The Good Life

One of the many things I’ve taken away from my newfound meditation practice is this: slow everything down. Drive slower. React slower. Listen to slower music. Speak slower. Take more time to respond when asked a question. Take the route that may be longer, but brings you less stress. Don’t rush food prep. Don’t think ahead so much that you don’t notice what’s actually going on right in front of you. Walk around your day slower,…

Many of us have an appreciation for good, strong relationships. We know how much better life is when they’re in a good place, and we know how so many areas of our lives are affected when they’re not. We know how good it feels when the people we want to be close to (family, friends, etc.) want to spend time with us, reach out and open up to us when they are struggling with something,…

I’m the sort of person that lies awake at night dwelling over something I did wrong during the day, as if I’m the only one that’s ever __________ .  I take whatever the one thing is and make it out to be everything.  I convince myself that everyone noticed, everyone is talking about it, no one has ever done the same thing, no one has ever done WORSE, and I will forever known as the girl…

Distractions have a bad wrap. But, I think they can be useful if they’re done well. I did a workout this morning that was bookended with about a 4 minute Assault bike. On the front end, I switched between watching the numbers on my screen and being distracted by what was going on around me. On the back end, I started out doing the same thing…but, about halfway through, I decided to close my eyes…

Something sort of magical happens when you use someone’s name when you’re speaking to them. I know there’s actual research explaining the chemicals that get released into the brain when it happens, but I don’t need to know the exact science surrounding it…because I witness it in action every single day. There’s a short piece in Kat’s book about her memory of the very first time Annie used her name when addressing her. I heard…

I don’t believe in ANYthing being EVERYthing.  Some things carry more weight than others, and some things are higher on my list of priorities. But, I am very careful about being disciplined with maintaining a healthy balance of all of the parts that equal the wholeness of who I am. My mental and physical health is arguably my most important focus because I know that without it, I am limited in my success in all…

I love the quote: ‘In your 20’s, you worry about what other people think of you. In your 30’s you stop caring. In your 40’s, you realize no one spends time thinking about you anyway.’ I truly hated hearing things like this…particularly, when I was in my 20’s…and, realized that the cycle is almost unavoidable. Come to think of it, I love this quote now. Because as much as I wanted to think like a 40…

Perfectionism is something I’ve celebrated and suffered with throughout my life. It’s brought me a good deal of success athletically, as a student, and leaves my home and car spotless on a daily basis (no small feat for a home to 7 people). But, this character trait has also led me to a long eating disorder and severe body image issues, made it hard to find balance in various areas of my life, and leaves…

Maybe it’s just because I spent much of my childhood chasing my brother and his friends around or trying to force my way into the cool kids group in college, but something I really appreciate is when someone is able to be talking to more than one person while still making everyone in the group feel like they’re included in the conversation. I know it’s not intentional, but it’s a social skill that can either…

“We’ve all been there.”  It’s a saying I think to myself as often as I can in an attempt to transform a moment of frustration with someone into an opportunity to find a connection with them. We’ve all fogotten to send our kid in without their library book, or lunch…or, their entire backpack. We’ve all forgotten a friend or family member’s birthday. We’ve all accidentally thought we’d done 50 double-unders, when we actually only did…