A Spiritual Rebel’s Rant By Patrice Karst

I began my spiritual journey over 40 years ago. A little girl in England, longing to understand the mysteries of the Cosmos. This was long before there was a new age, metaphysical, organic, green, yogic, self-help movement where “being spiritual” would become more like a fashion statement, a hobby- something to check in the things I like box. A lifetime before it would coalesce into trendy commercialism, an enterprise, a me, me, me path with a phony sounding vernacular.

Back in the day, that Magical Pandora’s box, down the rabbit hole – into outer space journey that describes the mystical path, the search for the Divine, the awakening of Higher Consciousness, had incredibly little to do with what we could “manifest”, it wasn’t about what we could get, it was about something, well, deeper.

I’m in rare form today as I sit drinking my standard mocha with the whip, in an over air-conditioned Malibu Starbucks reflecting on all that bothers me about our community lately– I do that a lot—reflect.

Look, it’s a beautiful thing for me to witness the shifting of the masses. The fact that spirituality has become the new mainstream means that we are headed in the right direction– and thank God for that. It’s just that this watered down, sugary sweet and “holier than you” façade of being spiritual because it’s hip to, makes me cringe as it plays itself out in a variety of increasingly annoying, insincere and competitive ways.

Take Facebook for example and the oh so holy and oh so dull  “tooting my own horn cause I am so enlightened” posts like—“I am living in gratitude today for the oneness of the light and the blessings all around me in the now and the in the heart of my being in spirit of the peace and the truth of the oneness of the light…. or one of the horrors I recently read, “ Ready, aim, higher!!!!” Spare me. For the love of God, what is wrong our tribe anymore? All this spiritual correctness is so whitewashed, generic, tired and ultimately boring. No flavor, spice or personality. I like that in a person, a personality.

Can we all please get over ourselves right now, Please!

And another thing that bares pointing out—since I’m apparently on a roll here…

We can affirm (till the cows not only come home but leave to go on a vacation again!) but if our affirmation and Spirit’s plan (also known as our Destiny) don’t line up, then sorry mate, we’re out of luck because there is one law that reigns supreme above all others— and that would be all others. THY WILL BE DONE. And even if we have watched The Secret 20 times in a row taking notes, even if we did set our highest intentions while sitting in the seven sacred pools after our green tea colonic cleanse, even if we “just know that we deserve it”— (and you’ll probably hate me for this) but if it isn’t in the cards, doll—no matter what you do, IT still isn’t going to happen.

Heck, we wouldn’t even be given our next breath if it were not for the Will and the Grace of God. This spiritual egotism, pride and arrogance is missing the whole point. We all need some humility and we need it fast.

And, I’m really begging now, will all the “Count your blessings, watch everything you say, raw food police” please stop your babbling. Quite frankly, who asked ya? I’ll decide what to count how I choose to speak and what to eat– thanks very much.

Study the lives of all the great saints, and you see that most of them suffered terribly emotional pain in their longing for the Divine. They were downright depressed, miserable. People, they were indeed (shudder to imagine) feeling just a tad bit negative.  Somehow that makes me feel better. A whole lot better. Because lo and behold! I also suffer and sometimes a lot. And blinding news flash here— so do we all because we are in fact Human. Humans feel.  And we are beautiful within all that feeling.  Radiantly, magnificently, beautiful.

Since when, I ask myself, did being real, become “un-spiritual?”and when did sadness become less holy than joy? Yet these days we are told over and over in a never ending variety of ways that we are somehow being “spiritually incorrect” if we do anything other than follow some generically prescribed “happy no matter what façade”.

I see so many masks being worn, so many costumes so many disguises. And all this sad fake “positivity” has resulted in a lot of folk feeling very, very much alone we have not been a truthful lot at all. And it is tragic. And that’s where I seem to rush in.  For whatever reason (and I am sure this could be analyzed ad nauseum) I feel that I have no other choice than to somehow do my part is balancing all this goody two shoes/ Pollyanna idea of what a spiritual seeker is supposed to walk and talk like, out.

Patrice’s version of, “Spirituality for the rest of us.”

I’ll admit it. I’ve always been a bit of a radical, the gal who feels the need to bring the ridiculously obvious Elephant in the living room to light, to call the emperor out as naked, when he is so clearly is. I am the one in the post office that rolls her eyes at the scene when the service is ridiculously slow, who sends food back in a restaurant when it sucks and oh yeah, who speaks up in a meeting, if no one else does (and they rarely do) even if it is yucky, even if it will make me unpopular or make things slightly uncomfortable for a moment until the unnamed emotionally charged collective Zit bursts and everyone finally gets to breathe again.

Frankly, I wouldn’t feel the need to do it so often or so intensely if more of my brothers and sisters on the path, would just take up the baton and run with it. I wait, no truly, I wait, often until the last possible second, silently praying to all that I hold Holy to see if just this one time, someone will thrill me, let me rest this one out, and speak the heck up!

And sometimes, to my utter delight, they do. My everyday heroes are those brave and wondrous and therefore interesting to me people that have a voice. An authentic one. That they dare to use. Those who bless us all with their willingness to tell us the truths of their lives. Even the ugly parts, especially the ugly parts. Whether their voice is heard in a book, a film or at the deli. Spiritual heroes have canojes. They are generous of spirit. They share their honesty, therefore their souls. That’s what heroes do—they share.They don’t answer; “I’m fine and you?” When they’re sad or scared or lonely and they are the truest spiritual teachers that exist.They’ll never be criticized for not “walking their talk” because their talk is for real. Nor will they ever come crashing down from Grace because they never put themselves on any self-imposed pedestal to begin with.

You see, ultimately, all we can ever really offer our fellow travelers upon this confusing, brilliant, spinning planet, is our truth, all of it. Who we are, what we stand for, what we really believe and yes, what we FEEL as we dance or stumbled through our lives.

There is a sublime quote from The Buddha that spells it all out so well,”There are three things that cannot be long hidden, the sun, the moon, and the truth.”

In the end, being real, matters.

Patrice Karst is the author of the internationally best selling books God Made Easy,  The Single Mother’s Survival Guide and her children’s books, The Invisible String and The Smile that Went Around the World She has  written for and been featured in various magazines including, Time, Woman’s Day, and Science of Mind among many others. When not writing, she runs spirituality groups and private sessions at renowned residential rehab/ recovery centers in Malibu and is the president of Just Love Productions- producing The Just Love Project television show and her first feature film “The Seeker.” Find out more at www.patricekarst.com

Morning Sip by Daniel D. Woo

Each morning I make coffee or tea, either grinding roasted coffee beans for drip coffee or brewing fresh tea.

Then before I have my first sip, I take time to contemplate the fact that I am not responsible for this cup and its contents.  I give thanks to the sun and the moon, the rains and the seasons, the plants and the fauna and flora that allow them to seed, grow, flower and spread, the humans and the animals involved in their care, harvesting, bagging, transportation, sorting, and all the other activities that lead to my kitchen.

I give similar thanks for the water coming out of my faucets, for the cup that I hold in my hands, for the electricity for the stove or coffee maker, and for the innumerable other gifts of this moment that allow me to breathe and savor the scent of the first sip.

 These contemplations are reminders of the interdependence of nature.  So when I take the first sip, I am also drinking in the universe.  This daily practice of being consciously aware of the limitless web of relationships of past and present at the moment of the sip is a moment that the self is surrendered.

Clean Up Your Own Mess – A Message from a Gulf Pelican by Sue Hopple

Like all of us, I am sure you have seen on TV the Pelican that is covered in oil.  “What can I do, what can I do?” I asked myself.  I decided to ask that Pelican, “How can I help here in Colorado, so far away from you?”  Here is what I heard…”Clean up your mess!”  I thought, well, that’s obvious, but in tuning into this statement further it came to me what it really meant.  The pelican wasn’t only meaning that BP and the Government clean up this mess of an oil spill, she was referring to each individual’s own ‘mess.’

So here is your call to action that you can do right now: start by clearing and cleaning out one of your closets, the garage or basement. We must clean out and remove properly our own toxic waste in our homes and in our bodies, for that matter. It will change the energy of your personal space  Fix the leak in the sink, and the broken electrical outlet, think of anything you can that would make you feel better to get repaired or cleared out.  If you have created an emotional mess with a loved one or neighbor, go ahead and take that step to mend it.

I wanted to know more about the pelican from a spiritual stand point and looked up what Ted Andrews says about them in his book Animal Speak: “Pelican:  Keynote:  Renewed buoyancy and unselfishness; Cycle of Power: Year-round.”   Andrews further states:  “Symbolically, this hints at being able to be buoyant and to rest on top in spite of the heaviness of life circumstances.  The pelican teaches that no matter how difficult life becomes, no matter how much you plunge – you can pop to the surface.”   Wow, how interesting that just this one species which has showed itself so much on television is sending us all such an important message.

We can have some renewed buoyancy from this event that is happening right now and mirror it into our own lives. Wherever you are right now, in a difficult moment, a difficult place, you can bounce back and be unselfish in the process.  Not only that, its meant to be done year round.  Ted also mentions in his book that “The water is a symbol of emotions, and emotions often weigh us down.  The pelican teaches how not to be overcome by them.”  This is great information that is being brought to us and it is our call to action to not only help heal the earth, but that we must start with ourselves.  So we must clean up our mess!

After you do the cleaning and clearing up, replace it by doing something you love or by doing an act of kindness for a stranger, an animal or a family member.  These acts will brighten and lighten up your moments that will take up the day, sending out rays of healing light.

“Give light, and the darkness will disappear of itself.”    Erasmus

That’s our call to action that for right now. We can do what the pelican in the Gulf suggested.  We can clean up our mess and give light to ourselves and the world around us!

Love and light,  Sue

Listening With My Heart By Daniel D. Woo

It’s practice, practice, practice, all the time with sila (ethics and virtues), meditation and restraint, and kind actions. Changes will take place internally and externally.  I’m still shedding suffocating layers in speech, action and mind.  In this continuing process, I become more aware of other of my conditioning and habits. My experiences are that changes sometimes occur long before I notice them. But I’ve also experienced contentment and peace.

I love the Hsing Hsing Ming (Faith or Trust in Mind) by Chien-chih Seng-ts’an, Third Zen Patriarch. The first verse of the Hsing Hsing Ming (translated by Richard B. Clarke) is:

“The Great Way is not difficult
for those who have no preferences.
When love and hate are both absent
everything becomes clear and undisguised.
Make the smallest distinction, however
and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart.
If you wish to see the truth
then hold no opinions for or against anything.
To set up what you like against what you dislike
is the disease of the mind.
When the deep meaning of things is not understood
the mind’s essential peace is disturbed to no avail.”

For me, it continues to be practice.

Many years ago, I kept by my computer this quote from the Buddha:  ”People with opinions go around bothering other people.”  This quote was in a discrete spot where others couldn’t see it. It was a reminder for me to be mindful. It was not a comment on other people. Rather than labeling immediately what someone is saying in person, on the phone, in emails or text and creating a giant story around the words, I practiced restraint and patience.

This taught me that quite often I was adding something that wasn’t there, or that I was not recognizing someone else’s suffering and thereby in my replies, being unhelpful, or that I wanted to add a countering opinion without regard to whether it was true, useful, kind or helpful.

More importantly, over time I began to hear in a different way, where the exact literal words may not have been what another person was trying to say. So I became more generous in listening.

Dissolving anger in all its forms (from annoyance, irritation, impatience, resentments, dislike, hatred) is part of this process. Metta (loving-kindness) and tonglen (Tibetan sending-receiving) mediation practices are helpful – when they are practiced. The experiences from the practices are evidenced by the internal changes.

Each time anger is let go, forgiveness enters and a sense of internal spaciousness arises. As Shunryu Suzuki once said: “Each of you is perfect the way you are … and you can use a little improvement.”

I’ve also learned that the choice of words we use reflect a perspective that can be unbalanced. Examining internally why I may label people and other sentient beings, things or life events with words such as “difficult” or “unsatisfactory” lead to an awareness that I cannot accept things as they are and that I often do not realize that I am not even discerning things as they are.

This month Scientific American published “169 Best Illusions–A Sampling” at
http://www.scientificamerican.com/slideshow.cfm?id=169-best-illusions . The examples are wonderful about how our vision/mind deceives us.  Imagine how many other illusions we create in what we think is the solidness of life.

Last week I was struck again in the midst of meditation that there still is a hungry ghost in me that wants things to be other than they are. Luckily I can laugh now when I detect this and shrug and remember this is insanity. And when such awareness arises, I can breathe – which is a wonderful gift.

I’ve experienced “sight” in fundamentally different ways at unexpected moments. Such experiences convince me that literally there is a vastly expanded light that is present when we are unblocked.
And in such “spiritual” light, we do not see “difficulties” in the same way.  Difficulties are now opportunities to practice and the actual practice changes our relationship to what we thought were difficulties.

A friend called me late last night to talk about what he is experiencing in practicing listening-hearing and patience.  I had suggested to him over the past few months to practice hearing the heart of another person – that we get in the way by becoming impatient with another person’s way of talking, by judging their choice of words, by jumping to conclusions before the end of a sentence or paragraph, by substituting our opinions for theirs and in countless other ways.  He has periodically told me about how his practicing has begun internal changes that have external positive effects in his relationships with his wife, family and in-laws, friends, strangers, and work.

“To make peace, our hearts must be at peace with the world.” Thich Nhat Hahn.

 (Written May 20, 2010) © Daniel D. Woo, 2010

Global Awakening – A Personal Choice

Everyone agrees the Earth is undergoing substantial changes, yet we disagree on why. When I energetically observe the collective consciousness, it is similar to a jigsaw puzzle moving from random pieces into picture form. While the human family is diverse in thought and perception, we have yet to unite for the greater good of society. As long as division reigns, anything is possible.

Thoughts are energetic expressions that form a pattern, and every pattern has the potential for manifestation. On a personal level, what you embody within your consciousness is what you will create in your reality. Mutual states of consciousness act to increase the potentiality for the manifestation on earth. From global catastrophe to massive spiritual awakening, what you choose to intend affects us all.

As my human family expresses their will upon the earth, I observe my reaction. If a judgment or fear arises, I begin the process of healing through gratitude. The results are surprising. At times, I am able to witness those who create and cause pain from an unconditional space. In this space of neutrality, I can direct my energies to affect the whole. These soul empowering experiences are increasing the more I move out of reaction and into observation.

The morning of the Chilean earthquake, I learned about a potential Tsunami in the Pacific. I sat down to be with Source and asked, “Is this necessary and for the highest good of all?” The gentle yet immediate response was “no.” A soul-knowing followed as I remembered to connect with the water elements and my guides to hold the intention of calm water and no harm. In this timeless space, my heart and soul were in authentic expression. I offered others the opportunity to cultivate an intention of no-harm in their own way. I let go and allowed what must be to occur.

As we collectively experience change on earth, we will simultaneously experience our responses. Any incongruent energy is simply an invitation to heal. Healing occurs the moment our soul recognizes and experiences truth. We must be willing to feel truth’s vibration within because truth changes reality. Once you experience truth, to create illusion becomes difficult and exceptionally painful. Truth opens your heart to divine connection and through mutual receptivity, you experience your soul.

I have found the process of spiritual awakening to be neither simple nor easy. To heal from duality and division takes courage, personal effort, a lifetime of dedication, and assistance from my human and spiritual family. I choose to create peace, one action step at a time.

©Althea Treakle-Provost, 2010 – All Rights Reserved.
http://www.theasheart.com
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What Can I Do By Corey Yanzito

I saw a status update on Facebook the other day that said something like this:

Shame on you America: the only country where we have homeless without shelter, children going to bed without eating, elderly going without needed meds, and mentally ill without treatment – yet we have a benefit for the people of Haiti on 12 TV stations. 99% of people won’t have the guts to copy and repost this. It’s sad but true!

It got me thinking: it is sad.  I wondered, when I saw this, what exactly the person who posted this was trying to convey?  Were they saying that we ought not to have jumped in to the Haitian relief effort with both feet?  Were they saying that our first priority out to be to our fellow countrymen?  Were they saying, as I have heard suggested, that celebrities only hype the causes that are cool at that moment?  Honestly, I’m not certain what the intention behind the post was, but it certainly got me thinking.

It is my personal opinion that all people deserve food, shelter, clean water, kind words, to know that there are people out there who care about their well-being.  I can’t imagine that anyone would disagree that basic human rights are essential.

I am glad that people are excited about the Haitian relief effort.  I hope that people continue to pour in their support as the Haitian people rebuild their shattered country.  I have a broader hope as well.  It is my hope that all people find a cause they believe in, a cause they can passionately support.

I’ve always admired my parents.  When I was growing up they did their level best to ensure that my brother and I were raised knowing just how lucky we were.  They hoped that we would recognize our blessings and share our gifts with those less fortunate.  They took us to homeless shelters, battered women’s centers, soup kitchens, training centers for homeless runaways.  They went on trips to build schools and bring supplies to Nicaraguan children.  They served on boards, manned call centers, wrote letters, sent checks, and spoke to school children.

While their financial support was certainly appreciated, as the financial support of so many is certain to be appreciated by the earthquake victims in Haiti, it was their time and their dedication that made the real impact.

In these times of financial uncertainty, it is understandable that people might not be as liberal with their checkbook when it comes to a charitable donation.  However, there are other ways to give.  Most often, we are attracted to causes because they resonate with our own values.  It makes me smile to think what we could do if we all decided to dedicate just one hour a week to giving of ourselves.

A graduate of Colorado State University, Corey Yanzito enjoys her work as site editor for Satiama and The Nu Life where she is always on the hunt for new, insightful articles.  Prior to coming on board with the Satiama team, Corey worked in the accounting field.  Now a full-time mom to her tiny tots, Corey enjoys reading, writing, photography, travel, and spending time with friends and family.  Do you have a great story to tell?  Please send Corey an e-mail at corey@satiama.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Fields of Friendship by Corey Yanzito

I moved to Colorado when I was nine years old.  It was November and the school year was already well under way.  The first day I went to school in the outfit I had carefully chosen days earlier, the outfit that I would wear the first time I met all my new classmates.  Despite the carefully chosen outfit and many kind words of encouragement from my mother, my stomach was in knots as I slowly made my way from the office to my classroom that first day.  Thankfully, that day I returned to our new house with renewed confidence and an invitation to a birthday party the following weekend.

Tonight I took a couple of hours to have pie with friends.  One of the women who sat around the table with me this evening was one of the little girls who befriended me that first day in my new school.  As I sat around the table, nursing my diet Coke and savoring the last lingering bits of the kind of silly, touching, over-lapping conversation that happens when a diverse group of good friends gets together, I got to thinking about friendship.

One of my favorite quotes is from Tennessee Williams; he said, “Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.”

I’ve chosen to surround myself with quite a diverse group of friends.  At the table tonight sat a woman who I’ve known longer than I’ve known my husband, longer than I’ve been driving—I’ve known her longer than I haven’t known her.  At the same table were women I’ve met in the last few years, women who have only known me as a woman.

My friends like swing dancing, fly fishing, reading about vampires, lost symbols and fifteenth century India.  My friends go to yoga, to counseling, and to night school.  Some of them have kids, some of them act like children, and all of them are loved by my children.

I know I am very blessed to have such wonderful people in my life, but I also know that having friends doesn’t always mean keeping them.  Certainly some people are in our lives for brief moments to teach us more about ourselves, to help us through something, or perhaps so that we can help them.  Nevertheless, like most good things, lasting friendships take practice and dedication.

If one neglects to water their garden and remove the weeds, their plants will not prosper.  Similarly, if one makes no effort to remain connected to their friends, their friendships will slowly fade.  Further, if one does not remove the negativity that can sometimes weave its way into relationships, the friendship will get bogged down in bad feelings and won’t reach its full potential.

I think it’s also important to mention that, while having good people in your life is priceless, severing ties with people who bring only stress, negativity, and demands into your life is crucial as well.  Save your energies for the people who lift you up.  Rather than spending time on people who don’t enrich your experience, devote your time to the ones who do and to yourself.

Dr Seuss once said, “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”  Take time today to nurture those friendships that fill you with gladness and self worth.  And, even though they probably already know how much you love them, it wouldn’t hurt to put it in to words.

About The Author:  A graduate of Colorado State University, Corey Yanzito enjoys her work as site editor for Satiama and The Nu Lifewhere she is always on the hunt for new, insightful articles.  Prior to coming on board with the Satiama team, Corey worked in the accounting field.  Now a full-time mom to her tiny tots, Corey enjoys reading, writing, photography, travel, and spending time with friends and family.  Do you have a great story idea?  Please send Corey an e-mail at corey@satiama.com.

Happy Tears by Corey Yanzito

I cried at the store the other day.  I had to stop the cart, take a deep breath, and wipe away my tears.  Very rarely do I cry sad tears, but happy tears — I just never know when they’re going to hit me.  As I pushed the cart through the crowded store just days before Christmas, my one year old son grumbling in the seat, clearly finished with his holiday shopping, I hear my three-year-old daughter’s voice as she looks up at me, tugging slightly at my hand to make certain she has my full attention.  “I’m glad you’re my Mom,” she says.

I take a deep breath, for a moment I think I might be able to hold back the tears.  When I bend down to give her a hug and tell her that I’m glad she’s my daughter, I realize there’s no way they aren’t coming.  She looks stricken.  “Mommy, why are you crying?”

I pull myself together quickly and let her know that I’m not crying because I’m sad, but because I’m happy.  I’m thrilled that she’s happy to have me for a mother.  I tell her that I’m so blessed to have such a kind and thoughtful daughter.  As we get back to our shopping, I notice that several of the other people in the isle had stopped their shopping to watch our exchange.  For a moment, I can’t decide whether to be embarrassed about the emotional outpouring the shoppers had just witnessed or excited that I’ve managed to pull myself back together in such a timely manner.

I decide to be happy.  Happy that I’ve been blessed with such a wonderful family.  Happy that my daughter is happy.  Happy that I really felt something.

It’s taken me years to become comfortable with crying.  I used to keep things bottled up so tightly that, under stress, I was a regular pressure cooker of emotion just waiting to burst.  Keeping a tight hold on my emotions meant that I wasn’t one to cry when I was sad or disappointed, but it also meant that true happiness and gratitude weren’t as rich for me.

Strangely enough, as I learned to express the unpleasant emotions in a healthier, more constructive manner, I learned to relish the positive emotions with greater fervor.  It seems that when I allowed myself to really feel things, I realized just how much joy there is waiting to be embraced.

I’m not suggesting that the local grocer’s become a hot spot for emotional outbursts, but rather that we allow ourselves to feel, even if it’s a little inconvenient.  Further, in that moment, with the cart and the kids, I had a choice.  I could have thanked my daughter and gone on, but I suppose she wouldn’t have known how deeply her words touched me.  Rather than worrying about what other people would think, I let my daughter’s words really penetrate.  Now, she knows how much her kind words mean to me and, I hope, she knows that it’s okay to express your emotions.

About The Author:  A graduate of Colorado State University, Corey Yanzito enjoys her work as site editor for Satiama and The Nu Lifewhere she is always on the hunt for new, insightful articles.  Prior to coming on board with the Satiama team, Corey worked in the accounting field.  Now a full-time mom to her tiny tots, Corey enjoys reading, writing, photography, travel, and spending time with friends and family.  Do you have a great story idea?  Please send Corey an e-mail at corey@satiama.com

Keeping Promises by Corey Yanzito

As 2009 ended and 2010 began, I got to thinking about all the potential the new year brings.  In some ways, a new year gives us permission to start anew.  It’s as though we can leave behind in the old year the things about us that we’d prefer didn’t accompany us into 2010.  Sure, I can’t wave a wand and make my debt or my love handles disappear, but I can examine my behavior and try to pinpoint the things that I do to contribute to my own shortcomings.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my weight and the resolution I seem to make every year to take better care of myself.  I’ve never been a thin person, and thankfully, my weight hasn’t caused any real health problems to speak of, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for improvement.  I know I would look and feel better if I were forty pounds lighter.  I’m also fairly certain that I need to eat fewer calories and exercise more.  Perhaps I’ll never be a size two, but I think two sizes smaller is a goal I can achieve.

The exercise isn’t a problem.  I like to exercise.  It feels good to get my blood coursing through my veins.  I enjoy the hour or so of time to myself that I get when I work out.  However, exercise alone isn’t going to make this the year I finally follow my own new year’s resolution.

It’s clear that my relationship with food is what needs to change.  I eat when I’m sad.  I eat to celebrate.  I eat because I’m bored or anxious.  I eat because I can’t resist my favorite foods.  I fix my husband’s favorite meals to show him how much I love him.  I bake to spend time with my kids.  Clearly, food is filling voids that ought to be filled in other ways.

This year, I hope to find healthier ways to celebrate the ones I love.  I’d like to find more creative ways to show my affection.  Perhaps I can fix healthier meals with fresh fruits and veggies rather than comfort food heavy with pasta and cheese.  Maybe I’ll try sending homemade cards, rather than homemade cookies.  Certainly I need to address the things that make me anxious or upset rather than soothing myself with a bowl of ice cream.  I need to keep my hands busy with constructive activities when I’m bored rather than using them to munch on chips or cookies.

Sometimes I think the promises we make to ourselves are the easiest to break.  Besides myself, who is it going to hurt if I stop working toward my resolution to be healthier?  It seems that the biggest thing I need to do this year is to decide that I am worth it.  I need to keep the promises I make to myself as sacred as the promises I make to others.

What kinds of things do you do to take care of yourself?  Do you keep your resolutions?  If so, what kinds of tips do you have to share with us?

About The Author:  A graduate of Colorado State University, Corey Yanzito enjoys her work as site editor for Satiama and The Nu Lifewhere she is always on the hunt for new, insightful articles.  Prior to coming on board with the Satiama team, Corey worked in the accounting field.  Now a full-time mom to her tiny tots, Corey enjoys reading, writing, photography, travel, and spending time with friends and family.  Do you have a great story idea?  Please send Corey an e-mail at corey@satiama.com.

Holiday Obligations or Opportunities? by Corey Yanzito

My husband and I don’t normally exchange Christmas gifts, but this year he asked me what I wanted.  “Something small,” he said, “But you hardly ever get anything for yourself.”

This got me thinking about all the things I do have for myself.

I made sugar cookie dough while my children napped the other day.  When they woke up, we were ready to get cutting, cooking, and decorating.  As I looked at the plate of finished cookies, I realized that more than a sweet treat; we’d just made some wonderful memories.

It’s really cold for Colorado these days.  With temperatures looming below freezing for the better part of a week, you can hardly go anywhere without hearing gripes about the weather.  Sure, it’s not ideal–I like being outside—but I’m very lucky to have a warm cozy house to come home to and a snuggly pair of gloves for those unavoidable adventures outdoors.

As I labored to get my Christmas letter finished, addressed and closed a seemingly endless stream of envelopes, and massaged my finger cramps from my mass mailing I was tempted to complain.  I felt myself begin to wonder why I go through the card process every year?  I began to feel like it was just another stressor in a season piled high with obligations.

A few afternoons later, I braved the cold and trekked out to our mailbox.  We’d gotten our first holiday card!  I couldn’t even wait until I got back in the house to tear open the envelope.  I was anxious to see pictures of our friends and read about what they’d been up to all year.  After putting our first card up — we hang them on the inside of our front door so we can look at all the pictures — I was reminded of why I go through all the effort to send the cards.  I’m so thankful for all the people who touch my life and I am touched when I receive their cards and get caught up.

Sometimes I feel like we’re so busy doing all the things we “have to” do during the holiday season that we neglect to remember why we do them and what makes the season so amazing.  This season gives us the opportunity to get in touch with long lost friends.  This season brings cold temperatures that are perfect for hot cocoa, cozy blankets, and snuggling.  The snow that keeps us home from the office also gives us the chance to take a much needed afternoon snooze.  The family gatherings that can cause us so much stress are also the chance to form closer bonds with your loved ones and let go of old wounds.

It is my goal that this really be a season of love and gratitude.  I have been so blessed; this is my chance to share my gratitude with those around me and to do all things with love.  So, rather than seeing obligations, this season, I’m seeing opportunities.

How are you living in love and showing gratitude this season?  Please share your thoughts below as we build community at Satiama!

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