I ran to the grocery store today to pick up a few items. When I got to my car, I put my purse and plastic grocery bag on the front passenger seat, then I pulled off. After driving a few minutes, I caught a red light. As I sat there, I remembered I forgot to take out a snack I bought to eat for the ride home. As I grabbed the grocery bag to get my goodie out, I found the one side, of one of the handles, somehow decided to work its way through the slit of one of the metal loops that holds the strap to my purse. As I looked down, I was puzzled as to how, by simply placing them both on the seat together, this was the result. The slit on the metal loop is extremely tight with no room for play at all!
While the light was still red, I tried to quickly work the side of the handle back out through the slit. To no avail, I could not! Out of frustration, I ripped the bag handle which was the only way to release it from being attached to my purse (my OCD was on high at the moment, not wanting this attachment to continue all the way home). I was perplexed! How could this have happened!!?? If someone told me they would give me a million dollars if I could get one side of the plastic bag handle through the crack of the loop in a few minutes, I would have not succeeded! Heck, I tried to pull and pry the slit open, trying to make sense as to how this happened, and I could not get it to open even a hair, yet somehow, unbeknownst to me, the handle worked its way through on its own. Magic!
I remember another time when something like this occured. I was at the grocery store and no sooner I put my hands on the handle of the shopping cart, I felt my bracelet stuck (hmmm the grocery store again…maybe there is something with me and food shopping lol) My bracelet worked its way through a little opening on the cart. It happened in a matter of seconds, however, it took me about five minutes to get it out! Once again, I was so frustrated! The opening somehow was big enough for the bracelet to get caught very quickly, but not big enough for me to get it out easily…grrrrrrrrrrrrr
If we pay attention, these little nuisances that transpire are teachable moments, correlating to aspects of life. It is so easy to get into something, and so hard to get out. It is so easy to get into debt, so hard to get out; it is so easy to gain weight, and it takes a lot of discipline and hardwork to get the weight off; it is easy to fail a class, and it takes a few semesters of many good grades to get your GPA up after that one F knocked you down; so easy to spew off nasty words from the mouth, so hard to take them back even after much apology.
Like my bag and bracelet stories, sometimes there are unforeseen circumstances that happen to us beyond our control, then there are those situations where we are to blame and the outcome, pretty predictable. Either way, life will be life!
I can’t believe we are only about four weeks away from Christmas. Some of you may have already started your shopping, some may have not. Over the years, I have changed the way I thought about the gift giving part of Christmas. The commercialization around this holiday is something I am sure we are all aware of. Unless I am forgetting about how this operated in years past, I think this year, the Christmas process started even earlier than ever before. Sorry, if I sound like Scrooge.
The day after Halloween, in the shopping center near where I live, Christmas wreaths were on the light poles and giant Christmas balls displayed on the lawn dividers. I mean, we were not fully out of pumpkin season with Thanksgiving still being about three weeks away at that point, and here comes the Yuletide decorations.
Within the first few days of November, stores started playing holiday music and Christmas trees were up and decorated, getting everyone prepared to spend. In my travels, I noticed so many homes decorated early too. Is it possible the enticing atmosphere retail stores created was the cause of this??? Soon, we really will have Christmas in July as it seems to get earlier and earlier each year. I am not sure if it is a good thing or a bad thing.
Having a longer preparation time is good to alleviate some of the holiday stress we put on ourselves. The strain and feeling of obligation; worrying how you will look to others if you do not hand out elaborate gifts or any gifts at all for that matter. Anyone who truly loves you and has their own priorities in order, would never look at you wrong for the gift you give or do not give; they will be appreciative no matter what. In my opinion, family traditions and making memories with loved ones is much more important.
Gifts come in many forms. For adults, (those of you visiting from out of town this may not be doable) I was thinking how nice it would be, if instead of exchanging presents, gift cards and/or money, make a service coupon giving your time and one of your talents to a family member or friend to use anytime throughout the year. Services could be: doing some housework, tutoring, babysitting, cooking a dinner one night when someone needs it most, cleaning, helping out with home or car repairs. Of course, when the family member or friend would want to redeem the coupon they would need to provide enough notice. I think you get the picture.
I know families that started doing the ‘Secret Santa’ exchange with a set limit of about $20. This avoids each person feeling like they have to buy for everyone, yet no one goes home without a present, not to mention it is fun. You could start at your Thanksgiving gathering or set up another time to write out each participants name and wishlist tailored to the set amount, place papers folded in a hat and each person then draws a name. Presto! Life has just got a little easier. Now there is more time to enjoy the other aspects of the holiday. You could also do a cookie swap. The idea is to be creative and fun without being broke and stressed.
I learned over the years, our children do not need to have everything they think they want or ask for. When we always give in, we do a disservice to them and us. I remember purchasing toys my children put on their Christmas list when they were very young, to find not too long after, the toys they asked for were of little to no interest to them. I realized I was throwing my money down the drain. I did not have to give in to their every request. I needed to make better decisions for them and myself, teaching them more valuable lessons. I could have invested some of that money in a college fund or another type of investment that would have held more value later in life; teaching them principles that would better serve them once they were older to understand. Ouchhhh hindsight can hurt! Live and learn! Older and wiser!
My whole point in all this is to keep the spirit going, however, do not get yourself too stressed and in debt. That is not what the season is about. I hope you to take some things I’ve mentioned into consideration. Research others inexpensive ways to share this holiday with your loved ones.
Enjoy all the food and gatherings this season brings with the ones you love. I wish you a peaceful, healthy and happy holiday, filled with love and beautiful memories that will last a lifetime.
In Make Love Your Religion: How To Put Love First & Succeed at Doing What You Love, author David Nazario takes you on his passionate journey by sharing his memoir, as he provides thought provoking questions, statements and examples as to why you too should be doing what you love from a spiritual standpoint instead of going through the motions of just working at a “job.” David methodically builds each chapter:
Chapter 1: Love of Self
Chapter 2: Love of Community
Chapter 3: Love of Knowledge
Chapter 4: Love of Celebrity Life
Chapter 5: Love of Money
Chapter 6: Love of God
This is an easy read with a lot of information. My recommendations would be to read through the first time, then go back and reread while taking notes and highlighting important points, while reflecting. Reading a book the second time around allows you to find nuggets of important information and insights that may have been missed the first time around; giving you a fresh and different perspective from your first read. I don’t want to give too much away here. I would rather you purchase the book and decide for yourself.
This is my Amazon review: This book was a great and fast read! I read it in 24 hours! Make Love Your Religion is written in a flow that holds your interest with a desire to continue reading. My first read was a quick run; I wanted to read it though all the way once, now I plan on going back and focusing on certain areas as well as highlighting for reflection. David does a great job of providing thought provoking questions and topics. Love is so important; exactly what this world needs! David’s life is very well-rounded. Some of his experiences written about are: childhood, travel, money, donating your time to charity, doing the work you love and are passionate about. He will make you rethink aspects of your life. Great read!
My relationship with food is a unhealthy one consisting of love and hate. I have loved food ever since I can remember. When I was five years old, I asked for my first two cookbooks. Yup, you read correctly…five years old! As a little child I loved looking at recipes. I would scan the pages of pictures with the completed dish or baked good and read over the ingredients like if I were reading a romantic novel. As I got older, the love for cookbooks never left me. I use to joke around and say I was addicted to cookbooks (which in reality, was no joke; I truly was addicted to cookbooks).
Here they are! This is where my cookbook addiction all began at the tender age of five.This is what I wrote on the inside cover of my Humpty Dumpty Cookbook. I am so glad my penmanship changed drastically as I got older!
I would always say I am going to go to Cookbooks Anonymous. “Hello, my name is Tracy. I am addicted to cookbooks.” I never used the 12 Step Program to get out of my addiction, however, I did overcome it on my own. Simply because I bought so many cookbooks that I had about five HUGE storage containers filled with them. I said to myself one day, “This is crazy! I barely even use these! I just have them for my viewing pleasure and I keep collecting more and more. I need to stop this!” And I did; I donated four of my five bins. It was hard for me to decide which books to keep, and which ones to donate, but after much reluctance and contemplation, I did it!
The only bin left out of the five I had filled with cookbooks.
My family always cooked. My grandparents never went out to eat. I only ate out at restaurants with my mom when we went shopping at the mall. Otherwise, we ate at home. I was always surrounded by food; delicious food at that! I believe this is where it all started for me.
Growing up, I was very active so I never really struggled with my weight. I could eat whatever I wanted and not worry too much about how I looked. I never took into consideration in my younger years how this would later affect me, or how it was affecting me at the moment even though I may have not have noticed or correlated any health symptoms to my eating habits at the time, or felt my issues were not crucial enough to make me calm down.
I liked my sweets, but I ate very healthy mostly all the time. I was not a Junk Food Junkie by any means. The problem was not what I ate, but how much of it I could eat; which is probably just as bad. I use to say that I could eat some men under the table. My grandfather would watch me eat and say, “God love her! Where does she put it all!?” As I got older and started to experience all different cultural cuisines from all over the world, food became the vehicle that transported me to the geographical location the fare I was eating was associated with. Just like how a book is a cheap vacation, well food was my palate excursion.
After giving birth to my children, losing the baby weight was never an issue. I put on 40lbs with my son, and 50lbs with my daughter. Yeah, they ate very well while in my belly. It was not until I got into my glorious 40s that I started to notice as my life became more hectic, and my exercise decreased, that my body started changing. I found I could not consume the same amount of calories, not exercise, and still be a desirable weight. This is when the battle began! I wanted to look good and still eat whatever I wanted to like I always could have up until this point. Now the two were conflicting with one another, and I had to choose: food or look good. It was a hard choice because never before have I needed to decide between the two. My desire for food always won. Then the insanity started, just like the quote says, I was doing the same thing, and expecting to get different results.
I would look in the mirror and see some fat that decided to find its way on my body, and get frustrated with myself because I knew my consumption of food needed to change, but I could not control it. Then, after being too consumed with life to exercise and eating habits out of control, my high level of frustration would give me the spark I needed to somehow find time and energy to workout for about a week, but I could not do overnight in one insane week of working out what took months or more of damage to do.
Now that I am almost 50, the battle of the last decade still continues. I am actually writing this now because I have been having digestive issues as well as going back and forth with losing weight. I have about 20lbs to lose. I start off all gungho knowing what I need to do, and I make progress, only to divert back into old habits and find myself picking up the pounds I just lost, only to have to start all over again. What a vicious cycle! I have the head knowledge, I just need to gain enough willpower to put it into play.
I recently been reading up on gut health and how important it is to our overall health. Many of our health problems come from our digestive tract due to the foods we eat and not expelling the waste consistently. I realize more and more how I need to change my habits in order to lose these pesky 20lbs and fully regain my health. I am always researching these topics so I am very knowledgeable on the subjects. My issue is putting everything into practice, which I realize I need to do ASAP. I am planning on beating this by learning to eat intuitively, being mindful of what I am about to put in my body and portion size; slowing down when I eat, chewing my food slowly and savoring all the flavors and textures instead of shoveling it all in and eating mindlessly. Something else I have been studying that has been shown to be very beneficial and healthy on so many levels is intermittent fasting, which I start and do good with for a little and then POOF, off it goes to the wayside.
I know I am not alone. There are millions of people out there struggling with these same issues. We will get to where we need to be. It takes time. We fail more times than we can count before we are sick enough of the same results that we do something about. Then it will become permanent instead of a temporary fix. Like any addiction, it is being aware, acknowledging it, learning the tools you need to be proactive, then implementing which leads to being victorious. We shall overcome!
I stumbled upon something I never heard before and I had to share.
Here is the link to hear the performance https://genius.com/Larry-groce-junk-food-junkie-lyrics
Gratitude is one of the strongest and most transformative states of being. It shifts your perspective from lack to abundance and allows you to focus on the good in your life, which in turn pulls more goodness into your reality.
―Jen Sincero
I realize my attitude of gratitude has slipped away from me
Waking up everyday focusing on what I lack brings nothing but negativity
Making me depressed
Too stressed to realize how blessed I really am
Forgetting all I have come through
I still stand
From each experience there is a lesson and a plan
I can’t appreciate joy without some pain
Or know how great the sunshine is without some rain
The lessons each season has for me
God still continues to supply my needs
After winter
Spring returns again
The dead is revived
Everything blooms again
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity underthe heavens
We are all in this together
From our good fortunes
To our trials and tribulations
I make the choice each day as to what my focus should be
This is NOT one of my favorite pictures of myself! This was taken at a time when I was in college and swamped with life, so I picked up weight. However, I chose to use it because it fits the purpose.
Letters turn into words and when spoken, are the artistic form of emotion, forming something that creates a release from me into the atmosphere of a painted picture of who I am and what I am feeling, I….am the expressionist!
What you hear and the way I express my feelings, you may not like, but it is my story. I will use my freedom of speech to express where, when and to whom I feel the need. I will not stay silent! Silent to stay locked in my own personal hell where I yell and no one hears?! The disappointments that continue to take hold of me, stay embedded in my memory, scared to see, because another disappointment is not what I seek. But it is there! In this disappointment do I share? Does anybody care? Will the tapestry of my life show only on the messy stitched side? Or will I ever see the beautiful masterpiece all the ugly stitching provides?
As a painter takes their brush and dips it in paint, sitting down looking at their canvas, not knowing which direction to take, but with each dip and stroke that is applied to the piece, artwork is being made. I have my own colors of paint I dip my brush in. The colors that lie in front of me are: fear, disappointment, confusion, hope, determination, courage, prayer, uncertainty. I dip my brush and start to paint, each color creates a beautiful piece of art. An intrinsic piece that is phenomenally me. What others have created, and what I have chosen to be. Tear stained eyes all too familiar to me. The versus and the curses of my life making me question my destiny. Growing weary, because I bleed daily, but no one sees the blood because it is masked profoundly behind my smile, my laugh, my strength, and my momentum of the daily grind.
But inside I am crying, reaching, hoping, praying that one day this will subside and something much more pleasant will reside. Until then, I strive to reach high. Trying to change some of the colors of my paint. Expressing what is missing, what I want cancels out what I don’t, yet in this created who I am. The good, the bad, and the ugly, all paint a picture of me. I am the artist of my life. Those who have contributed are unaware of the masterpiece they have started to create in me. From the fiery darts they implore, giving me the strength I needed to endure. They did not realizing what they were doing, when they aimed for my destruction with their diabolical intrusion, they tried to birth my conclusion which was only their illusion, but now for them it is confusing because I keep pushing and I am still here standing strong, until one day I soar and this negativity I feel no more.
These are the letters that turn into words when spoken, creating an artistic picture of emotion…I am the expressionist!
