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Luck Inspiration Happy Thoughts For The Life You Want

Luck is part of our happy lives. You run into it more when you try more things and is more visible to you when you’re working toward finding your purpose.

happy luck
do you like my green apple and avocado smoothie?

I believe the way to happiness is in finding a daily purpose. Eventually, you’ll run into examples of happy luck on your journey even if you’ve never considered yourself lucky.

That’s what this blog post today is about. So if you’ve been feeling unlucky, stuck, or wondering about how to get more good luck, grab a drink and keep reading.

One immediate additon you can make is to add a new joyful daily practice that’s different than the previous ones that aren’t “the ONE.”

Finding that can create the outlet or space you need to drift into your best season.

Staying open to new possibilities is gonna help lead you there and out of disappointment from unmet expectations.

If you’re super busy, even finding 10 minutes a day will move you in a healthy way. You don’t have to produce anything yet.

You just want to get the energy juices flowing inside you, and develop an interest in the process.

It matters to YOU what that is and what you do, but it doesn’t matter what it is to get that energy.

It’s your thoughts and feelings at the end of the day that carries you through.

You can start by simply pulling out a few (or all the) supplies needed.

Say, your practice is something simple like yoga, then you’d roll out your yoga mat and pull out your stretchy clothes. And here are 100 yoga poses you can start with.

Or if it’s as complex as lace making, you’d bring out your threads and materials.

My recommend is to start spending a ‘lil time (gathering supplies or working on your practice) in your spare time while you’re watching television. It doesn’t have to be either/or… when you get moving, juices flow easier.

When you can visually see what you need to work on as a practice or hobby, that can become top-of-mind consciousness instead of: “out of sight, out of mind.”

You put your mind towards a purpose. It can feel like an anxious distraction or passion freedom.

You were born naturally to be active, just like horses and greyhounds are born to run.

As kids, we knew we wanted to play. Go back to your natural instinct roots and wonder and play in the adult way. You may even find yourself in your calm Alpha waves state of mind.

That’s what I thought about scrapbooking years ago, but then I lost interest. So don’t be surprised if you go through different activities to find “the one.”

Our world today is like a lotus flower opening and evolving. We didn’t know the internet would turn out the way it is today, when it first came out, but we got involved. And look at it now!

I’ve never been able to watch the Australian Open live stream until this year—and with open access, I was more aware, interested, and curious in another part of the world than where I live.

And used some of that time to bake. See how we can use the world around us to be more open (even if we can’t do it exactly the way we want)?

Your practice can become a daily passion or create new passion project ideas. You can be multi-passionate, but you’ll find one passion or interest eventually dominates and becomes more your purpose.

It’s the one giving life to others too that you can share or do life with.

In the beginning, the satisfied feeling for doing your passion can be there just to make you feel better about yourself (a good way to get self-care and not overspend!).

Your day will feel more joyful. You don’t need a deep reason as to why you’re doing it. When you feel happier, however that shows up for you, then you can show up more giving and creative.

Our ego sourly wants us to believe that everything has to turn into some kind of accomplishment that others praise and has to turn into a high achievement (or else why do it?).

Don’t fall for those lies. Tell your ego who’s boss at the moment.

The real gift or takeaway is in the process of showing up (you’ve probably heard a zillion times), improving your practice regularly, and loving what you’re doing more than the praise or the idea that you can succeed or fail.

Do it to be productive, and make it a natural desire to your life, like as the hunting dog wants to chase.

When you’ve worked on your practice long enough (often years), that can form into your purpose and lead you to additional productive purposes from what you’ve already learned.

You pay your dues with low paid or free work and time, and once you’ve proven to yourself that you’ll do this practice even if you’re not paid, then you’re unstoppable in your niche.

And you’ll be rewarded for taking a risk in being productive.

What you know is, you’re on the right track even if you see no immediate fruit.

One sign is you would’ve given up on it for something else a long time ago. Sometimes people quit, get busy or distracted, and then come back, that’s almost a sure sign you’re on the right track no matter how it looks to others.

That’s why I believe you should go for what you really want to do with your life (and forget about what looks good on paper) because you only get this one life to do (and there’s not a do-over for anyone).

And so, the importance of time can catch up with you where you crave a high quality of life, balance, health, and relationships… and possibly over money.

Maybe that’s where you are (or are headed in that direction)?

Figuring out what makes you needed to the world sooner will give you more time to do more of that.

In growth, we try not to go backward and when we stumble on luck, we know it’s our time to run and build on that momentum.

So then, what is luck?

It’s a simple four-letter word, but leaning into luck is going to propel you to better things.

If you haven’t already, it may be useful to write out all the places where you felt you got lucky.

Nothing is too small. Scoring a parking spot is luck. And the more you can find these examples in your life, the more luck takes healthy root in your life as you look for more.

It’s often understated and why one person works super hard and the door never opens, and one person who barely tried falls into luck. It isn’t earned. It’s you walking into and towards your destiny.

It’s what we sometimes refer to as “beginner’s luck.” When you pair that with persistence (never giving up) plus hard work, you’re virtually unstoppable.

Luck is invisible but always involved. It’s our ego that says, “it was our doing,” when it was a collaboration with those involved and the Universe all along.

Luck really is your alignment with your assignments and purpose. It’s lining you up for the right next opportunity at the perfect time. Luck isn’t random luck.

And if you choose to believe that, then you can wonder how to use your luck in your favor.

You can use it to find your purpose and the reason why you’re here.

Nothing goes wasted. Remember, it’s our (ego) minds that mess with us and want us to believe we’re our ego. Outsmarting your ego is good advice.

And what you are productively doing now (even if it’s not exciting) will move you to the next thing.

You will end up using all of your experiences, on this seemingly chaotic planet. But when you dig deeper, you can see how organized it is, in every blade of grass and life’s full circle moments.

If you had a season you didn’t like, those lessons you learned can help make you aware to not do the same mistakes again.

That can sometimes take two steps forward and one step backward. Staying patient with yourself but keep trying… and laughing at life once in a while helps!

And if this all seems new or foreign to you, don’t worry, that’s part of why you’re here, and when you’re ready, you’ll figure out what you need.

The sooner you do, the more you get to do what you want to do and get all the great gifts associated as long as you don’t quit working, dreaming, and wanting.

Gifts can be new relationships, opportunities, money, praise, promotion, etc.

If you don’t like your grueling day job or are dissatisfied with corporate life, then maybe you want to look at other avenues. Sure, some of your old communities and friends will drift away, but you’ll develop new ones just like when you finished school or when you moved to a new town.

One day, John Lennon just walked out of the room and that was the end of The Beatles band. In the peaceful flow, he didn’t cut off ties. He just pivoted. One day.

Suddenly. It doesn’t have to be dramatic or have an announcement made (others can do that without you).

In my life, I took a sabbatical when it wasn’t the norm and I had to explain what that was as it sounds like a religious or college-related quest.

Now people are rethinking and opting to do the same. Maybe that’s your next pivot move? Or trying something completely new. Just starting is the best advice I’ve ever heard.

Whatever that productive next step is for you, stay the course until something else takes over, and then you can expectantly watch as a new kind of luck emerges that you would’ve never seen had you not taken the first step.

It’s as simple and complicated as that. 😊

Holiday Entertainment Shows + Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Recipe

Holiday entertainment is not a mere plus during the holidays. It’s a must to get through the holidays… full of bittersweet happy and sad moments… filled with illuminating reflections on the past year… finding your way through stressful calendar-marked deadlines ticking like a time bomb.

And before holiday has come and gone, you can enjoy this one-bowl comfort dessert with no guilt as it’s healthy and wildly tasty! It could be your new year dessert. 🎉

It’s gluten-free, carrot vitamin-rich and orange calming for nerves… and great for entertaining mixed emotions.

Healthy Carrot Cake great for holiday entertainment and life.
Gluten-free healthy orange carrot cake (recipe below)

Ahhh.. but light-hearted holiday entertainment shows (like GBBO for this modified healthy baker) and sappy rom-com tearjerker movies can help us lighten our load if we feel stressed.

On that note, I have 3-holiday entertainment mentions below worth checking out

That can be exciting and worth sticking around until the end of the blog article and staying up past midnight on Dec. 31. 😊

…And somewhere in between is December 25 where we can easily forget when we started our holiday. In America, that’s usually Thanksgiving in November where we celebrate gratitude for the things we have in our lives.

In the happy holiday spirit, December and Christmas are opportunities for each of us to grow, dig deep in our shadow, be reflective about our past, and find more appreciation for our joy and happiness’ sake as better humans than before.

Christmas is always an invitation to find hope and peace now. And welcome in happy and healthy intentions for the future. And that can include skipping, baking, and inspiring yoga moves!  Why not?

I plan to be in the kitchen (…and maybe you too with your planned festivities whether quiet or action-filled?).

Here’s my illustrative yoga guide for those who will be busy holiday joy baking and wanting to unwind like a pretzel in front of the tube or streaming media 😊:

5 baking yoga stretches: tree pose, pigeon pose, bow pose, bridge pose, and happy baby.

There’s a big buildup to Christmas celebrations that probably started way earlier in the year …like Christmas in July promotions?

This year is probably no different where you’re not hit by deer lights… that’s a certain predictable point to be grateful for. We know it’s coming!

And we can lean into holiday entertainment, decorations, and warm & fuzzy feelings to get us in the mood.

We don’t have to lean into the bitter self-pity. We can feel contentment for what we have in our accumulated wisdom.

Some things we can think of is:

We’re grateful we’re not who we once were. We’re a better version, and getting better every day. It may be two steps forward and one step back, but we’re still improving. 

And some places we’re completely transformed and others we completely forgot where we were once hurting in another way.

We’re happy as is because we know it won’t stay this way. We’re wired to have the best life.

Besides things could be worse, but thankfully they’re not. Those (and your) beliefs can help shape your optimistic outlook.

Getting rid of the moods that can hang over like heavy, gray clouds (that can lead to Kapha depression) is freeing. And also changing the anxious-worried symptoms common in active Vata minds.

You could be fighting ego or affected without awareness.

Letting go isn’t always so easy

In awareness, it can feel like an uphill battle to try and win over an internal fight.

I find that when I have a moment where I feel a little emotional turmoil, laughter never grows old as one of the best medicines.

Healthy cleansing tears from humorous holiday entertainment or heart-felt movies, series, or shows can be just what the doctor ordered.

After from watching, you can feel good again. 📺

What we feel from recently watched holiday entertainment shows can show up in our refreshed thought life.

These are 3 of my holiday entertainment picks (and maybe they’re good for you also)… which btw, I’ve yet to meet a close friend who likes the same quirky shows I do.

I’m not talkin’ about Friends and the popular America’s Got Talent shows that everyone has glimpsed.

So I’m goin’ out on a limb here…

The first one I wanted to mention is actually not a show, but an old classic movie, The Sound of Music. And if that’s not your bread and jam, then think of a show or movie you watched as a kid that you enjoyed and impacted you.

And you can take my Cliff Notes version:

If you’ve never seen or forgotten what this classic movie is about, it starts out with actress Julie Andrews as a young lady in an abbey prepping to be a nun. She soon discovers she’s too independent thinking and not cut out for the job.

Sound a ‘lil familiar? I know it does for me having taken a hairpin turn or two early on. None of the nunnery kind though. 😊

The movie plot is a metaphor for our lives that can change in an instant, a.k.a. a life pivot.

A better plan is out there for us if we’re willing to stay open and hang in there.

Those thoughts can help us get through any bitter holiday moments.

Julie Andrews’ character is sent as a governess to 7 children for a former widowed Captain and Austrian naval officer.

Fr. Maria, she’s called, brings singing and love into the family and the odd-pairing couple ends up marrying (aww… a love story and musical). I hope I didn’t ruin the happy ending.

So now you’re either caught up or possibly curious to watch the movie (again).

Fun fact: the movie is filmed in Austria and Los Angeles of all places, so maybe that’s one of the reasons why it’s still a Hollywood boom.

In our lives, the parallel is that there’s a lot to look forward to getting to the other side, crossing the hills, and any mountains along our path. We can stop to appreciate the flowers like Edelweiss or roses that remind us of our resilience from our life situations.

Then after you get your fill of that movie, whether you fast-forward to the part where your heart is filled or watch the full movie, afterward you can pause to fill your warm drinking mug, and get ready to laugh (…maybe even belly laugh some) with this next recommend…

Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee

This modern American Netflix show of several seasons is a good metaphor for not taking life too seriously. Stand-up comedians don’t.

And Actor and Comedian Jerry Seinfeld makes that clear as he takes his guests out for coffee in coffee venues (think Diners, Drive Ins, and Dive places, plus some hole in the walls).

He chauffeurs his guests around with different classic cars to match the comedic intent and their barrel of laughs to come in coffee conversation 🐒.

Once in a while, they’re driving in lemons like an Oh sorry, Ferrari that dies on the road. That’s comical drama we call comedy.

The show is peppered with what you’d expect from comedians… impromptu funny lines about their lives and the world we live in.

Having worked in restaurants, I can find a chuckle or two with the (literally) off-the-wall menu special posters or off-color restaurant jokes…

Like when Jerry orders and asks for 2 eggs and nothing else on a plate, and the server quickly asks if he wants it on the side? The server (or waitress) made an inside funny without knowing it. Good stuff there. 😅

You’ll have to find your own humor points if you end up watching some of the episodes. …and so that brings me to a recent holiday entertainment show…

The Great British Baking Show

Biscuits week was in the Great British Baking Show holiday entertainment show.
The show is “The Great British Bake Off” in U.K. where cookies are biscuits. The Jammie Dodgers are a British classic that was one of the technical challenges. Btw, these are not here for temptation reasons. I have a healthy carrot cake or squares recipe below for your baking holiday entertainment should you accept the baking challenge. 🥕

The Great British Baking Show has got to be the funniest baking show out there. It’s also interesting to watch the baker techniques and their foibles.

By now in the show’s (just-finishing up their 9th season), as you’d expect the contestants know what to expect.

If they didn’t, that would be like going under the pressure cooker show as a contestant without baking practice.

.. And that would be like going on the Shark Tank show and not rehearsing… where they’d get eaten alive!

The GBBO contestants (more fitting than calling them competitors because they help each other out in the tent)… want to be sure to make the show fun and take time out to make good bakes while playing along with the tent show elves and laughing at their side jokes.

Tent Sidekick Noel announcing the challenge 😄

As part of the audience, you can feel the contestants are more mellow, less tense, and less serious about winning… and more motivated with staying in the baking tent (sometimes baking hot tent 🎪) for as long as they can.

In case you missed season 9 which is one of my faves (I say that for all of the newest ones), the cherry-on-top Star Baker title went to Giuseppe for his traditional Italian bakes passed down from his family’s baking lineage.

So now you’re all caught up!

The Great British Baking Show also has holiday versions. You can especially enjoy it if you like holiday baking inspiration and while eating sweets…

Healthy Carrot Cake
Gluten-free healthy carrot cake (recipe below)

And on that final note, I have a deliciously, seriously healthy, SWEET gluten-free carrot cake recipe below (that I’ve played around with the ingredients, whipped up, and tested all the crumbs!)… And you can just as easily prepare and enjoy in a square, round or any shape pan you like that you can bring to your screen with whatever holiday entertainment shows you end up watching. 🧡

Healthy (Easy-No Mixer Needed) Gluten-Free Carrot Cake (Bread or Squares) in One Bowl

gluten-free carrot cake

Ingredients:

1 cup grated carrots

2 eggs (room temperature)

1 Tbsp coconut oil (or light EVOO or baking oil)

1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 cup (120 grams) almond flour (or other gluten-free flour)

1/4 cup (60 grams)  oats

1/2 cup (120 grams) chopped walnuts and raisins combined

Orange zest from a medium-size orange (or add maple syrup to taste, 1-2 tsp suggested for low sugar)

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

You can mix all the ingredients in one bowl. Add dry ingredients first, then add the liquids (that way you can use some of the same measuring spoons and cups without the dry sticking to the wet in my planner-at-heart mind 😉).

Pour into an 8″ round pan or 4″ x 8″ baking pan.

Bake at 325°F/165°C for 35-40 minutes.

After cooled, “frost” with Greek Yogurt (2% fat or reduced fat suggested) and healthily enjoy. Or you can blend with a low-fat cheese (like neufchatel cream cheese or ricotta cheese) if you prefer or will be serving to others who don’t prefer full-on healthy … but would love to try what you happily sweetly baked.

To Your Merry Happy Holidays! 🎄

 

Happiness Book Announcement

Happiness book announcement! 📣.

Happiness Book Launched 2021
Happiness Book Launched March 20, 2021

Today is the first day of spring and the a hashtag event calendar day for #InternationalDayofHappiness.

It’s also coincidentally the weekend of my happiness book release. And I have a spring roll (swiss cake roll recipe to share below 🍥) to celebrate the occasion.

Up to now, most of us have learned to be more patient with the world, and uniquely in our individual lives. For better health and to enjoy your day, it’s better to celebrate what you have. Time today is a gift.

In the wait, focus on the positive things. You are a day closer to your destiny and joy if you decide to focus on love, beauty, and growth that you can find evidence all around in spring and nature.

In my muse and self-reflection today, I’m tickled (and a bit relieved) that my happiness book, Empowered Happiness, that I started editing last summer is completed and available now. I had intended for the book to be published last year.

I started writing in 2019, but for all kinds of start and stop reasons, I didn’t make the deadline. …and now I understand why it takes most authors more than a year to publish a book that has nothing to do with procrastination or writer’s block 😊

You know how things always take longer than you expect… my happiness book project was no different.

On the other side now, I see how slow cooking a book takes patience but produces a better, heart-filled, and soulful meal (end-product) than microwaving can ever produce. (…and as a writer, we prefer “simmering” over “nuking” and also the rhyming words associated).

When asked yesterday in a phone interview why I wrote the happiness book, I was stunned by what came out of my calm thoughts, mind, and mouth.  

Like you, if you choose, I’m here to impact others’ lives with the gifts and opportunities I’ve been given. With the book, I aspire to impact readers in their own lives, no matter what stage they’re in as I know others have gone through similar experiences as I have. The mentors that I’ve turned to, time and time again, have been self-help books. And this is my way of giving it back as a writer and mentor advocate.

Everything else is gravy.

We all need each other for validation and can learn from one another about authentic living in this beautifully organized, delicate, and sometimes complicated Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs place we share called Life on Earth.

With what you can do, you just never know how you can positively impact someone else with similar or different backgrounds.

While piecing together my happiness book, I decided to include a childhood story about an older neighborhood kid who put on an Easter egg hunt. What suddenly happened that day, impacted my life and helped put a memorable smile on my face, like colorful confetti or rainbow sprinkles can.

You never know what an ordinary day can bring. Maybe I’ll get a chance to put on a surprising egg hunt someday and you’ll get a chance to plan or suddenly impact your local community in a way you never imagined.

Make it a great first day of spring… and if you think about it, reach out to someone you haven’t talked to for months. They may just be waiting for your text, call, or a nudge of encouragement that only you can give ♥