Month: November 2014

Loving the skin you’re in

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Ever sit in front of the mirror and just look at you? Don’t freak out! It’s a great way to know when something changes. If you make a habit of just looking at you, you’ll begin to appreciate how amazing your body is and you’ll also notice if something changes because you’re checking it out on a regular basis. Another mama shared this with me and it made total sense. It’s a great step on the journey of loving the skin you’re in. I can think of a few more things that make me feel better about myself. Roll with me, ok?

november dump 014Exercise is a good one for me. That extra step in the morning makes me feel better about me. Working out makes me feel different about my body almost immediately. Which is great because the changes certainly don’t happen immediately. Le sigh…

I noticed  a while back that I was holding on to way too many clothes. As I started to go through them I realized some of them didn’t even deserve to be taking up space in my closet. They were too small, too big or just wasn’t something that made me feel how I want my clothes to make me feel. I like to get dressed without feeling like the frumpy mama. I don’t wanna get into the habit of being OK with my frump. So the best way to do that was to let some things go. Yep, that’s another  “feel better about me” move. Go through your closet and get rid of clothes that don’t make you feel good about you. Anything that makes you feel frumpy, lumpy and “ugh” have got to go. Only rock with stuff that makes you feel good. That could be as simple as jeans and a white tee (my go to simple look). Feel free to do this process with other things in your life. That could include people too. I’m just saying…

Remember that you’re here for a reason. You are all kinds of unique, special and beautiful. Repeat that until you believe it if you have to.

Treat your body well and it will return the favor. Make a commitment to eat and drink things that serve you well. Been slacking on skin care? Get back on the wagon with that. Those changes will be written all over you. It will show in how you look and how you feel.

Focus on the things you really like about yourself. What you focus on grows. If you only focus on what you think are your faults… that’s all you’ll see. You’re way more than your flaws! Give your awesomeness some love.

Stop listening to other people, including magazines and TV shows, that say what the ideal body is. Tell your inner and outer critic to “Shut Up”! I don’t believe in an “perfect size”, do you?

How do you show yourself some love? Share in the comments!

A Weekend With Oprah…

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“We are here to turn up the volume on your life.” – Oprah Winfrey

The volume on my life has been cranked – way up!

november dump 486With anticipation running through me, I drove to San Jose this weekend. I was excited for a few reasons. I had been invited to cover Oprah’s Life You Want Weekend AND I was going to get some alone time. I looked forward to loads of inspiration, resting and getting work done. The only thing I managed to accomplish was being supremely inspired! Once I hit the road to come back home on Sunday, I felt nothing short of transformed.

With more than 10,000 people in an arena, the whole event managed to feel like an intimate gathering. A gathering of people who shared one goal – holding the pencil that writes our life stories. The energy was electric.  There were dance parties like this all weekend.

It was amazing to be around so many people who all greeted each other with smiles and hugs. So what that we’d all just met. It was like some alternate universe that we all wished flowed from the arena and permeated our cities.

I had many “aha moments” and just moments of confirmation.

LYWW-San JoseOprah started things off on Friday night by sharing her life story. There were many things I hadn’t heard before and it was awesome to get those details straight from the source. Her message was looking for the thread that connects the dots of your life.

“The thread is your spirit seeking expression. Your thread is that which connects the dots and experiences of your life and allows you to become who you were meant to be. Everybody has their own thread. What is your thread? What’s your purpose? Why are you here? What is that which connects the dots of your life? Your job is to pay attention to whatever that is.”

As she spoke, all around me I saw tears, hands were raised in affirmation and one woman even let out a shout. You know the kind that only happen in church. It was definitely a spiritual experience.

On Saturday, class was in session. We were all handed workbooks as we walked in. It was clear, this is where the real work was going to begin.

LYWW-San JoseDeepak Chopra was the first to take the stage. He talked a lot about spirituality and how to find that connection for yourself. “Religion,” he said, “is believing in someone else’s experience. Spirituality is believing in your own. If someone’s pointing at the moon, you should be looking at the moon, not worshiping the person’s finger.” His talk led to him leading us in meditation. I had never meditated before. It was a great experience for me. I plan on incorporating it into my life.

Elizabeth Gilbert of “Eat, Pray, Love”was up next and she talked about going on a quest of self-discovery. She talked about dreams and knowing when it’s time to change your life. We were reminded that change isn’t painless but it’s so necessary!

Pastor Rob Bell spoke of living RIGHT NOW. He used the example of saving the good china for special occasions when none of us really know if we’re going to be here tomorrow let alone for that special occasion. All we really have is right now. Use the china now, live the life you want now.

Once Iyanla Vanzant took her turn we were all worked up, on fire and brimming with excitement. She definitely kept it going. Her whole talk was about life and the ups and downs that come with it. She asked that we all remember that life really is on our side. Those things we go through are for a reason. There are lessons in all of it to get us to the next level. We have the choice of repeating those lessons or learning and growing from them to move toward the life we want.

The common them for all that spoke is that they had been knocked down by life. They had experienced real stuff and were able to bounce back to gain the life they wanted. Once they day was over we were all emotionally drained and full at the same time. I exchanged information with all the people that sat near me.

LYW group

Rrachelle , moi + Stephanie

A few of us even made a pact to not lose what we’d gained that weekend. We have promised to hold each other accountable to going, full force after the life it is that we want. The first step, is embracing the life you already have.

*Oprah photos Courtesy of Harpo, Inc. / George Burns

When it’s Oprah, Just Hit SUBMIT

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You ever have an opportunity to do something really good? It’s definitely a life changing opportunity but the questions in your head start swirling. Before you know it, you’ve talked yourself out of the opportunity. You’ve built a pretty convincing case against yourself as to why you won’t get it.

That was almost me a few weeks ago. When I first heard about Oprah’s Life You Want Weekend, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. I immediately went online to see where the tour was going. I thought for sure, it would be making it’s way to L.A. To my surprise, there were no stops in or around L.A. The closest stop was going to be in San Jose. I gave it a lot of thought and figured I’d see how I could make that happen. It can be pretty hard for me to get away during the week because we don’t have back up child care for our children.

Oprah LYWvia

Then, I saw a thread in a Facebook group I’m in. There was talk of opportunities being available for the media. Even though I’ve been a part of the media for nearly 20 years now, I questioned myself. I asked myself a million questions and had started to convince myself that I wouldn’t make the cut for media for this event. After staring at the form for a few days, I finally filled it out. I remember the moment I hit “submit”. I was nervous, excited and hopeful. I wondered if there was anything I’d left out that I should have said. Then, I decided to just let it go, say a prayer and know that whatever is meant to be is what will be.

I’m happy to say that I was approved! I’ll be attending the Life You Want tour stop in San Jose! I am equal parts excited and hopeful! The whole message of the tour is the message I try to drive home in this space. We are all worthy of the life we want. Even as moms – especially as moms!  I say especially not because we’re entitled as moms to be any happier than anyone else. As moms though it can be tougher to pursue those things that bring you the life you want. I am going to soak up the knowledge and I’ll be bringing it right back here to you!

Live The Life You Want Weekendvia

The next time you get that feeling of , “am I ready?”, “can I do this?”, hit “submit”! Submit yourself, submit to the process and be open to the life you want!

 

Never Too Late

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My whole “mama motivator” moniker was started because I have encountered far too many moms who felt like it was too late to do certain things that might bring them some happiness. I talked too many moms who felt like everything about them had to hit the back burner because their name changed to mama. Simply put, my message is it’s not too late. It never is. Let this man be your inspiration…

life-never-to-late

It’s never to late for what, you ask? I have a small list. Feel free to add to it.

It’s Never Too Late…

  • to start over – were you working on something and life got in the way so you put it down. Now is a good time to pick it back up.
  • to chase your dreams – always wanted to write a book? How about starting the outline today?
  • to change your ways – fed up with your fitness. Go for a walk, a good one that gets your heart moving. All it takes is one step.
  • to be positive – what you focus on grows. If you focus on the sucky stuff, that’s all you’ll see. Try to look for the positive in every situation and you’ll start to notice the positive more than the negative – guaranteed.
  • to learn something new – always wanted to learn to paint. Take a class. Or break the ice by taking a paint and sip class. It’s fun and you’ll get your artist juices flowing.
  • to be inspired – inspiration really is everywhere. We just have to look for it. I’m most inspired by my kids. There’s something about the innocence they bring to everything that keeps me inspired.

 

reviseAny thing you’d like to add? It’s never too late to…