Why I Chose Courage & It’s Endless Reservations
To be courageous is so many things within itself. Let’s talk about those feelings and reservations that come along with building confidence in yourself and the courageousness that comes in behind it for the win. A Call to the Sea Many months ago I had this longing, urging, pulling feeling to go to the ocean. Or, so I thought. Ocean, ocean, ocean was all that I could think about. I wanted to book the next flight to Fort Lauderdale and drag my husband along with me. (Despite all of our actual commitments and responsibilities. Screw those, I thought. The time is now for us to embrace this nature of heading to the coastline and leaving the rest behind. Long ago that’s exactly what I thought I would do. Leave all and everything behind me and head to the coast. I didn’t care which one, I figured I’d start out in Florida somewhere. It was where I was born, after all. I thought about how I’d sail with crazy sailboaters and see all the seagulls up close. I thought about how I’d wait on celebrities from my bar/grill on the shoreline and who I’d meet and the stories I’d hear about. Then something changed. I met the man of my dreams by literal chance during one of the last days I was contemplating this all. He encouraged me to keep my roots and not be a gypsy wandering around the countryside. However, those feelings still reside deep down. (I’m sure many of you may feel the same!) Many days I ponder about how many places I could see or where I could still end up. The bright part of my life though now is that I have an amazing partner to share those feelings and experiences with, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Resetting for Self Growth To take the step into settling down instead of branching out took a ton of courage on my end. I’m not sure about him, since I’ve never really sat down and asked about that. I didn’t really think of these things until recently, when I was having a sense of self identity crisis. Courage is knowing who you are and who you’ve become, and realizing the difference in who you used to be and how far you’ve grown. I needed a really hard hit to my soul to understand that. So, I finally went to the beach. Today I woke up and called into my day job. I took a nap, and woke up with beach vibes on my mind. This is the freedom that I long for and want you all to have, the feeling that nothing in the world matters more than your self-growth, and the knowingness that you, all by yourself, can accomplish those things. Since I’m nowhere close to an actual beach with an ocean, I decided to opt for the next best thing. It’s where I went as a child, it’s where I went last year when my favorite dog passed away, and it’s where I am right here and now. It’s only a lake, but I can see far and wide and I’m not able to see the other side, which makes it feel 90% like the ocean. It’s beautiful, serene, peaceful, and exactly what I needed. I needed the smell of the water and the feel of the wind and the sound of the seagulls from my younger years. I’ve been craving the touch of the sand and the softness of laying down on it before dipping my legs into the lukewarm water. I needed these moments in sync with one another. More Habitual Balance: Practicing Gratitude in 2023 Why I Chose Courage Today I think it’s hard to overcome the realization that you’re at a self-growth crossroads. I’ve been more tuned into it this year than I ever have before, and I chalk that up to a plethora of things. The fact the my spouse is super supportive of my goals and journey, knowing that I am on a different path than his, releasing expectations that we should be following the same one. The fact that I had several health issues that I didn’t realize were even going to pop up at all, let alone in my early thirties. The fact that I’ve waited in some areas of life until I have the chance to be at my best and most accomplished in knowing my true self. But here I am, learning, absorbing, and just being. Every single day. This trip is approximately 2 hours for me, and by doing so today, I’ve decided that I will make this trip at least once every other week, if not every week. Treating myself to lunch and to relishing in the nature that surrounds me, in all seasons. It’s hard to get to know yourself, but I feel like so many of us struggle with it. We seek others approval on nearly everything, and never give ourselves the opportunity to really understand our own beings. Why? Why I Chose Courage Over All of Them I had the word “Courage” tattooed on me several years ago. Right on my wrist so that I could always look down and it and be reminded to keep pushing through the hard things. It has helped me a lot since then, especially during our hike up Angel’s Landing in Zion. It reminded me to breathe, to embrace, to feel all of my surroundings and be entirely present in my situation. Now, I’m not saying everyone needs to go out and get a tattoo, after all, it’s not for everyone. But, it is for me, and it’s helped me a lot. I went back and forth with my endless decision making between words that were similar. Want to know why I chose Courage over all of them? Courage takes perseverance. Perseverance takes patience, and patience takes strength. They’re all related, and they were all options. However, courage is what was needed
Working Through Self Expectations & Limitations
Not long ago I realized something important to my personal growth. It came with both a sense of accomplishment and also a sense of relief. However, it didn’t fail to come with some reservations about how I lived my life up until this point. Was I keeping expectations that were realistic? Or did they continue to fail me over the years as I continued to rely on them to keep showing up? Let’s talk about the real expectations that we hold, why that is, and ways to start being in a better mindset. Let’s take a look at working through self expectations and limitations. When Self Expectations are Too High When you hold high expectations for yourself, it tends to put a damper on nearly everything and everyone around you. Nothing seems quite good enough, even when you or others have the best of intentions. That can suck the life out of your mindset as well as your relationships, so why is it something that we’re all so good at? Maybe you don’t feel up to par in a specific sport or activity that you used to crush in the good old days. Or perhaps it’s more internal, the parts of you that you know can be performing better and more effectively, but you just can’t quite find the right workout routine, the right nutrition regimen, or the best stretching routine. Whatever it is, it’s eating away at you. I know first hand how you feel. This is because high expectations is something I’ve dealt with forever and still is something that I’m working through as an adult! So, don’t discount your shit, my friend. Find ways to mend the inner bitterness and work around the eagerness to hear that “good job” or “you go girl.” You may be waiting for a while… Share the Love External validation is something we all crave in one way or another. Most times we do it without even noticing it. I’m asking you right here, right now, to start taking stock in noticing. Start rushing to your inner aid and realizing that what we seek is just another way to get let down. We’ll talk more in the next section about what it is exactly that you’re missing and how you can gain more of it as you grow. Did your spouse tell you that you looked beautiful today? When you first met? On your birthday? Here’s another question… Did they tell you thanks for picking up the kids, or maybe did the dishes without you asking? Are they providing companionship and conquering the world with you as a life partner? Sometimes we can overlook these everyday mundane things and lose focus on the fact that we didn’t get called pretty today. The point is that we all need to lose focus of the high expectations of hunting for new gains and start understanding new ways to grasp a little bit of gratitude through even the toughest of situations. We’re all in this growth cycle together, so we may as well trust each other in wanting to make the best of it. Related: Need help with Gratitude? Working through Self-Confidence In my opinion, confidence comes in three forms. Over-confidence, under-confidence, and just right. Just right is clearly the option we’re shooting for here. Let’s talk more about each one, shall we? Under-confidence is something most of us probably suffer from. It sucks, but it’s the real deal. We can exude awesomeness for days but extroverted introverts such as myself then just come home drained and crash for more days. To gain real confidence in yourself and others can take years and even decades. And just so you know, that is completely normal and okay. Keep doing it. Gaining this new skill takes practice and learning, as does any skill. By obtaining and utilizing this new skill in your everyday interactions, you can start to piece together what expectations you can let go of, and what ones are actually relevant to your life and to the lives around you. However, when we are over-confident, we tend to exude a different kind of awesomeness…the annoying kind. No one appreciates hearing all about your trials and tribulations day in and day out, especially when it keeps playing on repeat for months and even years. Touch base with yourself on where you are in your journey and why you keep worrying so much about confidence being your number one go-to. Try meditating or find a way to talk to your inner self and see what you can work on to really hone in on new limitations to set for yourself when you’re around others. Finding Balance in Self Expectations Although we humans find it hard to believe, finding the right amount of confidence can be incredibly helpful for balancing out the amount of expectations and limitations that we set for ourselves and for those around us. Challenge yourself to be less judgmental and more understanding of how people come across within their conversations to you. Do you have a personal story that relates? Please feel free to share in the comment section a high expectation that you held for either yourself or your loved ones that you’re working on shedding or have shed in the past. Being human is hard. Learning about our feelings and not feeling bad about learning about them is a weird thing in itself. Don’t set unnecessary expectations for learning, but please don’t limit yourself either on what your true potential can be. You can continue to grow in every second of every day, and I one hundred percent encourage you to keep doing so. Thank you for reading today’s post Working Through Self Expectations and Limitations! See my last post Practicing Gratitude in 2023. Check out our sister site Rooted in Reselling
Practicing Gratitude in 2023
Have you ever stopped to watch the clouds roll by on a cool Summer evening after listening to the storm all day? That’s what I’m doing right now. Practicing Gratitude in 2023 doesn’t take as much as you think. Go get you some. I’ll wait. Did you go check out the clouds today? We’ve all got some. Whether they be in the sky or in your mind, check on those bad boys and watch them roll away. Take this time to absorb all things nature. The cows mooing across the pasture, the birds chirping in the air, perched on their place of choice. Maybe you hear the sounds far off in the distance of the wind rolling in. Take exactly one minute to close your eyes and embrace that wind brushing against you without sight. I guarantee you that one minute will go by much slower than you think. Every day in this fast-paced world, we argue, we conquer, we obtain, we object, we brutalize one another with our words and our actions, instead of harmonizing more often with nature and within ourselves. If only more of us strange humans would embody this feeling more frequently, perhaps we wouldn’t be so frazzled by red lights and construction, or classmates calling us names, or ladies at the grocery store arguing about literal spilled milk. Shake that shit to the curb, my friends. Why do we all find ourselves actually having to practice being grateful?? Why is it that we have these high expectations of what abundance is, of what happiness is, and of what true wealth is? Gratitude is something that almost all of us crazies lack just enough to set us into a downward spiral. And you know the best part? It’s basically the easiest out of all of these things to obtain. Absorb the feelings that wash over you when you’re driving or walking down the street. Feel them the whole way through and understand them. Take time to be grateful for the bad and the good, for those both are what makes you, you. When will being grateful come easier to you? Have you practiced this in the past, only to let it slip by on a busy day, promising yourself that you’ll come back to it, “someday.” Why someday? When will that day be right to start up again? Perhaps you’ll find time after a loved one has passed, or when you’ve hit the lottery or maybe when you find the new perfect puppy. These are the times that gratitude floods over us with such ease that we don’t even realize it’s present. The best kind of gratitude is the kind that you are fully present for. When you’re actually being mindful about how wonderful this thing called life really is, and what it is you’ve been put here to help others do. Maybe it’s writing a blog and reaching to the far corners of the web, or perhaps it’s a small gesture like taking out the trash for a loved one after they’ve had a difficult week. Maybe it’s just speaking to yourself with love and confidence in the mirror every night, or every morning before you start your trek into the world of the unknown. Whatever it is, be there for it. Be fully and completely there. It can be hard practicing gratitude in 2023 at times. Many days we are stuck in overdrive or on some annoying loop that we can’t close. Day in and day out we hit go before the light even turns green, and we end up face planting into our pillow only to wish away the next day before it even gets here. So, how do you practice gratitude correctly? Well, for starters, there is no right or wrong way. There’s only your way. That’s right, each way of being grateful on our journeys will be different. Each day will bring new obstacles that we think we’ll never jump over. Every morning will bring new challenges and each night will let in more demons. The choice is yours in what you choose to bring with you into Day Number Two of your journey into your new practice of gratitude. Will you say hello to the birds more often? Will you say thank you and hello to more strangers that cross your path? Would you think more clearly knowing that you have been the best human being you could be? Most likely. So why don’t more of us do that more often? Taking advantage of feeling good more frequently seems like a no brainer. But alas, here we are talking about it more than ever. I challenge you to take one full and complete deep breath every single morning. This takes less than 10 seconds. You can do anything for 10 seconds. So, make it a good one. Think clearly and completely within those 10 seconds and stay grateful the entire time by thinking about one new thing each morning that you are grateful for. Maybe it’s about something that happened yesterday, or last week. Or maybe it’s about an upcoming event that you feel entirely blessed about. Perhaps it’s just one large beautiful flock of birds passing over you and embracing the swoosh that they make as a flock. Whatever it is, let’s talk about it. Feel fully okay with sharing your experiences by joining in on the community of others doing the same. Leave a sentence below encapsulating that feeling and let us embark further together on what it means to you. You are appreciated. Stay grateful, my friends. Thank you for reading today’s post Practicing Gratitude in 2023! See my last post Introducing Habitual Balance. Check out our sister site Rooted in Reselling
Introducing Habitual Balance
Out of Balance As I sat down today to write the first blog post of Habitual Balance, I leaned back and closed my eyes. I sat there, waiting for the thought bubbles to come floating in. Nothing. I opened my eyes, sat up straight, really focused, and still…nothing. Then, I had a first time experience. It was the one and only thought bubble that floated on in. “Run,” it said. This was the first time ever that I closed my laptop, set down my phone, and put on my shoes. I didn’t think about the weather. I didn’t consider changing. Nor did I try and wrassle my dogs into harnesses or dread going because well running really isn’t all that fun. I just got up, and hit go. It was on this run that those thought bubbles started floating back in. I immediately thought about how I didn’t have paper or my phone to jot down ideas in, because we humans must always rely on technology instead of the human brain that thought up computers in the first place. Here I am now, releasing the thoughts during my run without pen and paper present, with my phone still put away, and only in the company of the furry friends next to me. Amazing, what we can actually do when we set intentions and put our minds to something, isn’t it? Intentional Accomplishment Did you know that if you only run 1.33 miles 3x per week, that equates to 208 miles per year? That’s where I’m currently at in my running journey. I used to hate it, but I’ve begun to love it for 100 other reasons other than actually running. Running isn’t beneficial to me because it’s boring and monotonous. Sure, trimming those love handles is something I’m here for, but not until I ran through the Grand Canyon did I feel a sheer sense of accomplishment and wonder of “holy shit I’m running through the Grand Canyon.” That hit hard. Now I run because it’s instilled a new love in me. Not of running, but of accomplishment. If I’m feeling down, sleepy, lacking ideas, I run. And somehow within those short 1.33 miles or approximately 10-15 minutes, I’m feeling 110% better. Why do we stare at our screens for hours upon hours before coming to the realization that we are in fact human and crave nature to recharge our batteries? Habitual Balance … we’re in this together That’s what this blog post, and Habitual Balance as a whole is all about. The simple realization that we are all humans living this life together. The realization that we need to fuel our bodies correctly with wonderful food and feed our brains with healthy information that we can grow from. Within these posts, you’ll find a hefty supply of nourishment for both your brain and body, by way of healthy and easy to understand meal ideas, recommendations to tried-and-true supplements, understandings of which time management tools work best for you, and new ways of working out that you have never considered before that work even better than your boring old run. So get ready to learn a whole lot about yourself, and how you can improve your situations and your life. You really can make these small steps to open new worlds if only you have the mindset and patience with yourself to do so. During my run, I passed an elderly couple. This couple was doing simple yard work, but I thought about if they may have been runners in their lifetime. Or maybe they still were? After doing the previous math in my head, this got me thinking on a whole other level. Were they married for decades? Were they newlyweds? Were they even married? Would my husband and I be doing the same thing 20, 30, 40 years from now, watching a young woman pass and wonder why she chose to run that day? I also passed 3 young boys that were yelling for their grandma after playing some football in the front yard. Which prompted me to realize that recently in particular, all I’ve been thinking about is my lack of time. I constantly think about how I have less and less time to grow, to think, to create, to envision, to prosper, to just be. And then I thought, I’m not ready to be a grandma. And then another thought…I’m not even a mother yet! I really do, have plenty of time to be just, me. I’m still a little amazed at how 1.33 miles every so often can add up so quickly when you look at the big picture. It’s hard to move forward. It’s hard to forge ahead, but it must be done. Whether you are putting the groceries away, doing endless dishes, working a job you don’t enjoy, you must forge ahead. From our sister site: Maintaining Mental Health is Mentally Exhausting You must keep going Each and every day, every minute counts that you put towards working on your dream. Your dream could be as little as stretching for 5 minutes once a day, or as big as conquering the presidential race of 2040. Working on something that you love even as little as 30 seconds every day can add up more than you imagined it would by the time you’re ready to spread your wings. That’s where forming habits come in Creating a new habit is substantially harder to do than to talk about. And replacing a bad habit with a good one is even harder than that. Sticking to a routine, a schedule, a planner can be daunting to go at it all at once, and chances are you’ll fail in the long run. Habitual Balance has been created to assist you in your journey to a better you. How do you get there? By creating habits that are sustainable, obtainable, and healthy. These habits can be newly formed or put in place to repurpose time slots of unhealthy habits