Sunday, January 18, 2015

Be Thankful Challenge ... Day 18 ... Life's Lessons Along The Way ...


Years ago I started to work for a physician's group and I noticed some patients were, let's just say, grumpy.  I knew it was not personal, but it can take a toll on your spirit after awhile.  I started to notice that little by little, no matter how they treated me, the nicer I was to them, there moods would completely turn around and before I knew it, we had an office full of patients that were so nice, friendly and polite.  I started to make it a game.  I decided that I was going to turn around every patient that walked in the door.  No matter how they treated me, I was going to treat them with kindness.  I smiled, I gave them coffee, I brought toys for the kids and I always took an interest in every one of them.  In 10 years, there was only 1 patient that I could not turn around.  What I realized is when people seem like they are being rude or not being nice to you, it's really because they are just unhappy, in pain or have so many worries that they do not realize how they are acting.  When you are kind over and over, most people do begin to respond to that if it's genuine.  Unfortunately, when someone is rude to us, our initial reaction is to turn away from them or respond back rudely ourselves.   

 It's tough out there today.  There is so much chaos in the world and stress is everywhere.  It's bound to affect people. So let's all try playing the turn around game.  Next time anyone is rude to you, try to turn them around by being sweet, kind and thoughtful and see how many people you can turn around.  You will make a difference, even if you don't see it. 

I have loved doing this "Be Thankful" challenge so much.  It has been such a reminder for me to be thankful every day, no matter what life brings.  This has been quite a challenge for me the past few weeks.  We have to elevate our home because of the damage from Hurricane Sandy.  It took a lot of time to get the process going, and we finally received approval to do it.  Leading up to this, I just accepted that it was something we had to do and did not really focus on it at all.  In fact, until the builder came to our home to plan it out, I had not given it much thought at all.  Once the builder started talking about what they were going to do, I realized, Oh my gosh, we really have to do this!  All these thoughts started coming at me, where are we going to live, how are we going to pay for a mortgage and rent.  Almost everywhere I look, rent is 2,000 dollars a month or more.  Every place I called said they would not rent for just 4 months.  We will have to pay for a storage every month for at least 5-6 months, another added expense.  Then the thoughts of what are we going to do without all our stuff. How will I be able to keep my business going, keep my son from being upset without having all of his things with him, and my husband's stress load from going through the roof, not being able to have a garden this summer?  It all just kept coming at me.  every thought, one after the other.  I couldn't sleep and was in a daze for days.  All I really wanted, was to bury my head and make it all go away.

Then I remembered, what being thankful is really about.  It doesn't mean life is going to be perfect and without challenges.  I really started to think about that over and over.  I remembered this patient from years ago.  He had been injured on his job and by the time he got to our office, he had surgery after surgery and was living in constant pain. Every time he walked into the office, he had the biggest smile on his face.  He would always ask how I was and was one of the happiest people I had ever met.  He was truly inspiring and I never forgot him.  I asked him once how he was so happy living in so much pain.  He told me that he was just happy that he could wake up every day and he just focused on how much he loved his children and his family.  What he did was focus on being thankful for what he had and not what he had lost.  I realized that what I was doing was focusing on how hard this was going to be.  I have no doubt we will get through it as we always do, together as a family.

So what am I thankful for on the 18th day of our challenge?  I am so thankful for my husband and son's strength, that carries me through when I have a hard time.  I am thankful for my State for allowing us to do this to keep our home safe.  I am thankful to all the people who will be helping guide us through this process and I am so thankful to have a home that is filled with joy and love. I am thankful for having such incredible friends who have helped us through everything. I am also so thankful to all of you for continuing to read my blog and following us on this journey...

We now have a few weeks left of our challenge ...  Keep writing what you are thankful for every day and keep working on your journey to be a better person.

Follow the steps below every day ...

Write 3 things that you are thankful for every day ...
Focus on only positive things ..
Do something kind every day ...
Follow the 10 second rule ...
Play the Turn Around Game ...

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Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Vegan Gluten Free Lemon Chia Waffles

I had so much fun coming up with this recipe. 
 It comes out nice and crispy and has a nice flavor.  I was not sure how it would taste without eggs, but I have to say, this tastes pretty good!!  

Simply top with your favorite fruit, yogurt, nut butter or syrup and enjoy ...
Here's our video making our vegan, gluten free and totally yummy waffles!!



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Wednesday, January 7, 2015

30 Day Gratitude Challenge ... Day 7 ...

Take A Deep Breath

How 10 seconds can change your life ...

It's now day 7 and you should be feeling great!!  You are now writing something you are thankful for every day, focusing on only positive things and doing something kind every day.   Now it's time to kick it up a notch and write down 3 things that you are thankful for every day.  It doesn't matter if you just write them on a piece of paper, use a journal, a thankful jar or just email a list to yourself every day.  Just taking the time to think about it and write it down is all that is necessary.  

I know how hard that it is sometimes to come up with something to be thankful for.  Before my mother passed away she went into the hospital and was put into a coma so they could hopefully make her better.  Not only did it not work, but we were never able to talk to her again.  I believe that was probably the worst time of my entire life.  Watching someone you love die is simply heartbreaking.  As difficult as that time was, I still remember thinking about how lucky I was to have had my mom for so long.  I saw so many of my friends and family members lose their parents in their 20's and 30's and here I was about to turn 50 years old. I had 50 years with her and that is an incredible gift.  As hard as this time was, I was so grateful I had so much time with her.  Even in our worst times in life, we can try to find something to be grateful for.  Just after my mother died hurricane sandy hit our town and severely damaged our home.  I remember during that time that all I could think about is how lucky we were our home was not destroyed.  Yes our entire house suffered severe damage and we lost so much, but it was still standing and could be repaired.  People died during that storm and many homes washed away or burned down.  I was thankful it was not worse and that we were all safe.  I cried for what we lost, but I was thankful for what we still had.  

This challenge is about focusing on the good things in our life.  It's not about having the perfect life, it's about appreciating what we have and making the best of all of it.  It's about how we look at things that happen in our life and how we react to them.  It's about how we treat others, regardless of how they treat us.  We can always choose to be bitter and angry, but that only makes us and everyone around us unhappy.  That would be the real tragedy.  Picking ourselves up and moving forward takes strength, but it also takes believing in ourselves.  Being bitter and angry only means we gave up.  The hardest times in my life also seem to be when I find the most inner strength.  

This weeks exercise is about your reaction to everyday things that happen and to how we react to the people around us.  

Are you patient?
Are you considerate?
Do you think of other people's feelings?

Anytime anything happens during your day that can stress you out, follow the 10 second rule.  Take a deep breath and count to ten before you speak.  You will be amazed how that 10 seconds can change your life.  

Thank you for reading and our next post will be in a few days ...  be sure to follow the steps below every day ...

Write 3 things that you are thankful for every day ...
Focus on only positive things ..
Do something kind every day ...
Follow the 10 second rule ...

  Be sure to follow us ...

Saturday, January 3, 2015

30 Day Be Thankful Challenge ... Day 3

Kindness Really Matters ...

It's day 3 and so far you should be writing something to be thankful for every day and noticing anything good that is around us.  

The next step is to now begin to focus on how you are treating the world.  

Ask yourself some questions... 

How do I treat people?  
Am I kind?  
Am I a good listener?  
Do I genuinely care about other people?  

My mother used to say you get more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.  She also used to say to always be nice to people because you never know what someone is going through in their lives. This is a principle I have always lived my life by.  I always tried to help anybody who needed it.  I never really thought about it, it's just the way I was.  When I was working in the medical field dealing with insurance companies, I was always told by insurance reps that they would be happy to help me because I was nice to them.  There was another girl in our office who was always mean to them and they would tell me they always put her claim to the bottom of the pile, and mine to the top. 

You don't have to do something huge to be kind.  Just being thankful for someone in your life and letting them know, opening doors for people, saying thank you or just helping someone find something in a store can be kind.  It's the small things that we do every day that can really make a huge impact in people's lives.  The kinder you are to the world, the kinder the world will be back to you.  Take note about how you act when you are impatient or frustrated.  Start treating others as you would want to be treated.  When someone is not kind to you, show them how to be kind by you being kind to them.  

Kindness really matters ...  

Thank you for reading and our next post will be in a few days ...  be sure to follow the steps below every day ...

Write something you are thankful for every day ...
Focus on only positive things ..
Do something kind every day ...

  Be sure to follow us ...

Friday, January 2, 2015

30 Day Be Thankful Challenge ... Day 2

So it's day 2 of our Be Thankful Challenge.  Today, I am most thankful for having a home to live in filled with warmth and love.  I am so excited to see what wonderful things the New Year has in store for us!!

One of the reasons I wanted to do a thankful challenge is because I find that so many of us focus on what is wrong in our lives and forget to notice all the great things all around us.  What we focus on becomes bigger, so if we focus on all of our problems, they become even bigger and before you know it, your world is surrounded by all of your problems, and your Blessings seem so small.  

For the next 30 days you are writing down something you are thankful for every day.  Now I want you to spend time looking around you during the day and find something that's good about your day.  If someone smiles at you, I want you to take a moment and say thank you for that smile.  If someone opens a door or you see a pretty flower, take notice of it.  Before you go to bed, take a few minutes to remember what you are thankful for and what good things that you noticed during the day.   You want to start changing your thought process to a more positive outlook.  It's retraining yourself to focus on positive things, rather than negative.  The more you practice this, the easier it becomes.  

Here's a video we made of our fun New Years ...  


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Thursday, January 1, 2015

30 Day Be Thankful Challenge ... Day 1

It's a brand new year and it's the perfect time to start fresh.  Join our 30 day Be Thankful Challenge today by emailing shoregirl1000@aol.com and subscribe to us on our You Tube channel.

It's so simple and it will change your life.  You will be amazed at how incredible you will feel!  When you focus on the positive in your life and are truly thankful for what you have, amazing things will happen.

Join today and let's do this together ... thank you for following me on this journey ...


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