Where faith inspires growth – and life finds its rhythm.
Author: KatSnead
God First; Family Second! I love all things coffee ☕️! I'm a business owner.. A Chronic Illness Endurer.. An advocate for living your fullest life.. & everything else in between💃🍷🏄🍴🎹🎼✈️💬. Just trying to figure out what MyShare is in this world. Looking forward to taking this journey together.
I would like to THANK YOU for allowing me to be me. Sharing the little that I know and all that I love! I acknowledge that this is, truly, for myself, but if I can leave something substantial with you for just a moment ... then I am at peace.. & I thank you for that gift. Love honestly, Laugh uncontrollably & Eat WELL .. ~ Kat
I slept so well. I forced myself to stay awake for as long as I could yesterday to make sure that my inner clock is acclimated to this time zone. I’m doing well with the schedule. It was nice for everyone to make time for me to just be during this 1st week of being here. I’ve eaten well, stayed home and am well rested. I woke up this morning and set up my yoga studio on the top patio of the house. Pranayama breathing and warrior three while watching the sun come up was my wake up call. A memory that I will forever hold dear. Spending time with my niece during my yoga practice was just an added bonus. She stayed home from school to be with me. I love it. There is something that is a little unsettling with having nothing penciled into my schedule, but very liberating at the same time. I may not have been working since January, but my time has been more consumed than ever. A little quiet time for me is much needed. My health seems to be at its peak at this very moment. I feel a sense of stillness. My purpose here was to “find myself”. I may have not attained that quiet yet, but I’m definitely open to whatever comes. You know when one goes through a traumatic experience: a move, a change in work schedule, a change with ones lifestyle .. they say, change the environment. I’m a firm believer of doing just that. Along with a backdrop change, you also have to change your attitude. Look your nemesis~ weight/heartache/change in the face and say: Say thank you, say you’re sorry and say goodbye. You are not responsible for whatever you leave behind after that. You can only be responsible for you now. What is truly valuable for your heart to thrive. This is what you are now supposed to find. The rest of my journey within begins here. I’m off to search for what will lighten my heart & soul so that I can be a better person to the world.
A day lost but a sense of excitement gained once again. Finally reached Manila and absolutely love it. Ate Doyet and Ate Vicky were kind enough to pick me up and endure the 2 hour drive home with me. I become nostalgic. Although I left the Philippines 31 years ago, I still feel a tremendous closeness and attachment to this place. I feel like I’m “home”. The bustle of the streets are different from the hustle and bustle of San Francisco/New York. Maybe it’s the excitement that I feel when thinking about seeing my family and meeting new additions to the clan. Or eating the missed foods of my culture. Iba talaga pag lutong Pinas. I have to admit though that I’m most excited to be in an environment that will help me reconnect with myself. Come back to the States anew. There is a sense of longing to be rejuvenated by the subconscious familiarity that I have been craving. The sweetness of my family and the loving feeling that I have already experienced here has been unmatched. A sense of pride of my culture of caring and amazing heritage. I’m going to put the electronics away for a bit and take this time to reconnect with my wonderful family and my city.
I’m off. Today has been a bit interesting to say the least. I woke up feeling anxious and overwhelmed with the tasks that lay ahead of me and the people that I had set out to please. Put others before thyself … ?! Maybe not. I’m devoting only an hour here; 15 minutes there; and maybe I’ll have time for a quick yoga session before I take off. UGH, no! Nothing ever goes my way. Well, I take it back … I never see His way clearly LOL. I can’t believe how every minute of the day was spoken for, but now I see that all was supposed to happen the way it was planned.
I’m now sitting on the plane; at the very beginning of the journey and I’ve had a crying toddler, a very angry man, a snoring seat mate and a medical emergency. Let’s rewind. After having to remove 25 lbs from my luggage, I was a bit frazzled. So, all I wanted to do was have a stiff drink and watch a couple of movies. My strategy for cheating jet lag was to trick my body into the schedule that I was flying into …. so yes, I was a titch worried about how I was going to stay up for the first 7 hours of the flight when my mind and body wanted it to be nytnyt time ….
ah, no worries. God was going to help me through it. I fastened my seat belt, said a little prayer and plugged myself into my tunes. As I felt my eyes drifting into sleepytime mode, the plane dipped! Yes, dipped. Holy smokes: seat belts on and fastened crazy tight. In all of my years of flying quite frequently, I was proud of not being the silly woman freaked out on the plane with every little jolt …. ah no, keeping calm was out the window (no pun intended). I was officially freaked out. The plane shook terribly for about the 10 longest minutes of my life. We finally got out of the air pockets that were jolting us, so they started serving dinner. I am usually always very thankful for any food, but I passed on cleaning my plate with this one. That was the blandest chicken kaldareta I have ever had. No worries though… it was just enough to drive me to the edge of consuming boxed wine – YAY! Feeling a bit lighter now about my experience thus far … I witness the toddler playing peekaboo with the short tempered man in front of him and grandma. hahaha .. apparently, the man didn’t volunteer to be the kids sidekick for any part of the flight. I believe that about 40 to 50 minutes have now passed and he hasn’t stopped sobbing and yelping …. finally Shags catches his attention .. I smile and wave. He hushes. ahhhhhh thank The Lord. W
AHHHHHH no …. kid continues to cry.. I lean forward to ask Lola if I may sit next to them for a second … I know what you’re thinking … and yes, I was thinking the same thing: WTH???????? what do I know about consoling a waling child. Hour 3: Sammy, is still asleep somewhat on me with his head on Shag’s and his baby bottle dangling from his loosening death grip. It was kinda sweet, but yes, now I smell like rotten milk … ha! I shift and finally make my way back to my seat. ah yes, I liked occupying my time, but Sammy sleeping was making me sleepy and I still had 4 hours to go. ok ok … movie time. hmmmm, wedding singer or the island. eh, conspiricy of course. DANG, my movie is interrupted by an announcement. WHAT???! OMG!!! They just asked for any doctor to be available to assist another passenger. The Ob/Gyn seated next to me volunteers her and I to go. What?! ?Just because I clean teeth, wear scrubs and walk around with a mouth condom, doesn’t make me quite qualified to attempt to save a life. It’s been about an hour now with half the plane in the back tending to this new attraction. Nothing like an older woman having a slight panic attack to help refresh my meek American Heart Assoc. Training. Back to our seats we go with cheers and pats on the back for checking vitals and offering a cold compress …. I’m slightly delirious so I have to do something else to occupy myself. Au revoir for now. It’s time to take my periodic stroll through the plane.
This first flight has gotten better and better with every hour …. facetious much?! Maybe just a titch … so, Captain Lou gets on the horn to advise that we are being diverted to Honolulu so that the passenger can get off and have a full medical evaluation at an actual hospital. Who knows how long we’ll be here. and no i’m not being insensitive … she was smiling when they wheeled her off lol …
OMG so I actually got some really good sleep. I can’t believe though how long this flight has been. I felt as if everytime someone asked how much longer we had only a minutes passed by. I was really happy with everyone adapting though. I was really trying to be a bit more receptive to my culture than allow the snooty Kat to come out. Breakfast was just served and I had an opportunity to watch a travel snippet. It was on Bali. UGHHHHH I’m so excited. I hope everything works out better than I had hoped. In all honesty, I’m not really sure what it is that I am expecting. Anyways … I believe that we are about to land so I should prepare. It’s so difficult to try and guess what time it is; when my clock refreshed; or how much time has lapsed between time zones. I’m excited to see Ate Doyet and for some reason have a cigarette. I’ll finish up the day as I settle into my life for the next month at Tita Baby’s. The sun is shining brightly though the selected few windows that have been raised. Can’t wait for a cocktail.
This blog has morphed along with my life. It was meant to be fulfilling for others in regards to love, life and food when I realized that it was more for myself to learn from and take something away from every experience. It finally hit me that the path to happiness is not a straight one. I wasted so much time and energy crying to myself with every curve in the road when I should have embraced every bump along the way to truly appreciate and be present in every moment.
The following is a daily journal of my life. Come walk with me as I traverse the path of finding myself. My hope is that you are open to finding what truly makes your heart happy through my shifts in direction.
Ok, Ok .. so I know that I’ve been a bit distant. This past year has been filled with obligations. Things from spending time with family and friends to being present at important functions in the lives of the people who fills my heart and forms my community. Most of the time the obligations are fun and fulfilling and I definitely want to be there. At the same time, I find myself resisting trying to meet these obligations. I started feeling exhausted, longing for nothing so much as a quiet evening at home. Of course, along with this want for myself .. comes the feeling of guilt for not meeting the expectations of others.
There’s a skill to balancing our obligations and it starts with simply becoming aware of our schedule and ourselves. My battle was really being able to listen to what my body and heart knew it was capable of fulfilling. The events in my life that occurred this past year were life changing. From the diagnosis of my illnesses to a change in my work environment; from moving out of my home into the arms of my family to watching my goddaughter grow up. Every piece of the past year changed me forever.
I learned the following: meeting our obligations to others is an important part of being human and not one to take lightly. At the same time, we cannot meet every obligation without neglecting our primary duty to take care of ourselves. We can navigate this quandary by being conscious of what we choose to do and not do and also by finding concrete ways to extend our caring when we are not able to be there in person.
Here are a couple of snapshots of my past year. To those that impacted me in every way possible, thank you for the love, thank you for the hard lessons, thank you for your understanding and thank you for playing such an important role in my life at that time.
….
So I was at Trader Joe’s this afternoon & there was this old lady that caught my eye. She had a grocery bag in each hand. As I was about to make a purchase a young woman bumped into her and kept walking. I placed my things down and walked over to them. “Aren’t you going to apologize to this woman?” I asked the young lady. She quickly and rudely answered, “For what?!” “You bumped into her.” I said. Then I asked the older lady if she was ok and if she would like me to help her to her car. She smiled and answered “Yes, that would be very nice.” At the very same time the young girl snickered “whatever” under her breath and continued walking on. I turned to the young and ignorant girl and said, “You know why it’s not “whatever”..?! I have a Mother & a Grandmother that I adore.. & 1 day this (pointing to the older lady) will be you. I hope that you will be then treated exactly as you treated this woman.. RESPECT!“ She was taken aback from the reality that I just threw in her face.. Hopefully, that created a space for understanding and compassion for others..
“Be kind to one another…”
MIND: Sunday ~ I ditched the laptop & the idea of sending out any emails to my family & friends & decided to write them a letter instead. Picked out my favorite colored pens and fitting stationary for each person & wrote away. Monday ~ Meditated. I used to do this on a daily basis and have been away from the practice for quite some time. The hectic schedule I have does not allow me to get away … but then I realized that if I don’t make time to get away and find solace in the silence of ME … my life will become hectic. Tuesday ~ Switched things around .. YAY for being ambidextrous (or attempting to be anyways). Reversing your mouse, your desk & maybe trying to write with the opposite hand helps to exercise the opposite side of the brain. Not to mention it relieves stress (mental & physical) on that side.
BODY: Sunday/Monday/Tuesday ~ I have been trying to pull double days at the gym for this week. AM Schedule: My Treadmill Work Out. This consists of a 6 minute Tabata Run; Manual Run for 1 minute; Manual Pull for 1 minute; Broad Jumps at the highest incline (15); Side Steps for 1 minute; Mountain Climbers for 1 minute; & Pikes for 1 minute. PM Schedule: Isolation Work Out. 1 day I will work my arms and back; the next, shoulders, back & abs; & the final was bottom & legs.
FUEL: Sunday ~ Braised Pork Loin with Sauteed Mushrooms & a Peach Balsamic reduction. Monday ~ Seared Salmon with Sauteed Red & Green Bell Peppers with a Mushroom rue. Tuesday ~ Paleo Steak Fajitas with Red Chard Wraps.
This all started because I came to the realization that I was falling back into the black hole of complacency. I had reached a goal that I set out to obtain and felt entitled to now “enjoy” the benefits. Well, little did I know .. or 12lbs later, that enjoying the benefits without incorporating everything that I have learned to live a better and healthier life & exercising a bit of sacrifice … would land me down the path that I desperately wanted to get off.
So now, I am going back to what I have become and where I should be … if you so choose to follow .. I’ll be glad to try and lead. Enjoy your day folks .. enjoy your life ..
Be firm and stand up for what you believe in. Never compromise your own happiness. When will we stop pleasing everyone else and put ourselves first. And I’m not saying, the selfish “please yourself” but the TRUE, I’M BEING HONEST WITH MYSELF … and it’s ok to feel this, happiness. I have fallen into the bottomless pit of self pity and not accepting me as a whole and have gone running to the acceptance of everyone else around me. Therefore, finding myself at the end of my rope.. exhausted from trying.. and sad because my efforts were not praised by those that I have given everything to. Today, I found a part of me that was fed up with myself. Why set myself up for failure? The only expectation that I should strive to fulfill is setting no expectation and being in every moment of my own life and giving that moment all of ME. Today … at this very second .. that’s it! I give ME the chance … NO, THE OPPORTUNITY to be truly happy. Enjoy your Saturday .. and everyday hereafter …..
~LAUGH as much as you breathe and LOVE as long as you live~
You know, I am not the type to tell you to suppress your feelings. I actually welcome the sharing .. or the jabber. Whatever it is that you have lingering inside .. whether it be love, irritation, pain or utter joy, share it. Voice your feelings. I think that we have spent too much time learning to “be quiet” and be “appropriate”. Well who’s to say that it is improper to honor yourself and what you feel by articulating it. Remember you are not responsible for OTHER PEOPLE’s feelings. You cannot sacrifice yourself for the sake of saving others and their own suppressed emotions. We have to retrain ourselves. Gain a new perspective on how we feel and define the reaction taking place within us. The problem with us is that we don’t know what we are feeling. Take the time to truly understand what you are going through. Define your emotions and blurt it out. Once you do this, you have to be prepared to elaborate on it though. It’s actually fairly easy. We have been doing it since we’ve learned how to talk: “I’m cold”, “I’m hungry”, “I’m hurt” so on and so forth.
“As you prepare to acknowledge your feelings aloud, gently remind yourself that being specific is an important part of exercising control. Whatever the nature of your feelings, carefully define the reaction taking place within you. If you are afraid of a situation or intimidated by an individual, try not to mince your words while giving voice and life to your anxiety. The precision with which you express yourself is indicative of your overall willingness to stare your feelings in the face without flinching”. You have the right to express YOU.
The longing and the ambiguity will soon diminish and you will feel a sense of liberation. No matter the reaction of the other individual, you have the right to express what is within and they have the right to know so that they can make a better decision about what it is they now have to face … with or without you.
~ Be free. Be honest. Be vocal .. especially with yourself.
So Here I was about to dive into my DailyOm and long and behold … what a perfect article for me. Here’s what I saw ….
November 9, 2011 Fuel that Nurtures Eating Right to Feel Better
What we eat and drink can have a powerful effect on our ability to focus, mental clarity, mood, and stress levels.
At its simplest, food is fuel. Though our preferences regarding taste and texture can vary widely, we all rely on the foods we eat for energy. Most people are aware that it is vital we consume a diverse assortment of foods if we aspire to maintain a state of physical well-being. However, the intimate connection between diet and our mental well-being is less understood. Just as the nutritional components in food power the body, so too do they power the mind. Some foods can impair cognitive functioning and sap our energy while others heighten our intellectual prowess and make us feel vigorous. What we eat and drink can have a powerful effect on our ability to focus, mental clarity, mood, and stress levels.
Food allergies, which don’t always manifest themselves in forms we recognize, can also play a significant role in the maintenance of mental health. Thus, for most of us, even a simple change in diet can have a profoundly positive impact on our lives. Taking the time to explore whether anxiety, muddled thoughts, or inexplicable tension can be linked to a food allergy or food sensitivity can empower you to treat your symptoms naturally. The benefits of a healthier, more personalized diet are often felt immediately. Sugar, saturated fats, wheat, and dairy products are frequently allergens and can stress the body. For people that are allergic, consuming them can cause imbalances in the physical self that have a negative effect on the body’s ability to nourish the brain. Water, fiber, nuts, unprocessed seeds, raw fruits and vegetables, and vegetable proteins, on the other hand, support physical and mental functioning by providing those nutrients we do need without additional substances we don’t.
A balanced, natural diet can ease mood swings, panic attacks, anxiety, and mild depression. Intellectual clarity and agility is improved when the mind receives proper nourishment. Even those individuals who are blessed with the ability to consume almost any food can benefit from a healthier and simpler diet. Since the mental and physical selves are closely bound to one another, we must feed each the foods upon which they thrive.
For more information visit dailyom.com
This article is printed from DailyOM – Inspirational thoughts for a happy, healthy and fulfilling day.
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So I have to say … because of my commitment to eating clean and truly investing the time to obtain more and more knowledge about what I prepare … this is the BEST Paleo TREAT!! I would love to share my beloved Paleo Fudgecake Recipe: 18oz Organic Vegan Chocolate Chips; 1 cup Coconut Oil; ¾ cup Agave Nectar; 2 tbsp Water; ¼ tsp Himalayan SeaSalt; 6 Eggs
Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in a double boiler. Remove from heat when the chocolate is just fully melted. Beat in the Agave, water and salt. Beat in the eggs, one by one, until completely incorporated into the mixture. I used my FAMOUS hand blender (DO NOT try to clean off the excess chocolate in the blender and lick it off … I nearly had to give my fingertip a funeral, LOL).
Grease a 9″ springform pan and dust it with cocoa powder. Surround the base of the pan (on the outside) with foil. Pour the batter into the pan. Cook in a water bath reaching halfway up the side of the cake.
Bake at 275 for 52 minutes. Cake should be set, but still look a little shiny and wet in the middle when done. Let this chill at room temperature for about an hour, then refrigerate 5 hours before removing pan siding and serving. Cut with a clean, warm knife (run the knife under hot water and dry between slices).
Now, turn up the Style and add a little Gold Dust and serve with fresh blueberries/strawberries and garnish with a fresh mint leaf.
LIVING YOUR FULLEST LIFE 