The first few days of this New Year have been good to me. Not that you would know, because I am already behind on my blogging! But I’m not gonna be down on myself for it – one cannot realistically be expected to tackle ones list of resolutions 100% straight away… As much as I can help it, from this moment on, my life isn’t gonna be controlled by my to-do lists (which I am a master maker of)… I’m truly going to try to live this year “one day at a time” and enjoy my every minute. For what else is there?… yesterday? (yesterday is gone)… tomorrow? (tomorrow hasn’t happened yet, and maybe it wont, so stop worrying about it!)… And SO… that leaves us with – (drum roll please)… the present moment!! And at the rate my kids are growing, if I’m not paying attention every minute, they will be grown and gone before I know it!
As busy people often do, don’t neglect the little things in life. It IS the little things in life that make up our lives! Don’t kid yourself. Those little things aren’t little at all. They make a huge difference in your happiness! I cant even tell you how many mothers have told me this advice (which I have worded to my liking): “stop cleaning house and go play house!”. When your kids are grown, they most likely won’t be thinking, “Oh, my house was always a mess when I was a kid”. It’s more probable they will think, “My mom was always cleaning up instead of playing with me”. Houses will always get messy, but your kids will only be kids for so long.
I just started reading some thought-provoking material last night (The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, if you must know) that has really made me more aware of how to create the kind of world I want to live in (and I only read chapter one!). No matter who we are or what we believe, in all of our many religions, beliefs, races, colors, shapes and sizes we all exist in, even though we may appear so different, in our core being, we are all the same. I’m just reminding you because it is so easy to forget! All of our different resolutions really just sum up to the same resolution, the same answer, which is… making ourselves and our world a better place.
As we all know, energy can be neither created or destroyed. So each time you even just THINK something negative, you might as well be hurling a ball of negativity right out there into your breathing space to bounce around FOREVER. (Add in the ripple effect… and whoa – you better watch out!) Now, I don’t usually walk around imagining everything as flowing balls of energy, but I’m gonna give it a try sometimes!
I heard Oprah say this quote once – she has it hung on the door to her office or bedroom – “Be responsible for the energy you bring into this room”. I love that quote. Its simple, yet it says so much. I’m going to write that somewhere today where I will see it every day. I also like Jane Fonda’s quote (as heard multiple times in her workout videos), “Don’t forget to breathe.”
So far this year (in its 9 days), I discovered that one of my favorite bloggers, Vegan Dad, is calling it quits. He seems like a very busy guy, though, and I have NO idea how he even was able to make time for a blog to begin with! (Thanks for reminding me that I need to step it up, Vegan Dad!). I urge you to check out his vast collection of vegan recipes. I will probably be trying many more of them myself soon!
Another fantastic bit of news I heard this morning, David Bowie is releasing his first studio album in 10 years. I am literally about to dance out of my chair right now just at the thought of him possibly going on tour. It is really great cause my kids love his music too, they actually request it to be played when I ask what they want to listen to. They also just recently watched (and loved) the Jim Henson movie ‘Labyrinth’, in which he plays Jareth, the Goblin King. (My daughter says to me “Mommm… the goblin kind is sooooo handsome!!” Hahaha!)
So, I really felt the need to get my thoughts in order before posting a new recipe! I feel a Dinner & a Movie coming on… perhaps it will be… Labyrinth?! Or perhaps not… the kids just got a bunch of new Disney movies for Christmas!! I’ll keep you guessing 😉
Don’t forget about your inner child! Go play!! (Yes, this is me!)
Your Vegan Neighbor 