Listen

Right Way

“You have your way.

I have my way.
 As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.” 

Friedrich Nietzsche

Awakens

Deeper

Self Respect

You were not meant to sit at the edge of your comfort zone.  Not trying for fear of falling.  Not loving for fear of losing love.  Not speaking your truth for fear of what others will think.  Not looking at yourself in the mirror for fear of what you might see.

Try, and then try again with all your might.  Your courage will unfold as your resolve takes hold.  And with each effort you make you will earn a little more confidence which you can use to acquire what no one else can give you: Your self-respect.

Hit Delete

Fit

Self Respect

Whenever you catch yourself in a rambling bout of negative self-talk, stop and ask yourself, “If I had a friend who spoke to me in the same way that I sometimes speak to myself, how long would I allow this person to be my friend?”

Remember, the way you treat yourself sets the standard for others, and the world at large, to follow.  

 Above everyone else, YOU deserve YOUR respect.

Distancing

A big part of who we become in life has to do with who you choose to surround yourself with.  We simply cannot expect to live a positive, fulfilling life if we surround ourselves with negative people.

Distancing yourself from these people is never easy, but it’s a lot harder when they happen to be close friends or family members.  As hard as it may be, it’s something you need to address.  To a certain degree, life controls who walks into your life, especially as it relates to your family and childhood friends, but you decide who you spend the majority of your time with.

Bondage

Time

Prison

For Me

Simple

If you want love, give love.
  If you want friends, be friendly.
  If you’d like to feel understood, practice more understanding.

 It’s a simple practice that works.

Probiotics

A recent small study found that women who regularly ate beneficial bacteria known as probiotics showed reduced activity in areas of the brain associated with emotion and pain. It’s long been known that gut bacteria, the ecosystem of microorganisms living in our digestive tract, help support a healthy immune system and digestion. It has also been established that the brain sends signals to the gut, which is why stress can trigger a mad dash to the bathroom.
 This study suggests that those signals travel the opposite way as well, and that the probiotics you consume may alter how your brain reacts to your environment. While it’s too soon to say that yogurt and other sources of probiotics will help settle a bad mood, research does point in that direction. In addition to consuming yogurt, kefir, kombucha and other fermented foods, following a diet that’s high in fiber from vegetables, whole grains, fruits and legumes can help improve your gut flora.

Colors

Wasting

  To spend time trying to change the past, is to waste all of the present and future.
  Forget the failures of the past and focus on the present opportunities.
  It’s better to have a life full of small failures that you learned from, rather than a lifetime filled with the regrets of never trying.

Non-Negotiable

Make a deal with yourself that you only have to exercise for 10 minutes. Set a timer, and if you still want to quit when it goes off, you can.

You’ll usually find that you want to keep going, but if there are days that you don’t, that’s fine too.
 Put your workouts in your calendar just like any other important appointment. Make it non-negotiable, and schedule other events around it.

Same World

Religion

We can never be the better for our religion
if our neighbor is the

worse for it.

The High Road

As we all know from experience, being the recipient of someone else’s antagonistic behavior can really bring us down, even on an otherwise great day. Research shows that a negative interaction has a five times greater impact on us

than a positive one.
 In other words, it takes five good things to offset just one bad thing. So how do you keep a mean person from ruining your day? Instead of attacking back, kill that meanie with kindness. And treat yourself with kindness too. Sometimes we don’t want to admit that someone has gotten under our skin. Instead of denying your hurt feelings, acknowledge them. As for the other person, try to see past their actions. “Mean-spirited people are unhappy, to say the least. Inside they are hurting, living out of fear, insecurity and anger. They don’t feel good about themselves or their lives, so they lash out at others,” says Jane Pernotto Ehrman, MEd, mind-body coach and behavioral health specialist at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute’s Center for Lifestyle Medicine. “Mostly, it isn’t about you, it’s about them. Recognizing that there are underlying issues can make it easier for you to respond with compassion and understanding. 
Take the high road and respond with kindness.” 
After all, while you can’t change another person’s behavior, you can change your reaction to him or her. Being kind to someone who has hurt you may inspire that person to see the good in themselves as well. 

Expensive

Natural Endings

(RANDOM) Thursday Morning Thought:
I can recall how for so many years it would be so difficult for me when relationships ended.
So many thoughts about regrets, wishing things were different, etc.
NO MORE.
I have come to see that ALL RELATIONSHIPS COME TO AN END.
Eventually.
Even if two people remain together in a loving relationship one of them will eventually die before the other.
For the surviving person this relationship has ended.
For the dead person life has ended.
My Husband and I are soon to be beginning our 18th year together. I have never been happier in a relationship in my entire life.
However, if it ever came to a time where we no longer were growing from our relationship or that I could no longer trust him I would end the marriage.
I have people in my life that have enjoyed a friendship with me for years and even some for decades.
But again, if these relationships come to a natural and organic end I have learned to accept that as well.
NOTHING IS FOREVER.
People who love me so much often see me as pessimist or as a non-romantic!
I don't believe that is true at all.
I see myself as a pragmatist and a realist.
I see no reason why I should keep certain people in my life because of the length of time I know them or some sort of bullshit obligation.
When they have proven to be abusive, jealous, angry, unkind and irresponsible for a length of time and it does not change it is time to let them go.
And, I am completely at peace with that decision.

Responsibility

Fixing

You don’t love and appreciate someone because they’re perfect, you love and appreciate them in spite of the fact that they are not. 
 “Perfection” is a deadly fantasy – something none of us will ever be. 
 So beware of your tendency to “fix” someone when they’re NOT broken.  
They are perfectly imperfect, just the way they should be.

How To Get Fit

(RANDOM) Monday morning thought:
Life can be painful.
Life can be beautiful.
I have come to believe that much of what we see and experience has to do with our perspective.
I love the metaphor of deciding which pair of glasses we put on each day.
It is the way we will see the world.
If I choose to wear the angry glasses I am sure to find someone or something to get angry about.
If I choose to wear the beauty glasses I am bound to find beauty, kindness and
 love everywhere that I roam.
I also believe that we often consciously or subconsciously choose which glasses to wear because we want our own view of the world to be validated.


Dr. Crew Lauterbach

Really Listening

How Love Dies

“Love never dies a natural death. 

 It dies because we don’t know how to replenish its source.  It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals.  It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings.

Anaïs Nin

Lifestyle

YOUR Choice

Resistance

Constant resistance to a change that you cannot control has negative effects on your health, your emotions and the people around you.  When presented with a major change that one is resistant to, people tend to obsess about it, quickly becoming a pain to be around.  
 Constant worrying and stressing over a change that you cannot control leads to all sorts of physical problems. 
And not one of these responses

is going to change the core problem.

The Fan Pose

If you’re feeling drowsy or a little bit blue, open your heart with fan pose. This yoga move opens the shoulders, chest and lungs, which helps you breathe better and feel more awake.

 Here’s how to do the fan pose:
Start seated on the edge of a sturdy hard-backed chair. Your feet should be firmly planted on the floor, hip distance apart. Reach both arms back and grab onto the back of the chair. Roll your shoulder blades down your back, creating an opening in the chest. Take a deep breath in and, as you exhale, lean forward, leading with your chest. Hold for five to 10 breaths and slowly release. Finish by wrapping your arms around yourself in a hug to counter the stretch. This move helps open the top of the chest and front of the shoulders.