Self Care

Starting to realize that this has become a little bit of a motivational spot for me when I need a little pick me up. Nothing wrong with that!

Lately, I've been quite burned out. I've been balancing so many things and not doing any of them all that well because I'm spread too thin. After getting sick...then getting sick again only a few weeks later, it really hit me that I need to slow down a little.

I'm the type of person that doesn't want to say no to anything. If someone wants to go out for dinner, I'll still say yes even if I've got 50 other things I need to be doing. I feel like that's just my personality, that I need to do all and be all. Blame the perfectionist in me. haha.

I've come to realize that I'm doing everyone a disservice, but more importantly I'm doing myself a disservice by not taking care of myself. Being sick forced me to do nothing and breathe a little, and now I'm back stronger than ever. I took some time to reevaluate my life, look at my goals, and kind of determine what direction I want things to flow. I feel like I'm on a pretty good track to getting where I want to be. I'm excited for the future and all the adventures and plans I have.

In part of my self care, I've realized lately how small my circle of friends has become. It's by no means a bad thing. It's more a reminder that sometimes people don't stay in your life forever. I love the people in my life now. They motivate me to be better, they support my goals, they love me even when I'm being a cranky pants, and at the end of the day, they're reliable and will be there for me.

I think that's a big part of self care too. Whether it's people leaving your life through your decision or theirs, sometimes people aren't supposed to be around forever. Although it may hurt, it's better to let go of toxic people, or people who are inhibiting your growth. Ultimately, you owe yourself to be the best you can be, and surround yourself with the best too.

I'm getting there slowly but surely. After I finally started listening to what my friends were saying, it made so much sense. I'm slowing down, taking it all in, and letting my life be purposeful.

Hope everyone's week is wonderful. :)

It's been a while, but this is just a quick note to self , and to all of you too, that anything is possible. I stumbled on some childhood friends I had in Australia who started a catering company, went on a cooking show, and now are opening a restaurant and releasing a cook book. I'm so proud of them, but it made me think, what's stopping me?!

Sometimes we are our own worst enemy and we get stuck in the comfort and routine of everyday life. This is a reminder to push yourself, even just a little bit more, to really discover your passion and what sets your soul on fire. After you've found it, chase it and don't stop.

Hoping to get back to all my social media stuff in the next few weeks! I've been in quite a rut and I'm slowly dragging myself out of it. Stay tuned my lovelies!

What You Seek Is Seeking You.

Hello lovelies!

I'm recovering from a truly delightful weekend. For a little while I've been a  little down in the dumps, and I can say that this past weekend I just decided to push that all to the side and enjoy my life. I've been spending so long dwelling on things in the past instead of just living and moving beyond it. 

Friday night, one of my best friends and I went out for dinner. We had the yummiest pizza, did some shopping, grabbed dessert, and just walked around talking about life. It was one of those simple, easy nights that are just so wonderful!

I've been trying to  make an honest effort to spend more quality time with my family as well, so Saturday was devoted to my parents. My mom and I checked out a local farmer's market and shopped around for some good deals. We grabbed coffee and chatted, and overall just had a relaxing day. We even found time for her to show me how to make leche flan (a Filipino dessert). It was so delicious!

The afternoon was devoted to cooking with my dad and doing even more shopping. I was able to truly appreciate both of my parents and I even learned some things I had never known before. 

Sunday, I spent some quality time with my cousins and we decided to check out Downtown Disney. We were able to walk around, talk, and check out some music! It's always nice to have heart to hearts and just spend that time together. 

I feel that family is so important. I'm really blessed to have such amazing people in my life and I'm trying to kind of take an attitude of gratitude approach with things. 

I stumbled across a quote once and I think of it often:

I find that this sentiment holds true in so many instances in my life. If I'm in a sad, negative mood, I tend to find only those things around me and it continues to drag me down. When I'm seeking positive energy and light, I find that the sun is a little brighter, my dad is a little peppier, life is a whole lot better. So keep this in mind and try to give what you are wanting in return. 

The Mirror

Hello lovelies!

Not to divulge too much, but I've been thinking a lot about my relationships with people lately. Not just romantically, but my friendships, relationships with my family, coworkers, all of that jazz. Lately, I feel like I just haven't been in the best place I can be. I've been shutting people out, been very controlling, only accept perfection. In short, I've been the worst.

So I got to thinking, why are you like this Kimberly?! Why is enough never enough? And it hit me, that I've just been reflecting the impression I have of myself on others. A while back I talked about being a perfectionist and how I'm really trying my best to break that. I've taken a lot of steps in the right direction, but I feel like I still have many more to go. I'm used to everything coming easy, and this is one of those things that isn't. I have to work on it and become mentally and emotionally stronger in order to deal with it all.

So, I don't want this whole thing to be a bunch of negative stuff, so here's my list of things I'm going to do to keep myself on track with this goal:

-Seek others out, instead of waiting for them to seek me out
-Be respectful of the beliefs and feelings of others
-Find time for things that make me happy
-Accept what I can and cannot control about a situation

Radiate Positivity

Hello lovelies!

I recently watched an interesting TED Talk (yes I'm a nerd, deal with it! :P) about emotional hygiene. I won't give away the full video, in case you decide to watch it, but one point that was made was that when we're lonely, we have a tendency to feel like things are beyond our control. It's almost like we're incapacitated and can't do anything, similar to being in a state of depression. The video offered a solution, and that was to practice emotional hygiene. When you're lonely for example, acknowledge it and take the step to reach out to someone, or distract yourself, or do something you enjoy, to get out of that mood quicker. Hearing someone tell me that really helped me.

I haven't posted in a while because as of late, I've been in that negative head space. Not that life is bad or anything, on the contrary it's pretty fantastic! But I just let little things like stress, loneliness, plans not working out, etc get to me and prevent me from being my usual fun self. And it was happening for so long that I almost forgot what it was like prior to being in that cloudy, sad haze. Well it stops now! I am an amazing person. If you're reading this, I don't doubt that you are also an amazing person! Sometimes life gets us down and we need to remember we are in control of bringing ourselves back up again.

So, I'm back and I'm ready to do all the fun and amazing things I've been wanting to do. When things don't work out the way I want, I need to accept what I can't change and keep going anyway. I firmly believe that you get what you give. So I want to practice reckless optimism and I really believe I will get it right back. It's helped motivate me through so much before, and I'm going to let that positivity continue to motivate me in the future!

Hope everyone has a delightful day and you'll be seeing more of me, promise!

Just Relax.

Hello lovelies!

So yesterday I worked from home and I was just lounging on the couch working away when it hit me, why do I never just relax? A friend recently made me aware of this, the fact that I plan my days out, even the weekends, and try to accomplish my long to-do lists.

I had a list yesterday and I glanced at it and just put it away. I had things to do but I did them at my own pace. I took my time doing laundry, cleaning my room, getting ready to go out. I know this sounds so mundane, but it was quite wonderful. It's actually a solution to an issue I've been trying to work on for some time now: how to live in the moment and appreciate what's right in front of me. Without a list or plans for things to do, I was able to go from moment to moment and appreciate little things, like finding the perfect dress (which I did!) and randomly doing a Target run for random supplies, instead of trying my best to be efficient and cross of the next item on the list.

I'm not saying I'm giving up my planning ways. I feel like it's in my nature to be structured, plan, make lists, have deadlines. But I think it's more about finding that balance and allowing myself time to just go with it and not feel unproductive or unaccomplished. That's something I'm trying to undo, feeling like binge-watching Gilmore Girls (which I also did!) is unproductive.

In the long term, if you live a life without any pleasure, what do you really have at the end of the day? So for those that already know how to live life, keep it up! And for those that struggle with finding time and ways to relax, pencil it in! It's necessary and I promise you won't regret it.

Here's a list of things I enjoy:

-Reading
-Writing
-Binge watching old shows
-Watching Youtube videos
-Going for a jog
-Being a mall rat
-Going to all your favorite food places and sampling one thing
-Catching up with a friend
-Cooking a luxurious meal

Sometimes we need a little break in our routine to keep things interesting, and this one was wonderful and much needed.