by Lucy | Aug 17, 2016 | Well Balanced Wisdom
It’s 8pm. My husband is working the late shift. I just put the kids to bed. It was far from the peaceful scene I once pictured in my head before having kids. You know… sweet snuggles, fun bubble baths and sweet hugs and kisses before I leave the room. Don’t get me wrong there was some of that but not without plenty of struggles. Like the sprinting after my child who is running from me the moment I mention bath time, the frantic ‘oh crap where’d the paci go’ search, the argument over which pajamas to put on (the clean ones or the ones she has worn 5x in a row already), the shame from losing my temper, the cries for attention when I only have 2 hands and 1 lap, and the long lasting pleading, screaming, whiny finale I hear when I finally say, “it’s time to go to bed.”
Sigh. I close the door. While I still hear crying I walk down the stairs and look around at my messy house. I see dishes to do, toys to clean, emails to return, projects to work on…. ugh..I just can’t. It’s too much and I feel like I just ran a marathon! So, I open the pantry and I treat myself to some cookies. Just one more. And another. I can’t stop. Oh look… the package is gone. This is embarrassing.
Hello. My name is Kristen and I am a recovering perfectionist. I never thought I would admit to overindulging in a moment of weakness. To start out my blog post telling you about the far from perfect bedtime scene in my house. But I can share this with you now because I’ve learned to have compassion for myself, to realize that I’m only human, to look at my failures as lessons and to not let my failures define me.
Turns out that a requirement for being a human is to be imperfect. Which means FAILING is just part of the whole process. Well-balanced eating (and well-balanced living for that matter) is not fail proof because at the end of the day no matter what plan we decide to follow we are only human and this is real life.
Too often we expect the journey to be picture perfect and we don’t plan 
for the struggles. It doesn’t matter the number of mistakes, slips, failures – no matter what you call them – that you have, it’s how you embrace them and what you do next that matter the most. Lucy and I like to call them LESSONS because there is always something you can learn or a way you can grow from something not going the way you hoped. We can get a lot further if we embrace the struggle, have compassion for ourselves and never let our set-backs define us. Learn, love, grow and keep on, keeping on. What “lessons” have you learned lately?
Here is some food for thought:
What areas in your life did you imagine to be picture perfect?
What mistakes, slips, failures in your life can you embrace a little more? What lessons can you learn?
Do you beat yourself up for making mistakes? What can you do to show yourself more compassion when you mess up? (Journaling and positive affirmations work wonders for me!)
Are you letting your mistakes define you or hold you back? Instead, what can you do to grow?
by Lucy | Jul 4, 2016 | Motivational Mondays
“What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while.” -Gretchen Rubin
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(This week’s post is courtesy of our new Chief Creative Officer, Kristen Norton)
Wouldn’t it be nice if healthy decisions didn’t have to be so hard?
Some healthy choices come only after spending lots mental energy. It takes effort to plan, willpower to stay the course, and emotional energy too. But what if you could just make the healthy choice without all that work?
I bet this morning when you brushed your teeth, you didn’t have to think about it. And when you drove to work, you probably let your mind wander or enjoyed your favorite morning radio station.
Most of us brush our teeth and drive to work without much thought or decision-making at all. We’re on autopilot. We’ve done these things so many times that it just happens.
Building a new habit tends to include hard work up front, but done right you can rely on autopilot to sustain the change.
In the beginning, it’s important to be consistent and never miss a beat. You must make up your mind to give it your all. It will require a lot of mental energy. The payoff, though, is that the grit and the effort won’t be required forever.
In other words, your goal is to make healthy habits something you just do automatically. You don’t have to make the decision to eat a healthy breakfast – you just do.
Think about your current routines and habits…
What things do you do automatically?
_________________, _____________________, _____________________, _________________, _____________________.
What healthy habits do you want to put on autopilot?
1. _________________________________________
2. _________________________________________
3. _________________________________________
What hard work would you have to do upfront to make this happen?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Food for thought:
Whether it takes 21-days or 6 months, when you put your mind to making a new healthy habit you will succeed.
The secret? Keep doing it! Consistency is key.
Recipe of the Week: Cilantro Lime Shrimp Quinoa Bowl
Cilantro. Yum! Lime. Yum! Shrimp. Yum! Quinoa. Yummy!
This recipe has some of my most favorite flavors of summer. What’s not to love?
This week’s recipe, Cilantro Lime Shrimp Quinoa Bowl is brought to you by Spoonfulofflavor.com.
by Lucy | Jun 20, 2016 | Motivational Mondays
The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace. -Psalm 29:11
Do you ever get the feeling that you might have put a little too much on your plate?
This, of course, happens literally when we are really hungry and find ourselves at a buffet or party and end up dishing up too much, especially when our eyes are bigger than our stomachs.
Feeling overwhelmed can also happen figuratively if you get excited about something and end up taking on too much at once. This may be followed by feeling a lack of motivation, discipline or confidence. Feeling overwhelmed by life is less about what’s going on and more often related to negative thinking.
Below are a few ideas to keep in mind when you feel overwhelmed:
Don’t sweat the small stuff – Day by day, week by week we all have busy lives, responsibilities, and unexpected disappointments. When we let the little annoyances, such as the unexpected bank fee or a last-minute cancellation get us down, we waste energy worrying about things that we cannot change.
I can stop worrying about: ______________________________________________
Connect with your emotional energy. If you, or someone in your family, has gone through a distressing health experience such as a cancer diagnosis or heart attack you know how emotionally exhausting those situations are. Other drains on our emotional energy include exciting stuff such as a job promotion, buying a new house or finding out you’re pregnant. Anything life-changing takes energy to process and absorb. During those emotionally charged weeks – good or otherwise – remember to be extra gentle with yourself.
I use emotional energy when: ___________________________________________
Recharge your batteries. In yoga last week, our wonderful instructor read a passage about the importance of recharging our batteries. We give, give, give all day at work and then go home and give more to our families. For myself, I recharge with yoga, walking (in the woods!), spending time with friends or cooking. Other people find energy by playing golf, doing artistic projects such as knitting or sitting back and enjoying their favorite TV show.
I recharge my batteries by: ______________________________________________
Get back to your happy thoughts. Whether you choose prayer, meditation, pranayama (breath practice), an upbeat radio station or your favorite book – the options are endless when choosing to get your mental state rebalanced.
I feel happiest when: ___________________________________________________
Food for thought:
The tragic attack in Orlando, FL shook the nation as with each horrible event of that nature. It’s all too easy to fall into a negativity black hole, but we can do better.
Let us unite in love, hope and peace by taking care of ourselves and creating the world we want to live in.
