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.
swiss cake roll recipe below.
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 ♥
I was inspired to bake this spring imprime cake roll from watching an episode from The Great British Bake Off. Enjoy! 🍒
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 water and vanilla.
In the same bowl, add flour to make a slightly thick batter.
In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold in fluffy egg whites.
Pour on rectangular baking sheet (Silpat recommended).
Level with a spatula or knife. Then bake at 325°F for about 12-15 minutes. Watch closely toward the end. Look for when the cake is set/baked. If thinner, browning on edges can happen quickly after the 12 minute mark.
Immediately peel off Silpat-lined pan onto a tea towel.
Roll into a spiral log while warm-fresh-out-of-the-oven.
Let cool in fridge for 20 or more minutes.
Unroll and cut off ends.
Add filling of choice (Greek yogurt for healthy) and then roll cake back up.
Inflammatory eczema allergy foods is something I became deeply aware of when I experienced adult eczema in a nightmarish way during the world pandemic.
Backing up some, I was familiar with the common allergy foods as I planned parties and food menus working with thousands of groups with food allergies and gluten sensitivities.
But heightening my own sensitivities to food allergies showing up as adult eczema for the first time took the cake. It was a 3 month saga I’d love to forget.
Gluten didn’t help as a common offender in food and white flours so I’ll mention more on that below.
White flour is a common source of gluten food allergies and inflammation.
…Another food category was sweets!
That’s probably no surprise as too much sugar can make your skin crawl and no research has sanely suggested that sugar is good for you (other than your taste buds 😋).
But that’s hard news to swallow when you’re a sweet tooth (and a Vata body like me).
…And if sugar-tipped over the edge, then eczema can be the outcome where rashes mysteriously appear around the body.
They stay until the body is calm. It’s not like a mosquito bite where the poison and bite effects fade after a few days.
But I’m happy to say that even though I love baking (and do it weekly), I’ve learned how to bake healthy and keep eczema at bay. And yes the bakes are delicious (otherwise why bother?).
Firstly, I’m a foodie…
And when I started in catering management for upscale hotel chains, there were only vegetarian food categories other than the menu everyone else ate from.
Then common requests grew like “hold the onions” and “hold the garlic.”
At some point, I saw peanut and nut allergies crop up.
When I dug deeper into creating menus for food allergy group requests, we found that guests who had some peanut allergies could sometimes eat tree nuts like pine nuts.
With awareness, we never had a problem with food allergy association groups.
Shellfish can be another tricky area, but gratefully I didn’t work much with those foods.
An affected person who has even a trace of the shellfish can experience a life threatening allergic reaction called anaphylaxis shock.
We always had Benadryl in the First Aid kit nearby for general allergy reactions.
And by the time I was planning party events for busy American restaurants serving authentic Mediterranean cuisine, food awareness had grown even further.
Celiac Disease grew. It’s an allergy disease that can cause severe allergic reactions because gluten triggers the immune system.
And I can attest that gluten in moderation is better even for eczema skin allergy symptoms.
Your body gives different health conditions signs as warning. But a warning is a warning.
It can’t give a sour face. ☹️ Only you and I can do that. But it can give a health condition as a sign.
And the source can be the same ingredient culprits.
And so as we evolved in the world, allergies and preferences became the general norm.
Restaurant servers greeted you at your table asking, “does anyone have any allergies?”
A century ago that would’ve never been asked as you ate what you could and anti-inflammatory eczema allergy foods didn’t exist.
Also corn, oats, and quinoa (pseudo-grain) meals are good ideas since they are gluten-free so they bypass some decision fatigue.
Corn is the largest agricultural crop produced in the United States.
So there are still many options for gluten allergies.
Oh, and we also should consider…
Our different bodies where we react differently.
…What spikes the blood sugar of one person is different for another.
Getting to know your body with individual foods and enjoying in moderation is a good idea for all, and each of us living in our bodies.
Plus, lowering processed gluten foods for everyone is a good idea in general, considering all the environmental factors and chemicals (plastics, pesticides, and phthalates) we have no control over in the current state of food manufacturing processes.
For foods, adding more organic plant-based 🌱 in nature when possible, and not plant-based in factories 🏭 helps your entire body system run better.
Every little bit of our effort counts…
Adding more healthy variety, and nutrient-dense plant-forward foods is a double win scoring points for our bodies and our earth. 🎉
It can be as easy as exchanging pasta made from flour once in a while for spaghetti squash. See easy spaghetti squash recipe below. 🍴🍝
Spaghetti squash looks like spaghetti but doesn’t have gluten.
Focusing on anti-inflammatory foods and including Mediterranean Diet foods that overlap in your meals, helps.
According to the American Heart Association, The Mediterranean Diet is known to be the healthiest diet overall for preventative cardiovascular health and brain health today.
Overlapping with anti-inflammatory eczema allergy foods, focusing on healthy foods is as important as minimizing the bad food buckets, such as:
Processed, white sugar foods
Fried foods and unhealthy fats (such as high processed meats)
Eliminating these excesses from your diet can help reduce and potentially prevent life-shortening diseases and precursor chronic body inflammations from occurring.
These are lifestyle choices we get to make.
Replacing emptier calorie and excessively sweet snacks to healthier whole fruit and nut snacks, high quality dairy, and lean proteins help curb hunger in between meals.
Some foods may be classified as healthy, but are still just as bad. I used to fill up on nutritional bars as filler snacks… but the problem is often they’re loaded with sugar.
I realized I would have been better off with a Snickers.
So I quit the bars habit along with sodas for breakfast.
…Maybe you can relate with your food habits?
I replaced sodas for black coffee and unsweetened teas that are more enjoyable as a caffeine morning practice.
I now do and recommend a cold brew coffee method if you have a sensitive stomach or acid causes issues. ☕️
Changing your habits like a regular sweet one for a plant-based breakfast is doable. I’m living proof. 😊
And I take a page from my catering days where Crudite was a platter offered at almost every event.
That’s basically raw veggies like cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, and asparagus.
Those are good sources of fiber that your body needs to better absorb foods.
We often forget about the fiber as we’ve been primed to think of the macros (protein, carbs, and fat).
So fiber is my prime start of the day… and maybe yours (now)?
The Inflammation Free Diet for Food Allergies
The book I had been using as a guidebook for preparing meals, The Inflammation-Free Diet, re-entered my memory after my pandemic eczema inflammation episode.
I realized that there was a connection bridged between spiking sugar inflammation and foods and that made me even more on purpose for consuming anti-inflammatory eczema allergy foods.
In making healthy food choices, moderation and choosing to balance good back-to-earth foods seems to be the better ageless answer to healthily feed our bodies.
Using your natural Ayurvedic healthy body to sway to your advantage helps too.
You could discover your body likes more astringent or bitter foods.
This is common in Kapha body types so lean in on this healthy advantage.
And you can find food like garlic or onions aren’t favorable to your body. But that doesn’t mean you have an allergy.
It could just mean eat less.
Managing Eczema Food Allergy Inflammation
If you experience chronic body or skin inflammations in your life, find out what food allergens could be a trigger for your body. Food triggers change as you age.
Try adding more anti-inflammatory eczema allergy foods like vegetables, fruits, and low-glycemic index grains, and see if those make a difference.
Many people are allergic to nightshade foods because of alkaloids in plants.
As a kid, I would get an allergic reaction when I ate eggplants. A rash would move up my back quickly.
But as life moved, this was no longer an allergy trigger.
So don’t assume what was a food allergy trigger before is still your predicament.
Test in small quantities.
Because we want to keep a variety of healthy foods and food categories in our diet as diversity helps the gut and body.
Plus, foods are enjoyable so we don’t want to rob ourselves.
To better manage food allergies, you can read food label ingredients and gain knowledge and awareness.
Another thing you can do is order a medical food allergy-specific prick test at an allergist’s office.
Also do a self-diagnose check-in on your stress in life.
Stress can come from past, present, or future-related thoughts and situations. Past trauma that you may know about, and future uncertainty can confusingly show up in an inflammation body life.
The symptoms on and in your body tell a story in the mind-body connection.
To help restore balance no matter what the source cause, you can take the 2-minute body balance quiz.
And, enjoy this gluten-free spaghetti squash recipe. One medium-size quash will yield about as much as a pasta box you would buy at the store.
It’s a smart and healthy plant-based way to stretch a grocery dollar.
I discovered spaghetti squash as a meal when vegetarians were the main special food needs categories for groups I planned catered meals for. Food allergies didn't exist in the zeitgeist back then.
Course dinner, lunch
Cuisine American
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets
Equipment
Bread knife or safer sawing knife.
Spoon
Ingredients
spaghetti squash gourd
extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
Score the gourd lengthwise. do not try to cut the hard gourd raw
Bake your spaghetti squash for about 20 minutes at 350°F or so. Then softened, you can cut where you scored. Tip: for the ends (like on pumpkins, take the firmly planted inside squash knife and twist to the right at the top and then at the bottom of the squash and that should do the trick break it open fully into two halves)
Face the two halves down on a baking sheet. You can add a ‘lil EVOO if you like.
Bake for 50 minutes or until you can scoop out strands easily with a spoon. You can test with a fork if you like. About half way through, when you see browning, flip the halves so they're facing up, and add a 'lil more EVOO drizzle.
Optional: keep the healthy seeds and enjoy them as snacks! Roast them along when you're baking the squash.
Creamy orange smoothie is the description of one popsicle I grew up with (and probably you did too with the ice cream man you could hear inching toward the neighborhood. Those were fun times).
And for beverages, the orangy flavors are one calming drink idea because of the orange factor…
Oranges calm our parasympathetic nerves that directly impact if we feel anxious or not. It’s also one healthy way to celebrate that we have decadent beverage variety choices when we get a ‘lil creative.
This can give you a new reason to be happy today. 😊
Your body, balance, and sensitivity to tastes and smells change all the time. What’s good for you in this season may change in the next or even tomorrow.
You can come up with your own creative smoothie ideas like I did below, and stumbled on the creamy orange smoothie. That keeps life interesting!
As a natural Ayurvedic Vata, I was born with a sweet tooth, so if I think a dessert is too sweet, then believe me… it has waaay too much sugar, so that’s why I came up with less sweet, healthier options!
Especially in America, where foods are loaded with sugars, our healthy taste buds and sense can be off track. The average American consumes over 70 grams of sugar a day, when 25 grams of maximum recommended added or processed sugar is agreed on by both the FDA and American Heart Association.
While fruit sugar (fructose) is a better kind of sugar, it’s still sugar at the end of the day.
Going From Morning Frappucino and Coca Cola to Black Coffee, Tea, and A Creative Smoothie
In our American diets, we can go over the recommendation in just our breakfast beverage choices alone! If you like Frappuccinos like many of us do, whether your drink has added whipped cream or not, you’re looking at 50 grams of sugar or more for a 16-ounce drink.
That’s okay once in a celebratory while, but if you order a Starbucks Short size beverage (regular 8-ounce glass size drink), you’ve used up all the recommended sugar for the day… and it may not even be 10 am yet!
And actually, you can see most Americans carrying around the Tall or Grande size beverages (or larger). Our small is often a super size large in other countries.
The healthier order option with no sugar is black coffee or tea. So then, getting back to basics, the only safe beverage out there is water, as pure and healthy… but are they all?…
You can clearly taste the difference between purified waters and artesian waters like Fiji brand water.
The water variety is all sold in plastic bottles and available on grocery shelves, but the cost difference gives you an indicator of the quality difference. And you can clearly taste the difference between Evian and purified water.
In America, you can commonly buy a water bottle case (24-16 ounce bottles) of purified water for under $4.
They’re usually advertised “on-sale” and you can find them in the front of the store when you first walk in.
Higher-end, luxury water brands you can find in the water aisle selections also, but you can expect to pay closer to a dollar or more a bottle.
The good news is most tap water in America is drinkable and many households use a Brita pitcher with a filter or similar.
So as we question drinks such as basic water, we have to wonder about other consumable beverages.
Coca-Cola is known for its evolving trends as society changes and as a popular beverage consumed around the world.
There’s even a Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta, GA where you can taste different versions of Coke served all around the world.
As you can imagine the American Coke version is loaded with sugar (too scary to even mention how many sugar grams per can, but you can look it up!).
In my late 20’s I used to drink sodas for breakfast when it was trendy and corporate offices stocked their refrigerators full of soda cans for employees and invited visitors to grab.
I quit the unhealthy soda habit after a few years in healthy awareness although Coke will always be beloved.
I traded caffeinated sodas for healthier morning teas, coffee, and slowly moved drifted over to water and then added back a creamsicle smoothie and other breakfast smoothies as better choices with redeeming health benefits… and hopefully this inspires you if you haven’t done the switch already!
If you want more energy and vitality, getting off sodas and high-sugar drinks is a good move. Often they have 40-70 grams of soda per can!
Water can seem boring to taste, but that’s what our bodies want and will reward you for.
You can always mix it up with carbonated water and naturally flavored waters that are enjoyable.
Despite some of our generally unhealthy cultural habits, Americans have made drinking water, chic and cool, as we carry around water bottles to our work and of course to our workouts and yoga.
It’s a comparison observation I made when I was in Rome in 2019 and saw that even though all the public water sources and fountains are deemed clean and drinkable, you won’t easily find reasonably priced water bottles around. …how funny is that?
So, we’ve gotten better at drinking water regularly and not just taking a vitamin supplement or while we work out.
We know that drinking proper water amounts prevents kidney stones, keeps our bodies functioning and our skin looking young.
So on that healthier level, we can make healthier breakfast drinks like a smoothie easily with the Magic Bullet gadget or a blender.
You can add protein powders or if you like bananas, they’re a good smoothie staple.
Bananas have a higher glycemic index that can spike inflammation, but they are rich in fiber, potassium, and B vitamins, so they’re still a good natural super food good for filling an empty or upset stomach.
These are 7 creative daily beverage ideas including the Orange Creamy one…
1.Citrus-y Banana Creative Smoothie Base
If your tastes favor a banana, you can just blend with vanilla almond milk, and that can be a lovely breakfast starter. You don’t need any other ingredient if you want to keep it vanilla (sorry, I couldn’t resist 😊).
Or… at that point, you can sip your beverage. And if you want a little more sweetness, then you could add a ‘lil pineapple juice (high in Vitamin C and bromelain). And for tartness, a ‘lil lemon or orange to your taste’s desire. You could stop here, or…
Add Dimensional Flavors to Your Breakfast Banana Creative Smoothie
If you want a ‘lil kick, add a dash of spice like cinnamon or cardamom in lieu of espresso (where a little goes a long way!). And if you still want more taste, you could add peanut butter that will change the taste of your beverage and make it creamier.
Staying with the first smoothie idea of a tropical pineapple-citrus theme, you could also do a Key Lime Smoothie:
2.Key Lime Creative Smoothie
Lime juice
Banana
Vanilla almond milk
Use unsweet almond milk and substitute a banana for banana flavor protein powder if you want a smoothie recipe with no to low sugar.
And, if you don’t like bananas (maybe thinking they’re blah) or don’t have any on hand (btw, frozen ones are good for smoothies). But if you run out, no worries, I’ve got you in mind… below are healthy dessert smoothies and tea ideas that don’t need a banana.
3. Pumpkin (Pie) Smoothie
If you love pumpkin pie, you’ll love this creative smoothie. You don’t have to wait until Thanksgiving to get your pumpkin-pie on! And this smoothie is a healthy way to consume pumpkin.
Pumpkin is loaded with Vitamin K and C, protein and fiber if you need more healthy motivation. Canned pumpkin is rich in Vitamin A and iron.
You can use a can of pumpkin and a can of evaporated milk (for dense consistency used in pumpkin pie if you decide not to use a banana) or you can use a milk substitute. You get to be creative.
It’s easiest to mix dry ingredients first. I like to add cinnamon but if you prefer a little more kick then use more cloves or allspice. Here’s my healthier recipe:
1 banana (optional)
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ginger
¼ tsp cloves, allspice, or pumpkin spice
1 can pumpkin puree (15 oz)
1 can evaporated milk (12 oz) – you can substitute for nut milk for a pumpkin-inspired smoothie (but it won’t taste like pumpkin pie)
¾ cup sugar (or substitute applesauce for less sugar – 1/2 cup applesauce or one-4 oz. applesauce plastic cup you commonly see on the grocery store shelves sold in various brands)
For an additional taste dimension, add a spoonful of your favorite peanut butter. Most smoothies taste better with peanut or almond butter.
Variety is the spice of life. You can really live it up in the morning with a decadent but healthy beverage like this before you’ve even started the day or your yoga stretch practice.
A creative smoothie idea is easy to come up with (you can’t mess up!) and can brighten up your morning and afternoon. When I first made this creamsicle creative smoothie, I love the textured beige-cream color beverage (and maybe you do too!):
4. Creamy Orange Smoothie
A creamy orange smoothie like this will help your calming morning.
This is much healthier than concentrated orange juice if you want to do a small step replacement for healthy habits. And a much healthier version than the childhood popsicles that this special Creamy Orange Smoothie comes from.
1 orange (a navel, blood, or California orange will give you a balanced sweetness). If you can, opt for organic or heirloom oranges.
Look for heirloom, organic, or local farmers market produce as in season (free of pesticides, good for us and the environment). This would be good for your drinks, bakes, and even Creamy Orange Smoothie.
1 tsp marmalade (add bold sweetness but you don’t need much)
Vanilla milk
Vanilla Yogurt (to thicken)
Make orange zest from one medium orange, blend with a teaspoon of marmalade, yogurt, and vanilla milk. Marmalade has sugar so that’s why keeping in moderation is a tasty-good idea for this Creamy Orange Smoothie.
This one tastes like the orange creamsicle popsicle but without so much sugar. If you want to add some protein, blend in fine almonds or add powders. And if you want to eliminate sugar, then eliminate the marmalade and cut down on the orange zest.
1orange (a navel or California orange will give you a balanced sweetness)
1tspmarmalade (add bold sweetness but you don’t need much)
Vanilla milk to thickness liking
Vanilla Yogurt (to thicken)
Instructions
Blend. Zhugh glass rim with orange zest. Enjoy!
Notes
Creamsicle Creative Smoothie 1 orange (a navel or California orange will give you a balanced sweetness)1 tsp marmalade (add bold sweetness but you don’t need much)Vanilla milkVanilla Yogurt (to thicken)Make orange zest from one medium orange, blend with a teaspoon of marmalade, yogurt, and vanilla milk.This one tastes like an orange creamsicle popsicle if you know what those are. If you want to add some protein, blend in fine almonds or add powders. And if you want to eliminate sugar, then eliminate the marmalade and cut down on the orange zest.Moving on to dessert tea ideas…
Dessert Teas: Earl Grey with a ‘Lil Twist
In a quest to find a good sugar cookie or biscotti-tasting tea and not finding one with any real taste (to substitute for cookies of course), I invented my own.
I find it’s easy to birth creative ideas when you can’t find what you want easily even in a society that is full of conveniences.
That’s actually how business ideas and innovation come to life. So with that in mind, I invented my Earl Grey biscotti. For this drinking tea, I use a Bigelow brand Earl Grey.
Those tea bags are in individual packaging so you can take them along with you in your daily travels.
I added an orange tea (or orange extract) and almond extract to bring some flavor and life to an otherwise bland-mild-tasting tea.
Chocolate Chai Latte
“Chocolate Chai Latte” under “More” at Starbucks drink kiosk
And finally, one of my all-time favorites I like to think I invented at least at my Sunday cafe is the Chocolate Chai Latte (that needs no recipe as the chocolate, chai, and milk ingredients are in the 3-word title 😉).
Notice I didn’t write “chai tea” that Americans commonly say, as that means “tea tea”in India where chai originated, so that would be repetitive and silly-sounding after you’re made aware.
And, apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks the chocolate chai latte is a tasty idea as the Starbucks (Plaid Cafe) church kiosk
I went to, added to their order board after I placed the order and they gave me a blessed smile. Chocolate chai may be the new writer’s warm drink all day as less caffeinated than coffee.
And btw, is anti-bug because it shews away flies and bugs as they repel the scent.
So, a chai is tasty in and of itself and a healthier black tea. For an American Vata, adding a sweet drizzle of Hershey’s chocolate sauce will drown out the exotic spice tastes if they’re too strong.
You can please your tongue’s sweet spot. Sometimes you just have to balance your daily joy, and give into a teaspoon of sugar love!
We may be behind the 8-ball in American living when it comes to tea consumption, low sugar diets, and having a work-life balance, but we make up for our unhealthier ways with our daily variety, conveniences, and innovation.
And if you’re daring, have a chai and creamsicle smoothie to have a super special day! ✨
Retirement financial guru David Bach is known for “The Latte Factor” on how to save money. Maybe you saw him on Oprah as I did back in the day?
Fast forward years later, he went from burnout to sabbatical living. In hindsight, he now calls a sabbatical “the magic pill” to happiness.
He mentioned in interviews that it all began when his wife asked him what he wanted for one of his birthdays, and he expressed a desire for full-time off from work.
And so that’s just what he did, although he still had to convince himself to get off his busy work train.
Taking time off in a restful sabbatical isn’t a common practice for Americans. There aren’t too many role models to follow. Retirement after 60 and beyond is still the American norm.
Like David Bach, more go-getters in the prime of their career are opening up to this approach to a healthier lifestyle to recharge somewhere in the middle, make life impact changes, and gain clarity about their remaining life’s path.
We all want to live our Best Life, but not all of us do what we need to fully live because we’re not given a road map so we end up playing it safe… staying in the same career or corporate work path with golden handcuffs and benefits, despite being miserable.
Future uncertainty can be uncomfortable to those who want their lives fully planned out, but as I (and you too probably at least in this past year) experienced, life throws monkey wrenches in the mix if you’ve been around long enough, and you can question what this life is really all about.
…and maybe you’ve had those types of questions swirling in your mind lately that you’ve been wrestling with?
If so, you should consider taking a sabbatical if you’re in a place where you can or you all of a sudden, find that you deeply need one to restore your mind-body. It’s not a cop-out, it’s a smart move in case you need to wrestle the idea with the logical side of your mind.
The trend is moving this way. Kids who are just becoming adults are acceptably taking gap years from college. And if you worked in corporate in 2008 with the economy dip, you most likely made a work change, maybe entered a different industry as in 2020 and the aftermath, where we all had our work changed and life turned upside down.
Someone wise ahead of me ingrained this idea that never left me: “Your entire life is a transition.”
So then with that lens, I’m happily entering my fourth act. And depending on your age, you’re probably at least entering or considering your second one (along with almost half the women in the workforce according to survey data).
When I was in college, and it took me 5 years to graduate, that was a big deal in my mind. I questioned why I took a year off after a few semesters of working and attending business school full-time.
During my gap year that wasn’t the usual way, I stopped and learned how to create a business (the reason that you would think you go to business school but most like I did, graduated and entered the corporate workforce).
What I wanted most that I didn’t want to admit to anyone including myself was I wanted deep rest. And that semester off test-taking I got off sleeping aid pills. I got off the hamster wheel and avoided burning out.
Back then, I was already creating a different way of life of taking breaks because my body was calling for it. And now in more aware times, my mind was too.
Similarly, a mid-life sabbatical idea is a pretty darn good idea for recuperating. It can be a lifeline even though it still has a bad wrap. If you’re a well-known author and speaker like David Bach, you can do it because you’ve earned it. But if you’re like most of us or the person trying to make ends meet, then you’re still justifying, like I had to.
I had to lean in and switch into abundant thinking and what I would gain over what I would lose.
And when the call inside you grows louder, the idea can grow more intriguing, and that’s when you know you have to seriously investigate!
You may just need some little sign or nudge to get you to take the step. Or you may just need the right timing or feeling to show up again. In my case, I knew I had more to lose if I didn’t.
You are where you are because of your choices made.
And because of my sabbatical choice, I wouldn’t have traveled to so many great places and countries before 2020. And I wouldn’t have discovered my real passions and purposeful direction in this life that isn’t the corporate path I started on.
I’m not suggesting that’s what you have to do or to be irresponsible. I would never say that as I believe in accountability and personal responsibility. I’m super practical. I’m also led by what I feel is happening in my mind-body-spirit. You get to discern and decide if that’s what is right for you.
From my sabbatical journey, I can tell you, if you follow your internal loving (and not fearful) guides, you won’t be led wrong. Any short-term losses you think you may take, you will gain so much more for your life. Because you’ll pivot into something greater that you would not have uncovered without taking the time off. Your perspective will change and you’ll want to re-strategize your life.
Plus you’ll have all the great memories that you can relive for more years than starting in retirement. (I love looking at sabbatical photos and reminiscing about my vacation and time-off).
But besides good memories, you will gain productivity from resting. You won’t know the individual rewards you’ll gain until you take the bold leap.
When should you do it?
I think I described it above, but the short answer I would give is: when you can. You’ll know when you can’t!
Especially if you’re burned out from your job, have life overwhelm, life underwhelm, considering a career switch, or get laid off, now may be a great time (to eliminate life in burnout to sabbatical living that you didn’t choose on purpose… that can leave you de-motivated instead of feeling excited and energized).
Or maybe you have a deepening desire to explore something new in life and that is winning over any fears you have for taking a risky and unknown bold step towards your future, despite questions from loved ones you may receive.
One other word of nudging encouragement to take the proactive bold step… free yourself from feeling like you have to please others (or be a martyr to do it for others). Your life and mental health are at risk, and if you lose yourself in the process, then you have nothing to give.
A mid-life crisis is a real phenomenon that still exists and can come falling like a ton of bricks. It often sadly ends with regrets and not the way it started.
I didn’t experience that (and maybe that’s because I took a sabbatical) but I’ve seen it in others’ lives and maybe you have or will too.
Sometimes it’s just easier when things happen to you that are out of your control, so you can more easily explain your decisions. You lose a job. You get a divorce or another loss happens.
You can find your lost soul, your higher spirit, or a new mission on a sabbatical.
Personally, I love that the sabbatical idea is catching on in our work-addicted society, especially after a shocking 2020 year where we all had to rethink and redo old ways.
Maybe now is a good time for you and you’re looking for encouraging supporters to take a sabbatical. And maybe I’ve piqued your interest, then you’ll want to keep reading as I share more from my memoir and ideas that can help you… Continue reading “From Burnout to Sabbatical: Recharge and Change Your Life”
Plant-based diet doesn’t mean you have to give up non-plant based foods like meats. It simply means adding more natural plants into your diet (and less processed plants 🏭).
A plate of greens is good for adding more plant-based foods into your system 🌱 that are healthy and sustainable (vs. plant based) 🏭
While a full plant-based diet is not what I do, I have incorporated one plant-based meal per day that matters. I share below a meal plan that I think is a good way to maintain a consistently healthy ideal weight, year after year.
Eating healthy and balanced doesn’t just affect your physical body, it also positively impacts your brain, daily thinking mind, and mental health.
Getting proper vitamins and minerals that come from animal proteins help our brains function properly, that helps us keep our mind-body system balance.
I believe that not including fish, meats, carbs, fruits, and vegetables is missing what God gave us here on this earth. We hurt our bodies when we don’t eat enough from any of these categories, or we eat too much.
In most meals, strict vegetarians don’t receive enough vitamins and micronutrients (minerals), some that are richly found in animal protein. Fish that are also considered animal meat, contains necessary B vitamins and good omega fat sources that healthy vegetarians usually come to realize they’re missing.
If only we could take vitamin supplements as a 1:1 nutrient exchange for food, but that’s not the case and especially with diluted vitamin pills.
Here’s just a quick journey into how I evolved into my way of eating today.
Journey to My Daily Meal Plan
I’ve eaten the same general diet for over two decades now, which includes the same food categories that are on the nutritional food charts. That may sound boring, but it has worked to keep me at the same ideal healthy weight.
Growing up, the four basic food groups turned into the FDA-approved 23 servings per day pyramid food group that’s still used. In America, we don’t necessarily take FDA rules as gospel as there are always changes, but that should tell us a ‘lil something. Whether it’s 4 categories or 23 servings, we need many food vitamin sources to function daily, in a healthy way.
When I was a child, my diet contained mostly fruits, vegetables, breads, cereals, rice, pasta, whole milk, yogurt, animal proteins, and too many processed snacks. Like many American diets back then when there were less healthy options, I ate more orange salty snacks than orange fruits. Definitely as far away from a plant-based diet as one could see.
