overthinking – Dad looks confused

It all starts With a change of Mindset

For this post I would like to talk about mindset and choices, we are presented with choices everyday whether it is what we eat or how we decide to spend our free time. Usually we are so busy everyday that we always choose to sit around watching tv or play video games but it these same types of choices that have us wanting more or something different. We live in what seems to be an endless cycle of boring with nothing to look forward to but the weekend, even then we overextend ourselves by trying to make the “most” of our days off. At the ends of each weekend we go back to work just as or more tired than when we started. I too used to live with this type of mentality and I felt like it was draining me instead of helping me live better. This is where mindset comes in I decided to make a change and try to change the way my days went I started to plan something that I looked forward to doing everyday and eventually I started adding more things.
The key to changing the way I lived making my days more enjoyable, was to add one thing at a time I didn’t try to make any drastic changes it was slow change for bettering the way I lived my week.
Tips for a better week

Make a list of things you like to do and help you relieve some stress.
A.meditation’
B. Exercise
C. Reading
Start one of the thing do not try to add all of these things to your day at once
Once you have a routine you are comfortable with try to find something that will help you improve as a person and learn.

Serene Quarantine

Hello, it has been a while since I have posted anything but that does not mean I have been sitting around doing nothing. The fact that I had nowhere to go allowed me to pick up on a few old hobbies, I started with the ones that helped me relax (aside from meditation), art and gardening. I was able to draw, this hobby allows me to both relax and learn. How is that possible? you might ask, well it allows me to relax by making me focus on what’s in front of me and also through trial and error I learn new techniques that work for my style. When I sit down to work on a project hours feel like minutes.

Another one of my hobbies is gardening and during this stay at home time I was able to start my garden with seeds, this is something I have not been able to do for a very long time due to apartment living. Last year we moved into our house and I started late so I just transplanted some plants. My favorite part about planting a garden from seeds and watching them grow is the fact that there is no hurry, all you have to do is water them make sure they get enough sunlight and then just wait. During this time I have realized that I need some type of activity or hobby that allows me to just slow down my busy mind, I know that not everyone has the patience to plant, water and wait but finding hobbies that help you slow down are a great break to the busy lifestyles we all live.

Bring back your energy

On my 100 day journey I have done some research on new meditation methods and I have found one that has been incredibly helpful it has helped me regain some of that positive energy from some of my happiest times. The best part of this method takes no longer than 2-5 minutes so it is the best one for when people are busy.

Step one- find a comfortable place to sit. sitting on the floor is my preference a pillow or cushion can be used or for a beginner, sitting in a chair is perfect as long as proper posture is preserved (no slouching)

Step two- make sure you control your breathing, close your eyes and think of the time when you felt that you were the most at peace and happy with your life, make sure you focused what routines or what you did that made you happy, now imaging that feeling is a big ball of energy floating above you.

Step three- accept that energy to come back into you as if you were in the shower but instead of water you feel the energy run down and through your body.

Step 4- take a deep breath and relax for 30 seconds.

This method of meditation has helped me keep a positive attitude and realize that happy times do not have to be something that comes and goes but something that we constantly work on and change just like our lives change.

You can do this everyday, once a week, once a month or whenever you feel like you are lacking a positive attitude.

I hope this is helpful for you

Enjoy! 😊

Reset button day 47 of 100

Have you every felt like there needs to be a reset button on our life? No I do not mean like start over from the birth, what I mean is maybe you feel like you have too much going on in your life and you are starting to feel burned out. With our very hectic and busy lifestyles now a days it is very easy to get burned out and become a sad tired person. I for sure have times when I am in desperate need of a mental vacation, or at least one hour to myself away from everything that makes me so busy. As I have mentioned in my last posts I have started a 100 day journey to create better habits and I have focused on trying to find some type of routines that will help me improve in more than one aspect of my life.

Aspects such as:

🌞 Positivity
✏️ Creativity
🏋🏽‍♂️ Exercise
📖 knowledge
🛏 Relaxation
These are a must:
☀️ Sunlight
💧hydration

In this journey I have found that there are more than one way to do something, I already knew that there were different methods to meditation and exercise but that is it. I have truly realized that there are more than one method to vacation, be creative, learn and stay positive and yes I understand that there are some of these that are obvious. Won’t go into all of them but I will go into the vacationing method that has really helped me and that is taking time off of work and staying home (Staycation) although there were some boring days i really enjoyed staying home and doing nothing. I didn’t have to worry about breaking the budget by having to spend on a bunch of activities or following a schedule to get these activities done I just worked on myself.

My staycation went like this:

Exercised twice a day
Watched tv
Worked on trying new vegetarian recipes
And my favorite spend time talking, reconnecting and spending time with my wife
And obviously play with my puppies

This was my biggest reset button that I have ever experienced at the end of my time off I was recharged and ready to go back to my busy life.

Don’t let the pressure of having to go out to have a “fun time” prevent you from enjoying the ability to do nothing and just truly relax.

100 days to better habits

Today is the 34th day of my journey to a better me, where I challenged myself to improve by creating better habits. The reason for me challenging myself is because I would like to become a better person in the sense of productivity and the efficiency, I have learned that the only way that I my happiness lies in the type of habits I practice. Which means better me equals happier me, I am not saying that once I accomplish my goal I am done there is not even a end goal this is something that I am going to have to work on everyday progress means moving forward.

“If you’re not learning you’re dying”- Albert Einstein

this is a quote I strongly believe in because there is only one way to become wise is by learning.

Now on to my update like I mentioned at the beginning of this post today marks the 25th day of my challenge I must say that it has been challenging trying to get rid of some old self destructive habits such as procrastinating and overthinking which apparently according to my wife I seem to be an expert at.

I have worked on having a positive mentality every day, the way that I have been working on this is by starting off my day by thinking of something that I am thankful for such as being lucky enough to have my wonderful wife in my life, waking up, my puppies, my house anything to start off my day in a positive way.

in my 100 day journey I have realized that there is something else to add to my list and that is positivity I am sure that the more I get into my 100 days I will find something else that can help me become a better me.

🌞 Positivity

✏️ Creativity

🏋🏽‍♂️ Exercise

📖 knowledge

🛏 Relaxation

These are a must:

☀️ Sunlight

💧hydration

Personal Good day checklist

If you are like me I you strive to have a good day everyday, instead we start our day with the dreaded to do list that hold us back from truly doing what we want to on our days off. Unlike my everyday checklists this checklist is made to help improve my day and allow me to get a short break from everyday chores and keep me healthy.

Checklist:

Creativity-
- I enjoy doodling or painting, basically anything that involve the creation of something from a creative standpoint
Exercise
- One of my favorites forms of relaxation is exercise
Relaxation-
- Aside from exercise one of my two favorite forms of relaxation are reading and play video games
Sunlight –
- I try to make sure I get some type of exposure to sunlight it makes my mood throughout the day more pleasant
  - I take my puppy to the dog park or even just for a walk
  - Summer time is when I get the most sunlight making it my favorite season because I spend so much time outside my mood is always a pleasant and happy one.
  - Winter, even though there is not much visible sunlight during the winter, outside exposure seems to help improve my mood.
Hydration-
- HYDRATE!! The normal amount of water a person is supposed to drink per day is (1 oz water per 1 lbs) I weigh 230 lbs so I must drink 230oz one gallon of water is equal to 128 oz, but let’s face it I’m not going to drink almost two gallons of water everyday but I do make it a goal to drink one gallon per day