Last week I discovered another amazing artist, Valentina Ramos of Valentina Designs. She creates inspirational, fun, unique, and gorgeous art which will certainly lift your spirits and put a smile on your face. She also has a very cool name.

I contacted Valentina straight away to see if she was interested in a little collaboration project. I’m pleased to say you will be seeing more of her great designs in my next new app, Vision Board.

My app is currently waiting approval by Apple. As soon as we get the green light (hopefully this week), I plan to sent out an upgraded version of the app which includes Valentina’s stunning designs.

If you want a little piece of sunshine for yourself, you can also get copies of her work from her Etsy shop.

Every time I see her work I’m inspired. Her messages are real and are ones we need to be reminded of daily. Thank you Valentina!

I had my final meeting with my life coach this week. Her parting message was impressive and one I’ve heard a few times before.

She told me about something she learned from a show she watched on PBS with Dr Dyer. Apparently there are two things we should do just before we go to sleep to manifest abundance.

The first one is to recap all the wonderful things that happened to us that day — otherwise known as the Gratitude Journal, which, as you know, I’m a big fan of.

The second is to visualize your ideal life. As you drift off asleep, think of all the wonderful things to come. Visualize yourself in your ideal life and make it as amazing as your mind can stretch. You send out positive vibes while you sleep. And you eliminate the negative ones you otherwise would have been feeding and growing if you were dwelling on your day or worry about tomorrow instead.

So far I’ve had some superb results. We recently had some work done on our house and the builder asked if he could come around with the bill. I immediately thought the worse and assumed the final bill is going to be way more than the estimate. Otherwise why wouldn’t he just drop it in the post?

The night before he was came by I imagined all the details including a bill far less than the original estimate. And sure enough, my little fantasy came true. Over $500 true!

Sure, you can argue that the bill would still have been less even if I didn’t visualize it before hand. But then I would have wasted precious energy worrying for nothing.

This visioning exercise is now a part of my nightly routine. It’s like taking my vision board to bed with me, picking one image on it, and letting my imagination go wild. Tonight’s fantasy — a life in Provence, France.

The other day I had my first appointment with a chiropractor that my friend recommended. And to my surprise she talked about how gratitude and forgiveness are extremely important elements to our health. Right up there with a healthy, balanced diet.

This is the first time I ever heard a doctor say this. She even tossed in the power of visualization. I instantly warmed to her as she verified what I’ve been practicing for almost a year now.

I told her I get the gratitude and visualization thing, but what’s this about forgiveness? I know to let things go, water off a duck’s back, move on, don’t look back. But are there actual steps to forgiving?

She handed me this simple print:

Steps to Forgiveness

1. Forgive the other person for causing you the feeling.
2. Give the other person permission to forgive you for having the feeling.
3. Forgive yourself for any harm that has come from that feeling.
4. Wish the person well.

I instantly made forgiveness part of my daily routine. Anytime someone pushes my buttons, I turn around and forgive. At the end of the day when I’m recapping the greatness in my life, I forgive the not so great things. And sometimes I go way back to people who riled me years ago and I forgive.

Each time I forgive it’s as if a big bag of bricks is taken off my back. I feel lighter, relieved, and well, healthier.

What I love about the forgiveness steps is that I’m not just forgiving others for their actions, I’m also forgiving myself for mine. Something I failed to do before.

Imagine a world where everyone is filled with gratitude and forgiveness. To simple things that cost us nothing but a few moments time and some sincere thoughts. Yet powerful enough to change everything.

I’ve been meeting with my life coach for almost two months now. It’s a lot different than I anticipated. I thought it would be like reading a very insightful book loaded with plenty of “ah-ha!” moments that I would apply to my every day life. Instead, she’s asking me incredibly tough questions, pushing my boundaries, and really making me think.

I originally met with her because I was feeling overwhelmed and didn’t think I had enough time in the day. I wanted her to wave her magic wand and somehow create an extra 12 hours for me.

Then one day she sat me down and repeated everything I told her in our prior visits. “I have no time. I never see my friends and family. I’m working too much.”

It sounded awful and devastating. I instantly kicked back demanding “That isn’t me!” Well, if it wasn’t, why was I saying it?

Later it occurred to me that I’m feeling overwhelmed because that’s precisely the message I’m putting out in the world. I repeat it all day long in different forms “I have no time…” or “I wish I could, but I’m busy…” or “gotta rush…”

But what would happen if I simply told myself, “I have all the time in the world”?

I repeated this to myself anytime I felt rushed. Someone stopped me to chat, I had time. Working late, no problem. Caught behind a slow driver, I chilled and enjoyed the view. In the end it actually worked. I created time.

By sending out a new message “I have time” I’m relaxing, finding a new rhythm and living in the moment. I’m focusing on one thing at a time instead of ten different things. As a result, I get more accomplished, do a better job, and truly do have more time.

So if you constantly feel overwhelmed, ask yourself — are you really? Or is it just a conditional thought that you repeated so often to yourself, you believe it and live it? Just maybe you too can magically create time through your thoughts.

The other night I was watching Oprah’s Best Life Series - Spiritual Practice. At the end she asked each teacher for one parting question. Michael Beckwith presented us with this one:

What gifts are within us that I promised myself I would give and that I need to dust off?

I instantly wondered — how do we even know what our gift is?

The answer is within each of us. We have to listen to our soul — our inner voice. Listening to my inner voice used to come naturally. But somewhere between majoring in attitude in college then opting for the secure career, I sold out. Then gave up on myself.

Over time I eventually managed to shut out the outside noise and hear my intuition again. My life suddenly became richer and more meaningful.

I discovered there are seven habits I need to practice daily to keep me headed in the right direction.

7 Habits to Listening to Your Inner Voice

1. Visualize your ideal lifestyle. A vision board is extremely powerful tool. I write letters to myself describing my ideal day. The more details the better. This lets the universe know what to bring into your life.
2. Give thanks daily. My Gratitude Journal changed my life. Writing down everything I’m grateful for is a message to the universe to bring more of it into my life.
3. Meditate as much as you can. Clearing the mind allows for new thoughts to come in. Even just a few minutes a day makes all the difference. Sit in silence, go for a walk, or just take a deep breath and repeat a mantra.
4. Give away the exact thing you want to receive.This might sound silly. How are you suppose to give away what you don’t have. The good news is that we all have plenty to offer. If you’re looking for a new job, help a friend with an introduction. If you want to lose weight, donate your Twinkies to the food panty and a few hours of your time to a community garden. Giving is the currency of the universe.
5. Take care of your health. I changed my diet and lost over 20lbs. It also cleared my head and calmed my soul. I exercise daily, try to get plenty of rest, and take vitamins. My physical body is the temple of my gift, so I nurture and pamper it. A long, hot bath works too!
6. Be the real you as much as possible. As I write this, there is a girl sitting across from me in the coffee shop with a big pink flower in her hair. It’s a bold display of individuality and true spirit. Once you start letting your true self out, you’ll discover that life is far easier and far, far richer.
7. Go with the flow. Last spring I wasn’t selected for a very cool job. Of course I was crushed. But I just found out that role was made redundant, so I would have been out of a job anyway. Everything works out as it should. And the more I accept life rather than resist it, the more creativity and innovation blossom.
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I started seeing a life coach. My hope is that she can help me find balance in my life so I have time to do the things I love most, like writing in my blog.

We only met a couple times so far but I feel we’re cracking this nut open. My first task was to ask myself, “What am I committed to?” All sorts of answers surfaced, but the one simple word appeared the most and that is “love”. I want to love what I do, the people I’m with, this very moment.

My next task is a little more involved. For fifteen minutes each day I do the “Loving Kindness Meditation”. It’s a gorgeous poem that really sums up the blessing I want for myself and for everyone.

I invite you to join me in this task and say this poem to yourself each day for one week. I’ve only been doing this for a few days and already I can already sense a difference. After one week, I’m guessing you will too.

Loving Kindness Meditation

May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I be safe from inner and outer danger.
May I be healthy in body and mind.
May I be happy and free.

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Quite a few years ago I became friends this amazing woman who was in her 70’s but had more vitality than any of my 20 year old friends. She went salsa dancing every night, had men chasing her, and looked amazing. To her, age was mental not chronological.

I recently discovered a Newsweek article saying that my friend’s belief has actually been proven. Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer did a study with some elderly men. She had them stay in a hotel retrofitted with complete 80’s decor. She told them not to reminisce about the past, but to actually act as if they had traveled back in time.

After just one week, the men in the experimental group (compared with controls of the same age) had more joint flexibility, increased dexterity and less arthritis in their hands.

Langer have been running similarly experiments for decades, and her theory is that we are all victims of our own stereotypes about aging and health. We simply accept our society’s negative beliefs about disease and old age effecting our behavior.

If we can disregard the negative clichés about health and believe we are youthful, we can mindfully open ourselves to more productive lives.

Start telling yourself that you have the mind and body of a 20 year old and you will feel the difference. And while you’re at it, pull out those old Farah Fawcett or Rick Springsteen posters to really throw you back in time.

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Instead of paying $7.95 for a 10oz bag of granola, I like to make it myself. It costs a fraction of the price, is a whole lot better for you, and tastes far better too. I’m just about to bake up a batch for our Sunday morning feast.

Easy Low Fat Low Sugar Homemade Granola

Dry:

4 cups old fashion (not quick) oats
1/2 cup ground flax
1 tsp cinnamon

Extra Ingredients (for example):

- 1/2 cup coconut flakes
- 1/2 cup almond slivers
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup of any kind of dried fruit

Liquid:

1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup low sugar maple syrup
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla

Line two baking sheets with wax paper. Mix all the dry ingredients together except for the dried fruit. In a separate bowl mix the liquids. Gradually add the liquid to the dry, giving it a good stir each time. When all the dry ingredients is coated, spread out on the baking sheets using a rubber spatula.

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, removing it every 10 minutes to stir. I lift the wax paper on each end to get it to unstick. After 30 minutes let it stand for 10-15 to cool then add the dry fruit. Store in a cool dry place and it will keep about 2 weeks.

]]> http://carlakaywhite.com/2009/04/easy-low-fat-low-sugar-homemade-granola/feed/ http://carlakaywhite.com/2009/04/easy-low-fat-low-sugar-homemade-granola/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CarlaKayWhite/~3/AmV62DaAxDU/ http://carlakaywhite.com/2009/04/dealing-with-bad-days/#comments Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:53:49 +0000 admin http://carlakaywhite.com/?p=164 ]]>

“Even heroes have bad days!”

Yesterday was one of those days when everything went right. I had productive meetings, managed to catch standby flights getting me home three hour earlier, and I even locked eyes with George Clooney and the world stood still. The day was perfect.

Today, on the other hand, is a completely different story. I got some sad news this morning, followed by loads of frustration with Paypal, and it’s only noon.

I usually don’t let bad news or poor service get me down, but today I want to just let it all out in rambo-woman fashion. A piece of chocolate isn’t going to make me feel better, I know.

I want to scream “Why me? Why today? What did I do?”

But then I remember something Thomas Edison once said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Poor service or disappointing news isn’t failure. It’s just the universe telling me that something simply didn’t work, so change it and try again. The sooner we get back on the horse and try again, the sooner we get that much closer to success.

It’s so much easier to see the universe nudging others but hard to recognize when it’s nudging me to change. Today’s events isn’t the universe being cruel and mean. In fact, it’s just the opposite. It’s trying to tell me something and it’s up to me to open my eyes, ears and heart and listen.

Just realizing this makes the blows less severe. They still hurt and I still fancy going all rambo for a good five minutes. But in the end I know what I really need is to exhale, believe in myself, and try again. Then follow it up with some intense middle-of-the-living-room-music-blasting dancing. And, of course, chocolate.

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Today I’m delighted insanely ecstatic to announce the release of my ebook Inside Secrets to an iPhone App: The essential non-developers guide to creating an iPhone app. It’s a detailed account of how I successfully created an iPhone app without learning a bit of programming and was written to help other “average” people take a bite out of Apple’s lucrative App Store.

My new book is available for download at iphoneappsecrets.com for $13.99, along with two free bonus books: Interviews with the Best, which shares conversations with the makers of iSteam, Classics, Weightbot, and the best-selling app of all time, Koi Pond; and, How to Successfully Promote Your App, which is full of tips and tricks on how to market an app on a shoestring budget.

The books offer page after page of practical advice … via my own personal journey.

After creating my app, Gratitude Journal (iTunes link), I received a flood of emails asking me how I did it. I spent hours answering every question with as much details as I could. Eventually the emails, phone calls, and meetings started piling up and I knew there had to be a better way to share everything I learned.

As fate has it, a lovely woman named Jill Harrington contacted me to simply let me know she loved my app. Her website, lupusrecoverydiet.com, caught my eye. So I wrote back telling her writing a book on day interests me. Like an angel sent straight from the karma gods, she latched on my dream and talked me into taking my first steps. She unconditionally offered amazing insight and advice.

The bad thing is that I actually thought I could pull this off in a week or two. I now have a new found respect to all writers everywhere. The writing, fact finding, permission seeking, proof reading and website building took me months instead of days. I’m pretty sure I have the iPhone app making process figured out by now!

My 5am routine went from making apps to pouring everything I knew into a book before rushing off to work each morning . But I couldn’t just do one book. I had to do three just to make it really exciting tough.

Just when I needed it most, help surfaced from the best places. People still continued to contact me asking for advice. Their brilliant questions became the basis of my book. Friends offered to proof-read, I found an amazing PR company to help with with a press release, and complete strangers gave me insight into places I’ve never tread before.

My heart and soul went into these books. I truly hope they help others take the first steps to create those great app ideas they’ve been pondering.

Creating an iPhone app has been a truly amazing experience that has opened doors and introduced me to wonderful people all over the world. I created my app with the purpose of helping others find happiness. I created this book with the exact same purpose.

Special thanks to:

Hetty Myric-Hughes & John Oats from Scroll Publishing. These guys know how to write!
Jenny Rainbird - Eagle eyes and such an amazing attention to detail.
Jill Harrington - Your advice got me started on a journey I had no idea where it would lead. Thank you!
GB Veerman - The best advice I ever got for the price of a couple beers.
Alanna Web - Thanks for all your questions. I can’t wait to see your app!
Robert Andrescik - You write the absolute best press releases. View a copy of the press release he did for my books. Wow!
John Casasanta, Tap Tap Tap - Not only do you have a cool last name, you have a big heart. This guy continued to offer me support while managing the release of MacHeist.
Andy Skirvin, Koi Pond - The best selling app of all time made time for me. Thank you.
Vassilis Samolis, iSteam - You are the most efficient person I worked with.
Mark Jardine, Tapbots - Your work is amazing and inspiring. Thanks for raising the bar.
Colin White - Are you ever going to tire of feed and watering me while I burn the sunrise oil?

To everyone who sent me your questions. You motivated me the most.
Most of all, thanks to everyone who got my app and now my ebooks! I love you guys!

– Related Links –

Visit Gratitude Journal website.
The Making of an iPhone app — Gratitude Journal | December 12, 2008

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