Live.Life.Now.

As we end one year and welcome another, it is my wish that you start to live more by staying in the present and find joy along the way. The older I get, the more convinced I am that the present moment is where we can find peace, happiness, joy and love. Don't linger in the past or think too long and hard about the future. Instead, choose to live life now as much as you are able and as best as you can.

The following is a heartfelt and thought provoking passage that I hope will inspire you to experience your life to the fullest.

"If I had my life to live over...

I would have talked less and listened more.
Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy and complaining about the shadow over my feet, I'd have cherished every minute of it and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was to be my only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.
I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.
I would have eaten popcorn in the "good" living room and worried less about the dirt when you lit the fireplace.
I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.
I would have burnt the pink candle that was sculptured like a rose before it melted while being stored.
I would have sat cross-legged on the lawn with my children and never worried about grass stains.
I would have cried and laughed less while watching television... and more while watching real life.
I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband which I took for granted.
I would have eaten less cottage cheese and more ice cream.
I would have gone to bed when I was sick, instead of pretending the Earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for a day.
I would never have bought ANYTHING just because it was practical/wouldn't show soil/guaranteed to last a lifetime.
When my child kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now, go get washed up for dinner."
There would have been more I love yous... more I'm sorrys... more I'm listenings... but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute of it... look at it and really see it... try it on... live it... exhaust it... and never give that minute back until there was nothing left of it."

- Erma Bombeck, Eat Less Cottage Cheese and More Ice Cream: Thoughts on Life from Erma Bombeck


What I take away from this reflection:

-Take time to be with those you love.
-Cherish the relationships you have with those who love you.
-Learn to say more often... Thank you, I love you, I'm sorry, and please forgive me.
-Remember, love is something you show and give away.
-Lighten up; don't take your thoughts too seriously.
-Value your life before it ends.
-Give the gift of presence.
-Life can be fun if you let yourself play.
-Look at the BIG picture.
-Define for yourself what it means to live and love your life and start NOW.

Enjoy the simple things in life because in the midst of the ordinary is where the extraordinary can be found. As the great civil rights activist, journalist and educator, W.E.B. Du Bois once said, "To the things worthwhile- sunshine and night, the dripping rain, the song of the birds, books and music, and the voices of our friends. Lift up your hearts to these." I don't think I can say it any better. Make a real effort to Live Life Now. After all, now is all we've got.

Thank you for reading!

Source: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/49262-if-i-had-my-life-to-live-over-someone-asked

Note To Self: Better Self-Care

Do you struggle with self-care? If so, you are not alone. It can be quite challenging to put ourselves first and tend to our needs. Most people are not naturally good at self-care and have to learn to see it as an essential part of their overall well-being. The truth is that no matter how good we become at taking care of ourselves, there will be times in which we will need gentle reminders to do so.

So what exactly is self-care?
Positive and deliberate actions you take to care for your body, mind, and spirit. It is knowing that you are important and deserving of good treatment.

How do we get better at self-care?
We commit to the practice one day at a time. Self-care must be something we think about, talk about and actually do every day to the best of our ability. Perfection is not an option while effort is everything. It is critical that we give ourselves credit for trying. The more we practice self-care, the better we get and the easier it becomes.
The goal is to make self-care a way of life and to keep at it no matter what our circumstances may be. We get better at self-care when we make the decision to do so; follow it up with good choices and drop the excuses, shaming, and blaming that are part of self-sabotage.

Why is it important to become better at self-care?
Here's the best reason: When you neglect yourself, you neglect your life.

The following are wise sayings to help you keep a healthy perspective and inspire better self-care:
1-You will need to be both loving and strong- strong enough to live with your weaknesses and loving enough to extend a compassionate hand to yourself when you need it. - Tian Dayton
2-Self-care is not about self-indulgence, it's about self-preservation. - Audrey Lorde
3-How you treat yourself is how you are inviting the world to treat you. - Anonymous
4-Self-care is not selfish. It's self-respect. - Anonymous
5-The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another. - William James
6-Of all the judgments we pass in life, none is more important than the judgment we pass on ourselves. - Nathaniel Branden
7-Being extremely honest with oneself is a good exercise. - Sigmund Freud
8-Love yourself first, and everything else falls in line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world. - Lucille Ball
9-Your problem is you're... too busy holding onto your unworthiness. - Ram Dass
10-You can't build joy on a feeling of self-loathing. - Ram Dass
11-You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love & affection. - Buddha
12-Your task is not to seek for Love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. - Rumi
13-Love is the great miracle cure. Loving ourselves works miracles in our lives. - Louise L. Hay
14-Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, as self-neglecting. - William Shakespeare, Henry V
15-We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle
16-If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete. - Jack Kornfield
17-Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love. - Brene Brown
18-Lighten up on yourself. No one is perfect. Gently accept your humanness. - Deborah Day
19-The only person who can pull me down is myself, and I'm not going to let myself pull me down anymore. - C.Joybell
20-And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good. - John Steinbeck

Last words
Don't forget about you. Make it your primary interest to take better care of yourself.

Enjoy!