difficult for us.  

So I decided to pull the book back out and revisit the chapter, November. Keep a Contented Heart is the heading for this chapter.  I started reading and thinking about this idea. What does “keep a contented heart” mean? Well literally, according to the dictionary, “contented” refers to happy and at ease, and “heart” is the organ that pumps our blood and is also the central or innermost part of something.  So having a contented heart means to be happy at your core.  Would you say that you have a contented heart right now? My immediate answer is no, but after some more thought, I would answer yes and I am sure you might too.  At first, keeping a contented heart can feel like a giant task, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact I think it can be easily attainable.

I think one of the most important things that leads to happiness is attitude; which Gretchen writes about in the chapter.  I believe attitude speaks volumes about how to achieve a contented heart.  If you can master a good attitude about whatever comes your way, good or bad, it can go a very long way to building your happiness level. I work daily on keeping and maintaining a positive attitude about life, even when I feel derailed or when life gets hard.  I awake each day with the mantra, “It’s a great day to be alive” and work hard to live up to that mantra by trying to achieve greatness each day.

And when I refer to greatness, I do not mean having power or wealth.  To me, having greatness can mean something a little different every day. It can include setting small, attainable goals that I set for myself.

For example:

attempting a new arm balance

running a faster mile

PRing my deadlift

complimenting someone

acknowledging someone’s hard work

It can also mean having the courage to stand up to injustice and the ability to help and be kind to all (i.e. people, animals, the environment).

For example:

being a vegan or vegetarian

not polluting our environment

offering support to someone who needs it

being a voice to the voiceless

As a former learning consultant and now yoga teacher and studio owner, I have spent my career caring for and teaching others. I believe in the importance of helping, supporting, and being kind to all beings and share that belief with my students through my words and actions.  I try to not take anything for granted and appreciate the small gifts in life.  This positive attitude, will, and desire to live a good, strong, and kind life has helped me to work towards achieving a contented heart.  I believe that it is important to be grateful for the things we have, tell the people in our lives that we care about them, and do something each day that will challenge us and help to make us better, because we never know if this day will be our last. Live it up!

November after all is the month that contains Thanksgiving, and it is a great time to work on having a contented heart. It’s a month that focuses on gratitude, thankfulness, and counting blessings both big and small. What better time to work on this?  There is no time like the present!

What can you do today to help you have more of a contented heart tomorrow?

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Yoga

Always Growing & Always Changing

KM YOGABefore I became a yogi and exercise fanatic, I was many things. It took me many years of exploration and soul searching to figure out who I was and what I wanted to do with my life.  While I don’t believe we ever really stop learning, as I’ve gotten older I have become much more in-tune with my feelings, needs, wants and desires.  I have learned to love myself and work hard everyday to never doubt, never hate, and never criticize who I am.  We all make mistakes and I try to learn from mine with compassion and love.   Continue reading Always Growing & Always Changing →

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Yoga

Life Lessons From My Dogs

A & S 2My husband and I have two dogs (Sebastian and Annabelle) that we cherish and love. They are are more like children to us then pets. They have made our lives so special in so many ways. They’ve shown us endless amounts love and devotion and we could not be more grateful to have them as a part of our family.  In fact, because we love our dogs so much we decided to adopt one more… a little pug we named Liberty. LIBERTYWe could not be more excited.  As our family continues to grow, my heart continues to expand as I open myself up to more love than I’ve ever imagined.  I owe a lot to these special dogs.

Having dogs has taught me so much about life and love, so I’ve decided to dedicate this week’s blog to my babies.  Here are some of the things I’ve learned from my dogs! Enjoy! Continue reading Life Lessons From My Dogs →

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Yoga

Salute to Summer

This Monday, June 20th will be the longest day of the year, otherwise known as the Summer Solstice. The word solstice comes from the Latin solstitium: from sol (sun) and stitium (to stop). So on Monday, make time to stop, reflect on your year, acknowledge how far you’ve come and set your intentions for what you want to create or encourage in your life during the second half of the year, until the Winter Solstice. Continue reading Salute to Summer →

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CrossFit, Running, Yoga

Explore. Dream. Discover.

compass 2“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~Mark Twain

At times, I can get uncomfortable with the idea of having uncertainty in any area or aspect of my life. I am an over scheduler (to a fault, I have a hard time saying no) and a planner.  I plan my schedule rigidly to the minute- how long I’ll sleep, when I’ll workout, work, hang with friends, spend time with family etc… I’ve got a schedule lined up for the next few days, weeks, and even months.

I like to have control and I enjoy having things a certain way so I know what to expect. For example, I know that on Monday I am going to wake up walk the dogs, run, go to crossfit, yoga, work, test, teach, have dinner go to bed…. Then it’s back to square one on Tuesday. I feel comfortable knowing what to expect. So when I lose this control it can result in discomfort, anxiety, and sometimes fear. However, I’ve discovered recently that it’s ok to have uncertainty in life and it actually can be kind of fun!!

Having quit my job this fall/winter to open a yoga studio (that hasn’t opened yet, but I’m still working on), I began freaking out… “what was I going to do for work while I waited for my plans to fall into place?”.  I got anxious, wondering to myself “what the hell was I going to do with my life?”,  I tried not to freak out and began to have faith that it would all workout and that the universe would guide me to where I was supposed to be. I discovered that uncertainty sometimes forces us to explore aspects in life we never even knew existed and that’s what makes uncertainty and change so beautiful. Having done so, I started encountering numerous opportunities, found new jobs, met new people, etc.. that I would never have, if my plans weren’t altered or  if I had stayed inside my comfort zone.

So while I still believe that planning is important and having goals are good too, it’s also ok to take a leap of faith, jump and see where you land.  Trust that something will be there to catch you.   So when you hit bumps in the road and need to alter your plan, just go with it. Think of it as a new adventure and see where the road leads!!

live and loveRight now, I could not be happier!!  Change and uncertainty are crucial in the process of creating the type of life we want to live and the people we want to be. I’ve tried to open my eyes and embrace not having everything figured out all the time.  So if you think of the future and you don’t see any clear picture, rather than get stressed or anxious, think of it as a blank canvas with endless opportunities to fill it with color. Maybe wake up one morning with no plans and just paint as you go, creating your own beautiful masterpiece.

Just like in the quote above by Mark Twain- explore life, discover new things, go after your dreams; accept change and uncertainty and begin to explore the unknown.

Good Luck & Have FUN!!

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CrossFit, Running, Yoga

30 Perfect Things!

I have been thinking about how often people take things for granted.  How we sometimes focus on the negative in our lives and we forget about all the good things.  Somehow we’ve learned to believe that we need material items to be happy.  So we go to work, hoping to make lots of money so we can buy things we want.  We believe that these items will help us feel more fulfilled or make us feel that we matter; proving our worth to the world.

Since I quit my job and taken a pay cut, my husband put me on a budget.  At first I thought, “what am I going to do?” Then I realized that I don’t need much.  I have so much already and more than what money can buy.  I started to think about all of the wonderful things in my life and having done so, I feel more content, more happy, and more sure that I am exactly where I need to be in life.  

We don’t need to buy things to make our lives beautiful or joyous. We don’t need more glamorous items in our lives to find happiness and contentment. We can find these wonderful qualities in what’s already in front of us.

At times, I forget this. But in my best moments, I remember and my heart expands with more love for life and everyone around me.

In my mind, these things are perfect and are proof that we don’t need to buy anything to be happy, cool, excited, or content:

  1. Family
  2. A quiet morning walk with the dogs before sunrise
  3. A run outdoors with good friends
  4. A great cup of coffee
  5. Reading a book curled up on the couch
  6. A hug
  7. A yoga practice
  8. A delicious fruit smoothie
  9. Holding the door for someone
  10. A good workout
  11. Hot soup and good bread
  12. A song that gets you singing and/or dancing
  13. Fresh fallen snow
  14. The sound of the ocean
  15. Meeting a new friend
  16. A sunset
  17. Leaves changing colors
  18. A fire in the fireplace
  19. Cuddling with your significant other
  20. Sunday mornings in bed
  21. Pancakes
  22. Spending time with friends
  23. A bite of mango
  24. Reflecting on life, blogging
  25. People laughing around you
  26. Imagining future possibilities
  27. Helping someone else
  28. Writing a note, email, or text to someone you care about  
  29. Knowing that you love yourself
  30. You

“Happiness isn’t about getting what you want all the time. It’s about loving what you have and being grateful for it.”

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CrossFit, Running, Yoga

COME ON GET HAPPY…..

happy heartImagine if everyone could be happy all the time and we could spread happiness around like confetti. Imagine what kind of world we would live in. Wouldn’t the world be a better and brighter place?

I do believe that happiness can be attainable. While it may be unlikely to be happy 100% of the time, I think it is possible to find it in even in the worst situations. Choosing to be happy and to stay positive can make even the most challenging situations, easier to bear.   Why spend energy being angry or sad when you can spend it thinking about the good things in your life. Continue reading COME ON GET HAPPY….. →

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