Monday 29 July 2013

Diary

I just love my new life!
I love my new job, my new friends, my new wages!
I love the new me!

Because I feel like a brand new person. I have more energy and are able to actually enjoy my free time now, before I was always so tired that I hated even thinking about doing something. Now, I enjoy doing things.

This past weekend I was a busy bee on the Saturday, I did some washing, I cleaned the house, did the shopping, baked a cake and cooked. All before my monthly Girly Night with films, face mask, foot bath, nice food and popcorn with my good friend C. It was an amazing feeling to have that kind of energy. It has been a long time.

And today I got my first wage, "only" for half a month, but still it is more money in one lump than I have had for a year and a half. Nice.

I'm feeling alive again. Not only do I feel like I can enjoy the times I am not working, but I also have the money to actually do something during those times as well.

The only thing I haven't been doing much of lately is writing, but I think I just need to settle in this new life first.Also, I have an "old" laptop, and it gets extremely hot this time of year, and since I have it on my lap I get extremely hot too. Right now I am sweating like a pig. Hahaha, nice ha! It is 30 degrees (Celsius) in here as it is anyway, with this laptop on my lap it gets warmer than that. So, only a short moment at a time. And also, I do sit in front of computer screens all days, so some days I just don't feel like sitting in front of one when I come home.

Anyway, I am sure the inspiration will show up when it gets cooler again.

Tonight will be pizza night, a simple way to celebrate.

Love
Carina

Thursday 18 July 2013

Diary

I just realised that I haven't said anything about my new job yet, and how it is! But first I want to mention the fact that I have posted two music videos in a row, coming from sadness. Just because you have a positive view of life doesn't mean you can't be sad when sad things happen. Of course you can! And you should! All emotions are of importance. Death will remind you of living. Tears will remind you of laughter. And so on! Not at that exact instant, but when it starts to settle.

The important thing to remember is not to get stuck there. It is important to remember to look forward and remember your bliss.

On that note it is time for me to tell you how incredibly happy I am at my new job. I am still in training (for 4 weeks), but the job I will do is fascinating and I know I will enjoy it tremendously. But it is not only that I love (yes I use the strong word love already) what I will be doing, it is everything. When I walk in through the doors I feel at home, I feel embraced by warm welcoming feeling. People are nice, helpful, pleasant and relaxed. Happy. The values and the attitude are completely in line with my own personal beliefs about life in whole. It's the Fish Philosophy; Play (Have fun), Make their day (leave the customers and the co-workers happy every time), Be there (be present where you are NOW), and Choose your attitude (make a deliberate decision). Everybody is equal, it is One for all and All for one.

A couple of months ago I stumbled upon a company called Mindvalley. They have the same kind of attitude and they are one of the best workplaces in the world according to some competion. While reading up on them I said to myself, and my son, that that's the kind of company I want to work for. Well, my new job is not one of the best workplaces in the world (yet), but it is one of the best workplaces in Spain. I am sure they have the possibility (and the ambition) to be on the top list in the world. And I for one is planning to be a part of it.

This just goes to show that you should dream. Not dwell on your dreams, just notice them and let them go again, and soon enough they will come true!

I am so happy!

Love
Carina

Tuesday 16 July 2013

Happy Birthday, Dad!

My dad should have turned 65 today, sadly his last birthday was his 60th. We played this song at his funeral for several reasons. He really liked Smokie, and their version of this song is absolutely wonderful, but he was also a sailor in his youth. I am sure he is sailing the energies to be near all the people he loved.




Happy Birthday, my sweet, loving Dad! You are forever in my heart. You are a big part of who I am today, without you I wouldn't be me, in so many ways. I miss you every day, even though I also feel that you are present every day. I love you until Eternity, just as I know you love me until Eternity! Thank you for being my Dad!

Love
Carina

Sunday 14 July 2013

Sunday Music Time - Sorrow

I woke up this morning to the news that my favourite Glee actor, Cory Monteith, is dead. And for some reason it hit me straight in my heart. I told you a few weeks ago that I am a Gleek, and Cory is the biggest reason why. I love his charisma, his voice, his vulnerability, his acting, his charm and his cute looks.

My plan for today was to post a happy song, because I am very happy. Yesterday was my last day at my old job at the café, the end what has been for the last two plus years. Tomorrow is my first day at my new job, at the customer service, and the beginning of what is to come. But I decided to dedicate this post to Cory instead.

This is the first song I ever heard him sing, he is rough because he wasn't a singer before Glee, and  love it. It is far from his best performance, but it is a song I really like.





My thoughts go out to his co-star and girlriend Lea Michele, his family, friends and the rest of his fans.
Rest In Peace, Cory, and thank you for bringing a lot of laughter, singing and tears into my life.

Love
Carina

Thursday 11 July 2013

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude" - Maya Angelou

I mentioned the other day that I was hoping to share some good news with you this week. And indeed I do have good news, although not the exact good news I was planning on sharing with you. Anyway, good news are good news.

I have done a lot of work on my attitude for this good news to come my way. A few months ago I would have had split feelings about it, but now I absolutely love it. So, what is it?? I just landed a new job. It is an ordinary job, working at a customer service. But it is a good job, a good company that has a lot of focus on both costumer care and staff care. Exactly how I like it! And I start on Monday already.

So what did I have to work on to get this job? Well, I had a lot of negative feelings about phone work, due to a previous job I've had. But I have felt more and more for some time that it is time for me to move on, from my current job. However, I do not believe in leaving things to move from them, I believe in moving towards something new and better. I still love my current job, and my bosses are some of the best people in the world, and I have had such a great time working with and for them. So how do I move forward to something better than that. All I knew was that I felt stuck, and even though I love my job there is nowhere to go within it. That was a fact that I couldn't change. But leaving there was a thought that scared me, so I had to change my attitude about it.

I sat down and gave it a thorough thought what I wanted that I do not have at my current job. And I thought about what I like with my current job and would love to improve even more with my next job. And I realised that I wanted to send my CV in to this company.

However, like I said I had a lot of negative thoughts and feelings about that kind of job. So I started out by comparing this new job, with the job that gave me all those thoughts and feelings, to see what actually is the same. And not many things are, as it turns out.

So, I used some EFT on the areas that I needed to change my attitude in. Like, working full time. Or, doing daytime job monday to friday. And that a job sitting down will make me fat. After using EFT on these areas, I started to look at things differently. And I realised that I am actually quite bored NOT working full time, and if I work monday to friday I will have the whole weekends off with my Sweetie, instead of only Sundays as it has been for almost all of our relationship. And I realised that it is not the sitting down that makes me "fat", because I spend a lot of my days off (I've hade 4 days off every week for the past two and half years) sitting down and I am slimmer on those days than I am on the days I work (when I stand up the whole day).

So, having started to realise those things I sent my CV in. They weren't currently looking for staff, but the hire every now and then. And on Monday this week I got a call asking if I was interested in coming in for an interview on the Tuesday. And after that interview it took only half an hour until they called and offered me the job.

I will be working Monday to Friday! Welcome free weekends!! I will more than double my wages! Welcome savings account, and spending time! Welcome shopping! I will not even have to work the same hours every single day, but will work in a weekly three shift (early, middle, late one week at a time). I have always wanted to work that way because I get bored when it is the same routine day after day. And I will have to either walk or ride my bike two out of three weeks, since it will be either too early or too late for the bus. This means I get my daily exercise built in in my daily routine.

So, to sum this up! I didn't like my situation, so I change it. But, at first I didn't like my options, but I couldn't change them, so I change my attitude about them. And because I did, I am now heading to a new bright future that will change parts of my life, in a oh so good way. Hello manicures and nice, colour full clothes. Goodbye dish water and black clothes. It will be a change in the quality of my life, not just in what I can get for money but in time with my Sweetie, my social life, daily exercise and so much more. The only thing I will get less of is free time, but I will still have plenty of that.

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude" - Maya Angelou

Love
Carina

Sunday 7 July 2013

Sunday Music Time - Because I'm Happy

It's Sunday again, and it's time for some music. Today I want you all to clap along! A Happy tune by Pharrell Williams, perfect for a Sunny, or rainy, Sunday afternoon/morning/evening. Actually, it's perfect for every day! It is the soundtrack from the animated film Despicable Me 2 and it is called.... Happy!




As always on Sundays I am not doing anything in particular. Today has been spent reading, Agatha Christie, again. Did I ever mention that I love reading, and Sundays, and doing nothing, and my life? Well, I do, all of it and more! Tomorrow I am expecting good news, and if all goes as planned (and it will) I will be sharing them with you during the coming week. The excitement is high, as it should always be!

So, Clap Along and be Happy! Life is fantastic!

Love
Carina

Wednesday 3 July 2013

What do I do to feel good today?

What can I do to feel good today? What can I do to love myself today? How do I best take care of myself today?

Do you ever ask yourself any of these questions? I just realized the other day that I actually ask myself one of them every day, without even realizing it. I think it's pretty cool that I do. Not too long ago I would never ask myself that, and now I find myself automatically asking myself that question in all different sort of situations.

Are you taking good care of yourself today, and every day?
On my days off, I always ask myself "how can I best take care of myself today?". Some days it is by doing nothing special at all, other days it is to write, some days it is to clean the house and other days it is to spend time out in the sun.

When I finish work I tend to ask myself what would make me feel best; to walk home or to go for a coffee, read and take the bus home. When I come home, if I have taken the bus, I ask myself what would be best for me to do. To rest after having been on my feet for 6-7 hours at work without a break, or to do some sort of exercise. Surprisingly often that answer will be to do some exercise.

When I am asked to do something, no matter what it is, I ask myself "would it be best to do it, or would it be best not to do it?".

But it is about more than using these questions in situations like I described. It is about implementing things and routines into your daily life that make you feel better.

I made a new years resolution, the first one I've had in a lot of years. The resolution was to only do things that makes me feel better, that makes my life better. I started by using some EFT on the subject, and from that came the idea to start taking nice baths a couple of times a week. So I put some candles in my bathroom and I used some shampoo for bubbles and put some olive oil in the tub and then I soaked for as long I felt like it. Now, I have never really been a huge fan of bubble baths before, but I have always envied those who could really enjoy it so I knew I had it in me to enjoy it. And now I love it!

I also started to meditate, I found some nice ones to follow, and I started to combine my baths with meditation. It is absolutely lovely and a fantastic and cheap way to take good care of yourself. It will most certainly help you feel a lot better, and will make you relaxed. You can find some nice mediations for free, as well as a lot of useful information about meditating, here.

Next step for me was to start exercising, and as soon as I had decided to it I found a Zumba class that turned out to be both cheap, and on perfect times of the week for me.

A couple of months in to the Zumba classes I woke up one morning with the idea to give myself a 10-week challenge. I felt that I needed to implement exercise into my daily life, make my body crave it and make my head realise how good it made me feel, because I knew that if I didn't I would most likely stop exercising when the classes ended in early June. I made a chart where I every Monday morning wrote what possible types of exercise I had do choose from, inside or out doors, every single day, and  a check box to check it off once I'd done it. Do boost my motivation even further I weighed and measured myself on that very first morning, which happened to be a Monday, and I continued doing it every Monday morning for the next ten days. The results were great. I lost 5-6 pounds and 10 cm around my waist.

After the Zumba ended I took a break for a couple of weeks, but I am now back into exercising again. This is one of the things I do to make myself feel good.

It is so important in this stressful world that we live in, to take the time to do things that makes us feel good from the inside. Exercise will make you feel good on the inside if you do it for the right reasons. For me I stop exercising as soon as I feel like I have to, or need to, or if I do it to lose weight. For it is important to exercise because it makes me feel great on the inside, as is the case with bubble baths, or meditation. It is all about feeling good on the inside. That is where it all starts, and then it works it's way out!

"The real question is not whether life exists after death. The real question is whether you are alive before death." - Osho

And this is what I ask myself; Am I alive today? Am I enjoying this day in my life? What do I do to feel good today? Have you ever asked yourself any of these questions? Maybe you should?

Love
Carina