Category: happiness

career, happiness, job, Lifestyle

Merry Christmas

shelbbyleighh

Merry Christmas to you all! I hope Christmas morning brings you joy and warmth.

This morning I woke up around 7 am in my apartment, with my boyfriend sound asleep. I had a shower to start my day, made a tea, and did 15 minutes of morning stretches and yoga. The last few days I have hibernated inside, on my couch, doing absolutely nothing but reading. Actually, yesterday I went out and purchased a Himalayan Salt Lamp from a local shop named “Chakra Wellness”. I instantly fell in love with this little store. Not only do they sell items like Healing Crystals and gems, Sage, Salt lamps, Spiritual Home decor, incense, Keto Diet & Organic pantry items, BUT they also offer guided meditation practices. So neat.

I am currently on day 5, out of my 12 day Christmas Break. I have been meditating and reading every day. My goal over the holidays was to do some major soul searching, take care of my mind and physical body, and essentially take the first few steps onto a spiritual path.

Being away from the fast paced, vicious 9-5 work week has felt so refreshing, yet stimulating for my mind. It does bring me sadness though, because I know I am so extremely lucky to have the ability to take a 12 day holiday break. Majority of people in the world only get a few days off from work – if that. This then brings me to another thought. I have such a strong desire to venture away from living an average person’s way of life. I have been brainstorming every day of certain career changes. Can I make homemade soap for a living? I’ve made it before and I loved doing it. Should I look into making my own homemade wine? How can I start an online business? What about a Reiki Practitioner, or a massage therapist? My brain is constantly going. And then I meditate and feel a little more at peace with my thoughts.

I despise the thought of going to work everyday and putting on an image that feels 100% totally artificial to me. Trading time for money. Working for someone else’s dream. Maybe to some people, this is.. just what life is. “It pays the bills.” Blah. Gross. I can’t live like that.

Anyway, I am totally rambling this morning. Merry Christmas to you all! Smile big, eat a ton, and give lots of hugs and kisses!

happiness, Health, Mental Health

Highly Sensitive People

shelbbyleighh

Over the last couple months, I’ve found myself to really be struggling with self esteem issues. A co-worker or a customer would say something somewhat condescending to me, and I would think about it for days. A statement that certain people could brush off their shoulders would eat me up inside. I then think to myself, “Why are people so mean? What’s wrong with me? Why am I so damn sensitive?” And then I end up hating myself for allowing things to hurt me so easily.

Not only are my feelings hurt so easily, but I find myself to be very sensitive to basically everything else. I react to movies quite dramatically. A happy movie? I cry from happiness. I remember when I watched the Sexy & the City movie, I was sobbing at the end when Carrie and Big fixed their relationship and they were just oh so happy. I refuse to watch any movie that has anything to do with pets, because we all know how those end. I despise any type of confrontation, whether I’m involved in it or not. The type of music I listen to can drastically affect my mood for the day. I actually used to enjoy going to Music Festivals and raves because of the amount of enjoyment I received from the roaring music speakers and booming bass. I could really feel the music. I felt that I was the music – but the only way I managed to stand the large crowds of sloppy, drugged up people was if I was quite intoxicated myself. The thought of going to an event like this NOW, truly scares the crap out of me.

I had decided I wanted to do some research in regards to my sensitivity levels. I purchased a book on Amazon called, “The Highly Sensitive: How to stop emotional overload, relieve anxiety, and eliminate negative energy” written by Judy Dyer.

This is a paragraph from the introduction. After reading that, tears streamed down my cheek. I’ve always felt like a bit of an outsider. Kind of different from others. After reading this book, I learned that only 15-20% of people are considered Highly Sensitive. The smallest things can create extreme levels of happiness for sensitive people. Yes, this can also feel like a not-so-good thing as well, because this also makes the unhappy times feel completely unbearable. In a way, I’ve kind of started to appreciate my sensitivity levels. I cannot imagine not having the ability to feel so much. Almost living a plain, flat life. You’re just…. level. No extreme ups. No extreme downs. I think I’m going to embrace my life as an emotional roller coaster.

career, happiness, job, office

Toxic People

shelbbyleighh

I am truly struggling with dealing with negative, toxic people in my life. I hate leaving work in a bad mood because I am forced to listen to constant negativity. It is absolutely draining. I have been trying to meditate every day after work to help myself feel better. It does help most of the time, but last night was quite difficult for me. I was having a really hard time with trying to slow my racing thoughts down. The majority of this negative energy isn’t directed towards me, but i’m always there listening to it. If it is directed towards me, holy smokes – I have a very hard time with letting it go.

I’ve been trying to picture myself with a shield that protects myself from any of these toxic vibes. Sometimes it’s extremely difficult though. I despise coming home in a bad mood for no reason other than the miserable people at work. How do you deal with negative people in your life?

career, happiness, Health, job

Transitioning: mid to late twenties

shelbbyleighh

Many different aspects of your life can change drastically in such a short amount of time. I know things are only going to change more, the older I become. When I take a glance back at my life when I was 21-24 years old, I find my interests and values have been altered in incredible ways. In a way, I find it bitter sweet because it’s all a part of maturing and growing up. I’m no longer a kid. I decided to create a list of some of things I have noticed about myself at 26 years old.

At 26 years old:

  • I no longer have the desire to go out to the bar
  • I no longer want to use tanning beds
  • I start to care more about the consequences of my actions
  • I really want to distant myself from toxic people
  • My health actually matters to me now
  • I notice my metabolism has changed a bit -I used to be able to lose 5 lbs in a week from eating healthy. Now it takes 5 weeks 😦
  • My menstrual cramps are horrific
  • I can read people much better
  • I care less about what others think
  • I feel like i’m drowning in credit card debt
  • I start thinking about getting married and having babies
  • I have so much less patience for rude people
  • All I want to do in my spare time is read or spend time with the boyfriend and fur babies
  • Wine Nights are a hundred times more appealing than going out to raves/bars
  • I get excited over new kitchen toys/gadgets
  • I spend much more time in the kitchen experimenting with cooking different kinds of meals
  • I spend less money on materialistic items
  • I am constantly brainstorming different ways to escape the 9-5 work cycle. How can I diversify my revenue? How can I be my own boss?
  • I consume alcohol after work to “take the edge off”, rather than in social settings
  • I despise going to areas with large crowds of people
  • I take way less selfies
  • I read “self-improvement” books
  • I listen to Lana Del Ray and The Lumineers rather than screechy , electronic dance music
  • Amazon Prime is my best friend
  • I value family time so much more
  • I am constantly thinking of different ways to improve my life

These are just a few things I have noticed when reflecting on the changes I’ve gone through over the last 5 years.

As you’ve aged, what changes have you become aware of?

career, happiness, job, life, Lifestyle, Mental Health, office

Wasting our lives

shelbbyleighh

“Its almost Fridaaaay!” my coworkers sing to me. As the week goes on, the weight that everyone carries becomes a little lighter. By the time Friday actually arrives, the smiles on their faces are more apparent and moods are lightened.

When I first started working your typical 9-5 office job, I was almost shocked at how many times I would hear this throughout the week. It always slightly bothered me that everyone had the same attitude. Honestly, i’m finding myself extremely guilty for it as well. I cannot wait until Friday @ 4:30pm. Time to go home, maybe make a quick pit stop at the liquor store and pick myself up a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.

By the time Sunday evening arrives, I feel depressed while I pack my lunch for the next day. I can taste Monday morning’s bitterness.

What is so disheartening is that such a large amount of people feel the same way on their Sunday evenings. We “live” for the weekend. How is this living? We’re doing nothing but solely existing on this planet. What makes this all worse is that we work for a pay cheque that goes directly towards our bills and our debt. It’s a vicious cycle that our society is struggling horrendously to break.

We are told to finance a car, get a 20-30 year mortgage on a home, oh look, you’re pre-approved for a $10 000 credit card. And we say YES because of the instant gratification right there at our finger tips. We end up paying this back for the rest of our lives, while we work at jobs that get us through the work week.

How do we break this cycle? Why do we continue to waste our lives?