Greetings Everyone!
I know we're not quite half way through December, but this time of year can get hectic in the blink of an eye. So, I'm taking a moment right now to wish you and your loved ones a holiday season full of light and laughter.
Plus, I absolutely had to share this little cutie pie!
How can you not smile when looking at this adorable creature? Brings joy to my heart! 💗
Until next time,
Hi Everyone,
For today’s post, I want to share some thoughts about grace, which has been on my mind a lot lately.
How do you show someone grace when you don't think it's deserved?
How do you continue to show someone grace when they clearly don't appreciate it?
Why do so many people, especially women, feel guilty about showing themselves grace?
I'll be honest, I struggle with grace. In situations where I could be showing grace, I’m usually reacting with frustration and annoyance. At the same time, I've been shown grace repeatedly over the years when I didn't particularity deserve it (and I still often feel undeserving), but clearly needed it from someone. So, you see how grace is a rather tricky conundrum for me to sort out.
Recently, though, I came across a Queenism (see end of post for more info)*** that touches on grace, and I knew it was something that I wanted to pass along.
This really spoke to me because women almost never put themselves first, often saying “yes” to someone or something out of guilt when they would much rather be saying “no” – which, by the way, would be showing themselves grace.
Therefore, practicing grace does not mean ignoring your personal boundaries. Rather, it is more than okay to take time out for yourself, to put yourself first, to treat yourself with kindness, to practice self-compassion. Allowing for the time and space you need to take a step back, especially for the sake of your mental health, is one of the greatest expressions of grace you can show yourself.
Until next time,
Eddy
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*** Lifelong friends, Kathy Kinney (American actress, voice actress, and comedian) and Cindy Ratzlaff (personal speaker and award winning marketing & branding professional), originally began writing and creating Queenisms™ -- small doses of daily inspiration -- for themselves. When they started sharing Queenisms™ on their Facebook page, women everywhere responded with messages of thanks and gratitude. Over 10 years later, Kathy and Cindy, co-authors of Queen of Your Own Life: The Grown Up Woman's Guide to Claiming Happiness and Getting the Life You Deserve and Queenisms: 101 Jolts of Inspiration, continue to inspire women everywhere, one Queenism at a time.
Image Credit: From QueenofOwnLife on Pinterest
Hi All,
Coming up on Tuesday, March 8th is International Women's Day. This year's theme is "Break the Bias" because bias makes it difficult for women to move ahead in the world.
Take action by calling out gender bias, discrimination and stereotyping, and encourage others to help forge women's equality.
Until next time,
Eddy
#IWD2022 #BreakTheBias
Hello Everyone,
How's the new year going so far?
Recently, I saw a news story about the oldest living person. Her name is Kane Tanaka and she just celebrated her 119th birthday on January 2nd. Below is a photo of her taken in 1923 at the young age of 20. Beautiful, isn't she?
Kane has been living in a nursing home in Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, Japan since September 2018 and she still gets around on her own two feet, taking short walks in the hallways. Pretty amazing!
Can you imagine living as long as she has?
I got to thinking about this and was reminded about geographic regions known as Blue Zones, which are home to some of the world’s oldest people.
The term "Blue Zone" was first used by Dan Buettner, a National Geographic Fellow and multiple New York Times bestselling author, who was studying areas of the world where people are living much longer than the average person. While doing their research, Buettner and his colleagues drew blue circles around these regions on map, hence Blue Zones.
Originally, there are five known Blue Zones:
Buettner discusses these area in his book, The Blue Zones, published in 2008, but there could very well be more unidentified Blue Zones areas in the world waiting to be discovered.
So, why those five regions?
Studies of these areas have found that they contain incredibly high rates of people who live over 90 and 100 years of age, with genetics accounting for 20–30% of longevity. This means that environmental factors, including diet and lifestyle, play a significant role in determining one's lifespan.
In fact, it was discovered that all blue zones areas share nine specific lifestyle habits referred to as the Power 9®. These habits are:
1. Move naturally - no crazy exercise routines, just moving without thinking
2. Purpose - i.e have a life purpose
3. Down shift - practicing ways to de-stress
4. 80% rule - stop eating when you're 80% full
5. Plant slant - eat a 95% plant-based diet
6. Wine at 5 - drink alcohol moderately, one to two glasses of red wine per day
7. Belong - i.e. to some sort of faith-based community
8. Loved ones first - i.e. investing time and love into family first
9. Right tribe - associate with people who support healthy behaviors/lifestyles
As I consider those nine habits, some are certainly easier for me to put into practice, while others... I honestly don't know if I can pull them off. I just know that simple is better as I get older. I don't have patience for fussing about; it's too exhausting. I want to live better, and -- barring any unforeseeable circumstances -- that will translate to living longer.
So, as I bring this post to an end, I'd like to share this Ted-Ed video where Dan Buettner talks about How to live to be 100+.
Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment.
All the best for 2022.
Until next time,
Eddy
