Tears of Happiness

I wish I knew the author of this great quote, but I simply haven't got a clue. Nonetheless, it's beautiful.

Life is Hard, But So Very Beautiful!

Life is hard. Sometimes very hard. But it's amazingly beautiful as well. If you open your eyes, and your heart, you'll find there's beauty in just about everything. Many of those moments, words, or experiences that hold immense beauty to me, cannot be captured in an image or a photograph.
For instance, the sound of a child laughing.

Nonetheless, it's important to notice these moments, capture them mentally (and if you can, physically), and remember them when the "hard" in life is overwhelming. These are photos that are beautiful to me. Please feel free to share any images or thoughts of beauty you have! La Belle Vie!!

             

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                     

                                                                                                                   

This Moment is All You Have: Be Present

Throughout my travels and my life, one of the prominent themes that I'm constantly aware of, is that here in America, we (many, but not all of us) rarely sit comfortably in the present moment. One of my favorite memories of Italy is sitting outside and actually enjoying my cappuccinos!

Where’s the Gratitude These Days??

Okay, so a couple of months back, I embarked on a new “blogging regimen” if you will. Every Monday, I would write about what I was grateful for in the previous week. I started this exercise right as I was beginning my second-to-last quarter of graduate school and my last 600 hours of practicum/residency. I was expecting it to me a crazy, hectic, stressful experience at the time, -and it was/has been!

Here is an excerpt from my first Weekly Gratitude explaining my deeper thoughts and purpose for sharing my gratitude:



In the mist of my panic over the major changes beginning in my life today, I’ve realized

Thank you for the Beautiful Blogger Award and The Very Inspiring Blogger Award

The Beautiful Blogger Award

Almost three months back, I received The Beautiful Blogger Award from MeaningfulWesternLife,and The Very Inspiring Blog Award from Make Believe Boutique.  Despite my major delay in giving thanks, and passing this special award onto other great bloggers, I was, and still am thrilled to have received it. Better late than never right?

So let me just start by saying, THANK YOU, MeaningfulWesternLife, who writes about cultivating joy and meaning in a western society lifestyle, for thinking of me when sharing this award. Your blog was one of the first that I ever began reading and your words have been very inspirational, and meaningful to me. And THANK YOU Make Believe Boutique, who describes herself as a quiet and reflective artist, who continually seeks to understand the aesthetics of authenticity through gratitude, service, curiosity, creativity, beauty, and compassion.I have always enjoyed reading many of the simple, yet incredibly beautiful and enlightening post she has shared. She inspiring and the peaceful character which her words carry with them have always touch me.

Please take the time to check out both MeaningfulWesternLife and Make Believe Boutique as well as the wonderful blogs nominated below. Stop in, say hello, congratulate them, and let you heart be touched. Thank you again for the awards!

Weekly Gratitude: Tiny Pleasures from Nature and Friendship

This past week busy, busy, busy! I hardly had a moment to rest. But it was a very productive week nonetheless.

As a part of my commitment to self-care I tried very hard to make a conscious effort to give myself some time to just chill and do things for my own enjoyment. Making time for myself made a world of difference in my mood and ability to cope. I certainly hope to make a commitment to this new habit that almost always go to the back burner.

This past week, there were three moments/experiences that stood out in my mind as moments to be thankful for.

1.) On Wednesday, I was beyond exhausted. I worked from 8:30-12:00 at my job, then met with a client for my internship, and then I had two hours to myself before I had to go back to work till 8:30 for my internship. I was soo tired, and soo not in the mood to go back for another shift. I decided to go for a bike ride for 40 minutes before I had to go back to work. It was my first of the season, and it was soo beautiful outside. I probably got half a mile from my house when I got a phone call from my internship. I let it go to voicemail as I really wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. A few minutes later listen to the voicemail from one of my supervisors:

“Hi Nina, I just wanted to let you know that you don’t need to come in tonight if you don’t want to. We’re overstaffed”.

YES!! That is exactly what I needed to hear. I spent about an hour and a half out on the bike trail after that. It was so peaceful, so calm. The sound of the frogs croaking in the marsh, the birds chirping, the sound of the waves on the lake hitting the shore, seeing the flowers beginning to bloom, -it was all so unbelievably beautiful. I’m very grateful I got the night off. I needed it, and it was great.



2.) I’m thankful for Miss KathleenMae. She and I have never met, but have become “friends” through this little blogging world. We share a similar zest for life, and relate very well to each other in many ways. This past week, she wrote a post about me that was so sweet and kind. She discussed similar feelings about meeting new people on opposite sides of the world, yet cultivating a connection through these unique blogging communities. Blogging truly has enhanced my life in a way I never could have comprehended. I am thankful Kathleen has come into my life; for her kind words, her new friendship, and her comments of support.

3.) Finally, I am thankful for my boyfriend David who took me rock climbing yesterday. I’m a bit competitive, and consider myself fairly athletic, so I was really looking forward to it. I’ve only been once before, but it was nothing like the experience I had yesterday. First, I must say, I’m VERY afraid of heights! I really wasn’t sure how I was going to do it! It took me about fifteen minutes to feel comfortable on the wall and get past the height of it. I would climb ten feet and then go down; then fifteen feet, and then go down, then twenty, and so on. Eventually, my nerves calmed enough where I stopped feeling like I was about to cry.

Long story short, I did very well and I really enjoyed it. I chalk it up to my childhood years climbing trees. But the most wonderful part about it was that I wasn’t thinking about anything else the whole time. Even though it was physically exhausting, and I had to keep thinking about where I was going to move next, my mind was relaxed. There was a sense of clarity and calm that I have only experienced a few times my entire life. I’m someone who struggles constantly to be in the present moment. It’s so difficult for me. I’m always thinking about what I need to do next, how much time I have left of xyz, what things still need to get done, and so on, and so on. But for that hour and a half, I don’t think I thought about anything. It was wonderful. It was so needed. Ironically, I left feeling the same way I do after getting a massage.

So thank you David, for introducing me to something where I can shut down my mind and “just be”. I’m very excited to go again soon!!!

9 Fears that Keep Us from Achieving Our Dreams and Purpose In Life

There is no better place for growth then when we face our fears. Take the leap and see what happens. If you constantly hide behind your shadow, and stand stagnent paralized by your fears, you'll never know all that you can acheive and where your fears might take you.

Source: favim.com via Nina on Pinterest

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9 Fears that Keep us from Achieving our Dreams and Purpose in Life

This post is shared courtesy of Purposefairy.com

“If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear?” Confucius

What is a F.E.A.R. and where does it originate? We are afraid of so many things and because of that, so many of us, -instead of moving forward in life, stagnate or move backwards. This is not how life should be lived, -in fear and stress.

There are many fears that we all might experience, and from all of these fears, I have chosen to focus on the ones I found to be the most present in life.

1. Fear of Letting Go. We fear letting go of familiar places. We fear letting go of relationships that no longer serve us. We fear letting go of who we once were, -of our past, and we cling to all of these things, thoughts, beliefs and ideas, without realizing that the past is gone forever and all that we will ever have is this very present moment.

If we choose to constantly think about what once was, we miss out on what is happening in our lives in this very moment, we miss out on life period. You need to learn how to let go of the things that no longer serve you and allow yourself to be free of fear and free of stress.

“Your past history and all of your hurts are no longer here in your physical reality. Don’t allow them to be here in your mind, muddying your present moments. Your life is like a play with several acts. Some of the characters who enter have short roles to play, others, much longer. But all are necessary, otherwise they wouldn’t be in the play. Embrace them all, and move on to the next act.” Wayne Dyer

2. Fear of Change. If we manage to let go, what will happen then? This is a question that haunts many of us. Fear of change scares us so badly. Where will we go, what will we do? Are we going to be safe? What will happen to us?

We have this incredibly powerful fear of change and fear of the unknown that paralyzes us, not understanding that if we keep on doing the things that we’ve always done and if we keep on living in the familiar without leaving our comfort zone, we will always end up in the same situations. There will be no movement, no growth. Trust yourself. Learn to listen to your heart and intuition and know that the life you want wants you.

3. Fear of Failure. If we embrace change, what if we will meet with failure and defeat? Who will we be then and what will our lives look like? This fear of failure keeps so many of us from moving forward in life, from going out there and trying new things. Often, even though we are not happy with where we are and what we do, we would rather stay in our comfort zone than do something different, -something new, just because we have this fear of failure haunting us, and we can’t see that “The only real failure in life is the failure to try.”

4. Fear of Being Different. You want to be normal right? You want to be like everybody else. Why be different? This is not a healthy approach to life. Constantly trying to please everybody around you and forgetting about the person who matters the most, and that is YOU, will bring so much unhappiness upon you.

You don’t want to be like everybody else. You want to be YOU! You want to be true to yourself, and if that implies you being different from those around you, -so be it!

Keep in mind that: “Those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.” Dr. Seuss

5. Fear of Unleashing Our Hidden Potential. Whether you believe it or not, this fear actually keeps us even farther away from making our dreams come true, from going out there and sharing with the world our amazing gifts and talents.

This is because, whether we consciously realize it or not, the exposure and responsibilities that will surface once we unleash our potential scare us. We want to move forwards, at least consciously we think we do, but deep down in our subconscious mind we keep the foot on the brakes.  You have no idea how much power the subconscious mind has and how, even though we say we want something, we get stuck because of what is hidden in our subconscious mind.

6. Fear of Not Being Able to Live Up to Other People’s Expectations, especially when you are constantly seeking approval from those around you in order to feel good about yourself, to feel that you are worthy, and to feel validated.

Whenever this fear knocks on your door, keep this in mind: “You are always a valuable, worthwhile human being, not because anybody says so, not because you’re successful, not because you make a lot of money, but because you decide to believe it and for no other reason.” Wayne Dyer

7. Fear of Being Lonely.  Nobody wants to be lonely, especially when you can’t stand the person you are alone with, and you and I know that there are plenty of us in this situation. We come to this world alone, and we will depart alone. When you get to a point where you have accepted yourself completely, where you have learned to love and nurture the person you are deep down inside, you will never feel lonely again because you will now enjoy your company, and believe me, others will too.

8. Fear of Losing a Loved One. It’s hard to lose somebody you love. I don’t know how many people can actually deal with the thought of losing a loved one without feeling sad and blue. It’s a normal fear. But if we start appreciating these people more, expressing our gratitude for their presence in our lives while they are still here, when the time comes for them to leave this world, it will be a lot easier for us and we will not have to suffer as much.

Instead of using your time worrying about this, and fearing it, you can use that time to show them how much you love them, and confess this love to them. It will do you and them so much good. Try it and see what happens.

9. Fear of Dying. Oh my, this is another one, and I have to say, a very powerful and delicate one.  We fear death for we have no idea what will happen afterwards, and if you think about it, it’s a lot like the fear of the unknown.

”The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there’s no risk of accident for someone who’s dead.” Albert Einstein

It doesn’t really matter what religion we believe in, whether we have one or not, or what our thoughts and beliefs regarding death are, for this does not keep us from having a fear of dying. When the time comes, we will all have to leave this beautiful Earth, but until that day, let’s just enjoy our time here, shall we? Don’t you think it is a better idea than spending your time worrying about it?