creating a healthy lifestyle

one thing that i've really been trying to work on is creating a healthy lifestyle for myself. a friend of mine shared an article on facebook today called 30 things to stop doing to yourself that really spoke to me, so i had to share! you can read the full article here, but in the meantime, here are some of the high points that i really liked...

1. stop spending time with the wrong people. life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. if someone wants you in their life, they'll make room for you...the ones who stand beside you when you're at your worst are your true friends.

how many times have you had the "abused puppy syndrome?" you know, where you constantly seek out the companionship of someone no matter how horribly they treat you or take advantage of you. one thing that i've really found freeing as i've become an adult is realizing that i don't want to cultivate a friendship, or maintain a friendship, with someone who doesn't want to do the same with me.

8. stop berating yourself for old mistakes. we may love the wrong person and cry about the wrong things, but no matter how things go wrong, one thing is for sure, mistakes help us find the person and things that are right for us. we all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. but you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future.

there are so many things about myself that i wish i wouldn't have done or said. guess what? you can't change it. realizing that and embracing it is so liberating. everything i've done, said, or endured in my life, has lead me to the place i'm in now. like my granny used to say..."you've gotta forgive it and move on. you can't live in the past." easier said than done sometimes, but something that must be done in order to achieve peace and happiness.

9. stop trying to buy happiness. many of the things we desire are expensive. but the truth is, the things that really satisfy us are totally free--love, laughter and working on our passions.

oh materialism...how it's so easy to let you creep in and take over my life! as i've grown into adulthood, i've found that the times i've been the most anxious or stressed, is when i am comparing my life to that of my friends or family or random person on social media. yes, it would be nice to go shopping at chanel or travel to australia on a whim, but right now, my life isn't suited for that, and that's okay. what i have to realize, is that if it were, i would likely not have the most important thing to me, which is my husband, and that is something that i could never dream of sacrificing. besides, biggie said it best...the more money we come across, the more problems we see.

16. stop being jealous of others. jealousy is the art of counting someone else's blessings instead of your own. ask yourself this: "what's something i have that everyone wants?"

a great follow up to #9. how insulting it must be to god when i covet someone else's [fill in the blank with ANYTHING]. i'm learning to consciously name the things that i am grateful for in my life rather than focus on things i do not have. guess what? i probably don't need them anyway.

20. stop wasting time explaining yourself to others. your friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe it anyway. just do what you know in your heart is right.

confidence is key. period.

21. stop doing the same things over and over without taking a break. the time to take a deep breath is when you don't have time for it...sometimes you need to distance yourself to see things clearly.

my name is rachel, and i'm a workaholic. i kid, i kid, but seriously, i reeeeaaaaaaally have a hard time leaving work at work sometimes. it's so important to be present in the present. oftentimes, the mundane fleeting moments end up being the most important ones in your life. how terrible to miss one because you're consumed with what is going on at the office. i also have found that my greatest ideas and progress at work come after i've taken a break.

28. stop worrying so much. worry will not strip tomorrow of its burdens, it will strip today of its joy. one way to check if something is worth mulling over is to ask yourself this question: "will this matter in one year's time? three years? five years?" if not, then it's not worth worrying about. 

THIS!!!!! i constantly have to remind myself of this. sometimes, you just have to remember that it the grand scheme of things, sometimes the matter at hand just doesn't matter.

xoxo- rachel

day 8: take some advice

one of the greatest pieces of advice i've ever been given came from my granny. 

my granny. what a looker, right??

it's so good, in fact, that i feel like for today's topic for the blog-everyday-in-may challenge i'll share this little tidbit with you...

"people are going to screw up and hurt you. you've got to learn to forgive it and move on. you can't live in the past."

this little chunk of greatness has been quite the hard pill to swallow for me lately. i'm the type of person that is pretty much black and white whenever it comes to relationships. if i feel that someone has wronged me in some way, it's impossible sometimes hard for me to get past it without an apology from the "guilty" party.

there is so much truth in what she said to me. i was in high school at the time and for reasons i'd rather not go into too deeply, was not on the best terms with my mom. i was going on some rant about how unfair she was and how i would never have anything to do with her again and granny stopped me and shed some light on that situation. she was so right. we all have to forgive the people that hurt us on our own terms. for some people, forgiveness comes alongside cutting the person who hurt you out of their life. i am a firm believer that you can forgive a wrongdoing, but still understand that you are better off without certain people in your life. i'm not a heartless bitch for saying this, either. it's more along the lines of "fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me." i am so grateful and happy to say that the relationship between my mom and me made it out of that place and are now super close and extremely happy. 

it seems so simple, doesn't it? three truths right there in a row, wrapped up pretty and just waiting for you to take advantage of it. it's inevitable that people will hurt you at some point in your life. that's life. finding a way to move past it whenever it happens is the most important part. after all, who wants to spend their time dwelling on something that happened in the past? what a waste of time. 

xoxo.

day 4: a wise man once said...

today's prompt for the blog-everyday-in-may challenge is to discuss your favorite quote. now, i could easily make a month's worth of blog posts about quotes alone. i've said it before, and i'll say it again, sometimes, someone just says exactly what you're thinking. there's no need to beat a dead horse, or say something a million different ways, so i've found it's better to just quote them. 

one of my favorite quotes, ever, is by none other than mr. william shakespeare.

"love all, trust a few, do wrong to none." how simple. how direct. how true.

love all...how many times do we, as humans, pass judgement on someone else? whether it's because of a different religion, lifestyle choice, or what have you, how many times to you catch yourself spreading negativity to another person? this will make me sound a bit liberal (gasp!!!!), but rather than jump to discrimination, try to put love first. coexist. we are all human and possess the need, at some point in time, to be shown kindness and compassion. being different isn't bad, it's just different. love all... if you don't agree with something, don't judge someone who partakes, just don't do it.

trust a few...as a reformed cynic, this phrase in particular sits quite well with me. while i'd like to think that everyone on the face of the planet has the best intentions, this helps me to snap back to reality and remember that not all people have pure hearts. it really sucks, but it's true. when you do find those people that are worthy of your trust and confidence, hold on to them for dear life. they become your lifeline in so many ways. in my experience, the few that you are able to trust the most, are the ones who love all no matter what. they're the people that you can go to with any situation--good, bad, ugly, whatever--and there is no expectation of perfection from you. those people, while they are definitely few and far between, are the ones to trust without any apprehension.

do wrong to none...the simplest, yet sometimes, the hardest part of this whole quote. it says to do wrong to none. not do wrong to none unless they pissed you off, or hurt you, or were a "bad person." none. every person has value, in some form or another, and that value should be appreciated, regardless of the form it comes in. like the jerk who cut you off on the freeway. appreciate and understand that he may be fighting a bigger battle than you ever thought was possible. don't curse him and flip him off. 1) two wrongs don't make a right. 2) he likely can't hear or see you and you look like an idiot going crazy in your car, screaming at some stranger.

ol' willy challenges me everyday with this quote. it's so simple, yet complex, and forces me to evaluate the actions i take in my everyday life. i love it.

xoxo.

31 days

so i've decided that i need to get my blogging crap together. i've been doing a lot better about blogging consistently lately, but sometimes, i really find it challenging. it's quite sad that my life is so boring that i can't even find things to write about. 

jenni, over at story of my life, challenged all of her readers (sooooo many readers) to partake in a blog-every-day-in-may challenge. i have decided to formally accept the challenge and get to blogging! YOU should take part as well! 

here's the list of topics. be bold, boring, or whatever you'd like, but always blog. :)

Day 1, Wednesday: The story of your life in 250 words or less (or one paragraph... no one will be counting your words... probably)

Day 2, Thursday: Educate us on something you know alot about or are good at. Take any approach you'd like (serious and educational or funny and sarcastic)

Day 3, Friday: Things that make you uncomfortable

Day 4, Saturday: Favorite quote (from a person, from a book, etc) and why you love it

Day 5, Sunday: Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends. 

What makes them great? Why do you love them? If you don't have blogger friends, talk about a real-life friend or even a family member

Day 6, Monday: If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question, 'what do you do'?

Day 7, Tuesday: The thing(s) you're most afraid of

Day 8, Wednesday: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.

Day 9, Thursday: A moment in your day (this can be just a photo or both a photo and words)

Day 10, Friday: Most embarrassing moment (s). Spill. 

Day 11, Saturday: Sell yourself in 10 words words or less

Day 12, Sunday: What do you miss? (a person, a thing, a place, a time of your life...)

Day 13, Monday: Issue a public apology. This can be as funny or as serious or as creative as you want it to be.

Day 14, Tuesday: Ten things that make you really happy

Day 15, Wednesday: A Day in the life (include photos from throughout your typical day - this could be "a photo an hour" if you'd like)

Day 16, Thursday: Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it

Day 17, Friday: A favorite photo of yourself and why

Day 18, Saturday: Tell a story from your childhood. Dig deep and try to be descriptive about what you remember and how you felt.

Day 19, Sunday: Five of your favorite blogs and what you love about them

Day 20, Monday: Get real. Share something you're struggling with right now.

Day 21, Tuesday: A list of links to your favorite posts in your archives

Day 22, Wednesday: Rant about something. Get up on your soapbox and tell us how you really feel. (a pet peeve, a current event, a controversial topic, something your husband or roommate or neighbor or boss does that really ticks you off)

Day 23, Thursday: Things you've learned that school won't teach you

Day 24, Friday: Your top 3 worst traits

Day 25, Saturday: Something someone told you about yourself that you'll never forget (good or bad)

Day 26, Sunday: Something you read online. Leave a link and discuss, if you'd like.

Day 27, Monday: A letter to your readers

Day 28, Tuesday: Only pictures

Day 29, Wednesday: Five songs or pieces of music that speak to you or bring back memories. Use Grooveshark or YouTube to include them in the post

Day 30, Thursday: React to this term: Letting Go

Day 31, Friday: A vivid memory

feeling inspirational

a word to the wise

and just so you know...the old, cynical rachel would've posted something that said, "life's a bitch, then you die" or something equally ridiculous. i'm improving people! have a nice wednesday!