Last week Oprah shared her weight struggle story with millions. She said, “I let the well run dry. That’s what happened when I started to get unbalanced, when I started to not take time for myself, when I started to go unconscious.”
When Oprah gains weight, she says it means her life is out of balance. “It’s not about the food. It’s about using food—abusing food,” she says. “Too much work. Not enough play. Not enough time to come down. Not enough time to really relax.”
Oprah’s message is about finding balance. One of my main messages has always been about ways to bring balance and joy into our everyday. Let me help you kick start your New Year with some ideas on how to do just that. Use the following buzz words, watch the recent TV “healthy habits” segment below and check out this great resource to ring in some positive change first30days.
BUZZ words to build a healthier and happier YOU!
- Awareness. Become more aware of your thoughts, emotions and feelings. If we don’t know what is bothering us, how can we begin to fix it?
- Present Moment. Life’s greatest source of joy and happiness are right here, right now in our everyday present moments. Not in our past or somewhere in our future. Enjoy where you are, right now.
- Think Positive. There is always a silver lining. Look for the good in everyone and everything. It’s contagious.
Are you looking for ideas and inspiration for some new healthy eating habits? Invest in a few minutes and tune in to a recent TV segment on Great Day Houston for some healthy ideas.
Learn why the words FRESH, SEASONAL and WHOLE foods can get you pointed in the right direction.
Healing Hobbies
January 9, 2009
Recall the memory of a childhood afternoon…simple, carefree, and with no concept of the meaning of time – perhaps riding your bike, lying in the backyard making a clover daisy-chain, or lost in a make-believe world of fort building or playing dress-up. Remember how naturally relaxed you felt? Take this memory and notice how you feel right now. Does just the thought of those relaxed times begin to make you feel more at ease?
Lose track of time
When you spend time doing something you really enjoy, you tend to lose track of time on the clock. Spending time in this way moves you into a detached space from your day-to-day situations or issues. In this free place, you can be at your best, and feel happy for no real reason except that you are enjoying whatever activity you are presently focused on. Remember the child-like feeling of creating fun, simple and effortless? This same type of feeling brings a powerful punch to addressing your current-day stress and health problems.
Read on at Health Central
Happy New Year: a poetic formula for peace and happiness
January 6, 2009
The poem below has surfaced in my life before ⎯and I have always loved it. Recently, this piece of poetry has seemed to appear everywhere I happen to look. And so, I want to share it with my readers as a New Years gift to you.
A poet who never knew his fame
The poem was written in 1926 by a man named Max Ehrmann (a poet and lawyer from Indiana), who never knew his fame. His widow published a collection of his poems three years after his death. Max Ehrmann, who was born in 1872, entered Harvard’s School of Philosophy at the age of 22. He studied philosophy and law, spent ten years writing six books and finally, when he realized he could not make a living as a writer, began practicing law. He composed Desiderata out of the need to remind himself how he wanted to live his life. The title is Latin for “things to be desired.”
Desiderata “Desired Things”
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
And remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others,
Even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter,
For always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
It is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs,
For the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
Many persons strive for high ideals,
And everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
For in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
It is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
Gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars;
You have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you,
No doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
In the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,
It is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
(c) Max Ehrman 1926 Desiderata
Check out my sharepost Ring in a Year of Change
Change Positively! Check out my tips on First30days.com
previously posted on healthcentral.com
Sending you all very best wishes and a year filled with all good things. Beth
