You, Your Mind, Your Life

"Don't talk to me before my coffee!" "I am not a morning person." "I am a night owl." I am most productive at 3pm." What is your preference? Are you a morning person or evening person, and what do you mean by that? Being sluggish in the morning can have different reasons, like poor sleep hygiene, low blood sugar, unhealthy diet etc. Running out of energy by the evening shares some of the same reasons like poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, stress and idleness. There is plenty of online advise for you to choose from to improve your energy level and mood. What I would like to reflect on here is morning vs. evening. I am a morning person in the sense that I wake up early. But instead of spending beautiful morning hours stuck in traffic or listening to the news or anything else, I would like to sit and watch the color of the sky change, listen to the sound of life getting louder gradually, and join the stillness there is in the morning hours. I would l

I had lived my early years of life under an oppressive regime, in a state of constant unknown, and hopeless future. As a girl, I couldn't dream to be independent and have an individual identity. I had to be someone's daughter, sister, wife or mother. My parents were torn between keeping us safe and giving us hope. I sometimes took refuge in my imaginations, where I was placed in a very different society where I could be my own person. One of these imaginary paths were running away to a foreign land with a male companion who would protect me and also allow me to become my own person, my knight in shinning armor. When I finally did come to the land of opportunity and freedom, I was overwhelmed. I wanted to do so many things with very limited capabilities. My imaginations had fooled my mind and my expectations by tricking my mind to believe that I was capable of more that I actually could do. I had a major gap between my new reality and my unrealistic expectations. Thus began my

"Winners never quit and quitters never win." Like "think positively" this statement is a scam. Don't believe it, don't make it your motto. You will save yourself a lot of heartache, time, effort and even money by quitting the cumbersome pursuit, the wrong person, the forced relationship, the impractical dream. We sometimes think of our energy and time as an infinite resource, a well that never dries. WRONG!!!! Once we realize this, we will value our personal resources dearly and will dedicate them to meaningful purposes. If getting that perfect body is an unmanageable goal and brings you so much guilt and shame, it is time to quit. Don't quit on your health, instead quit on the unreasonable goal that doesn't fit your priorities and lifestyle. Redefine your goal; maybe you can't be size 2, but you need to work out to keep endorphin circulating in your system, to keep pain away and your blood sugar steady. Escalation of commitment is what keeps