Love My Life

My Tag line for my Coaching Business is Love Your Life.  Here is my Flyer that is currently being printed.

So I ask myself this question Do you Love Your Life?  Yes!  YES!!!  It feels great to be able to say an ENTHUSIASTIC YES I Love My Life!

I love the Coaching question - "Ask yourself from the heart, if I could be, do or have anything I would definitely..."  I love this question.  And even as I answer Yes I Love My Life - I still have dreams and a Vision and a Mission and set myself Goals.  Life for me is a Journey - I am not fixed on just getting to one destination, I Love My Life along the way, each and every day.

Today I have a day off work and I have set myself a new Challenge.  It is 30 April and for the next 30 days I am going to:

- Walk every day

- Meditate every day

- Not eat chocolate.

Being healthy is one of my top Goals - eating well and exercising.  I enjoy eating chocolate - yet I often feel sick after I eat chocolate.  Before moving in with my Man, I rarely ate chocolate (unless I was emotional) - yet with my Man having a sweet tooth and after all the easter eggs we received, I have been eating chocolate.  Time to take a break.  Plus I like giving my willpower a Challenge.

Walking every day is easy - the Challenge for me is to not start Running again - I need to take a break for now.  My back is still sore and I am just Grateful that I can go for a walk.  I am also concerned that I need to not put pressure on my body - as I can't wait to have my own baby - in Coaching we talk about what you "ache for" - and having my own baby always comes first to my mind.

I had set myself a Running Goal - and I was doing well - I had built up to over 43 minutes - yet now I find myself needing to change direction.  I am not giving up on my original Goal - yet when I ask myself the Coaching question about my Running "And why is that important to you?" the answer is revealed after asking the question a few times, that the most important reason I like Running is that I want to be healthy.  And so for now I need to adjust my Goal to Walking.  I like reading this paragraph in 'You Can Have An Amazing Life In Just 60 Days!' by Dr. John F. Demartini:

"Follow the Law of Completion, break down your Goals into smaller action steps, put them into reasonable time frames, and then reward yourself when you complete them.  Train yourself to do whatever you say or intend, and watch what happens!  Of course, you must figure in one other factor:  You may decide tomorrow that you have something more important to do and discard your previous plan.  That's okay.  Don't berate yourself over that.  You haven't failed to complete your Goal; you've simply clarified or upgraded it.  Some of the things you don't complete are simply refinements towards higher priority pursuits..."

I do love Walking.  I love to be out in nature, I love being outdoors.  In the past I have also enjoyed time at a gym - yet my preference in terms of Exercise is to be outside.  I just love the surprises and delights and gifts from the Universe.  Some of my favourite parts of my walk today were seeing 2 pelicans flying, walking through the park, I just love Trees, seeing one beautiful kookaburra (where I could stand within a metre and just admire the beauty) and then walking a few metres and seeing another kookaburra (I love kookaburras) and also coming close to two galahs (just love the colouring of the galah).

I love Birds.  I love Animals.  This is why Vegetarian is my preference.

I Love My Life in that I now I have the space to enjoy and explore.  I have a good day, time reflecting on my Business - just one week until I start my Business.  I journal, I write some lists and I enjoy a Meditation.  I love making the time for Meditation - it is my time - a time to connect with my Inner being, Higher Self, God, my Angels.  It is a time when I find deep peace and receive insights and Visions that spark ideas.

I also enjoy some housework, washing and vacuuming, I enjoy looking after our Home.  I love when my Man comes home from work and I am organised.  I love that I have a Home with my Man. 

And tonight I cook - I love cooking new Vegetarian dishes - it is Joyful for me and a way I enjoy to Spread The Yellow in our Home.  I make Vegetarian san chow bow for an entree and then I make roasted potatos and zucchini as a side dish with a main of roasted capsicum with a rice and tofu and vegetable filling.  I love cooking for my Man and myself - I love home-made, healthy Vegetarian cooking.

And now it is time to relax on the lounge with my Man and watch one of our favourite TV shows - just a time to relax together...

 

Eating Animals

I have been reading the book 'Eating Animals' by Jonathan Safran Foer for the last few weeks.  It is definitely a book that has opened my eyes and opened my heart. 

I read a few pages each day - there are so many stories, so many facts and figures - so much heartbreak.

I saw this book promoted on 'Ellen' and I loved hearing the author talk about his Mission to create Conversations after reading his book.  This book definitely has the ability to create Conversations.  It has the capacity to change lives - change the world - one by one.  I am Inspired to make changes in my life.

I could retype sections or paragraphs from the book - there is so much in this book - yet there are some parts in the book that really stand out for me.  The author talks about his dog, how much he loves his dog and offers the space for us to consider why it would never be okay (in most countries) for us to eat our dogs, yet that we find it easy to eat meat from cows, chickens, pigs.  Another similar story that stands out for me is the story of Knut, the first polar bear born to Berlin Zoo in 30 years, and how much Knut was loved by the City with people crowding into the zoo to watch Knut - yet just a few metres away from Knut's enclosure was a stand selling "Wurst de Knut", made from the flesh of factory-farmed pigs, "which are at least as intelligent and deserving of our regard as Knut.  This is the species barrier."

 

It is surprising to me, when I read about "Bycatch" - the amount of species that are regularly killed in pursuit of "seafood" - "What if there were labeling on our food letting us know how many animals were killed to bring our desired animal to our plate?... Imagine being served a plate of sushi.  But this plate also holds all of the animals that were killed for your serving of sushi.  The plate might have to be five feet across."

This statement stands out for me - "Factory farming's success depends on consumers' nostalgic images of food production - the fisherman reeling in fish, the pig farmer knowing each of his pigs as individuals, the turkey rancher watching beaks break through eggs - because these images correspond to something we respect and trust."  It is interesting - I believe it is all about Awareness and Consciousness - if the regular consumer was aware of the facts and images behind Eating Animals - I am sure that people would make different choices.  It is similar to the plight of Orang-utans - I am sure if people had a Consciousness that using regular soap means chopping down tress that threaten Orang-utans, than I am sure that people would look for alternatives.

Consciousness is a big thing for me - I am wanting to be Conscious of my choices in terms of the Environment and Eating Animals.  Recently we went to Yum Cha with friends - it was crazy (in my opinion) - we all sat around a round table and we just kept getting dishes and dishes and dishes and dishes and dishes served to us - I just kept hearing friends saying "yes" "yes" "yes" "yes" "yes" - and what appeared to be eating unconsciously between tangents of stories.  I love getting together with friends - and yet I was very happy that last week we met at a cafe, where I happily enjoyed a Vegetarian pizza with my Man and most of all enjoyed more space for great Conversations with friends - more opportunity to Connect, time of Spread The Yellow.

I am only halfway through the book - and I am distressed when I read descriptions of the suffering of cows, pigs and chickens.  The author has not included any photos - yet these are easy to find on the Internet.  Here is a site on what is happening in Australia - images and words are definitely upsetting - there is a lot of information on this site - http://www.all-creatures.org/articles/ar-mindless.html

I have previously been a Vegan - this was about 8 years ago.  At the same time I was very into my Running, and so I was very much into my carbs - eating a lot of pasta - rather than learning about healthy Vegan living.  I am now finding it more difficult to eat animal flesh - I don't eat chicken or red meat.  And I have been hesitant to take on the label of Vegetarian - even though this is definitely my preference - Eating Animals no longer works for me.

Last time I adopted a Vegan lifestyle, it was difficult - mentally, emotionally, socially.  I remember not wanting to use the same chopping board or knives as my ex-husband (yes, I was obsessive) - and I remember going out to dinner and asking the waiter 20 questions, such as, asking about the stock used in the risotto.  Looking back this was a stressful time - especially, since my relationship was not working.

I feel different now.  I do not want to get so stressed or restrictive - although I do want to make Conscious choices.  I also no longer want to get up on the soapbox and try and convince others to change or adopt a certain lifestyle.  I can only make choices for myself and be true to myself.  Most important for me is respecting the choices of others, where we meet in a peaceful space. 

In my heart, Eating Animals does not feel right for me.  Yet this is a journey - at this point I am still eating fish (Consciously) - although the facts in this book are definitely upsetting - and I am always conscious of blessing the fish before I eat them - although - it is still very hard for me.

And I live with my Man who enjoys eating meat.  I learnt a lot from living with my ex-husband and I want to always Learn from my experiences.  And so I accept our differences.  Tonight I eat a Vegetarian patty and salad, and although my Man would normally cook his own meat, he is working later, he has been working so hard, with so little sleep, and so I bless his meat and cook it for him.  In my Mission to Love and Serve through my Coaching and as I Spread The Yellow, it is important to me that I always make time and space for my Loved ones.  I am Grateful to be at home and we enjoy dinner together.

I don't like preparing and cooking Animals, I don't like Eating Animals - yet, I love my Man - and I am glad to prepare a meal for him - since he has been happily enjoying all my Vegetarian dishes. 

I will continue to read this book and continue to embrace a preference for a Vegetarian lifestyle, without the label (for now), and I will see where this Journey flows...