Life Stripped To The Bare Essentials

Gluten-free Pancake Mix Review: Cherrybrook Kitchen

on August 6, 2011 - 0 Comments

Cherrybrook Kitchen Gluten Free Dreams Pancake and Waffle Mix

Hey guys, what’s going on?

I hope that you are having a great weekend and are enjoying some R and R.

I wasn’t planning on posting today, however, inspiration hit me hard and I couldn’t resist sharing this review with you.

If you know me in real 3-D life, you may know that Saturday has become my pancake day.

To help keep my metabolism up, not only have I recently starting practicing intermittent fasting, I have also began to implement what’s known as a “cheat” day.

This is a day in which I allow myself to indulge in sweet and yummy goodies.

And for me.

That means pancakes. Read more »

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Inspirational Reads, and the Single Most Important Question to Ask Yourself.

on August 1, 2011 - 2 Comments

Hey guys, what’s going on?

I hope that you all had an awesome weekend. It’s Monday and to get the week started on a positive note, I wanted to leave you with this week’s inspirational articles and one, very very important question.

Below you will find a few articles and videos I thought would will help you stay positive and keep things in perspective.

1. 4 Simple Mantras to Help You Stay Positive and Happy by ME! – This was a guest blog I wrote for Tinybuddha.com last week sharing 4 mantras that have helped me get through some pretty difficult times in my life.

2. What’s Motivating You: the carrot or the stick? by Ali Luke – From TheChangeBlog.com. In this post Ali discusses 2 types of motivation: 1) Being motivated to get something and 2) Being motivated to avoid something. Knowing the difference between the 2 can help you figure out what’s going to be the best way motivate yourself.

3. 3 Things I Learned While My Plane Crashed by Ric Elias. 5 minute clip of a TEDTalk by Ric Elias. Sometimes, unfortunately, it takes a near fatal incident to make us stop and think about what really matters.

I hope that you take the time to read the articles and watch the video, as I think you’ll really gain a little insight from them.

And as I mentioned earlier, I also wanted to ask you an extremely important question. It will probably be the single most important question you could ever ask yourself.

However, before I do that, I have to give credit to my friend Hannah for being the first to ask ME that question.

Last week, I posted on Facebook a link to the article I wrote for Tinybuddha.com (you can find it above) and in response, Hannah left me with a very simple, yet extremely thought-provoking quote from the author and poet, Mary Oliver. And that was:

“What will you do with your one wild and precious life?”

The question has been stuck in my head all weekend and it has sent my imagination in a frenzy.

What will I do with my one wild and precious life?

The question stopped me dead in my tracks and I haven’t been able to shake it for the last few days.

I’ve realized it before, but the quote reminded me that we all only have 1 life.

1 chance here on this planet.

Just 1.

I will only have one chance to be 29.

I will only live August 1st, 2011 once.

Ever.

This it. This is our one chance.

To do the things we enjoy.

To live the life we dream.

And to love the people we care for.

I don’t think I can put it any better than how Mary did – our lives are precious.

And it is our responsibility to ourselves to respect and treat our lives as the rare commodity that it is.

To do or be anything less, would be disrespectful to our creator (whoever, or whatever it is).

So, today I will leave you with these articles.

And this one very important and life-changing question:

**“What will you do with your one wild and precious life?”**

Think about it, and share with us what you will do below in the comment section. I’d love to hear your thoughts

Your friend,

Sirena

2 Comments

Inspirational Articles I Thought You Would Enjoy

on July 25, 2011 - 4 Comments

Hey ya’ll!

I hope that you had a great weekend, enjoyed the weather, and spent some time with your loved ones.

I had an awesome weekend that started off with a trip to northern Maine for a very special wedding.

One of my best friend’s mom got married and to feel the love and happiness from everyone there, was simply incredible.

M and D were childhood friends, whom after reconnecting a couple of years ago by chance, tied the knot this past weekend.

Prior to that they had not seen each other in almost 30 years. It was simply touching to hear them tell their story.

Stepping away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and spending the weekend sans cellphone and laptop was quite therapeutic. At night, we sat by the campfire and counted shooting stars as they flew right above us.

Far too often, we hear stories of divorce, infidelity, and broken relationships. We love the gossip we read in magazines and see on entertainment shows.

I myself can be a tad cynical at times when it comes to believing in a lasting relationships so to see two people sincerely and deeply in love with each other was extremely refreshing and very humbling.

I don’t know a lot about love, but what I do know is this: The more love you give, the more you’ll receive.

So to start off the week, I want to share with you some inspirational articles, videos, and books to help bring more love into your life.

I hope you enjoy!

1. OSHO: Being In Love – One of my favorite YouTube videos of one of my favorite thinkers. OSHO gives us a new angle on the meaning of “selfishness”

2. The Mastery Of Love - From one of my favorite spiritual authors, Don Miguel Ruiz. The Mastery of Love is a spin off his original “The 4 Agreements”.

3. 10 Ways To Love The People In Your Life - one of the weekly updates from one of my faves, TinyBuddha.com.

4. The Biggest Limiting Belief - Love’s Opposite Vibration. Little article I found from FinerMinds.com. You may be surprised to read that “hate” is actually not the opposite of love.