☺ Motivational Mondays! ☺

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We're taking back Mondays!!!

"Motivational Mondays" are fabulous tips to get you excited and pumped for the week! 

Feeling low? Moody? Down on life? Well, that's what these posts are for! Time to feel awesome again and get some Positivity rolling! Just because it's Monday doesn't mean you can't have fun, smile, and enjoy Today! Apply these tips to your week and try to tell me that you don't start to see an improvement in your life! ;)

It's all about You! Change your perception, change your attitude, love your life! xo

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☺ Believe and know that nothing is impossible! Create a world where Miracles are every day occurrences. The Law of Attraction can create this world for you, if you realize and Choose to create your own world and use manifesting to your advantage. Anything and everything is possible, it is only our minds that refuse to believe. Start believing, start reading up on the Law of Attraction, start practicing gratitude every day.  

☺ Play Compliment Ping Pong! Sit down with a friend, in person or online, and pass compliments back and forth to each other. This isn't an ego boost exercise, it's a genuine love and mood-booster exercise. Self love too often gets put aside or dismissed as egoism, but people with the biggest egos are the ones in need of actual self love. Practice putting people up instead of down.       

☺ Remember to create your own sunshine!  It is in your power to create your own happiness, to create a beautiful day. All you have to do is wake up and smile, be grateful, focus on the positive, and maintain that positive attitude all day. Magical things will happen in your life and you won't be able to stop smiling and feeling like you're walking on rainbows. Yes, rainbows! 

☺ Try Veganism with the 1-Day Kickstart! I know, vegan diet, intimidating stuff. It's not as hard as you think and now there are even apps to help you out! This one is supposed to be fabulous and it's Free! This is a great app from PCRM for anyone who is new to a vegan diet. It gives you 21 days of recipes, making it super easy to plan your plant-based meals. 

☺ Make Love your only answer. Love is the answer to everything. Approach everyone and every situation from a point of love. Don't hold grudges, don't bad-mouth, don't be a little brat, just be loving. It'll get you much further in life.

☺ Stop talking behind people's backs… Once we learn to come from a place of love at all times this bad habit fades all by itself. However, until it does, catch yourself if you start saying something negative about another person. It's too easy to do, especially in this world. Just remember for every 1 bad thing you say about a person, you should replace that with 10 positive things about the person or else the relationship will end.    

☺ "Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." — Winston Churchill. Learn when to speak and when to listen. Balance is everything, and both are equally important.  

Create the Best Damn Day ever, it is up to You to Create a Beautiful Life!!! ;)

Much Love from me to you! 

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Ⓥ Almond Butter Oatmeal Smoothie Ⓥ

This is a rich, creamy, purely lovely breakfast smoothie for you!

There are a couple variations I've done of this recipe. Firstly, I use amanda vegan yogurt, it's delicious and amazing! Sometimes I op for the coconut flavour one for a more, well, coconut-y flavour. ;) I also sometimes add a serving of protein powder, just make sure it's a fairly plain tasting one so it doesn't mix with the flavours. And sometimes I'll add a tablespoon of chia seeds for a health boost (soak them for about 10 minutes or overnight with the oats).

Almond Butter Oatmeal Smoothie

1 frozen Banana

1/4 cup Oats (choose gluten free ones if you'd like)

1/4 cup Vanilla non-dairy Yogurt

1 cup Almond Milk

2 Tbsp Almond Butter

Stevia to sweeten (or other sweetener of your choice)

1 Tbsp Chia seeds (optional)

1 scoop Vegan Protein Powder (optional)

Cook the oats, or soak them overnight in the fridge--with 1/2 cup water. Wait until they've cooled if cooking them. 

Add all the ingredients together in a blender and blend until smooth. Add less or more liquid to get your desired consistency.   

Makes 1 serving. Enjoy! 

*I make all my smoothies in our Blendtec Blender--it's an amazing blender and well worth the investment--and it makes the smoothies super super smooth and creamy!* 

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♥ {life reflections} ♥

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{life reflections}

 Weekly thoughts and rambles. A glimpse into my mind and world. 

These are entries that I might jot down in my Happy Diary; what happens when we put our fingers to the keyboard and allow our thoughts to flow uninhibited. Reflections from the soul. 

Reflections of life.  

I hope to leave you inspired. 

If you want to share your own reflections of the week please leave a link to your "life reflections" entry in the comments for all to find and see.

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Ah life. The roller coaster. It's funny, the more I embark on this journey through my soul, really getting to know who I actually am, the more I find the ups and downs to be more frequent. At least in this phase of my journey. But the ups and downs also come and go more easily--my lesson to continue practicing. Life truly gives us whatever it is we need to learn or work on. This is why I think it's important to take a step back and really appreciate what life is giving you, whether it feels beneficial or not at the time. It is. And so, I watch the ups and downs, get emotional, observe, and continue on. A passing wave. It's all a journey, a lesson, and it takes practice and persistence. But it certainly does get easier. It just seems to flow more smoothly. Life happens. It's important not to resist but to go with the flow. Adapting. Learning. Bending with the flow of life. Not stopping things from happening, not stopping yourself from feeling angry or sad, but allowing such emotions to be felt, expressed, and then released. It's the only healthy and sane way to live life. 

This is the phase I feel to be in at the moment. Phases come and go, such is life. Winter is a time where I hermit quite a lot, I wrap myself up in the blanket of imagination, of drawing and writing… and basically nerding out. I think I'm a fairly introverted person. I like my "me" time. Like really like it. If I don't get time for myself in a week to enjoy my hobbies and hear my own thoughts then I think I'd go crazy. The more I realize this, the more I realize art has always been my outlet. It's a good outlet. I love it. I love creating. I love allowing my imagination to run all over my world. However, I know the value of balance. Balance is something I try to keep in mind. There are some times it's easier than others. I think it's also human nature. To become attached… and to not want to let go. We have obsessive personalities many of us. This gets in the way of balance and sometimes realizing what is actually good for us. Balance. I truly think it's the key to maintain an effortless level of happiness. Practice makes perfect. 

The snow has mostly melted, though it has made a few dramatic reappearances, dancing in and out with a stubborn lingering. Like human behaviour I suppose. Attachment. Anyways… it's felt like spring for a while now. Spring excites me. I love being outside, but I don't like being cold so I don't get out as much in the winter time as I'd like to--or feel motivated to. Spring brings back the colour in the world, that fresh scent in the air that washes us over with memories of previous years. Spring feels like new beginnings. Fresh starts. I like that. Our lives can be so scattered and bumpy, but we always have the choice on when to make a fresh start, to clean the slate. We can choose when to stand up and say "this is how my life is going to be." It's really quite amazing. Inspiring. We choose our lives. We choose our attitudes. The only one responsible for our own lives is ourselves. It can be overwhelming, and I've written about this before, but it's an amazing thing to realize. It's liberty. It truly is. 

So, what's your new beginning? 

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♥ {this moment} ♥

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{this moment} - Joining Soule Mama, a Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

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