I am in Love with Love
and Love is in love with me.
My body is in Love with the soul
and the soul is in Love with my body.
I opened my arms to Love
and Love embraced me like a lover.

Is there a better day for a new Things I Love post than Valentine’s Day?

When you hear the word love, you likely think first of romantic love – cupid, roses, sunsets, and the like. And yes, romantic love is a vital part of our existence, but love comes in so many varieties and packages.

Like the love we have for our family. The love for our parents who shelter and challenge us. The love for our siblings who pick on us endlessly but are the first to defend us if someone else tries to. The love for our grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, without whom no holiday would be complete. And the deep, selfless, limitless love for your children.

And then there is the love we have for our friends. What would we do without our friends to confide in, laugh with, cry with, and grow with? Our friends are a direct reflection of our greater selves. With them, we can be who we want to be.

And the love continues:

Love for our communities – church, school, work, support groups, etc.

Love for our culture – music, movies, theatre, books, art, etc.

Love for out pets – those crazy little balls of fur (or not) that never fail to warm our hearts and make us smile.

But the truest and greatest kind of love that I am most happy to celebrate today is love of ourselves.

Image by Bad Music Laine on Flicker

Love is more than a feeling, love is a choice.

Choosing to love oneself is the greatest and most inspiring kind of love. It will nourish and sustain you through all of life’s trials and tribulations. It will give you greater strength and security than you will ever find placing that love with someone else. And it will enable you to accept love and to love others with more freedom and abandon. Loving oneself is the greatest gift.

Too often we look to ourselves harshly and with judgement. We place our focus and emphasis on what we feel is lacking or wrong about us. But what if today, we focus solely on the things we love about ourselves? Wouldn’t that be a revelation?

So I am challenging you today – choose love over judgement.

Sit down and make a list of all the things you love about yourself. Truly focus on you, and what makes you so worthy and lovable. I am certain we can all come up with at least 10 things, but don’t limit yourself – write until you feel your list is complete, and then celebrate yourself!

• Buy yourself a flower
• Make yourself a Valentine’s Day card
• Dress up in your favorite outfit
• Cook your favorite meal and savor every bite of it
• Eat chocolate – slowly
• Pamper yourself with something you have always wanted to do
• Make a vision board celebrating YOU
• Browse your favorite store
• Smile and hold eye contact with everyone you see today
• Laugh
• Love
• Love yourself today – you are worthy!

Loving oneself is not selfish or narcissistic, it is healthy. If you love You, then you will be open to give and receive love from the world. Is there a better way to live than that?

All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.
~Leo Tolstoy

Last week I was happily munching on some watermelon while on twitter and I posted this: “Is watermelon good for me? It seems too indulgent to be healthy! Yummm…” It was meant as a lighthearted comment, but it created such a buzz of enthusiasm for watermelon I was overwhelmed. So many people responded with health info, recipe ideas and an overall love of this super-fruit. Just take a look at this great article someone sent me on the health benefits of watermelon. Good stuff.

On the 4th of July, my husband and I spent a fun and relaxing day with two other couples. After an awesome dinner we were treated to a heaping plate of watermelon. It stirred some lively conversations: Seeded vs seedless? Exactly where do the seeds go & how do you grow new watermelons if there are no seeds? How do you pick a great watermelon? What is the probability, knowing everything we now know about picking a good watermelon, that we will actually pick a great watermelon? (Two of our friends are math professors. After much computation, the answer they came up with is 40%. I chose to take their word for this). How many pieces of watermelon are too many? We had a lot of fun while we devoured that plate of watermelon and it fueled us for a great game of Taboo!

And then today I opened up the new issue of Costco Connection magazine and there it was again – Watermelon. Wally Amos (creator of The Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookie) writes an article for the Connection called Be Positive. Wally Amos is well known for being an inspirational speaker and for his positive attitude. In 2002 he wrote the Watermelon Credo, which has become the structure for many of his talks. According to Amos “it has been a guide that has helped others and me through rough times.” He shared his credo in the the Connection in the hope of helping us through these rough times, and now I would like to share it here for you:

Wally Amos’ Watermelon Credo

W – Whatever you believe creates your reality. Believe that life is a positive experience and it will be.

A – Attitude is the magic word. Your greatest asset is your attitude. Be positive regardless.

T – Together everyone achieves more. There are no limits to what we can accomplish together. I am more than I am but less than we are.

E -Enthusiasm is the wellspring of life. There is no limit to what can be accomplished with enough enthusiasm.

R – Respect yourself, as well as others. When you begin to respect yourself, your whole world changes.

M – Make commitments, not excuses. There is overwhelming power in the words “Yes I will!”

E – Everyday can be a fun day. Fun is the lubricant that keeps life moving forward. Laugh a lot.

L – Love is the answer. Whatever the question, Love is the answer. It is the greatest force in the Universe.

O – One day at a time. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. All of life happens in increments of one.

N- Never give up or become a victim. You are guaranteed to lose if you give up. Winston Churchill was right, “Never, never, never give up.” It works if you work it.

Watermelon is FUN, inspirational and a great reminder for us to always live life from our highest self. Do not allow yourself to be overwhelmed by events. Let watermelon remind you that you are larger than events. You have the power to create and change events by what you believe. – Wally Amos

Who knew watermelon could be so inspirational? The great and inspirational artist Frida Kahlo did when she painted this:

Viva la Vida

Last night I was on the verge of a flare-up. I was grumpy and frustrated and completely out of focus. Then my husband went to the kitchen and cut us up some watermelon. After chatting in the living room over our bowls of watermelon the next thing I knew I was feeling a little better. Maybe it was the health benefits of the watermelon, or maybe it was the change in my attitude. Maybe it was just coincidence, but somehow the flare-up was avoided.

After finding and reading the Watermelon Credo today, it is all seeming like more than just coincidence. I’m thinking we should all sit down with our loved ones over a bowl of watermelon tonight because T – Together everyone achieves more.

From Hillary

I am committed to provide you with support and ways to really tackle the challenges that arise in order to create more peace in your life.

But in order for me to really HELP YOU it takes your walking with me to assist YOU on YOUR Journey. And it’s easy to find your power, harness your will, enjoy freedom and feel good about it as you heal your disease when you know you are not alone!

It’s Simple – All YOU have to do is send in YOUR question and tell me what keeps YOU up at night so I can better assist you gain all your hearts desire to have more PEACE in YOUR life.

Back in 1996 when I was diagnosed with MS I turned to every book possible. All I had were pages to turn to not a person who walked in my shoes and NOW YOU have this opportunity to ask YOUR burning questions –  this one I would of pounced on!

So what are you waiting for?

http://www.AskHillaryNow.com

I have participated in two of Hillary’s calls. Each time I came away with inspiration to apply to my own quest to improve my health and wellbeing, and to one day live free of Fibromyalgia symptoms. There is a saying that goes, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” I assure you, Hillary cares, and I think it would be worth you time to listen to what she knows. I will be listening tomorrow. I hope you join me.

25/30

Hillary Rubin

Personally my journey began back in 1996 when I was working in the fashion industry for Prada in NYC and was diagnosed with MS. Like most I was upset, angry and thought my life was over. At the same time I also found yoga and now from keeping up a healthy lifestyle (left fashion), yoga and other holistic tools am living symptom & drug free. What worked for me that I also teach is to embrace the diagnosis, empower myself through taking action and enjoy the experiment process that is a constant evolution.

 

I am involved with the So Cal MS Chapter as a speaker, expert and yoga teacher. My business I am not a Mess ™ is dedicated to help others see there diagnosis as a gift, teacher and blessing. Yes – I know that takes time but I have been able to do this and have created products to help like my Yoga DVD Foundations, Free Growth Worksheets and will be starting Free Tele-seminars in March (http://www.askhillarynow.com) to answer questions regarding diagnosis, wellness and what to do with our challenges. 

 

After reading Hillary’s e-mail I took the time to review her website and read more about her philosophy. She has founded her life’s work around her mission to share how she embraced her illness, learned from what her body was telling her and is now living symptom free. I was intrigued so I signed up for her free tele-seminar on March 25th.

March 25th was a particularly bad day for me. Just two days after my lab Casey had passed and I really was not in a good frame of mind for the call. I almost did not call in, but the thing that motivated me to follow through was the hope that I would get something out of it to share on my blog and with my support group. For the first fifteen minutes I sat listening, but not really hearing what Hillary was sharing, but eventually the sound of her voice and her passion and enthusiasm sucked me. Before I knew it I had written 5 pages of notes! Here are just a few bullet points from my notes:

• What is your health worth to you?
• You are responsible for your health.
• You are more than any diagnosis.
• Love yourself in the way you want others to love you.
• Growth isn’t linear, it takes time.
• Our mind feeds our body – the subconscious is powerful.
• Shift from “I have” to “I was diagnosed.”
• Journaling gets “it” out of your body.
• Know that you are not alone.

The message Hillary shared on her call was inspiring. At the end of the hour my heart felt lighter and much of the sadness had left me. Within minutes I began writing my tribute post to Casey and my grief began to leave me. I felt blessed for the time I had with her instead of a sense of loss. Now I am feeling inspired to apply Hillary’s message to my health. If it worked for my grief, it can work for my overall wellness. I feel like I am already on a similar path, and it is no coincidence that my path crossed with Hillary’s. 

Yesterday I received another e-mail from Hillary offering a free MP3 of the tele-seminar. I have not listened to it again, but I plan to. And I wanted to offer the link to any of you who feel you can benefit from her message. I think everyone can, so here is the link: Ask Hillary Now

It is an hour long, so make yourself a cup of tea, grab a notepad and get comfy. I promise it will be worth your time. She has another call coming up on April 29th if you would like to sign up for it. Just click the link in her above e-mail. If you do listen to the MP3 I would love to know what you think. If you do not find your blessing there today, I hope you find it somewhere!