Do you tend to overthink? Do you create situations in your mind based on what someone has said? If you think about that- isn’t that a bit strange? Perhaps even self fulfilling to some extent. Because if you start to believe something, you start acting and reacting as if it were true. And all because someone else has said something, or might have said something. As I’ve mentioned before, our minds are very powerful. What can you do to get out of this kind of thinking though?

Exercise- go for a power walk or a run. Clear your mind. You will feel so much better for it after. Even just for 30 minutes. Nothing fancy or complicated.

Yoga. Do a session with Adriene. She truly has a session for most things: stress, stretch, breathing, neck, shoulders, cleanse, detox. Go in and take a look!

Eat well. By that I mean allow yourself to eat and enjoy. Take your time and chew slowly. Cook a delicious meal. Cooking can also be very relaxing!

Sign up to a challenge and set a goal. That will give you something else for you to focus on. A new course, a new sport, an art course, or why not learn a language!

Read books. I love my iPhone… but I do know that I should use it less and read more books.

Watch a great classic movie: Casablanca or I’m singing in the rain. Reminisce and imagine what the world looked like back then. Maybe it’ll give you a different perspective on life?!

Those are a few things I can think of to stop creating problems and worries out of something someone else said. You create your reality. Don’t forget that! I truly recommend.

Happy Monday. A new beginning. A lot of what I write- I write to emphasis things and mantras to myself. My life can be quite chaotic with not enough hours in the day. Especially right now with visitors, school, full time job, courses, birthdays, trips and Christmas around the corner. I remind myself to breath and that I am only human! Take a step back and observe life for a second. What is the worst that can happen? I’m actually really starting to believe that life is so much about what is in your mind. And you control your mind!

My mantra today: “take one thing at a time and remember to laugh! Don’t think the worst. Breath and delegate and ask for help”.

I’m used to doing things on my own. Of course with my family but I’m quite stubborn which is a good quality. Most of the time anyway… 2019 will be a year of more health and routines- and fun and laughter!

This week- I challenge you to remind yourself that you are enough. Don’t forget that!!!

What are your strengths?

Have the most amazing Monday and week ahead!!!

We moved into our current place in April this year. It was more or less a blank canvas. Beautiful though with white walls and wooden floors. It’s quite spacious and well planned and it’s growing on me everyday. I love decorating and creating homes! By that I mean to make it feel homely. I’ve spent lots of time browsing the Internet, looking at Pinterest and visited some stores. As a side note I can say that I miss TJ Maxx. I’ve spent many hours browsing around there finding real finds. Especially for our kitchen that we still have! I love my mugs… all around $2-4 if I remember correctly.

We bought our sofas from Bolia. Ours is the Mr Big. At first, we got two beige units. The idea was to add to them, which is a great benefit with modular sofas. A few months later we decided to add a few more. Unfortunately the colour we had picked out didn’t exist anymore. Discontinued. Instead of giving up though we decided to make the best of the situation and got the additional units in a completely different colour. The material is the same though. I was also happily surprised to see that the blankets we got from Ikea for the sofas Trattviva, exist in almost exactly the same colours as our sofa units. Maybe this is a new trend? We now have a sofa with mixed colours- in beige and light blue! I quite like it! I recommend! Mix and match and make it yours!

December is a great month. For us as a family it’s full of birthdays, celebrations, school events, get together and preparing for Christmas. I’m especially looking forward to Christmas this year as we will be together just close family. We will have days together with no expectations. Or well… as they can be with a 9yrs old in the house!

I am planning on spending more time on my blog. To make it look a bit nicer, go through previous posts, look into Pinterest more and most likely go self hosted. I’m still not certain about that as technology is not my forte. I did notice that there are changes coming to my subscription plan here and it’s making me reconsider a few things. Why do you blog? What is it that you want to achieve? Do you have a vision of what you really want? Do you have to know? I write because I’m really enjoying it. It’s been 6 months now. It’s a balance as well. How much do you write about your personal life? It’s completely up to you. You decide. It’s important to be genuine though. I think that’s important. I really want to recommend and create these challenges! 2019 will be more. I did a small crazy thing and signed up for a half marathon as already mentioned… so I will have a few challenges about running. There will be more about Yoga with Adriene. She does this amazing challenge in January. Then I want to inspire and encourage and focus on the positive in life. I don’t always succeed. This week has been tough. I don’t really like confrontations but sometimes you have to confront. I know I have a few small disagreements coming up in my life… I’ve learned though that it’s part of life. Some people actually enjoy differences and disagreements- I personally prefer agreements and harmony. But life isn’t always that. There is so much I want to achieve in 2019! I want health, fun, focus, challenges, personal and professional success meaning happiness and contentment and truly really feel that I make a difference. I want to influence and spread good and this “can do attitude”. Life certainly is not a dance on roses. But it’s a lot more fun if you can learn to laugh more, take things less serious, enjoy, challenge yourself and believe in yourself!!! That… I truly really recommend! The rest of December will be amazing! 2019 fantastic!!! Enjoy every minute of every day… the good, the bad, the grey and the pink. It’s a privilege to be here…

Days are good, days are bad. Some days just go past and we don’t really remember much of them. Whilst other days leave a big imprint. Recently I’m really focusing on the positive. I’ve decided, I’ve made that decision. You can decide to see the glass half full- or half empty. It’s really the same amount of water in that glass when you measure the content. So why even give negativity space in your life? It might sound harsh… and as I’ve said before I have days when all I want to do is scream and hide. People say things… they have an opinion. It’s up to you to decide how to react to that. Makes sense? It’s your life, it’s your decision. You really are in charge of your mind! It’s a very powerful tool. Use it to the best and focus. Life actually becomes more fun. This week has been hard. Lots of changes again. People with opinions. How I react to it though I am fully in charge of. And I decide that I will continue with being me. To look at it from the bright side. I don’t always agree with what people say. I don’t have to- you don’t have to. I’m starting to see and feel how positive energy is a strong feeling and/ or sensation. You can influence a lot more than what you think sometimes! Go on- have positive thoughts today! Make a difference. Look at the glass as half full! You can do it- you know it makes perfect sense!!!

Work life balance is more noticeable here. It’s made me realise to focus even more on my daughter. I always have and always will of course! Today, she invited two friends home from school. They played, enjoyed pizza, danced a little and watched “Mamma Mia”. It’s a lovely “warm fuzzy feeling movie” with nice songs in. Of course I’m a fan of ABBA! It’s nice to have the privilege to arrange proper play dates. Life is not all about work!

It’s interesting how focus on different things shift. In the last 30 years, in particular, I think evolution has been going very fast. By that I mean technology and amongst that social media. For you who remember- what did you do before the mobile phone? Do you remember when you actually had to be at a specific time at a specific place when you decided to meet someone? Do you remember the stationary telephones? In my family, we had those big phones with a round dial application on. I still recall the sound it made when you dialled a number. It’s nice to just reminisce and realise how things have changed; TV, MTV, the Concorde, the evolution of burgers, Internet, Netflix, Amazon, the iPhone and associated Apps and so on… do you recall any specific such items?

Evolution and change… not always a good thing… not always a bad thing. It’s truly something that drives us forward!

Christmas is not far away now. How do you celebrate? What day? What do you eat?

We have lived in a few different countries and tend to adapt to where we are. This year I haven’t really decided though what to do really. In the Nordic countries they celebrate on the 24. This is when you eat Christmas food and open the gifts. In the US and the U.K. this is done on the 25.

I suspect that we will do it our own way this year. It’ll be nice food, some gift openings- mostly for my daughter-, walks outside, but most of all… time spent with family and good friends relaxing and enjoying time together! That… I truly recommend.