Over the past three weeks I’ve been working on improving my health and wellness. An important part of this journey is increasing my nutritional awareness and including more plants in my diet. “Plant Power” is a term I learned after reading Rich Roll’s article in my Lifetime Fitness magazine. I’m really digging it and have upped my gardening game by adding a second elevated garden to increase my ability to eat healthy organic foods right from my backyard. Once everything is in full bloom, I’ll take a photo shoot of the gardens and share them with you. For now, take a look at a few of the plants that we are eating from already…
Pernà’s garden: Upper left – mint, Upper right – blackberries, Lower left – green peppers, Lower right -malabar spinach
My eating right and exercising routine is going well. I’m using several tools to assist with improving my fitness level. I love the way I feel and my clothes are fitting so much nicer. I’m looking forward to learning more ways to include plants in my diet and have reduced my meat consumption significantly. They say if you do something for at least 21 days it will become a habit. This week will mark 21 days so I’m hoping this commitment will stick. I know the gardening bug has bit me as this is year two for me on that front and I continue to expand the list of vegetables that I will grow.
The “Plant Power” life is good so far. Listen to Rich and Julie’s trailer to their “The Plantpower Way” book. I found their recipes to be delicious.
Dearly Beloved we are gathered here today…you know the rest! This past week we lost a music icon, Prince Rogers Nelson. No one could merge church and state as eloquently as Prince did. His music was truly ahead of its time. I mean who else could write a song in 1982 which would still be on the charts during the Y2K drama? It’s also becoming clear that, although he was a silent contributor, he invested in many worthy community endeavors. Thanks Prince for a legacy of excellent musicianship and philanthropy!
This past week was a bit trying here in Houston as we had a real downpour of rain and flooding. I’m thankful that most of us made it through with minimal lasting impact. However, my sincerest condolences go out to those who lost a loved one during this event. For those whose home and automobiles were damaged, I’m praying that you are able to recover quickly through fair insurance and contractor services. I personally learned to heed the warnings issued by the authorities and to take my personal safety seriously; material things can be replaced!
In the midst of all the events of last week, I also began my healthy lifestyle reboot. While it was very trying, I was successful in completing my 7 Day Detox. I have to admit that I did cheat; however, I stayed within the boundaries of the eating plan and I got to the gym to achieve the exercise goals I set for myself. I’m feeling amazing as I look into the mirror to see my skin becoming clearer, my muscles toning, and my energy level increasing. I must say that what I’m giving up pales in comparison to what I am gaining.
The icing on my cake last week was that my good friend and I attended Gabrielle Bernstein’s session on “How to bring peace wherever you go” at Unity church. This was an amazing event and I learned a lot! I’d like to share two quotes that Gabby related to us that I believe are great lessons.
The first quote is from Rumi, which states that, “The wound is where the light enters you.” The second quote is from Jim Kwik. He says, “If an egg is broken by outside force, life ends. If broken by inside force, life begins. Great things always begin from inside.” So many times in our lives we do not appreciate the great internal storms that lead to our transformations. Be thankful for the internal wisdom you sense that there is something not quite right that must be healed in you. This is God’s way of helping us to grow, to live. Don’t wait until an outside force demands the change; at that point it may require a complete resurrection. Have not doubt, you will be transformed because you will become what you are called to be. Be open to what God wants you to heal so you can be who you were destined to be. I know I’m working to achieve this in my own life.
As I’m working through my healthy reboot, I realized that a significant contributor to my success is the love and support from my family and friends. So, I’m offering 1000 hugs and kisses for your support. Take it away Prince…
This past week I was at home sick in bed with the flu. I really did not know what day it was at any given point in the day. I would simply wake from napping, take medication and proceed to fall back asleep. Later in the week as I began to recover, I realized that I was not focused very much on eating. I recognized that my body needed to focus its energy on healing and I was very careful with what I did choose to eat. Of course there was the traditional chicken soup; which I understand is not only good for the body, it’s good for the soul. It really got me to thinking that I should pay more attention to healing my body with food. Hippocrates has suggested that we, “…let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
Me Thriving…Okay, I just love this pic of myself…
I grew stronger every day paying close attention to add fresh vegetables and herbs from my organic garden to my plate. Actually, I decided to just make smoothies and juices to make digestion easier. By the time I was fully recovered, I had committed to a 7 Day Detox to continue eliminating added sugar and working to increase my ability to Thrive. I’m planning to implement this detox program and then reduce my meat intake while increasing my green vegetable consumption. I’ve even ordered a neat spinach like plant which when consumed, aids in lowering cholesterol and helps to manage blood sugar.
I’ve not only recovered from the flu but I’m feeling better than ever! Of course, transformation is not complete without a good exercise program. So, I’m recommitting to my 45 minute daily workout routine. I’ll work my way back up to a decent running routine and a long distance bicycle ride. When I’m working out I MUST have music. And here is one of my most favorite workout songs performed live by The Script….because I’m striving to be a CHAMPION!
There is no better place to find Love than at the Sunday Dinner table. For many families, it is a time when the extended family gets together to catch up and enjoy each other’s company. As a mother, I am overjoyed to have the family over so that I can ensure that everyone is doing okay. For those who may be experiencing challenges, I want to offer comfort and a strong sense of belonging. When we know who we are and that our village is available to us, it helps to weather life’s day-to-day storms.
Flashback on National Sibling Day! My Siblings and Me. Yes, we need an updated picture!!!
My family and I have discussed rotating where we have Sunday dinner and honestly we have not been able to get anything going. The closest we’ve come is creating a family GroupMe where we check in on each other and share personal milestones; it’s so much fun! Although it’s good catching up over the net, I’d so much rather be in the presence of my beloveds.
I was in the grocery store the other day and saw some crab claws. I immediately thought about making one last gumbo before the Houston heat takes over; because who eats gumbo in 100 degree weather? When I woke up today, on a whim I decided to make the gumbo. All I could think of is that I should have been a bit more organized and invited the family over to enjoy it with me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to eat this gumbo and enjoy doing it; however, it would have been so much better to have the whole village over shooting the breeze and hanging out.
They say food made with Loving energy transmits to those who are eating it. I’m not sure I understand this thinking, but I do know that when I do something in Love, I personally feel better and I invite good feelings between myself and others; maybe that’s what they mean. Regardless, I know that I want to restart the Sunday Dinner tradition in my family and I’ll be working on the village to make this happen over the coming month
There are some traditions that we need to examine, revise, or abandon. I don’t think Sunday Dinner is one of those; except, maybe what we can cook those dinners in a health conscious way.
Every time I think of Sunday dinner, I think of my grandmother and the Soul Food movie. So, let’s end with the title song from the soundtrack.
For me, Spring represents the time of year when I am most hopeful and willing to take risks to pursue new ideas and experiences. Just as I work in my garden to plant vegetable seeds expecting a great Harvest; I reflect on the important things in my life and lay out plans to achieve the goals I’ve set in each of those areas. I’m also reminded to focus on my health and wellness. Well at least I consider whether I want to fit into that bathing suit this summer. And so, I work a little bit harder at improving my body, mind, and spirit.
This Spring, I’ve decided to focus on aligning my life with the legacy I want to leave, balancing today versus tomorrow, and improving my risk/reward tolerance related to key decisions I need to make. My hope is that these areas of focus help me to live a more fulfilling life, brings me big FUN, and benefits the great LOVEs in my life.
We’ll chat more in coming weeks about the progress I’m making, but enough about me. What are you hopeful for this Spring?
This past week was Holy week for those of us who practice Christianity as our foundation for agape LOVE. Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, which we believe represents God’s ultimate demonstration of love for humanity. As I reflect upon this sacrifice; I wonder what is the motivation to put one’s self in harm’s way for a beloved?
The Heaven’s: View from the plane home from L.A.
As we read the story of the cross, we learn that Jesus accepted that he was human and divine at the same time. He understood fully what was required of his humanity and lamented the commitment. However, he allowed God’s will to be done because he trusted completely in the Love of God to fulfill his promise to humanity. He participated in the plan to ensure that humanity could always commune with God despite our shortcomings. This reconciliation is the ultimate gift of Love to humanity. We are able to access the divine; enjoying a deeply personal relationship if we are open to being present for it.
In relationships it is good to know that sacrifice is only one demonstration (not a requirement) of love to our beloved; a gift given when needed to help our beloved grow. Relationships can become toxic if our beloved is requiring a sacrifice from us in order for us to be loved. Using our head, heart, and spirit to sense relationships which nurture us is needed to stay connected to our soul.
I am eternally grateful for the sacrifice that has been made so that I can know the truth of who I am to God. Once again Jonathan Butler has the words to express what I feel about this sacrifice.
“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
William B. Travis High School Band – Carnegie Hall, New York – March 2016
The one word I selected as inspiration for 2016 was ‘Fun’ and I must tell you I’ve been having plenty of it! I’m just in from my Spring Break vacation traveling from the East coast and wrapping up a West coast visit this afternoon. On the East coast, I celebrated the musicianship of my son and his band at Carnegie Hall. Later in the week, hubby and I headed over to Los Angeles where we celebrated the wedding of a close relative. It was at the wedding that I got the inspiration for this week’s post. The wedding was a second for both bride and groom. It was so much fun and the love between the bride, their children, family, and friends was palpable. My heart was opened wide as we were all intimately thanked for our participation in this joyful event.
After the groom saluted his bride, the DJ played Shalamar’s “Second Time Around”. This song helped to remind me that life offers us daily, a second chance to embrace love. The real question is, “how do we open our hearts to love a second time?” It seems to me that examining the past and forgiving it is a good way to start. Once you are free of the sting of the past, you can look forward and envision a future which integrates the wisdom of the past and the excitement of the future.
Being ready for love again requires us to fully examine who we are and to develop the boundaries we need to make good decisions in love. Our heart and head must work together to create relationships that help us to continue to grow in love. Second chances at love are available in every love relationship type. You deserve great happiness so do the work to be ready for love again. It really can be better the second time around!
Last week, we explored the joy of celebrating what we are grateful for. When we plan the guest list for our fabulous celebrations, we often overlook the most important guest; our own self.
Celebrating in New York
We can get so caught up in making preparations for the event that we don’t show up fully present. We fail to plan in a way that ensures we will fully enjoy the experience. And yet, we allow ourselves to check the milestone off the ‘to do’ list. However, we realize that we have gaps in our memory of some of the events and can’t remember all of the guests that attended the celebration. Looking back over the past 20 years, we’ve held many wonderful celebrations in our home. However, I can count on one hand the number of celebrations that I can fully remember key events and guest interactions beyond ensuring their food and drink needs were taken care of.
I am learning that this journey is really about having our eyes, head, and hearts wide open so we fully experience the beautiful moments we’ve been given. I am personally in the 12 step recovery program on this front. As I write this post, I’m a zombie after having stayed up 28 hours before getting 3 hours of sleep on a plane. I’m traveling to New York to celebrate the musicianship of our son’s high school band. They’ve been invited to play Carnegie Hall. I’m one proud mama! In my excitement, to ensure that this event is memorable for him, I’ve run around the past week like a chicken with its head cut off. Once his needs were met, I turned my attention to the rest of the family procrastinating until the final few days before the event to wrap up preparations. In typical ‘run until you run out of gas’ fashion, I ran errands until the clock ran out. I have promised myself I will NEVER be here again. I’m sure all addicts make such declarations, but hey I can start over on day one again tomorrow.
As I exam success on the ‘fully present’ front, I realize that I must define what it means to me. Once I’ve identified its meaning, I need to implement actions to achieve success. Slight Detour on this thought process: A few weeks ago a friend suggested that I try a diet she was on; you know one of those high protein diets. Actually, the first phase of the diet is really ALL meat. She had lost a lot of weight so I thought it was worth trying. When ordering lunch the other day she informs me that I cannot have the fries on the menu item if I want to stay within the diet guidelines. Without thinking I tell her, “I want to be successful on this diet, but I don’t want to do what it takes to be successful.” This was truly a ‘when the student is ready, the teacher will appear moment’. Of course this is just so obvious, but until we can consciously embrace our own resistance to what we have declared we want, but fail to do the work for, we can’t move forward. What I decided is that success for me is a sensible diet and exercise; this I can commit to.
So, what can we do to be fully present at the celebration? We can decide what presence means to us and then set goals and boundaries to achieve presence. When you are ready for a celebration, start with the end in mind. Give yourself a structured action item list with realistic timelines. Protect your ability to fully show up and stay within the boundaries that keep you focused on enjoying the company of your guests. Whatever you do, don’t neglect inviting yourself to the party!
This past week, I celebrated a birthday (que Stevie…). I’m so excited about turning 48 and I’m grateful for this awesome life I am living! As I reflected on what I’m most grateful for, I realized that I could use more celebration in my life. As I examined what celebration means to me, it led me to gratitude. In fact, it’s hard for me to distinguish gratitude and celebration from each other; because the more I think about the things I’m grateful for, the more I want to celebrate.
I’m grateful that I was born to a wonderful and courageous mother; whose sacrifice to bring me life has brought me my greatest opportunity to express gratitude. This gift alone has grounded me with an understanding that love really is the greatest gift of all (que Whitney…). I’ve celebrated this gift by learning to enjoy and appreciate motherhood; which makes nurturing my children a very fulfilling experience.
I’m grateful for my husband; who has loved me through the good, bad, and ugly. His commitment to our family has stretched him wide open and yet he continues to provide a well of love so deep for us, we always feel his protection. This love, I celebrate daily and I look forward to the end of the day when I can snuggle up next to him and kiss his strong hands that provide a safe place for all of us to thrive.
Every day, I’m surrounded by family and close friends who demonstrate their love by investing their time and energy to our shared happiness. Not one day goes by that I am left to wonder who I am in their lives. I am grateful for these friendships and I celebrate them by offering prayers of protection, calling, writing, or sharing exchanges on social media.
I am enjoying this wonderful life I’ve been given and I know that God has provided ‘green pastures’ for me. My one wish for this next year is to celebrate the awesomeness in my life more often; which means to be so overcome with gratitude that I have to share the joy with another. I plan to do exactly that and in case you did not know, my one word for 2016 is ‘Fun’; because how can you celebrate without having fun?
Jonathan Butler has captured how I’m feeling about these 48 years …
“V” Formation as opposed to Bey Formation. Am I the only one that needs to watch Beyoncé’s video over about ten more times before I understand more than just the hot sauce in her purse? I’m sorry, I digress…
Last week, we focused on starting this love thing at the beginning by learning to love our own self first. Once we’ve learned to love ourselves, we are ready to share all of that greatness with others. There is no better example of how to do this than an old video I’ve used in the past to demonstrate teamwork. Take a look…
As you can see there are many lessons in this video. A critical part of our wellbeing is being surrounded by a community that shares our journey. We can do so much more together than on our own. The geese use the “V” formation to optimize their productivity. As a community, we need some level of organization which may include having a leader to help guide us and make decisions. There are times when you will have the tools to lead and move the community forward. Embrace the leadership opportunity and step up to help others when you can. Don’t under estimate how much your leadership is needed to move everyone around you forward.
When you have led the way for your assigned season and you grow weary; work within the flock to help another member take the lead. Enjoy the journey from a different view. Take the rest you need so that when it is your turn to lead again, you will be ready with a fresh perspective.
Knowing that you have the support you need to fall out of formation during difficult times, makes contributing to others so much more fulfilling. It’s good to know that the circle of life never ends; even after death, life begins anew. For those of us who are still ‘here’, we simply rejoin our flock. Or, if we’ve evolved to a new place, we join a new flock to help us continue our growth. For those who are no longer with us, they too join a new flock in another dimension to continue their growth. At least that is the hope that helps me understand the idea of a ‘circle’ (i.e. infinite or everlasting life). This is what I’ve been taught through my faith. And I’ve learned this same lesson in science class; energy is neither created nor destroyed, it simply changes form. The spirit of those who have passed on is still with us.
I’m so excited that we have an opportunity each day to participate in cultivating love within ourselves and our community. Let’s take ownership for making that happen on our journey!
Now, let me go see if I can understand this Bey Formation video. Who knows, there just might be a geese-like lesson in it too.
