Blogging

Mini pause…

I haven’t been posting as much for various reasons. I needed to take a mini pause. Sometimes, you pause in life to recount your plot and your steps. You pause to trace and ensure that you are still walking in alignment with your aspirations and goals. Sometimes, we stop running on auto and pause to take a deep breath, to review things with a clearer mind and regain or retain our vision.

The challenge with running on autopilot is that it begins to feel like someone else is driving, and not us. Our brains tend to develop an unconscious decision-making system so we can take care of routine tasks. It prevents us from overloading, yet at the same time it creates a monotony that can become predictably boring.

I realized that my days had quietly slid into autopilot, and I almost didn’t know how to backtrack and switch off. Here are some of the things I noticed about my autopilot mode:

My routine became highly predictable and filled with repetitive activities that were no longer so satisfying.

It seemed as if I was always on the go even when I wasn’t moving. I was not pausing long enough to reflect on how I was feeling or what I was doing. I was either busy, distracted, or both.

It felt as if I never had enough time to accomplish much and I was left feeling guilty, with the need to meet so many expectations.

A lingering sense of dissatisfaction and that need to meet up with unnamed expectations.

I have to keep consciously reminding myself that the autopilot mode of lifestyle is not the only form of living, but slow, intentional and conscious lifestyle helps me stay focused on my purpose and goals. Am I meeting them? Are they satisfying? If not, why not?

For me, a pause is more than slowing down. It means creating space to start paying attention, it means not letting my routine dictate my life and become like a noose. It means bringing more mindfulness to my daily life.

Musings

Tuesday Thoughts…

Photo by Yan Krukau on Pexels.com

 

I am on a short break and having a lazy morning. Last night, I had planned on having an early night so that I would wake up with the early bird and go for a walk – getting an early start on my day, but because I was up late nattering away with a friend who had called at night, I went to bed later than planned and my morning didn’t start off as I had wanted. 

I could have easily ended the convo, but she was in such a chatty and cheerful mood that I chose to extend the chit-chat. When I woke up this morning, the sun’s rays were already licking my windowpanes that the early morning walk was dead on arrival. 

I reshuffled my itinerary – pushing my walk to the later hours of sundown and sat down to attend to other things and to take a measure of my thoughts. I realized I wasn’t feeling so chipper maybe due to sleeping late and whatever but quickly decided that I didn’t want my mood to go south and get funkier. 

Instead of mulling over the fact that my itinerary was impacted and a bit askew, I quickly responded to a couple of emails/proposals that if all goes as well as it should, the expected response will definitely put a smile on my face. 

As I measured my thoughts, I reinforced these perspectives:

My focus throughout this year is to hold the reins of my thoughts in control as much as is humanly possible, to dwell more on the positives and to quit magnifying the negatives.

My focus is to remind myself of and to appreciate the bridges that I’ve crossed and not the paths where I fell.

My focus is to remind myself that sometimes, a late-night chit-chat adds more flavour to life than an early morning rise and that an evening walk might even pan out better today. 

My focus is to be grateful for friends who find time to spend with you, for moments of gratifying laughter and meaningful chit-chats ‘cos as life’s stress mounts, such moments get further far and few in-between. 

My focus throughout this year is to keep my energy flow in a high-vibrational frequency so as that my thinking, and feelings are aligned with positivity, love, compassion, and overall well-being. As such, I attract positive experiences and people into my life, and this includes my online experiences. 

I eschew all forms of negativity that reduces my frequency and will avoid people who harbour such as they only emit negative emotions and energy, which can lower one’s vibrational frequency. They may have a pessimistic outlook on life, engage in negative habits, and spread negativity to others. Their low vibration affects your spiritual energy which is associated with negative emotions such as persistent feeling of sadness or anger, sluggish thinking, constant fatigue, apathy etc. 

On a closing note, whilst partaking in online interactions, avoid those pages that only offer toxic, negative, distressing, gender-biased, dehumanizing posts. Those people are miserable and looking for company. They have nothing better to offer. Be wise ‘cos bad company corrupts good manners. 

 

Inspiration - Motivation · mental health · Self Help

Stop the needless waiting now!

Time is ticking past.

How can you go through life postponing being happy and waiting for all the right situations to happen before you can feel happy? Here’s the sad news. The government will always consist of unconscientious and shitty people. Life will never truly balance. Things may never align perfectly at every point in time which therefore means that your wait is wasted effort.

However, the good news is that every new day we open our eyes presents fresh choices and chances and reasons to be happy. Life can be likened to a busy airport terminal, where happiness arrives and departs around the clock. The likelihood is that the opportunity to be happy has already arrived and probably departed whilst you were so busy fussing over your excess luggage. Most times, joyful, happy moments are right in front of you, but your mindset is unable to shift for you to notice and appreciate it because you are stuck on all the negative things going on around you.

Irrespective of all that may be going on around you, you can truly feel happier, be more productive, attract success, manifest your dreams and enjoy yourself whilst at it. Yes, it is not easy. It requires a lot of intentionality, and purposefulness, but when you shift your focus and the way you think, your perspective changes. When shift happens, your life changes. So, let’s keep getting our shift together.

Inspiration - Motivation · Monday Motivations

Never let yourself go!

It is so easy to fall into a rut especially when life becomes monotonous that you can literally function on autopilot without paying much mind to what you are doing.

Consequently, weeks of functioning like that can lead to dissatisfaction which creeps in and we start feeling that life is a tedium and getting stuck in a rut can be frustrating and demotivating.

Life will seem like a tiresome cycle of chore, responsibilities, bills and expectations. Getting out of this sense of drudgery is seriously essential for our total well-being especially as adults who have a lot of burden to bear.

Every single day, I make conscientious effort to engage in wholesome activities that enhance my sense of purpose, peace and harmony.

I listen to music, I dance, I read, I go for walks, I exercise, I watch movies and comedies, I pray, I think good thoughts. I write, I create. I live in a dream world. I try to do things a bit differently.

Often, I wear vibrant clothes and colors as much as possible. I affirm myself every single day and so on and so forth. Practicing some form of self-care peps up one’s spirit and pulls you out of the doldrums.

What works for me, might not be your cup of tea, nevertheless, here are some strategies to help you avoid getting stuck:

Shake Up Your Routine regularly
Try something new: Engage in a new hobby, activity, or class to challenge yourself and discover new interests.
Change your environment: Rearrange your workspace, take a different route, or travel to a new place to stimulate your mind.
Mix up your social circle: Meet new people, attend events, or join a club to expand your social network.

Set Goals and Challenges
Set SMART goals: Create Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals to focus on.
Break tasks into smaller steps: Divide large tasks into manageable chunks to maintain momentum.
Create a challenge for yourself: Set a personal challenge, like running a marathon or learning a new language.

Practice Self-Care
Get enough sleep: Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep to help your brain function at its best.
Exercise regularly: Engage in physical activity to boost your mood and energy levels.
Meditate and practice mindfulness: Take time to relax, focus on the present, and reduce stress.

Seek Inspiration and Support
Read inspiring stories: Explore books, articles, or podcasts that share stories of overcoming obstacles.
Find a mentor or accountability partner: Connect with someone who can offer guidance, support, and motivation.
Join a community or group: Participate in online forums, social media groups, or local meetups to connect with like-minded individuals.

Embrace Failure and Learning
View failure as a learning opportunity: Recognize that mistakes are an essential part of growth and development.
Reflect on your experiences: Take time to analyze what went wrong and how you can improve in the future.
Celebrate small wins: Acknowledge and celebrate your achievements, no matter how small they may seem.

You must remember that life is what we make of it and each day, we owe it to ourselves to make our living worthwhile.

Till next time.

Life · Lifestyle · Philosophy of Life

A pinch of gratitude, a basket of grace.

A little gratitude can do lots of wonders for your overall wellbeing.

Photo by Oleksandr P on Pexels.com

Though it’s not always easy, being grateful for the positives in life can have a profound impact on your life. Consistently showing gratitude can be surprisingly difficult as many of us get caught up in the negativity bias, where we linger on bad news, unpleasant experiences, and allowing moments of positivity and good things to fade into the background.

Fortunately, gratitude is like a muscle that you can build. With the right approach and practice, you can find at least something small to appreciate even on the bleakest of days.

Gratitude is a way for us to appreciate what we have, instead of always reaching for something new in the hope to be happier, or thinking that we can’t feel satisfied until every physical and material need is met.

Gratitude helps us refocus on what we have instead of what we lack. And, although it may feel pretentious initially, this mental state grows stronger with practice till it becomes a way of life.

Approaching life with a more positive mindset has cascading benefits in every area of your life.

Indeed, a grateful heart finds in every hour, some heavenly blessings to relish.

Just A Thought · Life

In A Nutshell…

To liberate oneself, the need to search out and study all the dark corners of one’s mind and come to terms with what you find is paramount. The question should always be, ‘do I know who I am?’

Without acceptance, one lives in a continued state of denial.

Health · Lifestyle

Get Your Health On The Right Track

As they say, there’s no time like the present. Your health should be the most important thing in your life. But sadly, it is often left to last. We put bad lifestyle choices, as well as diet, before the thought of our health. The implications of this as we age are so big. I’m sure we can often admit that it is the fact of not knowing what exactly what is needed to get our health back on track. It goes so far off track, that getting back to the right place just isn’t even in sight. Well, we’re here to show you it isn’t. All it takes is a few minor changes and you can be as healthy as ever. One by one, we’re going to tackle the issues you might have, and get you feeling the best you ever have. Read on to find out more.

Health, Lifestyle, Healthy Living, Ageing, Cholesterol, Exercise

Image Source

Things That Can Be Prevented

There are many things that we can prevent that often goes wrong with our health. In fact, so many things that we could go on forever. But we’ll start with the main ones that can cause you hassles. Your eating habits are something that can have massive implications for your health. Eat well, and you’ll hardly have any issues. But we’re living in an era where the easy foods to make, the processed and the ones high in fats and salts, are the ones we’re filling our diets with. Which is understandable.

We work all day, potentially have families to look after, and there just isn’t enough time in the day to cook healthy foods… is there? Well, no, that’s not the case. Yes, a microwavable meal might be easier and quicker to do, but a few of them a week and you’ll be piling on the pounds, and your cholesterol will be going through the roof. Eating a diet that is dominated by fatty foods causes issues such as high cholesterol.

High cholesterol leaves deposits on the arteries within your heart. The more they’re clogged up, less blood is flowing to your heart. Eventually, it will lead to heart attacks or heart disease. To get your diet on the right track, you need to start experimenting with the healthy foods available to you. Fill your diet with lean meats, or tofu replacements etc. if you’re vegan. Plenty of vegetables and fruit and fewer carbs will leave you feeling amazing. You really won’t realise how much a bad diet will affect you as a whole. Not only the physical symptoms, but the grogginess and general feeling of being sluggish will be gone. You’ll have so much more energy, your weight will drop, and you’ll feel so healthy.  

Lifestyle Changes

A bad diet can be part of a bad lifestyle choice, but we all know we’re guilty of a few outside of the diet. One we know a lot of you won’t do is exercise. Exercise is so vital to a well functioning body. It helps to promote healthy bone growth. Increase muscle density, and improve the function of your cardiovascular system. Fitting exercise in around work and family, especially if you’re going to the gym, is just not an option for a lot of people. But how about just a nice 30-minute walk after work to wind down. It isn’t strenuous, and walking in some people’s eyes is actually better for you than running. It puts less stress on the joints, and tones up the muscles more.

A brisk walk opens up the airways, promotes weight loss, and relieves stress. Being out in the open with your own thoughts often clears the mind more than you would realise. Other lifestyle changes we recommend you do is cut down on alcohol consumption. Even if you don’t think you drink a lot, the odd binge each month has more of an effect on your body than if you were having a casual drink each weekend. Over time, it reduces liver function, damages your skin, and increases the risks of stroke. For a lot of people, it is also the reason for weight gain.

Aging Issues

Some things to do with our health we just can’t help. Many things happen to our bodies as we age, whether you like it or not. One of the most obvious is the physical signs of ageing such as fine lines and wrinkles. But they aren’t really going to affect your health, perhaps only your mental health. But things such as hearing and sight loss are something that just can’t be stopped. Once your sight stops deteriorating, you’re best off getting some done about it sooner rather than later. Despite maybe not liking the idea of glasses, the help your eyes so much.

The more your eyes are straining, the quicker they’re going to deteriorate. The retina is one of the main reasons for this, as they can degenerate over time. Your eyes are susceptible to other degenerative diseases, more of which can be seen on this website. Ears are the only other issues we come across. But a lot of people are worried about hearing loss, and the thought of having to wear a hearing aid. Unlike your eyes, your ears won’t get worse through straining. But it will become annoying for you, and the people around you, if you’re struggling to hear anything. All you need to do is visit an audiologist to put you on the right path.

Mental Wellbeing

Your health is often affected by your mental health, and vice-versa. The more clear your mind is, the more focused you will be on your actual health. One of the main issues that affect our mental wellbeing is stress. There are so many things in life that can cause stress, and it is hard to avoid them. Walking, as we’ve said, can reduce your stress levels. But we simply recommend talking to a friend and working through whatever is stressing you out. It could be money, overworking etc. Find solutions to your problem, and soon everything with your health will fall into place.

Lifestyle

Just A Teeny Update

It’s been slow, but it’s been steady. I have whittled my excess kilos down by 5kg – 11pounds through mindfulness.

Trying to practice what I’m preaching about health and wellness is paying off bit by bit.

Healthy living, measuring tape, weightloss

Remember that a lifestyle change need not be drastic. It can be baby steps heading in the right direction. Keep moving…

Gratitude

Well of Warmth – grateful musings

I know that life hasn’t been all sunshine and flowers for everyone – though some lucky folks got to see the Eclipse – not with all the ugly news filtering in from all around the world and when one listens to all these heavy news, it’s easy to get sucked under.

It’s easy to get depressed and to lose sight of the rays of the sun above the dark clouds. It’s easy to forget to remain in a state of thankfulness and to focus on the negativity. As if life is not tough enough already these days we wake up expecting another shoe to fall off, another dam to burst, another bomb explosion, another mad human mowing others down with a car, another Twitter outrage etc that we have almost become mentally conditioned to bad news that overshadows everything.Gratitude, Thankfulness

For me not to get immured in these negative things, I make a conscious effort to appreciate my little blessings wherever I find them. I focus on mindfulness and steer my brain away from the path of distress that it tends to venture to, to the path of wholesomeness. I also find that paying extra attention in showing kindness to others creates an emotional well of warmth – check this post on HuffPost.

As the week winds down, I am grateful for fruitful and grace-filled days. Though what I call my blessings may look insignificant in human eyes’, it’s wonderful to be alive and well. That is a priceless blessing. I hope you’ve got something to be thankful for?

Gratitude is my tonic. Jacqueline

Product Details

Now Available

Amazon

Kindle

Poetry/Poems

Alternative Facts…

Related image

My brain states one fact,

while my body states a different one,

but you know what?

I’m going to go with my brain,

and simply take my body along.

©

Jacqueline

Check out my YouTube channel