Oatmeal raisin cookie is one of my favorites. This one is all oats. And no flour.
Sure, you can add chocolate, but I sometimes like a pure wholesome oat-y raisin cookie (…maybe you too?) where the raisins are the stand out morsel-size ingredient.
And this gluten-free big cookie has 40 raisins. You can’t dodge ’em if you tried.
There’s a raisin reason (or raison in French) for the cookie … that makes it a good breakfast starter with healthy breakfast ingredients!
And if size matters to you…
This oatmeal raisin cookie recipe is for 6 inches across that is great on your 8 inch plates. Or take with you in your car trips when you want fewer crumbs.
It has crumbs, otherwise it wouldn’t be a satisfying cookie… but it holds together nicely.
And better than granola that’s droppable, and one jerky hairpin turn away from needing a vacuum.
You will have finished this cookie by then. 😋
Like my younger self would have. When I found the hard and crunchy store-bought ones worthy.
I thought they were the eat-as-many-as-you-like wholesome cookies. Ya know what I mean?
I was years from understanding why healthy really mattered… and knowing that a few baking minutes is all the difference between crunchy vs. soft-baked.
And not from an artfully messy table of food ingredients that I imagined.
For a Softer Cookie:
With ith the magical oven, you can make the cookie even softer if you want with a simple ingredient tweak.
If you want to make a smoother (less oatmeal bumpy) and cake-y cookie… and don’t mind the gluten, then you can add some whole wheat flour.
Or my fave way is to add buckwheat flour that’s naturally gluten-free despite “wheat” in the name.
If you add 1/2 cup gluten flour, you can fill a 9″ pan of cookie that’ll turn out more like a cookie-cake. There will be a little rise and it’ll be softer and spongier like a cake so it’s easier to cut.
You can even cut a cool geometric star pattern shape like this gigantic chocolate oat cookie (cake?) that’s doubly starred ⭐️⭐️ with an orange star inside the kaleidoscope cut star pattern. Do you see it?
The cuts are good for tearing and sharing, and will impress most and especially science fair aged-ones.
But if you prefer a solid cookie or wouldn’t miss the raisins, you can try this low-sugar oatmeal chocolate chip cookie that looks a lot like the signature C.C. cookie 🍪 I sat next to when I was a Doubletree Hotel catering manager.
But the baking recipe I share is without any of the sticks of butt-ah that made it paperweight heavy.
And now that we have all the cookies out of the bag, the ingredient that ties all the cookies together is the oats.
With all the grocery variety shelf options these modern days, old-fashioned oats are the best value… they cost minimal and are minimal processed (vs. instant oats). And wherever you shop, it’s usually next to the 1-minute oats.
The slow oats are the better option. And since you’re baking them and not making oatmeal, they’re time-less.
The magical oven will work out that cooking time process.
…Maybe why oatmeal is part of the famous oatmeal raisin cookie’s name.
And while oats bind the cookies together, what makes this oa-tea cookie recipe a special-tea is the Earl Grey tea choice added to the cookie batter.
The tea is good for a couple reasons (or raisins 😊). Earl Grey is a brisk bergamot black tea that can be strong. And maybe why it’s U.K.’s traditional tea. 🇬🇧
And I’ve been adding raisins to drinking Early Grey that gives it a bergamot forward citrus flavor. Earl Grey is good for breakfast or an afternoon tea. And a perfect cookie pair fit where you can do tastings with different cookies like starting with an oatmeal raisin cookie. You could try a holiday lemon cookie.
Early Grey is versatile, but had ladylike (adult) tastes. Like other black teas, it’s usually sweeter (vs. green tea = bitter). And raisins mellow out all those tastes and flavors for a smoother drinking ride.
The tea also plumps up the raisins. And you could plump up raisins in your enhanced puffery oatmeal raisin cookie if you pre-soak them in brewed tea before you add to your cookie batter.
But if you don’t have Earl Grey tea on hand, for cookie batter, you can sub with/use milk , coffee, or any liquid as substitution.
No need for a panic store run. You can get creative and use the same Dry January warm beverage you’re also brewing and drinking on hand. If it’s good as a drink, it’ll be better in a cookie! 🍪
How easy… as promised for this One-Bowl oatmeal raisin cookie.
And if you’re wondering if this cookie will be sweet enough (as it calls for no table sugar like most cookies), you can add healthier natural sweetness that come straight from the source like maple syrup or honey.
If you’re feeling Pitta (e.g. signs of feeling irritated, have warm skin to the touch, or breaking out signs) maple syrup will help you out as it’s a cooling ingredient. Fitting why it’s a staple up north. 🇨🇦
So now you have an American oatmeal raisin cookie with English-speaking cousin country ingredients.
And if you’re feeling cool, you may want a warmer ingredient.
Sinus-congested Kaphas can use honey in your cookie batter. Raw honey helps to loosen up the gunk and if you’re feeling slow going.🫖
Plus a dry oatmeal raisin will be good for drying out Kaphas that tend to have moist skin.
And with all the mouthful deets, I think you’re ready to make this ready-to-be-eaten cookie.
This is an easy cookie to bake that always pleases for any occasion!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets
Ingredients
2/3cupground oats
1Tbspmaple syrup (or honey)
1Tbspbaking powder
1Tbspyogurt
1/8cupEarl Grey tea
2Tbspraisins (or 40 raisins)
1tspcocoa powder
1tspvanilla extract
1egg
pinch of salt
Instructions
Spray your baking pan with baking spray or brush light olive oil. You can use your round cake pans.
Make the one-bowl cookie batter: Combine ingredients with a silverware spoon but reserve the Earl Grey tea and raisins.
Optional: brew your Earl Grey tea and add the raisins to the warm tea. This will help plump raisins up. You can do for some, all, or none. And then add the tea and about 3/4 of the raisins (30 raisins/1.5 Tbsp) to the cookie batter.
Shape your cookie with your spoon and a knife or offset spatula is helpful. This makes one 6 inch cookie or a few smaller cookies.
Add the remaining raisins on top so they're visible.
Bake at 350°F/180°C for 25-30 minutes for soft-crispy cookie doneness preference. Enjoy!
It was in me (and in all of us), but I didn’t know how to make it visible.
Until unfolded, I found it’s a life secret meant to stay invisible to the human eye.
Because it’s in the choice to flip the mind script with thoughts that can be turned down. And that changes feelings and moods. And the new lens is how we get back our happiness from disappointments.
I practiced this, this past weekend…
When I headed to the same mountain I’d be visiting for the past 3 weekends in a row to do some fall hiking. 🍁
On this third trip, as I pulled up to the mountain park entrance, I noticed a few cars in front of me and a line forming quickly behind me. Each car was being stopped one-by-one, by one of two forest rangers.
I thought the rangers were going to provide information or maybe ask for identification for whatever reason.
When it was my turn to pull up, I learned it was neither of those reasons.
The forest ranger asked me, “were you coming today to hike?” And she proceeded to tell me that wouldn’t be happening due to unforseeable work vehicles in the park.
When I asked if they’d re-open today, she said, “possibly around 2:30.” That was a solid 2 plus hours later and didn’t sound like a guarantee.
I asked if I could use the restroom before leaving, but I was denied and redirected to the local country store.
So like everyone else ahead of me, I drove to the cute country store less than a mile down the road. On my beeline trip to the restroom, I heard someone’s male voice mumble, “we drove an hour and a half to come out.”
In that moment, I knew exactly what I was going to do after my visit to the Ladies Room.
I had a choice.
it was in the slight thought pause.
I immediately thought there were plenty of of other trails available to visit in the state, and the day hours weren’t going to wait.
I had a vehicle full of gas and ready-to-hike legs, so I wasn’t stuck.
But staying stuck with my initial idea and plan would have been tragic for that day. And that’s where many minds stay.
Time waits for no one…
If we sit around, a day goes by, a year passes, and a decade grows. When you’re older, that’s nothing.
When we’re younger, time doesn’t pass fast enough.
And in life’s journey, while closures happen sometimes and endings disappoint no matter what, there’s a better way to look at it.
(Because sour moods won’t change anything.)
And you can snap into a happy place quickly when you change your scenery on the outside and in your mind.
So in the 2 hours that came to pass, I could still be waiting (worrying?) at a country store.
…But that wasn’t my story.
I hopped back in my car and re-routed to go to another mountain.
Yup, I technically visited two mountains in one day. And I got out and did a new hiking trail. ⛰️⛰️
Sounds impressive? The truth is… it was easier than the alternative.
I knew I wouldn’t sit around waiting for what may or may not happen.
That’s a good lesson for life.
Keep going.
Let go of what could be (but wasn’t).
And I stopped off and looked at flower fields along my new unplanned scenic route. I remembered to stop and smell the flowers (a slow down lesson learned before). 🌺
I also found a new hiking trail that I mapped out thanks to modern maps.
When I was growing up, those were paper maps; and to this day, I don’t know how we ever found our destinations. 😮
But that’s how life for all of us has improved today… and so we have even more options to benefit us than in the past.
So staying stuck doesn’t have to be an option.
Being and feeling content always can be.
And the more content, the better.
There are no downsides.
Like, I was enjoying my new hike and I temporarily forgot all about the country store and drive up to the first mountain earlier that day. 🍂
That’s how happy can be.
And my suggest to anyone else who crosses setbacks (that’s all of us 🙋🏻♀️):
Choose another adventure.
Let go of the old one.
Get unstuck.
Ohhh, and I know you may have made the same decision I did at the country store… you would’ve drove off in that situation too if you were alone (or with an agreeable partner), but maybe not with so-and-so company or a group in tow dead set on the original mission and sticking around waiting. Or not with little ones where it’s harder to just hop and go.
Believe me, I get it because in my childhood I felt so stuck most the time. In my case I was tagging along on weekend adult errands that I was so bored with, and fed up with as a child looking for childrens’ adventures. Nothing was in my control. I was stuck.
So because of those early-on sour mood lessons, that’s why one of my happiest places today is at the grocery store. Because those adult trips foraging food (aka sweets) that I chose were empowering and happy moments.
I use those lessons to help me today.
And you can do the same with your today teaching lessons and past lessons learned situations to help you noodle out of your thoughts no matter what you’re facing with life-in-play situations.
Make it easy for and on yourself.
And whatever your country store decision would have been, I’m suggesting you would have been happy anywhere else where you could choose.
And let go of the past (that ego energy clings onto).
ANYTHING is better than sitting around disappointed energy all around you.
…Including yours.
Get fresh new air.
It’s still free and abundant.
And getting out of stuck, you could Google new ideas like what farms are nearby (or ask the country store people). Take a clearing head field trip.
Because out in the country there are always produce farms (the same ones that provide strawberries and apples at farmers markets 🍓).
And animal farms.
You probably even passed a few cows and horses on your drive up.
Whatever it is you come up with when you’re stuck, pick a new adventure.
And if you were like me, untethered that free day… drive ’til you can drive no more.
Empower your day, hike another trail and make it your best day ever despite the start.
Don’t waste beautiful days and nature’s perfectly balanced leaf and bark weather changing all around you in this moment.
Chocolate trifle is something to be excited about. And when adding tiramisu vibes for a pick-me-up… this is tasty good stuff. And the ingredients here are healthy, including Greek yogurt and pumpkin… good for the season we’re in. And year round as pumpkin sits on the grocery shelves.
For dark chocolate drama, I added balsamic vinegar to melted chocolate that gives a slightly tart bite.
And if you move your sweet bite from the front tongue taste to the sides, you’ll get more of that sour punch. I think I learned in grade school when we learned about our tongue tastes… those were unforgettable lessons.
And tart flavor is just enough to give the ordinary chocolate flavors an oomph.
And it also makes the melted chocolate more drizzly to create special food art effects. 🍥
That gives an overall elevated vibe that can be admired. And maybe set out early on the table. That can be good for any occasion.
And the chocolate brown goes with pumpkin orange in the autumn. Especially in the cooler months. 🍁
Chocolate-pumpkin 🍫+🎃 is also a great tasting pairing duo. So it’s a win-win score.
And with those ingredients, it’s even easier than store-bought frozen pumpkin pie because you don’t have to bake any part of your chocolate trifle if you choose.
And it’s delicious when you pair the tastes that everyone likes. It’s great for a potluck. I remember the first trifle recipe I saw was handed to me in a printed recipe from a church leader from a potluck event.
So it has a special place for me.
It’s also great for a casual dinner.
A trifle will impress because it looks like an elegant table centerpiece if you put in a large display vessel. It’s an illusion. Because the dessert has no shape but the (glass) dessert vessel has a distinct shape that the dessert takes on.
I’m surprised I didn’t think about the dessert or centerpiece back in my hotel catering days when I was always thinking about table decor.
It probably works better for a home setup. And it’ll impress you as you get your day back in the prep process.
Where you don’t have to spend your day worrying about bringing or making a dessert that pleases guests you’re serving.
And most importantly… pleases you!
You can think of a chocolate trifle as a side dessert. That will go well with cookies or Madeleines. Or holiday pie, celebration cake, fun candy, and anything in between.
You decide what will be dunked in the trifle for the effect you want.
And you can fill your trifle dessert with the healthiest foods like Greek yogurt. And pumpkin that’s beta-carotene healthy. It has the antioxidant vitamins, A-C-E.
It aces the healthy test. And pumpkin is affordable. You can find cans year round that you can stock up on when it goes on sale.
Shelf-life for pumpkin is usually at least a year long if not longer.
So no need to wait for Thanksgiving or holiday desserts.
And then to top off your special dessert, you can make luscious swirls.
Who says Greek yogurt whipped up can’t be exciting?
Like this soft as a pillow yogurt layer… where you can dunk your spoon in without guilt.
You can also make cute individual yogurt trifles for any occasion. Oui?
And to top off with a zhugh, I used coconut shavings. But a cinnamon or ginger powder dusting would also be pretty and healthy too.
An easy dessert for any occasion or table that you can whip up with healthy ingredients in minutes.
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets
Ingredients
layer of Greek yogurt
layer of ricotta (optional)
115 ozcanned pumpkin
110 ozchocolate morsel package
1Tbspbalsamic vinegar
Instructions
Prepare sponge cake for lady fingers or use store-bought Madeleines or cookies.
Assemble cake or cookie at the bottom and layer with yogurt, pumpkin, and chocolate sauce. To make your own chocolate sauce, add chocolate morsels and balsamic vinegar to a bain marie (double boiler) to melt on low heat. Tip: use dark chocolate for healthy and color drama effects. Also add ricotta for cheesecake trifle vibes.
Turmeric soup is one anti-inflammatory soup that’s so easy to make. All you need is water and turmeric spice. But you can add so much more (see below)! And it’ll be comforting for fall and holidays.
Add rice for texture substance that adds nutrients and is hearty filling.
Brown rice and wild grain rice are whole foods great on an anti-inflammatory diet because they’re less processed.
The rice bran and germ are kept intact where additional B-vitamins are.
You can add your protein choice, and include 15-beans for one potent protein bowl. You can also make a Magic Bullet dip with the beans.
In the bean mix, some are actually legumes and not beans.
Just remember, all beans are legumes, but not all legumes are beans.
Remember those school grammar lessons?
How fun to practice on peas (that are legumes) with fruits in pods (or seeds). 🫛 And lentils and peanuts are also legumes (not beans!).
Lentils are easy to point to by their half shapes.
And not to get too technical, but a chick pea is a bean: a chic garbanzo bean.
But you already knew that!
And all these are in your 15-bean (or 16-bean) packages. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a 33-bean one as there are hundred of beans in the world and some even say like 40 thousand that’s surprising to hear!
The list is long, and from that lens short on a 15-bean bag.
If you read the label, actually you’ll notice there are more than 15 named, but actual only 3 lines long: northern, pinto, large lima, yelloweye, garbanzo, baby lima, green split pea, kidney, cranberry, small white, pink, small red, yellow split pea, lentil, navy, black, and white kidney. They sound like organs or colors on a college jacket.
Did you find the ones that are non-beans?
And since we’ve gotten technical, there are more than 15 listed (there are 17 if you’re counting). This has to do with variety. But from school-me class 😊, we just learned that some legumes are not beans, so maybe it should be called 17 legumes soup? 💭 …Not as catchy though.
And would make a great school project. And if you want to give a school grader a project, have them separate the types.
Either way, it’s a great lesson in food variety and would make for nice art work in a bowl. 🥣
One that I do is turn it into a turmeric bean soup.
To make this:
Soak the beans in room temperature water in a bowl covered overnight so they expand and soften.
Then cook the 15-beans on medium heat until soft. This usually takes over an hour. If you want to lean into the smoky tastes, you can let the water run out on the beans. Then add back before it blackens.
You’ll get a nice smoky aroma and taste that makes it very warming and inviting. This is a great fall soup. The colors look like leaves turning and it’s comforting.
Then turn your soup into an easy Magic Bullet dip.
What if your destiny on the planet we live on isn’t the one you’re seeking and have been led toward? By no fault of your own.
What if you and I are actually here to learn more about our core being, and who we really are when the masks are off.
And the person we show up as to our friends and co-workers, is temporarily the placeholder today.
Until ding-ding-ding a revelation bell goes off?
…Well, that was my life experience in a nutshell.
This for me (like many other people), took many relationships and situations before I realized I was doing life all wrong.
I was living according to the desires and aspirations of the culture I’m in and from. That’s what most of us do.
And in America, we have choices and aspirational options.
Looking back, I lived like most my peers and people I grew up with that went to college, graduated from business school, and then entered the corporate ranks.
In management roles, I looked good on paper.
And initially I took a sideway bend off the beaten path in hotel catering where I knew no one else who joined that field.
That was my first adult work start after cutting the college cord.
Those early years, I often felt alone and at odds from my peers that were just work miles away, but whom I rarely saw.
I was in my work bubble and they were in their life and work routines.
When my friends were at happy hours and hanging out, I was working in a nearby hotel whose doors never closed to the public.
And behind closed doors, I had all kinds of work and growing pain life problems that socializing couldn’t solve.
I was finding a new grown up identity.
…That I learned only Destiny calling could help me with.
I believe Destiny first showed up then in those seasons.
Destiny to me is the place where you turn to when you don’t know where else to go and no one can help you.
Then several years later, with a little internal digging for answers, I felt like I had it together… at least on the outside.
I found a 9-5 professional office gig that put my college degree to work and started to chip away at the college debt I amassed.
Finally, I had made it to a “real job” like my peers. 🎉
I was able to relax more with some much needed work-life balance and even owned my first home that a few years earlier I thought would never happen.
In my off-work hours I felt like I could tap into my spiritual-me sides that I had put aside in my early adult years.
I also made new grown-up friendships.
Those were still external growth pursuits, but I was headed in a healthier personal growth direction.
But Personal-me still needed to change and heal.
That I didn’t know yet. You don’t know what ya don’t know.
But I still had time on my side being young learning life’s ropes.
Ummm… until I came head-on with my Authentic Self when the life rug was pulled out from under me.
Only when I lost a job, and then a second and third from economy layoffs, did I catch on.
I was devastated and humbled to my core.
Now what?
I took one step in front of the other to progress.
Years later, I chose to go on a sabbatical in-between jobs and moved away from everyone I knew.
I was already “off-course” so I had nothing to lose.
It was the opposite of busy seasons I was used to, and what the culture I lived in revered.
My life wasn’t the way I had imagined life would go. At all.
Life wasn’t supposed to be quiet around me, especially since I grew up in a busy culture.
And that’s how I felt Destiny came nudging at my door, again.
Without cultural judgments to satisfy, I could find myself getting closer to understanding core reasons for being in this life and getting to know my deeper lifeline (where our source is not earthly).
In those seasons without busy distractions, I was able to pause, reflect, and find authentic answers.
But then seasons turned into years of contentment.
And in those years, I found yoga and hiking.
I became more patient and calm.
Hiking solo is a quiet activity that’s a good metaphor for what I was going through in life. It’s also a challenging pursuit.
And one that I got good at.
Hiking taught me to stretch beyond comfort and also to calm down… just like every season and job in life that stretched and stressed me so I could learn better ways to adapt.
But hiking is a choice.
Tough life situations are not.
Hiking new mountains taught me that discomfort means thriving and getting closer to my destiny. Like reaching a summit climb. ⛰️
And that I get to go through the tough moments to build grit and character traits so that I can enjoy the top summit.
That was a flip from what I grew up believing, where I lived anxious often in survival mode in my home. Not good for Vata bodies who are born naturally more anxious.
The mountain summit is like Destiny because I know that’s where I’ll end up.
And that’s where all of us will end up in our personal destinies.
The difference is we can recognize that as a gift and enjoy the process on the way up if we are looking!
And you can also look at every uncomfortable situation in your life as helping you stretch and edge a wee bit closer to your summit, and your higher deeper self-identity… the one that you didn’t know to seek earlier on.
That’s your true calling destiny.
How you find that and get there is never easy.
But it’s totally worth the journey you’re here for.
Remember the motto, it’s about the journey and not the destination.
The steps you take in the moment help you grow.
And then from that framework, you can appreciate that you’re always being re-routed. It’s another way of making positive change that otherwise wouldn’t happen.
Avoiding the detours isn’t the name of the game to win (that I used to think).
And in life, when you lean into tough situations benefitting you even when they don’t look that way initially and you wouldn’t haven’t chosen, you move closer to your Destiny. You come out on the other side as a Victor.
One example we all have, is our challenge stories from 2020 that taught us more about ourselves and this life.
Those days were akin to being in a routine that was working. And then one day didn’t. Or the opportunities changed or dried up.
Somehow situations and seasons always come to a halt.
And when they do, in those times, you’re then facing not a fork in the road… nooo, you’re at the end of the cliff.
You’re at the end of the road, and the only choice is to find another way entirely. That helps you find your better ways.
And that’s when you’re nudgingly forced to do what Destiny shows you in its whispers and signs.
So like a treasure hunt, the next step forward is made easy as you look for your next clue. That’s all you can do. Keep going.
But it’s hard because it’s not what you would’ve done or where you would’ve gone before… and you don’t have the tools to navigate in front of you (like future uncertainty).
You don’t know what it is you’re looking for.
You just trust it’ll work out. Because Life is rigged in your favor and you’re hopeful because there’s organization in the chaos.
And Destiny is trying to teach you in a new way so you make the right step.
…In your One life.
Initially it feels like you’re starting over as an adult, a lot like when you were a child that was helpless and small but got local help.
But Destiny’s calling is not the type of school where you get grades to prove your worth.
Your past accolades don’t matter or help your inner growth.
And how smart and attractive you are doesn’t help you progress.
As long as you try, you succeed to the next level. And you don’t have to prove yourself because we’re all worthy.
You move onto the next season with flying colors as long as you don’t give up.
And you can speed up your progress and grow in peace if you don’t resist.
In between, you’re pressed to dig deep inside for new answers. And you’re invisibly guided, so it’s a given if you pay attention.
Imagine that it’s like being shuffled into a solo detour hiking path where you see no one on the path, but you do see random rock writing clues meant for you. Just look for the breadcrumbs that may or may not be there.
You’re no longer in control with anything you’re doing… and as a metaphor to life, I mean anything, such as concentrating like you could before and remembering what you ate or watched.
…It’s like you’re in a funk that you know is what life is leading you to by no fault or doing of your own.
And Life around you gets super quiet and no one in your sphere is reaching out to you or even replying when they used to.
You know something is up.
And it’s not that your devices aren’t working.
You know it’s a higher calling from the wiser Universe above whispering that it’s time.
Time for what?
You slowly learn as the days go by.
And if you stay sober, you’ll discover some profound wisdom about your life that’s shared from within you. Like it was hidden and now in clear view.
This is how you learn life’s meaning: why you’re here (that’s not what you thought earlier on in life and that no one taught).
And you also learn a little more about what you need to learn about yourself while you’re here.
It’s like a movie titled Your Life. Where you’re the star.
And if you haven’t crossed this bridge in your life yet, then it’s not your time.
But it’ll come looking for you someday.
And that day and time is different for everyone.
Could be at 40 or 80 years old. Only the Destiny higher ups know (the source that isn’t earthly).
But when it does, you’ll not regret that you leaned in.
In the meanwhile and for all of us today, an easy exercise to live more meaningful by choice is to think of 3 good things that happened to you last week. And do this weekly (like your yoga).
A gratitude exercise like this makes you feel good about yourself. It also puts your mind in the healthy growth mindset.
All you do is intentionally recall 3 specific things you’re thankful for that are not generic, and are unique items to last week.
That takes some conscious thinking. And when a gratitude memory pops up, immediately you shift to appreciation and smiling in your mind.
…Even if it’s just a coffee shop encounter you had, a small lucky win, or a gesture toward your progress.
You’ll find teeny things to be thankful for as a week is not much time and usually flies by. Things you probably never thought about before.
By keeping short stretch time spans to record your gratitude helps you find contentment: a life calming way that helps activate Destiny.
I started my gratitude practice around 2011 when I was starting over (like I described) in most life buckets. My life had already been uprooted.
Everything had changed from the two years prior from the life I was used to in relationship, work, and state where I lived.
I was abruptly sent back to where I grew up when I had no plans to do so. Without any work.
I had just been laid off from a job of 6 years and I gave up my blooming and successful blog at the time because of my move.
Destiny found me a small room that I rented in the house of a past friend that showed up like an angel.
My friend disappeared in my 20s, helpfully re-appeared in my 30s, and then poof… disappeared from view again as I moved away again.
In my soul, I knew I was being taught to surrender my life.
And in all these life clues, 6 moves and 10 or more jobs later, I learned to do so for inner alignment.
And not live the previous prescribed life I had in the past.
It was death and birth at the same time.
And bittersweet with some good and some tough things.
Since I crossed that bridge years ago, walls inside me have come down.
…I’m more whole and polished (or less rough around the inner edges). I developed deeper sides that I didn’t have before.
And if I were a diamond, I’d have more facets that make me more sparkly. 💖
Today I don’t have the same wants and desires as the y0unger adult-me version.
But I’m also still the same planner and life balance-seeking person I was in my younger years. And I still strive to enjoy life every day and have future goals.
And I still research everything…
For personal travel and hiking, it’s not so much that I need to know where I’m going because it’s always an exploratory adventure.
…But about not missing anything I would want to see while I’m there.
Or end up wasting valuable time on event day deciding what to do.
I never have regrets spending extra minutes days before planning and researching. You find time for what’s important to you.
And on event day’s life-in-play, I’m more calm and enjoy myself more from the surprising elements that unfold on the journey. That’s what’s important to me.
Where I appreciate the waterfall and trees I come across even more.
I learned in my catering work days that something always changes along the way. It’s a given you can count on too in life. So no need to worry you’ll be bored if you’ve plotted your steps.
Seeing new places is bound to be exciting. And people watching along the way is the spice of life. You never know what characters you’ll meet. It’s sometimes more fun than going to the mall.
It’s a welcomed interruption to get to talk to strangers. Some on the path may be angels, I believe.
And you never know when and how Destiny will show up.
But if you prefer a solid cookie or wouldn’t miss the raisins, you can try this low-sugar oatmeal chocolate chip cookie that looks a lot like the signature C.C. cookie 🍪 I sat next to when I was a Doubletree Hotel catering manager.
