Think, Be, Glow

Being thankful is so easy, but because it is so easy...it is also so easily forgotten. Without much trouble, we can go hours, days, even weeks and not thank anyone. We have built a society in which it is too easy to not even think thanks.  Sad. Really sad. 
Today I'm dedicating this post to grace; to being grateful. By thinking thanks you not only ease stress and by default, enter a state of optimism, but also glow thanks. It's true. Thankful people look different. They smile more, walk taller, and glow. Keep watch for this. And the more conscious a person is about this phenomenon, the more potential they have to glow. And that's just thinking thanks.
By being thanks you run your life. You are the leader. Being grateful means sharing grace. And sharing grace is to truly understand thanks and live it. Let yourself feel thankful and let others know when you do. Being thanks is thinking thanks to the fullest.  Reflect upon actions, happenings, events. How did someone else impact you, your day, your time? It is amazing what you'll find. 
Being thanks is to truly glow. To shine. To sparkle with presence, optimism, and grace. Being thanks means carrying yourself differently in a world lived differently. It is a life of peace. Being thanks simplifies the world into a society of ease, of nice, of beautiful.  *Simple*, small alteration have the potential to change your life. Be thanks today. Share your grace. Glow.

Beautiful brownies... EVERY TIME!

Make the most perfect looking brownies every time...the trick? Cut with a plastic knife! *Simple*, easy, free! Next time you bring home take-out, be sure to pick up an extra plastic knife. Keep, cut, and then save for your next brownie batch.  Promise, it works every single time! Yum Yum! 



PS - M & A - hope you enjoyed these beautiful brownies! :)

Easy, long lasting, beautiful blooms

Super easy, super long lasting flowers...the trick? Corn syrup! Add a teaspoon to a vase of flowers, dissolve and enjoy! Results - not only better blooms, better for you too. Such a healthy way to use up corn syrup from the holidays. Enjoy!

Hope (with a smile)

This quote found me today; funny how somethings happen just like that - at just the right time.  I couldn't help but take it in and then send it along.... perhaps it will find you in just the same way. Applicable to every single person - amazing. (Especially calling out to all with migraine!) Maybe these words came today for a reason? I think they did.


One day you will see that it all has finally come together.
What you have always wished for has finally come to be.
You will look back and laugh at what has passed and you will ask yourself,
"How did I get through all of that?"
Just never let go of hope.
Just never quit dreaming.
And never let love depart from your life. 
~ J. Campi


Powerful. True. Peaceful. Happy. Hope. Enjoy!

Today's wisdom

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful. - Buddha

Life's a Roller Coaster (or is it?)

Roller Coasters.....the ups, the downs, the turns, the tunnels - some anticipated, some unanticipated - the anxiety, and the fun....except, when the 'ride' isn't at an amusement park, it's at 'home'.  Many deal with the 'roller coasters' of everyday life with such ease - the ups just float above and the downs are so well taken. I admire those individuals.  


I found myself 'fighting' with either the roller coaster Driver or the roller coaster Track this week. Whichever, I didn't like how my 'roller coaster' life was going and I found myself using all of my energy trying to 'halt' what was completely out of my control. Why? I didn't simply let myself accept my life. I was fighting against accepting that the roller coaster was too big for me to move myself, and too heavy to set it on a new course.  


Life is like a roller coaster...we've all heard it before. But with the willingness to accept sadness, grief, difficulties, loss, the unknown, the 'roller coaster' suddenly transforms into a 'train'.  The life ride that was so uncertain, filled with fear and tears, has the ability to become a ride that is slower and calmer, a ride that sways rather than scares...roller coasters can turn into trains.


We have the power to make this change - to turn the roller coaster into a train - by practicing acceptance.  While life most definitely will remain a 'roller coaster', we can 'take the train' route. When we accept that there will be ups and downs, it becomes a decision to live the uneasy life, always riding on the edge, or to live the calmer life, acknowledging the ups and downs. Acceptance and acknowledgment remove unnecessary life anxieties. Life is life and many situations are out of our control - but without worry and fear we are able to truly live. 


My choice - to accept cancer happens and chemo follows. I choose to accept that I can not control cancer or chemo or the good and bad days that result. And I choose to accept that everyday is a new day and that each may not be easy - easy emotionally or easy physically.


The power of acceptance offers us all this same choice - to ride the Roller Coaster or take the Train. 

Daily goals offer opportunities for Daily Success

Did you set a goal today? A mini goal - nothing big, nothing too hard, not a 'goal of the world'...an achievable goal. Why not? 


Today seems to be a life of big, better, best....always. A life of more, faster, now....always. No matter what, the world today instills 'dream big', rather than, 'dream to achieve'. We are constantly set up for failure - and we set ourselves up for making it almost perfect, just a second too late, not quite good enough. Why work towards disappointment?


Perhaps we are trying to do too much? Be too much? Own too much? Hard to confess too - especially today - in a world where the standards are set miles above the clouds.  Perhaps we need to be reminded of *simplicity*. When life was *simpler*, did it go wrong? - No.  So what caused the change from *simple* to go, go, go? To be, be, be? To do, do, do? .... we did.


This week I too found myself 'stuck' in this cyclic bout of sadness.  Why wasn't I smiling enough? Laughing enough? Controlling my emotions enough? Yesterday I realized how sad I had made myself.  I know I smile everyday, and have been recently laughing more than I have in years. But I came down on myself for crying.  Crying? What's wrong with crying? 


Reflecting today, I realized that I was being too hard on myself. Crying is fine. Crying is extra fine during the ups and downs of cancer and chemo.  Rather than letting myself really cry, I held back because 'if I cried then it would alter my healing'....what the heck was I thinking? Crying is natural. And cancer is scary, chemo is difficult and it is my Dad with two types of cancer. Not to mention how much my migraine was pounding.


Dad reminded me yesterday about the little things that are often overlooked. I had become caught up in fear. Fear about my healing just because of a little set back - one bad migraine.  And without knowing it, I let my fear spiral and my energy was spent in anxiety rather than in living and without knowing it chemo scared me more than ever.  


Thanks for the chat Dad - today I'm back on track and setting daily goals. Goals that I can achieve without being swept up in the world of the 'unachievable' or the world of 'perfect'. Goals add self-esteem, self-worth, and a sense of satisfaction, especially in world of healing.  They slow the world down, even for a second, to help be in the moment.  And the best part - fear doesn't exist in the moment. 


Have you set a goal today?  

What are you scared of?

This week brought a bit of scare to many, especially for those 'virgin' to earthquakes. There was an immense amount of chatter online, between friends, in passing at the market, walking up to the yoga studio door...all about THE earthquake, and how scary it was, how long it lasted, and how extremely rattled everyone had become. The "Did you feel its?" have been endless. Why?


Once again, we are faced with a challenge that is 100% out of our control. Mother Nature shook the world (or at least Mexico and San Diego), and She does what She wants to do.  We have no control, no say, no timing, nothing to do with Mother Nature's behaviors.  


What 'shook' me far more than THE earthquake, as it has been unanimously labeled, was everyone's gossip reaction....WEEK LONG reaction. Puzzling?! There are no decisions to be made over THE earthquake, definitely no reason to hike up any existing anxiety, nor cause unnecessary anxiety.  Of course appropriate 'check-ups' on family and friends near the quake's range or fault line is not the 'chatter' being focused on here.  When subject talk overflows into every conversation, everywhere, all that comes about is anxiety....should I too be worrying about the earthquake? Yikes, THE earthquake?!!!!  Suddenly we have created a society encompassed in the drama, the necessity of fear for the situation, and self-developed anxiety. Why such emotional chaos?


I acknowledge that for many, fear was their natural reaction during the shaking, and rightfully so in that case - especially for those not native to San Diego.  But why cause fear in those not nerved by the quake? I loved the earthquake. I was resting and absolutely fell in love with the shaking. Despite the banging of my shower door, I was completely lost in Mother Nature's power. There was plenty I could have been anxious about, but I choose to enjoy...to relax, to absorb the moment (or what seemed like minutes) and enjoy the tranquility of the shake. 


I have learned an immense amount about myself this week. I am proud that I was able to 'be'...to truly be during THE earthquake. To me, it wasn't THE earthquake, but rather, an earthquake  - a change to a Sunday afternoon.  I learned that my healing has come a long way - from a chronic nervous wreck with a total loss of trust in the world, to a worry-free gal in a time which caused most and unlimited amount of fear.  I also learned that subconsciously I have the power to decide what energy I want to spread. I chose to say a blessing for anyone suffering from the earthquake, but not to join in creating THE earthquake madness. 


Mother Nature does as she pleases to teach us lessons.  We can not determine what will happen next or when it will happen or what is in stock for us to learn. But for this week, for me, it was a lesson of trust. Trusting myself in an atypical situation. And an opportunity for optimism - a chance to enjoy the  serenity Mother Earth has offered.

Have you had your dose of Green Therapy lately?

So *Simple* - Green Happiness
Some Green Therapies to enhance wellbeing, help protect Mother Earth, and automatically create a sense of satisfaction, with a smile!

• Anti-anxiety trick - Dump out a 'junk drawer' or weed through a dresser drawer you haven't opened in a while - just one at a time. Purge and donate, recycle and/or reuse in a new way. How can you possibly 'worry' while going through so much stuff! And doesn't it feel good to be 'reorganized'...a new found 'rejuvenation'.
• Enjoy a natural candle - soy based, essential oil sent - no toxins involved. Enjoy while reading a book, while re-organizing your drawer, while sending an email.
• Send a hand written card to a friend. Remember how exciting it was to receive 'real mail'? Creates an instant smile at your friend's mailbox and again while your letter is being opened...nothing like the surprise of appreciation.
• Enjoy some sun everyday. Not to get burned or to over tan, but to feed your body the necessary vitamin D it needs. Plus how easy is it to replace your vitamin D supplement?! Remember to wear sunscreen!
• Take a deep breath while you're enjoying the sun. Another anti-anxiety automatic!

Ready, set, go....please enjoy and smile....all while enhancing your Greener Self. So *Simple*!

A few favorite quotes

From Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now...

The pain that you create now is always some form of nonacceptance, some form of unconscious resistance to what is. On the level of thought, the resistance is some form of judgment. On the emotional level, it is some form of negativity. The intensity of the pain depends on the degree of resistance to the present moment, and this in turn depends on how strongly you are identified with your mind.

and.. 

The psychological condition of fear is divorced from any concrete and true immediate danger. It comes in many forms: unease, worry, anxiety, nervousness, tension, dread, phobia, and so on. This kind of psychological fear is always of something that might happen, not of something that is happening now.

It just makes sense, doesn't it?  So now, to practice Acceptance and not thinking...instead let's just Enjoy and Be. 

Sending Easter Joy

heaven

    peace

         soul
 spirit

     blessings

         renewal

I found an Easter card with this blessing - couldn't be more perfect to send to my parents.  I was so touched by the simplicity and depth of the saying and want to share this *Wish for Happiness* to all. 

Happy Easter come this Sunday!

Did you smile today?

Be honest. A real Smile....even though the checkout line was too long and you were grumpy to finally be conversing with the Checker?, to a neighbor simply driving by?, to a co-worker you pass in the hallway whom you don't even know?, to the drivers you blame your anxiety on for being in a 'rush'?....Reflect. Did you Smile today?

Greetings have amazing powers. Power that is so strong it doesn't matter if the greeting was verbal or not. A simple Smile can without doubt make someone's day. And Smiles are contagious - extremely contagious. You have no idea the real reason the grocery line was so long and so slow, or how your neighbor's day has been or where they are headed, and perhaps the new coworker is experiencing their first day on the job (always a bit awkward). And the slow driver - are they sick? Lost? Grieving?

Imagine the impact a single Smile would have on each of these situations we all share daily. Just a Smile from a friend or stranger eases tension and anxiety immediately. Smiles cause a sense of friendship, of relation, of ' it's going to be ok' - in problem, sickness, or in health. Smiles don't discriminate.

Smiles mean so much, travel so far and take less than a second to give. I challenge you to offer a Smile everyday - you'll be amazed at how many smiles you receive in return. And even deeper, how much of positive impact such a *Simple* act can be (suddenly your anxiety or 'bad day' disappears). Smiles are a tablespoon of free happiness that everyone can enjoy. Here's a Smile from me to you. :)

It's MY life, I can cry if I want to!

Today I wanted to cry. So I did. And I'm ok with it - even as a 29-year old. Life happens and emotions result, but for some reason, we are taught not to show certain emotions. Today, as a 29-year old, I cried and cried. I cried because cancer doesn't go away. I hold strong hope, remain positive and truly, truly believe that cancer heals, but the fear of the unknown doesn't go away. It is there when I wake, follows me through the day and accompanies me, along with special prayers, back to bed at night. Today, I accepted that as a 29-year old, I can be scared to death. It's ok. And so I cried. And cried. And cried. And cried.

And then, all of a sudden everything turned positive. My fear had turned to tears and without choice overflowed. But reflecting back, it was a good thing. Emotions happen just as life happens. And emotion -  fear, scare, anger, anxiety, happiness, cheer - are all ok. The healthiest part, is that I've learned through my struggles, that the more you hold back, the more backed up emotion becomes. I have experienced such back-up and suppression that I became slave to my own emotion. Not healthy.

It's my life, I can cry if I want to! So today I cried my eyes out. And I cried until I felt better. Might sound silly, or seem immature, may be interpreted as childish, but for me crying today was therapeutic. I cried all of my fear, anger and sadness away. The result, a carefree, happy me, living again. And it feels so GOOD!

Why judge emotions? God's tears make rainbows - of which are both so beautiful. So let loose, and then honor the joys life has to offer.

Best Friends Create the Power to Heal

Who is your Best Friend? Think deep. Who can you always rely on? Who is always there for you, through sunny days and mud slides, through laughs, tears, fear, worry, true happiness? The one that shares your hopes and dreams and challenges you everyday? Who is your Best Friend?....

Many are quick to think a favorite girlfriend, a spouse, even their Soul Mate. But going deeper, would these relationships exist if you were not your own Best Friend first? The power of self-belief, self-esteem, self-worth is priceless. And realizing, seeing, understanding your inner self is the key to all relations. For how can you offer yourself to others if inside you are not 'worthy'?

And once this idea is captured, it's power is limitless. The Self has no boundaries, no borders, no stop signs. Once the Self is released, a new 'person' is born. Confidence has a new meaning. Not pride. Confidence. Knowing that no matter what, you can get through. And that no matter what you have all of the tools to live, to be, to survive, to master yourself, to master your life.

Would you ever leave your best friend's bedside during terminal illness? - No. Be that Best Friend to yourself. The Self has incredible healing powers - all just waiting to be trusted. Have faith and take a leap; let go. You'll find the Self has amazing offerings. Believing in yourself alone opens doors for healing and growth.

Trust yourself. Be your own Best Friend. Accept all hope and inspiration from within. Create your own power to heal.

Update by studio mr

Many new and exciting additions are in progress in studio mr! Please hang tight and continue to send support, subscribe, and share my site with others. 


In the meantime, please visit the new Inspiration Journal and Gratitude Wall. Join me in giving thanks and sharing inspiration via 'comments' on this post and the previous post officially introducing the Gratitude Wall. I look forward to both ongoing 'open' projects! 


Thank you again for your support, consistent readership, and don't be shy - share your 'thank yous' and 'inspiration of the day'....and get EXCITED for the future of studio mr! 

Come visit the new renovations of studio mr!

Introducing the Gratitude Wall, by studio mr. Please take a visit (link is listed on the right) and share your Thank You's, Lucky's, and Appreciation. Take a second and reflect on your day, your life, opportunity for a delicious lunch outside, an extra great yoga session, and/or the wonderful people in your life ...friends, family and those who inspire you....the wall is open to all gratitude.

Please feel free to visit anytime and share the things you're grateful for....this project is an ongoing *Thank You Simple*.

This post is dedicated to everyone who has helped me through this website. I am so lucky to have such an awesome readership - thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Perfect. What is Perfect?

Seems we throw the idea of 'Perfection' around in every aspect of life. How did this happen? Where did it come from? Why is 'Perfect' so important; all the time?


Yesterday a great friend reminded me how obsolete Perfect is. Nobody is Perfect. No need to be Perfect. No need for anxiety to reach Perfection. Rationally all makes sense. But Perfect exists everywhere. How can this be if Perfect isn't even 'real'?

What was everything but a conversation about Perfection, has had me thinking about Perfect all day. What is Perfect? I think I've figured it out. Perfect is everything but what we make it to be. Perfection is not reaching the 'perfect weight', having the 'perfect pair of jeans', baking the 'perfect batch of cookies', hosting the 'perfect party', 'color-coordinating perfectly (the decor, this evening's outfit, every kitchen towel)', owning the 'perfect home' or looking outside at a 'perfect backyard'.

Perfect is a realization. Perfect is being conscious of the moment and grateful for that moment, in that moment. Perfect is a sense of awareness - an understanding of time and true being. Gratitude, consciousness and Perfection are hand-in-hand. Without gratitude Perfect does not exist. And without realizing how much the 'now' has to offer, Perfect does not exist. Living 'now' revels true Perfection. We can not 'live' for a Perfect world - rather let's 'live' the Perfect world.

I thank you Friend for reminding me about Perfect. It is amazing how easily we can become (and how easy it is to fall) so out of touch with something so, so, very *simple*.

*Simple* Cool Candle Tip - Part II

So your favorite candle holders have been in the freezer, right?  Check. Wax gone? Check.  Here is one of my favorite re-uses of one of my favorite pieces - my own 'candle holder-recreation'....the possibilities are endless!

So *Simple*. So Green. 

How to be 'extra' Irish + blessings and luck

   

Sending a few of my favorite Irish blessings...

For each petal on the shamrock

This brings a wish your way-

Good health, good luck, and happiness

For today and every day.

May joy and peace surround you, 
Contentment latch your door, 
And happiness be with you now 
And bless you evermore.

Dance as if no one were watching,

Sing as if no one were listening,

And live every day as if it were your last.

Tips to be 'extra' Irish today - appreciate all you have, the world around us, family and friends....

Wear GREEN today! (and be sure to pinch anyone not)

Take a deep breath of nature...and appreciate it; even for just a moment.

Recycle, Recycle, Recycle

Share an Irish blessing with someone you love

Spend as much time enjoying nature as possible today

Drink a beer!

Wear GREEN :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

Are you Soul Mates?

Tough question - Easy answer....

And when one of them meets with his other half, the actual half of himself, the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy and one will not be out of the other’s sight even for a moment.

-Plato (2,500 years ago)  

You know you've found your Soul Mate, Twin Mate, Perfect Other Half when:

1. Laughter is part of everyday; no matter what - rain or shine, tragedy, loss, pain, pleasure - laughter comes natural.
2. This person makes it into every thought you think, everyday....somehow!
3. You have utmost trust in each other.
4. You've found your Best Friend. Someone you can always count on.
5. Sharing is so easy. Share hopes, dreams, chores and dishes, funny times, sad minutes (hours, days, years)....and somehow the laughter is still surfacing daily.
6. Silly has a new meaning and a permanent part of life.
7. Random days are so much easier because you know you're so in love with your Perfect Other Half and at that very moment, your Soul Mate is thinking the exact same thing.
8. You've found a happiness that you never knew existed.
9. Growing old (even 30!!) is now so exciting - Imagining all time together has to offer undoubtedly makes you smile.
10. Laugh together in the morning, laugh together in the evening, and secretly laugh together every minute in between.

I dedicate this to my Soul Mate - I love you. And I send hope and patience to everyone still searching for their Twin Mate. Patience pays off.