Gimme some honey

I think there will always be hard things in life, but one of the best secrets is just to keep going. To push forward, strive further at every obstacle and uspet you experience. Because on the other side of pushing through instead of giving up, there’s something more that you want and will love and will be so happy that you tried enough to get there. There is always something just around the corner. So even if it’s been a really hard or emotional week, or you feel like everything is going wrong, just stay a little more positive than you feel like and I promise there is a gift waiting for you on the other side. You just need to be strong enough to get to it. I know it feels like sometimes you just want to fall into lying in bed all day or give into the sadness. And by all means, do that if you need to. We need to honor our emotions and let them run their course. But the thing is we can’t stay stuck there for very long, we have to transmute and elevate our energy somehow someway, whatever that means. Anything, I don’t care what it is, do anything that will make you feel better and make you feel like you can keep going. I know if you are reading this you might feel so down and like your heart is so heavy. I know how you are feeling, and so many other people know, and I wish you weren’t feeling that way babe. But I think that you will surprised, rewarded, and relieved to find out what happens when you keep believing, keep hoping. That is where the beauty, the love, and our true selves lie. It is when we really don’t feel like keeping going but we do, and we uncover this hidden, extremely authentic version of ourselves. It is so invaluable to exist in that state of being, of knowing who you really are and what really matters to you. Of knowing what actually are the things you are willing to keep fighting for, to sacrifice yourself for. For me, lately, the reason I keep going is for the higher power, for god and for the universe. They have done so much for me so I work hard to do what I love for them. When you can find a reason to keep going, then it is a lot easier, and when you are doing things you are passionate about and that you love, that also makes it easier. Those were the main points, and I don’t want to dilute them any more, just pay attention to those things when you are going through a tough time. 🙂 xoxoxoxo

Friends make your life so much easier and more beautiful. They relieve so much stress and allow you to feel loved unconditionally. You know that someone is there for you, and they aren’t going to judge you. They are the people that are on your side, rooting for you, and that is a very special thing to have in one’s life.

When I think about my closest friends, even if we don’t talk for a little while, or a long while, they are always for my highest interest and always have my back.

I think life is too hard to go through without strong friendships. Yes, they do take time to build but once you do you start to feel so powerful because you know how supported you are. We go through so many trials and tribulations in life that are unavoidable, but if in the midst of all of that you have someone you can call up to let it all out to, or to ask advice to, they love you and they are going to help you. I think with true friends, it feels like a sisterhood, like it really is unconditional love. Because nobody is perfect, we all know that by now, and the ability to have someone there for you, in your good and bad times, is truly an immense blessing.

I think with our friends we have so many things we relate to each other about, so many lines to draw points of connection even if our experiences are actually quite different. Even though we are very different from our friends, I think to have someone that you admire (which is why you became friends with them in the first place) means so much. It helps us be vulnerable with them because we like the person that they are, so we are interested in what their ideas are. I think it’s the fact that we are quite different from our friends that actually makes our friendships stronger, because we can gain perspective on so many levels on so many topics just from conversing with that one other person that we trust and admire.

I hope you understand the underlying idea of what I’m trying to get at. I think it really is the secret of why friendships help us so much in life, because they expand our mind in an environment that feels safe and supportive. If you are in an energy that does not feel safe, but people or experiences are trying to get your mind to expand, then it won’t work as effectively. But if you are with someone you respect and feel at ease with and have known a long time, then you adopt their ideas and perspectives much easier because you feel comfortable with them and have a chance to process these ideas in a non-stressful way. I’m not saying that less safe environments wouldn’t instill new and unique perspectives in you, I’m just saying that our conversations with friends are more likely to have a lasting, positive impact on the expansion of our minds. And again the reason for this is because we admire the people that they are, we trust them, and we feel safe with them.

Friends really do make our lives more beautiful. It’s so amazing to have someone along for the ride, for you to see each other through so many different life experiences and to be each others anchor through a lot of it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzhjoRelWXV/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

These are the wise words of hilary duff herself. A lot of times, that special someone can’t be with us all the time, and we are going through life and facing hard things alone. She is talking about a man, that even if he wants to be there, he can’t always be, and because of this we are forced to find our inner strength and grow as women and be independent and discover how wonderfully capable we are without m. I’m not saying its bad to have a man in your life, but you don’t need one. I think I am still learning this. I am a very lovey dovey person, so I would rather have one than not. But I think there is so much freedom and personal growth that comes from not needing a man and loving yourself first. There is nothing to be lost and everything to be gained from loving yourself. It gives you so much needed self-respect. Life is so much more beautiful when you believe in yourself and your own independence, and you actively use these talents in your everyday life. You end up touching so many other people and helping so many when you are able to forget about men for a little while. Also, there is so much love to be found aside from just romantic. It is insurmountable the amount of love that is found within our lives. From family, to friends, to nature to strangers, to animals, to ourselves. This world is so abundantly filled with love, we just have to open our eyes, hearts and minds enough to receive and embrace it. It is so prevalently here, I promise you. This is so helpful if you are going through a breakup. It can be so hard I know, but if you keep pushing through the universe will reward you ten-fold because you are there, still trying even after all you have been through. Because if you are open to the lessons and the reasons why things happen the way they do in your life  – no matter how much you may not want to believe events in our lives have purpose – you will be abundantly blessed and supported by higher powers. There is so much beauty in finding that inner strength and using it for good when we have gone through pain and hardships. It propels us back out into the world, and the pain gives us a greater empathy and understanding for humanity as a whole. It connects on such a deep level to everyone and everything. This is one of the big reasons we go through difficult things. But to get back to the main point, there is so much more to life than men, and when we realize this we are opening up such a powerful, meaningful and inspiring door to our consciousness. That’s all I have to say. You shall be blessed if you keep pushing through, no matter how hard it may seem.

Wherever we are we always have ourselves to lean on.

I think as people we go through so many things in our lives, so many situations are thrown our way daily that we have to go through and process. Sometimes we feel crazy because we can’t come to terms with all of the memories and make peace with them. But I think something that has been really helpful with this is to detach yourself from them. Even if you go through a terrifying experience, if you can let go, not pay it any attention, and instead focus on something else in your life that gives you more light, then you won’t feel so held back or confused. I find that I can attract very polarizing experiences and people, so in order to keep my energy centre and aura clear, I HAVE TO move on from those experiences, no matter how difficult that is to do – in order to regain direction and serenity within myself. At the end of the day, I am the one that is suffering if I hold on too tightly to a certain situation in my head, it is only hurting me. If I can detach from them, clean them up, and move on to the next thing, to think, hey its a brand new day! And allow myself the permission to let go of that memory and lock it away, then I have the mental space free to do something/give energy to something that is more meaningful and rewarding for myself. Because our lives aren’t all good, and we are all going to go through hardships, but if you decide to not give it a chance to take a foothold in the forefront of your mind, then you are free and you are at peace. Isn’t that a much better place to be? You want to be able to rise above anything that comes your way, to acknowledge it and handle it but to also realize that anything you go through doesn’t define you, you alone are the one with the power to decide how you want your life to be and how you want to feel. I think that we are far more powerful than we realize, and our minds are so much stronger than we could ever dream up. Why waste this short, beautiful life on anything that doesn’t serve you. I know, sometimes it is difficult to let go – and that is really at the core of what I am talking about here; it all comes down to your ability to detach, let go, and move on. If you can do that, I have no doubt that you will be flying and soaring so high.

Patanjali says that one of the ways you can achieve inner peace and calmness is by tapping into the divine light inside your heart. You can imagine it as a glowing orb or as a healing, glowing lotus flower. Once you know that you always have this light within you, then you will see it emanate outwardly from you and shape your experiences as well as your thoughts and feelings. For me, when I meditate on this idea and then slowly detach from it and move on with my day, always remembering though that I am filled with light wherever I go and whatever I do, it makes everything so much happier, filling myself up with joy and yes, peace. If, in every situation we are always in control of our perception, thoughts, feelings, and ideas, then why not hold onto something that will really help us? By imagining that we have the divine light within us, we share it with others and our experiences reflect back to us what we believe our power to be. I fwe believe our power is a beautiful, healing light shining from inside our hearts directly to others around us and into their hearts, then that is what will happen. We hold the power to create a beautiful life with beautiful energy surrounding us, and I think that Patanjali is definitely onto something when he tells us to concentrate on the supreme ever-blissful light within. If we can imagine and believe that a brilliant bright light represents our true consciousness, then our mind and soul will be protected and made to be immensely positive and healing. It will influence us and our experiences so deeply, healing us and making our experiences so amazing from now on that there is no need to worry.

In the movie, Grace Kelly, Nicole Kidman who played her talked about how love conquers all. This is a very true and important lesson for all of us. So I believe that love for everyone and in everything we do can help us live our lives more peacefully and enjoyably. I think that when you have this inner love and that is your approach to the way you interact with different activities in your life, you can really start to see a change in yourself and around you. You learn that that is a very small amount of things that have to be a struggle or have to unpleasant. You also start to attract more lovely people and circumstances into your life because you are surrounding yourself in that very highly vibrational energy. From cultivating more true lovingness in my daily life, I found the day to go a lot smoother, myself enjoying more of the things I usually would not (like for example doing the dishes), embracing more people, being less picky about how I expect/want things to be, having more meaningful moments, being easier on myself, being more resilient because I am easier on myself, and ultimately opening myself up to a ever -permeable state of bliss. When we love more, we are in our feelings and our intuition, rather than our thinking, calculating, and often worrying minds. We are in our heart, and we are experiencing life for the richness that it is truly supposed to feel like, living more freely and naturally. When we love more, we naturally start to have less conflicts and problems in our life, and we repel negative and unwanted energies. When we love more, I think everything really is a lot easier, I think it does a great deal to increase our longevity in all things. When we love more, we are more caring to those around us, we have more compassion and can help others more and we feel better about ourselves as a result. We are more empathetic, and we have a greater curiosity and understanding of what the human experience really is. When we love more it increases our ability to concentrate, I have found I can focus much more easily on studying math for example. When we love ourselves more and are more kind to ourselves, we instantly become healthier in our mind and bodies. It is healing for us to vibrate in love. When we love more we are more aware of ourselves and others so we are more capable of dealing with the inevitable problems that still will arise in our lives. When we love more we see people for who they really are, understanding that we all have difficult circumstances we have been through,  and we are saved from false prejudice. When we love more we feel the true energy and essence of what it means to be alive.

I’m sure by now you know this is a problem in our society. The pandemic helped us to learn how we can slow down and that the things that really matter are within us, rather than in the outside world. If we can find inner peace and joy, and create those things ourselves, then our lives will always be better. As opposed to waiting for good things to happen, which never brings us nearly as much fulfillment as holding it within ourselves and being resilient enough to not let the bad things keep us down for too long.

I can’t say that I am great at this by any means, but as I am strengthening my spiritual knowledge, everything is within ourselves. If we want to experience eternal bliss, it is up to us and no one else. This means we need to realize everyday( in a gentle way) that we are responsible for thinking positively, treating others well, eating healthy, and moving our bodies. Oops I’m already getting off track. But really, these things will help us to relax, and in turn if we do more of these things we will be more relaxed. I guarantee it.

If we work hard to maintain a healthy balance of everything in life, then we won’t feel deprived or unsatisfied in any area, and we will be much less likely to indulge in the things that aren’t so good for us. We won’t need any ‘pick-me-ups’ or ‘night-caps’ because we will be leading a healthy balanced lifestyle that feeds us all of the contentment and inner harmony we have been looking for all along.

I’ll give you a specific example. Pretend you eat unhealthy everyday. You aren’t getting the nutrients you need for proper mood regulation, and your energy is depleted. You find you are stressed by the smallest things, and so you are drawn to eat more unhealthy food because you never feel good, so you figure you need it and you deserve it. If you could change these habits, and eat more vegetables, your body and brain get all of the nutrients you need. Your mood is regulated so you experience less stress, you feel lighter, and you have a much higher energy level. You are able to deal with everything you need to and have extra energy leftover. You can think properly, so you don’t get frustrated easily at all. You are now motivated to eat more healthy food because you feel so healthy! You see, it works both ways, all it takes is building habits in order to get into a flow of things where the work andwill power start to pay off ten-fold… I promise you. There is a reason and theere are so many more benefits than just health ones that come from eating properly. Try it for a month and you will be so amazed, you might just keep eating that way. I’m not saying it’s easy, it will be hard sometimes and take extreme willpower and work to prepare the foods, but it’s so worth it. Tip – – cook in large batches and freeze it, so you don’t have to cook for some weeks. Another tip — smoothies are so handy and easy, and if you add a green nutrition powder like spirulina, you will experience many of the benefits without the hassle or gross taste of eating so much kale lol.

The main thing for relaxing though, and I will keep is simple, is to take days off when you feel like. Don’t feel guilty or ashamed because if you take the time off you need, you will be that much more capable to tackle the things you need to, when you need to. This is so much easier said than done, but it is so so important, probably a lot more important than many health ideas you could think of.

So this has been more a recent, sudden realization for me. I learned about it from one of my friends favourite philosophers( forget his name). But this post will sum his most important findings up. It is about not trying. It’s basically the idea that wherever you go and whatever you do in life, you may think you have to try, but actually you don’t. Some exceptions include studying, exam writing, athletic endeavors. But even in these, we don’t have to try as much as we may think. If we accept that everything should be natural and come easily, it will. When we aren’t trying, we are relaxed and things just seem to flow, we know what to do next and we don’t overthink. How many times have you planned something to a tee so much, and then once you try to follow your plans none of them are followed-through, due to unforeseen circumstances are too many outside changing variables? For example, when I was a full time nanny, I would go to the enth degree to search up unique pinterest activities, only to try them with kids who turned out to hate these ideas and balk at them. Half the time they would completely dismiss these ideas! At first I was offended, but then I realized they were just so in the moment and had their own idea, or the day would take us on a different, equally amusing endeavor. As soon as I stopped trying to control our days and try so hard to come up with fun things for them, the days flowed seamlessly and actually ended up being MORE fun.

What I’m trying to say is that you don’t need to try, everything will come to you that day or in that moment. There will be unexpected opportunities, or someone will show up with a new attitude or idea and then away you go. You didn’t have to worry about anything in the first place. This happens so much more often than we think, but we may not be open to these changes that swoop in because we are so wrapped up in our minds or plans that we completely miss them altogether. A yoga teacher once said that she never has to think, because she is constantly showing up to the present moment. Try it. One day, see what happens when you are only responding to what it’s front of you at that moment, sentence by sentence of what the other person is saying. Object by object, step by step. You will see that there is nothing to think about, because when we are open to it, the universe is providing us with the information and resources we need moment by moment. If we live in the present moment, we don’t have to try.

Pretend you are getting ready for a birthday party. You are so worried about how you look, what you will say, if you got a good enough present, that you won’t know enough people, etc, etc. None of this has helped you, yet you have expended so much effort in order to think and do all of this. Now instead, pretend you spend the day fulfilling your desires, doing whatever suits you. You end up finding your friend the perfect gift because you visited on of your favourite stores. Now, you carry this effortless, blissful mindset into the birthday party. You are going to end up talking about the wonderful day you had, what you are passionate about, and you will find that some of the other people have similar interests to you as well! Because you are at ease and relaxed, you catch every joke that is made, and you are alert and able to respond amazingly to all that the people have said. You are really present and enjoying yourself because you are not caught up in your thoughts, wondering if you are doing well enough. You have the attitude of not trying really, and this makes things so much easier. The conversation will flow so naturally, and before you know it the party is over and you wish it could have gone on longer.

Today, I went walking near the city river and dam bridge. Our river runs through the entire city ( I think this happens in most cities?) but at this particular part of the river, the banks are cut through with many winding trails that are quite steep, as well as on the opposite side which features a golf course. The evergreen trees are quite numerous at these parts, as well as the beautiful birds. It was spring time so there were young pigeons flitting about near the dam, as well as some Canadian geese on top of the water processing building(lol). The high banks and the stratigraphy on the opposing side of the embankment as well as the expensive houses, and the nature elements I described paint the best picture and present the most exquisite opportunity for a long nature walk. I strongly encourage you to find a nicer area of your town that is near the river. You won’t be disappointed. So anyway on to the point of this post…

When I was walking at the top of the tree line next to the paved pathway, just at the beginning of my nature exposition that day, I instantly got this immediate sense of protection and support. It like all of the grass and birds and trees and water make you no longer feel lonely, and that they lift a heavy weight off of your shoulders. I really took the time before that to just sit and look down at the river and surrounding nature, and it is just so all encompassing – to the point where you feel a warm embrace and like nothing can hurt you. The peacefulness that it instills in you after immersing yourself for only a short time is so immense, so I think it’s this peace that adds to the feeling of safety. When we feel at ease and at peace, we are usually in a safe and comfortable environment and vice versa.

I think to really tune into the peace, safety and comfort that is abundantly available and given by nature to us humans, you have to be willing to really slow down, be observant, and be mindful. If I had been running through, I wouldn’t have felt that feeling so much. If I had been talking on the phone, I wouldn’t have noticed it. If I had been worried about what I was going to do after, I wouldn’t have realized those amazing sensations. It was only when I took the time to slow down, to listen, and to observe that I was able to feel supported by the earth.

Why is it so important for us to tune into this kind of intuitive awareness by immersing ourselves in rich nature? I think it is important because it is so uplifting. Your spirit feels cleansed and renewed, invigorated with all this new energy which then is a catalyst for improving your life, giving you the motivation and inspiration to make the necessary changes in your life. Or even if you aren’t wanting to change your life so much, it brings you peace of mind and an invaluable comfort that no matter where you are you will be protected. This alone makes you believe in yourself as well as trust yourself that you can do all those things you never could. It gives you the confidence to tackle situations you thought you couldn’t before because if you continually tune into it, you have this all encompassing energy to back you up. It also is so stress-relieving. Many of us lead busy and hectic lives, so it is a great, powerful tool to dissolve the worries and restraints that we are creating in our minds. It has the power to change our perspective about so many things, for the better. One way it has changed my perspective is realizing that I am a part of this world, rather than a being that lives in it. By really trying to connect with nature instead of only acknowledging it, it has shown me how much nature I have within myself. We are meant to have this ability to connect deeply with the energies in plants, water, and animals. It is where we came from, and it is so healing for us to be in. It gives us a sense of the divine protection that is with us all of the time. It rejuvenates us, and it wraps us in its warm embrace. It is always there for us to achieve solace in, and at the same time we are deepening the relationship we have with ourselves. How amazing is that!

this simple phrase has gotten me through all of the most challenging things I had been anxiously stewing over as I was awaiting them. Mostly, you know when you are about to be entering an area of unknown, scary territory, at least a day ahead of time. For me, these challenging situations have usually been job interviews, and jobs. For my sister as well, recently it has been jobs that have caused the most anxiety and stress. So, I have found a simple solution to all that worry and pre-emptive stomach sickness. This is saying to yourself over and over (like a mantra) “it will be okay”. It won’t be great, and it won’t be awful. Not every single part about that day is going to be awful, neither is every single part going to great. But it is a fact that no matter what, even going through that challenging day, no matter how you feel after about it, you can count on the fact that it will be okay. And somehow, for me it takes away a huge chunk of anxiety. This is because we are trying to think in our heads how we can avoid every bad thing that might happen, but in doing so we put ourselves in utter turmoil! By repeating to ourselves it will be okay, we can calm ourselves down, and also, we are somewhat letting go of the outcome, and just trusting. Sometimes this is not easy at all to do, but it is so important and so necessary in order to take care of our precious minds. I think by saying “it will be okay” we are also accepting that we are going to have to deal with things in the moment, that we can’t figure it out and we can’t know everything that will happen. It will be okay, period. We aren’t going to think or worry beyond that, because it is useless. There are going to be things that are going to come up that are unexpected that is a fact. But by remaining calm and accepting this fact, we take back our serenity and control. When we are not a bundle of nerves, we are much more equipped at dealing with things. Also, it’s not fun to spend days beforehand wrapped in worry, in fact it feels like torture. It’s much better to just let things go a little and trust that we have the smarts and the ability to deal with things in the moment, and also to trust that we can handle things with grace.

I have to give credit to Chloe Brotheridge and her podcast “A Calmer You”, for this piece of advice.

Here’s a video of her 🙂