What Are Your Core Life Desires?
My husband and I have milestone birthdays coming this year. We’ve spent the past year thinking “how do we want to live the rest of our lives?” In the process my husband came up with the concept of Core Life Desires, a few words that summarize what is most important to you and keeps your life on track for how you want it to be. It goes beyond Core Desired Feelings to get to the heart of what you really want out of life.
A lot of confusion and sadness occurs because people don’t really know what they want. They go after the goals and choices they believe they should go after or that they believe will make them happy. Often these ambitions have been derived from perceived family, church, and societal expectations and beliefs. But very few stop to check within themselves for answers and guidance to their life. The common mid-life crisis is a typical result of pursuing desires that really didn’t belong to you in the first place.
So how do you identify your Core Life Desires? You listen to yourself. Spend some time quietly listening to the core messages of your heart. You will feel in your heart what is true for you.
For example I originally put Relationships as one of my Core Life Desires, but when I checked in with myself I realized the core relationship was a relationship with myself not others. When I feel good about myself, my relationships, work, and prosperity naturally abound. But when I’m not happy with myself everything goes down the toilet.
My husband identified his Core Life Desires as Relationships, Health, and Presence. I identified my Core Life Desires as Wholeness, Health, and Happiness.
Here’s how the Core Life Desires work. Let’s say my husband’s colleague is being an asshole or he’s arguing with me. He can check in with himself, “Is this helping or hurting my Relationships?” and then make the necessary course corrections to achieve the type of relationships he desires.
The same goes for Health, a Core Life Desire we both chose. When we’re making food or activity choices we can check in “Will this improve or damage our Health?” This simple process helps us to get what we most want out of life.
I choose “Wholeness” as one of my Core Life Desires because I often feel fragmented, feel pulled in differing directions, and tend to censor or block what I think will meet with disapproval from others. But failing to be true to myself or share a complete person makes me less of a person and prevents me from giving 100% to my relationships, my work, and my life. I chose Wholeness as my Core Life Desire to help me stay congruent and give 100% to my life.
So what are your Core Life Desires? What is most important to you? I challenge you to identify 3 to 4 words that summarize what you want most out of your life and share them in the comments below.
Flickr photo by Demi-Brooke (cc) license
Carolyn Flynn Almendarez holds a Master’s degree in Counseling with additional studies in Nutrition and Holistic Health. She provides a unique blend of mind-body solutions to create health, happiness, and loving relationships. She is a strategist, problem-solver, and intuitive guide. She believes every woman deserves to feel beautiful, serene, and happy. She is committed to helping women create lives they love. She is the author of SMART Talk, Heal Your Grief, and Holiday Peace and Joy.
Lemon Garlic Broccoli and Cauliflower Recipe
This is a broccoli recipe even non-broccoli fans will love!
Ingredients:
1 head of broccoli or cauliflower cut into florets
1/2 fresh lemon squeezed or 2 T. lemon juice
1-2 garlic cloves minced or 1 tsp. garlic powder
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
Optional: You can double the lemon and garlic for more intense flavor or add additional lemon juice after baking to add additional flavor zing.
Directions:
Combine all ingredients into a gallon size baggie, seal and toss until all of the broccoli or cauliflower is lightly coated. Pour contents into a baking dish or lined cookie sheet. (A cookie sheet will hold 2 heads of broccoli and/or cauliflower.)
Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 15 – 25 minutes or until tender.
The broccoli will become softer the longer it is left in the oven.
Serve hot or store in a glass container in the fridge for later use.
The lemon garlic broccoli and cauliflower will store for about a week in the fridge and reheats nicely in the microwave.
Enjoy!
The health benefits of this simple recipe are amazing!
Broccoli and Cauliflower are part of the cruciferous family of vegetables that help balance estrogen levels.
Broccoli, Cauliflower, Lemon, and Garlic help the liver detoxify chemicals, drugs, and pollutants.
Broccoli, Garlic, Lemon, and Olive Oil are all powerful antioxidants that destroy harmful free radicals which are byproducts of detoxification, disease, and pollution.
Garlic and Lemon both boost the immune system and are natural anti-fungal, antibiotic, and anticancer remedies.
Garlic and Olive Oil reduce inflammation and protect against cardiovascular disease.
Enjoy this tasty and good for you recipe!
Lemon Garlic Broccoli and Cauliflower Recipe by Carolyn Almendarez
Carolyn Flynn Almendarez holds a Master’s degree in Counseling with additional studies in Nutrition and Holistic Health. She provides a unique blend of mind-body solutions to create health, happiness, and loving relationships. She is a strategist, problem-solver, and intuitive guide. She believes every woman deserves to feel beautiful, serene, and happy. She is committed to helping women create lives they love. She is the author of SMART Talk, Heal Your Grief, and Holiday Peace and Joy.
Pink Bubble Meditation
Recently I read the classic mind-body book, “Creative Visualization” by Shakti Gawain. Her book is amazing resource for those wishing to better understand how to use visualization, meditation, and affirmations to improve your life and achieve your desired goals. She provides simple exercises and examples of how to tap in to your mind-body power to create health, happiness, success, and any other goal you wish to manifest.
Here is one of my favorite meditations from her book:
The Pink Bubble Technique by Shakti Gawain
Sit or lie down comfortably, close your eyes and breathe deeply, slowly, and naturally. Gradually relax deeper and deeper.
Imagine something that you would like to manifest. Imagine that it has already happened. Picture it as clearly as possible in your mind.
Now in your mind’s eye surround your fantasy with a pink bubble; put your goal inside the bubble. Pink is the color associated with the heart, and if this color vibration surrounds whatever you visualize, it will bring to you only that which is in perfect affinity with your being.
The third step is to let go of the bubble and imagine it floating off into the universe, still containing your vision. This symbolizes that you are emotionally “letting go” of it. Now it is free to float around in the universe, attracting and gathering energy for its manifestation.
Isn’t that a wonderful meditation!
After completing the pink bubble technique with my desired goal, I decided to increase the power of the meditation and the mind-body message I wanted to send the universe by drawing a visual picture of my desired imagine and writing affirmations to claim my imagined desire as already being true for me. By adding some affirmations and a visual picture for my conscious mind to focus on I created more neural pathways for my mind and body to help me manifest my desired goal into reality.
You can use these three techniques to help you achieve your desired goals and dreams into reality.
What will you put in your pink bubble? Share in the comments below.
Carolyn Flynn Almendarez holds a Master’s degree in Counseling with additional studies in Nutrition and Holistic Health. She provides a unique blend of mind-body solutions to create health, happiness, and loving relationships. She is a strategist, problem-solver, and intuitive guide. She believes every woman deserves to feel beautiful, serene, and happy. She is committed to helping women create lives they love. She is the author of SMART Talk, Heal Your Grief, and Holiday Peace and Joy.
Remember Your Loved Ones
Memorial Day is a special holiday to honor your loved ones that have passed on and the men and women who have died serving our country.
The loss of friends and family can be a difficult time emotionally as you transition to life without them. You can heal your grief through remembering the positive memories of happy moments shared together. Family traditions and special rituals you shared with your loved ones will also help your memories to thrive and your heart to heal as you share them with future generations.
Here are some simple activities you can do to remember your loved ones and honor the veterans in your community:
- Share stories and memories of your adventures and activities. Recalling the memories and emotions shared together will help to keep them alive in your heart.
- Visit the deceased grave and spend some time talking to your loved one as if they are present. Tell them how much you love and miss them as well as what is new in your life. The essence of who they are never has to die and you can keep them in a special place in your heart.
- Plant a tree in their honor or in the honor of the veterans that have died in service. Let the tree embrace the spirit of those you have loved so much.
- Visit a Veteran’s hospital. Many veterans continue to suffer physically, psychologically, and emotionally years after they have served in war. A friendly smile and listening ear are a healing balm to those who suffer.
- Make a memories scrapbook. Writing down your memories and looking at pictures are a therapeutic way to heal your heart and mend your soul.
For more healing tools and therapeutic techniques read Heal Your Grief by Carolyn Flynn available in paperback and ebook formats at online bookstores everywhere.
Carolyn Almendarez provides mind-body solutions for health and happiness. She is a licensed professional counselor, author, and creator of the SMART Relationship Communication program and the Happy, Healthy & Fit program. She is committed to helping women resolve stress, excess weight, and discontent to create loving relationships, healthy bodies, and fulfilling lives.
Flickr photo by The U.S. Army
Affirmations For Rebirth And Rejuvenation
Spring is a wonderful time for rejuvenating your body, mind, and spirit. It is the perfect time to rebirth your soul to the good things you want in life.
Here are some nature inspired affirmations to help you revitalize your soul, rebirth your dreams, and recreate the life you desire and deserve.
My life blossoms and blooms like the flowers in spring.
I nurture my feelings garden. It is safe for me to feel and express myself.
I flow through life like a summer breeze.
Like the trees in the wind, I bend easily with change.
I nurture and care for my body with fresh foods and quality sleep.
I easily spring clean my life releasing the old and no longer needed.
I weed out my soul’s garden so that the love in my heart can grow.
I am free as the birds in the sky.
I am refreshed, rejuvenated, and reborn. It is good to be alive.
My life is warm and sunny.
I am filled with the sunshine of happiness and love.
The earth grounds and sustains me in life.
I tend to the garden of my soul and grow feelings of love, joy, and abundance.
Prosperity and abundance grow abundantly as I nurture and care for myself.
Flowers of love grow abundantly in my heart.
I sleep peacefully at night and wake rejuvenated and refreshed to enjoy the birth of a new day.
I am at one with the earth and the earth loves and sustains me.
I am a beautiful creation of nature.
I am worthy of all the love and joy in the universe.
I am alive and at peace.
How will you rejuvenate yourself this spring? Share in the comments below.
By Carolyn Almendarez