On inner Strength and Candy

Beautiful blossoms along the way from work nourish the soul.
Beautiful blossoms along the way from work nourish the soul.

Perhaps you remember my earlier post on my resolution to take better care of my body this year by making healthier food choices and letting my soul dance more. If not, you might want to read it to understand what I mean as I would like to inspire you today with my next step on this journey.

I used to look for ways to reward myself after a stressful day at work. While waiting for my commuter train on my way home, I would treat myself to several candy bars from the vending machine at the train station thinking that I would feel better. I started to literally look forward to my treat at the end of my work day while still at work. I found all kinds of excuses to eat candy bars as well as other snacks from that machine and made sure that I always had enough coins (and the right ones) with me.

While I thought that the chocolate and sugar would make me happier, relaxed, and feed my soul, the actual ingredients damaged by body uncontrollably by eventually making me overweight, as heavy as I had never been before, and sick. Furthermore, I was still unhappy and sad about many aspects of my life. Finally, at the end of last year, I realized that I had to do something about my health. Since then I have shed almost 30 pounds through tracking my food, exercise, reading books, and listening to hypnosis recordings to try to change my patterns. The latter has just started working in the most miraculous way I can imagine.

I recently had a tough and long day. I really fought the craving and urge to eat at least one candy bar. The old me kept saying: “Eat one, just one!” However, the new me resisted. I had to walk by the vending machines really fast to get away as quickly as possible. My eyes focused on the yummy candy inside when my new me said: “These won’t make you happy, but music or a video will do.” I almost ran downstairs to the platform in order to get away from those vending machines. Sitting on the train, while searching the Internet, I came across a very inspirational video, which indeed lifted me up like no candy ever could!
By the time I came home, I no longer even thought of any sugar and had a healthy dinner instead. Writing this after dinner sipping relaxing tea, I am not just happy. I am proud of myself and grateful for how far I have come. I am on my way to normal weight. My new me cannot wait to pass those candy bars easily tomorrow thanks to my inner strength and what those candy bars taught me.

Love, Barbara

Copyright © 2016 by Barbara Bullock, Photo credit © 2016 by Barbara Bullock
#Selflove # Soul #Music #Video #Food #Growth #Craving #Diet #Health #Lifestyle #Weight #Weightloss #Overweight #Candy #Work #Commute #Vendingmachine #Inner #Strength #temptation #stress #overcome #train #trainstation

The inner artist

566-2The time of spring and Easter, for those who celebrate it, is often considered a time of renewal and growth. Unless you live in a tropical climate that hardly changes, you will most likely experience this progression in the seasonal change from the cold, dark winter to the lighter, warmer days of spring. As the days are filled with more natural sunlight, birds sing their hearts out of newfound happiness, trees blossom and the grass is green again, I also become alive. It is not a coincidence that spring is my favorite season. While the results of growth are easier to notice when taking a walk through nature in the spring, human beings also benefit from the personal growth and renewal this season brings.

When I look back at many spring times of my life, I realize that I too have gone through many changes that taught me a lesson and allowed my soul to grow. This year, I have decided to let my inner artist emerge. When we think of art, paintings, music, sculptures or novels often come to mind. However, I believe that art can take many different forms. I also believe that art is the language the universe speaks to us. It is no coincidence that many people call talents God given gifts. I also believe that those gifts are individually wrapped and placed in our hearts and souls the moment we are created and come to this earth to express them.

Everyone has a reason to be here. Many people wonder what it is. I believe that one of the reasons we come here is to share our gifts. Doing so allows our souls to shine and seek fulfillment while on earth. How do you know what your gift is? I think that our passions are our key emotions to answer this question. Our souls long for growth and expression. We can do so by sharing our talents with the world. I have longed to be an artist as long as I can remember. I also know that I was an artist in at least one or more past lives. This year, it is time to let my inner artist emerge and come to the surface. I know that I have been hiding for too long. My soul longs to be expressed and shared with the world. Encouraged and empowered I look into the warm spring sun and feel reassured that, after the cold, long winter, I am ready to emerge from my shell. I wish you all the same growth and newfound happiness that you will find when you start following your passions and express your soul’s wishes for fulfillment whatever form it takes.

The question is, what can you do when fears and doubts appear along the way? On your path, people will criticize you, push you down and tell you that you are never going to make it. Don’t let their egos keep you from growing. Don’t accept their negativity as a sign that you are not going to succeed. It’s like telling an egg in a bird’s nest that no singing bird will ever come out of its shell, a cocoon that it will never change into a beautiful butterfly or a seed in the ground that it will never ever grow into a gorgeous flower. No negativity can stop growth and the expression of the gifts of the universe through art and beauty just as a late winter storm cannot stop spring from coming. So, this spring and beyond, let your inner artist emerge, share your passions, and help make our world a more beautiful and artistic one just as God has intended it to be when it was created.

Love, Barbara

 

Copyright © 2016 by Barbara Bullock, Photo taken at Hotel Dolder Grand Zurich in 2011 by Barbara Bullock

#Love # Soul #March #Easter #Spring #Growth #Artist #Art #Writer #Writing #Butterfly #Flower #Seed #Emerging #Inner #Inside #Mission #Passion #Light #Bird #Sing #Painting #Music #Expression #Seed #Egg #Winter #Storm #Positivity #Negativity #Cocoon #Talent