Green Drink for May 3

Listening to: Closing Time by Semisonic

So yesterday I felt like snacking a little so I think I need more protein. Today's drink concentrates on that.

Drink:
2 handfuls of spinach
2 handfuls of chopped Kale
2 bananas
4 cups whole strawberries
4 T Rice Protein
2 T unsweetened chocolate
2 cups water
Servings: 3
Notes: Could be sweetened with Stevia or honey.

Green Drinks for May 2

Listening to: Collide by Granian

So my 30th birthday is coming up and I am trying to slim down for the pool party that I am thinking of planning. I mean, who wouldn't want to look awesome on their birthday? So green drinks are my thing right now.

I make up a full blender and drink on it all day long. I do supplement with a good breakfast and lunch. I try not to eat anything for supper.

Green Drink:
2 large handfuls of spinach
2 large handfuls of chopped kale
1/2 bunch of parsley (should have only put in 1/4 of a bunch)
3 carrots
1 pear
1 celery stalk
2" of an aloe leaf
2 T flax meal
3 -4 cups of water
Servings: 4
Notes: Grainy from the flax meal. I should try the flax oil instead of the meal. Too much parsley.

How Do You Influence Others?

The definition of influence is the ability to control or affect actions of other people or things. When I hear this, a story comes to mind of a father and son walking by a glassy lake. The father bends down and picks up a rock and skips it across the water. The son watches in awe. “Dad, how’d you do that?” he asks. So the father patiently teaches his son the art of skipping rocks.

After a while, the boy looks at the water noticing something. “Dad, there are ripples all over the water. Where did they come from?”

“They came from you,” the father says. “Every time you skip a rock it leaves little ripples in the water.”

“But,” the boy counters, “the rock didn’t sink there.”

“You’re correct: the rock sank out there. But the rock doesn’t have to sink to create those ripples. It just has to touch the water.”

“Then the rock created all those ripples,” the boy decides.

“No,” says the father as he reaches down to pick up a smooth, perfect rock. “This rock here will never create any ripples if I leave it here on the shore.” He hands the rock to his son. The boy tosses the rock, and it skips several times before disappearing. “The rock only creates those ripples because you gave it power. You created those ripples when you threw the rock and no matter where it touches the water, even for a split second, it created ripples.”

Influence is the ability to affect other people or things. We are like the boy, randomly tossing out ideas, randomly doing an action, and not noticing the ripples those ideas and actions are creating. But also our ideas and actions, alone, don’t make ripples if we just keep them in our mind. When we toss out words, kind or otherwise, we affect others. We even affect people who the words were not intended for.

Influence is the largest aspect of leadership. If you took only one concept of leadership through your life, this is the one to take. You as a leader, with or without a title, influence others. Your ideas, actions, and living, affect others.

Positive Self Talk for Today

I am a strong person. I can be a complete person on my own. My friendships/relationships add to my life, but they aren't my life.I am learning to be a healthy and whole person and I am working on having healthy relationships with others.
Time is my friend.

Dare to be empty?

Dare to be empty. Dare to let go. Dare to believe.--Elisabeth L.
Dare to be empty. This quote challenges me. Being empty is not what I intuitively want. It is what I struggle to not be. I try to fill my days with work, my evenings with friends, my weekends with activities, and my life with, well life. Being empty seems wrong to me. Why would I dare to be empty?
Dare to let go make sense. I hold onto people, the past and my job, things that are familiar. I hold on to what I know. So I can daring to let go. I can start looking forward to the future. I know I will be OK. I am strong enough to face whatever today or tomorrow brings.
Dare to believe may seem simple but if I ask myself why I haven't let go its because I don't believe. I don't believe in myself, other people or the unknown future. I want to know the end of the movie so that I can know the right thing to do today. I feel like I'm not ready for things, to let go, to be empty. Maybe it is that I don't believe that I'll be OK if I am empty.
So today, I will continue my process of trusting myself, believing in myself, letting go of things I can't control. I believe in me. I believe I am a strong person and I can face the unknown. I believe I can let go of the past. I believe I am strong enough to face the possibility of being empty. I will dare to be empty.