better

27 BETTER RESOLUTIONS THAN GOING TO THE GYM

December 30, 2015

I always do a nice resolve to "love yourself this year" post around New Years. Click here to read my post from 2013, click here to read my post from 2014, and click here to read my post from 2015. I just feel like giving yourself a resolution is a reason to push your real problems deeper down. Health may be a deeper problem, and, in that case, seek a dietician or personal trainer. I think going to the gym is great, and is something we shouldn't have to resolve our selves to do. You can give yourself a resolution to be happier, but have the reason behind that be because you love yourself and your body, and want to be healthier to live a long and happier life. But giving ourself numbers on a scale as a label, we are perpetuating a nasty cycle that begins with body shaming and ends in eating disorders. Here are 27 better resolutions than going to the gym this year:


  1. Taking yourself on weekly coffee dates.
  2. Do a good deed.
  3. Take up the hobby you've always been meaning to.
  4. Read that book you've always been meaning to.
  5. Learn that skill or computer program you've always wanted to.
  6. Have a night with your friends in a place you've never gone to.
  7. Strengthen a friendship or relationship that you feel needs more attention.
  8. If you've been meaning to mend a broken friendship or relationship, do it.
  9. Think of something you love about yourself every day.
  10. Go on day trips with your close friends, family, or significant other.
  11. If your heart is broken, take time to mend it.
  12. If your heart is empty, find someone to fill it.
  13. Take a vow to sleep in more, or go to bed earlier. 
  14. Start power napping.
  15. Take a look at your finances, and see if you have an opportunity to save more. 
  16. Hit up local flea markets or farmer's market.
  17. Practice mindful meditation.
  18. Vow to speak up for yourself more often.
  19. Be more honest with yourself.
  20. Be more honest with others.
  21. Fix up your resume or portfolio.
  22. If you need professional help in any way but are avoiding it, look into it.
  23. Count your blessings and be happy to be alive every day.
  24. Tell the people that you love in your life that you love them. 
  25. If you don't have a pet, but want one, rescue one.
  26. Redecorate a room in your living space.
  27. Do self-improvement things because you love yourself and want to learn how to love yourself even more. 




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advice

An Optimist's Mindset on Situations

July 22, 2015


Being an optimist is like being in the minority of the House of Representatives. There's less like-minded people like you, at least visibly, and it's harder for you to get people to your school of thought. However, this is a cross I am happy to bear. I believe that optimists not only see the world in a more beautiful light, however, they also live a more beautiful life. A life full of more opportunity and enjoyment. A life full of color yet in grey because we see that not everything is black and white. A life not hung up on what other see, think, do and perceive about us.

I'm not saying that optimists are perfect. We acknowledge many comforting truths such as that no one is perfect. We usually aren't hung up on people thinking about what we do, but I still catch myself being hung up on it sometimes. Being an optimist doesn't make you immune to anxiety. I haven't been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, however I can definitely feel anxiety infringing on my life sometimes. 

To me, being an optimist is like having insect eyes. Insects see the same view hundreds of different ways at the same time.


This is how I view situations. Often, people bring their problems to me and I analyze the situation and make suggestions that they admit they've never thought of. Sometimes, they adapt the suggestions, sometimes they deny it and bring up another "barrier" or problem. To me, I don't see these "barriers" as "barriers" at all. I often ask them and myself, "Why do you even think that's a problem?" I know these reasons can be deeply rooted in insecurity or something of that nature. I'm not saying I'm not insecure, because I definitely can be sometimes.

To me, being an optimist means seeing all things as neutral things (words, constructs, objects) that we just give negative or positive connotations to. Social media is a neutral tool that some people can make evil and some people can make useful. Words are neutral words we make good or bad. Genders are neutral words that we associate certain things with in society, sometimes too strictly. 


Being an optimist is simply a change in language in and out of our minds. A change in language in our minds leads to a change in mindset, which leads to a change in the way we live our lives.  The language change can be simple. Block out phrases like "it'll never happen", "it's the end of the world", and "i'm screwed". Think outside the box.

As an optimist I question everything that is "set in stone" in our society. You can call it bending the rules, having it my way, having my cake and eating it too, or whatever else you want. I call it being an optimist.

How do you describe yourself, an optimist or pessimist?
How does it affect your life?



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bliss

LIFESTYLE: 9 MISTAKES YOU'RE NOT EVEN REALIZING YOUR MAKING

June 09, 2014

Life is hectic. If my life had a soundtrack, it would be ding-ding-ding if each ding represented moving on to another activity. It's great to be productive and out and about, but if we don't realize these next nine mistake we're making, our mind and body may not be too happy with us.


1. Not reading more
Reading is time away from the phone calls and commercials and stress. It takes you away from your life and into someone else's. It's like taking a vacation without booking a flight and hotel. Even if the content has some stress or drama, you're worrying about someone else's drama, not your own. On the flip side, if it's someone's love and happiness, it goes right back to us. You may say you have no time, but just take five minutes before you go to bed. I prefer ending the night with Mad Men, but we all have our preferences. 

 2. Not saying please and thank you more often
How do you feel when you're not compensated or let alone thanked for you work? You probably feel unacknowledged and unimportant. In a rush, if someone grabs something for us or does a simple favor, we can forget the most important part of the transaction: a please or thank you. It's like shopping, the favor is what we're buying, and the please or thank you is our tender. It will make both parties feel better. 

 3. Not taking a breath
Just like that Ana Nalik song, I think we all need to just breathe. If I'm watching TV, or even typing a blog post, sometimes I just take a few large breaths. There, I just did it. With all of the things pulling us in different directions, sometimes we can find it hard to breathe. Not only do we need to physically breathe, but we need to mentally breathe. We just need to..not. Maybe for a few minutes every day, or every few days. Just not be occupied. This is the biggest challenge to me. I've been trying to watch more MTV as a form of "not"-ing. It's just time not thinking about school, money, work, family, or anything else.

 4. Not saying no more often. 
This is also my vice. As a young and ambitious millenial, I think I need every opportunity to advance me to get me to where I want to be. But I want it now. Then, I find myself putting half of myself into all of the things I'm affiliated with, when if I had only a true few I could dedicate myself more. Quality over quantity.

 5. Not saying yes more often
...aaaand on the flip side of that, theres this. I'm trying not to contradict myself here. Just because a situation may seem fishy, just do some research. See how every opportunity can help you and how you can fit it into your life. As they say, don't judge a book by it's cover. You never know what may come of it. For me, the best decisions I've made are the ones that I barely thought through.

 6. Not being more selfish
At the end of the day, we only have ourselves. Yes, we have our boyfriends, girlfriends, cats, dogs, moms, dads, teachers, cousins, etc. However as humans we are innately a tad bit self-centered. We love to help and spread our love, however if you're being spread too thin, it's not good for you. Wouldn't you rather have yourself all in one piece, than a million pieces splattered everywhere? 

 7. Not appreciating the little things
This can apply to everything... whether it's relationships, family, food, or life in general. The town you live in may not be your favorite, but think of your favorite pond to have picnics at. Think of the little freckle above his chin that is oh so cute. The things that make us the happiest don't have to have a shiny price tag.

 8. Not being outside more often
I'm an outdoorsy kinda gal. If you're not, that's fine. But just being in nature, especially on a nice day, can be to therapeutic. Taking yourself or a dog for a walk, even if you have no specific place to go, can really help. No wonder the walkers on the street always smile at you.
9. Not letting ourselves indulge
Yes, I love being healthy and this is a healthy lifestyle blog, but if we don't feed our soul... we may lose ours. To a point of moderation, of course, if we see our favorite type of pizza or cronut or pie, go for it. Stop punishing yourself!
I'm not saying I'm not guilty of these either, I definitely am. We're all on this journey together. Life doesn't have to come with a guidebook. If we all made life a lot less complicated, we'd all be enlightened.


Lastly, I thought I'd start sharing some favorite products at the end of my posts. I love this stuff, and I thought it would go along with the health theme of this post. 


If you're looking for a natural way to get rid of stress, try bliss stress remover. It gives you what it's namesake is!
Get it here, and put ohaixnikay@gmail.com as a reference when you make a free account to receive cash back! 



blogging

Lifestyle: A MODEST PROPOSAL FOR NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

January 05, 2014



   pictures from weheartit.com

Happy New years my lovelies! I hope you all had a great night to end the old year and ring in the new years. I hope you all surrounded yourselves with people you love and that make you happy. That’s what we all should be doing this year, maybe we can all make that a resolution to ourselves of some sorts.
Let’s talk about resolutions and why they get bad reps. Everyone always promises a new “self” for themselves in the new year. Everyone suddenly has a new lease on life. Sure, new years is a great time for renewal. It’s that way in the calendar year as well as the church. Perhaps we’re making these resolutions to ourselves for the wrong reasons, and that’s why so many people fail. Maybe that’s why you have fight for a treadmill on Jan 1, but by Jan 30 it’s a ghost town at the gym. People make these “resolutions” so that they can be as pretty as Kendall Jenner, so that they can get the guy they’ve been fawning over, so that they can like what they see in the mirror. All of those things can be achieved with a simple change of mind, except for the Kendall Jenner part, that’s basically saying you want to be as pretty as photoshop. 
picture from instagram.com/jacvanek

I say we resolve these resolutions a little bit. I want to make two modifications to our New years tradition. It’s almost like “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, except no children will be harmed. First, those who promise themselves to shed some weight to look at it differently. You can lose weight by getting a haircut. You can only change the way your body looks by changing your lifestyle and mindset. You can set goals to drop pounds, however you can improve the results of how you look by focusing on certain body parts. Instead of saying, “I want to get rid of my fat legs,” say I want to have lean, long, and toned legs for days. Then, do workouts for your quads, calves, and inner thighs. Instead of saying “I want to loose my belly pooch,” say you want to strive for a strong core. Pilates is great for the core, your abs will be showing off in no time. Also, instead of complaining about your “fat ass” start squatting to lift that booty up! What I’m proposing is don’t become a cardio bunny - those people that stay on the elliptical for hours at the gym and don’t work any muscle groups. Yes, that gets your heart pumping and sweating is always great, but take days to focus on tightening those muscles so you can actually have the tone and fit body you want.
Another part to that proposal is to switch your mindset. We should make these new years resolutions for ourselves. You are the only person you need to impress. Yes, it feels great for friends, family, coworkers, and significant others to notice your success, however feeling proud of yourself and your success must be the best feeling out there. Saying “I DID IT!,” must warm your heart. Strive for that feeling. Once you feel that, the boy, the promotion, and the Kendall Jenner-ness will come soon after.
One final proposal is to change the name of this. “Resolution” is a fine word, however there is so much pressure attached to it. It sounds like there is no wiggle room, no room for cheat days. Our SOUL needs to be fed, too, that’s why there are cheat days. I say instead of resolutions we refer to them as promises to ourselves. “I promise to finally be happy with my body and feel fit, and therefore feel happy,” we should say instead of, “My resolution is to lose 50 pounds.” Promising yourself a better you (even though you are already amazing) is the first step to body and mind positivity and the first step to success. Resolving to yourself to lose a random amount of weight for someone who might not even notice is the first step to failure.
And now, I’ll end with my own promises and goals. It’s always important to set some goals, whether it be professionally, emotionally, creatively, socially, or spiritually as well. My promises to myself is to stop being such a living, breathing doormat and to stand up for myself more. To make myself heard and to know what I want. Basically stop teeter tottering and get my act straight. I also don’t want to plateau and keep aiming towards a fit figure.

My goals are to make deans list again for the two semesters that are in 2014 and to start making a greater profit from my blog. I want to actually see where all this blogging is taking me and if I can handle my own business someday. Let’s make things happen!

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