No Mind

To all of you who follow my blog, you are the blood of these veins. You keep me going!
Those who seek a teacher will find treasure… If you hold a question in your heart, if you’re seeking wisdom or direction; Meditate on it. Be open and flexible to what translates into your spirit. Just like the word tells us: seek me and you shall find me. The treasures we have available to us are incredible and unexplainable. Sit in your quiet place, hold onto your question, desire (whatever it is you seek), let it dance behind that space in your heart where your deep breaths give you relief. Release it as you mediate on it. It sounds contradictory, but as you allow your mind to get out of the way, the power of God’s spirit in your life will come to fruition.

My Sensei in karate teaches us to practice what is called “no mind.” Feeling through life, making decisions without your thoughts or allowing direction to come not from your own mind or ideas (which we tend to screw things up) but allowing the energy to flow and guide you.

Today’s practice : remember to breathe, add a new habit to your life that brings peace, calm, and clarity. Take ten deep breaths at three different times throughout your day. This practice Increase oxygen intake, releases a hormone that promotes regeneration, improves digestion.

Changing the Chanel in Your Mind

The last speech I wrote in my public speaking class was a persuasive speech. Here is my outline I used as I stood in front of my classmates motivating them to do something huge yet so simple.

Changing the Channel in Your Mind

By Paulina Cruz

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the power of our mind.

Central idea: To inform my audience how to create an extraordinary authentic life by understanding the power of our mind,
controlling our thoughts, and channeling our brain energy

I was screaming crying and begging for my mom to find me. I felt so alone and it was dark. It felt like hours before she came to my rescue when according to the clock it was merely seconds. Mom took me from my bed and held me, asking for an explanation. I explained I heard noises in the closet and then saw something move and I was convinced I was suffocating. I hadn’t fallen asleep yet I was laying there worried about all the bad things that could happen to me in the dark.  My mom simply explained to me, “You need to learn to change the channel of your mind. It’s like a TV in there with many stations available and you have to choose the right ones.”  (Amy, 1997)

My mom had unlocked a secret that could give us all a special power to carry the rest of our life.

Later I discovered she was introducing this idea that I want to share with you today; how to create the life you want through choosing the thoughts you want.

I’ve developed an appetite for any book or any teaching I can get my hands on that teaches this philosophy. I’ve been on my own journey discovering how to master my mind through my spiritual faith and personal practices.

Today am going to inform you how to create an extraordinary authentic life. First we will take a quick look at how our minds can control our emotions, how our mind is a map, then the energy that comes from our thoughts, and finally how to become the master of your own mind to start the journey of a life you love.

 

Thoughts can run and ruin our emotions.

1. Before we experience an emotion it starts in a relay race of our mind.
2.  First our mind assumes a response to the situation, and then passes on the message to release a reaction in our body.
   1. You’ve experienced this when you have a sexual thought and immediately you are aroused. Your mind doesn’t know the difference between reality and thought. So in your minds reality, it’s necessary to begin a sexual response even though nothing in front of you is physically arousing.
3. Thinking about positive things releases positive emotions and when we have positive emotions, or hormones like endorphins, our bodies function at a much higher optimal point.

1. Our senses are sharpened; we think clearer, we have more energy and our creative energy increases.

 Most people think being able to read minds would be incredible, let’s look at how reading our own minds could be just as powerful.

 The road map to our fate starts in the map of our mind determining our steps.

1. When we have habitual thoughts our mind can actually become addicted to that thought.
2. Each thought has a specific pathway that has been carved into your mind like a map.
   1. As you start to think something or learn something over and over again it’s carved into your memory like a tire leaves a track in mud. The more the tire traces over the same spot the deeper the divot.
   2. The habit of a negative thought endangers the outcome of your emotions because as these thoughts become more frequent, it becomes truth in your mind.
      1. For example, I am ugly I am ugly I am ugly, leads to excuses to not develop beauty.
      2. Lets’ not become slaves to our thoughts, instead let’s be able to navigate what happens next in our mind.

 Our thoughts are messengers of energy that deliver results in our life.

1. If our thoughts are positive or negative this energy is going to feed our body either one or the other.
   1. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be manifesting bad energy when I desire peace in my life.
   2. Brian Johnson from http://www.experiencelife.com says it like this, “When you expect your life to be small and sucky, you will get what you expect. Your real enemies are the self-defeating thoughts, paltry expectations, and beliefs that you must live at less than full throttle.”(Johnson, 2012)
   3. When our mind is crowded with noise and negative energy, then that is the way we see ourselves and the world.
      1. “We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.” (Buddha, 2010)

 Now that we have seen that your mind literally can generate a chain reaction of good energy or bad energy and how our mind can determine our direction, let us unfold how to master our minds.

You can master your mind just like you can build muscle in the gym.

1. Meditation is a work out of the mind, or rather a work in where you learn to control each movement of your thoughts.
2. Control your mind through mediation by quieting your mind, and by not allowing any thoughts to float in and if they do, not attaching to them.
   1. This practice creates an awareness that when it becomes a habit will allow you to turn away from unwanted thoughts.
3. You can live through your heart not your mind.
   1. Pay attention to the motions of your heart and not what your thoughts persuade you this will lead to your life being led by a master piece of wisdom not that map of wrong turns we talked about.
4. Make it intentional every day to practice watching your thoughts.
   1. Be keenly aware of what goes on in your mind throughout the day.
   2. Catch damaging thoughts before they happen and purposefully replace them with a positive.

We have learned a lot together today about the power of our thoughts and how to create an authentic life through this power, but before I leave you today I want you to remember these things.

 

1. If you don’t change the road map in your mind you become a slave to your thoughts and lose the ability to liberate your own unique intelligence. Our head may be attached to our neck and it may also contain our brain, but our thoughts which reside inside are the fuel for our fate. You can change this channel, only you hold the remote and the power to create a fantastic energy to direct your life. Mastering your mind through meditation or simply being aware of the power you hold to create a new thought pattern can allow you to become the person you want to be and create the life you want to life.

1.  Just like my mom was trying to suggest when I was a child, control your thoughts…control your destiny.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Grubin, David. “The buddah.” PBS. National Endowment of the Humanities, 2010. Web. 5 Dec. 2013. <http://www.pbs.org/thebuddha/&gt;.

Johnson, Brain. “Why Your Life Sucks.” Experience Life. N.p., June 2012. Web. 5 Dec. 2013. <http://experiencelife.com/article/why-your-life-sucks/&gt;.

Nadine, Amy. Personal interview. 1997.

Speech I wrote about the miracles of Coconut Oil

This was the first speech I wrote in my public speaking class. Hope you enjoy and learn something!

Coconut Oil

It was the first day of August three summers back. I had just moved from Washington State to California to be with my dad and grandpa. My grandpa, who I call Papa Don, had convinced me to move in with them to start a new life. I was sitting in the kitchen of my new home now as my Papa made me the first breakfast of my new life. I started to explain to him the health problems I was suffering: severe cystic acne, loss of hair, fatigue, digestive problems and constant flu like symptoms. As he scrambled my eggs he handed me a spoon overflowing with this this foggy white mass he said, “Eat this, you need to know what true health feels like. This is going to start to detox you from the inside out. I used this as my main healer when I was diagnosed with cancer, and look at me know!”  He proudly flaunted his cancer free healthy self.  Since that day, well you can see my acne is gone, I no longer have chunks of missing hair and my energy is phenomenal.

Today I want to inform you about how coconut oil can benefit your health internally and externally.

For the past two years I have studied holistic health, read numerous books on clean eating and natural healing, and dove into the beauty industry where I got my esthetician license so that I could help people with their skin care. I now work for a plastic surgeon where I assist people with topical solutions to their skin care needs as well as advice on how to improve their skin by taking care of their internal health. Since my own health struggles began to improve with that first taste of coconut oil in the kitchen with my grandpa, I have been searching to find out more about this oil as a cure so that I can help others discover what it’s like to know true health.

Before today you may have heard of coconut oil as something in your curry dish or an ingredient at the grocery store but after today you will see why many are using it for more than their main course and even applying it to their face. To better understand Coconut oil, let us look at three benefits, through its internal health effects, ways to use it topically and its healing capabilities.

Let’s start by looking at the nutritional prosperity of coconut oil.

Using this oil in your diet or taking it by the tablespoon is beneficial to your internal health in many ways

.Coconut oil is a source of healthy fat that is good for your blood and the functioning of organs. The stigma about coconut oil in the past is that it’s bad because it’s a saturated fat which is known to contribute to heart disease. Bruce fife is the author of Coconut Oil Miracle; he’s a naturopathic doctor who studied this oil for the past 15 years. In his research he found medical studies that proved the value of coconut oil. He explains that “Coconut oil is a kind of saturated fat containing lauric acid which is a medium chain fatty acid…(which is also found in mothers milk) this saturated fat doesn’t cause heart disease in fact it does the opposite…it prevents clogging in the arteries by repairing inflammation and promoting circulation.” (Bruce Fife, interview with Sean Croxton 2011)

This oil has a worldwide respected reputation, commonly in hospitals to feed infants and children with mal-absorption difficulties; it is also found in numerous infant foods.

This is a source of brain food and important for their brain development providing nutrients similar to mothers breast milk. Since the brain is made up of mostly fat and the neuron tissue in the brain is made up of 95% fat we can see why this is crucial. Coconut oil also is very important to the proper function of hormones. In my interview with Eric Cruz who has his M.A in Nutrition health and fitness and a BA in kinesiology, he informed me that, “Many of today’s common diseases are the product of dysfunction with hormone actions. The Body needs fat and cholesterol for sex hormones. Coconut oil is in the most stable form of fat, it’s a precursor for the production of hormones so it’s vital to hormone regulation and function.”(Eric Cruz, interview) You too could reap these benefits by simply trying this; taking a tablespoon in the middle of your day to increase your energy without leaving you with a caffeine crash. It stimulates metabolism, supports functions of the thyroid and in turn boosts your energy.

Now that you know about the nutritional value of coconut oil, let’s unfold its value in detoxing.

Coconut oil fights illness and disease with its characteristics including antiseptic, antibiotic, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral. “In the central American country of Panama, people are known to drink coconut oil by the glass to help themselves overcome sickness.”(The coconut Oil Miracle, p.7) It’s made of triglycerides that when in the process of digestion, they are broken apart and activated as detoxifying agents while still promoting good stomach flora. So for example let’s imagine you have a suns infection, mono, or even ring worm. If you were to consume 2-3 TBS of coconut oil, as soon as it starts to digest in your stomach it activates this antiviral anti fungal effect. Taking 3TBS daily is the amount suggested while trying to rid of any unwanted bad bacteria in your body.

Oil pulling therapy is a method that Dr. Mercola teaches about as an oral detox that comes from ancient Indian practices. Dr. Mercola has several degrees in the medical field including licensed osteopathic medicine, licensed Physician and surgeon and more. He was named the top Ultimate Wellness Game Changer by the Huffington Post and has been on multiple local news channels including Dr. Oz, CNN, Today show and more to educate viewers on healthcare issues. On his website www.mercola.com Mercola explains that “Coconut oil is a powerful inhibitor of a large variety of pathogenic organisms…largely due to its naturally high lauric acid content.” With this information he paints a picture of how using this oil as an added part of your dental regimen, you can rid of any decay, viruses, and detox your body through the glands in your mouth. The research on this method by Mercola alone shows us the powerful benefits in coconut oil and that using it as a mouth wash daily is a great preventative tool.

So far we’ve unpacked this oils nutritional value, seen its detoxing value and even learned a few ways to utilize it in our lifestyle. Now let’s talk about using it from head to toe.

There are many topical benefits to applying coconut oil to your skin.

For those of you who have experienced dry cracking skin, coconut oil will soothe this irritation. With severely dry skin it can be an irritation in itself to find a cure, because most lotions are made of mostly water and dry up once they’re rubbed in or they just sit on top of the skin. If you apply a small amount of coconut oil to the dry area and massage it in, your skin will drink it up like the first rains in the desert. It doesn’t sit on the skin but it acts like a serum bringing moisture and nourishment to the cells. “Besides its nutritional value, pure coconut oil also makes a luscious and soothing massage and body oil for dry and or damaged skin.” (www.nutiva.com) Coconut oil can help your acne. Acneic skin is full of clogged pores and bacteria buildup, since this oil has antibacterial and antiviral properties like we discussed before, it can get rid of the bacteria. Unlike other oils this oil will not sit in and clog your pores. The calming affects help with the redness and inflammation. At first it can cause more acne because of what is called purging, the surfacing of imperfections from underneath; Coconut oil has detoxifying benefits so it brings out bacteria and cleanses the skin.

Now that the thought of rubbing plant oil all over your skin doesn’t seem so gruesome and the idea that using it as a cooking agent is even more of a reality, maybe you will explore ways to implement it into your own lifestyle.  I am confident that you’ve now been introduced to a few ideas on how to increase the quality of your life using this edible oil internally and topically. I hope that you continue to take control of your health by using some of these preventative strategies.

Gluten Free Protein Snack Balls

GF Protein snack Balls
Here is a snack that would be good post workout and in between meals.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup almond butter (or any nut butter)
1 cup gluten free oats
1/2 over ripe banana smashed
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp cinomon or alspice
1/4 cup pumpkin pure
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup flax seed
1/4 cup coconut oil
optional: vanilla extract, 1/4 cup nuts
1 large scoop Vega Sport Performance protein powder
mix all ingredients together

Here is a link to the protein powder that I used
http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/p/vega-vega-sport-performance-protein-vanilla-29-2-oz-powder/eq-1012?sourceType=sc&source=FG&adGroup=40-60&keyword=EQ-1012&cm_mmc=Google+Shopping-_-Product+Listing+Ads-_-40-60-_-EQ-1012&gclid=CPTa4pPF_LsCFdWSfgodbH4ASg&gclsrc=aw.ds#.UtSWWrQrPto

Mix all ingredients together. place in freezer for a few hours or over night. Form into balls and snack on! Enjoy. Keep in fridge to keep fresh!

Why Zero to Zen?

>We live once. Maybe. Some people think we live over and over again. I believe we only have one chance… one chunk of time here on earth. Even if we do live more than once, I don’t remember any of my past lives so I am going to live like this is it and rock it! This blog, Zero to Zen is meant to inspire people, to create discussion, to give ideas and ultimately transmit an energy that can begin to spread like wildfire. I want this energy to be moving, to be creativity, abundance, laughter, joy, kindness, stillness, excitement, thought, and more. Let it be a guide to this one shot we have. This blog was birthed for Love, because of love and through love. I want to share with the world the gifts and wisdom God reveals to me. Let this be a place of growth. Let this be a place of life and rediscovering how to create your own authentic extraordinary journey! Let’s be connected to His spirit. I believe we need to declare over our lives everyday that we believe, that we desire His spirit and by pressing into God daily this way we discover a sweet space in our hearts along with many other unimaginable things!

The title Zero to Zen came to me when I was thinking of words that would relate to my theme, words that would attract a certain seeker, and a title that was short and sweet. My idea of Zen is a tranquil place, like the space in our hearts I just mentioned above. Its been a striving goal of mine to find Zen or create throughout very trying times in my life. This idea of Zen fascinates me as I learn and think about life. Zen to me is getting the sweetness out of life, it’s finding your bliss point, it’s believing in something so BIG that it changes you daily; to me it’s the stillness in the presence of God.

Then of course the idea of steps or a process or a countdown to lift off was the underlying theme I wanted to reader to feel when seeing my title then reading the posts. This process of steps and the anticipation to lift off is where I want my readers to dwell, to be challenged and inspired. Zero to Zen implies there is some routine or rather ritual to obtain this final destination of Zen. To me this is my ultimate purpose and joy in life, discovering ways to create a truly extraordinary authentic life through unveiling all the juicy stuff life has for us like zen.

at peace

meditation garden in Encinitas CA photo took on my iphone

Deep breathes. Stop and soak everything in. Notice all your senses, be in a place of gratitude.

renewal creating good habits

I need to put to practice the applications of happiness into my life in order for Zen to blanket me. There are specific elements that when absent from my life, there also happiness is absent. These absent elements are the very ingredients essential to greater happiness and Zen and I need to put them into practice or my goals will not be achieved.

I am tired of these seasons of my life where I believe the voice that tells me I cannot be at peace in this moment unless this changes or that happens etc… Life isn’t going to change unless I change. I declare this my journey; this is the gun shot that catapults the race. I am off and running for my dear life.

First thing first; I have always let others define the path for me, but I’m ready see for myself what this is all about. Society spoon feeds us lies from day one, false ideas, deformed theology, self-image and the ideal this or that. If it’s not society, media or false prophets it’s our parents and family laying out expectations for us. Well I want to know for me, for my taste, for my style and preference, for my heart and my design: what the definitions are. Define happiness for me, define Zen, and define joy. I believe as I discover my identity, all lies will slowly fall off like leaches hanging on to suck you dry. To start, I am going to create my ingredient list of happiness.

Energy is number one for me. We all know we get more done, feel better and are more likely to stop and help someone or take an extra moment for patience when we feel rested. For me it goes beyond this. For the definition of energy includes spiritual fuel as well as shut eye fuel. I believe you get energy when you give energy.

Spirituality is the glue the purpose and the way for all that matters. Discovering my faith and spiritual gifts is momentous is defining happiness in my life. When your faith is the foundation for all that you do, you recognize that there is a higher power than you, that designed you and has a purpose for you, most importantly loves you beyond imaginable. All things that seemed so crucial are now trivial because your focus is on your eternal destination and a purpose beyond yourself. I want to grow spirituality in my life, in this area I will set in place practices and strength training for my spirit to flourish.

Organization and a plan. After being married almost ten months now I have been forced to learn many things about myself, one including I need order and structure in order to function at my highest potential. If in this area our personality relates, than you know the feeling of wanting to pull your hair out when the file cabinet isn’t organized, the dishes aren’t clean, or there is nothing to grab from the fridge for lunch on the way out the door. I need structure to feel secure, to feel at ease and comfortable. This doesn’t mean I am not spontaneous or easy going when plans pop up last minute, this just means I know I need certain foundations for stability.

Play time adds a quality to life that is irreplaceable. When you play, a hormone called serotonin is released, which by definition contributes to feelings of well-being and happiness. When too many days go by where I don’t play enough, meaning feed into my hobbies or partake in letting lose, I feel stressed and overwhelmed with all of life’s responsibilities. It’s important to stop daily to take a deep breath and make whatever you are doing fun, otherwise are we going to look back at our life and feel it was too boring and overworked?

Work and money are the balance for play. These are the necessary components in our daily life, to maintain a family, survive and a few other important details I need not mention. Work gives you a sense of purpose and belonging. For me I feel I contribute to something important when I love my job. This area of my life is sensitive right now because it is in transition and I am waiting to see what doors God opens for me. It is important for me to love what I do so this category is crucial to my ingredients.

Attitude and mindfulness are weak in my life, let’s just be honest here. I don’t put enough grit into carrying a good attitude and being mindful no matter where I am. I may have a great attitude at work because I have to, but when I get home my husband gets the grunt of all that I have held in through the day. When you keep a good attitude and smile on your face or even if it’s just the attitude in your thoughts, it contagiously works its way into all that you come in contact with, therefore bringing more of whatever energy you put out. I see this when I am more thankful in my prayers and content with whatever the situation is, God blesses these areas. If I ignore the intentions in my attitude then I am ignoring the power of our spirit and influence it carries. Being aware of my attitude and realizing that it is everything if I want happiness fruitfully in my life gives me a motivation to change it.

I will be writing on each topic separately in the following posts to come. I just want to encourage whoever is reading to meditate on these ideas and be open to hearing a word of truth enter you. Be open to discovering what it is that makes the recipe to your happiness. Take deep breathes and shed whatever heaviness you don’t need. Find somewhere you can escape and be in the true beauty of life where your soul can breathe and your mind isn’t distracted. Where do you create Zen in your life?

This week I am asking God to provide opportunities to see miracles and recognize them, I want to experience him big time. I want to be filled with energy no matter what the task so that I feel my purpose in all that I come against is fulfilled.

James 1:19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰ because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save your soul.

Joy

The joy of living. I’m learning so much right now about little joys and big joys and how often times you must fight to even sneak a peak of joy. Am I the only one who thinks I sound like dr. Seuss right now? Well this is no riddle my friends. Life is a journey; when you have to leave bread crumbs to find your trail when you discover yourself in a pit…then a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do. Create ways to introduce joy into your life and find faith in doing the little things that count.

          Recently I began dropping my own crumbs so I could remember how I got to those moments of true bliss. I haven’t mastered it yet but it’s taken till now to realize what it takes to really make this life phenomenal. Let’s face it we all have those moments where we think if only I had what they have, as we point to the people who are practically handed phenomenal lives right when they pop out of the whom. But here’s the danger thinking the grass is greener on the other side. Well, wake up ladies the grass is only greener where you water it! You all should probably right that down and stick it on your fridge. Maybe not but i will tell you what is hand written on my fridge, Phil 4:8 whatever is whatever is noble whatever is right whatever is lovely whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praise worthy, think about such things. This has been my gravitational pull towards freedom.

 

I didn’t experience a moment of enlightenment or a moment where epiphany and truth knocked me off my feet. There was something greater, a journey. I went through a season in my life where the theme seemed to be negativity and I was creating a lot of it but God began to reveal who was boss. I began to discover the importance of leaving my breadcrumbs to find my way back home. It seemed I was somewhat of a wondering soul, feeling out of control emotionally, organizationally, and directionally.

 

All of a sudden it seemed God was pouring opportunities into my life to learn and heal forcing me to take a good hard long look into the mirror. When I looked, the reflection was what I had created and standing there I closed my eyes begging God to redesign the meaning of happy for me. It wasn’t that I was depressed or in a bad situation, I basically quit watering the grass. My focus became so cloudy and I was distracted so easily by what hurt, what wasn’t perfect and each little worry grew in my mind like weeds spreading a disease throughout my body. Time to discover how to water the grass.

 

I began to see that in order to save my life I needed to become my own master of zen. I felt like a baby learning to walk, but I was teaching my brain how to think, or rather crawl. Every time I took a step learning to drop another bread crumb, I would do little victory dance inside. The result- whispers of pure bliss being unwrapped in my life like peeling back wrapping paper from a very large gift.

 

 What I learned/what it looks like to water the grass?

 

Commit to creating new positive thought patterns. Thoughts centered on things like self-love, positive images and self-improvement develop new pathways, new grooves in your brain. You literally become in control of a biochemical change in your body that encourages healing, happiness and success.

You are not creating the habit of lying to yourself, you’re learning to empower yourself and see life through new eyes. Your mind starts to recognize the opportunity for victory in every situation and you start to see that you have the power to decide how you are going to react to everything that happens to you. The power to choose your mood. The power to choose your attitude.

 

          There is such much more I am learning right now, I can’t wait to share my ideas. For now this is all I am going to post. But stay tuned there are exciting thing to see.

Cupid everyday

Today is… valentine’s day. To the world it’s the day of romance. To me it’s misleading and it confuses the sprit. I am not writing to be harsh about this beautiful celebratory day. I am just simply sharing some opinions. I feel more than content with the love in my life; I am truly blessed married to such a romantic man. Today just seems to be so misguiding to most.

For one if you chose one day a year (feb 14) to really put your best into romance, and if this is an expectation of society and the set normal, than why do we wonder about divorce rates? Don’t get me wrong valentine’s day shouldn’t take the blame for the separations, but isn’t in interesting how our society puts an emphases on making one day The Day for Love?

I know many people who say that in their marriage or relationship, Valentine’s Day is special but it’s not the only day they make romantic and give gifts and light candles and orchestrate surprises. I am sure most people feel this way, the majority of those I have spoken with about the matter do. But we see a pattern here if we look at the direction and momentum of society. What if we challenged ourselves more to pay attention to what our spirit wants? What if we created our own momentum in our marriages and relationships? What if we craved more truth and started asking our creator what He designed for love between man and woman?

It’s been brought to my attention that certain decisions or expectations I cling to, have been planted by the wrong source. I find my spirit in conflict when the picture in my head isn’t the picture being painted in front of me. That conflict I feel is discontent with this place. Being surrounded by flesh and worldly values. I get trapped in the same wave everyone is riding and when it crashes on the sand I want to throw a child’s temper tantrum. All inclusive: Pounding on the ground in such an embarrassing way. It isn’t pretty. This just happened to me recently and when I stopped, took a breath and looked around I realized I needed to let go of the image I had of the way this world says things should go, or else let my marriage crash just like the wave.  The only way I find content is when I seek to fulfill the purpose love God had in mind when He created me, not what everyone tells me to do.

If we realize every day that the enemy may have a heavy influence in this world, but we recognize that the God we know is the King of it and conquered, then we can feel confidence in following our spirit. Don’t wake and dwell on the bad things, the news, the pain or stress; don’t make yourself so aware of the enemy’s power with his darkness. Wake up and remind yourself that we are told to be joyful, we were created to love and be loved. That’s the wonder of it all! Philippians 4:6 says it all. You can read this verse on my page SCRIPTURE.

Focusing everything back to love. If we don’t let others even if they may be believers (or spiritual people or high up in the church) set the standards and paint the picture of what life should look like, and we let God and scripture lay that out for us than imagine the possibilities. You’re right. We cannot: God has such unlimited possibilities, resources, power, ideas and creativity it should blow our mind every day. The problem- We get so narrow minded. Agree? Let’s escape our tunnel vision, and let God just pour His creative ideas into our life. That is my prayer. I am begging God to blow my mind. I want to be reminded that there is so much we cannot grasp and there is so much more in love and life and living, but we let this world set the standards. Well I often do.( I’m raising my hand high to that one)

I would love to hear from you, let me know what keeps you hostage in your tunnel vision. Or share ideas with me on how to get creative in my life. What are some things you do in your life that seems different to others but inspires greatness and joy? For example, my husband just told me about a couple he knows that made a promise to each other that they wouldn’t spend money on valentine’s day or birthdays, and instead they would focus on saving money to travel every five years. One of my patients at work told me that every few weeks she sends the kids out of the house for a night. She puts on a dress, lights candles all over the house and has dinner ready on the table for her husband who works full time. She reminded me of something beautiful I will always cherish, she said “don’t wait till there has to be a reason or excuse for romance and a special act of kindness. There doesn’t need to be a reason for candles and ten extra minutes getting ready for your husband, just simply to show love.

Comment or email me, I would love to hear your ideas and thoughts. Does not have to be focused towards marriage could just be everyday things.

I had a very romantic day with my husband. I hope you all were blessed or will be blessed this week with love!

and the blogging begins

Lets jump right into this head first, I am imaging myself with the attitude of a confident swimmer on the diving board first day back to training for the season. My eyes are closed, I’m practically running for the edge of the diving board hoping at the moment when my toes leave contact, that God will just carry me the rest of the way. But that is the difference here, between me and the over confident swimmer whose ran to be first to the edge to jump right in. The swimmer proceeds with faith in himself and confidence in his talent and strength even after an off season. For me, well I am going to completely let go and pray the whole way down that the dive isn’t completely embarrassing or worse, counterproductive in heading toward to ultimate goal. Are you curious yet to what we are diving right into? I am inviting you to jump with me, or rather watch me jump into a journey of faith. Reentering the blogging world for me is going to be a grand journey. Like the swimmer, starting a new season of training, growth and endurance. The water represents is the act of sharing everything with you. All that I am about to expose here in my blog might be entertaining at times, intriguing, inspiration and uplifting. Don’t be afraid to ask questions make suggestions or leave a comment. Coming soon….new recipes, DIY ideas, the life of a housewife, faith and more.