Day 2 - "30 Day Gratitude Challenge"

Day 2: Today I am grateful for being different - unconventional? - and therefore for having the day off to indulge in "Chinese New Year" (Lunar New Year) traditions and festivities.

It's great being a part of two different cultures.  Growing up in Australia, I embrace being an Australian - like hanging out at the beach, but I am also a part of a Chinese heritage, so to fully embrace that - I get to celebrate another New Year!  Essentially I get two 'New Year's' in one year!  How awesome is that?!?

I don't always have the first day of 'Chinese New Year' off, so I'm grateful that it worked out that way. I got to follow some traditions like visiting my parents at their home and had lunch with them and over-indulge in plenty of food!!  It was an extra bonus that my brother and (soon to be) wife happen to be there while I was visiting, but being married now, it's my turn to be giving of red packets instead of receiving - but who doesn't like BEING GIVING anyway? :)

Day 1 - "30 day Gratitude Challenge"

Today is Day 1 of my 30 day Gratitude Challenge! Very excited!!

Day 1: today I am grateful for all those who are and have been supporting my

Blog and Facebook inspiration page since it's existence last September 2013. 

Thanks to all the friends and family who are reading my blog posts, liking my inspiration pictures and sharing it with your friends, family, network or community. 

The other day I put a post up that reached so many people, people I didn't even know! That really made my day!! Super happy! :) So I would also like to Thank all the random beautiful people I don't even know who I get to share with and inspire each day and continue to like my posts :)

Thanks to my mentors along my life's journey (you know who you are!) who have guided me to find my passions and start this very blog! 

The 30 day Gratitude Challenge

With the New Lunar year soon approaching in a couple of days - the year of the Horse - it's a time to sweep out the old and welcome in the new. So why not enter the new year cultivating the habit of BEING GRATEFUL? 

I've decided to do a 30 day Gratitude Challenge - starting tomorrow - the day before the New Lunar Year, so that it carries on into the new year. The end of the 30 days will also bring us to the end of summer (in Australia!), which will give us another great opportunity of reflection on the challenge when Autumn arrives!

I would like to invite you to play with me by also joining in on this "30 day Gratitude Challenge"! You can either join/Like the Happy Being Felicia Facebook page (www.facebook.com/happybeingfelicia) and post each day something that you are grateful for or comment on each blog post as I blog for the next 30 days sharing with you what I am grateful for myself.

This is going to be a fun challenge and I'm very excited!! 

Happy Dayz! :)

Healthy Body and Mind

It's a bit of an Oprah inspiration week!

I, for one, know what it's like and what happens to my well-being when I'm not feeding or fueling my body with healthy food. It's what keeps the balance and adds to your moods. 

A couple of years ago, I started on this exercise path and got myself a personal trainer. I wasn't overweight or anything (I'm just pregnant at the moment! haha..), but I certainly needed the motivation to exercise and keep it up. A walk here or a yoga class there wasn't really cutting it. Especially as I got older, it just seems harder to maintain that once-youthful-body! What I didn't expect was learning the benefits and VALUE of 'clean eating' and about all the amazing raw organic foods that surround us and the difference it made for me.

As I mindfully cut out more 'refined' sugar from my regular diet (I'm not perfect, so yes, I indulge now and again!), I certainly noticed the difference when I have been eating crap. In fact, I can probably say, when I eat the 'cheap'-not-so-good-for-you-chocolate, I become this sugar addict! When I've had too much sugar, I feel sluggish, I want to exercise less and you can probably see this downward spiral.... feeling sorry for yourself yet?

How our MOODS can change. Have you ever noticed that about yourself?  It's all about CHOICES.

It's a balance. And I believe it's equally important to nourish not only the mind but the body as well. The two really just go hand in hand together!  It's amazing when you get the two into flow :)

Having a healthy body, puts us into a much better state of BEING.

Being MINDFUL about what you're eating and fuelling your body with yummy wholesome food will allow you to be more in tune with your body. How your body responds will tell you a thing or two that may need some attention!

Perhaps the reason why you might love that milk chocolate or ice cream so much and just want to have more and more might just be that you've got a sugar addiction too! Or perhaps just notice if you're a fast or slow eater...it's the little things that you become aware of that will allow you to make the changes you need to improve your overall well-being. 

HEALTHY BODY = HAPPY MIND! 

Happy Mind = Happy Life!

What are you eating right now?

(found on Make Your Life Amazing)

Personal Responsibility

I absolutely LOVE this!

Oprah is definitely one of my many inspirations :)  and she couldn't have said it better.  

How often might you be putting the blame on someone else?  (saying it's not your fault?). Perhaps you're not being responsible for your own feelings?  Do you complain or make excuses for something unpleasant happening?  or have excuses why something hasn't  happened yet?  Perhaps you play the victim... ALOT!? "bad things always happen to me....".  If ANY of these things sound familiar - then you're definitely not taking any personal responsibility!

I'm not perfect.  I will admit to the fact that I too am not always BEING PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE for my actions, reactions and outcomes - but when I don't, where do you think does that leave me? Downright unhappy! I feel out of control and powerless.

Just the other day, my husband pointed out to me how I wasn't being personally responsible for my response (I was blaming someone here...) - I just loved that he did that, because it made me step up in that moment, reassess what I had just said and gave me another opportunity to change - for the better :)  Take action and make the decision to BE personally responsible.

It sure does take practice - but a little bit of mindfulness will help along the way ;) Go on! Take some responsibility! Be personally responsible for YOUR actions, what you do in your life, your intentions, the way you react in a situation, respond in a conversation, the outcomes and what you attract.  

By practising being responsible for ourselves, we also have to remember, we are not responsible for others. How someone reacts or acts, is their decision, if someone gets upset by something you said (so long as you said it with good intentions), you are not responsible for their feelings.  They CHOOSE to feel that way. If you try to be responsible for someone else, you actually allowing them not to be personally responsible for themselves!  Think about that.... you allow them to play the victim again and again and you begin to burden yourselves with other people's problems - and where would that leave you?

When you learn to take some personal responsibility, you'll soon realise you have so many more choices - after all YOU are responsible for your own HAPPINESS!  

We become more accepting and we begin to forgive ourselves and others, thus creating more love around us. We learn to let go of things we can't control and everything becomes EEEEASY!!! :)

Would love to hear your personal stories on how you're taking some personal responsibility, so please feel free to comment below!

Perfectly Imperfect

With each new year, usually comes some sort of 'New Year's resolution', some sort of goal or challenge - it made me wonder why we do this?  Is it because we are (subconsciously) unhappy with the way our lives are already?  Or do we just need a new challenge in life?  Are we striving for perfection?

I'm am one guilty human being when it comes to the topic of perfection!  Along my own life journey, I've come to realise, I used to try to make things in my life 'perfect', I unconsciously AIM for perfection - but WHY?  

I soon came to realise, something my dad used to always say to me when I was growing up, yet little did I know how it would affect me years later playing it out unconsciously as I lived my life. Whether it was the piano lessons, the maths test or whatever it may be, he used to quote "Practice makes Perfect". 

Now that I'm much more aware of what was happening in my little head - I've had to learn (and am still learning) how to UN-DO that.  Because for me, perfect doesn't exist.  We're all beautifully, perfectly IMPERFECT human beings!

Aiming for perfection can create a certain expectation and sometimes if/when we don't reach those expectations, then we get disappointed.  Because when we get to 'perfect', we then go on to try harder to be better than what was, to become even MORE perfect!  Silly isn't it? :)

Why not have your New Year's challenge be aiming for progress? - it's like telling your little subconscious mind, you're happy with loving the journey and not the destination!

It's All About Perspective

Holidays are a great way to relax and unwind from ones busy normal everyday life. But another thing holidays are good for, especially when visiting a new culture, is to put things into PERSPECTIVE. 

Seeing and experiencing different cultures around the world allows me to put my life in perspective. To make me realise I have it good! In fact, I have it GREAT! 

I do what I feel I need to do in order to live a great life - we're all responsible for the outcome and HAPPINESS of our own BEING and life.

Comparing yourself to others can make you feel less empowered and miserable, just makes you unhappy. Especially if you're comparing yourself to what you're not or what you don't have.

What if, you compared yourself to others in a way that would have you create more appreciation of your own life instead? Wouldn't that make you change perspective and realise that your world is probably a whole lot better than you thought it was?

The moment you find yourself feeling upset, unhappy, cranky etc because you have compared yourself to another or others. Stop. Think about all you have instead - that you have food on the table, a roof over your head, or maybe you live near the beach or the fact you can afford to go on that beach holiday - change your perspective! 

One thing I've also learnt is that if your parent, partner, friend or whoever else is comparing you to others - you don't need to worry what they think, that's their perspective. You have your own. What you think of yourself is all that TRUELY MATTERS!  :)

Appreciate the Little Things

Being on holidays in Mexico has given me a little bit more appreciation for the little things - the things we already have in Australia that perhaps many of us might take for granted, such as perfectly safe drinking water or beautiful clean beaches of Sydney.

In Mexico, it's advised not to drink the water. Not even the locals drink it! There are other countries in the world similar where the water is not necessarily safe to drink or to even brush your teeth! Yet how many of us are actually grateful or mindful for safe drinking water each day? Or other little things in our life?

I find, the more often I have appreciation or am grateful for the little things in my life, the more happiness that I feel and create.

What little thing could you be more appreciative of today? It sounds like such a simple little act, yet it can bring great rewards. 

Happy Dayz! :)

Be Kind to Yourself

I picked this beautiful inspiration from a past Deepak Chopra & Oprah meditation challenge.

Currently holidaying in Mexico, we've found the local people to be so friendly and welcoming. Do you find when people give and you receive, you can't help but want to give back?

We know the experience of feeling and receiving unconditional love, such as a parent to a child or a husband to his wife. But are we aware of when or how we give unconditional love? And what about unconditional love to ourselves?

There certainly have been moments in the past where my self-talk (you know, the voice inside your head or the conversations you have with yourself?), hasn't always been the most positive or loving or kind. 

I make a promise to myself to practice meditation daily, but what if I've skipped a day or even a few days in between practices for whatever reason? What would you do? Do you beat yourself up? Be hard on yourself or tell yourself you suck or are hopeless? Or can you be kind to yourself and just let the situation go and whatever is, just BE?

I firstly had to learn to create some self-awareness of when I might beat myself up or put myself down for not achieving or doing or living up to my own intentions or expectations. Creating that awareness then made me become aware that it's equally important to be kind to ourselves and allow ourself to make a mistake now and again. We are all humans BEINGS after all and imprefect in every beautiful way - we too need to give oursleves a little UNCONDITONAL self-LOVE. 

At the moment, my body is rapidly changing with my pregnancy. Now if I look at myself in a mirror and might say, OMG, I'm looking a bit fat/big/huge... if I do, I can quickly CHOOSE to stop myself from thinking that way, CHANGE my MINDSET and express some unconditional love towards myself - choose to love being pregnant and admire at how my baby is growing instead. Amazing what shift that makes. Might even put a smile on your face :)

The more we give ourselves a little self-love, the more we are also able to create more unconditional love to give AND feel/receive unconditional love back. If you're not feeling the love, why not start with you first? :) 

Imagine how much happier you could be feeling!

Finding Inner Balance

For ages I've been trying to obtain a "balanced lifestyle" - I'd done some personal work with my mentor, Mia Munro, who asked me to define what BALANCE meant for me.

What does Balance mean for you?

For me, it was about having the right amount of juggle - between work and lifestyle, friends vs. family vs. me time vs. us time (relaxing time with hubby). Finding the right balance of "busy-ness" to "relaxation" time.  All sounds grand, right? But when you sit down to work out how much time in the day vs. the week vs. the year, how are you ever to really know and work out how balanced you are or can be?

So then I discovered that Balance for me, was a FEELING.  So long as I felt like my life was balanced, then it was - the feeling of complete calm, centredness, wholeness.  I knew I was 'out-of-balance' when life was feeling a little too kaotic - where there was too much busy-ness and not enough me time or time out.

One day, I was attending a yoga classes at Dharma Shala (Bondi) and the lightbulb went off! I love Anna's classes - she has an emphasis on mindfulness and the breath during our yoga practice. She described BALANCE as a moment. I had one of those AH-HA moments!!!

Balance can be achieved at any time, and is only ever found in a moment. 

We can find balance whenever we want. We can create balance at any time. It's only ever in a moment. Knowing that, for me, means I can make a choice. I can CHOOSE to be balanced in that present moment - any moment, really! :)

And haven't you ever felt that when your life feels balanced - life just seems all that much easier and happier?  :)

Happy Dayz!!

Head or Heart?

I took this photo at Bondi's Sculptures By the Sea which happens in November every year and runs over two weeks.  What I love about it, is how our brains are confused because it's a STOP sign, yet our clever little brains can make out the word START with the few letters that appear...  so is it a start or stop sign?

Sometimes our heads say one thing, yet our hearts say another - and then confusion or frustration might set in.  Ever happen to you?

My head tells me to write something super positive, yet my heart says, just tell the TRUTH and the rest will flow.  So that's what I'm going to do!

Like everyone, I'm not perfect.  That's the simple truth. I'm human after all!

Last week seemed rather challenging.  Anything that could go wrong, did. If I could be late for something like work or an appointment, I was. If I could give my husband the shits, I gave it to him. If I could feel emotions - which I did, I cried.  I think I cried at least once a day last week!

I would say I'm a glass-half-full rather than a glass-half-empty kinda gal. More so, I do my best to keep my glass topped up and that's when I know I'm really congruent as everything flows easily and effortlessly! Life feels GREAT! But like most people, I don't always have uplifting days - that's just life.

Upon reflection of last weeks antics, however, I realised that it's because I created my daily habits and rituals (even if it meant I would run late for an appointment!) - that allowed me to come out alright in the end.  Sometimes we just need to trust the process. What I know for sure, when I'm faced with a lot of challenges all at once, it can only mean that a change is a coming!!!

Here's what I do to keep me going:

* Daily meditation - it seemed the latest Oprah & Deepak meditation came at the right time!  I was certainly going through some personal challenges and the challenges that the meditation practice brought - Desire & Destiny - definitely CHALLENGED me!  It also allowed me to get some clarity, for example, one of the days I was able to label "frustration" and that's what was going on for me at the time.  Each day is different, as is each moment.

*Gratitude Journal - there is nothing more that helps me to get me out of a rut of downward spiralling of unhealthy thoughts than to write in my gratitude journal.  It allows me to keep being a loving human being.  It allows me to be focused on the good things in life so that I can attract and be given more of that greatness from the universe.

* Contributing to my blog and Facebook page and allow myself to be inspire by other people's pages and blogs of a similar 'happy' theme

* Present moments - Have you ever noticed your thoughts? When you're shitty at someone, do you keep thinking negative thoughts and complain and whinge about that person or do you stop yourself and start to be grateful for the lessons they might be giving you instead?  It's important to STOP everyone once in a while throughout the day and just be fully present.  Take a DEEP BREATH!  

Amazing what a simple little act like taking a deep breath can do for you and to clear the head!  Whenever I became present, I learnt lessons in those 'difficult' moments.  Lessons of personal responsibility, more letting go (of control) that I needed to do and to just allow whatever it is to JUST BE.

Ahhhh... peace :)

Celebrate!

It was my mum's birthday on the weekend - Happy Birthday Mum!!

It reminded me about how much I love celebrating my birthday and birthdays in general - I mean, why wouldn't you want to celebrate the birth of your being? Your coming into this world? It's a special day to celebrate YOU!

So it made me think of celebration in general...

How often do you celebrate?  And I don't mean just a birthday or promotion. Do you ever stop to think, I'm going to take a moment and celebrate what I've achieved in my life over the years. Have you acknowledged and celebrated what you've ever done over the year?  or even in the past few months?

I've found for me, that when I stop to reflect, acknowledge and 'celebrate' what I've accomplished so far - there's a little wave of happiness, of contentment, of love and of my life that I've chosen to live it the way I want to live it.  Sometimes we get so busy of achieving, achieving, achieving, looking to gain the next step and then the next.  Then we might get frustrated about why we're not getting to our next goal, when sometimes, we need to just stop and celebrate a little for what we've already done.

It can be really simple.  Today, I'm going to celebrate this blog - my little space of 'personal space and inspiration'.  I had been thinking of wanting to do it for so long, then I finally did and then I shared it! WOW!!! What an impact it made for me.  And even today - I'm going to celebrate that I finally got around to setting up my facebook fanpage for my blog - it's finally done! I'm happy I've done it, I'm able to cross it off the "To-Do list" and be happy it's one less thing that my mind has to consider.

And since I'm pregnant, I unfortunately can't pop open the bottle of champagne - but that's my point.  Celebration doesn't mean you have to go out and party.  It's just a little something for you, to create a little more happiness in your life.

What are you going to celebrate in your life today?

Smile!

I love the simplicity of this quote! Doesn't it just make you smile? :)

Sometimes we just need to simplify our lives to be happier. The only ones who complicate it, are us. Ourselves. Numero Uno.

What could you simplify in your life today? Tomorrow? It could be a thing, a task, a habit? Could it be to declutter? Let go of certain people who cause more pain than joy? Eat raw food so you don't have to cook?

Maybe just have a cupcake and be happy with that ;)

You Are Your Thoughts - Think HAPPY Thoughts!

When we're ill or when situations aren't going as we had expected, it's best to stay positive by thinking about all the things that could go right. 

I have learnt that our unconscious mind is fascinating and that our thoughts can sometimes bring about just that - that the universe responds to our thoughts and gives us what we 'unconsciously' think about. 

There's a saying "You are what you think about all day long". 

It's so important in certain situations to, yes, acknowledge your feelings, perhaps of fear, but more importantly to let go of that and think differently. 

Reflect on the good in your life, be grateful that you are surrounded by loving people who care about you, trust the amazing doctors out there who are an expert in their field to look after you. 

Trust yourself, be intuitive to your body. Rest up because you intuitively know it needs it, don't resist. BE trusting to the experts who might examine you. Accept this moment and allow whatever happens to happen. Whatever you resist will persist. 

Just remember, think happy positive thoughts and trust you will pull through :)

Healthy Habits - Meditation Tips

What are you doing right now?  Right this second - ok, silly question... you're reading my blog.

Here's the thing - there are many ways to meditate. We just sometimes get stuck on a particular idea of how to do it, get overwhelmed and then never start.  The key is just to get started!  ACT NOW :)  It may just change your life.....

I'm no meditation guru, but I've certainly tried out a few techniques. I'll share them with you and hope it gives you some ideas to get started. It's not hard and anyone can do it.  

Best tip is to choose a time of day that you can do it each day such as first thing in the morning or perhaps at night before bed.  Whenever it is, choose to commit.  It's like brushing your teeth - make it a "won't forget to do it" habit or a "non-negotiable". Oh, and find a quiet comfy space you call yours. 

As I mentioned in my last post, meditating for an hour didn't fit my lifestyle, so I had to find something that did. Meditation need only take 10-15mins. Surely you can find that amount of time and if not, here's an idea - when you go to the toilet, just stay there a bit longer!  :)

1. ok, for those who don't think you can sit down and actually do the act of meditating, look at meditation this way - it's just a way to create mindfulness and keeping in the present moment.
   
   Pick something you do purely from habit each day, like brush your teeth or your must-have coffee.  Do nothing else but notice yourself brushing your teeth.  Don't think of what you have to do that day or what you're going to wear. Just stay present and notice what you're doing - which side do you start brushing your teeth? Is it the same everyday? How long do you brush each tooth for? Do you start with the front? the back? Brush back and forth or up and down? What does your tongue do? How long can you hold toothpaste in your mouth until the taste starts to disappear?
   
2. Another way is that you can choose a mantra.  My first yoga teacher taught us one to use - "so hum".  You breathe in (quietly say) "so", breathe out "hum" - easy right?
   
   This allows you to not think of anything else BUT those words. Alternatively you can focus on your breathe, maybe count each breath when you breathe in and if thoughts get in the way, you just start again. Time yourself for 15mins.
   
3. Want a guided meditation? Oprah & Deepak teamed up earlier this year and have had two releases of a 21 day "meditation challenge".
   
   Guess what?  You're in luck!  They are doing another one!!!!  Who's excited?  It starts in 11 days on 11th November - enough time for you to procrastinate ;)  Here's the link to the next one:  https://chopracentermeditation.com/
   (you can purchase the other two which I also loved doing!).
   
   These too only go for 15mins.

Have fun with it! ENJOY!!  If you think it's easy, then it will be! And RELAX! :)