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Photo touch up

Originally uploaded by passi0n.

A quick snap I took with my BlackBerry 8900 the other day and that the wonderful Jen from sugas.net touched up! She fixed my red eye, smeary eyebrow, and enhanced the photo. I love it! Thanks girly

From today’s Healthy Reflections e-mail from Sparkpeople.com:

Happiness is a state of mind, not a way of life or a destination that you’ll reach one day. Bumps in the road of life are to be expected, and we cannot let them ruin our days. We often think that if a combination of factors would just fall into place THEN we would finally be happy. Satisfaction can only come from within, through truly accepting yourself, your life, and your circumstances. During this life you’ll have many hard days–long work days, sleepless nights, worrying about the future, etc. This week, think about the joys of your life. Find creative ways to enjoy the little bumps in the road.

I like to share these things with everyone, especially when I feel like others can relate to how I am feeling. I love inspirational/motivational messages and self-reflective readings. This particular subject brings me back to a class I took a few summers ago through the local community college. It was called “Coping Skills for Stress” and boy did it hit home. I remember the instructor telling us a story about the path to happiness and how most people can’t accept what they have and be happy NOW, and are always saying they will be happy when something else happens.

I’ve realized over the past few years that the way most people view life is really not a good way to live. You have to first be happy with what you have in order to succeed and grow happier with each passing day. If you constantly seek extraordinary happiness all the time, you will never reach that place. My life has improved mainly because of my ability to manage stress so much better than I ever could before. Exercise, diet, proper sleep, time to myself, a job I love, plans for the future, and being healthy are all things that have made an extreme difference in my feelings of happiness. By saying this, I don’t mean that I don’t have goals or plans that will ultimately improve my life and make me a happier person. I just want people to understand that attitude really is everything and so is finding the things that keep you feeling down and fixing them.

Does anyone else have anything to share? Stories? Self-Reflection? etc…  Where has “the path to happiness” come into play in your life?

Post a comment!

A great obstacle to happiness is expecting too much happiness. – Bernard de Fontanelle, French writer

Once again, SparkPeople.com’s daily e-mail of Healthy Reflections…

Don’t put off living the life you want

There is no lesson for today. You have permission to stop thinking for a moment and just enjoy yourself. Stop looking at your computer right now and go look at the world. Rediscover the natural wonders that you walk past every day. How can there possibly be that many shades of green? Let your mind be grateful for a break. Don’t think, don’t strain. Let the memories of loved ones remind you of your favorite times. Close your eyes and try to smell the sunshine. Listen to your heart beat in your ears. If it’s raining, smile at the thought of the flowers that will soon follow. If you’re surrounded by buildings, celebrate the creative genius of human beings. See the hope, the alarm, the love, the grief in faces that stream by. Thank whomever you’d like to thank for the chance to even be here. For a moment today, don’t worry about being better. Just be.

We’re always getting ready to live, but never living. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer

I think I’m going to go for a late night stroll…

I get e-mails daily from SparkPeople.com (the BEST fitness/nutrition tracking- and info- site I’ve ever used) and one of them is Healthy Reflections.

Living Within Today

Sometimes it seems like we’re always putting off our goals until some vague time in the future called “Once”. “Once the New Year rolls around…”, “Once I have my new job…”, “Once I retire…”, “Once the kids are in school…”, “Once the kids are OUT of school…” Sound familiar? By waiting for Once to get here, we waste time and frustrate our desire to do what we really want. It’s a fact of life that every time one potential distraction disappears, it’s quickly replaced with a new one. There will always be something that can stand in your way – if you let it. Ask yourself: are these distractions real reasons, or just good excuses for putting something off? Goals cannot be started in the future. The laws of time and nature dictate that you can only act in the present. You are here, today. So are your goals. The only good time to start is right now.

Today’s Healthy Reflection reminded me of a conversation I just had the other day and I completely believe it. If you keep saying you will be happy or will succeed WHEN something happens, you never will be happy or succeed. You have to roll with the punches, be happy with what you have, and get back up every time you fall.

Here is a good quote that was included in the e-mail.

If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything, is ready, we shall never begin.

- Ivan Turgenev, novelist, poet, playwright

This rings very true in my life right now. Things are not moving fast enough! I am not reaching my goals or moving ahead in a timely manner and I am working hard to change that.

It is nice to have a journal to be able to reflect in and I hope that posts like this help others to reflect and be inspired as well.

I’ve just been ridiculously busy and uninspired (kind of) to blog, update, or re-do my site.

Basically I just haven’t had the time!! I will be doing something with it soon, though. Also, after many requests- I will be adding a Fitness section or something of the like to give people what they want to know.

I honestly wonder who still reads my site even. I am in desperate need of updating WordPress to 2.7 in addition to fixing up my photo gallery, working on a new theme, and re-writing the basic stuff. Ugh, what a task!

Here is a quick LOL to end with.

Hope everyone out in E-LAND is well.

Happy February!

xoxo
A

The Middle Authority Group [C-List Bloggers]
(10-99 blogs linking in the last 6 months)
This contrasts somewhat with the second group, which enjoys an average age not much older than the first at 260 days and which posts 50% more frequently than the first. There is a clear correlation between posting volume and Technorati authority ranking.

Clearly I don’t update enough…. but I knew that already.

I still need to upgrade WordPress and install a new theme. I’m sick of the pink. Again….

Twilight Movie in 4 days!

Yesterday was a rough day… again (minus the SUPER ecstatic-ness from getting a new laptop of course) and the posting of this silly video all over the net helped cheer me up.

I got this in an email from one of my favorite fitness sites, SparkPeople.com today.  I figured it might be something people would be interested in reading.

As odd as it sounds, sometimes our logical minds can hold us back. Have you ever wanted to attempt a new career, run a marathon, or start your own business? Our brains might scream at us that it is safer to do what has been tried and true in the past, but don’t let the fear of the unknown stop you! We all spend a lot of time worrying and little time examining the calling of our own hearts. What are you passionate about? Is there a way that you can honor these feelings in a responsible way? Trying new things can be terrifying, but following our passions can make us feel alive and become some of our most memorable moments in life. The thrill of love, the depths of grief, and the joys of a new career…all would be impossible without passion.

Ok so I didn’t get tagged by anyone in particular, but some of my fav ladies have said that they were tagging everyone that hadn’t been tagged. Soooo here I go!

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

I was enjoying summer and about to start 8th grade. This was the summer where I backpacked 26 miles in 4 days on the Oregon Coast with a co-ed group of people my age. I played Volleyball at my middle school and hung out with Tara, Andrea, and Stephanie a lot.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today?
* Vacuum
* Go to the gym
* Take a shower
* Work @ 5
* Proofread and edit Mom’s letter

3. Snacks I enjoy:
Fresh blueberries/cherries/raspberries, watermelon, 100 calorie mini bags of microwave popcorn, mixed nuts, celery with natural peanut butter, mini lo-carb whole wheat tortillas with natural peanut butter, 2% milk string cheese, sugar snap peas, dried fruit & nuts (from Costco), Slim Fast Optima bars, baby carrots, almonds, avocado w/worcestershire (mmmm!)

4. Places I’ve lived:
Born in Eugene, OR- Moved to Bend, OR in 1986- Moved to Corvallis, OR in 2003… been here ever since

5. Things I’d do if I were a billionaire:
Pay off any and all of my (and my parents) debts (credit cars, my car, school). Go back to school & finish! Hire a hardcore personal trainer who would make me do the right things to get my body in the ultimate shape. Get health insurance. Buy a BMW. Get a breast lift. Have a custom built home designed and built just for me.  Travel (Paris, Paradise Island Bahamas, Hawaii, Florida). Donate and help support charities and events that I currently care about. Put away money so I knew myself and my family were set for life.

6. People I want to know more about:
Anyone who’s WORTH knowing more about, and anyone who wants to know more about me. (Great answer Liz! I agree)