MY MENTAL HEALTH AT STAKE

 

My kids flying their kite.

A few mornings ago I woke up mentally stressed, slight headache, physically exhausted, and breathing heavy. But what was worse were the thoughts going through my head. Every single negative thought was racing through my mind and literally forcing through my veins. Although this I am sure is a far cry from a mental health break down, I knew if I continued along that path, eventually I would get there. 

After soul searching and praying here is what I decided to do.

1. Turn off the noise- I consume a lot of self help, or self improvement content. That over time had me telling myself that I was just not hitting the mark and need to work harder and set bigger goals. Yes thats great information, but it too has its place. Another source of noise was the news. As I read what popped up on my news feed and scrolled through social media, my anxiety level only increased. 

2. Increase entertainment- something I hardly do, but I had to find ways of giving me a belly laugh or at least send some positive hormones through my veins. 

Please share, what are the ways you destress and how do you take care of your mental health?

One Love

Danni

A REALTOR A MOM A DAUGHTER OF THE NORTHSHORE. 

WHEN FAMILY AND FRIENDS REJECT YOUR DREAM

Recently I had a conversation with my dad about years ago when I decided I wanted to migrate to the US. At the time my dad had lost his job, I had dropped out of college because I couldn't afford it, yet I had a dream of migrating and studying in the US. 

I remember my dad  applying to teachers college in Jamaica on my behalf. I was absolutely upset. Don't get me wrong, becoming a teacher is great, becoming a teacher in Jamaica is great, but that was not the vision I had for myself. I was highly offended that he felt so little of the vision I had for myself and instead was promoting the vision he had for me. The truth is, my dads vision was the easier route and the more "sensible" route. But it was not the vision I had for myself.

Why am I telling you this story? Well, because, when we begin to dream BIG UNCOMFORTABLE DREAMS and we share them with others, they try to dull it down. Its nothing personal, most times it comes from family and friends who love us and want whats best, and our big dreams scare the crap out of them. 

My advise, if you are open to it is; have big audacious dreams, set massive goals and work at them like your life depends on it. You know why? Your life does depend on it.

One Love

DANNI

A REALTOR A MOM A DAUGHTER OF THE NORTHSHORE 

THE DREAM

A few nights ago as I slept I had a very strange dream. In it a decision was being made that would have negatively impacted my family. What was even more startling was the fact that this decision was being made because of how we would have been viewed by those around us who were making the very same decision. So we chose to go with the flow instead of standing for the principles that we held as a family. Now that I look back, I cannot help but think how true to life this dream actually was. I learned two lessons from that dream.

1. Stand out among the crowd:

This was actually the secondary lesson that I learned. When I review my life's decisions the times when I lost, were the times when I chose blending in versus standing out. These moments no doubt held me back because I knew the decision I needed to make, the stand I needed to take, the dream I suppressed.

2. Finish Your Dream

That dream haunted me when I awoke in the early hours of the morning. Then I began thinking to myself, hey that's my dream. I can end it any way I want. Another life lesson. Sometimes the hand we are dealt in life seems like an impossible curse to break. Why not change the cycle? So what if your parents lived a certain life or you were raised a certain way? Ultimately the decision is ours to change the narrative of our life's story.

Let's focus only on that which allows us to find our purpose and change the story we've told ourselves to reflect the story we want to create.

One Love
Danni

A REALTOR A MOM A DAUGHTER OF THE NORTHSHORE

BECOMING STRUCTURED AND ORGANIZED

Have you ever ended your day and wonder where did the time go or even worse, what did I accomplish today? 

I am always on a quest to find a more effective and efficient way to manage my life. It dawned on me today as I dozed off in my car (I was parked), that I do need to put pen to paper more and really fine tune even the smaller details of my life.

Here are few things that have either helped me stay organized or things I am committed to working on improving.

1. Tracking my spending- My banking app allows me to track spending and also create goals. Because i swipe my card for almost everything the spending report created in the app is very detailed. It allows me to see what, where and how much I am spending monthly. 

2. Meal planning- I did this in the past but fell off track. It allowed me to get more creative in my meals, prep better, and grocery shop more efficiently. Also I must add, I have saved so much money shopping in Aldi- check them out. 

3. Activity planning with the kids- This has worked very well for other super organized moms that I converse with. Scheduling a specific day or days during the week for those miscellaneous activities such as the park or hanging out or eating out makes things flow so much better. The kids have something to look forward to and its not an activity that takes away from other important activities because it was scheduled. 

These are just three things but I would love to hear from you regarding how you stay organized and on top of things.

One Love 

Danni

A REALTOR A MOM A DAUGHTER OF THE NORTHSHORE

MAKING TIME FOR REST AND RECOVERY

 

Lately I have been extremely exhausted. With all the many things I do in addition to parenting three young children, feeling overwhelmed is always close by. Here are a few things you can do to take and enhance your rest.

1. Create a winding down routine- Having a winding down routine especially at night puts your body in the winding down state. Reading a book or journaling is a great winding down routine.

2. Shut down devices- Our devices are major distractors. They keep our brain in alert mode making it hard for us to unwind and fall asleep. I personally prefer to put away my phone at least half hour to an hour prior to bed

3. Use black out curtains- Using backout curtains will prevent light from outside for example street light from disturbing us while sleeping. 

4. For the busy parents find me time- My me time is usually when I find time to do the more creative activities that I enjoy such as blogging. Set time on your calendar for your me time, stick to it and let your family respect that time as your time to unwind. I also enjoy evening strolls on the beach

5. Go to bed at the same time every night- Our body works on routine like clock work. It is not healthy to vary the times you go to bed. I understand the weekend is a time we use to stay up late then sleep in, but that practice lessens the quality of our sleep.

Happy Resting 

One Love

Danni

A REALTOR A MOM A DAUGHTER OF THE NORTHSHORE