Category Archives: Speed Bumps

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Reflections @coffeacoffeemy – Fibromyalgia Strikes Back

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Good Morning people,

I'm back at Coffea Coffee with a Madonna Flat White next to me, which tastes better that yesterdays, not that it was bad yesterday but that today my perception of life is a little brighter.

It's been a while since my last weekly review/reflection, hoping to get back to making this regular, but now on mondays instead of sundays.

Reflecting on the week, ended Sunday March 17th, there is much to be concerned about, but also much to be grateful for. As usual i am grateful for the family and friends that i have around me that support me when times get dark, as they did during the last few days of the week, and celebrate with me during the good times, my 23rd birthday.
Last week I had plenty of fun with friends old & new, going out for dinner, watching Armageddon (for the first time), playing FIFA and retaining the FIFA King Title, and also saw an increase in productivity; got back to reading, though i only managed 3 hours last week; blogged more, put up 3 posts & revamped my sites layout and categories; got started on a regular sleep pattern and woke up at 6am 3 times; and a few other things which i can seem to recall right now cause my fibrofog has gotten worse from the time i woke up, from a 3/10 to a 6/10 now. which brings me to the most important part of last week;

Fibromyalgia Strikes back, with a vengeance.
My post from yesterday:

I’ve been fighting for some time now, and one thing i’ve learnt is that no matter how good things can get, there will be a time when it comes back for me. Through all this it has taught me a few things but most importantly, like all the other hurdles in my life, it’s made me stronger and made me aware of something: “The toughest fights I’ve ever been in are with no one else but myself, because once i win that fight, everything else is only a matter of time.” This week has been bittersweet, sweet because it’s been fun and there has been some improvement in productivity; bitter because while i wasn’t looking Round 1, 2013 (my first difficult spell with FMS this year) started, and i wasn’t as prepared as I would have liked to have been. I don’t know how i didn’t see this coming, i pushed myself harder than i should have over the first few days of the week and should have seen this coming when the my symptoms Spiked on Tuesday. How did i miss it? maybe i thought Tuesday was a one off thing, maybe i pulled a page out of the beginning of last year and ignored it, maybe i got arrogant and didn’t think it could hurt me this time. I think that’s the one, I got arrogant. Arrogance cost me a lot a year ago, at least this time around i’m more aware and won’t let it get as far as it did then. The pains, stiffness, aches & fatigue got mildly worse as the week proressed but yesterday… yesterday things escalated click here to continue reading

(Sidenote: Please click o the passage above to add the view count to yesterdays post. thanks)

This is sums up the end of last week, and the main point of today’s reflection. I’ve been fending of minor Fibromyalgia attacks from the beginning of the year without much problem, but last week saw the resurfacing of something that i didn’t want to see again, something i didn’t want to deal with again, but something i will have to fight again and beat again. Last year, Round 1 2012, was a fight over 3/4 months, and like i mentioned above was the toughest fight with it i’ve had over the last 3/4 years. I beat it last year, i’ll beat it again, it’s just a matter of time. I’ll need to adjust to the new battle ground and being back at uni, but i’ll get it done.

Straight From The Heart

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Arkay’s Room #1: Round 1, 2013. Fight.

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I’ve been fighting for some time now, and one thing i’ve learnt is that no matter how good things can get, there will be a time when it comes back for me. Through all this it has taught me a few things but most importantly, like all the other hurdles in my life, it’s made me stronger and made me aware of something:

“The toughest fights I’ve ever been in are with no one else but myself, because once i win that fight, everything else is only a matter of time.”

This week has been bittersweet, sweet because it’s been fun and there has been some improvement in productivity; bitter because while i wasn’t looking Round 1, 2013 (my first difficult spell with FMS this year) started, and i wasn’t as prepared as I would have liked to have been. I don’t know how i didn’t see this coming, i pushed myself harder than i should have over the first few days of the week and should have seen this coming when the my symptoms Spiked on Tuesday. How did i miss it? maybe i thought Tuesday was a one off thing, maybe i pulled a page out of the beginning of last year and ignored it, maybe i got arrogant and didn’t think it could hurt me this time. I think that’s the one, I got arrogant.

Arrogance cost me a lot a year ago, at least this time around i’m more aware and won’t let it get as far as it did then.

The pains, stiffness, aches & fatigue got mildly worse as the week proressed but yesterday… yesterday things escalated during the course of the day. The morning was ok but by evening my nerve sensitivity was quite high, a few of my trigger points were constantly hurting, my muscles were aching ,every step i took hurt and the Fog was looming. It was enough to release something that i have kept at bay for a very long time, the key to worst days of my fibromyalgia to date; Doubt. In pain, clouded and fatigued, it was Belief that kept me going, Belief in me.

Yesterday i found myself in a situation where my Doubt went straight for the jugular, it made my mind a mess. Started questions that didn’t need to be brought up, bringing out emotions that didn’t need to resurface and just causing a whole load of noise and static, it got messy. Belief is all that stands between where i am now and giving up entirely, and yesterday was only the beginning, it always is. It’s very difficult to keep the Belief going during times when I’m physically weakened by pain and fatigue with my mind being Clouded. I would find myself feeling all the confidence in the world one second and then have it all go to hell in a heartbeat and have it like that for 5 times the length of the confidence.

Round 1 is still on going and only i can win this for myself support is only support, it helps but only i can do what needs to be done, think what needs to be thought and Keep Moving Forward. I’m still in pain right now, a pat on the back hurts as thought someone slapped me there and my thoughts seem to be slower and get lost more often. Right now things seem a darker, my coffee doesn’t taste as good and I’m so very tired, i’m tired down to my bones, maybe even on a cellular level.

Sounds bad doesn’t it.

However there is a silver lining, before my revival last year things were a 100 times worse; there were days i didn’t want to get out of bed because the pains, aches, and stiffness; my FibroFog came to a point where my mind was so cluttered and clouded that thoughts would take a minute of two to surface; i wanted to give up entirely, but i didn’t.

The Doubt is strong now, that is true, and my Belief is currently shaken, but last years Big Win made it so that my Belief will not reach Round 1, 2012 lows again (i hope), and that is giving me the fuel i need to keep my Belief going as I brace this storm. That was one of the darkest & toughest times i’ve had to face and i beat it, and if i could beat that, i’ll beat this…

it’s just a matter of time.

Straight From The Heart

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Student Life @StarbucksMY

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Good Morning guys,
Hope you’re morning has been good! I’ve got my Mocha next to me as I sit at my fav table at the Starbucks Monash.

I got hit by a Fibro Spike (sudden, out of the blue, ninja spike of my fibromyalgia symptoms etc) yesterday morning that really took the wind out of me for a big part of the morning, but i managed to eventually (2 hours later) get out of bed. This morning wasn’t as bad as yesterday, it was difficult but nothing like yesterday and took me 10 minutes to shake enough of it off to get out of bed, though today i experienced something that’s been MIA for a long time, waking up moderately disorientated with a hint of nausea on the side. As for now, things seem to be pretty good. Had a good ComBank tutorial and an even better Business Law tutorial, as of now BL is my fav class, the syllabus thus far (2 weeks) has been intriguing. It’s making me wonder whether i should actually be doing law. I know it’s only been 2 weeks, it’s just that fighting against injustice is something that appeals to me, i’m not a big fan of unfairness and if there’s something i can do about something i think is wrong, I’d like to act on it.

Which brings me to today’s main course, though it’s not all that filling.

Last week i published a post about my the Monash Parking Problem, and in doing that I’ve also launched a new category, initially to be called Monash & Co, but decided that Student Life would be more apt. It doesn’t limit my writing to just Monash, but allows me to collaborate with Down Memory Lane to bring write about previous student life in; CPU, UWC.

In this category will be the writings of a student about issues ranging from infrastructure, like the last week’s piece, to academics. Essentially anything to do with my current place of eduction; currently Monash University Sunway Campus. I feel that through writing i can Act, that i can create awareness and hopefully make a change or non-change. I will write about things that i feel can change or praise things that i think have been done right.

Now, just because last weeks post didn’t reflect Monash in the best of light does it mean that all future posts will follow suit. No.

I will praise and I will critique.
I will write the good, the bad & the ugly.
It will be based on my opinion of right and wrong.
I will strive to be as unbiased as I can,
I will do my homework,

but essentially,

I’ll write it as I see it.

Just a heads up, the next few posts will not present Monash in the best of light, but it is something that needs to be put out there, just need to do a little more homework.

Well, i think that’s about it.

Oh wait i forgot!

If you have something you would like me to look into and write about please let me know, and i’ll look into it and see whether i can put a post together.

Now and as always,

Straight From The Heart

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Work In Progress, I Am.

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Good Evening dear readers,

I can hear the heavy rain outside as i sit here at Artisan, enjoying my Flat White. I haven’t got back into the full swing of things, having really got back to business, not for the lack of trying, I just need to try harder. The examination month really messed up my system and the holidays haven’t helped me get back to business either. One month has already passed, it’s December and I still haven’t got to blogging regularly. It’s been harder than I thought it would be, waking up early has been more difficult than I remember it and it doesn’t help they memories of last December come back to haunt me (last December, after my finals, was the time my fibromyalgia got really bad and got the best of me) so when I wake up really tired and/or foggy, it scares me and I go back to sleep to hide away from it. The fibro fog has indeed been making cameo appearance recently, now infact. Then there are other nights when I sleep late because of social reasons, which I have indeed cut down on this week and will continue to try to make social events happen earlier. Every time I think about how I haven’t been able to get back to waking up early and blogging regularly it upsets me, and then I start to think that maybe it’s the Fibromyalgia that’s coming back but that maybe jumping to old conclusions,I’ve had the Fibromyalgia at bay for a while now, so I really hope it isn’t that. I think, maybe, I’ve figured it out. I went through a major shift in my daily routine during my examination period and I can’t just expect to get back to what was before. I’ve been doing it wrong, aiming for big steps daily so that I can quickly recover, and that’s what’s been messing me up. I forgot all about small daily improvements to build up the momentum, now, i have very little momentum and I can’t just conjure it out of thin air, I need to rebuild it, I need to reset my foundation. Thankfully because it’s already in me somewhere, it won’t take as long to build it back up. This is quite a human thing I feel, we are all works in progress.

We are All Works in Progress. Don’t expect to get to your goal easily or without friction. There will be good times and bad. Times when you will fall a sleep at the wheel and times when you feel like an MVP, remember that it’s all part of the journey. We aren’t robots and we will make mistakes. I look back to all the times that I went of course over the year, and every time I persisted and got back on track. As Tobias Wolff out it

We are made to persist. That’s how we find out who we are.

That is why we keep trying. That’s why I Keep Moving Forward. Always trying to make today better than yesterday.

There are always going to be curve balls and hurdles in the journey we are each on, it’s not going to be a perfect journey, there will be times we might take our eyes of the road and run face-first into a hurdle or lose focus and get hit by a curve ball, we aren’t perfect, as I have mentioned before many a time, we’ve just got to get back up, learn, recalibrate and get back on the road. Sometimes, we may spend some time on the sidelines, such as what I recently went through. Distracting myself with other things, not thinking about where I wanted to go, afraid of getting back on the road, convinced that I would slip up again, a story that sounds all too familiar, especially over this year. What I’ve got to always remember is that I will slip up and make mistakes and get distracted, I’m never going to be able to erased that completely but I will be able to minimise it, and the last year has been a testament to that. Every time you feel that you can Keep Moving Forward, think about how far you’ve come and how a while back you thought that maybe you couldn’t make it to where you are now. Maybe all you need, is a little breather, we all need them regularly. The problem with these little breathers, as I also know too well, is that we sometimes don’t define how long they should be and we prolong them. On the other hand there is the mistake where we don’t take breathers and keep pushing ourselves till we burn out and then face being out-of-it for a longer term.

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that you shouldn’t beat yourself up too hard when you mess up, yes beat yourself up a little, remember that we are works in progress and that every time you or I mess up, it’s an opportunity to study and learn why it happened so that we can adjust for it and Keep Moving Forward.

Straight From The Heart

Getting Back to Business

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Good Afternoon guys, I’m here at Starbucks, been while and I’ve realised just how long it’s been. Guess I hit another speed bump.
I’ve been away for a while, a long while, put all this all on hold during my exam period, but I shouldn’t have stepped away for this long and I wouldn’t have needed to if I kept one eye on my academics and study died regularly instead of taking it all to the 11th hour. I was in such a mess, sleeping late, waking late, not exercising as much and so on and after the exams were over, I had rebuilt the old habit of sleeping late and I’ve been feeling messy, really cluttered. Writing kept me in check, kept me in awareness of myself and what I was doing, where I was going, without it I drifted away from the personal progress that I was making. The last month may have been necessary but it wasn’t good for my personal progress which leads me to a flaw in my personal progress, I didn’t put enough focus on academics. So, lesson learnt, must put more focus into my academics so that I won’t be left with a last minute hurdle at the end and have to dump everything else to get passed my exams, again.

So, my main focus for the next week is simple, get back into “shape”. Eating well, exercising regularly, writing regularly, reading, sleeping well, waking up early. Yes, it is Diwali, but I’ll have to work around that, I’ve spent enough time in the mess of mine, I’ve wasted enough time doing nothing, I’ve had enough of not having productivity in my days.

Easier said than done, but so very achievable.

This was just a warm up, taking that step of just doing it, just getting some writing done. my next post will be more back to business as usual.

Wish me luck,

Straight From The Heart

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Journaling @Starbucks – Of Loss & Redemption

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Good Afternoon readers,

It’s been a while since I blogged, my last one was in memory of great man who made an impact on my life, who sadly, is no longer with us. Today i sit down at this very tastefully designed Starbucks in TTDI, sipping on Soy Café Mocha as I mull over the week and reflect.

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Over the last two weeks I have had to deal with the loss of a friend, teacher and mentor. Someone I looked up to and someone I admired. It was not easy but I am dealing with it. Loss is something that will eat you up and chuck you in a corner if you don’t deal with it, you may end up living life in Coma Mode and wasting years because the loss wasn’t dealt with and it created a numbness about life. If you need help, go get it, but don’t let the loss sit and stagnate, don’t procrastinate with regards to dealing with it. Dealing with it doesn’t mean ignoring or forgetting it, it just means accepting the fact that someone you loved or admired or cared for, is no longer around. Take your time dealing with it, but just make it certain that you are in fact trying to deal with it. Take it one step at a time, don’t let it consume you because I’m sure for most of the loved ones who have passed, they would want us to live our life’s and not trap ourselves in the past, or maybe that’s just what I tell myself. I tell myself Mr.D would tell me to keep pushing forward and enjoying life, to appreciate the people you do have and to live life. And I will keep telling myself that.

On a more recent note, during the middle of this week i discovered that I was letting down certain loved ones around me, that I wasn’t acting to the best I could in respect to my relationship with them, that I could be better and that they in fact deserved better. It was quite a slap in the face, a moment of clarity where I saw all the missteps, mistakes and ill actions I was making towards them. They were victims of my lack of patience, my ill-temperament and by extension, of my Fibromyalgia. I spent some time away, alone and in solitude just thinking and became aware of how I had dropped the ball, of how I had neglected certain people and of how I can do better, I can be better & I will be better. They may have forgiven me, but to be honest, I haven’t forgiven myself, every time I think of it it makes me sick, how could I have neglected them and treated the most important people in my life so badly? I’ll tell you why, because I didn’t think about it, I didn’t think about my actions and I didn’t think about them. I took the whole selfishness thing to far, yes it’s good to be selfish but it has to be in moderation, and I forgot about that very important word, moderation.

So hopefully I have dealt with the loss of Mr. D and that, in time, I will redeem myself in my eyes. The people around me deserve better from me and I owe it to myself to be better, simply because it would be such a waste of my abilities if I I didn’t, and I so hate waste.

Here’s to more posts this week, and this is the end of this weeks Journal entry.

Straight From The Heart

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And In the Morning, I’m Making Waffles. Rest In Peace Mr. D

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I haven’t written in a whole, and to those that were disappointed with the lack in posting, please accept my apology, I am sorry.

I’ve been putting off writing this because I was trying to find the “right” way to write this, but really, no words can truly describe the shock, confusion and sadness. Here it goes.

Last week was a difficult week for me, and many others I know, we lost a good man, a son, a father, a colleague, a friend, a teacher, a mentor.

He is a hero to me, a man who helped me out during tough times, who was understanding and caring. He motivated and inspired. He gave the best damn hugs in the world and had a smile that was infectious.

He helped me see the light when I needed it the most.

He understood, he cared and he helped.

I am very sure that my feelings of him are shared by many others, I only wish that our friendship could’ve been much more.

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When I heard the news, I didn’t believe it, I told my friend not to kid about this and check his sources and told me not to get back to me until after my test… But I couldnt wait and called him an hour later, and it was confirmed, the world lost one of the Good Guys. My dear teacher was no longer with us.

I felt numb, confused and shocked. It wasn’t easy, the day was hard and I can’t imagine what the others closer to him must have been going through.

Mr. D, I will remember you for all that you taught me. The laughter, the motivation and hugs. I will always remember you for the person you encouraged me to be, that I was not relegated to letting my condition to dictate my life. I will remember you for all the good you did and all the smiles you gave us. The dancing, the Music and the pizza.

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Thank you for helping me see that I can be what I always want to be. Thank you Mr. D, thank you so damn much.

Thank you to the organisers of his memorial on Monday, it was beautiful. Heartfelt, spot on and very Mr. D.

My condolences to his family back in Canada. My condolences to his loved ones, friends and colleagues. My condolences to my fellow classmates, seniors and juniors. And my condolences to anyone who knew him. This is a tough time but we will get through, there is a light at the end of this tunnel, you might not see it now, but it is there.

Thank you for reading this blog Mr. D and encouraging me forward. I will make it a point to pay it forward.

Well, I think that’s it, it’s time for me to test some shut eye and… In the morning, I’m making waffles.

Straight From the Heart

 

The letter i wrote to him a few months back.

Sunday Reflections – Going In One More Round

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It’s been a great Sunday so far, ventured into Bukit Gasing and pushed myself harder than I have in years and I feel incredibly proud of myself.

Achievement Unlocked.

Over the past week the first thing that I see when I wake up is a poster, and on that poster is a line that does like this:

“Going in one more round when you don’t think you can – that’s what makes all the difference in your life.” Rocky

I’ve been pushing myself over the last week, I’ve been trying new things, I’ve been focusing and most importantly I’ve been exercising. From basic 1.5km walks I pushed on to 3.33km, and then 4.5 km the day after followed by 4.8km and then today 5.6km through Bukit Gasing, which was incredible difficult. I found myself scared many times during the trail, it wasn’t easy and there were times I wanted to give up, but every time I would refocus myself and calm down, take a breather and push forward. I didn’t plan to go into Bukit Gasing, it was a spur of the moment thing during what was intended to be a chilled 5km walk.

I’m glad I did it, I really am. I keep surprising myself and most importantly, I’m showing the Fibromyalgia who’s in charge. I’ve been walking consistently at 8ish, getting myself 8 hours of sleep, I’ve been practicing better sleep hygiene (is it even called that?), I’ve been making it a daily goal to do something new, whether it’s trying a new cafe or going on a new trail, just anything new, and I’ve been feeling good. It hasn’t been all perfect but I’m working on it, and it’s been a good good week.

The greatest thing to happen over the last week is my exercising. It has filled me with energy, confidence and endorphins. It’s come to a point where I look forward to my workouts. I’ve been trying twice a day, and it’s been doing wonders. Of course there are the body aches, and they come with Fibromyalgia fuelled vengeance in the mornings, and the only reason I managed to fight them and get up out of bed is the fact that I wake up to that Rocky quote and also some other reading I’ve been doing, but the main motivation has been the quote. And truly, every time I’ve gone in that extra round when I didn’t think I could make it at first, I think of the quote and I push myself harder, I focus on being positive and I consciously change my thinking from “I don’t think I can” to “just do it”.

Yes I know this sounds cheesy and all that, but it’s truly been an enlightening week, and I’m going to follow through on that this week. I’m going to take a break tomorrow by just doing a 3km run, I’m not going to have a compete rest day because I don’t want to disrupt this momentum, and honestly I don’t want to rest, I actually want to do 6km at least tomorrow, but I’ve got to think and refuel.

Over the next week i’ll push further by focusing on being more responsible at home, focusing on academics and reading, following on from the great week.

Keywords: will power and discipline.

It’s been a great week of moving forward.

Straight From The Heart

Tuesday Inspiration – 6 ways to Keep Moving Forward.

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Good day readers,
Today didn’t start well at all, but like yesterday, I adapted and did what I could and am will continue and do what I can, so when I was thinking about what to write today for Tuesday Inspirations, I thought why not write about how I Keep Moving Forward.

My week is primarily divided into 2 categories, good days and bad days. There are days that I wake up fine, but there are days where I wake up feeling heavy, foggy and in pain. That’s how I’ve been living for the a while now in my fight against Fibromyalgia and I happy to say that I’ve come to a point where the good days outnumber the bad, which was the complete at the start of the year. During that time good days were rare. Why? Because during that time, they period of my life, I had given up fighting, I had given up trying to move forward, I let the Fibromyalgia reign without resistance, at that point not only was my body broken, but more importantly, my spirit as well.

Every time I look back at the starting months of the year, I realise how far I’ve made it so far, and let me tell you this, it’s a damn good feeling. Yes, I still have bad days, like yesterday and this morning, but I keep myself moving forward, no matter how little, it is always better than nothing.

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So here’s a list of 6 things I do to keep myself moving forward and improving my state of mind (helps me feel better)

1. I spend the first waking hour alone, just thinking. Thinking about how far I’ve come, how far I can go, what needs to be done & what I can improve on. I call it my Holy Hour.

2. I spend time reading a set list of articles everyday, sometimes more than once. It’s a collection of blogs, articles & excerpts, which I have so “creatively” called Daily Reading. These readings motivate me, nourish my spirit and remind me of where I want to go. Below is part of my current Daily Reading list.
- my current 30 day improvement guide (just make a list of things you want to implement, improve, change etc)
- Robin Sharma’s 60 Tips for a Stunningly Great Life
- 71 Things You Can Do to Improve Your Life
- 30 Ways to Look and Feel Great in 30 Days

3. I get some exercise done, whether it’s taking Stitch for a 30 minute walk (good days), a 5 minute swim or even walking up & down the staircase a few times (bad days), every little bit counts. It’s always better to do a little exercise than none at all.

4. Practice. Over the last few months I’ve been taking vocal lessons, and after I sing, especially when I’m on form, I always feel better than I was. So not only does practice help me improve my voice, tone etc, it also makes me feel a lot better.

5. Just do it. Just get cracking on you’re to-do list, start with the easier ones, and as you keep going you’ll build momentum to tackle the bigger tasks which will lead to the completion of goals. Of course for this you’re going to already need a list of goals and to-dos that are in-line with the goals, so you might want to get cracking on that during you’re own Holy Hour.

6. Accept pitfalls and work around them. Yesterday I planned to wake up at 9am and get on with my day, I woke up late. Instead of beating myself up for waking up late, I adapted and rescheduled my day, and you know what, I got quite a bit done. I can say that yesterday was more a good day than bad.

Straight From The Heart

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Are you one of the Walking Dead?

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Good Afternoon dear readers,

It’s been a while since I’ve written something, and during the short hiatus, aside from the weekend, I felt quite unproductive.. Lost at times, like i was sleep walking. I guess my writing helps me keep focused on where I wanna go, plus it gives me a sense of satisfaction, if that makes sense.

So today i’m back at Starbucks Monash, Café Mocha next to me and a Nazrin in front of me testing out the Bose QuietComfort 15. Feels good to be back here, in the very environment where I wrote more of my best pieces, there’s just something about this place, this is by far my favourite Starbucks. Yesterday the Fibromyalgia beat me, but today I’m back. It’s an on going fight, and I ain’t giving up anytime soon.

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On to today’s topic, over the weekend my sister & I went down to Singapore and had a great time with Harveen, Komal & Gayatri. It was a well spent weekend, Universal Studios Singapore , Harry Potter exhibition, lots of beer, good food and bonding. The last time I went to Universal Studios Singapore I tried out the Transformers ride which was a bug step for someone who never goes on roller coasters and such, and this time around I took another step forward by going on The Mummy ride, it was scary but it was also a lot of fun, one of the highlights of the trip. So anyway, the last weekend has spurred me to try and do something new/adventurous/fun/memorable every weekend, essentially to out more living in my life, whether it’s a road trip, or a family day playing board games, or trying new food or watching the sunrise/sunset with loved ones.

Have you ever sat down and asked yourself, what the hell did I do last week? How did I spend the last month? What have I been doing with my life?

There have been to many times when I’ve felt like i was sleep walking through life, that I was in a coma, that I was one of the Walking Dead.

There are just too many times I’ve let the weekend slip away, i have quite a bit of free time and there are so many things I could be doing that I am not.

Life is meant to be lived and explored, it’s not meant to be a series of repeated actions day-in day-out.

Life is about creating moments that you will cherish, moments that will enrich you life.

Yes we all have obligations and responsibilities, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t live.

For those who work really hard over the week, take one day of the weekend to refuel and get to that much needed rest you so desire and spend the other day living life. This is an essential part of being productive and not having regrets as you lay on your death bed. There are so many things we can do, and if you say, well money is an issue, I never said anything about doing expensive things, living life doesn’t exclusively mean flying sound the world, it can be doing simple things with the people you love, enjoying your time on this planet, going to the beach, watching the sunset, enjoying a bottle of wine in the garden with family and friends, or even even spending some time on your own by going for a walk, hike, road trip by yourself. A lot of the time, the best ways to spend our time is right under our noses.

When’s the last time you got the family together and played charades or taboo? When’s the last time you tried out a new restaurant? When’s the last time you went on a road trip?

These are the times you should be saying You Only Live Once (YOLO) to encourage you to expand your life, not diminish it. I find that too many people abuse YOLO to do stupid things, but I guess that may just be my opinion.

You Only Live Once, So Put More Living in Your Life. Even the littlest of things can Put More Living in Your Day.

Straight From The Heart