What’s something you’d love to see in the future, but know you probably won’t live to witness?
Peace.
Category: Mental Health
Do I believe in minimalism?
Do you believe in minimalism?
Yes! Yes! Yes! No clutter!
My mom and her husband love their niknaks in the house and garden, and my stepdad is a pack rat. My mom loves her collections of “things” but, my stepdads ways drive her nuts. So much so that she will no longer go to their place of business because she can’t stand the clutter.
I’ve always told my kids that having an organized, clean room sets their mind to a more focused, calm state and will also help them be more efficient throught their day and life.
I’m someone who does not like unnecessary items laying around. Everything has a place.
Treadmills are for an exercise room, chairs are made to sit on.
When I decorate I like to showcase a few of my favorite things but not too much. I want an atmosphere of cozy, classy and beachy. I want our company to feel relaxed and comfortable as well when they visit.
When there is so much happening in a space it doesn’t provide relaxation. It doesn’t separate a space from one to another. It is also a pain to clean everything.
Those pants that no longer fit, or those really cool boots we wore in high school. Time too say goodbye. Oh and the doileys everywhere under everything…..Bathrooms come with cabinets to put items away.
There are so many benefits to being a minimalist, less to clean, easier to find things, organized mind, emotional balance, and appreciation for what you have or what your holding onto.
Remember, less is more.
A moment in my life that felt like a movie..
What’s a moment in your life that felt like it was straight out of a movie?
My life movie moment would have to be the first day I met my husband.
We met in a parking lot of Tim Hortons, suppose to have coffee, this was a blind date, instead he asked if I’d rather go for a walk because of the beautiful day it was. May 25th 2006.
I agreed and followed him to a park called Fairy Lake located in Newmarket, Ontario. Its beautifully lined with trees with a paved walking, biking trail, and a lake surrounding the lush gardens and trees. It was my first time going there and I fell in love with not only the park but this man who brought me here, as we walked and talked about ourselves and got to know each other it felt magical.
He knew what to do, what to say, where to go to impress a lady. I was swept off my feet that day. His demeanor and what he stood for was so attractive right off the bat. Oh, and he was/is very attractive. It was easy and I felt very calm with him. He treated me like a lady and has been for the last 20 years. Nothing has changed. He is still the man I fell in love with at Fairy Lake in 2006.
That day was definitely a Hallmark moment of my life.
I went on a walk and this caught my eye…
Go on a walk today and share a photo of something that catches your eye.
One of my favorite things to do is go for a walk with oir golden retriever, Gracie.
We have an area behind our house that we go to so she can go through the path and quickly get to the big area of sand so she can do her sand dance.
I enjoy going in the early spring and looking at what old man Winter has left behind when the snow and ice has melted. How the landscape has changed. There was a lot of water this year which flooded quite a few areas. As I stood and stared at one area Gracie does her territorial sniff, I couldn’t believe how much water and swamp like area that once was lush with trees and grasses, natural ground. It was devastated. Broken limbs dangling from trees, trees uprooted and fallen from the water level and being saturated. But I also saw beauty in the devastation. Mother nature doing her job. Taking out the weak. Changing the landscape. Making room for something new.
Sometimes we have to look beyond the mess to see the beauty.
How I handle fear and self doubt.
How do you handle fear and self-doubt?
Fear and self doubt mixed with self sabotage, the intrusive thoughts. We all have it. Some, worse than others, and some just excel in everything they do and have managed to keep those thoughts and feelings at bay and push through.
Having those feelings can be much more complex from an abusive childhood, being bullied in school and/or work, or have been rejected more times than accepted.
As I’ve gotten older I’m not as timid or shy but that doesn’t mean I have no fear or self doubt. I’ve struggled many times in my 55 years but I’ve never given up. I’m also a procrastinator..oh gosh, yes, I am. That could be from fear and self doubt. When I first discovered fluid art I wanted to try it. I started on a small canvas and eventually wanted to try a large 36 x 48 canvas. It looked massive to me at that time. It sat against the wall for weeks. Every time I walked by I would stop and stare. Ugh, I kept thinking. Its so big. I can’t do it.
I finally decided now or never. How will I excel at art if I am scared or don’t try. I completed the piece and I liked it okay. Everyone loved it. My friends and strangers were complimenting me on how nice it was, how much talent it took to create that! I was so honored and proud. My art took off from there and the funny thing is I only like to work on large canvases now. I’m really enjoying my textured Art I’ve learned and created some nice pieces.
So the next time your mind tells you you can’t do something ask yourself who is saying that. Who says you can’t do something that excites you or helps you grow? We are here to express ourselves in whatever brings us happiness and love.
YOU are capable. YOU can do whatever you set your mind to you just have to try and try again. Quiet those voices with anticipation and determination.
Questioning my reality
What’s a moment that made you question reality?
Let’s start with aliens. Really!! Whats all the talk about UFO’s and aliens.
Is this coming to light? The news now talking about UFO’s? Are they coming?
What reality are we in now?
I’m 17 Today!
Hello fellow warriors. I hope you’re all striving to be your best selves everyday.
Every year I wake up and think of where I was on my sobriety anniversary. My stomach turns, my mind and body feels every emotion I was feeling that day.
I was terrified of what I might have lost. What I was doing with my life and my children.The thing is I was not a daily drinker, I might have had a drink before dinner, but I knew once I started I didn’t want to stop. I had kids to get ready for school and I had a business to run. I couldn’t be hungover and expect to clean a house or business to perfection if I was not feeling 100%. No one can do their best after a night of binge drinking.
It was the long weekend in May of 2009. I was drinking all day with our neighbor. I don’t know what happened but I packed a suitcase and walked with my daughter and her friend to her house and decided to leave my boyfriend. I continued to drink at my daughters friends house, her mothers rum or whiskey and got on the phone with my dad in Florida and asked if he’d come pick me up in Ontario. I was leaving and I needed him to come get me. I had no regard for my son or daughter. How on earth was I even going to get them to the States. This is where my mind was at. Still trying to escape. Still running. Still drunk. My dad would have come to get me. He always did. He had arranged a friend who would drive up and pick us up. It sounded like the perfect plan. I would leave, run, run to my dad who was there for me. No plan, no reason other than, I was drinking and raging.
When it was time for me to leave where I was and return home, I was angry, ashamed, scared and so so tired. What have I done. Again. More broken promises. Another relapse.
When I walked in the door at 9am I was prepared for everything and nothing, but also prepared mindfully for my boyfriend to tell me and my kids to pack up and leave. I didn’t know where to hide, where to go, what to do. I actually grabbed a blanket and went to the high school up the street and layed on the ground right there with the traffic going by looking at this person on a hill with her blanket. I didn’t know what to do or where to go, My mind was drunk and full of hate, not for them but for me. How pathetic I had become. What an embarressment for my kids I was. Not only did their dad have an alcohol problem but now their mom too. I couldn’t be in my skin. I hated myself. I was not worthy to anyone. I wished I was dead.
I grabbed my blanket got up and walked back home. I went upstairs washed my face, went to the kitchen made a tea, grabbed my anti depressants, probably 60 tablets or so, put them all in my mouth and swallowed. I grabbed my tea and walked out the front door on my way to the hospital. The hospital was not around the corner, it was a few km from our house but I was determined and so desperate to escape, die, get help. It was time.
I stayed in the hospital for 5 days and walked through the doors of AA June 1st 2009 at 8pm. That was one of the things I had to do to start and repair my relationship with my boyfriend and kids as well as his.I couldn’t believe I was “one of them.” I fought it as I am sure we all do, we aren’t like these people, we aren’t as bad, we don’t drink like that. We are not alcoholic. We have this under control….. Until we don’t.
I fought this but continued to go, to listen and try to find some familiarity. I spoke of such with a lady in AA, she told me to stay and I would hear someone who was just like me. I did, it was I think my 6 month of sobriety and someone spoke of their journey and what do you know, she was a binger, not an everyday drinker, just a drinker who couldn’t stop at one. Just. Like. Me. There it is, there it was, in my face. I am like these people, I am alcoholic, I have become powerless over alcohol, it consumed me, it was my priority when my kids, my boyfriend, my life should have been my priority. These people were my people. We are all the same just with different stories.
AA, my boyfriend and the love for my children and step-children, and myself, got me to give up drinking. They saved my life.Today is a very special day, it is not only my 17th year alcohol free, but my husband and I met 20 years ago on this day, and married 13 years ago on this day. May 25th is a day on the calender that makes me appreciate every stepping stone I took to get me here. It’s a day of rememberance. A day of joy. A day of resiliance, strength and freedom.
I feel blessed with the entire life I have had. I do not regret anything I have lived through. I have accepted people and things the way they are and have to be. I have learned so much about myself and the reasons why I had to go through what I went through to make me a better stronger person. To teach me that we can change how our life is, we can put things in the past, we can make a choice of the kind of life we want. We stop blaming, stop the pitty party, buckle up and get straight.
My name is Kelly and I am an alcohlic, and I am okay with that. I love my life alcohol free. I love the freedom. I love the love I now have for myself. I am powerless over alcohol but now, I have the power. I have the choice. I have it all.
This is, Being Me Sober
I wrote a book!
Hello fellow warrior’s! I hope you’re all striving to be your best selves.
I was sitting here thinking to myself, I can’t believe I haven’t shared that I actually wrote a children’s story. I wrote it in 2021 and it was published in March of 2022.
If you can think back to that time when not only did we have Covid 19 almost at it’s end and countries getting back to a new normal, there was also a report on a school in Ontario, Canada, about all the indingenous children found buried on properties all over the school grounds. I was mortified and in shock that humans can actually treat others this way, especially inoccent babies, children. Their parents were told their child were missing. I am still in shock as I write this. Since then the Natives have had recognition and acceptance. They are amazingly talented people and have great Heritage. We are here to love one another and accept one another for who we are and the kindness, the helping, and the caring that we should be showing for each other.
I had to do something. It was in me to do something to help. I wanted to send a message but I didn’t know how I would do it.
Along the way in my sobriety journey I picked up a talent I never realized I had and that is Art. Painting, creating. I fell in love with it instantly. I had drawn a picture of a Flamingo one morning and as I sat and observed it, I decided to add a Bumblebee to the picture. All of a sudden the story came to me. Oh, I was excited. That’s how I could get a message out. Write a book! Write it for children so we can teach them about inclusion, diverstiy and caring and most of all acceptance. Mingo N Bumble were born!
A Flamingo and Bumblebee become friends by not being afraid to ask questions or not befriending a person because of what they look like. Flamingo and Bumblebee are 2 very different beings and I believe expressing it this way to children makes it fun while sending and sharing a message.
I am very proud of what I have written and shared with many people. I didn’t write the book to be known or for the money, I did it because I care for humanity. I did it because it’s something I can leave behind as apart of my legacy. I did it because I love you, all of you.
If you would like to check out my book you can view it on the link below…
https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000214051206
What topics I like talking about…
What topics do you like to discuss?
My husband always says I talk a lot. I would say I’m a deep conversationalist and have to tell myself to hush at times. I analyze, hold eye contact and I listen but also like to have my say.
I enjoy talking about things I am confident and knowledgeable about. I also like talking or topics about things I’m curious about.
Sobriety is a topic I could talk about all day. There are so many other topics that lay in discussions involving addiction.
Astrology is fascinating to me. I’m always curious about all the crystals and the magic they can do.
Spirituality is another topic I could sit and chat about.
Topics get people talking which in turn gets people sharing and coming together. The more we talk the more we learn.
Knowledge is Power, Power is Knowledge. KP
##togetherwewin
The Break-Up
Hello fellow warrior’s! I hope you are all striving to be your best selves.
Breaking up, ugh the pain is horrible. Its never ending. The crippling anxiety and heartache. You question everything about yourself. Was it me? 🤔 You don’t think you’re ever going to have anything good in life.
Doesn’t that sound familiar? It’s the same as removing alcohol from your life. Having to be forced to be without something is going to make you grieve. It will be the same cycle as grief.
Your going to be accepting it at first, you’ll cry, or feel sad that you can no longer have this be a part of your life anymore. Then the anger sets in, and your pissed that you can’t drink! Everyone drinks! But not everyone drinks like us warrior’s do…not good! Then you feel little sputter flutters of happiness and literal excitement. You’re starting to feel proud of yourself and physically notice a difference. Your complexion is glowing, your eyes are sparkling and that smile is back and boy, do you look good!
These emotions were what I went through very early on in my first year of removing alcohol from my life. Breaking up is an example that I can use to explain to others when they are experiencing these outbursts of emotions and have no clue why.
These emotions we go through in recovery don’t last forever. You have to know it absolutely gets better. You’ve got to push through, surrounding yourself with good support groups. Take your time with yourself and most importantly, LOVE yourself.
This is, Being Me Sober
Being Me Sober 