"The things that are easy to do are also easy not to do." - Mark & Tammy Smith

This is a great reminder. Being consistent is one of my biggest challenges. But, like with anything else whether it be a physical change, personal growth or getting a toddler to sleep through the night, being consistent is the name of the game. A quote I heard in a seminar today: "We all know the phrase 'an apple a day keeps the Dr. away.' It doesn't say 7 apples on Sunday will keep the Dr. away. You can't cram growth into one day. Growth is a slow but rewarding process." - Mark and Tammy Smith. I love that! 

John Maxwell also taught: "Everything in life you're ever going to want is based upon your ability to develop yourself" and "growth is the only guarantee that tomorrow is going to be better." It's funny because my cycle of doing things is: 
1. fill my plate with as much as I possibly can
2. eat, sleep and breathe work, until I run myself into the ground
3. get seriously depressed for a day and feel like giving up
4. take a mental health break
5. research as much as I can so that I feel like I have "enough knowledge"
6. wake up, take accountability for where I am & tell myself it's ok not to know everything
7. get re-inspired and begin running at full speed 
8. feel like I am on top of the world
start back at 1.

It's really a vicious cycle. And what I'm learning is that the old adage "you are the 5 people you are closest to" really holds true. I need to surround myself with the best. In order to be successful I have to be my best and strive to constantly be improving. To read every day. To take care of my physical and spiritual self. To be positive. To be coachable. To constantly be filling my cup. To never stop moving towards my goals. 

Cornell Thomas, in his book "Extraordinary: The distance between good and great" talks about looking forward, always, because that's where his targets are. He says: "..if there's no target in front of you, beware of the one on your back." I like that image, because I don't want anyone to pass me up (not that they can, exactly - my dream is unique to me after all). But the hustle, the momentum is often what keeps us motivated because it's in those moments we get a taste of what is possible. It's that running as if someone is chasing you that gets you excited to keep moving. My sister and I are actually doing this little dance right now. We both downloaded the duolingo app and are trying to master a new language. We are on a leaderboard that is constantly updating our stats. Naturally when I wake up in the morning and she's ahead I find myself obsessing over  making time to get back on so that I can get in front of her. 

Cornell also talks about trying vs. doing. Bottom line: you are either doing something or you aren't. I can put my energy into doing things that are more meaningful. 

The more I learn, the more I'll know. The more I know, the more I have to give to others. The more I can give to others, the better I will be able to really understand their needs and serve them. I will even become a better, happier and more productive leader in the process. Why do we make things so difficult for ourselves, when all we need to do is pick up a book and get started? I am excited for what's to come, for each day of the rest of my life. 

Today in church we talked about some really profound ideas that really have me pondering...

One man returning from serving a two year LDS mission talked about sitting on a bus and seeing a mother struggling to get her children and stroller onto the bus and having the urge to help. He said that that urge, that desire to help when we see someone struggling is not natural human behavior, but a manifestation of the light of Christ working in and influencing our lives. It does this with every human being whether we know it or not. I love that. I believe that is true. My understanding is that we all accepted Christ by choosing to come to earth, to be tried and tested and in order to prove our faith and our willingness to follow Him. 

Another man also spoke of the light of Christ quoting Boyd K. Packer, "The light of Christ existed in you before you were born...." This idea, that we came to earth with a light that could warn and guide us throughout our lives and give us strength in our trials gives me a great deal of hope and peace. 

In Relief Society (a meeting the third hour that consists of women only) we talked about goals. A goal is a destination we are trying to reach. Plans are how we get there. When setting goals, one woman said, we need to first seek the kingdom of God. As a woman of faith this makes total sense. If my ultimate goal is to make it back to my Father in Heaven, to the Celestial Kingdom, every single action I take and goal I set needs to connect back to that. Satan uses loud voices, conflict, and hate to drown out the still small voice of the Holy Ghost, the spirit, that inner voice that follows the light of Christ. My friend Rhonda described the danger of his influence thus: "he gets a finger into our hearts, then a knuckle, then a fist until he can rip us open if we aren't vigilant." I love that description. Because isn't that how we feel when we are choosing to be angry and/or unforgiving? It feels like something is inside of us, threatening to tear us apart. At least that is how I've felt at times. 

She left us with some questions to think on:

- Have I spiritually been born of God?

- Have I received His image on my countenance?

- Have I experienced a mighty change of heart?

- Do I exercise faith in the redemption of Him who created me?

- Do I share the attributes of Christ?

- Can I accept and love all of mankind?

- Do I forgive quickly and not bring up past pain?

- Do I cultivate a relationship with my Savior daily?

- Can I picture my reunion with my Savior? What will it like to be in His presence? How will I feel?

I have been spiritually filled and I am feeling abundantly grateful today.

I love the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and that it teaches me to think, act and choose for myself, to never stop learning. I love the peace it brings to my life. 

I have to use my voice to address the atrocious things that are being done and said in Charlottesville, VA in our country right now. It's absolute madness. I'm in disbelief that we as adults, we as human beings in this global society have not learned to be better than those before us. The hate, the ignorance, the anger, the violence, the racism, the bigotry and the evil being perpetuated right now in our country is unacceptable. What is the rest of the world to think about us? What are our children and grandchildren to think? All lives are important, but black lives are being disproportionally targeted, thus the entire movement. We are a nation of diversity and that should make us proud to our very cores. When a group of people is being treated differently, it should give us all pause. We cannot treat each other this way without consequence. This is not how Jesus showed us to be. These acts do not represent him. This darkness comes from a different place. I stand on the side of love, and life and truth. After so many have fought for the freedoms we enjoy, this is how we repay them? Is this the legacy we will leave behind? I don't stand behind this. I cannot and will not condemn this violence even though my skin is crawling and my blood is boiling and it would be so much easier to do so.

These acts of murder and terror will stand as a witness before God and humanity against you. You are utterly wrong in every way.

I've had several people tell me I'm beautiful lately, and it makes me feel great, so thank you, sincerely. I've had people ask what I'm doing, or show curiousity about the detox I've done twice now and they always roll their eyes because "you're already skinny," or "you look fine, why are you doing that?" So I would like to address those questions.

First of all, thank you for the compliments, the questions and for being interested in what I'm doing. I detox not just to feel great on the outside, but to really clear my body of toxins, to re-center myself spiritually and to shift the way I experience life beginning from the inside. Our gut is tied to everything else in our bodies and is literally central to good health (or lack thereof). Eating real, whole foods regularly, taking probiotics, drinking enough water, getting enough sleep (this is where I need the most work), practicing the 80/20 rule and detoxing every once in a while are all key in me personally looking "skinny" or healthy, and feeling my best.

I have a one year old and seriously battled postpartum depression. I had dreams of people brutally murdering me in my home or coming in and taking my child away. I had month stretches of time where I refused to leave the house. I felt anxious in every cell in my body. I didn't eat or sleep well. I focused 99% of my energy on my baby and appearing healthy and happy to everyone else. So, while yes, genetics have a lot to do with how I look, really working every day to keep my mental health in check alongside my physical has been a battle that I am happy to be conquering, one day, one good night's sleep (which is rare) and one detox at a time. :)

Always do what's best for you and try to remember that we are all working on something. Let's lift each other up and focus our energy on spreading the positivity.

Have a great evening, loves.

"Be unreasonable with what you expect from yourself." - Stuart Armfield

I love this. Stuart is a leader and ENVP in Arbonne and I was watching a youtube video of his success video recently and his path was rich with failure! I say "rich" because he really threw himself out there, grasping for his dreams until he reached them and it is often our epic failures and our inability to take one more moment of a mediocre life that pushes us over the edge. I'm fine with catapulting out of my comfort zone, I feel like my biggest obstacle is getting in my own way - overthinking, over-analyzing, overthinking about over-analyzing.

I want to push further than I even believe I can in this moment, until I'm somewhere I never imagined being, and cannot imagine my life without. I want to be so unreasonable that I can say that I honestly have no regrets and there's nothing I didn't do to get where I need myself to be.

I am a fighter. I have always fought (myself) for this incredible, fearless, competent, beautiful fierce person inside of me that I've been afraid to show the world. I don't want to be too intimidating, too independent, too intense, too overbearing, too... you get the point. Well, now I'm saying "screw that!" I have so much to offer the world. I have a deep and infinite love and compassion inside of me that could fill the ocean. I just need more opportunities to tap into it. I need to create more moments to share this part of myself.

I'm grateful for my struggles, for the lesson that has underlined every experience I've had thus far in my life. I hope to make a meaningful and significant impact in the world and to be someone who leaves you better than I found you.

Peace, love, om.

I wish I could see the world with all the wonder and excitement of my child's eyes. It is breathtaking to watch him experience and fall in love with new things. It is the greatest honor to be a part of all of these moments, big and small! My child is very curious. He has to be touching, tasting, smelling and making noise about whatever or whomever he is watching. He epitomizes the phrase "live in the present." Without a care in the world, he will fall backwards off of a couch, not worried how he'll land (perhaps because I'm a helicopter mom and he's programmed to expect me there, always), pick up absolutely anything and either taste it or smack it against something to see how it reacts or sounds.

He chases shadows and runs against the wind. He looks up toward the sun smiling, so grateful for every second he is alive. He squats down with animals and interacts like they are old friends and has a sublime affection for music, especially for a little one. He can sit with daddy for hours watching him play the piano and tapping the little keys - with rhythm might I add. He'll run up to a complete stranger and put his little hand on theirs and tilt his head to one side with the biggest smile you've ever seen. People adore him wherever we go. He has this magnetic positive energy. It's contagious. You can't be sad around him. He's just too full of light.

I am so so blessed to be his mama. He's growing faster and faster before my eyes and I just wish with all the energy of my heart that I could preserve every memory in stone to revisit later. I'm drinking the days in, trying, (desperately) to focus on the present and hoping time will slow down a bit!

I love you to the moon, my t

xoxo

mama