Tag Archives: Religion and Spirituality

Goals for July

Posted on July 2, 2012 | 2 Comments

I am defeated..NOT!! But maybe a little deflated (It feels like all the air is out of me right now)

I did not achieve my blog goals for June, but I am setting new ones for July anyway. I have moved from Manhattan,  Kansas in the US to Kopavogur Iceland this June so I can say that I have some excuse. Mainly what happened was that I stopped blogging every day. My motivation has not come back full force. I am adjusting to a new reality and now I have to get my routine back. The challenge is one post a day in July.

My June goals were;

100 viewers pr. day

3000 viewers pr. month

810 followers

My results for June 2012  are

27 readers pr. day, 821 readers pr. month and 812 followers(the only goal I achieved)

which means that I have to start from scratch. At least set more realistic goals while I get back on track.

Then on the positive note!

Still, I got 821 readers in June, thank you for the likes, visits and comments. It is a good and positive experience to be here with you all! And I got a Versatile blogger nomination! So all in all it was a good month. Lots to be thankful for. Thank you!

July goals

50 viewers pr. day

1550 viewers pr. month

830 followers

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Can I have a bullshit protector..please?

Posted on May 24, 2012 | 4 Comments

Cultural differences

I have studied intercultural communication in the past, I am aware that there are cultural differences that come from our family, surroundings, our community and our country of origin. Living in USA for ten months has taught me that you need a strong bullshit protector to live here. You need a ton of “glasses” to read between the lines. I do not watch much TV but the little I have, makes me aware why people are misinformed. There is the element of brainwashing that comes to my mind.

Hieronymus Bosch- The Seven Deadly Sins and th...

Hieronymus Bosch- The Seven Deadly Sins -Anger ©Wikipedia

I can understand

Why people are eating poor diet

Why people are taking a pill for every ill

Why people spend too much on credit

If you sit down one day and watch TV this is what you see, junk food commercials. Commercials urging you too purchase today something you will pay for later. And the promise of medicaments that can solve any possible problem you have. Then there is a whole category directed towards women. To buy useless cremes that claim to make them look years younger. While the real magic is in Photoshop and makeup art.

I think we should just pause and consider the message presented as the seven deadly sins.

Pride is excessive belief in one’s own abilities, that interferes with the individual’s recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity.

Envy is the desire for others’ traits, status, abilities, or situation.

Gluttony is an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.

Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body.

Anger is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury. It is also known as Wrath.

Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. It is also called Avarice or Covetousness.

Sloth is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work.

I urge you to think about these 7 next time you watch a commercial or a music video or even a daytime soap. It is amazing. I am thankful for the governmental interference on commercials in Scandinavia, it is prohibited  to claim something in a commercial or an Ad that you cannot prove to be true.

So the legislation on Ads and commercials works as a bullshit protector. I have also learned that government, governmental control, governmental interference are taboos in the USA. Because it is the home of the brave and land of the free.

I have a hard time seeing America as free just reading statistics on obesity tells me that the people are slaves of addiction. Addiction supported by poor legislation on commercials, Ads and little or no regulations from the FDA. (To benefit the people)

But what do I know?

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The Art of Doing Nothing

Posted on May 21, 2012 | 2 Comments

Reblogged from Minimalist Living:

Click to visit the original post

I don't get people who always complain about being too busy. They are always running from here to there and back again.

Why?

It seems that in the end it only seems to cause some kind of resentment. These people are over tired and over worked.

I say do less, not more.

You really need to take time for yourself first.

Read more… 294 more words

Practice makes perfect

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The trust issue

Posted on May 16, 2012 | 7 Comments

I don’t want to make money, I just want to be wonderful.
Marilyn Monroe

Cropped screenshot of Marilyn Monroe from the ...

I wish I could just relax and live by the wisdom of wonderful Marilyn. But I am preoccupied with trust.

Not trusting people but having faith in  life. Having  faith that everything is going to be just fine. I am in a limbo. I just finished the school year. I´ve been an exchange student in the USA since August last year. Now I am preparing to go back home to Iceland.

My daughter finishes her school next week and then we can leave. When I come home I have no job, neither does my husband. We have a place to stay. But there is no economic security. And the task ahead is to trust that everything will be fine. That I vill get some job for the summer. That we will be able to support ourselves.  I could worry. But I have learned that worrying in advance is not getting me any closer to my goals.

So what is left then? 

To let go, and TRUST life

To have faith in life, everything will be fine!

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The transition routine.

Posted on March 31, 2012 | 1 Comment

Stress release

I find the videos from”The yoga solution” with Tara Styles helpful. They are easy to follow and the stress release routine she presents here I find works really well.

It is wonderful for someone like me , who is a beginner traveling  the path of yoga, to be able to watch at home and do the stress release exercise. I know that yoga is a way of life. But for us who have not mastered it yet. Baby steps can  be helpful.

The bridge between work and home

She mentions the transition time between work and life. That is nice way to put it. And I think that we should pay attention and make the transition. Leave the work at work. I had the bad habit of bringing my work with me home. Then I was in neither place. Not fully at home and neither fully at work because when I was at work I felt guilty not being there for my family.

YOGA

YOGA (Photo credit: Raios de Luz - Gláucia Góes)

But even when life was at it´s worst for me. My 20-30 minute bicycle ride (in any weather) really made my day. From work to home I got to sweat the day out and the best part was that there was no phone or computer just me and the bike. These minutes often saved my sanity for the day.

Take your time

When I look back I realized this was my daily exercise along with my meditation.

 

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Posted in Health, women's health

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What effects my health?

Posted on March 23, 2012 | 4 Comments

Three almonds a day keep the doctor away.

'Discovery' apples grown in GartocharnI have  also heard this saying; an apple a day keeps the doctor away.    If it was that simple to stay healthy. But it is complicated.

Balance between work and home.

I need to have balance in my life. If work takes too much energy other parts of my life will get effected. It is easy to say;

find the thing you love to do and do that

In reality might be different, we are stuck in modern slavery, mortgages and obligations. So if that is what is draining your energy try to get out. I am still on my 10 year plan to owe nothing. I found out that my freedom was having less obligations. It is not going to happen over night and I accept it.

Clutter in your home?

When you are in your home it is supposed to be a snactuary. A place of rest. If the home is draining us of energy then what? Clutter, drains you of energy. Give things away that you have not used for two years. The spring is perfect time for cleaning.  If you have not used it for two years you don´t need it!

When I bought my house, we used a lot of time and a Feng Shui guidance to rearrange the kitchen. The energy flow was a bit off when we bought the house. But after learning about Feng Shui and seeing in action how that helped with the energy in our  house. I was amazed. I saw this great post from a Feng Shui expert with good advice for the kitchen spring cleaning and I wanted to share it with you.

The study of energy flow is vital when it comes to well-being.

The key is balance and harmony

Balance scale

My health and well being consist of the people I surround myself with, my home, my work (school), the food I eat  and the rest I get. If I deprive myself of rest and sleep . My work is going to be sloppy. If I eat unhealthy it affects my well being and sometimes my sleep (if I eat late). It is like a balance scale. overload one side and it is stealing from the other.

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Negativity is a powerful tool of self destruction

Posted on March 16, 2012 | 5 Comments

In the beginning of   my journey to a better life for me I had to break out of a habit of negativity. If someone said something I would automatically interpret what they said, as something negative.

(a  extremely codependent reflex) I was not listening to what was being said,  I was interpreting it. My attitude was negative on all aspects of my life.

Things were going to be better when, if and then.

Sound familiar?

I forced myself to write one positive thing about my children on a sheet I hung up in the kitchen. And it was hard! Not that my kids were difficult or bad. My mindset was tuned on negativity and when negativity is the focus  ,the good things slip from you. But I practiced , and slowly I got control over my attitude. I can choose if my day is going to be good or bad. I make a simple decision. I try  not to dwell in the past and I don´t wait till later to do things that I want to do. That does not mean I don’t have a plan or that I live from day-to-day. It means that I stay in the now. If I´m in my yoga class I am there. Not planning what to do later.

The Power of Now

I think Eckart Tolle’s The power of now gives a beautiful lesson on living here and now.

What I have found helpful is being thankful. I look at what I have now and thank for all the good things. Today I´m really thankful for the beauty of the spring, blooming trees and colors coming back. Cherry blossoms are the most wonderful assets of the spring.

When I move into a new place I make an “altar”. On the altar I put candles and incense sticks (Nag Champa is my favorite) , things that are associated with the positive things in my life. The altar has something that represents my children, my dreams and the health and well being of my family. I light a candle to remind myself that I have loads of things to be grateful for.

(Picture of Cherri blossoms  has this website source)

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