Morning and happy Wednesday!

Last night, when I got home from work, I was absolutely starving, but saw these two little gems waiting on the table for me and couldn’t resist opening them up right away.

Some Reebok tops for working out and a super cute dress that I hope to wear to Brian’s graduation in May.

After checking out my new goodies, I quickly remembered that I was more than ready for dinner.  Brian was out with some friends, which meant I could just do one of my favorite things to do when it comes to meal time…toss a bunch of ingredients into a bowl and call it a “salad.”

I was reading a post from Run to the Finish earlier today and apparently, this is called a “Power Bowl.”  I LOVE that idea 🙂

According to her, “a power bowl is literally throwing a bunch of ingredients into a bowl for quick, nutritious meal” and that is exactly what I did:

My bowl contained spinach, romaine, carrots, bell pepper, avocado, cauliflower rice, and salmon.  I topped it with red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, salt, pepper, garlic, and Italian seasoning.   Then, I mixed it all up and enjoyed it 🙂

I love my “power bowls!”

Lent

Some of you may know that today marks the first day of Lent.

I wrote about giving up peanut butter for lent last year, but this year I am not giving up a habit or something physical.  I’ve decided to take these next 40 days to really focus on some personal goals and mental health.

Recently, I have found myself a little more anxious, a little more worried, and less positive than I typically choose to be.  I’m not quite sure what the cause may be, but I am thinking that the having the BIG move Brian and I are going to make looming over my head is probably a contributing factor.  I know we are moving in August, but there are a lot of things I DON’T know and that is really hard for me to deal with.

Because I want to ENJOY these last couple of months, I have decided to make a personal list of goals to overcome the fears and negative thoughts that may be holding me back.

Starting to work on these goals at lent seemed like perfect timing.  The hard part is that there isn’t a “thing” to do each day or a “list” to check off, I just have to be more mindful of what I am doing and how I am reacting to various situations.

Here is what I want to work on:

My Positive Life “Check List”

Even though it’s not really a check list…

• Worry less

I know that everything has a way of working itself out, and I have been lucky enough to experience that.  Unfortunately, I feel the need to completely worry and stress until the very moment that things actually do work out.  I  need to work on trusting and learning from the situation.

• Be less anxious and uncomfortable when things don’t “go as planned”

As a person who loves to plan things to a T, when I don’t have a plan or when a friend spontaneously asks me to hang out or do something I get anxious and uncomfortable.  For me, I have to have a plan for everything…which isn’t good!  Sometimes I feel like I could spend all day “planning” and never end up “doing.”  Working on this one will be tough, but luckily Brian is pretty great at being spontaneous 🙂

• Be more present

Because I am often worrying about how something will turn out, planning for the future, or getting anxious because something isn’t going the way I think it should I feel like I am missing what is going on TODAY.  Not good!  I have always been the type to look towards the future and think about how a decision will effect a situation in the long run, but in a way I feel like that is wishing my life away…and I don’t want that.  In a recent blog post, Robyn said “If I worry about what happens tomorrow then I totally missed the beauty of today.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.

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• Don’t stress about my to-do lists or other self-imposed deadlines

I am the QUEEN of setting an unrealistic deadline for myself and then not giving myself any wiggle room to let life get in the way.  I need to change this and forgive myself more.  Time to set my priorities straight.  Things happen and whatever needs to get done will get done.

• Embrace my imperfections

Goodness, this is a tough one for all of us isn’t it?  I mean, no one is perfect, but looking at social media feeds like Instagram, twitter, and reading blogs it sure looks like all of you are perfect!  I have to remember that social media is the “highlight reel” and it is such a small snapshot of what life really is.  I don’t want to let myself get caught up in the comparison trap of social media because that really sucks the happiness out of a lot of things.

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• Be more at peace with myself and my life

With Brian still being in school, it’s easy to think that “our lives haven’t started yet.”  But guess what…they have!  This is it, this is our life and I need to remember that life is messy, doesn’t go according to plan, totally NOT perfect and it never will be, which is what makes things so great 🙂

That is what I want to focus on this Lent.  Soaking up the joy and happiness in each day, relaxing more, prioritizing friends and family over silly self-imposed “must-do tasks”, and just being happy.

Question of the Day:

• Is there anything in your life holding you back?  
• What’s on your Positive Life Check List?