Sunjoy

The ultimate ten to do's on a relaxing Sunday

1. Sunday is THE day for sweet sins. At Gracy's the perfect pancakes and waffles are being served for everyone's cravings. 
2. Sniff fresh air whilst slow pacing your morning run. Endorphin is like a tequila shot without a hangover, all the good without the bad! 
3. This day is the best day to be the coolest whilst looking your uncoolest. Say goodbyes to your make up, casual clothing and perfect hair and embrace the sloppiness.
4. There is a reason Sunday is called lazy! Cuddle up with a good book on the couch and embrace your inner sloth.
5. Sunday is the perfect day to let your creative energies flow. Pick up that paintbrush and paint your masterpiece, start writing your memoirs or continue your guitar lessons. Let creativity be your guide today. 
6. Meet up with good friends and spend your day catching up on the latest gossip, while warming your hands on your favorite hot beverage. 
7. It doesn't matter if you like blockbusters or indie, action or romance, get yourself a huge bucket of popcorn and some sweets and settle in for a good time at the movies.
8. Before Monday gets here with all her demands, have some alone time and pamper yourself. Take a bubble bath, meditate, hug your pets, do whatever helps you to reenergize. 
9. Every town or city has activities you can enjoy on Sunday. Check out the local paper to find out what your hometown has planned and you might end up strolling the local Sunday market or visiting an art gallery for free. 
10. The most important thing you can do is to take it slow, maybe you are recuperating from a hangover or a busy workweek. Sunday is THE perfect day to slow everything down, be in the moment and relax. 

Have a great Sunday! 
Be happy and with love,
Ilona & Ana

Take off your blinders

If I would tell you that you have won a small uninhabited island. What would you think or imagine? Do you see yourself relaxing on a tropical beach with a cocktail in hand having Johnny Depp as your neighbor? However, what if I would tell you that this island is a very remote island of the coast of Alaska somewhere in the northern hemisphere. What do you think now? Would your perception change? Are you still happy about this or do you feel disappointed and would you rather not receive this gift? Let me ask you another question. What if you've just booked a ski trip, are you excited about the thought of sliding down the mountain? What if you get there and there isn't any snow for you to slip and slide your way through? What would you do now? Would you stay indoors all day long sulking or would you see other possibilities for you to enjoy yourself?

I ask this because we create expectations and in doing so we create blinders. We only see one or two outcomes to a future we are yet to encounter. When things do not go as imagined we are left in the darkness we have created for ourselves. We have gotten lost because we have turn off the lights not allowing ourselves to see all the other possibilities to a bright future. Let us all keep the lights on, because only in the light we have the opportunity to see all there is. A small island in the northern hemisphere has endless possibilities, a cabin in the woods can be just as relaxing and fun as a house on the beach. A mountain site without snow is still a beautiful place to hike and wonder off. Take off those blinders and be open to all possibilities. That doesn't mean you cannot have future expectations or desires. I only encourage you to keep the lights on, making sure you will always find your way. 

With love, Ana

Kiss many frogs

Sometimes you have to kiss many frogs before you get the prince. Once you have gotten what you wanted, the previous is all forgotten. 

Have you ever had the feeling you have gone through a whole lot of obstacles and your goal is still nowhere in sight? 

You have done everything right. You have set your goal and your extreme focus and optimism defines you. YOU are focused, YOU are determined and YOU are in joy about it. However, your reality hasn't caught up with YOU yet. By setting your goal, the kiss-the-frogs-to-get-the-prince-process starts. The optimistic you starts kissing those frogs with your optimistic passion hoping your kiss will turn this frog into a prince immediately. That first step is the hardest one, since you don't know how that frog will taste. After nothing has happened the first time, you might be slightly disappointed but still optimistic. I mean, come on, how hard can it be to kiss those frogs to get that gorgeous prince, right? After those first twenty something frogs, your optimism slightly fades away. After fifty something and a whole lot more, you are done with those funky tasting frogs.

What do I mean when I say once you have gotten what you wanted the previous is all forgotten? It means that if you are in the middle of the process of attracting something into your life, it can feel like a burden. That optimistic YOU can lose sight of the goal quickly if the road towards it feels endless. However when you do reach your goal, all those previous obstacles seem less troublesome then before. A perfect example of this is the story of my brother. It is not a shocking story in any way, but he is one of the reasons I came up with the kiss-many-frogs-process. My dear brother bought a house two years ago. The house had a good price but much work had to be done in order to make it viable to their standards. He started optimistically, but the joy turned into a task when there seemed to be no end to all the work that needed to be done. Two years later, the place is meeting up to their expectations. The frog had finally turned into a prince! Over diner, my brother enthusiastically talked about his prince and it seemed that he had forgotten what a burden it had felt at times.

I was actually amazed. I had witnessed his exhaustion and despair many times and I didn't expect him to ever be happy again about it. Maybe it is the way the brain works. The struggles are filtered into the background once the hard times have passed, giving you the chance to fully enjoy the outcome. That is however my own hypothesis, but I would like to encourage you to not give up on anything you desire, whether it is a new house, a new job, finding love or new friends. Kissing the prince wouldn't taste so sweet if you hadn't kissed those funky tasting frogs before him.

Be happy, 
~Ilona~

State of mind

The mind is a powerful thing. The mind can either be your best friend or your worst enemy. When in a positive state of mind you have the power to process anything that comes your way easily and you will find the necessary solutions to any problem or obstacle. However, when your mind is filled with negative thoughts you open your mind to fear and doubt. Creativity and insight gets blocked and it is much harder to find your inner strength and happiness. A negative mind can be very stubborn, making it hard to change direction.

How to change your state of mind when you are in a train not towards happy town but towards the train station of doom? The answer lies in the way you look at your brain. Your mind is nothing more than a muscle and muscles can be trained into a powerful positive force. I have recently read an article about Philippe Petit, the man that walked on a high-wire across the Twin Towers in the 70s. The article mentioned how he manipulated his own mind by eliminating negative thoughts. He focused on repeating certain positive thoughts over and over again. It helped him getting rid of his fears. Philippe was not manipulating his mind. He trained his mind to stay focused on positive and powerful thoughts that gave him strength. You can also train your mind to be a strong and powerful tool. Find yourself a positive mantra you can repeat infinitely. For every negative thought, fear or doubt you have, create a positive counterpart and repeat them as many times a day as you can until it becomes your reality. Every time your mind wanders off to the dark side change tracks by repeating your mantra.

Your first few attemps might feel awkward or even unsuccessful. However, the importance of training any kind of muscle is patience and repetitiveness. Remember the first few times you visited the gym or started a new training? Afterwards you felt like you have been put through the wringer and you doubted you could ever get in shape, BUT eventually you got stronger. The benefit of training a muscle is that once it is trained, even if you don't use it for while, muscle memory kicks in when you need it again. Making it easier to get back at the same level. It is easier for a trained mind to stay on the happy train track. A world of positive vibes will open up to you. To help you get started here is a mantra: A happy mind is a strong mind.

With love, Ana

When life gives you flowers

A short note 

"Don't wait for someone to bring you flowers. Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul"~ Unknown. Stop the waiting. Many people spend their lives by thinking IF I have this or that I will live a happy complete life. Your life is NOW. You decorate your life with the plants and flowers you have planted in your own garden. If you wait, you will never reap what you sow. Happy planting!

By changing nothing, nothing will change

Are you one of those people, like me, who have taken procrastination up as a hobby? It is not even a hobby you wanted in the first place, but you have just gotten so skilled throughout the years, it is hard to give it up. I am with you all the way. Having a mind filled with hopes and dreams, but going from A-THE MIND, towards B-THE REALITY can be a task instead of a pleasuring JOurneY, if you take the D tour from A to, E to Y, to Z, ending up a bit hopeless wondering if you are actually at B. Only to discover you have become a marathon runner running in circles. 

There are all kinds of reasons you are taking the procrastinated D tour, and most of the time, it is not even on purpose. It is like wanting the other job, but fear is preventing you from taking a step forwards, or wanting to lose weight and go working out, but the action seems exhausting. Not to mention the all day consuming things such as, work, kids, a household and social contacts. If we don't prioritize, our hopes and dreams fade into the background and our daily tasks make us run on autopilot. That can be perfectly fine if you are content with driving an automatic car. I am, however, a procrastinator who likes a sports car, driven by a hopes and dreams engine. I use the stick, I call the shots. 

How do you drive a sports car? You need to take the action to learn how to drive. It is always a matter of getting out of your comfort zone, and taking the first step. "By changing nothing, nothing changes,"Tony Robbins said. Once you get the hang of it, and you get into some kind of flow, things will go easy and you will wonder why you didn't take that step before. The procrastinating itself is more all time consuming and exhausting than the actual step. Therefore define what you want, give if all your focus, take that step forward and persist. From that decision making point the Universe will present you events and the right people to guide you along the way. All our role models didn't become great by sitting on the couch wondering about life, they were living life by taking the right actions. 

Be happy,
~Ilona~