When I woke up this morning it was the most miserable day ever. The wind was howling, rain was pouring down and the sky was dark. “What a miserable day,” I thought, “I won’t be walking to the grocery store today.” Normally, I walk to the store and I have a few things to pick up for dinner tonight. A few minutes ago, I noticed the sun shining on me as I sat at my desk.  When I looked out the window the sun was shining and the sky was perfectly clean and blue. It looks like I will be walking to the store after all.

That got me thinking about the way life works out. It’s been nearly a year and a half since we moved to the UK. Honestly, our first months in the country were some of the most trying times in my life. We couldn’t find a place to live, our money was quickly running out and our whole family was stressed. Those were hard times. When they were happening I didn’t know how we would get through them.

All this time has passed and now we have a place to live. My husband has started to find more and more work that is better quality than the work he did in Florida, my websites are starting to take off, and my stepson is enjoying school. Even he says that the difficult times we experienced when we first moved here really helped him to mature and appreciate the things more.

When we were going through all of that my stepson was very hard to deal with. He was complaining all the time and struggling to cope. I bet that in a million years he’d never have thought that one day he’s be glad that he experienced it. That’s the  thing about trials. They’re hard–that’s obvious–but when you come out the other side you come out a better person.

Things have a way of working out. Even when you feel like all the terribleness around you will just swallow you up, don’t let it. Don’t give up. If you keep moving forward, if you keep trying to better your situation, it will work out. I look back at things that have happened in my life that at the time were extremely difficult and I can chart how that experience changed the course of my life and made me who I am today. I would never change that for anything.

It may be hard to see the good in your experience when it’s happening to you. You may not be able to even imagine how it might work out in the end, but know that if you keep trying to push through it eventually you will. God or the universe or however you want to think of it will not give you an experience that you cannot deal with. Don’t fall down on your hands and knees thinking, “Why me?” Get up and start figuring out what you need to do to get out of that situation.

One day you’ll look up and notice that the clouds have parted. You may not even know when it happened exactly, but it will and you’ll be grateful that you learned that lesson and were able to move a little bit closer to becoming who you were meant to be.

Photo by Februum

Just a short post today about something I was thinking about after a trip to the post office.

There used to be two post offices within walking distance from my flat. The man that worked in the one closest to me was miserable. When I went into post office I’d always try to be extra happy. I’d smile and make a joke, but he would never even look up at me and he’d always had the most depressed expression on his face. A couple of times my husband got him to smile, but those times were few and far between.

The man who works in the post office a little farther away from my flat is just the opposite. Whenever I go in there I leave feeling happier than I did before. He always has a smile on his face and is ready to make a joke. Visiting that post office is quite a pleasant experience.

Working in a post office probably wasn’t either man’s main ambition in life as a youth. Maybe one wanted to be an Olympic athlete and the other wanted to be a movie star, but they both ended up working in the post office. One man is obviously miserable and the other makes the best of his situation. He chooses to be happy.

The miserable man’s post office was closed down a few months ago because of budget cuts. It was sad really. He made a big sign out of poster board that said “CLOSED.” He hung the sign on the counter the day his post office closed, but still sat in the post office behind the counter for a few days with his sign up. He didn’t seem to be doing anything in there. He just sat behind the counter looking miserable. It was really very sad.

Do What You Love and Love What You Do

You should find work that you love. That should be everyone’s goal, but I know finding something to do that pays the bills and ignites your passion can be difficult. You may be forced to take a job that isn’t exactly ideal, like working in the post office. If you do find yourself in that situation, try to find the good in the work that you do. Look for the enjoyable parts. Know that job doesn’t have to be last forever. You can also look for new work, but while you’re in the job you have try to enjoy it.

You spend most of your day at work. If you’re miserable their, you’re spending most of your day being miserable. Being miserable is not good for your health.

Photo by Mike Cattell

I’ve mentioned on this blog that I soak my grains before eat them. I thought I’d write about why I soak them and how I soak them.

Why you should soak your grains

I discussed this briefly in my post about the Paelo diet, but I thought it would be worth going over again.

I’m sure that you’ve heard before–probably when you were quite young–that you shouldn’t eat an apple seed because they’re poisonous. Most of us instinctively know that eating the seeds of fruit is not such a good idea. You probably don’t eat them for practical reasons because they’re hard and annoying, and when you accidental bite down on them they have a bitter, unpleasant taste. The seeds are like that because they don’t want to be eaten. It they are hard and taste bad animals will just swallow them whole when they’re eating. The seeds are covered in a protective coating so they can safely pass through the digestive system. They come out the end intact along with a nice bit of fertilizer so they can plant themselves in the ground and grow. So that’s the story of a seed and how fruit plants protect their young.

What is a grain? A grain is a seed just like the pit in a fruit is. Wouldn’t it make sense that plants that produce grain have similar methods to keep their young safe?

Grains contain chemicals called antinutrients. The antinutrient, phytic acid, binds to zinc, calcium, magnesium, copper and iron blocking their absorption into your intestinal tract. Enzyme inhibitors in grains stress the pancreas and inhibit digestion. You can think of it as the plant saying, “You can eat my babies, but I’m going to make sure your unhealthy because of it.”

Some animals have evolved digestive systems that can break down these antinutrients and enzyme inhibitors so they have no effect on them. They have long intestinal systems and multiple stomachs. We humans haven’t done that so we have to break down these bad things before we put the grains in our bodies.

Soaking and Sprouting

Using methods like soaking and sprouting to prepare your grains and legumes breaks down the antinutrients in them so your body can easily digest them. If you look at traditional cultures’ methods of preparing grains and legumes you’ll find a long tradition of soaking, fermenting and sprouting. The fermenting process in making sourdough breads helped make the gluten in the wheat more easily digestible. In many Asian country rice is soaked before it’s cooked.

I’ve only started soaking my grains this year so I’m not old hat at it like some other people are, but here’s what I do.

My family eats rice more than any other grain. I always cook with brown rice. I soak my rice for a few hours before I cook it. Usually I squeeze a lemon into the water, about 1 tablespoon per every cup of water. Then I soak the rice for a few hours. I rinse it well before cooking it. I might change the way I soak my rice. While doing research for this post I came across this article. So I may started soaking my rice for longer.

Beans and legumes should be soaked overnight. First rinse the beans well. Then soak. Just like I do for the rice, I add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice per cup of water. Rinse the beans before cooking. The acid in the lemon juice helps break down the antinutrients. You can use vinegar, kefir whey or ferment buttermilk instead of lemon juice in any of these soaking instructions.

Recently, I’ve started eating oatmeal or porridge for breakfast. Oats should be soaked for 24 hours before you cook them. I add equal parts oats and water to a bowl with a squeeze of lemon juice. Then I let it soak until the next day. In the morning I add the same amount of milk as oats to a pan and heat it slowly. Then I dump in my soaked oats. Stir it up and cook for a few minutes. You can use water instead of milk.

I haven’t started baking yet so I can’t give instructions on that. Once I start I’ll keep you posted. If you want to find out more about soaking your grains check out the Weston A. Price Foundation.

Photo by Jonathan Gill

I was reading a blog post the other night about the habits of healthy people and one of the habits really stood out to me. It could be applied to most everything not just health. The quote was “healthy people talk themselves into doing, being, living a certain way. Unhealthy people talk themselves out of it.”

Talking yourself out of it

I wonder how many of us are guilty of doing this. I think that there are many. I hear people make excuses that add up to talking themselves out of things all the time. Does any of this sound familiar to you?

“I’d like to travel, but I don’t have the money.”

“I wish I could eat healthier, but I just don’t have the time.”

“I’d like to start a blog, but I don’t know what to write about.”

“I wish I could exercise, but I’m just too tired.”

“I hate my job, but I’ll never find anything better.”

These are just a few examples of the millions of excuses people make everyday that keep them from changing. I’m guilty of it too sometimes.

When I first decided to start blogging, I looked into it thoroughly. It was something I wanted to do, but I spent so much time in the beginning making excuses as to why I couldn’t do it.

“I don’t have the time.”

“I don’t know what to write about.”

“Maybe I don’t have anything worth saying.”

“Why bother? No one will read it anyway.”

Can you believe I was such a big pile of negative, about this. I spent months doing this.

That’s called talking yourself out of something and doing that made me waste six months that I could’ve spent learning and blogging. That kind of attitude gets you nowhere.

Talking yourself into things

You can turn this around by talking yourself into the things. Becoming success and making great changes in your life require that you take some risks. You need to get up and do something different. That’s not easy. When it seems too hard to take that first step you need to give yourself a little pep talk.

Instead of making excuses and deciding why you can’t do something, find a way to do it.

Finally after six months of making excuses, I switched my thinking and signed up to start my first blog on Blogger. It’s not on blogger anymore, but it’s still going strong. From that first attempt of internet writing I’ve started other blogs–some of which have been miserable failures–and three websites.

All of that because I woke up one morning and decided to stop talking myself out of it. It’s that simple. Isn’t great how some solutions are so simple?

If you really want to do something stop talking yourself out of it and start talking yourself into to it. Once you start talking yourself into it you’ll find that you are able to find solutions to the problems that are holding you back.

If you want to find out the other Habits of Healthy People check out Body Incredible.

Photo by notsogoodphotography

I wanted to talk about diet today and some of the changes I’ve made in my own diet. My dietary philosophy has changed a bit since I started this blog and I wanted to say something about that. When I first started Art of Balanced living I only ate fish and no meat or poultry. My dairy consumption was very limited and I drank soy milk and ate tofu occasionally. I avoided fats especially saturated fat and used vegetable oil in cooking regularly. I was always on the look out for the healthiest oil, but it was always some sort of vegetable oil. I only wanted to eat healthily and I wanted to feed my family the healthiest meals possible. I still do, but the way I approach it has changed a bit.

Since moving to the UK, I’ve been doing a lot of research about food and health. My research has led me to change my eating a bit. Firstly, I eat meat and poultry now. It’s funny because when I moved here I honestly thought I was just a step away from becoming a vegan, but I started eating meat mainly for convience. It was only supposed to last for until we moved into our own place. I just thought it would be easier when we were staying with other people if I ate meat. So I started doing that. I hadn’t been a vegetarian for very long so I didn’t really have the negetive side effects that many people who switch from being a vegetarian have. My system hadn’t yet forgotten how to digest meat.

I’d started eating a semi-vegetarian diet because I was trying to shrink my uterine fibroid tumor and read a lot of things about fibroid shrinking and diet and thought that was the best thing to do to shrink it. I also wanted to do the best thing for my health. So many people in my family have high blood pressure and high cholestrol. I didn’t want to be one of those people.

Honestly, even though I told people that I felt great I felt tired much of the time when I was a vegetarian, but I was so sure it was the right thing for me to do that I was determined to stick to it. I wasn’t a junk food vegetarian. I ate fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Most of the food I ate was freshly prepared.

I used to think that their was one way to eat and that all people needed to eat that way and that way was vegetarian. I believed that eating meat was the cause of most of the disease in society today. I really believed that. That’s what all the studies say, right? But now I think that’s not necessarily the truth. If you compare the health of a vegetarian, who is pretty health conscious to a meat eater who is eating a standard diet consisting of processed foods and factory farmed meat, of course the vegetarian will be healthier.

If you look at the diets of indigious people throughout the world, they eat a variety of foods. Some eat diets that are rich in sweet tropical fruits, some survive on mostly meat. Though we’re all the same species we don’t all thrive on the same diet.

I don’t try to get rid of the fat in my food now. I drink whole non-homogenized milk that I get directly from the farm instead of soy milk because I learned that soy milk contains anti-nutrients. I eat only free range organic meat,  poultry, and eggs. All of my cooking oils are cold pressed and I only use extra virgin olive oil, extra virgin coconut oil and butter for cooking. We eat a lot of fresh vegetables in season and fruit in season. I soak and cook my own beans and legumes. I avoid using canned food.

My family still has a sweet tooth. We still like cookies sometimes and pies but I make raw desserts and when I do make sweets that get baked in the oven they are made with buckwheat or quinoa flour and sweetened with honey.

So why am I telling you all of this? I’m telling you because if I can do it I know that you can too. Cutting out processed food and eating healthily is challenging at times but it can be done. If you make the commitment to do it, you’ll be able to. There is a food revolution going on. Don’t you want to be part of it?

Photo by Selma90

Your life is packed full of activities. Most people’s are. It’s become so much a part of modern living. We have an endless list of commitments and there’s always something that needs to be done. It is  part of modern living. Our ability to do so much makes us do more and more.

The time spent on work or other commitments is important, but when it comes down to it the most important thing is family. The relationships you built with relatives and friends are the bonds that last and truly enrich your life. Here are 10 activities you can do with your family that will help you build relationships and won’t cost you any money.

Play a board game. I’ve never been into games, but my sister and mother love them. Even now getting together as a family to play some games is fun. It’s nothing I’d consider doing normally, but knowing that it makes them so happy is enjoyment enough for me.

Go on a picnic. Pack up a few simple foods and find a nice spot to eat outside. It breaks up the routine and is a fun weekend activity for the family. I love this time of year when the leaves are changing and there’s a slight chill in the air. You have to go on your picnic soon though. The winter cold will be here before you know it.

Take a walk. Most evenings we go for a walk after dinner when the weather is nice. Walking gives you some exercise and also gives you the chance to talk about things that are going on in your lives without the distraction of the television or the internet.

Talk. Find out what’s going on in your kids’ lives. Talk about what they’re doing. Find out about friends, school, and other interests. Don’t do this in an overly questioning grilling sort of way. This can be done naturally. Showing sincere interest will help them open up. Even your teenagers want to know that you’re interested in their lives even though they don’t act like it most of the time.

Cook together. Make something delicious as a family. Make sure to get everyone involved in some way. It will help teach your children about how to cook and also help all of you work together. Food you make together always tastes better.

Read a book together out loud. We used to get novels from the library and read them aloud together. We haven’t done that in awhile, but when we did it was something we all enjoyed and looked forward to. You can choose a book with an interesting story that would be appropriate for the whole family. Have everyone who can take a turn reading a few pages. Doing this helps foster a love for reading in your children. It’s also good because once the book gets going, it becomes a time that everyone looks forward to because they all want to know what’s going to happen next in the story.

Play a sport. When I was little we had a ping pong table in the house. I really looked forward to family ping pong tournaments. I was never very good but it was always tons of fun.

Go to a museum. Art museums and science museums can make great family outings. There are plenty of free museums out there too, so going to one doesn’t have to cost you anything.

Draw. My husband and stepson love to draw. We’ve spent time together just drawing pictures. Once years ago we all drew pictures of each other. My stepson was so happy about doing that that he kept all the pictures.

Taking a few minutes out of your busy life to slow down and do something relaxing with your family helps put life ito prospective. What are you doing all that work for anyway? You’re doing it to help your family have a better life. Well the best way to improve their lives is to take the time to show them you really care. Those are the things that children remember when they become adults. Those are the times you’ll treasure.

Photo by Pink Sherbet

Uterine fibroid tumors are quite common in women of child bearing age. I used to have a large fibroid that made me feel uncomfortable and gave me heavy,  painful periods. This problem is quite common. If you have fibroids, you may feel alone and disheartened, but you’re not. I want to share my story with about how I shrank my fibroids using diet and lifestyle.

A few years ago now, I had a miscarriage. In the course of all the examinations I got during this time my doctor discovered that I had a large pedunculated subserosal fibroid about the size of a tennis ball hanging from the back of my uterus. There are several types of fibroids:

• Intramural fibroids are the most common and grown in the wall of the uterus.

• Submucosal fibroids grow into the cavity of the uterus and can cause infertility.

• Subserosal fibroids grow on the outer surface of the uterus.

• Cervical fibroids grow at the entrance of the uterus.

Both submucosal and subserosal fibroids can be pedunculated meaning they are attached to the uterus by a stalk.

I had been having problems with heavy, painful periods and back pain for quite some time before I found out I had a fibroid, but I didn’t think anything of it. I’d been on the pill for a little more than a year and had just come off it. I thought the problems I was having were a result of that.

My doctor wanted to do more tests and eventually do a myomectomy to remove the fibroid. She said it was distorting the shape of my uterus because it was so large and that it would make it difficult for me to carry a pregnancy to term. Myomectomies are common treatments for fibroids. During the procedure they remove the tumor from the uterus and try to keep the uterus intact. Other surgical treatments include hysterectomies–removal of the uterus, and embolization–blocking the blood flow to the fibroid.

All surgeries have possible risks. I don’t like the idea of getting surgery. At the time, I didn’t have health insurance so I knew there was no way I could afford any tests or procedures. So I started doing some research about what I could do to shrink my fibroid naturally. Here’s what I found out.

Uterine fibroid tumors are caused by an estrogen imbalance. You have too much estrogen in your system and this causes the tumors to form. I blame my fibroid on birth control pills, even though a combination of things most probably contributed.  Other contributing factors may be chemicals in household cleaners, cosmetics  and plastics that mimic estrogen and get into your body. I stopped storing food in plastic containers and started making my own household cleaning products. I also started using all natural cosmetic products, shampoos, and lotions.

Hormones in meat and dairy and pesticides that mimic estrogen also contribute. I started buying strictly organic produce. I stopped eating meat all together even though now I don’t think that’s a necessary step as long as you’re buying free-range organic hormone-free meat. You should cut down on how much meat you eat though. I stopped eating soy. There is some controversy about that. Some people who talk about shrinking fibroids recommend it and others advise against it.

I started doing ginger compresses three times a week for fifteen minutes to help pull toxins out of my system. I would grate a piece of organic ginger a few inches long into a pot of filtered water. I’d let the water boil for 10 minutes. Then let it cool to a reasonable temperature that was still hot but not so hot it would burn me. I’d put a clothe in the water, wring it out and place it on my abdomen. I ‘d then put towels over it to hold in the heat. I left it on for 15 minutes. Because my fibroid was at the back of my uterus, I’d also put the clothe on my back for 15 minutes. Most people use castor oil compresses instead of ginger. I just used what I had easy access to.

I also started exercising. I always exercised, but I have to admit that most times I was quite slack about it. I started exercising most days of the week. I’d do aerobic exercise at least three days a week. I’d also do strenght training and yoga on the other days.  Stress can lead to fibroids getting worse. Yoga helps  relieve that stress. I recommend doing some sort of mediation to relieve stress and anxiety.

I started taking the following herbs:

• milkthistle
• burdock root
• evening primrose
• motherwot
• horsetail
• raspberry leaf
• angus catus (vitex)

There are other treatments that you can use to help get rid of uterine fibroid tumors that I didn’t use. Many people have found success using a natural progesterone cream. These creams are made from wild yam extract and are available at most health food stores. Acupuncture and Mayan abdominal massage can also be used to help get rid of fibroids.

There is a London based kinesiologist named Sharon Olso whose email list I’m on. She specializes in treating female health concerns and she has a lot of good advice to give. A lot of what I know about fibroids I learned from looking at her You Tube account and reading her newsletter. She has an ebook out called Stop Fibroids that offers a lot more detailed information than I can give. If you’re interested in finding out more, click here to check out her book. I have not read the book so I can’t be sure about what all it contains.  Buying it is up to you and just so you know that’s an affiliate link, meaning if you buy using that link I get a cut of the sale. I did a bunch of research to come up with my fibroid shrinking plan. I searched a lot of sites and tried things out. You can do the same.

Photo by payalnic

The other day I was reading something aloud to my husband when I came across a word I’d never seen before. Because it was a new word I had no idea how to say it, so I just kind of said something garbled and moved on. My husband stopped me though and said, “Do you have some kind of problem reading?”

I was shocked and appalled by this question. “What do you mean by that?” I asked.

He explained that I do this thing when I read new words were I just say something else instead of what the word really says and try to make it a joke, but he’s started to think that I had some kind of problem reading.

He’s right I do, but I always thought I’d done a great job of covering it up. I never thought anyone suspected anything.  I have a bit of a problem sounding words out. I guess I was absent on that day of school. I read all the time but not usually out loud so it’s not really a noticeable problem.

What does this have to do with you? Here’s what it has to do with you.

Stop Trying to Be Perfect

The only perfect person in this world is my mother, or at least that’s what she tells me. So you can stop trying to be perfect. No one’s expecting you to be. You may be striving for perfection in life, but you certainly haven’t gotten there yet so don’t pretend you have.

When you’re spending your time trying to hide a flaw you’re lying to others and  to yourself. If you don’t acknowledge the problem you’ll never be able to do anything about it. It’s like there’s a wall right in front of you and you say, “There’s know wall there.” Then just keep walking straight towards it. What’s going to happen? You’ll walk right into it that’s what. You can decide to walk along next to the wall for awhile, but if the place you need to get to is no the other side of the wall, you’ll never get to it without dealing with the obstacle of the wall.

Knowing your weaknesses will help you know your strengths.

Once you admit your flaws, you’ll be able to figure out what your strengths are more easily. For every weakness there is an accompanying strength. For example, a blind person’s other senses are usually heightened to make up for his blindness. If a blind person tried to pretend he wasn’t blind and walk out in the street unassisted that would be stupid and dangerous. Pretending you have no weaknesses may not put your life in danger, but it’s equally as stupid.

Let’s say you had a shovel and a broom. You could try to sweep your kitchen floor with the shovel. You may be able to use your hand to push some dirt up on it, but you wouldn’t do a very good job. You could try to use the broom to dig a hole. You could sweep the same spot over and over and maybe you’d get a little indentation in the dirt, but it would be hard work. Using the correct tools for the job will give you much better results.

Make a List.

Sit down and make a list of the things you don’t do well. I know this sounds like a self-esteem lowering exercise but trust me it’s not. It’s simply a honest look at reality. Are there things on that list you want to improve? If so make a list of way s you can improve them and people who might be able to help you improve them. Are there things on that list that you’d rather not deal with? That’s fine. Like I said before no one expects you to be perfect. If your imperfection isn’t putting your life or the life of others in danger and it’s not taking away from the quality of your life that’s fine. Don’t do it if you really don’t want to, but admit that it’s a weakness and don’t try to pretend it’s not. Own up to the fact that it’s a weakness you’d rather not deal with.

Now turn the paper over and list your strengths. Some people have a problem with this so you may need to ask other people what they think your strengths are. This list is just to show yourself what you do well so you can have confidence when you’re doing those things. You may even want to develop some of those strengths further. Doing so could open up new doors in your life that you’ve never even imagined.

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Don’t run away from who you are, embrace it. To quote a popular 80’s classic, Ebony and Ivory, “There’s good and bad in everyone.” Recognizing that in yourself and others will help you lead a happier life.

Photo by jcoterhal

“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” Booker T. Washington

We all encounter hardships in our lives. Overcoming obstacles and hardships set before us is one reason why we’re all here. What are the obstacles you face? How can you overcome them? How can you make them your strengths instead of your weaknesses?

There are hardships put before use that we have not created ourselves. Some people are born into extreme poverty or have disabilities that are far beyond their control. While these are difficult circumstances to overcome, I’ll be focusing on created obstacles today. I also want to remind those that struggle with obstacles that are beyond they’re control that you have the power to choose the way you react to them.

Here are a few common things people do to create obstacles in their lives.

Holding on to past hurts.

Have you ever known someone who seems to be looking to be offended? Have you even known someone who holds on desperately to every hurtful thing that was ever said or done to them and just can’t seem to move beyond it? Are you guilty of doing this? Some people get so wrapped up in being offended that they can’t move forward in life. They look for ways to be wounded and they hold on to that hurt and refuse to move away from it.

Holding grudges and refusing to forgive others hurts you far more than the other person. If you want to be clear-headed. If you want to do your best in life, you must be able to let go of past hurts and move forward with an eye towards the future. Doing anything else is just looking backwards. How far will you get in your life if you’re always looking behind you?

Giving in to tragedy.

Tragedy comes to all of us at times in our lives. The death of a loved one, illness, or heartbreak is something that we all have to deal with. Letting your life stop because of it will do you no good.

My mother had a terrible accident a few years ago. In the accident her left shoulder was shattered. She had two surgeries to repair the damage. Her left shoulder was replaced. After much physical therapy,  she is still in constant pain from the injury and she has a very limited range of motion in that arm. Some people might’ve used this as a reason to give up. She could’ve have easily taken to bed and felt sorry for herself, but she hasn’t.

My mother continues to do the same things that she’s always done. Sure she’s had to modify them a bit. She does have physical limitations now, but I have never heard her complain about them. She struggles with pain, but she continues to move forward making the best of what she has. If anyone ever suggests that she can’t do something because of her arm she says, “My right arm still works, doesn’t it?”

Holding on to bad habits.

What are you doing to get in your own way? The hardest thing to change can be your own behaviors. Look at the difficulties people who overeat have overcoming that habit. We get stuck in undesirable behaviors that seem so difficult to overcome. Sometimes we can’t even see that what we’re doing is undesirable.

My husband is a professional musician. He plays the bass and he’s quite good. Granted, I’m biased, but he really is good. Anyway, his music career hasn’t gone the way he would’ve hoped. Just recently he told me that he’s spent so much time feeling “hard done by” that he’s been unwilling to look at the weaknesses in his playing that may have caused him to miss opportunities. He’s practiced in a way that’s allowed him to ignore those weaknesses. If he finds something that he’s lacking musically, he just moves on to something else instead of working on that problem. Now that he’s noticed the pattern he’s been working on correcting it. This will take time. He’s established this bad habit over years and years of playing for many hours everyday, but he is trying to correct it.

It’s so easy to ignore these things and try to move forward without correcting them, but until you correct your bad habits you can’t truly move forward.

Letting fear stop you from moving forward.

We all feel fear at some point in our lives. The question is will you let that fear stop you from moving forward? Fear can keep you from making changes in your life because you are afraid of failure. You’re afraid of change. You’re afraid to try. Fear can be a major roadblock that keeps you from reaching your full potential. To overcome this fear you have to walk right into it. That is how you gain courage.

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I hope that this has helped you look at some obstacles you have in your life that need to be overcome. I’m far from perfect and am working at overcoming obstacles daily. As we push forward through these roadblocks, we will become stronger and more of who we are meant to become.

Photo by notsogoodphotography

As many of you already know, I used to be a professional massage therapist. I don’t massage professionally anymore, but I do still have an interest in bodywork, skin and natural oils. My home is full of various kinds of natural oils and butters. I make my own moisturizers and creams. This article will include a recipe for a body butter that I use daily. It’s a great natural formula for fading stretch marks.

There are a lot of people out there who are interested in fading stretch marks. They’re quite common and you can get them in a lot of different ways. These marks happen when the skin stretches too quickly. The rapid stretching of the skin can occur because of pregnancy, weight gain, rapid muscle gain or even a growth spurt.  The top layer of the skin tear resulting in scarring. These scars can be whitish, slightly darker than your skin color, reddish or bluish. They appear in a series of parrell stripes.

There are a ton of creams you can smear on yourself to try to get rid of stretch marks. Many of them are wildly expensive. You can also use natural ingredients to diminish them. It’s not that difficult and it works for a lot of people, including me.

Shea Butter

Shea butter is made from the fruit of the shea tree. It is used in West Africa for skin and hair care and even cooking. Here is a video about how it is made.

The vitamin E and A in shea butter gives it its healing properties. Shea butter is used in cosmetics, but the shea butter in these products is refined. When going through the refining process it loses some of it’s potency so it’s best to use natural unrefined shea butter.

Grape Seed Oil

Grape seed oil is another oil known for it’s healing properties. Grape seed oil is what I’ve been using to give massages for years now. I used to use massage lotion, but as time passed I became more and more interested in using natural products that were as close to its original state as possible.

Grape seed oil is also used in many cosmetic products. It helps skin regenerate.

Cocoa Butter

Cocoa butter is made from the cacao bean. It is a vegetable fat that is full of antioxidants. It’s used in the making of skin products and chocolate. It’s often used to treat stretch marks, but some people don’t find success using it. I think it smells great.

Click here to learn about coconut oil.

I make my own natural moisturizer using these ingredients. It’s easy to make. Use it daily to fade stretch marks or just as a great body lotion that leaves your skin feeling silky and smooth.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unrefined shea butter
• ¼ cup cocoa butter
• 1/3 cup extra virgin coconut oil
• 1/3 cup grape seed oil

Cut up your cocoa butter and shea butter into small pieces. Use a double boiler to melt your cocoa butter slowly. Once your cocoa butter is completely melted remove it from the heat and add your shea butter. You remove it from the heat before adding the shea butter because if shea butter gets too hot it gets a grainy texture. Stir this mixture around letting the shea butter melt. The smaller your pieces of shea butter the more easily they will melt. Once your shea butter is melted add your extra virgin coconut oil and continue to stir until that’s completely melted. Then add 1/3 cup of grape seed oil and mix well. I like that consistency of grape seed oil but you can use olive oil, jojoba oil or sweet almond oil also. You can find out about the healing properties of these other oils here. Experiment and see what you like best.

Let the mixture cool for a few minutes before putting it into large mouthed jar. When it’s completely cool it will be a solid. If  the body butter this recipe makes is too hard of you, you can adjust it by adding more grape seed oil. I like the rich chocolaty smell the cocoa butter and coconut oil make together, but you can always add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to change the smell.

Use this body butter daily, stay well hydrated and exfoliate to start fading stretch marks.

I love this recipe, but if you’re interested in a simpler solution try this method.

If you don’t want to make this on your own, you can buy her stretch mark formula here.

Photo by L*u*z*