Physical Health and Body Archives - Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Love in a Place

Love is not always a person. It can be a place as I discovered, that mirrors back soul healing and wholeness.

Traveling to places makes you think and wonder.

…And in my travels, I’ve seen rainbows and sunshine. And light and darkness.

That’s life on this Rock.

My visiting the Land of Fire and Ice, also known as Iceland, made me think. It gave me joy and hope-filled reminder glimpses.

And made me consider opposing darkness from nature’s soot black colors of basalt and sediment on every other corner.

The volcano in Iceland rules the land. Hekla (Volcano) provides the heat geothermal energy for its people. And the hell inferno also has the power to negatively change the dynamic landscape and alter life for the better, for those it warms and comforts.

And in my short Iceland visit, there were moments of bitter cold as winter quickly approaches. This encounter was less than a week ago as I write this.

Some of the days were rainy, windy, sunny, and icy, and many days were all of those conditions.

One of those mornings, I was tested with this…

And how shifting weather patterns can suddenly change your situation.

Because suddenly I slipped on black ice, and before I could blink, my two eyeballs were an inch from the ice on the ground. Scraped up with blood on the pavement, I picked myself up.

I wish I were being dramatic.

But later that day I ended up in a local urgent care facility back in Reykjavik.

I was in the care of people whose first language words are as foreign to me as an IKEA sign.

The Icelandic language more closely resembles German than the Romance languages I had some familiarity with.

But luckily, we share the same Atlantic Ocean with our Icelandic neighbors, and English is widely spoken. There was no need for me to panic.

And in my distant home calm-feeling moment, I had a choice in the pause for my situation that needed medical attention…

I could choose to be anxious or be brave.

Anxiety is my Vata body’s natural first response, but thankfully we are more than our bodies.

I could choose to believe in the best or fall down in more ways than just on the ice.

I wrestled a bit with my thoughts, and not having slept for several days on jet lag. But worked it out and choosing to believe on the positive notes won the fight.

That was my first test on this journey.

In my life’s crosshairs, the journey has taught me to become strong and fearless, and gradually turn why-me? pity party situations to a why-not-me? celebration. 🥳

We get to better evolve as we grow if we choose to.

That’s the better life.

And that’s the better empowered me.

Where I know I’m not a unicorn. Anyone can choose to be an empowered honey badger (who wants to), that btw is known as the most fearless animal to roam this earth. Those little Davids face their Goliaths daily.

They hunt venomous snakes, head-on confront giant lions that would have them for a snack, and crush tough enemy bones and shells all in a day’s work before going home to their rented basements.

They have a red badge of courage because they were born for it.

And so are you and me! ♥️

You too can be the badger, honey. 🦡

Your loving belief, movement, and desire to change is all that’s required.

It starts with your thoughts and the language you allow in your mind.

In my badger test on the day of my accident fall, the main universal language I kept reverting back to was the one in my head…

The Scripture verses from the love letter language of the Bible I had just plugged into recall weeks ago.

…Though I walk through the darkest valley, I shall fear no evil. For you are with me… Your rod and your staff. They comfort me… You place a table before my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows…

That’s what I memorized from Psalms 23.

And…

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

And with those loving words, I felt the still presence of peace wash over me. That’s the feeling of love that you can’t get from expensive things, or in the same way from others on this planet.

It’s a love and comfort cleansing that washes over you from the spirit within.

The warm hugs of healing that are bottled up inside you.

Those moments feeling serenity last, as time passes and the situation is changing before your eyes and flashing you versions of your truth.

Spirit can leave an indelible voice in your mind that impacts the direction of your life, and even more than the person asking you what you want to eat for dinner.

It took me many years to discover this inner voice and love.

And when I did years ago, I realized it was there the whole time for my discovery.

I didn’t need to schedule a time or place to meet with my inner self. I carried this on my body onto the plane, as my 2nd personal item carry-on.

It was the only baggage that didn’t require packing and that weighs nothing, but gives everything.

It had always been faithful to me.

So in my Iceland face-on-ice meeting moment, I was confronted to give back. I was given a life test that felt like a graduation exam: would I exude faith or crumble in fear?

Faith was the character trait word in the Bible my eyes used to skip over: peace, love, joy, kindness, patience, self-control… and then faith.

Faith is believing when you cannot see.

It requires growth and maturity.

You don’t know if you really have it until you’re tested.

Which btw, I would not have known if I really had faith without a potentially traumatizing situation like the one before me.

Faith like most things in life come in gradient shades like from fully blind to color blind. Or you can be wishy washy sometimes with moods like wearing rose colored or blue blocking glasses.

But when you have solid-like-a-rock faith, you know it.. like you know when you pass a test with flying colors before you get the results back.

Because you were prepared and believe you will come out better on the other side.

Faith helps for any curve ball life throws at you.

A feeling of you got this.

And you know whatever you’re blindsided with, it will be something that you can handle.

That comes from an invisible love from above.

Faith is love…

It gives a sense of belonging, in a world that can be cold on any corner and cruel at certain times.

Unconditional faith lets you know that whatever season of life you’re facing, is meant for you.

The situation is there to help you grow and be a better version of you.

That’s the highest point of life, to get to that version.

So take the risks. Enjoy the ride. Believe. This adventurous world has got your back and you’re never alone. Never.

…And most importantly, YOU are loved! 🫶

Butter vs Oil – Which to Use in Moist Cake

Butter vs oil is a question I have in many sweet bakes. And maybe you too?

…And so I tested this fun debate in a cake (cupcake 🧁), which is a great application way to test in case you’re curious.

…Plus I LOVE cake!

And it’s not difficult to make basic moist cake with 4 ingredients you may already have on hand in your refrigerator and pantry: flour, egg, milk, and a fat (…plus you want to add a rising agent and sweetener for an elevated cake experience).

…Ah, but which fat to use?

My difference between butter and oil cake notes are below…

Btw, can you guess which is which?

…The muffin or cupcake (depending on your perspective) on the left is baked with butter, and the one on the right is baked with canola oil.

But that could have been any type of edible cooking oil, like healthy light olive oil. And it includes coconut oil (one of my fave oils to bake with).

Depending on what final effect you want to have on your cake, you will want to ask yourself and consider: should I use butter or oil?

Some things I tested with both were: taste (of course! 😋), size, and texture.

But all things are not created equal because butter has water.

Oil does not…. remember, the old saying that oil and water don’t mix (as they’re opposites and oil repels water).

Because of this fact, butter will need less liquid in the final cake batter. And also less flour for the butter batter to get a similar texture batter to the more liquid oil batter, before baking.

For moist cake texture modification (for 1/4 cup butter or oil), you can use:

3/4 cup gluten/all purpose flour with butter (or 1 cup flour for oil)

3/4 cup milk of choice with butter (or 1/2 cup milk for oil)

And so… you can see a slight butter vs oil variation changes a recipe.

Where you have your choice of fat.

If you have both available, choose wisely!

…It’s a matter of preference (or what you have in your kitchen).

And if you can’t remember which to use, use the path of least resistance (aka easy) as your guide… that’s what I do!

Think of store-bought box cakes as a standard model in this case…

Most the box cake ingredients on the back of the box list adding (your) oil.

It yields a more consistent cake.

It’s also easier overall as most people have an oil bottle handy and ready to go, that’s sitting at room temperature in a cabinet.

Unlike butter, that needs to be creamed for a cake batter, but only when conditions are favorable.

Butter needs to be softened, which means it needs to be out at or warmed slightly in some way to room temperature.

…So the baker has to remember to bring out butter of the refrigerator in time or heat it up as an extra prep step. You can do this if you have a pep in your step!🦶But not all of us do… or by the end of the week.

…And that prep in butter vs oil difference alone is a BIG difference that can delay a cake being made and baked. 😊

I know it would be for me as I don’t usually think to take out the butter and eggs (🧈+🥚) in advance.

…And I bake a lot! So oil is more practical for that reason alone.

And for a taller final cake, oil turned out better in my simple cupcake test.

But before you determine oil as the winner for moist cake!… see the notes below (because you could change your mind 💭).

Size – Butter vs oil

For size, there’s a HUGE difference. The cupcake on the right is oil and the muffin looking one on the left is made from a batter with butter. They came from the same baking pan out of the oven (and only the slight modifications above).

Taste – Butter vs oil

Butter vs oil don’t make a big taste difference in a cake if you use a mild tasting oil.

In cookies, pastries, and other sweet bakes, butter vs. oil can and will make a big taste (and other) difference.

But for cake… if you have both butter and oil on hand, think easy cupcake or easy cake! 🎂

Texture – Butter vs oil

So then, the other important question is about texture. You would think since an oil cake is taller, it would have a nicer texture.

And before it goes in the oven, the batter I made looks slightly different. The butter one on the left has more of the pretty “ribbon effect.” The oil one on the right reminds me of sourdough starter 😁

But they look similar in amount of water/flour (from above quantity modifications).

But out of the oven is what matters… AND surprise!

The cakes look similar, but the butter one on the left is slightly better with more of a pronounced crumb if that is important to you.

And as you saw above, the exterior (before you slice into) will look about the same except for height difference.

So if you want more of a homemade-style traditional cake, use butter. And for a southern cake, use butter 🧈

But for an easier, sky-high taller cake, use oil.

Modern, easy cakes = oil.

So there you have it!… butter vs oil in a cake.

I pick oil almost ever time for a cake, but there’s one other point to consider in my low-sugar baking world…

It you want to use a sweetener that’s not granulated or brown sugar, such as honey (that also I tested for this butter vs oil cake test)… butter and honey are a sweet pairing.

They go hand-in-hand in taste.

And if you’re using coconut milk (vs other milks) like I like to use, it goes well with oil in cakes.

Regular milks will be better with butter. They are slight preferences but the more you bake from scratch, the more you recognize them.

Happy baking! 🎉

Easy Cake - Butter vs Oil

You can decide which to use in this easy cake you can make into a loaf, round, or cupcakes

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1/4 cup neutral oil or butter
3/4 cup milk for oil (or 1/2 cup milk for butter)
1 cup all purpose flour for oil (or 3/4 cup flour with butter)
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp lemon juice or vinegar

Instructions

Combine wet and dry ingredients in one bowl.
Bake at 350°F/180°C for 20-25 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean).

Sponge Cake Roll – Happy Spring Bake

Sponge cake roll is one that I embrace as a cake fan, and because cake fun is how I happy roll. And the cake texture does live up to the sponge name, like this sponge cake…

That looks like it will be sent off as a spring letter (onto an eating table).

…And you can make your own sponge cake with your own personal design 💌

It’s easy to make a unique imprime pattern (your imprint) where you bake the cake batter pattern you make for a minute on the cake pan, and then add and spread the rest of your batter on top to complete the bake off (or like I saw on The Great British Baking Show bake off).

And while you may be wondering how easy this is to make, I’ll first say it’s easier to make than it looks.

Below I give you the shortcut ways…

That starts with making the batter that you spread onto a silicone baking mat. One shortcut is you don’t need to go to the pan edges. Because the batter should hold its own without sides.

…Because it’s a wet batter, but never runny.

…Which is also a good battery test for your batter on how it will turn out.

And if you use a silicone baking mat (or a Silpat) with orange lined edges, you can use those edges as guidelines for where to stop. Because it’s tempting to go to the pan edge.

Your batter spread doesn’t have to be ruler straight, as the ends will get cut off at the end after baked,

And if use a half or full pan (12″ x 18″ or 20″) for your bakes, they make silicone mats that fit perfectly. Metal pans were the ones I saw daily in hotel and restaurant kitchens when I managed catering events and parties.

They will work well for this application. Like on this 12″ x 18″ pan setup with a thin layer of the batter recipe. And you can make a smaller rectangle if you want a thicker sponge. That’s up to you!

Then bake for about 12 minutes. Most other cakes can take 45 minutes or longer to bake… but this is a sponge cake roll that’s a quick bake, and that can save you minutes.

Thank you, magical oven!

And you’ll know it’s baked done because the sides will be baked done, just before they brown. And if the cake edges brown, that’s okay as you can cut those off later, but that’s your sign to take it out of the oven.

But the best way is to check the oven at the timer 12 minute mark. I could’ve pulled this one out at 11-and-a-half minutes, but I wanted to give it a few more seconds.

When it’s out of the oven, peel warm off the Silpat. You may have to wait 1-3 minutes, as it’ll will be super hot. Use your safe gloves. But don’t let the sponge cake cool before rolling it up because the cake needs to be shaped warm-hot, or it will likely cake break later.

And peeling is so satisfying to do, especially for the scrapbooker in me that likes to work with her hands and anything that’s like paper. This one is edible paper. 😊

I rolled this one tight on a separate kitchen towel, but a fast shortcut is to roll up the peeled-off sponge cake on the silicone mat you baked it on. No kitchen towel needed.

Then it can be rolled all-in-one, and then clipped or tied up temporarily like a scroll to keep the spiral swirl shape, until it’s cool. 🍥

So you decide how you want to roll it up.

Tip: Roll it tight like a sleeping bag as it will tend to spring back some. Even for a spring roll like this one. 💕

So if you just keep in mind that A LOT of action critically happens with a sponge cake roll when it’s piping hot out of the oven, you’ll be golden! (With most other cakes you don’t do anything with it, until it’s cool.)

…So be ready!

And then after cooled, either resting at room temperature or chilling in the fridge, your efforts will be rewarded with a nice swirl if you’re lucky…

The final part is deciding what you want to fill your sponge cake roll in. You can do this in stages, like frosting a cake.

So you don’t have to make all the cake decisions at once if that’s overwhelming, or you don’t have a final sponge cake vision. You can keep decorating for the next day.

I often don’t decide in advance, and change it up as inspired with how I feel when it turns out. Then I decide the enhancing flavors and colors. It’s like naming your baby after he or she is born.

So you can bake the cake (with or without a pattern) and then decide on the filling and final zhugh (toppings) later. And that makes it your own cake personality.

Yessss!… It can be so much more than just cake. It can be filled with a jam or stuffed with whipped cream or ice cream… use your delicious food pairing imagination.

For my healthy tastes, I often like to use a thick Greek yogurt. But here I turned it into a raspberry jelly roll to keep it light. You can even make a chocolate balsamic glaze to go with melted chocolate…

Ready to make your fun sponge cake roll?

Spring Sponge Cake Roll

This is a fun sponge texture cake that you can bake quicker than most regular cakes, and add your own pattern and flavors.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Equipment

Silpat or silicone baking mat
Baking pan
kitchen towel (optional)
baking spatula

Ingredients

3 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 splash of lemon juice, cream of tartar, or white vinegar (for egg whites)
1 Tbsp orange or lemon zest (optional)
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt (or pinch of salt)
1/4 cup juice (pineapple, lemon, or orange)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup granulated sugar
Cake filling (jam or Greek yogurt for healthier version)

Instructions

Separate egg whites from yolks. Tip: it's easier to separate eggs cold and straight from the fridge. Then let them warm to room temperature.
In a bowl, beat egg yolks and add in sugar. Add juice and vanilla.
In the same bowl, mix in flour to make a slightly thick batter.
In a separate mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add in cream of tartar, lemon juice, or white vinegar to help stabilize.
Gently hand fold in fluffy egg whites (a little at a time so it's more evenly mixed in as the yolk batter is thicker).
Spread batter onto a rectangular baking sheet/pan with a silicone mat (Silpat recommended) or baking sprayed parchment paper. Level batter with a spatula or knife.
Bake at 325°F/165°C for 12-15 minutes. Watch closely toward the end/12 minute mark until the edges are baked but not browned.
Immediately or within a few minutes from warm-fresh-out-of-the-oven, peel off cake from the mat or paper. Then roll up in silicone mat (or a towel) into a spiral log. Clip or tie up so it stays rolled tight.
Let cool for 20 or more minutes at room temperature or in the fridge for quicker results.
Then cut off cake roll ends.
Add filling of choice (Greek yogurt for healthy). Plate and enjoy!

Notes

You can use all monk fruit sugar but it will not have the same texture as granulated sugar. Combining both can make a happy medium.

Ragweed Allergies – 8 Ways to Calm

Ragweed allergies and dry symptoms are becoming more relevant with climate change. It’s not just autumn or fall anymore. And while it’s dry out in my neck of the woods, it’s also humid daily. I find dew on my window in the AM. And I’m seeing how this affects my new plant.

We are all part of one living ecosystem. And ragweed season affects our local environment, home, plants, and bodies.

While high humidity is breeding ground for mold toxins. And a dehumidifier would be helpful to smolder prevent.

Because being inattentive can create more chaos in the body than just ragweed allergens.

Fall season ragweed in the air causes watery, itchy and sinus-related symptoms. Ragweed allergies can be often confused for colds and flu, especially with COVID-19 that has similar and often strange symptoms.

They build up to exacerbate Vata, Pitta, and Kapha imbalances.

We’re all made of some amount of wind, fire, and earth in us that need tuning up restoring. If restoration is something you’re needing, you can take the body balance quiz for more awareness.

8 Healthy Ways to Calm Your Ragweed Allergies

1. Steam. Steam over stove with peppermint oil in a pot. Also, releasing a few drops of eucalyptus oil in the shower is good for clearing sinuses.

2. Neti pot. This is by far the best allergy invention yet! By cleaning out nasal passages with natural sea salt and (boiled or purified) water, you can prevent sinus infections. Do this every week at a minimum, but I like twice a week during allergy season (or year-round).

And a natural saline spray can help to clear out the sinuses. This is good for convenience, if you’re super stuffed up, and the neti pot scares you because you think it’ll reach your brain somehow.

Even though in truth, the nasal passage is on a different track, so the likelihood is slim.

But a natural saline spray is still a healthier way than taking daily medicine that accumulates.

And if you want to give the neti pot a try, this is what I do:

I take about 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of natural sea salt and add ½ cup of boiled water. If you’re a beginner, you may want to start with 1/4 tsp salt and you can always add a little more based on the severity of your congestion. You can also buy pre-measured saline packets.

Let the hot water cool to warm or lukewarm. I usually set the timer for 20 minutes after boiling the water for 10 to 15 minutes.

Then you take your neti pot solution and pour it into one nostril, and then the other. Streams of water will come out the opposite nostril.

And you can instantly feel better like I have felt when allergies were getting the best of my energy.

If you’re taking a shower, it’s practical to perform the neti pot regimen there. But over a sink is fine too. Just be sure to have a towel nearby, as water can still run from your nose after you’re finished.

I usually look face down to the floor into a regular or paper towel (afterward), for several seconds just to get rid of any excess water that can be delayed in dripping.

Tip: I don’t do the neti pot regimen if I’m going to a yoga class that day because Downward Dog likes to be downward dripping nose dog if ya know what I mean! 🧘🏻‍♀️ And that’s awkward dawg! 🐶

For cleaning the neti pot: use a small amount of soap as you may not remove every soap trace. There’s also probably still traces of salt sitting at the bottom of your vessel if you use a clay one like I do. Plastic is easier but not as pretty.

Salt is a natural cleaner, so you can rinse with water thoroughly and using soap cleaned fingers or a clean toothpick to remove any lingering residue (as sponges can harbor bacteria).

The time and effort you spend on your entire neti pot regimen is worth it and a TOTAL life game changer especially if you are prone to sinus infections.

You also can rid of uncomfortable tension in the face from ragweed allergy congestion.

3.Apple cider vinegar. When I take ACV, I use an eyedropper in a vial/bottle and add mixed up water with apple cider vinegar that has the “the mother” (milky substance). This is the good stuff that you should invest in for your medicine is food cabinet.

When you apply, put it to the back of my throat to protect the teeth. ACV is acidic but (counterintuitively) good for a high acidic stomach, as it stops the stomach from producing more acid.

And sometimes in the mix of allergy season, there’s chest congestion. That’s when I will boil apple cider vinegar over the stove, and inhale the steam into my chest. This is a last resort as I don’t know about you, but I think the ACV fumes doesn’t agree for my Vata body.

But ya do what you gotta do!

I use the cheap (not organic) ACV for boiling, otherwise the good stuff is wasted.

Apple cider vinegar also helps heart burn feelings (that’s associated with acidity and often eating too much in the acidic foods categories). It’s one of Mother Nature’s gift. Maybe that’s why the super kind has the “mother.”

4.Drink green and peppermint tea. Ragweed often brings on symptoms and headaches that warm tea is good for.

Add raw honey for congestion.

Peppermint tea is good for headaches. Herbal teas are caffeine-free so they are good any time and at bedtime. They also calm stomach aches.

AND for the home, it’s a common bug deterrent.

5.Air purifier. A machine like this in your bedroom where you spend many hours, helps to clear the air some. When you’re laying down, chest congestion build ups easily.

Tip: make sure to get the HEPA level filter for allergens, molds, and spores (much smaller particles to capture than a filter for dust only) that are common during ragweed season.

6.Nettle or turmeric tea. Nettle tea doesn’t have a culinary use flavor, so you can add other tea that will add flavor. With turmeric tea, you can add black pepper that has a synergy effect with the curcumin compound that’s in turmeric.

Black pepper can help you sneeze. And that is our body’s natural mechanism to clear out some dust and pollen.

7.Menthol vitamin drops. If you have sinus pressure, menthol drops are good for the Kapha congestion symptoms and tiredness. Keeping them by your eye drops is a good reminder to take them.

Dry or irritated eyes are a common ragweed symptom.

8.Raw honey. If you find the right raw honey from local beehives, this can help a little or a lot to break up sinus and chest congestion.

It’s also an amazing moisturizer and does wonders for inflammations like itchiness. It’s an anti-bacterial.

…Maybe that helps to look at the sticky goodness and your local bees in a different way? 🐝🍯

Awareness Is a Happiness Solution

Awareness is the tool that helps you everywhere in life. No matter where you are. Even looking out at a serene landscape that you appreciate…

Being aware is not just knowing and feeling your surroundings. It’s being present in the moment.

Sometimes the moment is not where you want to be… like the thoughts are sad or you’re not in the mood to do what you’re doing.

There are those times when your present moment is not a good feeling. If you’re hiking, maybe you’re hungry, hot/cold, tired, etc.

And those are all real feelings you have.

That’s very different than the mindfulness you’ve heard where there’s no pain in the present moment current thoughts… only in the past thoughts and in the uncertain future.

And what you do with your initial feelings or thoughs in the present moment, like distracting or focusing on a rare bird that flew by, replacing sour thoughts with better thoughts, or greeting others can change things for you.

The micro step you take to turn your thoughts into positive ones and loving thoughts change the direction of your day.

Like, you think if you finish this task, then you reward yourself… or by doing this, you’re one step closer to a goal. Or letting go of a bad situation you were just in.

Thought and mindset resetting is how you can use your mindfulness and awareness as a successful weapon. It’s simple but not always easy.

Running in the opposite direction is the easiest maneuver as it takes little extra thought, and as a clear better direction.

That could be as easy as switching tasks.

Since we were young, we learned that if we ever saw danger, naturally run in the other direction.

And after you practice with negative thoughts, this too can become an automatic prompting.

Where you snap out of your thought… and that makes you more aware.

That also trains you to observe your thoughts and let go of the ones that don’t help you.

Even though they seem to be nourishing as your thoughts.

Focus on other dominant thoughts.

Look in another direction.

And in your thoughts, think in another direction.

Thoughts are to the mind as visuals are to the eyes.

You observe your surroundings with your eyes and you can observe your thoughts with your mind with practice.

Some people have a photographic memory or they see in numbers or words that scan across their minds.

But most of us can’t see our thoughts.

But imagine you could.

And observe your thoughts in a pause.

Gather how you feel about them for another brief moment.

And decide what you want to do with them… keep or run in the opposite direction.

Either way, self-awareness lets you decide.

Self-awareness is like seeing yourself in the mirror.

And without a mirror, if you imagine yourself and what you look like to your surroundings, then that’s also self-awareness.

That’s the type of awareness that is most useful in this life, so you can better react and respond to situations where others are involved.

And present awareness can help you survive. Like knowing you’re here and something is out there. Or you’re both here at this same place.

And present awareness can help you thrive…

When you focus on, are intentional, and spend more time mindful on an area, you get a deeper awareness.

And that can develop into new ideas and your next step in life.

That’s why it’s smart to spend time in silence with your thoughts so you can become deeper aware about your life.

This is known as a form of meditating.

There is a meditation form where people usually have their eyes closed with the goal to rest from thoughts.

And then there’s the kind to gain insights. That’s the type I do with my eyes open.

Either way, life is in meditation when you pause from the usual thinking daily activities.

I meditate when I’m doing something in the kitchen with my hands or when I’m looking out and up into the sky or a room (like in Tree yoga pose).

For me, meditation is gathering new ideas and thoughts. It’s about downloading insight from the outside realm.

It’s not a ritual escape or a way to de-stress, although it usually happens when my mind is relaxed.

Because it’s hard to focus or meditate if your ego is involved, or you’re feeling anxious or angry about something.

Rarely do new insights come in that way.

As I believe there is a plan for each of us that we can choose to follow and find the optimal meaningful life designed for us, or choose our own path that’s usually more aligned with our culture.

And I found that this life is a choice of finding deeper purpose or discovering without deeper meaning.

And you know which camp you’ve been living.

Deep awareness seekers are usually seeking purpose.

We want to connect-all-the-dots in our lives.

Because we don’t want to misstep and go down unnecessary rabbit trails unless we know they’re for us to go through for a good reason.

At some point, we connect good reason with more meaning to this life than meets the eye.

…What we thought life would be when we were first getting off the ground is not what where we end up.

And then tuned into this awareness, we can get back to finding our core purpose and our destiny.

This takes time. But as we grow, we realize that some things in life like a first or second job is not as serious as we once thought…

Back there.

And now we’re here..

Back there got us to here.

But it was temporary.

And if we’re not happy at our current job or life season that we’re living out, we can remind ourselves (during those tough situations), to hang in there.

This too shall pass.

As we’ve seen in our past.

And if we’re golden happy where we are, we can relish and enjoy the moments to the fullest.

Because soon enough things will change in the future.

So enjoy the present.

In our happiness, we’re making happy memories as we speak.

And if you can find a way to look at and embrace getting up in the morning as your happiest moment… and then finishing the hard parts of your day as a reason to then celebrate, then I think you will know what living full is.

And you can carry that to your next life assignments.

How I like to celebrate in my world is appreciating framed colorful confetti cards that say “Happy Birthday” or similar in various languages.

In awareness, those colorful cards are everywhere when you look around in grocery and convenience stores.

That’s how I can happily change my day.

It’s a momentary reminder that every day is a celebration. 🥳

And maybe that’s an idea for you or someone in your life…

That everyday is another celebration day to add to your birth day.