Healthy Happy Life Secrets

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Balance Your Body Type – Based on your score, you can find better health, balance, and passion-purpose work

In 2008, I went through Deepak Chopra’s Perfect Health Program in Carlsbad, California that cost me more than any vacation I can remember. My reward has been a life changer, as I’ve used some of the life skills every day and still to this day, over a decade later (and you can use to help balance your body type).

I believe everyone can use this helpful information for their whole life in several ways, including better health to slow aging, whole balance, and finding passionate work.

HOW I DISCOVERED THE PROGRAM

I was personally struggling with remaining angry emotions from a stressful, uninspiring management position I had just left.

Some roles aren’t the right fit, and there was one in particular I held after a line of unsatisfying work that mildly put was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

You could be good at your job and hate your job, which is how I felt, so I left that position (but my story had a good ending as a new role was created for me at the same company). Continue reading…

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Fika Happy Break Today

Fika is a concept in Sweden for a coffee break. And that in America has gotten smaller as coffee is all-day brewing.

This was a cappuccino Fika moment ☕️ I enjoyed in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Fika has grown to mean so much more about life.

Especially post-2020.

Those humbling, bittersweet years wherever you were on the planet grew you no matter what age you were.

We can now all look back…

To then when you got more you-experiences discovering more about yourself with change of routines… and as you interrupted your usual patterns.

And in more recent years, you found your groove back and learned tips for healthy balanced living.

You and I can appreciate what we have better, today.

You can now live the 80/20 real life vs. digital world that we dreamed of and no longer in Zoom fatigue settlement.

But those growing years gave us new insight. You don’t wanna lose all the good you developed from 2020.

And you can lean into a couple Fika points reminders:

-still slow down and make time to take a daily break (you can use you won’t get this day back as a self-reminder). Slowing down allows for new ideas to break through from the space break opportunity you carve out.

-appreciate daily simple joys and small happy pleasures (…maybe sweets 🍥?), healthy snacks and beverages.

Ok, one more…

– maintain some quiet time that can include reading, journaling, yoga, meditation, or enjoying sitting still with a cup of coffee and your soul. And if you dare, listen to your spirit.

This gets us away from love and into the noisy gong and clanging cymbal of the world that’s full of fear.

Silence is where you can hear the love whispers that’s inside each of us.

And then breaking out of silence or Fika moments, you want to immerse yourself in life to appreciate life.

You may have remembered not too long ago when an employee usually older than you said they were going on a coffee break and then disappeared.

That idea disappeared…

And so did the idea of driving out of your way to find a pot of coffee in America. It was helpful not to be a coffee drinker as you’d be in a diner or a 7-11. Coffee was more a morning ritual only.

These days coffee counters are everywhere in any metro suburban area, so people have re-appeared and coffee culture is running all day.

…Sometimes we even spend all day at a coffee shop balancing real life and our devices that we’re on. The digital nomad is not a new concept and finding fika is a way of living.

Years before I took on this lifestyle, I was getting inspired sitting and people watching where some of the famous writers like Ernest Hemingway and Jean-Paul Satre sat in a famous cafe.

That was doing fika compared to people hovering over a coffee machine that has replaced the office water cooler.

These days in America, everyone is armed with their own water-filled water bottles.

And then back at home…

Making coffee is a Fika opportunity to slow down and feel joy breaks.

Since modern research shows coffee as anti-inflammatory, it’s aligned with mind-body connection happy and healthy… that’s naturally in the coffee caffeine.

Coffee caffeine is especially a healthy energy alternative to caffeinated sodas that have too much unhealthy sugar.

But I think it’s good to get the sugar hype out of the system when you’re younger when your body isn’t so critical about what you consume…

Sodas was my breakfast starting out journey… that was later replaced with morning coffee and writing that aligned hand-in-hand with blogging. 📝

…And I’m sure you have your own beverage journey that aligned with your growing ways.

My daily routine is cold brew as less harsh/lower acidity and less bitter if that matters to you and your body. Cold brew vs. iced coffee are not the same thing.

It takes about as much effort to make a. cup of cold brew (as using a coffee machine), so maybe that’s something to consider. 💭

You can easily learn how to make a perfect cold brew coffee you’ll enjoy!… that’s even your younger inner child could have made years ago (but maybe stayed away from bitter). 😀

…Or maybe that could have been a similar story line in your green tea journey where you didn’t start off liking the bitter leaves.

…and now can tolerate (or prefer with your 180 degree changes as you change… or since your tea was better prepared in the lower 180 degree water temp 😀).

Which btw if tea is your jam, a tea break or afternoon tea is another Fika way to slow down. It’s not all about coffee anymore.

And maybe it’s plain water or healthy water drinks or you’re looking for new inspo for a few anti-inflammatory, healthy dry January drink, or tea ideas.

These can all be part of the Fika in the afternoon.

In America, we call this an afternoon snack break where America is home of the snacks. 🇺🇸 You can go into any size grocery store and see aisles full.

And you can healthy challenge yourself to make home healthy snacks to also slow down and relax.

Relaxed, you get to change your rhythm and feel the happy effects that lead to an overall productive day or Part 2 of your day.

Some light sweet or savory snacks for your Fika could be all you need to keep going in the right direction for your day:

Some ideas: try a one-bowl low-sugar chocolate chip oatmeal cookie that’ll do the sweet satiating trick over cravings. Or a healthier cinnamon roll or a buckwheat ginger snap cookie. Buckwheat is gluten-free, btw.

And maybe Fika tea party?… with the best way to make chai that you can pair with no-bake chai balls. Leave the cooking and baking for another time.

You can add Swedish-inspired savory Fika smorgas (open faced sandwiches).

You can make a healthy microgreen einkorn sandwich bread platter version mixing the growing microgreen culture (that I barely remember grew outta the alfalfa sprouts craze 🌱).

In catering, we called these finger sandwiches on a platter that always were a hit. The crusts were cut off.

And for similar effects, you can also leave the sandwiches open (smorgas) for less bread ratio.

Smorgas is different than a smorgasboard. That means sandwich table.

…Which wich is not just one sandwich!

Smorgasbord today as we know is a buffet (table) in American culture.

That’s the more-is-more approach.

With Fika, you can master the art of enjoyment that leads to contentment, and appreciate less-is-more with a light and balanced table.

Blend this with coffee culture and tea blends, and you have a daily reason to celebrate… and be grateful for the simple things that happened (and the bad ones that didn’t).

And simply appreciate this moment. ⏳

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Coffee Smoothie With Black Beans

Coffee smoothie has coffee beans… AND when you add black beans 🫘 (yes, like protein beans) then you have a 2X plant-based healthy beverage. And something to get excited about for your day! 🌅

You naturally get a powerhouse of fiber PLUS plant-based protein to start your morning on the right foot… and those steps 👣 keep you on a happy high for the rest of the day. 😊

ICYMI, beans are the rage in new food vitamins to take.

…PLUS A can of bean costs almost nothing when you compare to other high protein sources. AND the cans last for-ever (as food goes).

A can of beans usually has an expiration date that’s a few years out. That’s longer than what you and I know with what the future holds… but you can count on your beans! 🫘

If you get the organic black bean cans, those are still pennies compared to other protein sources, and you’ll have less sodium.

And then instead of rinsing your open canned beans with running water, you can dump the beans, liquid, and all into your blender (…maybe all while your eyes are still opening).

…This is great too for when you’ve woken up on the wrong side of the morning and want your positive energy boost to bounce back.

…Or when you feel like your gut needs a detox from processed foods and need to add some plant-based food love to your gut.

…And to add balance from a weekend of eating and drinking enjoyment.

You can also soothe those bloating gut discomfort feelings or uncomfortable jabs in the gut that you’ve normalized from what you consume.

Those don’t need to be your new normal and weigh you down!

…You’d know, because you have a less than a satisfactory healthy bathroom life.

And if off kilter….

You can get back on smooth track with a smoothie cold beverage like this.

…Where you get gut unhindered and be ready to conquer the world after a little daily energy boost!

This is a love language your gut understands…

And a coffee smoothie with beans like this can healthy balance restore. It’s even smoother than an avocado smoothie with coffee great for fasts

…Or you can try both and alternate the blend in your life. 💭

For any coffee smoothie, you can add the brewed coffee you like… but I like to add cold brew coffee for less acidity.

AND it’s already room temp coldish so you can drink and enjoy your finished smoothie sooner without adding ice cubes (that’s an option too). Btw, there’s a difference between cold brew and iced coffee.

And whatever coffee you choose, I recommend using an organic coffee (less toxins).

So, to make the black bean coffee smoothie:

Add your can of black beans and brewed coffee. And let the blender grind (blend). 😀 Let your smoothie start out thicker.

Add more or less liquid depending on how thick you like your smoothie. And you can always thin out with a ‘lil water later.

So after blending the beans (the coffee and black kind), work on the flavoring that matters…

You can make this a sweet beverage option.

Sooo with healthy notes, you don’t want to blanket douse all the good you just did with table sugar…

You can keep it sweet, tasty and plant-based healthy with cacao (powder).

Both cocoa and cacao powder come from cocoa beans but cacao is not as processed like cocoa is. It’s not just an “a” and “o” spelling play in the words. They are different but the same.

Common cocoa powder also often has sugar hidden within so the consuming product is different in the end.

And to compliment your powder sweetness, you can add another sweet source that’ll make it smooth: raw honey that’s another healthy Vitamin B (as in bee -add 🐝).

I also like to add banana and cinnamon spice that are other B and C adds… but those are optional and if you have on-hand.

And an option is to add Greek yogurt (for thickness), but you can get this coffee smoothie doing the minimum with black beans, brewed coffee, and cacao powder (or cocoa if cacao is not available).

…And in case you’re not a coffee drinker, you can substitute the coffee for milk or a plant-based milk like almond milk or yogurt whey. Think of it more like a protein chocolate drink, so it’s good for all growing ages.

…Especially those 30 and up!

And if you prefer a thicker smoothie, the yogurt solids will help you get that consistency too! Oh, and you add a dollop of yogurt to the top as your whipped 😉

(We’re now heading into parfait territory now.)

And to keep this a refreshing smoothie, I haven’t even gotten to the fun part yet (that would be the zhugh in desserts)…

Add mini chocolate chips to the smoothie drink and let some sink to the bottom.

You may have had cold java drinks like this that had the chips swirling around at the bottom and every now and again you get a nice pause in a chocolatey morsel bite.🧋

You can add 70% or more dark cacao chocolate morsels to your home smoothie that’s healthy delicious (and FUN to add).

You can also sweeten the vitamin-ness with wild blueberries too. How fun!

This is looking less and less like a beans drink and more like a delicious one!

…Wait ’til you get a taste! 😋

And this is what your Monday and any early morning gut and mouth are calling for. 📣

I’ve added this to the Magic Bullet recipes and this could be a low-sugar summer dessert too.

For more smoothie inspo and ideas, check out this healthy smoothie guide challenge I put together for you with all kinds of fiber-delicious blends (to give you your better than regular healthy LIFE back!) 🎉

Coffee Smoothie with Black Beans

This makes a nice cup or glass plus more for later.

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1 can organic black beans
1/2 cup cold brew coffee
2 tbsp cacao
1 tbsp raw honey
1 tbsp mini dark chocolate chips
1 banana (optional)
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1 tsp frozen wild blueberries (optional)
shredded coconut (zhugh optional)

Instructions

Blend ingredients until smooth. Refrigerate.
Add chocolate chip morsels and zhugh with more, blueberries, and/or coconut. Enjoy!

Notes

This makes an 8 ounce cup to enjoy plus more. If you add more liquid, you can make a larger batch for later.

If you want a thick smoothie base, choose a creamy thick yogurt like Icelandic yogurt or Fage Greek yogurt.

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Baked Donut – No Butter (Healthy for Sugar Cravings)

Donut is one dessert that can be made healthy when baked. Like these chocolate glazed donut scones that are jammed… as in raspberry jam.

Chocolate and raspberry are a decadent pairing and can be made healthy. Raw cacao and organic raspberries are loaded with polyphenols that are anti-inflammatory good.

Chocolate pairs well with almost any flavor, and many of them are healthy like nuts, fruits, and spices.

And in our flavor choices… once upon a time, I ate my last cream filling donut (…well, that was not healthy)…

Why?… The donut showed up on my arm the next day. 😀

I don’t think I’ve had a store-bought donut since. Even though I love how cute they look and glossy glazed. And don’t get me started about the fresh bakery scent trail it leaves.

Kidding aside, I found other store-bought ways to get the sweet taste without the fried-ness in traditional donuts. …because like sugar, fried foods are addictive.

You can’t have JUST ONE and be satisfied.

…So if you eat smaller bites and healthy sweets, then there’s no guilt.. and there’s NO eat now, pay later after effect.

Those are all heathy moves.

And when there’s an emergency sugar craving 😊… (for me, that’s daily and often)… low-sugar snacks like this healthy baked donut do the trick.

Oh, and there’s no butter in this recipe, so you save on fat calories. Healthy fat foods like coconut oil (that’s minimal) is a good alternative.

And if you’re someone who likes variety, you can zhugh and flavor each baked donut with different looks and tastes.

Like rose and rosewater, pistachio, coconut and other plant-based foods. 🌹🥥🌱

They’re good healthy food substitutes. And if you’re looking for a good sweet food substitute, give this baked donut a GO!

Baked Chocolate Glazed Donut

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1 cup coconut flour (or gluten-free flour)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp yeast
1 egg
3/4 cup milk of choice
pistachio bits and shredded coconut

Instructions

Combine donut cake ingredients by hand. Use enough milk to get the consistency closest to a cake batter (not too liquid and not too dense). Grease your pan with coconut oil and pour batter into the pan. Bake until top looks baked and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool. Cut out with round cookie cutter (easier to do before completely cooled).
Make melted chocolate glaze and dip donut top side in glaze.
Zhugh with coconuts and pistachio bits while glaze is still wet.
Keep the donuts out in a cool spot for 2 days or for longer lasting, refrigerate in a covered container.

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Rumination Is Keeping You Stuck

Rumination is something I know a lot about. It’s a form of overthinking and worry that can come from deep-rooted fears.

Feeling fear is an opportunity for your (subconscious) ego to get a hold of your thoughts and mind.

…That can keep you playing small in your precious life that you’re the star in 🌟and uniquely play out.

Opposing efforts are the ego fears showing up that are the opposite of love. …And loving thoughts and actions.

…So cutting them out is a good personal growth mission.

And that’s not something you would likely have learned in school or in your work life. And actually, probably picked up more ego behaviors along the way than pushed them aside.

But when you get to the bottom of your fears and you’re aware in conscious living in your life journey, that can help you conquer fears.

…That lets you have more love to give. And when you love yourself (first), then that invites in more love you can offer to the world in abundant ways and mindset.

Sometimes you end up going down unproductive storyline rabbit trails that turn into a negative spiral loop. That’s when you want to reset… or else risk staying stuck.

Resetting our minds by taking a walk, getting on a yoga mat, journaling, flipping the script, replacing thoughts, or doing other productive exercises are healthy intentional steps.

Because bad thoughts are usually counterproductive in some way. And negative (unloving) thoughts always hurt.

But taking a few mindful present thought moments can help the reset. When you pause and take a deep breather… you have a small window to make a positive micro shift adjustment in your day.

Because deep breathing in and out sends fresh oxygen to the mind, resets the body, and helps clean out the cobwebs from growing in the soul… 💨

The soul is at the seat of your mind, will (choices), and emotions that are deep within the body.

You can invite in your spirit to help lighten the load.

But not all of us do.

You get to exercise that right (choice).

Taking deep breaths is a good habit, reminder, and first step.

It’s also a natural cure for uncontrollable heart palpitations that can come from anxiety.

If you’re a natural Vata body (Ayurvedic dosha), you know exactly how that feels in you as you’ve lived it throughout your life. And those around you with similar bodies, have too.

And when you do deep breathing exercises like 4-7-8 breathing, counting is even easier than yoga or meditating.

It’s an empowering habit you can do anytime and anywhere.

And that helps to counteract triggered rumination thoughts that appear in your day out of nowhere…

That’s this life… where at any moment when life is in play, anything can happen.

And this article may be useful to add more calm in your life by making aware of your ruminating thoughts occupying daily space.

You can tell them to take a hike and make them go away sooner. 😊

…Because it is up to you!

And that should feel good.

Even if and especially if you’re naturally more of a thinker and you like to analyze situations.

You’re often impacted more by rumination thoughts because you tend to get inside your head.

…It’s not your fault or anyone’s fault for how you were naturally built.

That’s what sets you and I apart from animals and our plant-based world we nicely co-exist with.

And to use our higher and super powers to rule our planet for good, we need healthy mindset practices.

So that for unsettled situations, our minds will search for better answers.

We can bypass the rabbit trails and potential misery.

Because unawareness = unconsciousness… and awareness = consciousness.

And connecting the dots… unconsciousnesss means our subconscious takes the wheel and that’s where the harmful ego can rear its ugly head.

Turning thoughts into incessant rumination that can affect our entire day and outlook beyond.

Until we stop them dead in their tracks.

Because naturally they don’t stop on their own in a cycle.

The ego protection (that you don’t need most the time) wants you to believe in make-believe. And in its harmful destruction, ego wants you to hold onto bad and unloving thoughts… or else something bad will happen.

That’s hardly the truth.

The opposite will happen…

Where losing rumination, you’ll get your healthy day back and bypass your misery.

When I was growing up, we listened to cassette tapes. And sometimes the tapes got stuck in the player, and then would play the same riff over and over again.

…Until we stepped in and did something about it. We had to turn off the tape player temporarily and fix the problem.

The problem was usually that the playing tape got wrapped around wrong. And when we’re aware, we’d take a pen and roll back the tape around until it was back in line inside the cassette… that would be a good thing to do with our triggered thoughts. 💭

And if the cassette was too damaged, then we could do small repairs like cutting the tape out (…remember that? Those were the days 😊).

We’d tape the good parts together and have a new restored tape.

If successfully done, the tape would be missing the cut out music tape parts that never was as noticeably dramatic as we thought.

And that’s how our thoughts can be. If we cut out bad parts, we’re fixing our bad tapes playing repetitive, non-productive rumination messsages in our heads.

Simple fixes and exercises take seconds to restore back to the healthy.

Where changing thoughts is healthy self-help. 🎉

You’re then no longer a prisoner to your thoughts… unless you allow thoughts to take you captive.

No one in this life comes out with perfect thoughts or are unscathed in this life… but the more practice in changing thoughts, the better you get at it.

And the sooner you feel better, the sooner you learn contentment and joy from happiness within that you’re in control of.

…NOT controlled by external daily situations that life serves up.

It’s your loving lens and perceptions that make the difference… and how you will get more outta this life!

Ego is the wildcard we have no control over.

Except when we’re conscious, then we can kick our subconscious (ego) to the curb.

We can turn to LOVE and our self-serving thoughts (positive thoughts).

So now that that’s clear, BE on close guard.

ALWAYS.

Even if you’re busy, don’t let your guard down.

Slow your life down.

And specifically slow your thoughts down.

Pause.

Don’t react.

And practice saying, “let me think (or pray) about that.”

This is language that your ego hates as this doesn’t let you knee-jerk react (or in some cases if we’re honest, act like a jerk).

If you choose love, you won’t mess up.

Always choose love.

That’s always easier. You don’t have to discern or figure out what you should do in life’s many gray areas and situation you’re part of.

If it feels loving and positive, then you know you’re headed in the right direction somehow, even if you’re not certain how.

It doesn’t matter who or where you are! This works with the love from above. And pays off on earth.

Oh, and always remember, you are loved.

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Mental Health Awareness – How Far We’ve Come

Mental Health Awareness Month is a reminder in May that health is not just physical, it’s mental too… and it especially matters in the deep mind-body connection.

Trees in May bloom can be a mental health awareness month reminder.

Each and every day is an opportunity for growth toward living better wellness and gaining mental health awareness that stems from our deeper insides.

Mental health is spiritual and linked to our spiritual well being that completes the mind-body-spirit in us.

If you grow your spiritual sides, you’re exercising and growing mental health.

…Like lifting weights or your heart rate for your physical body health.

The heart and mind are closely related and getting quiet time allows you to tap into those spiritual feeling-thought areas that make up our daily mental health.

You can think of your spirit as your heart that often refers to your gut feelings (that aren’t actually in the gut). The effect is a gut-heart connection.

We already know there’s a stomach gut-mind connection as most of our happy hormones are made in the gut that affect how we feel and think.

Essentially when we exercise our right to re-route our negative thoughts and flip them to positive and loving ones, we do ourselves a world of good.

We bypass bad thoughts and feelings resulting in some form of misery that’s unessential for us to grow.

Mental health awareness (wellness) allows us to see and observe that they’re related and happening inside us.

It’s deep and not easy to see what our own minds are thinking and even more obscure to see what our hearts are thinking at any moment…

And it’s even more challenging with mental health disorder filters or if temporary inflicted by common states like anxiety.

These ways cloud views, so keeping up wellness and living balanced is what I’m passionate about.

And bringing our awareness to present moments helps us process what’s going on at any time.

Also relationships make great mirrors in what we communicate verbally and non-verbally. 🪞

We can find out what’s going on with us.

And make happy mental health changes, so we’re free to live our most fulfilled lives!

Happiness was not talked about when I was growing up. And wellness was not something mentioned in the Corporate America jobs I held for decades.

So Mental Health Awareness Month is one of the several recognized events throughout the year to keep a reminder going… and to recognize how far we’ve come.

It’s a way to celebrate strides and not go back to our darker ways and pasts.

In the past, so many of us kept our mental health sides quiet and hidden. And generations before, even more so.

We’re a much more aware society, open to growth.

That’s something to healthy celebrate! 🎉

In the end, it’s our personal health that dictates what we can and can’t do…

And if you don’t know why you’ve suffered in relationships that are mirrors reflecting back, you probably have some hidden areas that need healing.

They’re hidden so you’ve never seen them and how getting them into view can change your mental health.

That’s what my journey taught me…

I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I saw a bright future forward and ahead, and never thought to look backward.

Until I was stuck. And I reaped opportunities to be in company with healers.

They made me realize forgiveness could bridge the gap to my wholeness.

That removed the subconscious blocks and made them conscious for healing.

Without wholeness that comes from healing, a person is never free from their imperfect past (that we all have no matter how much we enjoyed our childhood).

And if there is a current triggered situation in life, that can be an opportunity to clear out the past cobwebs.

And remove being a prisoner to the ego mind that’ll subconsciously make the situation worse.

That robs joy and happiness.

…In the one life you and I get.

…We’re here to evolve and get better and whole.

And that’s up to each of us.

Best remedies any of us can apply in mental health awareness is self-care that can include: yoga, meditation, nature walks, church, connectedness and all of the above.

And in those moments, you can gather answers to:

Are you healed from your past? Or do you still carry burdens?

…And maybe a current life problem is helping you to get to root causes.

Mental health awareness blockages means there’s some healing needed.

Some signs to look for:

You can’t talk about your past, sob deeply, or get defensive about certain triggering situations or people.

Witness the words you use and say, and if they are being defensive or blaming others.

Have you forgiven those who hurt you? It doesn’t matter if they knew what they did to you or not… OR whether or not they can apologize today. Those would be good if they restored the peace, but usually we’re in situations where we can’t get that closure.

But you can get forgiveness so you can heal and move healthy and happy on.

Doing this in a retreat or healing session with others is good because then you know for certain it happened as you have an event to remember and wasn’t just a few thoughts you had.

Also, do you ruminate on the same past thoughts?

If you do, you have to get closure or clarity, or you’ll always be carrying the burden of feeling stuck.

Clarity feels like peace and maybe even being able to laugh at some of the things that happened that were so traumatic before. They helped you grow to your wholeness and maybe even help others going through similar challenges.

Remember the saying, “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.”

And feeling sorry for those who don’t know any better helps you have compassion for others.

Often it’s mental health that becomes the barrier to do better.

Because hurt people, hurt people.

And when you’re healed, you can see that clearly.

That goes beyond your past, processing, and forgiving and creating a new way to look at the past.

Then you can be the answer to people around you needing answers to their problems.

…And when you do, you can realize how far you’ve come! 🙌

Be well and Happy Mental Health Awareness Month!!

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