Keys To A Cozy Simple Life

You can listen to this podcast episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdLuB-3v5bg

As the year 2020 is coming to an end, we are spending time preparing ourselves for Christmas and the New Year. We are taking time to slow down, reflect, and review this unusual year. The year 2020 has served us with unforgettable moments that we desire to bury, but we realize embracing a simple cozy life for 2021 may be the cure.

When I went to the dictionary, the word simple is defined as easily understood or done, presenting no difficulty. I think we can all agree 2020 had enough problems to serve us a lifetime of discomfort. However, when life gives us uncomfortable moments, we know that ease is on the way. And finding ways to live a comfortable, simple life can bring us peace, joy, and gratitude.

Below I am giving five essentials ways to begin to live a better life by embracing the Danish concept of Hygge; less is more and other essential elements to living a comfortable, simple life.

• Embrace a Hygge Life: In 2017, I stumble upon the Danish phrase hygge (pronounce hoo-ga) and it change my life especially during the holiday season. I began to research this concept and found a book by Louisa Thomsen Brits called The Book of Hygge . The book help me unlock the idea of creating a slower life filled with contentment.

• Practice Gratitude: When you are grateful for what you have you will realize how abundant you are. (book reference: The Magic by Rhonda Byrne)
• Set Boundaries: Know what you will & will not accept then make adjustments. Setting boundaries will give you a peace of mind.
• Be okay with pivoting: When things don’t go as plan you have to learn how to adjust and go in a different direction. Pivoting teaches you the art of moving forward despite the circumstances.
• Simplify to uncomplicate: Get clear on who you want to be, where you want to be and how you want to feel in your life. Then add, subtract and multiply all the necessary elements to uncomplicate your relationships & life.

When you embrace these five concepts, I believe you will start to move towards a cozy simple life!

The Joy of Minding Your Own Business…

Have you ever found yourself helping everyone else, trying to fix everyone’s life, or obsessed with controlling what other people do? If so, you have a terrible case of minding other people’s business. There have been plenty of times I found myself trying to be a therapist, life coach, or psychologist to grown adults. My mission was to be the “fixer” in everyone else life instead of tending to my garden. However, I realize I needed to stop being a trash can for other people’s issues. In the end, I was creating codependent relationships.

In my journey of self-evolution and self-discovery, I have found it refreshing to stay focus on my own life. Staying focusing on my own life has helped me work on my relationship with myself. I have become more conscientious of the things that I can expand in my world. Learning to love my life and myself has given me the grace to let go of the thoughts or ideas of worrying about what other people think about me or what they may be doing. When you begin to mind your own business, you will feel lighter. It takes enough energy trying to cope with your life, adding other people’s issues to the equation causes chaos.

I am still on this journey of minding my own business and becoming the best version of myself. It is not an overnight process but a day to day evolution. Worrying about what others are doing, what people think about me, trying to gain people’s acceptance or validation is a waste of time. When you become connected to your inner world and start creating a life you love other people, life will no longer be a concern.

Below are three ways on how you can elegantly enjoy minding your own business:

1. Disconnect. Unplugging from social media or putting your phone on do not disturb is a great way to focus on the most important person which is…YOU!
2. Create a life you love. If you are proactive in producing a life you love, you will have less time being consume with other people’s life. You can find a hobby, write a list of all the things you are passionate about or the things you always desire to do.
3. Drown Out The Noise: Other people’s opinions about who you are, your life and what you do is not your concern. When you know who you are and what you do then other people’s perception is not relevant.

 

 

 

5 Tips To Making Life’s Lemons Into Sweet Lemonade!

Sometimes when life throws lemons at you it is hard to  make lemonade. You try to keep a smile on your face while everything around you seems to crumble under your feet. I understand what it feels like to transition through the rough times in life.

In the last eight years since I lived down south I have been doing my best to make lemonade out of the bitter lemons. However, this year has been another defining year of transitioning through traumatic events. When my father passed away this April I felt a sense of hopelessness. I wanted the storms of life to come to a screeching halt but they kept raging. I had to deal with other God forsaken events as the spring shifted into summer. However, in the month of July I have truly reached my breaking point and decided to get away from it all.

When I decided to take some time away I gained a sense of clarity. It help me come back with a sense of peace and direction for the next move I needed to take in my life. I started to understand rough times in life help you grow. However, you have to be willing to take the lemons and use them to gain a greater advantage in life. Lemons may be sour but the bitter moments make life a little bit sweeter.

You may wonder, how can you make lemonade out of the bitter lemons of life? Well below are a couple life tips I learn through my lemonade experience.

1. Breathe. When you go through rough times in your life take time to step back and just breathe.

2. Give Yourself The Time You Deserve. After my father passed I did not feel like I needed to rush through the grieving process. I am still taking the needed time to process through the pain. It is important to give yourself all the time and attention you need to get through the storm.

3. Be Alone. Sometimes you need to be alone to gain clarity so you can get direction on how to move through your rough patch. It is important to be alone to be honest with how you feel about all the things going on in your life.

4. Cry. Crying is a great sign of releasing the stress. Do not feel like you have to be stoic because God gave us emotions to express freely. So allow your self to be a human being.

5. Get Away From It All. Sometimes your environment can be too noisy for you to relax your mind so it is always good to take a mini-vacation or break away from it all. Vacations or getaways rejuvenates your mind, body and soul.