Happy And Healthy Lifestyle

“The beautiful thing about setbacks is they introduce us to our strengths.” ~Robin S. Sharma This has been the worst year of my life. Financial stress. Relationship problems. Being separated from my family because of the pandemic. Mentally I’m a mess. I thought I had hit rock bottom. But the worst was yet to come. I had been ignoring health issues for years and finally dragged myself in for an ultrasound. I already knew I had a fibroid and had booked the ultrasound to check on it. However, as the sonographer explained, I now had innumerable fibroids. They had taken over my uterus and ultimately my life. I remember starting to feel numb as she talked me through my scan. I knew there was no other option. I needed a hysterectomy, and I was terrified. I was scared about what this meant for my body and my future, but I also have extremely high anxiety about doctors and hospitals. You can imagine how I felt about surgery. One of my favorite motivational speakers, Eric Thomas, talks abou...

Recently I woke up uncharacteristically early for a Saturday to meet a friend and her baby for coffee. I am embarrassed to say that by “uncharacteristically early” I mean 8:30am, which is not that early. I get it. As I walked by two chipper twenty-something-year-old girls in skintight leggings either in route to or on their way back from a workout class, I found my mind reeling. Why is it that I see so many more women in New York City whenever I wake up early on the weekends? Why do they seem so much more productive than men? I first noticed this trend when I graduated from college. I would be out way too late at a local watering hole and overhear a couple girlfriends talking about their plans to wake up in six hours and meet for a workout class. My only plans for the next day were to sleep in till noon and order a bagel (with scallion cream cheese, obviously). Reflecting today, I noticed that this tiny, little behavioral difference is so emblematic of society’s varying expectatio...

“We don’t see things as they are. We see things as we are.” ~Anais Nin When I was young, I used to stare out into the big, blue sky and ask, “Is this really the right place?” “Did they drop me off on the wrong planet?” I wondered. It felt like I didn’t fit in or belong. Things seemed so much easier for others. They moved forward with ease even when something was painful, while I felt an arrow pierce my heart every time a loved one was in pain, or a difficult situation arose. When I looked around, I saw so much suffering. Being incredibly sensitive, I did more than watch, I jumped right in the suffering. At the time, I judged myself vehemently for being emotional. I didn’t know that about 20 percent of the population is highly sensitive and that it’s a trait filled with gifts as well as deep feelings. Quietly observing my surroundings, I watched with teary eyes as my family struggled. I felt with deep-rooted sensitivity when my mom felt afraid. I watched the news and thought, “Loo...

I think I know you pretty well. I know I don’t know you , know you, but I’m guessing since you’re here, you’re a lot like me. You want to be your best self. You want to make the most of your life. You want to be the best you can be, physically and mentally, for the people around you. And you quite possibly will take a little time today to think about what you should embrace or release in the year ahead to boost your happiness and make a positive impact on the world. Maybe you’ll make a list of things you’d like to do or achieve (buy my first house is high on my list). Maybe you’ll jot down some habits to adopt and let go (I’m planning to start trampoline rebounding and trying to stop scrolling while with my kids.) Perhaps you’ll also set some goals with the people you love in mind (my big one is to control less and trust more). Whatever your individual resolutions, and even if you don’t set any at all, your next year will largely depend on your mental state from day to day. We can...

“It’s not stress that kills us, it’s our reaction to it.” ~Hans Selye I was driving home from work, minding my own business, when a car cut in front of me. Pretty common in Sydney traffic, right? Normally, I would just brush it off. But not today. For some reason I couldn’t explain, that simple event set me off. I got so irritated that I pressed both my hands on the horn and started shouting at the other driver—who just gave me the finger and continued on his merry way. That’s when I lost it. How dare he do something like this? I was determined to get even. To teach him a lesson. I was so immersed in rage that I almost caused an accident just to prove a point. Not my proudest moment, I know. Have you ever been through something like this? Something trivial suddenly escalating to a new level of crazy? Well, the other day I witnessed my neighbor screaming from his balcony at a dude passing by, just because he had gangster rap blasting out of a speaker. Okay, I can understand th...

**Though this is a sponsored post, you can trust I only recommend products and services I personally love! If you’re like most people, you’re probably starting to consider the goals and dreams you’d like to pursue in the New Year. Maybe you’re visualizing the person you want to be, reflecting on what you hope to accomplish, and strategizing about everything you need to do (and stop doing) to finally feel happy with your life. Most of us spend our lives chasing happiness, checking accomplishments and milestones off a life to-do list, as if each pen stroke brings us one step closer to bliss. Except that’s not how it works. And that’s why most of us never find that elusive happiness we’re all seeking: We focus on all the things we think we need to acquire or achieve instead of looking within and figuring out what’s really holding us back. The unresolved traumas, the core wounds, the limiting beliefs—all the mental and emotional hurdles that keep us down and stuck. It’s easier to foc...

“Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself.” ~Coco Chanel I believed I was ugly and blamed it on my dark skin. I hated my skin color. Looking back, I realized it’s because I didn’t fit in with the white kids, nor did I fit in with the black kids. I am mixed race. I have a black father and a white mother. Until I started school, I never considered myself different. My family and I were close, and I felt love and acceptance. When I started second grade, I developed a crush on a boy, who never noticed me and fawned over the pretty blonde girl in class. She was beautiful, with springy blonde curls and a soft, feminine voice. She wore colorful dresses that enhanced her beauty. I felt drab and plain next to her. Thus, began my dislike of my dark, frizzy afro. As I grew older, the name calling occurred. I was called zebra, Oreo, and n*gger. I spent a lot of my youth in tears. I wish I could say that it got easier as I grew older. I grew envious of the blonde girls, who caught t...