New Healthy Habits in January

Healthy eating is one of my goals in January. My favorite healthy snacks right now are: organic granola bars, clementines and apples with peanut butter.

I don't have a lot of appetite in the morning so I usually have a small breakfast, in January I'm choosing Greek yogurt and a bowl of fruit for breakfast.

My goal is to not eat any sugar during the weekdays in January and then on Friday, Saturday and Sunday I can enjoy some sweet treats. Last weekend I treated myself to a Peppermint Hot Chocolate on Saturday.

On Sunday I treated myself to four big macaroons, I think macaroons will become my favorite dessert during the month of January.

Two of my New Year’s resolutions for this year are self-care and self-preservation. Self-care for me in 2017 will be all about prioritizing exercise and a healthy diet. I also want to make sure I don’t let my life get so busy that I don’t have time for enough exercise. If I want to live for 70-90 years I can’t afford to not exercise on a regular basis. A few weeks ago, a friend of a friend died of a heart attack, which once again reminded me that life can’t be all about success on the expense of our health if we want to live beyond 50.

I also want 2017 to be the year when I learn some important lessons about self-preservation. During 2016 I was reminded of how important it is for me to not be afraid of disappointing others. I have no problems with setting boundaries in my personal life but I’m becoming more aware of my pattern of being a "people pleaser" in work relations, which sometimes lead me to step outside of my personal boundaries. I want 2017 to be the year when I clearly define my personal boundaries and stick to them, no more sacrificing my personal boundaries to “keep the peace”. When you become "a pushover" to keep the peace you quickly enter self-destructive behavior. I think one of my mantras this year will be: “I know my boundaries, and I will protect them.”

It’s not fun to become aware of self-destructive or negative patterns that we have in life but there’s no other way to learn and grow in life, is there? Every new year brings new lessons for us to learn. We don’t stop learning and growing when we graduate high school or university. I think it’s helpful to realize that our weaknesses and faults are not something we need to beat ourselves up for, they are a natural part of life. There is not one person on this planet who has nothing to work on in life. We all need to keep growing, but we can do this while being kind to ourselves. We need to give ourselves (and others) grace.

After You

I'll be honest with all that I've been through
I've been runnin' after everything but you

And I'll be honest

Nothing satisfies

Like the love I find inside your eyes

There's nothing sweeter than your love
It's all I want, it's all I need
There's nothing sweeter than your love
You gave it all, poured out for me

So I'm not after the world
I'm after you

My Story

Britt Nicole talks about the story behind her song "After you". Britt shares a bit about her own struggle with staying focused on what matters most in life. It's always tempting to chase after different things in this world and try to find satisfaction in things that can never satisfy the soul.

I Want to Believe, But...

We can sometimes find ourselves in a place where we want to believe in God but our distorted view of God is holding us back. One common distorted view of God is that God exists to serve us. When we have this view of God we end up treating him like a genie in the bottle, and when God doesn't do what we want him to do we conclude that either God doesn't exist or he isn't loving.

Pastor Craig Groeschel from Life Church explains the difference between how God truly is and how we sometimes tend to view God. Craig talks about how God is always loving, His ways are always higher than ours and his presence will always be enough in every circumstance we will face. Many of us will experience God the most when we are at the lowest point in our lives and often it's not before God becomes all we have that we understand that God is all we need in life.

Joyful Moments in January

This January I'm joyful as I look at the pictures from our Christmas celebration in Finland. I really enjoyed spending time in the archipelago during our trip to Finland.

I don't get to spend every Christmas with my family in Finland since I live in Canada so when I get the chance to do that it's a very special time. As a child growing up I was mostly focused on what kind of presents I would get for Christmas and as an adult you realize how little stuff matters. The joy that stuff brings to life is temporary but the joy that family brings is worth so much more than all the stuff in the world.

In January I'm also enjoying the last few days with our Christmas tree, in a week or so it will be time to pack up the tree in a box and put it away until next year. Our home will be a lot less sparkly without the Christmas tree.

We have almost no snow in Toronto at this time but I really enjoy sunny winter days when I can take walks along the beach with my hubby.

January is also a time to set new goals for the future, so far the only goal I have is to get back to healthy eating and exercise. I got sick during Christmas and didn't do a single workout during our trip to Finland so now I'm really looking forward to getting started again. My goal is to do four workouts per week and eat healthy four days a week. On the weekends I want to treat myself to pancakes, hot chocolate and other wonderful winter treats.

The Story You're Building in Me

These are the things that matter in life
Living in every moment cause I can't stop the time
Tomorrow's gonna be yesterday
So I don't want to miss a thing
This is the story You're building in me

Fourteenth of December
We went and got married
Then we moved down to Nashville
Someday we'll start a family
Then we got some bad news
That mom had cancer
And if she was still here
She'd tell us remember

These are the things that matter in life
Living in every moment cause I can't stop the time
Tomorrow's gonna be yesterday
So I don't want to miss a thing
This is the story You're building

You know all of my days
My tomorrows are covered in grace
You're in the middle of it all
And I want to say I'm thankful

A Life Filled with Joy & Peace

Pastor Craig Groeschel preaches a funny but sobering sermon about our thought-life. Craig does a good job at showing us how much our thoughts will impact our well-being in life. Our lives move in the direction of our strongest thoughts. I can't let my mind be controlled by negativity, fear and worry and expect my life to still be full of peace. My thoughts matter and what I choose to dwell on will determine in what direction my life will be moving. The outcome of a difficult situation that I'm faced with will be entirely different depending on what my thinking looks like. My own inner dialog matters.

My actions will always be based on my thoughts. First we think, then we act, therefore what we think about will impact our lives in a great way. If we don't learn to take control of our thought-life our minds will be prisoners to negative, hopeless, dark thoughts that will drain us of energy and leave us with no peace. When we give our thoughts over to being led by the Holy Spirit our minds will no longer be filled with fear, hopelessness, worry, anxiety and despair. The more we are filled with and led by the Holy Spirit the more light our thoughts will become. Our minds will be filled with peace, life and joy in both good times and difficult times.

It's easy to assume that to have a life filled with joy we need a life free of difficulty but that is not the case. God offers us a peace and joy that will not leave us, a peace and joy so deep that even when our circumstances are not great we can still have joy and be at peace on the inside. I love this quote by Craig Groeschel from the sermon: "So much of life isn't about what happens to you but how you think about what happens to you."