Happy Easter!
*image from pinterest
Posts from the ‘Healthy Living’ Category
Apr 8
Little Sleep Clears Things Up! 2 Fascinating Thoughts
Good, quality sleep is hard to come by these days this late in my pregnancy. It’s been weeks, many weeks, since I have had a good stretch of shut-eye or downtime. This lack of sleep combined with my primary requirement to take care of my toddler has forced me to shift my day and schedule around. Some of which is disappointing to me and while others I am more forgiving in its change. Below are a two things I find fascinating about this transition.
My schedule may have changed but my priorities have remained consistent.
At the beginning of the year, I did some work to really understand what it was that I wanted in the next year out of my life. What was it that I dream of each day? What are those nagging visions in my head, if only I could make it better? For me they included living healthy, living with financial understanding and comfort (something I am clueless about), living by giving back and inspiring women, and living with gratitude and inspiration. In this list, there are challenges, places where a lot of learning needs to happen, and places where I simply dream of something nicer. To me, my well-balanced priority list takes a lot of work yet in my sleep-deprived-just-enough-energy-to-get-by world, I still tackle each item nearly every single day. Is it hours upon hours of work? Not necessarily, but I do something.
Being easy on myself is far better than not.
I absolutely think that people are simply too hard on themselves, especially women. I run into it all the time and I am constantly re-assuring people that their efforts and thoughts are not only enough but strong enough. Thing is while I talk a good game, I have my own inner struggles of what I wish I could do better, easier, stronger. I think it’s also human nature if not a part of our culture (to think this way). One of my girlfriends always ends our conversation with “be easy on yourself”. While most of the time I want to “yeah yeah” her, I am disappointed in my “shift in my schedule”. Yet, I have to know “it is for the greater good”, “what’s important will prevail” and “that life will take you off course”. I have taken the attitude of “do what I can”, “don’t sweat the small stuff”. (How many little life quotes can I throw in here?? Ha!) Point is: being easy on yourself and allowing yourself to work with the schedule and commitments that are reasonable to your situation is not only more than okay but also makes for a nicer day. What am I accomplishing by doing so otherwise?
These are two things I have been thinking about. It’s fascinating to me how:
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What’s important stays important and
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How little good comes from being too hard on yourself but great things come from being nice to yourself.
Have a great weekend!
XOXO,
Ashleigh
**image from pinterest
Mar 26
Monday Morning To Do List + A Little Humor
Any one of these will sure get your week started in the right direction!
Have a Great Weekend!
It has been a long week with minimal sleep and I am dreaming of a beautiful weekend. I hope you have one too!
**images from pinterest
Confidence for Women: An HDT Offering
I believe this – whole heartedly. If you advance confidently towards your dreams… they will happen. Period. You may be a rabbit, you may be a turtle, but it will happen.
Have a great weekend!
Apple’s Words Worth Reading…
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They push the human race forward.
And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
― Apple Inc.
*image from here
Confidence for Women: International Women’s Day!
My mother used to say everyday was kid’s day and that is why you need a Mother’s Day in May and Father’s Day in June. Now that I have children I kind of agree.
I also think of each day as Women’s Day!
Who else could be a woman, wife, girlfriend, mom, girl friend, boss, co-worker, teammate, officemate, home-maker, housekeeper, chef, stylist, advisor, caregiver and sometimes Barer of Bad News??
Surely, not my dad, either of my brothers, my guy friends, FIL or the HB – respectfully.
Continue on Ladies!
*image from pinterest
Confidence for Women: 3 Cs That Could Change Everything.
I've been thinking about change...
I have been thinking about what is required to create change. In my experience, change is easy because I know it as a process. Yes, it takes hard work but there are necessary elements required to create change. I have several opinions around this but simply put there are 3 Cs that could change everything!
“True life is lived when tiny changes occur.” ― Leo Tolstoy
Change. You have to believe in it before it can happen. AND really believe. At my lowest of low, I knew I still had to do something, anything, to get out of the funk I was in. It didn’t matter what I did, I knew that doing enough somethings would help me find the change. Change. In order to have it, you must believe it is possible.
“The only limit to your impact is your imagination and commitment.” – Anthony Robbins
Commitment. So many of us try and think – well “I tried” once they fail or fall. When I look at my toddler, this little one that has eaten “it” so many times. Some falls are harder than others but she is committed. Committed to getting up and trying again. New Year’s Resolutions often fail because we never really think it will take a year to lose those extra pounds or make that change we “so” desire. After a month, maximum!, we recognize that hard work is required and we stop and go back to our typical routine. Being committed to the change is also half the battle.
“Invisible threads are the strongest ties” ―Friedrich Nietzsche
Connection. As women, we are driven to connection. The baker loves that others enjoy the cookies of her happy childhood. The chef loves the feeling of bringing good food to a family. The decorator loves the joy of bringing beauty into that couple’s home for them. I love being able to give people peace and time as if it were tangible. It’s the connection that we love however we find it.
I invite you to think of these three Cs as you go on your day. What connections are you making? What is nagging at you to change? And what will you commit to? Adding any one of these things into your daily life will have a great impact. Imagine if you added all three??
**image from pinterest
Confidence for Women: BREAK THAT ROUTINE!
Break your routine. I PROMISE you will feel good afterwards.
- If you let the alarm go off for ages, try waking up before you have heard it the umpteenth time.
- Get OJ instead of coffee or coffee instead of OJ.
- Walk it instead of ride it.
- Use that pen instead of the pencil or computer.
- Call instead of text.
- Write instead of email.
- Smile instead of frown.
- Laugh instead of listen.
- Listen instead of pretending to.
- Stop and take that 2 minute break.
- Walk instead of run.
- Run instead of walk.
Your break in routine will remind you that you are alive. It will show you that the world is not as serious as you hold it to be and for good reason! It will remind you that the world won’t fall apart if you do something different but that in fact this new thing will indeed create a better world for you!
Good luck! Have fun! And share if you like!
*image from pinterest
Confidence for Women: Decisions Make A Difference
I am a huge fan of Seth Godin and love his recent post about decisions.
He says:
A decision without tradeoffs isn’t a decision.
The art of good decision making is looking forward to and celebrating the tradeoffs, not pretending they don’t exist.
Yes, I get up with intention. Yes, I work to make the right decisions for me and my family. Yes, I have priorities and goals. Yes, I have to sacrifice. And yes, I work.
Does this mean that I am rigid, strict and am unhappy? That I am not doing things I want to? Anyone really who knows me knows how flexible I am, how much I love life, and how much I can struggle in it too.
But I mostly believe in decisions and choices. I believe I decisions can be temporary or long-term. I believe in change. I believe I am 100% Responsible for my life; the good, the bad and the ugly. Or as they say – “that’s the good news and that’s the bad news.”
You have a choice and you are making a decision with everything you do. So what about that decision? What are your options? What is missing?? What is really important to you? Work to learn that and understand that – and your future decisions will change everything.
*image from pinterest
Time Management: 3 Ways That Fire Won’t Ruin Your Productive Day
We have all been there. The day blows up before it begins! Something happens at home or in the office and we are off scrambling. The day’s plan is forgotten because this customer is in crisis or needs your services as of yesterday. Heck the Internet could have gone out! (Remember when that happened to my home office and how painful the experience was getting it back up and running??)
Putting out fires is not only time consuming but energy consuming too. So before your day is completely lost to someone else’s priorities, try these few things to keep calm and in control of what will make your productive day.
- Breathe. Bring intention into your breath. What is they say, “slow down so you can speed up”? Take a moment to realize you can handle whatever is in front of you, that there will be enough time and of it all, the most important things will get done.
- It’s easy to get caught up in the drama of the activity including scrambling around fears of what could happen if X doesn’t get accomplished. Stay focused on the big picture. Why is this fire important? What is the number one thing that needs to occur in order to control the fire and release the pressure? Once this number activity is completed, do you feel a release from the pressure? Can you return to your other, already determined priorities?
- Make room for adjustments to your schedule. I come from the work ethic that I will “move mountains to fulfill a commitment I have made to you.” That said, I am also very conscientious of the strong commitments I make. This means, when planning an activity – leave wiggle room for delays. There are always delays. Always. If you have a hard deadline, add room for potential delays before setting the hard deadline.
I hope these activities will get you started in keeping a fire at bay in your home or work life. Keeping calm and focused will help your day stay productive. Leaving room for potential delays in your schedule will also help when they do arise!
*image from pinterest
Confidence for Women: If I ruled the world…
Today I am thinking about what it would be like if I ruled the world, if I had that extra penny, if I had that extra day, what would I do? What would be different?
I would add more hours to the day so I can get more sleep.
I would slow time down so I could walk the dog at a proper hour.
I would know how to teach my daughter oh-so-many things.
I would know how to stop eating that damn good cheese.
I would know how to sell.
I would have enough money to support others the way I dream of.
I would have enough time to support others the way I dream of.
I would know how to take darn good photos like my friend Stephanie.
I would be able to workout like my friend Melissa.
I would be able to dress each day like my friend Alisa.
I would consistently be the change I want to see.
Here’s the thing that I realize on this extra day that I have been given (it is Leap Year isn’t it?), I can do all of these things. In fact, I do them as best as I can each day. Some days I do better than others. Some things I am more skilled at than others. Today, with my extra day, I am going to rule my world and do those things are most important.
What would you do if you ruled the world??
*image from pinterest
