Choices: How Do You Choose to Live Your Life?

Posted by mylife1blog on January 28, 2013
Posted in: Inspiration, Life, Personal Development, Psychology, Relationships. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Today I choose to be better than I was yesterday.

I choose to make the rest of my life as the best of my life. 

I choose to be happy. 

I choose to be peaceful. 

I choose to be ambitious. 

I choose to focus on what is important. 

I choose to be the best mother I can be. 

I choose to be the best wife I can be. 

I choose to love and surround myself with love. 

I choose to forgive. 

I choose to let go of the past. 

I choose to make my life what I want it to be. 

I choose to have hope. 

I choose to think positively. 

I choose to love myself. 

I choose to help others. 

I choose to dream. 

I choose to take responsibility for myself.

I choose to only worry about my own life. 

I choose to be healthy.

I choose to be successful.

How do you choose to live your life?

 

Critical Thinking: The Uncommon Practice

Posted by mylife1blog on January 23, 2013
Posted in: Life, Personal Development, Psychology. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 3 comments

Why has most of our society given up on critical thinking? Why is it such an uncommon practice? Is it easier to take someone at face value and not look into things a little further yourself? 

I love thinking critically. Ask questions, find facts, don’t take people’s opinions as being the absolute truth. What’s wrong with doing that? I think it’s the wisest way to be. I have every right to question anything I want, so I do.

There is a great quote:

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” -Volitaire

It’s scary, yet true. All too often you see followers behind one person who are believing absurdities. They continue to follow without asking, just following blindly – believing. We have witnessed it numerous time in history, politics, life. Sad.

Are you currently following anyone blindly? Believing things you may actually question? Don’t ignore your gut feelings. Ask, challenge, be critical. It’s a safe and healthy way to live your life. Why would you let one person lead to down a path in life blindly without thinking critically for yourself? It’s your responsibility to take care of yourself. Don’t let this be based on someone’s opinion. Be more open-minded, evaluate and challenge the situation or the person.

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Critical thinking provides us with explanation and understanding. Critical thinking helps us to form answers that are logical, clear, accurate – things “make sense”. This also helps us to think about things on our own terms and avoid being manipulated by others. Critical thinking will help you develop control over your thought process that is beneficial in understanding yourself and others. Take the time to evaluate before you believe. 

Stop and think.

Life is on track: Right where I’m meant to be

Posted by mylife1blog on January 19, 2013
Posted in: Inspiration, Life, Personal Development. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 3 comments

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Have you ever got that feeling that your life is exactly where it’s supposed to be? I had that moment yesterday as I was driving. I took this picture, it’s what made me think of my life: at one point it was in somewhat of a fog, not knowing where I was heading and not feeling like I was on the right track. Now, I feel like things are right where they are meant to be. I’m 30 years old, I have a loving and supportive husband, our son has been the most amazing gift imaginable, we both have good jobs, a home that is so cozy and ours, with lots of family and friends in our life and we are healthy. A new business opportunity has fallen at my feet thanks to a great new friend of mine and the sky is the limit! I love feeling like things are on track and right where they are meant to be, but it takes work. Dedication to foresee where you want to be in life and a plan to work towards how you are going to get there. Anything is possible. Are you clear on what you want your life to look like? What are your priorities? What is your plan?

It’s never too late to get your life on track. It’s a new year, a new chapter. Change your thoughts, change your world!

Thank you for reading my blog and living life forward with me :)

Actions and Words: Do They Match Your Feelings?

Posted by mylife1blog on January 18, 2013
Posted in: Inspiration, Life, Personal Development, Psychology, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

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Why is it so hard to say or show how you are feeling? Have you ever taken the time to notice when people say the word “but”? The way it is used a lot of times basically discredits anything that was said prior. For example, if someone said to you:

“You are a really great friend to me, BUT I just don’t trust you.” – Truth, you can’t have a really great friend that you don’t trust.

” I was going to buy that shirt, BUT I don’t like the color.” – Why wouldn’t you just say, I don’t like the color of that shirt?

I hear people use the word “but” all the time. I basically dismiss the first thing they said and just go with whatever they said after the “but”. Try it out!

Why do we so often say things we don’t mean, or smile when we are sad. Trust me, I speak from experience on that one! I was completely called out by someone one day when I was telling them something that was quite sad. While I told them the story, I was smiling. They asked me if I realized I was smiling as I told them something that was not something to smile about. I didn’t notice – I was used to smiling and putting on that face to everyone while things weren’t great to speak of. I am very aware now of being true to how I am feeling. It takes time to be conscious of how you are acting.

Did you ever notice that those who smile the most are often the ones hiding the most hurt? Or see someone lash out in anger when you know what they are really feeling is pain or sadness? This can be the case sometimes. People use different emotions to hide what they may be really feeling. Be aware of how your act and the way you are feeling. Do they reflect one another?

The best feeling in the world is know that your actions match your feelings. Be true to yourself.

Daily Prompt: In a Crisis

Posted by mylife1blog on January 17, 2013
Posted in: Children, Daily Prompt, Life, Parenting. Tagged: , , , , , , . 6 comments

Daily Prompt: Honestly evaluate the way you respond to crisis situations. Are you happy with the way you react?

Honestly, I haven’t been in many crisis situations lately. The one that comes to mind was when my son went into a febrile seizure brought on by a fever of 105.2 (or 40.7C). At the time I didn’t know what was happening. I didn’t know if he would have brain damage. I didn’t know if he would survive. I didn’t know what was going to happen in the next minute, let alone the future. The only thing I knew was something was terribly wrong with my 14 month old son and I was a 30 minute drive away from the hospital.

My initial response was to panic – but I didn’t. My heart was racing, my body was numb. I wanted to scream, even jump out of my skin if I could. In a quick second I realized doing these things would not help the situation. The last thing I wanted to do was scare my son anymore than he already was (even though I’m not even sure if he was aware of what was going on). His seizure wasn’t a typical seizure you would expect. He went into a “trance” if you will, staring blankly with his body limp and twitching every few seconds. It was terrifying.

I placed him in the car, my mother in the backseat with him and drove. As I drove, I called 911. I eventually met up with an ambulance approximately 15-20 minutes later. I have posted the detailed story below.

Am I happy with the way I reacted? In this case – yes. However, I do not know how I would react in other situations. I applaud those who work in crisis situations daily – police officers, fire fighters, medical responders, nurses, doctors and so many others who work in careers that they experience this all too often. I commend the work they do, it takes a special person to learn to deal with crisis situations on an ongoing basis. We are lucky to have so many people who commit their lives to helping others.

Reference Articles:

Febrile Seizure: The Scariest Moments of My Life

Daily Prompt: In a Crisis

My Life Has Been Taken Over: Thomas & Friends

Posted by mylife1blog on January 16, 2013
Posted in: Children, Family, Parenting, Uncategorized. Tagged: , . 4 comments

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Having my son has introduced me to a whole new world, most of it very exciting and interesting.. and then there is Thomas the Train. At first I was quite amused that my son was so interested in a train and a few of his friends. I assumed there were a few main characters along with Thomas, like Edward, Henry, Percy, James, Gordon, oh and let’s not forget Harold the helicopter! I was wrong to assume there was only a few. I’m pretty sure there are over 100 characters and my son knows most of their names (at the age of 17 months!).

For any of you with children obsessed with Thomas & Friends, I know you can relate. Just the other day I spent almost 15 minutes discussing train engines and other characters of the Island of Sodar with a co-worker. I kid you not – we both have little boys who love Thomas. A few years ago I didn’t know Thomas existed, and now my life somewhat revolves around Thomas, and numerous other trains.

My son can say quite a few words – but most importantly, he can say most of the character names on Thomas & Friends. It’s true, I hear them from the time he wakes up in the morning, until he goes to bed. My son also has a train in each hand during most of the day. Every picture the daycare sends me has him sporting a train in his hand. He was never one to be attached to a blanket or anything, but his attachment to trains has certainly taken over our lives!

I can’t count the number of trains we now own, or Thomas related products for that matter. We have Thomas clothes, Thomas dinnerware, Thomas cups, Thomas tracks, Thomas Thomas costumes, Thomas DVD’s, Thomas books, and most importantly our PVR is full of endless TV shows of Thomas. I don’t see what all the craze is about, but here I am day after day watching these trains with my son!

He has a lot of the die-cast metal trains hat are magnetized. For Christmas he got a wooden track, it is so nice – but it only fits the wooden trains. Seriously!? The tracks had to be a different size for different trains? So a week after Christmas, what do I do? I do what any crazy mother would do – I go on a hunt for wooden trains for my son. eBay was my best friend for a few weeks. I actually thought I was becoming addicted to bidding on trains. This is what my life has become, taken over by trains. I now have enough wooden trains to get though the next year for gifts including Easter, his Birthday and Christmas. Sounds crazy? Yeah, I know. If you have a child obsessed with Thomas, I know you have been here before and can completely relate.

Anyway, I gotta go for now – Thomas is just about to start!! ;)

Sticking the dye-cast magnetic trains to the metal hinge on the chest. Just another great thing you can do with Thomas and Friends!!

Sticking the dye-cast magnetic trains to the metal hinge on the chest. Just another great thing you can do with Thomas and Friends!!