positive thinking – On the Road to 60

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote the quote ‘Nothing Can Bring You Peace But Yourself.’ He was a man ahead of his time, for he believed that all things were connected to God and therefore divine. A notion during the 1800’s that was a bit radical; today it would be embraced by many.

I saw this quote recently and it’s timely appearance made me think about my current circumstances for I believe that this is my next, and quite possibly, my hardest life lesson to learn. I was with my husband for over 23 years and after that I had a boyfriend for 5, but that is over now and I am without a partner.

I remember a conversation I had with my dear friend Channy when my husband and I broke up and I immediately went online to find a replacement. She chided me for moving so quickly, telling me to concentrate on other areas of my life. When I told her that I just wasn’t that person, that I didn’t feel whole unless I had a partner in my life, she was astonished. She couldn’t fathom a strong, independent woman such as myself needing a partner to feel fulfilled while at the same time she applauded the fact that I knew myself well enough to be honest about it.

As life does, this has changed. I know at this time in my life that I need to be at peace with myself, by myself. Just saying this is not going to make it happen of course, there is work to be done. I have that part of myself that feels like a total failure in my relationships. I have other parts of me that go to war with that feeling, pushing it down and telling it to go away. However, I believe that I must embrace that feeling, comfort it and say, ‘why yes, in some ways you did fail, but what did you learn?’ I’m still working on that, and will continue to do so, and that is why I’m choosing to be alone and find peace with myself for the first time in many decades.

I’m changing things in my life so that I can learn to love myself by myself. I’m doing that by embracing my metaphysical side and doing daily meditations. I’m also working out, but this time not just for my weight and trying to look my best for someone else, but for me and my overall health. I’m taking classes in things that interest me and enlighten me. I’m taking the moments when I’m sitting alone on the couch watching Hell’s Kitchen and not having anyone to laugh at Chef Ramsey with in stride, trying to enjoy that laughter with myself. It’s going to be an interesting journey and I look forward to learning more about me and enjoying what I learn.

Until next time, enjoy your alone moments to their fullest.

Recipe of the Day – Zucchini Pasta

There is no pasta in this recipe! Yep, Zucchini is the pasta and it’s AMAZING! But first things first, go out and buy yourself a Spiral Vegetable Slicer

You can get this on Amazon (I found mine at Home Goods for $29)

Ingredients

3 large zucchini
1 yellow bell pepper
1/2 onion chopped
6 cloves of garlic chopped
2 cup of chicken broth
2 TBS butter
1 TBS olive oil
2 Tsp: Salt, Lemon Pepper, Cumin (combine and make two portions)
Parmesan Cheese (shaved is best, but any will do)

-Clean and cut bell pepper into 4 large pieces, rub with olive oil and salt/pepper to taste.

-Put bell pepper on a cookie sheet and bake at a 400 degree oven for 35 minutes (until brown on edges and soft)

-While the bell pepper is cooking, using a potato peeler take the dark green skin off of the zucchini and cut off both ends

-Put a plate on the end of the spiral maker so your zucchini goes on to it when when making your ‘pasta’

-In a saute pan, put in 1 TBS of butter and saute your onions and garlic with half the seasoning until cooked through and set aside

-When your bell pepper is done, put into a blender with the cooked onions and garlic and 1/2 cup of chicken broth and the rest of the seasoning and puree until smooth

-In a wok or big skillet put in your sauce and the rest of the chicken broth 1 TBS of butter and heat

-Once the sauce is heated put in your zucchini and cook until tender (not mushy)

-Once cooked (yes, test it!) top with Parmesan Cheese

In the pot (you can see that I didn’t take off all the green skin my first time around, it wasn’t bad, but better with it off)

On the Plate

(with roasted potatoes and pork chop…yum!)

How many thoughts do you think you have in a day? What is your estimate – a thousand? Two thousand? Experts estimate that the mind thinks between 60,000 – 80,000 thoughts a day. That’s an average of 2500 – 3,300 thoughts per hour, or 41 – 55 thoughts per minute! That’s a lot of thoughts! How many of our thoughts are positive vs. negative? Some people have estimated that upwards of 70-80% of our daily thoughts are negative. This of course depends on the person and their thought process.

When my children were little and they would say something negative, I would say to them ‘that’s not very nice, let’s change that into something nice.’ I would work with them to help them develop a way to change their thought patterns. These lessons grew as they grew and eventually the ‘thoughts are things’ lessons became a regular mantra between me and my children. My son, who is now 23, and I were talking the other day and he was iterating to me a conversation he was having with someone who said to him ‘Thoughts are things, make them good ones.” He said he couldn’t believe what he was hearing and told the person he was talking to “You know, one of the first things I remember my Mom teaching me was ‘Thoughts are Things.’ I was happy to know that he has carried this into his adulthood, because it has served him well.

Thoughts are a form of energy, so they are things. Really! Has this ever happened to you: You have to be somewhere at a particular time and you are rushing around trying to get there on time and are constantly thinking ‘I’m going to be late, I’m going to be late,’ all the while you are going as fast as you can, but those thoughts persist and you end up being late? It’s happened to us all, but have you ever stopped to think that maybe if you had said to yourself ‘I’m going to be on time, I’m going to be on time,’ you could have changed the outcome and been on time? I’ve done this more times than I can say — and it works! Case in point: My car’s engine light came on the other day and it was making strange noises, and just like you I instantly thought ‘Oh, goodness how much is this going to cost me?’ I quickly caught myself and then started my mantra of “The problem with my car will be affordable.” I kept this up until my mechanic called me and told me it was some corrosion and the cost was something I could afford.

There have been times in my life when I was worrying over something and my thoughts turned negative. I catch myself, take a deep breath, and say at least 3 times ‘It’s going to be OK, everything will turn out the way it should.’ Not only are you changing your thought pattern and possibly the outcome of the situation with this positive thinking, it also makes you feel better internally, because you are cleaning out the negative thoughts that were making you anxious.

Is it possible to have 100% positive thoughts? Oh, that would be nice! However, it’s quite the challenge when you are thinking 41-55 thoughts per minute. But, you can make the percentage of positive thoughts increase over negative by being cognizant of your thoughts. When you are being negative, stop yourself, and change it into a positive. The more you practice this, the more you are changing your thought pattern into a more positive one vs. negative. Pretty soon, you will not be catching yourself so much, because your thoughts will already be positive without the effort.

I’m positive you can increase your happy thought patterns. Now all you have to do is believe it and practice it. 🙂

Recipe of the Day – Quiche Bites

Ingredients

-10 Eggs

-1/2 cup of milk

-1 cup of pepper jack cheese

-1 cup of Monterrey jack cheese

-1/2 cup of diced ham

-Spray oil (olive or coconut)

-One small muffin pan (24)

Recipe

>Preheat oven to 350

>Spray muffin pan with oil

>Combine eggs and milk and whisk well

>Pour egg mixture into a glass measuring cup or other cup that has a pour spout

>Fill each cup in the pan 2/3 of the way with the egg mixture

>Fill each cup with a portion of cheese & ham and press into egg mixture (if you don’t the cheese will burn instead of melt into egg mixture)

>Bake at 350 for 20 -25 minutes (until egg is a bit golden on top and toothpick comes out clean)

Note: When cooked the mixture will puff up like a souffle, and that is fine, because when you take it out of the oven, it will go back into place, giving you a perfect little Quiche bite

Tag: positive thinking

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Thoughts are Things – Make Them Good Ones