My daily inspiration this morning came from my tea cup, which read “take some time”. I have included a picture of it here! For me, taking some time means giving myself some time, even if it is 5 minutes. I plan to do just that today. I will do yoga by the pool, even if it is just for 5 minutes. You cannot make more time, but you can take more time. Use your time wisely, and add value to your day and to yourself by taking some for you. Enjoying 5 minutes sitting with your eyes closed and focusing on your breathing can reconnect you with the Universe and with yourself and you will be amazed how great you will feel after just 5 minutes. Set a timer if you need to, but take that time for you today. Namaste.
Tag: how do i cope with stress
Inspiration is Everywhere!
This morning when I went to make coffee, I noticed a little saying on the tray where the coffee was stored. It said “Enjoy your life”. Funny, I have made coffee everyday for 5 days, and yet today is the first day that I actually noticed this little message. I guess I needed a little inspiration today.
My 3 beautiful children were up at 5:30 this morning (and we are on vacation!), and the sun had not even peaked up out of the ocean. Good thing I went to bed early last night. But really Tina, come on. You are on vacation, you have 3 lovely, healthy girls, and you got to watch the sun rise over the ocean blue this morning. Enjoy your life! Because it is truly amazing, and everyone needs a little reminder of that sometimes.
Inspiration is everywhere in your life, but you have to be looking for it and you need to be perceptive enough to see it and understand it! Enjoy every moment of every day, no matter what gets thrown at you. Smile and breathe. Relax and don’t worry. Keep your eyes open… the Universe is waiting to inspire you!
Adventures in Roatan, Day 1.
Today marks the first day of our well-deserved family holiday in Roatan, Honduras. Yesterday, my 4 year old, Payton and I practiced running around the house with her backpack on, pretending that we were going to miss our flight. I wanted to make sure that she could handle carrying that bag by herself, and she did great!
Our vacation this morning started with a 3 am alarm, which one never minds when it means that you are off to somewhere special. The morning in Calgary was spectacular, and watching the sunrise as we took off into the air for Houston was spectacular. Interestingly, a freak lightning storm delayed our arrival, and we landed in Houston with mere minutes to spare to catch our flight to Roatan. Good thing Payton and I had practiced! We had to run like we have never run before to make that flight… but we ended up making it. Our luggage, however, did not make that flight! We are all praying that our swim suits and clothes show up tomorrow.
The swarm of bats dining at the hummingbird feeder and the sound of the waves crashing made me somewhat forget that I may be wearing the same set of clothes for a couple of days. And hey, I may just get a chance to buy another new bathing suit… (and one for Ryan, and Trinity and Kayley and Payton…) Who needs clothes anyway?
It’s all in the perspective. Enjoy every moment of every day. Most events that seem stressful are really laughable afterwards. Laugh at them while they are happening, and it will remove a lot of the stress. Cheers from Roatan!
Reward Yourself
You work hard everyday, so make sure you reward yourself often with small things, and occasionally with larger things. Give yourself small rewards on a weekly basis at minimum. Daily would be a interesting goal. Reward yourself in BIG ways at least once per year.
Small rewards can be things like:
- a bath with some aroma therapy and a locked door
- a dark chocolate bar, a bottle of wine and your favorite book for an hour (or more…)
- a yoga class
- a sporting event
- coffee with a friend
- buying yourself a new plant, or some flowers
- 5 minutes of meditation
Big Rewards are things like:
- Trips or Vacations
- Shopping for Shoes, Clothes, Purses
- An item you’ve been wanting for a while… hot tub, lamborghini, motorbike, house
- Spa Weekend
You put in effort everyday in your life, and you deserve to be rewarded for those efforts. If you take responsibility for rewarding yourself when you have done good things, you will build confidence in yourself and you will not need to look externally for rewards. This will improve your outlook on everything, and when you have something to look forward to, you will be more motivated to put the effort in. And the more effort you put in, the more you will be able to reward yourself. Cool, huh?
Have a wonderful day. Namaste.
Why I love Sundays.
Oh Sunday! How do I love you? Let me count the ways.
Once we had children, “sleeping in” or reading a book on the weekend seemed to disappear. But we were missing it! Thankfully, my cousin Julie taught me the value of sharing the weekend days with your spouse in order to garner some time to yourself.
Essentially, you take turns having a “sleep in” day. When it is your sleep in day, you are allowed to stay in your bedroom until 10:30 or 11 without any interruptions to do as you please (sleep, read, do yoga). The following day, it would be your responsibility to get up and take care of your home life. Saturday is now Ryan’s sleep in day, and Sunday is mine.
Find more time for you. You’re worth it.
On Christmas Giving.
Christmas day is fast approaching, and I can feel the excitement oozing out of my children. They are so excited about their presents. Living in North America, it is so easy to forget how lucky we are to have the lifestyles that we do, compared to other people living in impoverished countries around the world. Christmas is the season of giving, and I would like to encourage you to think outside of your own family for gift giving this year. There are a lot of people less fortunate than you, and helping someone out can really make your heart swell with joy. In our family, we always choose a charity or family to give to each year. We “give up” our gift exchange and give the money we would have spent to someone who needs it more than we do. I would encourage you to find a way to give to someone less fortunate than you this Christmas. Help someone have a Christmas Dinner, or help a family buy a present for their children. Make food bank donations, or donate your time to help out an organization. Think about giving and helping and sharing, and together we will make this holiday season brighter for everyone. Namaste.
Spend it wisely.
“Work is hard. Distractions are plentiful. And time is short.”
Adam Hochschild
When you do have time off, be careful how you spend it. You cannot get the time that passes back, and you do not want to regret anything. Focus on the things in your life that you care about most, and give those things as much time as you can by scheduling them first. And do your best to not get distracted. Do something fun today… it is Friday! Namaste.
A thought on Christmas.
Christmas is the time of year that everyone starts feeling overwhelmed and stressed out! Cookies to bake, cards to send, houses to decorate, shopping, parties, kids concerts….Whew! I am exhausted just thinking about it! My advice today is to stop! Christmas is being marketed to you as a consumer, and you do not have to buy into it! If you can do all of the things you feel you have to for Christmas, without feeling stressed, perfect. But if you are already anxious about it, let it go. Christmas will come and go whether you get everything you feel pressured to get done or not. And why not rethink Christmas? For me, the best part about Christmas is that my husband gets a week off because his work closes. And our kids are also off school. So, we get a whole week to spend together as a family. Our focus is on sharing this time with our family, eating, drinking and being merry! Let the stress of Christmas go, and just enjoy it. No one is judging you on your efforts this Christmas, so put some focus back on your family and friends. Namaste.
Add contact.
Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives.
C. S. Lewis
Get some human contact today. 🙂 Namaste.
Don’t do too much.
Feeling stressed and overworked? Not able to take a sick day? Assess what you are doing with your time. You may have to let something go. You do not have to do it all, you just have to do what you need to get the results you want. And if what you are doing causes more stress for you than the benefits, let it go. Namaste.