admintina

Many of us have experienced, heard, or read about the benefits of having a Social Life.  Not only are there benefits to your physical and mental health, but did you know that connecting with friends, associates, and even strangers can help you to live longer, boost your brain health, and lower your risk of dementia?

The ways in which we define Social Life are as varied and colorful as there are human beings on this earth.  Here I’ve listed a couple of definitions, which I believe broadly encompass most people’s understanding of this month’s theme:

1. The public activities performed in association with others for the purpose of pleasure.
2. The various bonds formed with others, such as family, friends, colleagues, members of a community and even strangers, which can be measured by the duration and quality of the social interactions on a regular basis both in person and online.

As I considered this Social aspect of Life, I realized that although I am a very social person and truly need to periodically be in a social setting, I realized that I also viewed social life as being a bit frivolous and trivial when compared with all the “important” aspects of life.

While reading the article, “Is There an Upside to Having No Social Life” by Madeleine Dore, I began to have a deeper understanding of how important and how meaningful it is for us when we are engaging with others not out of fear of missing out but because we truly are interested in being and sharing with others. This is truly one of the greatest joys of being alive. 

In her article, Madeleine mentions that “having no social life left me with more free time than I’d imagine and the boredom and loneliness often associated with ‘doing nothing.”  I too have struggled with boredom and lack of motivation, even with plenty of time on my hands to get things done.  As I write this article, an idea came to me that with some of the things that I tend to lack motivation to do, I can create a social gathering around it and turn the chore into a fun time with others.  Could you be motivated to do something you’ve procrastinated on by turning it into a social event?

Overall, it became clear to me that it’s essential to our wellbeing and quality of life to understand what the motivators for our Social Life are.  Are you going out because you fear you will miss out?  Do you seek to gain favor by socializing?  Are you going out socially out of obligation?  Once you understand the motivation, you can choose those social engagements that will enhance your day-to-day life and the joys it brings into your life.

Having been present during my father and aunt’s final years, I developed a deep desire to be sure that I stay engaged with life whatever the quality of my physical health.  Living life to its fullest till the end of my days is very important for and to me.  As I looked at this aspect of life to write this article, I have come to realize that staying in contact with and being actively social with friends, family, and others is a key secret of being and feeling alive.

I encourage you to get out there and make your Social Life as “important” as all the other aspects of life.  Be joyous!

If we are honest, we have all been in a financial position that was challenging to say the least. Over the years I’ve made many attempts to course correct with different levels of success. Because of my inconsistent success, I decided to experiment and understand the correlation of my success to how I’ve treated money and how money in turn has treated me.

You see, like everything else, the proper relationship goes a long way to changing a difficult relationship into a cooperative relationship. For many years I viewed money as a necessary form of exchange. “I want that, and I exchange money to get that.” I realized that this was a very superficial relationship, as there was a lack of respect and honoring of money and how it’s here to assist us not to bring us down.

A few years back I read a book, Money is Love: Reconnecting to the Sacred Origins of Money. It was truly helpful in bringing in a new perspective and awareness to how I was perceiving my finances. I began to look at my obvious attitudes: “easy come easy go” and “God will provide.” The realization came that it was not always “easy come” and a heck of a lot harder to get. God provides; however, you are required to also provide by your conscious efforts and actions.

To begin correcting our relationship with money, it’s important to look at our beliefs and what behaviors are exhibited through these beliefs. Asking yourself questions about these beliefs, such as “do I truly believe this?” and “can I find a different way to view this?” will help you to discern the belief, where it comes from, is it your true belief, and how else can you view this.

Ultimately, for many of us, our relationship with money has a direct correlation to our self-worth and self-confidence. “Know thyself” was inscribed at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, Greece. This was a reminder to the travelers consulting the Oracle of Delphi to first investigate themselves. Unless we start with understanding ourselves before understanding the world around us, we will be challenged not only financially but in all aspects of our lives.

Financial health is possible for all of us, no matter what our present circumstances may be. Start with where you are. What would be a simple but significant adjustment you can make today to bring you to where you want to be? Can you begin by being honest with yourself about your spending and savings habits? We can fool others and even deceive ourselves, but eventually we cannot hide or avoid the truth that we are responsible 100% for how we are choosing to live. It is not an easy task to take responsibility for ourselves, but once begun it will lead you to incredible acceptance of yourself and the ability to stand strong in “KNOW THYSELF.”

Every year many people make their New Year’s Resolution around diets and fitness regimens.  However, statistics show that by February few will keep their resolution.  Why is that?  Can it be that we are expecting the resolution in and of itself to be the miracle cure?

This month’s topic on Health is a broad one and I believe that understanding our definition and what it represents to us and how it shows up in our lives is an important consideration when we take a closer look at what we are experiencing in our lives.

According to the WHO, “Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” In a 2008 BMJ article, researchers proposed a new definition of health as “the ability to adapt and self-manage in the face of social, physical, and emotional challenges.”

Why is this important to our health?  Because if we accept the WHO’s definition formulated in 1948, we are basically agreeing that to be healthy we must be in a state of “complete” physical, mental, and social well-being. In addition to the concern here of how “complete” health is measured, has any human being ever been healthy in all three of these aspects? Has this definition contributed to the current focus of the healthcare system on disease and not well-being?  When did our own awareness and understanding of our bodies become unimportant to our health?

As we begin the new year of 2024, I challenge us all to look at our own definition of health and take personal responsibility for it.  Question yourself and be clear about what you are willing or not willing to do, and remember that the best way to begin is one step at a time.  Whatever the change you wish to make, decide how long you will do it for and how you will track it, so that at the end of that time you’ll have a better understanding of your own health and the needs of your own body.

Our current healthcare system has become focused on disease management and research.  When things are researched, they are dissected and understood from this point of singularity.  Too often the result of this focus on singularity creates a distortion of our understanding especially when singularity is not considered as part of whole health.

When we take responsibility for our health, it does not mean we discard the knowledge of professionals, but it puts us in the driver’s seat and we do our own research by reading books, listening to experts, experiencing different ways to nurture our bodies, and most importantly, working with our own body systems to understand what our temple/body requires so that we can live our life to the fullest, whatever the state of our immediate physical health.

Make 2024 the year you choose to own your health.  Cheers to you!!!

Spirituality, what is it really?  It can be associated with religion or religious beliefs, our connection to others and our planet, and the belief in a higher order or intelligence. 

I must admit that, for all that I think and believe myself a spiritual being, I’ve struggled to write this Take mostly because of how broad a subject and how very personal it is.  In addition to this is my discovery that this subject will require me to sit with what is my own understanding and how I am called to apply spirituality more consciously to my daily living.

This month, I felt called to share the following quote with you in my newsletter:

“Spirituality is recognizing and celebrating that we are all inextricably connected to each other by a power greater than all of us, and that our connection to that power and to one another is grounded in love and compassion. Practicing spirituality brings a sense of perspective, meaning, and purpose to our lives.”  – Brene Brown

I especially resonate to Brene Brown’s description of spirituality because love and compassion are, for me, the most powerful feelings that can and do elevate our ability to bring to our lives more harmony, balance, and peace which allow us to create the life of our dreams.

I deeply feel that to bring harmony and balance into daily life requires us to fundamentally understand our own value system.  I encourage you to think of which values you see yourself consistently applying in all the things you do and choose.  Sit with the discovery of these values and decide whether or not your value system is ready to be upgraded or if it is fine just as it is.  Ask yourself how satisfied you are with how life is happening for you. 

Another important consideration, although not always an easy one to accept, but a fundamental one is learning to take responsibility for everything that happens to you and FOR you. When you can begin to release the BLAME and SHAME, you begin to be more conscious of your choices and the result of these choices.  The gift of making the time to do this work will be the awareness and the understanding that, instead of reacting, you can choose to respond in ways that bring in acceptance, forgiveness, and tolerance of others, and I would argue mainly of yourself.

Your ability to create harmony, balance, love, and peace in your daily life ultimately begins with the type of relationship you have with yourself.  Making your relationship with yourself the focus of your life will bring many rewards along with wisdom because this relationship is the one constant in your life.  As I’ve heard said many times, “No matter where you go, there you are.” 

Being more spiritual and understanding the importance of having a practice that you relate with spirituality can assist you in establishing a deep, compassionate, forgiving, and loving relationship with yourself.  I believe that ultimately, Spirituality can be one of the most powerful forces in our ability to create for ourselves a better life, family, community, and world.

Wishing you a most blessed, abundant, and loving 2024.

“Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.”

– Voltaire

Yes, you already have enough on your to-do list, and I’ve blessed you with 3 articles to read on the joys and tribulations of the Holiday Season.  I do recommend them for their simplicity and the tips offered, which if you choose, you can incorporate and make this Holiday Season a most joyous and grateful one. 

If you care to read 2 or more of the articles, you will note that there are areas of commonality.  For many the holidays of November and December bring forth feelings of loneliness, financial stress, togetherness either too much or too little, excess of drink and food, not to mention the exhaustion of doing too much.

There are many ways to deal with all these stressors, as made available to us in the articles.  However, I believe that the ones that are the most important and the most difficult for many, especially women, to do is to set boundaries and take time out for self-care. 

How do you go about doing this?  The first step starts with first identifying what your needs are, followed by those of your immediate family.  Second, what boundaries need to be put in place for the benefit of yourself and all whom you encounter during this season of joy?

Often, we believe we are being honest with ourselves; however, this is not always so and never easy. And never mind the guilt feelings encouraged by others who want you to be selfless to their selfishness. It is essential to your well-being and those around you that you do not ignore making the time to take 5 minutes daily to connect with your own heart during these holidays.  Write down any new ideas for how you can make adjustments to this year’s holiday season as well as those you need to prepare to implement next year.

A great reminder of self-care is presented to us every time we fly; first put the oxygen mask on yourself before you attempt to help others.  Remember that more is simply more!  Make time to slow your life down by even as little as one less activity a day.  This will allow you to savor the moments and reconnect with the essential meaning of the holidays: CONNECTION and GRATITUDE

When you can connect with people, you are made aware of your humanness with all its strengths, frailties, and all the qualities in between and will come to appreciate all that you are and have.  I believe that connection leads us to feel grateful for all the blessings we are usually too busy to remember. 

My tips are to slow down, reflect, reconnect and BE present during this holiday season and take heartfelt actions to create the life you want.  You have and are the POWER to live your best life!

Are diet and dieting the same?  How do we use or confuse these two terms? And does it make any difference? 

Diet as a noun has 2 definitions:

1. Food and drink as considered in terms of its qualities, composition, and its effects on health.
2. A particular selection of food, as designed or prescribed to improve a person’s physical condition or to prevent or treat disease.

Dieting is the action of a diet and here there is also 2 definitions:

1. To select or limit the food one eats to improve one’s physical condition or to lose weight.
2. To eat or feed according to the requirements of a particular or prescribed selection of food.

I felt it important to put these definitions here to bring attention to the unconscious way we might be perceiving these two words in relationship to our health and those of our loved ones.

When we choose to understand diet as the of quality of the foods and drinks with their effects on our health rather than as the limitation of foods one eats to lose weight or improve our physical condition, we can begin to make a fundamental shift in our mindset about diet and dieting. Focusing on the meaning of diet may aid us to become more selective of how we will choose dieting.

In the article I have chosen to share with you in this month’s newsletter, there are some particularly important basics that offer a simple approach to help you, today, to begin creating a daily practice of making nourishment a part of your healthy lifestyle.  By substituting nourishment for dieting, we can let go of the old struggle with dieting.

Understanding the basic nutrients our bodies need to work at optimal level is a first step in creating a diet that will fit not only your body’s unique needs but will be the foundation you build upon to create a plan of nourishment that fits your tastes.  Another important consideration when you choose the food that will bring you the most nourishment is the seasons, your geographical location and how the food is grown.  Getting to know where and how your food is grown is vitally important to your health.  You may already know or have heard of the dirty dozen.  Knowing which food are harmful to us because the use of the pesticide creates toxicity in our bodies, which in turn cause us pain and disease.   To reduce your exposure, it’s best to buy organic produce or ask at your local farmer how his produce is grown and what methods he uses for controlling pests. (https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/full-list.php)  It is also important to know which ones do not need to be organic but can simply be washed in a water/vinegar solution.  https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/clean-fifteen.php.

In conclusion, whatever step you can take today to begin your journey to better health is a great step forward.  While money is an important part of living well in today’s modern world, it doesn’t in any way replace the priceless wealth of having good or even great health.  Diet or should I say nourishment is the foundation to living well and creating the life you desire.

Cheers to a healthy and happy you!

Tina