(SPIRIT) Bible Verse Reflection: PSALM 125:1

Word for Thought: God wants us all to read the bible, but less than 10% of Christians claim to do so. Why is this?

“Those who trust in the LORD are a mount Zion, which can’t be moved, but remains forever.”

As Darla Noble and Joyverse says, “People put their trust in the stock market, their bank accounts, their job, the neighborhood they live in, or even the labels on the clothes they wear. They believe these things will help them sustain their popularity, their success, and the health and well-being of their relationships. But some of them are disappointed, damaged, and even destroyed when stock markets crash, bank accounts dwindle, jobs come and go, and the time eventually comes when they retire and someone equally capable steps in to take their place. Sometimes, neighborhoods lose their prestige, and clothes go in and out of style right along with the seasons.”

Reflection Question: What does this verse say about the dependability and trustworthiness of God? What does it say about the dependability and trustworthiness of believers?

This verse is very appropriate for the corona time we’re all experiencing. When limitations are put on humans, who are we fundamentallly? What are our core values when nothing else material is present. What do we care about? What is our why? What do we love? How do we treat people? Recently, I started my journey with developing a relationship with God. What does this mean? This doesn’t mean only going to church on Sunday and checking a checklist box. This means applying the word in the bible to everyday life and having trust in God. I recently spoke with a true believer and he helped me develop some disciplines that are going to help me progress. He explained a relationship with God is just like a relationship with anyone else. Having to work through, grow, and accept in the best of times and the worst of times. Some people only turn to God when they’re struggling or in need of something. This is a one sided relationship. We don’t do this with people we love and care for, so why why would we do this with God? Building a relationship requires discipline and planning ahead. I plan to set time aside to read the bible. I put my phone on “do not distrub” and I say a prayer before I read the words. We do this with the Gym, with our family, with our girlfriends, etc, and the same is required with God. I want to read the bible and develop a relationship with God because God promises us that if we trust in him, read the bible and live by the his word, we will have the most fuffilling life here on earth and also that in our afterlife. The bible has a positive message and can only help me and reenforce the values that I want to live by. I don’t want to find myself in a “midlife crisis.” I don’t want to feel like my life is lead by materitalistic wants. I want to continually have awareness to my WHY. Why today and why am I living the way I am. I keep my top 2 values of discipine and openness so close to me. I want to also understand how I can take my unique set of values and merge them with the values god wants us to seek and live by. This way, I can carry an even stronger foundation with me every single day of my life. Through my actions, my mentality, my interactions with people, and the way I treat myself and the world around me. I encourage all to work toward builiding a loving relationship with God. It is not going to be easy. It is going to require effort. Effort that benefits every aspect of our lives.

(Spirit) My Top 2 Core Values: Discipline and Openness. An exercise to define YOURS

Brené Brown (#1 New York Times Bestselling Author) wrote the book “Dare to Lead,” and one of her sections goes over Values and a valuable exercise to understand what our top 2 values are.

She says, “If we do not have clarity of values, if we don’t have anywhere else to look or focus, if we don’t have that light up above to remind us why we’re there, the cynics and the critics can bring use to our knees.”

Our values remind us why we went in. Carrying with us the clarity of these values. We Practice them. We walk our talk.

STEP ONE: We can’t live into Values that we can’t name

We don’t shift our values based on context. The goal is to pick 2 that we hold most important. The reason behind picking 2 is, If we have more than a few priorities, then we have no priorities. If everything is important than nothing is truly a driver. Its just a gauzy list of feel-good words.

Ex of what to choose from:

LIST OF PERSONAL CORE VALUES | The Happiness Planner®

“Core values are where all of the second tier values are tested.” Brené says her two central values are faith and courage. She hated not circling family, but as she dug in, her commitment to family is fueled by faith and courage. These 2 values that we choose leave us with a feeling or purpose or words that have never felt so true to you.

Ask yourself:

Does this Define me?

is this who I am at my best?

Is this a filter that I use to make hard decisions?

Step Two: Taking values from BS to Behavior

Very few people actually practice their values. If you’re not going to take the time to translate values from ideals to behaviors then its all a joke. Think about multiple times where you did or did not show up in a way that felt aligned with your values.

Value #1__________________

  1. What are 3 behaviors that support your value?
  2. What are three slippery behaviors that are outside your value?
  3. Whats an example of a time when you were fully living into this value?

Value #2__________________

  1. What are 3 behaviors that support your value?
  2. What are three slippery behaviors that are outside your value?
  3. Whats an example of a time when you were fully living into this value?

Step 3: Empathy and self-compassion: The two most important seats in the arena

“Silence is not brave leadership, and silence Is not a component of brave cultures. Showing up and being Courageous around these difficult conversations is not a path you can predetermine. A Brave leader is not someone who is armed with all the answers. A brave leader is not someone who can facilitate a flawless discussion on hard topics. A brave leader is someone who says I see you, I hear you, I don’t have all the answers, but I’m going to keep listening and asking questions. We all have the capacity to do that. We all have the ability to foster empathy. If we want to do good work, It’s imperative that we clear the way for a performance in the arena that correlates with our highest values and not the fear mongers from the stands.”

  1. Who is someone who knows your values and supports your efforts to live into them?
  2. What does support from this person look like?
  3. What can you do as an act of self-compassion to support yourself in the hard work of living into your values?
  4. What are the early warning indicators or signs that you’re living outside your values?
  5. What does it feel like when you’re living into your values?
  6. How does living into your two key values shape the way you give and receive feedback?

Ask yourself, what does it feel like to live into your values?

You will know when you have figured out the top 2 values that you hold close when you feel a sense of joy and fulfillment in times of stillness and quiet about these top 2 values.

EX of my Personal values and why they’re meaningful to me:

Discipline and Openness. I truly believe like Jocko Willink says, “Discipline equals freedom.” How do I know? Because Im living proof of this every day. I love my awareness to my disciplines and how they produce a certain result. The consistency of a plan put in place to achieve certain results. Whether its brushing teeth twice per day to achieve good oral health, consistent contact with family and loved ones to grow relationships, taking a specific number of vitamins per day, cleaning my apartment regularly, consistent sleep to recover mentally and physically, consistency in the gym, consistency with my mediation, my work and calling on customers and growing business, and the list goes on. When we do something daily, weekly, or monthly, these actions are producing a result. I absolute love to know that my efforts give me my desired results based on what I’m looking for. I stay motivated because of my disciples. I praise myself and feel a deep sense of achievement when I have the perseverance to stick to a plan. This keeps the fire going within me. This is a core value that enables me to live this life to the fullest. I understand things don’t go as planned. There are set backs from failures and so on. However, get back up and keep going. Discipline is continuing on no matter what the circumstance. Never giving up. Never being afraid to fail. Life is what I make of it. Life is my decision mentally and physically to take action. Openness is also something I hold very close to me. Ever since I was younger, I’ve always kept a light of curiosity within me. I’ve always loved to travel, learn perspective, gain knowledge, and not limit myself. I stay open to new ideas and love to learn why people do things the way they do. I like to surround myself with people of all different backgrounds, ethnicity, and lifestyles. This has helped me treat everyone the way I would like to be treated. Smiling at and holding a door for a homeless person or an extremely attractive person. No matter what the circumstance, I like to accept humans for who they really are and treat people with equal respect. I know openness is my second core value because from my heart, I love to see the world as endless opportunity containing infinite knowledge and experience. Treat yourself kind, treat the world kind, and stay open to new ideas. This helps me relate with people.. This helps me make an impact on lots of people’s lives when I have the confidence and courage to interact with anyone and anything. This helps me live in peace.

(BODY) Mushroom Blends: My favorite nighttime drink

Mushrooms are currently a fast growing consumer market. Lots of non standard mushrooms like rose hips, reishi, cordyceps, chaga, and lion’s maine. The benefits are unbelievably powerful.

To narrow it down, I will talk about a solid nighttime blend that I personally enjoy. The company FOUR SIGMATIC makes several different blends of mushroom mixes that can be blended into almond milk or a similar type of drink. I like to heat up the almond milk for a couple minutes and then add the FOUR SIGMATIC MUSHROOM CACAO MIX into the almond milk. I stir for about 20 seconds

Whats inside?

Reishi Extract – will boost the immune system, reduce stress, improve sleep, fight fatigue and depression, heart health, blood sugar control, antioxidant rich

Cacao Powder – 40 times the antioxidant content of blueberries, anti inflammatory response, improved heart health, improve blood sugar levels, magnesium, calcium, natural mood elevator

cardamom extract – antioxidant rich, aids in digestion, anti inflammatory, enhance sex drive, blood circulation,

cinnamon – antioxidant rich, blood sugar lowering, skin improvement,

Sweetener – organic coconut palm sugar and organic stevia for sweetness in the mix.

Conclusion

Sure this blend is super nutrient dense. Better than that, It is a very simple mix to sip on at the end of the night. I do believe in solid morning and nighttime routines, but that does not mean adding a million things and making it a super stressful event. This here is a solid hot coco replacement that can be sipped on while a blanket is wrapped around us in the living room. Its something to look forward to. A little bit of self love and an enjoyable sipping experience that your body will love as a near bedtime experience.

(BODY) Sun Screen: The Holy Grail to A Skin Care Routine

The past 2 years I’ve stayed very strict with Applying Sun Screen on my face (applying every 2 hours when in the sun for more than 15 minutes). This has been the greatest thing I’ve every done for my face!

We can be consistent with cleansing/moisturizing morning and night, we can eat the perfect diet, we can drink all the water we want, and our Facial skin quality can still fail to progress.

I started to notice the impact of sun screen very heavily after I got into a car accident that left all kinds of scars on my face. My scars have healed faster than I ever thought possibly because of sun screen! Prevention of damage. Sun exposure is vital for our bodily functions but it can also damage the skin heavily. It will age our skin the fastest.

I’ve used cera ve ultra light sun screen in the past, but now discovered EltaMD UV Clear Daily Broad-Spectrum from a friend of mine. This product is great because of its natural ingredients and it will not clog the pores. I just recently started using this one, so I’m very excited to have found a product that is superior to my previous ways of screening my skin. This product is antioxidant rich and calming for the skin. it will not only protect the skin, but improve the skin’s health by giving it “food” for our skin. The screen also sets on the skin better than any screen I’ve ever used and has a very pleasant mild scent that fads away within 10 minutes.

I decided to share this info because I love to learn and educate about anything related to body or mind function. Our skin, teeth, eyes, hair, muscles, bones, etc are all something to take care of equally.

(BODY) Heart Rate Variability (HRV) the key metric to recovery: I use a “Whoop” band to monitor results

Heart rate variability is literally the variance in time between the beats of your heart. A measure of your nervous system that is widely considered one of the best objective metrics for physical fitness and determining your body’s readiness to perform.. The exact measure to tell if how hard you should strain your body, or how much more recovery practices you need to incorporate to recover from mental/physical strain.

A website with HRV questions. HRV data. people asking about levels. Is this low? Is this normal? HRV changes quite frequently. Should not be taken once and made a conclusion from. HRV needs to be monitored on a consistent basis to form a baseline over time to understand how you can improve that number in an upward direction.

HOW TO Stimulate healthy nervous system function. (Higher HRV scores)

6 breaths per minute is the easiest way to set yourself up for success. breathing in and filling about 80%, inhaling through the nose and using the diaphragm. Using the lungs and stomach to bring air in. Breathing out slowly through the nose. This stimulates the Vegas nerve and will also increase nutrient and oxygen delivery. Breathing low from the stomach, breathing slow, and breathing quietly. Quietly as if you were trying not to move hairs in the nose when doing so.

Lots of professional athletes, especially pitchers before a pitch, or tennis players before a serve, are a classic example of controlling their breath before action to stimulate focus and better performance and also to make sure they’re optimizing they performance.

We want a minimum Dose response for exercise and the same for mental strain. If we consistently over train our bodies, or overstimulate our minds, we will have higher chance of injury and also have a lower HRV scores, along with lower energy levels. Continued over training will continue to lower the HRV. Now people are relying on caffeine and stimulants just to function each day. Stress is now not managed and damaged is done over years and decades. Staying ahead of stress is the goal. Enough food, enough time to activate relaxation, enough sleep and a balance between recovery and the amounts of strain being put on the body.

Back to breath work. Breath work will take us out of the “fight or flight” mode when we get ahold of slow deep breathing. AND ITS FREE. It will bring more calm to moments throughout the day. It will help us keep unnecessary stress off of the body.

Always stay in control of the breath. It is powerful in all situations, especially to prevent overreaction.

(BODY) Eliminating Chronic Fatigue: Recovery of the Nervous System

Lots of people tend to be constantly tired, low on energy and have lots of aches and pains, especially after the age of about 30. The question is, how do we optimize our bodies so we can prevent theses symptoms? Cortisol (stress hormone) IS GOOD, but how often we activate that hormone is the golden ticket.

Today, This will be based off personal trial and error. Based off things I have learned on Podcasts from industry leaders, doctors, and scientists. I love to experiment and find out what works best for my lifestyle.

People are way too sympathetically driven and need to get the body into more of a parasympathetic state (Especially to start and end the day). This simply means lots of people struggle to manage stress (mentally and physically). You can tell if you are too sympathetically driven if you experience fatigue throughout the day or tend to rely on Caffeine to “keep you going.” What can this fatigue mean? Several things. Maybe you are under eating for the stress you’re putting on your body, so your body is constantly under recovered. Maybe, every time a co worker approaches you to ask a question, you get stressed out and start breathing shortly through your chest. Maybe you are under sleeping or possibly not developing a consistent sleep schedule. Maybe you are a mouth breather and tend to do lots of breathing from your chest. FYI, Breathing through the nose and reminding ourselves throughout the day to breath deeply always will keep more of parasympathetic balance in your body. Watch yourself feel more present, deal with life more easily, feel happier, and feel less exhausted. Maybe you are someone who rushes out of bed to hurry out the door, or someone who always is rushing in general. This automatically puts more mental stress on our bodies, and know what else? I bet during your time of rushing, you’re breathing faster and breathing from your chest. Another action that is directly correlated with releasing more cortisol (stress hormone) on the body.

Stress is Okay!

Stress is okay. Psychically we stress our bodies for work, the gym, and other activities. However, HOW MUCH of it we experience is key. I’ve found I need to keep an awareness how much I am outputting. How do I do know exactly? By quantitative results. I wear a “Whoop Band,” which is similar to a fitbit or an apple watch. The whoop band has a phenomenal technology that monitors strain put on the body along with sleep metrics and recovery recommendations. It presents all of the date in an easy to read format, so I have a good idea with how much stress I am putting on my body daily. Along with that, I am able to monitor mental stress that is put on the body. It measures resting heart rate and heart rate variability. It presents the data in a way that we can understand how recovered our body and mind is. I am able to then adjust my lifestyle depending on how recovered I am. I can then have a good idea of how much more sleep I need, how much food I need, or if I need to ease back on some activities because of how I am stressing my body. Its been life changing to say the least. Mental recovery is everything today. The smartest and fullest of energy people understand how to keep mental health in check.

Participating in activites you love to do

I’ve found when I am under recovered and there is a bit more stress on my body, I need to set aside some time for some things that I love. These include hobbies or some self love practices. Taking off the gym is okay. Coloring is fun sometimes. Going for a peaceful walk in a favorite area of your own. Sitting at a park and reading a book. Putting a blanket around yourself and enjoying a cup of tea. Doing a face mask at night before bed. Playing disc golf at the park with a friend. Walking a dog with one of your friends. Setting aside time for a mini vacation for yourself or involved with others. I do highly recommend a couple larger adventures per year. Going for a hike. Enjoying some casual photography. Asking a friend to go get dinner. Calling family members and seeing how their days are. Making plans with people you car about. Doing a 20 minute meditation. Going to a sporting event with some of your friends. Going to a concert and enjoying live music. Going to a theater performance. Going to a calming yoga class. Doing some video/photo editing on your computer. Printing off some photos and framing them from your apartment. Watering your plants or possibly adding more plants to your living area.Plants are amazing because we take care of them and they take care of us equally with fresh oxygen. Sitting outside on your porch with some coffee and breathing slowly. Cooking dinner for yourself and playing music on speakers in the background. Cleaning your apartment smiling while doing it; taking your time and appreciating the ability to have a space to call yours. The list goes on. Think about things you enjoy or activities that are calming. Don’t be afraid to try something new. Try to keep more of this attitude with you as you go about your day.

ITS ALL ABOUT RECOVERY

Every day is a game of recovery. Lots of people tend to not “feel” their best because they are constantly living in a state of being non recovered. A state of being too sympathetically driven. Variables need to be adjusted so we can feel our best. I understand lifestyles may seem to be 100 mph for lots of people. How enjoyable is that? How present do you feel for interactions and your loved ones? The speed at which it all seems to be is perception that you’re creating. Sure its okay to be busy, but at least find some parasympathetic activation during all of these demands in life. The slow breath work through the nose is the most underrated action in today day in age. Pay attention to it and make it a habit. You will thank me later.

Eventually incorporate a 20 minute meditation daily and watch your life change right before you eyes. That topic is for another post 😉 and you wonder why meditation apps are on the top charts right now 😉

(SPIRIT) Morning Gratitude Journaling: Why and How I do it

I try to stay open to new ideas. When I do my research or listen to podcasts interviewing highly successful people, I am always interested in their routines. What sets them up mentally and physically to give their 100% each day. What is fulfilling to them and how they continue to improve upon their lives.

A common trend that I came across awhile back was Morning Gratitude Journaling. Simply waking up early enough in the morning to relax, appreciate some stillness/deep breathing, and write a quick passage in a journal. Some people might instantly think, “Chas are you some sort of hippy?” I don’t define myself, but what I do know is some of the most successful people in the world gratitude journal everyday (Navy seal leaders, Green Berets, spiritual influencers, CEO’s of companies, professional athletes and so on).

WHY?

Starting the day with calm and some simple appreciation sets the day up for success. Waking early enough to not be rushing out of bed Lowers anxiety. It improves focus and improves the quality of work that we do today. It allows us to shift toward a mindset of appreciation. Appreciation of the small things. Even if today brings lots of unfavorable circumstances, you will be better prepared to face these instances. You have something to fall back onto. A page in your journal that reminds you why today is special. Why today is another opportunity. Why today can’t be as bad as you may perceive it. Gratitude journaling tells our mind every single day to pay attention to detail, appreciate as we move forward, be the honest/confident person we want to be at any given moment of the day. I’ve noticed when being disciplined with this practice that I catch myself smiling very easily. A strong sense that I’m not afraid if today is the last day of my life . A fulfilling feeling

EXAMPLE: My Journal this morning

2/22/20 Gratitude

It’s Saturday morning. A fresh cup of coffee in front of me. Grind the beans on the spot and brewed it. Blanket around me as I write at my coffee table. I am grateful for the stillness I have this morning. To move into the day slowly. Breathing calmly. Appreciating slowly. I’e learned lots of appreciation comes with stillness. Just look around. All of this is possible because of my efforts in life. Im grateful to be well rested and know that today I can be the best version of myself, whether that is positive, goofy, confident, kind, and considerate. Today I will walk with my head up, keep amazing eye contact with the people that I interact with. I’m grateful right now for clean water to hydrate as I start the day. My body is smiling. Please treat me well body. I’m grateful for another completed week of work. To end it and be well rested along with de-stressing with some calmness. I’m happy to see the sun shinning through my apartment slowly waking me up. Let today be another opportunity. Another opportunity to spread good energy to this world. other opportunity to appreciate the small things.Finally, I am grateful for these two awesome cats that lie right next to my head right now as I type this. I feed them, care for them and they show their own love back to me in simple ways. Unconditionally,

Breathe slow. Today is always okay

(SPIRIT) Opening up: My Life Surrendering + Accepting

Background

From the day I was born and to about the age of 18, I lived back and forth with my Mother and extended Family. For reasons that I won’t get into much detail about today. New school, new people, new home, new challenges. This initially made me a bit more timid and took a large hit on my confidence in who I am. By my late teenage years, I became more accepting of the idea that things were going to change. I started to understand this more and become less affected by outside circumstance and people as a result. Over the years, I was always developing new relationships and accustomed to change of scenery + exposed to all sorts of different interests and viewpoints on life through my travels and several different homes. By the time I was about 24, I started to gain a sense of self that I never imagined possible. I came closer to finally understanding acceptance and loving my past and present for the good and bad. Truly being happy for the highs and lows.

Today

Today, 26. I feel I’ve planted seeds all over the place. Different cities. Different states. Different Countries. Different people. I’ve gained awareness to so much in life through the vast experiences I’ve had and how much I put myself out there in this world. Its never felt so easy to smile. Its never felt so good to think about my past. Its never felt so good to talk about the “bad” and the “good.” Its all apart of the journey. Its all okay. I love me for the worst and the best. I never knew this sense of peace could be found, and I finally know what it feels like.

Why this is good and why this is bad

To get closer with people, we need to have quality interaction. This takes time and also takes effort to develop and initiate interaction. I tend to be very comfortable around people. I am in sales, so all I am exposed to is change, unknown circumstances and people. A career that goes right along with the way my life has been up until this point. The ability to adapt. The ability to plant seeds. The ability to be comfortable with people no matter where I am. A traveler. The older I get, the more I understand about myself. The more I am able to dig deeper and realize how I want to live everyday of my life. How I want to live with love and how I want to treat others. How I live with purpose. How I live with appreciation at my forefront.

Along with this comes some internal challenges that I still battle to this day. I also realize I still develop some “Numbness” when it comes to relationships with women. Is this because of my childhood and being separated from my Mother so frequently? Did I learn to accept that this was the way things were always going to be? That people are going to come and go. I know in my heart, I want to get closer with people, woman in particular, but I also fight a battle deep down inside of me that relates back to the relationship I had with my Mother. I’ve lived my whole life leading on women in a sense. Not because I do it on purpose, but because sometimes the “numbness” from my past become apparent. A numbness that creates a barrier between me and women. One that prevents a deep connection from just being a genuine connection and allowing me to surrender. This past year, I’ve learned how to fall in love with myself. What does this mean? I’ve had the consistent time and quality interaction on my own to be able to understand what I value in life. How to live honest with what is important to me. I’ve learned that my past has caused me to be results based. Disciplined beyond belief in all aspects. I didn’t want any circumstance to change who I am. No matter where I am, I want to stay disciplined with my body and mind. Be confident around people. I do so much to stay on track with my schedules. Its made me think I should do the same with women. To put the necessary efforts toward women, faster then what I really should be doing. Its caused me to make it a challenge to let women go. To let women go, when my deep down inside of me is telling me to let go. I know deep down inside I desire strong connections with women since I didn’t have a consistent one growing up. In an intimate sense, It may always be a struggle for me. I Understand more than ever that I need to be honest to my deep down inside. To let my heart and Mind operate more in sync. To stop feeling like I am hurting women. Women, the only thing I’ve ever hurt in my life. I may not have been patient enough with myself in this sense. So rushed that I tell myself in to hold on. To believe I truly need to hold on. I want to find peace in with this struggle.

The world

I love humans. I truly do enjoy people. I feel I do interact with people better than I ever have. I think I sometimes spread so wide that I develop partial relationships with so many different people. This is why I can go to any city and link up with someone. This is what has enabled me to learn by opening up to people of all different shapes, sizes, and varying interests. This is what has helped me lean how to treat everyone equally. Hold the door for anyone, no matter what the circumstance. Give someone a smile no matter what they look like. Say please and thank you no matter what. Complimenting people for the good I see in them.

This is just a little bit about who I am. We all have challenges. We all have highs and lows. We need to accept and understand them. We need to feel them deeply. We need to be honest with ourselves and others. We need to go to bed at the end of the night feeling that everything is okay. Like we treated the world kindly today. Like we brought awareness to appreciation as much as we could.

I’m by no means perfect. I know what I need to work on. Sometimes its hard for me to understand that, but it always will be is okay. I know part of a fulfilling life is connecting with the world and the people that live in it. This is something I will continue to work on. To develop more meaning in my relationships. To connect with the world through using my expertise with the body and mind to inspire others. To inspire people to live with appreciation and help them understand what they value. To be honest. Today is okay. How I feel is okay. How I feel is never “Bad.” I want people to understand that. No one said our journeys are supposed to be easy. They’re always going to be challenging.

Breathe slowly. Today is always okay.

(SPIRIT) Acceptance: good/bad, Happy/sad. They’re all okay

Carl Jung says, “Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better to take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.”

Society wants to to feel like losing, being sad, angry, depressed, etc is “bad.” When in reality, these are all okay and are SUPPOSED to be felt. All emotions are temporary states of mind. We are going to experience a wave of emotions. How we perceive them and understand them is key. How we communicate them to ourselves and others is key. The strongest in the mind are able to express their emotional state in a respectful way and to the right people.

Here is a beautiful story I just heard about coming to peace with acceptance and patience:

A trip to the jungle. Over 100 degrees in temperatures. A couple decided to temporarily stay in a rural village in the mountains where there was no running water, no electricity, and bedrooms were shared. The couple noticed children were happy, Mothers and Fathers were interacting in a healthy way, and everyone seemed to be at peace with their style of life. All while living in over 100 degree heat with no technological advances compared to regular society. The people live by completely accepting their environment instead of focusing on trying to control it. The couple quickly saw the bigger picture when in the back of their minds, they were reminded of their air conditioning, running water and electricity back home. Soon, they began to accept and come to peace with where they knew they were spending the next couple days. No anxiety. No frustration. Just accepting what is. Contrast and Variety. The good and the bad.

Situations like this can help center us. The help us realize perspective. To help us realize that life is going to be dirty/clean, good/bad, dark/light, bloody/healthy, an so on…

The people that win are the people that accept what is. They accept the variables that they can’t control. They understand they can’t be in control of everything. They make the best of what they do have. They take the time to appreciate. They don’t complain about what isn’t happening, why something is the way it is, or why someone isn’t doing something the way they want it done.

Next time someone doesn’t agree with you, why don’t you decide to let it go, or even educate them calmly on why you’re choosing to do things the way that you do them. Or even taking the time to find a middle ground so you can satisfy them and also yourself. Next time you’re sitting in traffic, try to not breath hard and get upset. Just drive and relax. Next time you experience someone in public getting extremely angry, take some deep breaths and remind yourself that they’re completely overreacting.

You will come to peace when you’re less reactive. When you accept the circumstance around you and simply make a decision based on what is morally and ethically right. You will rest easy at the end of the night when your conscience is clear and you know you’re making decisions that you’re proud of. Ones you would like to be remembered by.

(MIND) Snap out of it: “The Mondays”

Why do people tend to have “The Mondays.” It’s because of their circadian Rhythm-also known as your sleep/wake cycle. Physical/mental behaviors that follow a daily cycle.

According to Sleep foundation.org, Your circadian rhythm works best when you have regular sleep habits, like going to bed at night and waking up in the morning around the same times from day to day (including weekends).”

Many of us work Monday-Friday or at least spend a decent amount of time Thursday-Sunday staying up later than usual and sleeping in later than usual. This throws our body off of our usual cycle. We then get back to our regular schedules and have a lack of energy. I’ve noticed, personally, if I stay up late one night, that going to bed early the next night will be the best thing to set my circadian rhythm back to its normal cycle.

I personally am tested on Mondays sometimes for the same reasons as everyone else. I notice I have to pay a bit more attention to it, but I don’t let it ruin my day.

I sit here on my lunch, in a Starbucks coffee shop, and realize quickly that “The Mondays” can easily be battled by simply reflecting on what is good about today.

Another opportunity to take action.

Another opportunity to progress in a direction of my choosing.

Some wins with customers and some losses.

Not being afraid of getting rejected. Being confident in who I am and holding the door for everyone that walks in behind me.

Saying please and thank you throughout each interaction.

Monday is just like Tuesday-Sunday. Its our choice to make it this way.

Live each day with a strong sense of self. Making good decisions. Treating our body/mind/spirit well.

Don’t let the people around you that are deciding to have slow/grumpy Mondays ruin your day. BE A WINNER,

Andy Frisella, “Never let someone make you feel bad for winning. Never Apologize for winning. Need feel bad for winning. you were born to win. Losing is taught. Un-tech yourself.”