Friday Glee: October 23, 2015

By: Gabriela Yareliz

This hellish little week had to be over at some point, right? I hope you accomplished everything on your list (I am very much a list person; maybe you have another way you tackle your tasks).

It’s time for some self care. If you are a woman, then maybe this means making sure your eyebrows are done, your hair is clean, maybe paint your nails a luscious fall color– I don’t know. Do whatever you do that makes you relax, and spend some time in deep reflection. I spent 60% of the week feeling like I had gotten run over by a truck. I am being honest. I feel much better now.

What have we learned this week? What brought us down? What has a “to-be-continued” sign on it?

Whatever. It’s the weekend. Don’t think too much. Just unwind. Rest. Eat something hearty. Bask in some sunshine. Listen to a good story. Be human.

Xoxo.

“I am not a ‘human doing’ but a ‘human being.’ I matter simply because I was made in the image of the unmade maker, and I am loved by Love.”

Jon Foreman

“I’m tired of people romanticizing overexertion. Exhausted is not the new chic, coffee (though a delicious necessity) is not a food group, and running on fumes is not admirable. Why do we hold pedestals for sleepless nights, breakdowns, and inner turmoil? Are those really things to aspire to? Self-care. Balance. The ability to know when your body, mind, and spirit need to take a step back. Those are things we should admire. We have to stop blurring the line between ‘commitment’ and self-endangerment because too many people are burning out before they have a chance to truly shine.”

my opinion on the way we envision hard work and the way we should live life {runningmandz} (viakvtes)

“Re-create yourselves: and let this be your best creation.”

Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

 “…the thing with October is, I think, it somehow gets in your very blood. Unapologetically. Almost ruthlessly.”

Anne Sexton, from A Self-Portrait In Letters 

The photo above reminds me of a place where pancakes are sold. Sunlight streams in; friendly people say hello to each other outside as they get out of their trucks; joy, sheer joy. And a hashbrown casserole, of course.

[Images from Tumblr]

Surprised?

I wrote this a year and a half ago, when I was still in professional school. I never published it. These feelings that were left in a draft post came back today through another experience. So, today is the day I hit the publish button. 

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Something I have always disliked is when I walk into a room and people look at me and think–oh, she is tiny, nice, cute (take your pick), and they are thinking this with the intention of taking advantage of me. They have their own little agendas. They have plans for me. Little do they know, I have plans for myself and plans for them if they cross mine.

I mean, cute is nice, but not the impression you want to give off when you are there to fight for something or persuade.

I walk in trying to behave as an adult and show I am a professional, and I get these looks as if I were wearing a Mickey Mouse ears and eating cotton candy.

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I went in to fight something the other day, and the person opposite of me had a look; it was one of those looks that says: “Ha. I am gonna put this one in my pocket and eat her alive.” I was not amused.

It was quite the adversarial process (as one could reasonably assume it would be, with an extra pinch of obnoxiousness). That day, I did my thing. I know that when I left, I left the person in a daze. I wasn’t what the person had expected.

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I found out I won my little battle.

I guess, there may not come a day when I can control how people underestimate me or what they think of me. What I can control is the impression I leave with them. I will keep surprising them.

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*mic drop*

Monday Inspiration: October 19, 2015

By: Gabriela Yareliz

It’s time for another week. It will bring its ups, downs and standstills.

Sometimes, time seems to go fast and slow and then disappear altogether. It’s cold here now; winter coats, heater drying contact lenses and ear pain. Ahhh… A taste of winter for the soul. This weekend, I had a lovely visit from a good friend, and it was nice to drink a steaming hot chocolate on the cold, windy ferry. Winter.

The cold allows us to appreciate warmth. I have a feeling the cold is here to stay, and soon our leggings and tights will be a permanent fixture in our wardrobes. A second skin, if you will.

I hope you accomplish all of your heart’s desires for this week. Stay warm.

Let’s rock.

“In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.”

Anne Frank, The Diary of Anne Frank 

“I like it when somebody gets excited about something. It’s nice.”

J.D. Salinger // The Catcher in the Rye

“I enjoy the simple things, talking deeply for hours, going on random adventures, looking at the stars, dancing to the music, living my life.”

Expherience

“You don’t find peace until you love somebody else.”

Ben Rector in his song “Note to Self”

“Who God has called you to be is the you that you’ve been wanting to be all along.”

J.S.

“To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.”

G.K. Chesterton

[Images from Tumblr]

Sunday Girl: October 18, 2015

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Figure out what it is you want and fight, fight, fight for it. Maybe, a lot of things in life are about seeing how far we are willing to go for something. There is no guarantee we will get it or even come close; and perhaps, along the journey, things will change and others become clearer. The key is to keep fighting and trying to get closer to what it is that gives you peace, hope, love and joy. And if you arrive in the most unconventional of ways, then so be it. It’s life, not a recipe, after all.

Reflections Before Bedtime #44

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Sometimes, I forget my life is just beginning. I forget that I am a perfectionist and that truly, I don’t have everything figured out, and that is okay. It’s when I remind myself of this that my breathing turns normal, and I realize my ponytail is so tight my younger self would have been proud (I had a thing for tight ponytails and tight shoes). It’s good to let your hair down at the end of the day and dream; dream of what you will work for tomorrow to hold. Don’t let others define you, complete you or set the rules for you.

Don’t look at yourself through a distorted lens; see yourself in a vision framed by hope and the perseverence that will make dreams come true.

[Image from Tumblr]

#tooreal

From Will Ferrell’s Twitter:

“There are 5 types of fear: 1) terror 2) panic 3) username or password is incorrect 4) we need to talk 5) 14 missed calls from mom”

From Camila Cabello’s Twitter:

“again, apologies to that girl who touched my leg in the front row. i didn’t shave yesterday. or the day before. winter is coming. love you.”

From Chrissy Teigen’s Twitter:

“Ok football Sunday isn’t supposed to literally be a day. I throw a flag at this or whatever it is they do when something sucks”

Monday Inspiration: October 12, 2015

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Ready for Monday? I am not sure how I am feeling about Monday. Mondays can be pretty numbing. Anyway, here we are at another week. We are heading straight into knee-deep October. Rumor has it eggnog will soon be arriving, and maybe once Halloween passes we will have our local pharmacy back. It currently looks like a haunted house.

I met interesting people on the train this week. The other day, I met the most intriguing and friendly flight attendant. She was one of those people who seems so cool; the type of person who just leaves you in awe.

You see and meet all kinds of people and creatures in the tunnels and on these streets. I met a little dog who was dressed up in a lion costume. A fierce little pup. I have a feeling I am going to need that costume myself this week.

Sometimes, we reach interesting crossroads in our lives. We have no doubt God has taken us there, but we know it’s not the end. So, as we stop to look at our maps and figure out where we are, we also have to look up and ask for guidance and clarity to see where we are going. It’s about keeping the future goal in mind, while making the most of the present.

It’s important to remember the trip is just beginning. Some things are temporary; others are lessons; others are meant to be; and others are opportunities we need to accept or reject. GPS is searching for signal.

This week, don’t forget your lion suit. Showing up and being fierce– that is already half of the battle. Go show the jungle what royalty looks like, and I will join you along the way.

xoxo.

“She wasn’t afraid of difficulties; what frightened her was being forced to choose one particular path.

Choosing a path meant having to miss out on others. She had a whole life to live and she was always thinking that, in future, she might regret the choices she made now. ‘I’m afraid of committing myself,’ she thought to herself. She wanted to follow all possible paths and so ended up following none.”

Paulo Coelho, Brida

“We are most like beasts when we kill, most like men when we judge, most like God when we forgive.”

Unknown

By: Tim Landis

“Sometimes it feels good to take the long way home.”

Carol Rifka Brunt, Tell the Wolves I’m Home 

“The things that we love tell us what we are.”

Thomas Aquinas 

Wild is the music of the autumnal wind
Among the faded woods; but these blithe notes
Strike the deserted to the heart;

William Wordsworth, “The Excursion” 

“Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with my heart, His wounds have paid my ransom.”

How Deep the Father’s Love for Us

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.” Robert Louis Stevenson

“The heart must mend, whether it’s mending from a lost love, failed dreams, or hopes crushed. The heart must mend, and you will never know when it is done healing, you will simply find yourself much lighter than you have ever felt because finally the heart can retain beauty and joy once more.”

T.B. LaBerge 

“The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough.” Randy Pausch

[Images from Tumblr]

Reflections Before Bedtime #42

[Image from @PatriciaManfield. This photo just says, “Boss.”]

By: Gabriela Yareliz

They say a photo is worth a thousand words. It seems that these days we live off of illusions. Many times, things aren’t what they seem, and people aren’t who they project themselves to be.

We hide behind masks and large sunglasses–hoping no one will see our reality and how we feel. In relationships, we are insecure, manipulative and selfish… We sell ourselves as an image with no depth. We talk about authentic living, but we are afraid to be different.

It isn’t until we come clean about who we are; until we start living with some integrity and confronting our weaknesses– it isn’t until then that we can start growing and truly be free.

Be a boss. Be all that God made you to be.