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Category: Spirit

God Winks Encouragement

God winks appear all the time and in front of us if we’re paying attention.

God often speaks in nature like in bright sunflower blooms 🌻 and occasional rainbow skies 🌈 And in science like the rare total eclipse 🌘 and even in a pair of daily ducks.

God winks in nature like these common pair of ducks. They are the many wonders that keep us wondering!

We also sometimes forget that God winks in our food where nature provides plant-based foods.

Like these authentic whole wheat zucchini fettuccine getting drying-ready for cooking (recipe below 🧡).

I believe everyone needs encouragement in this life. It’s part of the healthy and happy journey. And one special form of encouragement that you may already turn to is the God winks that are specific to your life…

The daily favors, blessings, miracles… whatever you want to call it… like driving by a surprising display of flowers instead of the usual path to radiate the day 🌷

When something special, small or not happens in your day, you’re reminded that you’re watched over.

You know that you were given luck in some way by the Universe if you allow your beliefs to take you there and you push your ego aside that can thwart your efforts in your mind.

God is love and the ego is fear. And how you noodle yourself out of those times where it’s hard to see the love, will get you to more God winks sooner because you’ll see them. 👀

You see favor in life, whether you bypass a long line that was just there seconds before you got there. …Or, you’re lucky with your online submission that comes back favorable.

Your timing is perfect and the opportunity is for you. And that was no coincidence. That is meant to be encouraging to your day if you don’t miss it.

These can be a part of your every day, if you pay attention to the discernment message that the Universe sends. As you live longer and practice deciphering more you will get better at this!

In Christian living, it’s the Holy Spirit helping us out or the spirit in you.

There’s no mystery or woo-woo, it’s just the way it is on our planet and was established, all documented during Biblical times.

And we can this live out daily in our version of modern Biblical living if we choose.

An interesting thought: the book that made it in every hotel room (I worked in hotels) is full of good daily instruction.

Most of us don’t give it daily thought.

I know I didn’t for the first quarter of my life until the words came to life when I learned the content that helped align my life.

And in your life, the more wondering and connect the dots to the wonders and little miracles, the more you’ll see them and get God wink favors. Not everyone sees a rainbow in front of them. 🌈

And whether you do or don’t think you receive favor, your life will have ups and downs.

But if you know in the end that all will be well, that provides a sense of peace. And we all can use more of that if we want to live a life of meaning. Or when we feel discouraged.

So when things aren’t exactly working out the way you thought they would or you feel stuck, look up for the God winks. They will keep you going.

Align your prayerful thoughts and whether you speak them aloud or just think the thoughts especially while in public or around people.

When we stay on the channel of our daily, small thoughts that are mostly negative because it’s on the worldly level of this limited life, then we lose time with negative moods or emotions.

We keep ourselves from growing and getting to the next level. If we think and reach higher, we’re better off.

And we gain more then in the time it takes for us to try and do it by ourselves. If we plan about the future, that may not happen the way we thought if we don’t check in first with our heart and soul.

This is a simple exercise you can try.

Find something in your situations that has given you some tension or hasn’t worked out. You have several productive options. You can try again or look for a new solution.

An example is a tool that has broken. You can try to fix it. If you look at it from another angle, sometimes you figure it out.

But if you get upset or frustrated, then nothing gets accomplished. If you spend the same time praying, the solution comes to you.

It’s the same way you can pray off your worry, as Norman Vincent Peale taught in The Power of Positive Thinking.

It works because of your productive mindset and calm mood, but is also because of the higher-reaching power working in your life.

Another example, and one that was recent for me is new baking challenges. As someone who likes to experiment, not all bakes turn out. And when I wondered what happened, I use the bake as a lesson. It reminds me of what can go wrong. So instead of being disappointed, I see it as a way to grow.

Because in order to grow, there is always a struggle or sacrifice of sorts to varying degrees. You have to give up perfection or success in order to get better. You let go (or let God and reject ego).

Or you spend more time invested in learning than you thought.  And this is how you get good and skilled at anything… by the failures and challenges. You don’t learn as much from the ones that turn out and where you get a few minutes of joy from right away. Never judge a book by its cover. Give things a second chance.

But joy does keep us encouraged and engaged in the balance of everything in life.

And these joyful pasta-ccines are very balanced with whole wheat and zucchini. 😋

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Zucchini Fettuccine Whole Wheat Pasta

This is a great homemade pasta making recipe to get your veggies in (or for picky eaters) or if you have a leftover zucchini you don't want to go bad. Homemade pasta is easy to make once you get the hang of it and you can enjoy same day! And as grocery prices rise on pasta, this is an economical way to get fresh pasta with ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen!
Course dinner, lunch
Cuisine American, Italian
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Equipment

  • blender or mortar and pestle (optional)
  • cup measuring cup (optional)
  • pasta machine or dough roller

Ingredients

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour (can use gluten-free flours) per serving
  • 1 egg per serving
  • generous pinch of salt
  • 1 zucchini, cooked and mashed

Instructions

  • Make a flour mound. Make a deep well with a spoon or the measuring cup you used. Add egg and salt.
  • Knead. Add blended zucchini to the pasta dough.
  • Make a dough disc. Let rest for at least 20 minutes.
  • Divide the disc into two halves. Roll out pasta as thin as you can without getting holes. If using a pasta machine, start on a medium/wide setting such as "5" and then run through thinner setting such as "3." That may be the thinnest setting.
    If rolling by hand and dough roller, roll evenly to about 1/16".
  • Let strands dry out enough so you can still make a curled nest or can break (like packaged processed pasta). These took about 2 hours.
  • Cook like you would packaged pasta for about 20 minutes on medium heat for "al dente" pasta. Whole wheat pasta will take longer than other plain flour homemade pasta. You can store uncooked pasta in fridge for 2-3 days. Buon appetito!

Pursuit of Happiness In You

Pursuit of happiness is inside you.

Are you in the pursuit of happiness? Chickpea pie (like the one baked in love above) makes me hap-pea. And happiness is for a moment that’s different than meaningful joy.

This is a life area I think many people these days are redefining as their expectations for happiness fell short at least in the past few years.

And they don’t know what to do to change that as an undercurrent running in their minds as external situations are getting tougher.

If that’s you, be encouraged you’re in good company. We’ve all had to change situations that we didn’t choose.

And I’m gonna share some nuggets on how to help change the tide (and how I changed my ways).

First of all, I can totally relate to a chain of disappointments. And that’s how I got to see them as God’s appointments.

I was dealt some lemons… and I don’t know anyone who hasn’t who has lived this life for at least a quarter of a century.

Losses, unhappy situations, and failures are hard to swallow (and doesn’t help the pursuit of happiness). But going through is the fastest way to get to the other side. We often slow our progress by having pity parties. I know I did until I finally caught on.

By being aware you focus on the positives so you can thrive and not dwell on the same stuck feelings and thoughts that come back like a boomerang.

Your mind-body remembers, and so every February when nothing was going on… I was reminded of what wasn’t going on that I could’ve buried earlier if  I knew what to do.

But waiting seasons are needed, and that’s how I gradually learned how to flip the switch in not getting what I wanted. And trade that in for contentment and deeper joy, which produces feeling good.

And that’s what those who seem to have it all on the outside, don’t have…

I started out my young adult life wanting the same desires and dreams that most people have: a corporate job they are successful and feel good about (or at least aren’t feeling miserable in), a family of their own, good relationships, nice stuff, a college degree or two, and financial freedom.

These were the same sort of accomplishments many in the Washington DC metro area I grew up in, had.

But being in a high-pressure cooker environment that feeds into high-achieving egos didn’t help. That encouraged more of a self-absorbed life that turns into unfulfilling boredom and unhappiness.

After a while, I snapped out thinking, “there’s got to be more to life than just this.”

And while I had scattered bits and pieces of that old life description that carried me through my earlier years, that’s not the life I have now.

But what I do have today is a different proud lens to look out from, that’s everyday contentment. It’s not the same happiness lens that I used to aspire to that became a never-ending, up-and-down roller coaster ride.

…I hated that lifestyle based on external situations because the down was always a hard fall and a huge contrast from the going up feelings that felt good for the moment.

The problem with that is that you’re always chasing the next thing and high that seems better. It’s a bottomless pit because the feeling can never be satiated.

In this life, we always grow weary or tired of anything after a while. A good thing never stays good the same way for us. Everything is temporary, as are feelings.

But if you’re feeling deeper joy (that comes from the spirit) inside you every day, that’s sustaining for the soul (mind, body, free-will, and emotions). We can’t change the way we’re wired as humans.

And you’re not your mind-body that drives your thoughts and feelings, even though you make the decisions.

So what helps to feel good every day is to be productive, just like you need good sleep every day so you have energy.

And joy energy is needed to get more out of this life so you can show up creative, and have enough to give out to others.

Here are a couple of good idea reminders:

1.      Tune into the better daily channels for inner peace.

So if you’re like most in the pursuit of happiness, pay attention to the channels brought in, both external in what to listen to and watch, and internal thoughts aligned with the spirit (the whispers that bring out the joy).

Since I’m not in pursuit of the happiness that I started my life with, I listen to my inner desires.

Sometimes I’m a tired Vata because I don’t stick to an exact sleep routine (…good to get to bed early and get your proper ZZZ’s I tell my Night Owl self). But that’s all fixable with a cuppa joe and the next night’s sleep.

…What’s not fixable is waking up and focusing on the wrong desires (or strategy of life if you want to be more concrete).

And so when I get going, I have purpose and joy inside me that I get to make progress and impact in the day, and have meaningful work. I do life my way with freedom and space… and without pressures that sink in that create stress. I set a schedule that works for me, and when I get paid I can do more of the things I love. 🧡

That’s not how it was when I settled in as an employee. Or when I was starting out on my own.

If this or your dream life is more what you want and it’s not what you have today, start by figuring out how you can build that life by taking one baby step at a time. And then you’ll get more clarity from that step and in the next step.

See how you can get a few extra hours of time and freedom to do what you want.

…And then you won’t have regrets about your work life when you look back at the years that went by.

That was a big driver for me.

And looking back, none of the past work situations are relevant to the actual work I do today, even though they propelled me forward to keep growing and use some of the experiences gained for my next moves.

And not even the budding small business blog I had back in 2009 that took me back into a new corporate working life. And guess what?… yours truly here is still blogging today on more meaningful topics. ✍️

Your life doesn’t have to stay in the same lines it started in. No one says a straight-line work path to retirement is the best life except for culture and critics. If you take a life-changing sabbatical at 35 you get to take all that gained information you gathered and use it for the rest of your life.

And eventually, every situation and everyone’s situation changes.

And that’s more evidence that situations good or bad, happy or sad, are fleeting. What’s lasting is YOU who has come out with more knowledge and experiences. And maybe good memories too.

In the process of tough circumstances, trials, and setbacks, you become more resilient, patient, content, and learn what this life is more about so you can lean into what is good for your life that produces happiness.

And that brings me to a deeper #2…

2.                Find out what God wants from you

…And as my life unraveled I realized I was chasing the wrong dreams, and some led to problems and that helped me find my new life dreams.

And then even some healthy dreams that I was successful at and growing didn’t pan out because the timing wasn’t right (which means God wanted me somewhere else).

So, I’m actually writing a new book about finding this newer life (that everyone can)… and how to more easily co-create and get to fulfill bigger plans and heart dreams that were promised in your design before you were born.

…And in my old life, I always had healthy achieving desires. But they weren’t the exact ones that were designed for me by the Creator who created it all. His plan takes faith, belief, and patience. There’s a process.

That’s what I’ve come to know. And that’s the opposite of the “if it’s meant to be, it’s up to me” mindset and lifestyle I grew up in.

He has a unique plan and bigger dreams for each of us that needs a different higher internal lens to discern. And being in the pursuit of happiness and following what culture defines as success doesn’t help. But having daily wisdom, joy, and peace does.

The book is one of my new year’s goals. We need a revolution of good change (that’s the new resolution) to be able to thrive in our exciting, new world emerging in today’s happiness.

And in your new year pursuits and heart’s desires, maybe you decide to rewrite your pursuit of happiness goals and align them to the written stars for you and who you’re becoming. 🌟

OH, OH, OH… and Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! 🎄

Healthy Christmas chocolate peppermint heart cookie inspiration made from warm ginger spices and coconut oil (used for better heart-healthy cholesterol than butter).
Reminder of my past hotel catering life. Hotels always get decked out with Christmas trees and holiday poinsettia plants.
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Baked Chick Peas or Garbanzo Beans (or Chic beans) Pie

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

  • Chickpeas, drained
  • Olive oil
  • Salt

Instructions

  • Bake to liking.

Heart and Soul Centering To Live Your Best Life Now!

Heart and soul is a part of our bodies that we can’t see, but we can feel daily. Pizza is heart and soul food (recipe below for making a heart shaped pizza 🧡).

This sky painting over the water is heart and soul spirit in one.A daily heart and soul-centering check-in can change your life! You could be an old soul or have an old soul like some of us who remember young life before the internet.

…I remember when I first started out working and ambitiously I thought I wanted to climb the corporate ladder. It didn’t take many years before I shifted my priority to wanting better work-life balance.

And with those intentions, I career pivoted that gave me that outcome. But had I not picked my head up to see what my heart and soul was telling me (and now I know my spirit was helping me), I would’ve missed the message about finding time to work on me. Personal growth was something I had to go outside of work to find in volunteering and discovering myself.

It’s never too early to start checking in. Maybe now is a good time to set this priority in your life as you had to rethink parts of your life in 2020, along with everyone else (so you’re in good company!).

There were many external changes made affecting your life, that you had no control over, and may help you later on in ways you may not see how yet at this moment.

So for now, you can just keep going, growing, and focusing on creating the best that your life offers in abundant possibilities that you put intention to until the next step. There’s always a next step when the timing is right.

It’s better to think this optimistic way and joyfully pivot into your forming newer overall life, including work, relationships, passion, and purpose, so you can enjoy the process with greater ease (and not create unnecessary dis-ease or woes-me feelings).

That doesn’t mean you don’t have varying feelings with so many gray areas and small decisions you need to make, but that you’re finding your happier way now in the process (and possibly then seeing through a different lens than the one you may have been previously looking from).

I provide a lasting impactful way to do a heart and soul check-in, further below. ⬇️

Encouragement: Our Society, You, and Your Gained Ideas

In America, convenience is at our fingertips, and many of us started last year to positively lean into our interests, curiosities, and skills development.

You may have learned how to grocery shop differently, cook meals, bake your own bread, and learn new digital skills as a way to communicate with the rest of our virtual world and the local community.

You picked up other life skills that everyone needs so you could stay relevant.

You may have even discovered or rediscovered a few passions and hobbies, and read more books than you sought out originally to do. Those were some of the common gains for many of us.

All was not lost in our home life, and more has been gained (and is being gained) in our overall lives if we choose to focus on the higher lens way of living.

It’s helpful for you to reflect and personally remind yourself of the progress over perfection you’ve made, so you can stay feeling uplifted in your spirit. It’s too easy to get sourly influenced in our culture.

You can be less on guard, open up to your authentic self and reap the benefits in a new era where we’re all finding our way in many ways.

Over the past year especially, you may have changed some lifestyle habits or behaviors that you like, that work better, and that you decide to keep forever.

And you may have gained clarity about what you want in the next chapter of your life. Even though you wouldn’t have done this if you weren’t challenged to do so. But you can use your situation to your good advantage!

You may even have found the better way, and experienced that good changes in your life can show up as a combination of thinking, doing, and feeling what is right for you. You get internal clues and they can help you find your second or next act.

If you took or take your connect-the-dot lessons one step further, you can reflect on how you felt about what you first thought about specific ideas. You can then take another brave leap of action so you can try and replicate best practices and discover even more new ways, as our world is evolving. This creates innovation and gives you a better way of doing things.

For example, you’re inspired to try a new recipe and that seemed to work out and made you happy, so the next time you tweak the recipe and create something new and different that you enjoy. This works the same with a new workout, new route, or a new passion project you’re developing. Variety and innovation keep you making progress!

And that’s how personal growth attitudes and creative progress are fed and can seep into every fiber of your life if you’re open to new ways and ideas.

New ideas can take time to form in the process and as you start dabbling with curiosity, you can become less intimidated to make mistakes. That’s how you grow and learn.

In this forming introspective way of life, you can also dig deeper into yourself to find what gives you more meaning and joy than what you previously found made you happy, as you become more of who you are and will become.

You can also reach higher levels of contentment and then feel fewer emotional ups and downs.

Many positive changes can be happening all at once in this complex life, with yourself and your life.

You may have even re-thought your life’s retirement plans and this year’s optimistic and realistic plans. And you’ve probably learned to be more grounded in reality and to get back to simple basics, focusing on what actually is happening to you and around you.

As a global society, we’re still not able to freely travel and create safe, live events. From these changes, new ways have been born and are birthing, such as the newer apps where you’re entering live global event conversations safely and without travel hassles.

You could use the saved travel time and energy to work on your life, to double down on a new purposeful trajectory, or seek a new mission in your life.

Just one idea can change your life and if you have an extra few minutes, that could be the difference-maker in your life.

So where would you spend those extra minutes? Here’s what I do and what I suggest.

Prioritize a Daily Heart and Soul Check-in

Especially as we’re all distracted, prioritizing a heart and soul check-in can be the best way to (re)focus on your life.

Below you can be reminded or learn to take a specific step for long-term impact and to find your daily heart and soul-filled joy, peace, and balance. Continue reading “Heart and Soul Centering To Live Your Best Life Now!”