I am not my body…

Last week was one of those weeks where I lived in frustration again with my own body.

Complaining to myself that I have nothing to wear, following my “unexplained” weight gain….obsessing over minor aches and pains I had….feeling nauseous from medicines I took …. and the list goes on.

Just in general not a happy camper…very frustrated with my body and how not-perfect it was….

That off course made my whole life seem miserable and nothing was good enough anymore.

That was until I met Stephanie Nielsen.

I did not meet her in person…but I was reading a book review on someone’s blog and noted a small icon on the right sidebar…I clicked and it landed me on her blog,  NieNie Dialogues.

I watched the video on her blog …and then I cried.

I cried for her burns. I cried for her courage. I cried for her children.

And then I spent the rest of the evening reading through her blog and archives to even before her accident.

I felt ashamed about my complaints – having a perfectly healthy body and pretending like I have it so bad…

But, more importantly I felt so inspired by her. She has no choice now but to live in her new body, but she started blogging 3 years before her accident…and then she did have a choice to make – to be happy or unhappy. And everything I read points to the fact that she lived life in full and in gratitude before this happened. Her zest for life and her love for her husband was just simply incredible.

I watched the clip and what struck me most was ” I am not my body”. I want to never forget that again.

My mind has been with Stephanie so much this past week…and I want you to meet her too. So, I share her story here today and hope that you too can learn from her. You can watch more videos on her blog, especially the one with her four children and their Blue Lily photo shoot. It is just divine.

 

Take care

Ilze

Good advice

Last week my daughter had surgery.  It was minor. For me – a big deal.

Seeing your little one being pushed into theatre makes all sorts of things go through your head.

I think it makes you slow down a little bit and it makes you think more.

About life and how you live it, what you have and what you take for granted, what is important and what will be  more important in future. Yes, it definitely makes you ponder on things a little bit more than on your ordinary day.

You cut out all the other things for a while and focus on the one thing at hand…

Untill it is done. Successfully. And you are relieved. Very relieved that all went well.

During this process I went to get a coffee at one of my favourite shops and noticed this sign on the wall.

On another day it may have gone by unnoticed.

But that day, I noticed.

It made me stop.

It made me think long after I left the place.

It made me want to follow their advice.

I think you would like it too…

It is good advice.

It sounds simple.

But it says A LOT……

Here is to a happy, simple life. I am certainly going to strive for that.

I have a problem saying no to nonsense..how about you? I am going to work on that…

But hey – if all else fail – I guess we can all keep up the smile – part ?!

Have a happy day everyone.

Ilze

Sometimes we need a little push….or is it a BIG one?!

I am a late entry to the world of blogging. Wayyyyyy behind the rest of the world?? …….I know.

Anyway – better late than never.

It is a perfect medium to share with the world out there.

Inviting others to share your inner space of thinking is a cool way for inspiring ideas to get around the globe.

But it is not all that easy to clearly communicate what you wish to say or portray.

I stumbled upon Holly Becker’s  blog a couple of weeks ago – yes, I can not even recall HOW that happened…but boy, am I happy I did…..!!
Besides the blog immediately catching my eye …and KEEPING it there for quite a while !!!……it also happened to be on the last day for sign-ups on an e-course for blogging. PERFECT !!

If EVER you need to do a course – pick this one: BLOGGING YOUR WAY !  It is superb!!!!

It has inspired me GREATLY so far… and ALL the credits for any good things you will find on this blog in the future to come , will have to go to these 2 wonderful girls who is making it all happen for our class over the internet. Holly from http://decor8blog.com  and Leslie from http://acreativemint.typepad.com . Their blogs are simply amazing.

I still have a LOT to figure out …(like how to get the links to their sites work perfectly and get a nice picture up for them?!) ….

For that I take full accountability and will accredit none of the mistakes I make to them..as they have only taught us wonderful, inspirational ways of creating the best blogs ever!

It is all new to me but I am exciteda about this BIG push that I got into the blogging world – I have needed that to finally get going.