Through The Tulips Words of 'Wiz'dom

March 22, 2011

Negativity

Filed under: Food for Thought,Inspiration,Life's Little Hiccups — gardener @ 6:27 am

Several days ago I was talking to someone about negativity and how it tends to manifest within us if we aren’t careful.   I try to be a positive and happy person (most of the time) and see the best in every situation.   It isn’t always easy, but it’s something that I try to do, even though not always successful.

What I have noticed (or noticed over the last year) that when we surround ourselves with people who always see things in the negative or as a negative, that it’s quite simple to pick up that behavior.   It’s toxic and sometimes even without realizing it we can become negative.

Interstingly enough- last night I was watching TV and during a show someone mentioned a quote (I can’t remember by whom) that said,  “There aren’t negative happenings in life, but simply negative reactions.”    

I’m a firm believer that perpective is everything, and if you expect negative- you will definitely get it.   On the flip side of that coin:  it doesn’t mean that you will never be given obstacles (that’s unrealistic and a completely different topic) but it’s what you do with those obstacles that count.     You can let them be a brick wall- stopping you in your tracks, or you can use them to learn from- to add to your life experiences that leaves you richer and knowing that the biggest thing stopping us at times isn’t what happens to us- but how we choose to react to it.

March 14, 2011

New Project- 101 Things

Filed under: 101 in 1001 days,Food for Thought,Gratitude — gardener @ 12:21 pm

I recently came across the Day Zero Project where you can create a list of 101 things that you would like to do in 1001 days. I thought it sounded like an interesting project, so in the next few weeks I’ll be compiling my list and hopefully start checking things off that list as early as April.

I will be sharing the list, and then as I actually ‘do’ things on that list- I’ll share (hopefully with a picture) and more information about the actual ‘thing I’ve checked off’. I think it’s a fun project and also think it will be interesting to see how it all comes together. I would love for you to join me (and many others) in this journey. Please be sure to let me know if you do- so I can see what you’re 101 things are! Who knows- maybe we can cross a few things off our list together!

More on this coming very soon-

March 10, 2011

Time to Stop Talking

Filed under: Food for Thought,Health/ Fitness,Life — gardener @ 10:27 am

I’ve been talking for a month now about starting my exercise program again, and what I’ve noticed is that I have a pattern of putting this off. I’m not sure why I don’t just ‘do it’, but instead find a reason why I don’t want or feel like exercising. I KNOW that I feel better and more energetic when I spend time working out and getting in some cardio time on the elliptical, but yet I find myself making excuse after excuse.

It’s time to stop talking and start doing. The road to progress begins with a single step- and it’s time I took it.

March 6, 2011

Time to Soar

Filed under: Food for Thought,Health/ Fitness,Life's Little Hiccups — gardener @ 12:10 pm

Probably the highlight of my weekend is the fact that the sun has been shining. I know- something simple, yet something that has made such a huge difference in how I feel. I’m finding myself with more energy, even though I know that I need to start exercising and eating well on a regular basis. I was doing ok- but things took a southerly turn recently. Tomorrow is a new day and I find myself with new-found inspiration and energy. I’m not ready to start swinging from the chandeliers, but I know that every good choice is a step in the right direction. I’ve been getting the rest that I need, now it’s time to start soaring.

February 22, 2011

On Gratitude

Filed under: Food for Thought,Gratitude — gardener @ 11:32 am

Earlier I wrote on my Facebook status message that a little gratitude goes a long way. That’s something that I truely believe and I believe that when people do things for us, even the slightest something- that we should be grateful. I don’t necessarily think you have to jump up and down or shout from the rooftops how thankful you are, but a simple thank you or an acknowledgement of the amount of effort the person has put into that particular something is more than enough.

Before you ask- or even wonder- I’m not talking about me- In fact, I’m not talking about anything in particular, but sometimes little incidents trigger these type of thoughts. I’m grateful for the little things, sometimes when they have nothing to do with me.

The perfect example of that would be that my best friend went to mom and dad’s to help mom with something that she’s been wanting to work on. I know my friend is busy and I know mom is busy, but I also know that my friend being there gave mom the little bit of inspiration and incentive to work on these projects instead of allowing them to confuse and conquer her. They both had a blast and I am thrilled. My response to my best friend was- “Thank you for taking the time, for making the effort. I know mom appreciates it- but so do I.” For her, it was no effort. She wanted to do it and enjoyed it, but I am grateful.

If you look around- there are many things to show gratitude for each and every day and sometimes- that gratitude may be exactly what someone needs.

February 20, 2011

“Food” for Thought

Filed under: Food,Food for Thought,Health/ Fitness — gardener @ 9:30 am

I know quite a few people who are on a journey to weight loss. Some of them consider only the end result, and honestly don’t care how they get there. There are others who want to shed the pounds but also want to make sure they do it in the healthiest manner possible.

I always find the contrast between the two interesting. Eating right and exercising versus starving and taking OxyElite Pro or other aids for weight loss. Personally, I choose eating right and exercise because I believe it is the ONLY way to shed pounds and be healthy long term.

Today I actually came across an old passport picture of myself before I lost any weight. I knew it was me- but if standing side by side- I don’t think people would realize we are the same people. In many ways we are not.

February 19, 2011

Forgiveness

Filed under: Food for Thought,Inspiration,Life,Quotes- Soul Food — gardener @ 10:33 am

As I’ve gotten older (and I like to think wiser), I’ve realized the importance of forgiveness.   I also have noticed that those that fail to see the importance- those that carry around anger, hate, hurt and resentment of things that happened in the past, are in some ways still allowing that moment in time control their life.    I’ve also noticed that for some people, lack of forgivness has manifested like cancer in their lives and forgiveness is something they are incapable of.   They spend so much time thinking about how they have been wronged and victimized that they fail to recognize that they are the ones missing out.

Years ago Marcel and I had a conversation about how he couldn’t comprehend how I forgave me ex-husband for the things that he did to me.   He said they were inexcusable and I would agree, they were.  I explained to him that I didn’t do it for my ex, but instead, I did it for myself.   It was something that I carried around and it kept me from living in the ‘now’.

Several days ago I was watching Oprah and she said that the best meaning of forgiveness that she had ever heard was:

“Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been any different.”

I love quotations, so I wrote it down, but this stayed with me long after I finished watching the show.   After all, isn’t that what makes it so difficult for us to let go of the things that have happened to us- the fact that we ask ourselves a gazillion questions as to what we could have done to make things have a different outcome?   

Let it go- forgive- accept that is, is and nothing will ever change that.   Start living today!

February 18, 2011

Blank Canvas

Filed under: Food for Thought,Inspiration,Life,Things I Love — gardener @ 10:31 am

I was looking at the blank canvas this morning and thinking about what I’d like to paint.   Since I had to be somewhere, I ended up not going through the motions of pulling out everything, only to have to put it away again a half hour later.  When I want to paint, I want to be able to do so without having to think about being rushed.  

I ran my errands with Marcel, came home and decided to go through my shoes.  I’ve needed to for a while and I ended up throwing away two pair and putting aside about 6 other pair that I never wear and will give to the thrift shop.   While I was sitting in the middle of the floor, I couldn’t help but think about how life is like that canvas. 

Our lives are a canvas- a flowing tapestry that is sometimes colorful and sometimes dark.   Ultimately how we paint it is entirely up to us.

February 10, 2011

Signs of Spring

Filed under: Food for Thought,Health/ Fitness,Life — gardener @ 6:00 am

In spite of my new found resolve to get the rest of this weight off and also start treating my body the way it deserves to be treated, I’ve found that there has been something holding me back. I’ve given it a LOT of thought over the past week or so and when I say thought- I don’t mean fleeting thoughts here and there. I’ve really tried to get to the bottom of why I’ve made some of the choices I have, and quite honestly- I believe I’ve made some progress.

We’ve had some pretty grey days as of late- weather wise, so yesterday when the sun was shining I took advantage and got out in order to soak up some much needed Vitamin D, plus to test out my Nike + iPod. I used it once when we were on vacation to test it out, but really gave it a test yesterday. I’ll write more on that later- but I can see it becoming a source to challenge me to do more and to require more out of myself- and that’s something I need.

I’m looking really hard for signs of spring- but so far, aside from the occasional sunny day- I haven’t seen one. It’s coming though, because the groundhog says so.

January 28, 2011

Note to Self- Write it Down!

Filed under: Food for Thought,Inspiration,Life — gardener @ 1:33 am

I’ve been seeing many things in the past few weeks that I’d like to write about and when I get these spurts of inspiration, I tell myself that I don’t need to write them down, because the thoughts are so great that I’ll remember them. Now generally, that may be the case, but since this grey matter has been on overdrive for the past year, I should have learned by now that if I don’t write it down, I’ll forget it.

So this entry is more of a note to myself in hopes that if I actually type it out here, that I WILL remember to write down the various inspirations and ideas that I come up with so that when the time comes that I can actually sit here and write- all I have to do is pull out my notes and start tapping the words out on the keyboard.

Sometimes I make my own life so difficult when it doesn’t have to be. Do you do the same?

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