A Year of Total Fulfillment

Ever crush a goal and have a strange sense of emptiness?  Make 2018 a year of total fulfillment.

Are you joining millions who are going to the gym this week? Here's a plan to kick off your next several trips to the gym. Focus on lifting weights with one arm. Each time for the next bunch of visits keep working that same arm. Curls, flies, lift, press, repeat . . . work it! 

We all want a toned arm. Actually, none of us want just one toned arm. We would look ridiculous. No one is setting a fitness goal for 2018 to look weird, but many are setting goals in just one or two areas putting themselves at risk of feeling very unfulfilled even though they've achieved their goals. When working on your personal plan for 2018 take a look at more than just your job or your financial status or your relationships. Take time to reflect on and plan for your whole self. Gift yourself a year of total fulfillment in 2018 by thinking through and planning in the following 8 areas

What's on My Reading List; Grit: Passion, Perseverance, and the Science of Success

Grit: Passion, Perseverance, and the Science of Success by Angela Duckworth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book started out great. Her explanation of grit and the examples provided were very interesting. I feel that people will be encouraged to read that perseverance can win over talent or skill. Perseverance puts the ball in my court instead of in my heredity or environment. How badly do I want to be great? How hard am I willing to work for it? Imagine if everyone could get that and get the voice in their head lined up with that thought. Wow!

The book then turned very ordinary and repetitive and even sounded

What's on My Reading List; The Book of Forgiving

The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World by Desmond Tutu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Truly beautiful book. The instruction for forgiveness is really illustrated well with fabulously shared stories.

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This quote was a really eye opening to me and changed how I look at things.  Before understanding this I always felt that forgiveness meant letting someone off of the hook.  I like this thought much better . . .

“Forgiveness does not relieve someone of responsibility for what they have done. Forgiveness does not erase accountability. It is not about turning a blind eye or even turning the other cheek. It is not about letting someone off the hook or saying it is okay to do something monstrous. Forgiveness is simply about understanding that every one of us is both inherently good and inherently flawed. Within every hopeless situation and every seemingly hopeless person lies the possibility of transformation.” 

Cook Chicken Once for Four Easy Meals

“I wanted to figure out why I was so busy, but I couldn't find the time to do it.” 
― Todd Stocker

Busy families like ours can still eat great with a little planning.  With one great ingredient and some creative thinking you can go far.  By pure accident I found my new favorite chicken marinade.  I was all set in my mind on how I was going to marinade chicken and at the last second my hubby cried out, "don't put an acid in the marinade". Crap!  I was going to use citrus.  What now?

I had just found a new salad dressing I had never seen before, Bolthouse Farms Cilantro Avocado Yogurt Dressing, with only 40 calories per serving.  What the heck, I thought, I might as well try it.

It's a new favorite!

At night:

Tell Yourself Positive Stories to Stay Positive

“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”   
~    Mahatma Gandhi
The above quote has been stated and restated and rephrased by many different people over time.  If you Google the first line over 38,000,000 results appear. I must have heard it, read it, watched it on a YouTube video hundreds of times in my life, but today as I listened to an audio program I finally understand how it works.

Your beliefs become your thoughts. 

I always mistook that your beliefs meant your values, but notice how values come later in the phrase.