by Tish MacWebber | Nov 22, 2017 | Treasure Seeker Tuesdays
I did some soul searching this past week. I am looking to find a way to support myself through my creativity. It is not going to happen overnight. I am writing books, and I make beaded jewellery, and I am trying to stay focused.
I have been trying to figure out how to put all the pieces together, and to get ahead. It is an ambitious goal, to be able to support myself by living out my dreams. I am working hard but wanted to explore another what if.
I considered looking into becoming a graphic designer. I am learning so much and challenging myself. I am building a website. For a split second, I wavered. I thought about how much easier it would be for me to tackle a project like that if I learned how to do things properly. If I had the knowledge, it would be easier, and I could advance my own website and launch a career with my own website being my social proof. It would be the best way to start a career.
I thought about it. Really, really thought about it. Hard.
I came to a conclusion. I do not need to branch off in another direction. I have found my passion and the best creative outlet. I need to write. I want to keep doing beadwork, but I need to write. I have been on this journey for a year, now. I have written consistently on the Blog, and I am aiming higher. I want to be a full time writer. I need to write, it is what I am supposed to do.
It is not the easiest decision because it is not going to happen overnight. It is going to take more hard work and dedication. It will try my patience and have challenges. Building a website has already presented me with a roadblock, that I put up myself. I had to sit with it, and sleep on it, and think about it. I have plans, and they will be tackled next month. This month I am writing.
Going in a different direction now would be a disaster. I have found something that feels right to me. It is a dream I had put away for so long that I almost forgot about it. When I started this Blog a year ago, it was to see if it was something I could stick to. Often I have taken on projects and put them aside. I have not stopped writing here, in fact, I have added more to it in this category. I am doing it. Writing consistently. Posting three times a week. Building on what I started a year ago, and proving to myself that it wasn’t another hobby. This is it. My calling. I am so glad that I took a chance and started something new. I am still being contacted by people for advice on how to start their own blog. I can only offer advice and honesty in return for the inquiries. I do know that if I can do it, anybody can. It may not be something that everyone enjoys doing like I do. It may not be someone else’s passion. But it is possible. I am not an expert, but I am having fun, and I still want to keep doing this. When you find out what you are really good at, you will know. If something else catches your attention, think about it, and make a decision. I know that I need to focus on what I need to do and stop being distracted by other choices. This is something I learned in the past year. I look forward to writing and sharing more of this journey here, on the Blog, and seeing where the next year takes me. It is going to see my Blog move to my website. That is something I am not ready for today, but I have the groundwork started and will be focusing on a new launch date, to be announced before it is officially moved.
Until then, I am writing a book for NaNoWriMo, and having a lot of fun with it. Writing in the different points of view of the cats I used to have has been a real trip down memory lane. Oops, did I just let the cat out of the bag? Yes, I am writing a book about cat stories, written as if they are telling the stories. At this point, every single word is breaking a record for the most words I have written with a book as the final goal. That is something that I am holding on to, whether or not I finish the 50,000 word count goal this month. I am going to do my best to pull it off by the end of the month. I still have time. I am also thinking about my fantasy trilogy, and writing notes to myself as they pop into my brain.
I am doing what I can to chase my dreams and catch them so I can make them a reality in my life. What are you dreaming about doing? What is stopping you from trying something to help you find your passion? I am Always Thinking…so if there is something that you want to say out loud to someone, that you want to put into writing, reach out to me, and I will help you if I can. I am finding something else that surprised me about this journey. People want to reach out, and ask advice. I may not know all of the answers, but I can tell you that if you are scared to ask questions, I’m not. I will ask for you if I don’t know the answer to your questions myself. It is something that I am known for. It is how I learn. The other big lesson I learned is to never give up. Being stubborn, it is a hard thing for me to do, to give up. Sometimes, it takes distance to reevaluate the problem, and then try it from another angle. Which I am working on right now in my book writing goals and my website building project. It will happen. It may take more than one attempt, but I have faith in myself that I will succeed. If you want to do something that makes your heart sing, be realistic in your expectations, and go for it. I am, and I am so happy that I took a chance on something that makes me happy. I want the same for all of you. If I can help, I will. All you have to do is ask. 🙂
#TreasureSeekerTuesday
Treasure Seeker Tuesday: Photo by Tish MacWebber; Photo Edited by Noa Price
by Tish MacWebber | Sep 2, 2017 | Events
I recently took part in a couple of challenges. The Brand Story Challenge was the first one. The design I started this story with is the result of the week-long challenge. But if you were not following me on Facebook, you missed a lot of the work that led up to this graphic.
There is a progression, with daily “homework” to complete the challenge and be entered in the contest for prizes. If you were reading the daily prompts, then you will be very familiar with the daily public shares that I am copying into this story here. Why am I doing that? If you are wondering, it is to show the progress, and seeing them grouped together here will help understand the process and progress I accomplished by taking these challenges.
If you want to learn about how to Master Brand yourself, check out these links. For the Master Brand course, check out this website http://www.jenniferkem.com/. She teaches about #masterbrand and #paidtobeyou. If you look on Facebook, these hashtags will lead you to the right place.
I will start with the Brand Story Challenge. This may seem like a long read today, but I feel it is the best way to share this information with all of you that are reading. So grab a cup of coffee or tea and spend a little time with me as I share this journey. The end goal is to become an entrepreneur with Bling. Blog. Books. and I will be happy if you stick with me through this adventure. You can even participate in the Bling and Blog Freebies if you read to the end.
I found out about the Brand Story Challenge #BSC while scrolling through Facebook. I do not click on all of the ads I see, but sometimes I check things out. I am in 100 Coffees to enhance my networking skills with women like myself. I am in #HappyWriting because the creator, Jessica Dionne Abouelela, has been there for my journey since almost the very beginning. She helped me to change my blog from its former Newbie status to the one you see today. To be honest, she rescued me and my website and gave me a new direction for it. I did most of the work, and she was instrumental in helping me figure out how to do that. She had been encouraging me to do more research on my own Brand, and she also thought that the #BSC would be a good fit for me. I know you are reading, so thank you, Jessica.
Jessica’s current website is girlvscity, and she is going to be launching a Happy Writing project in October. If you want to join an AMAZING writing community on Facebook, then I highly recommend Happy Writing the Facebook Group that I am in. You can also check out Happy Writing Co, which is another Facebook group she has on the go. Jessica has always taken the time to answer my questions and gives solid advice.
The next 5 entries will share the five days of #BSC public posts.
I am inspired by what happens when I apply all of my creative skills and imagination to my projects. The results speak for themselves, and when I complete a project that I conceptualized entirely myself, it literally amazes me how my brain comes up with ideas that work. My passion is being creative, and the more I believe in myself and push myself, the possibilities have no limits. I will think my way through everything that I do and find success while spreading joy through my work. If I apply my talents, each success inspires me to try more new things, and I get so excited when my brain is “on fire” and I am in the zone. When your passion reveals itself, there is no comparison to the feelings of accomplishment that you get from following it.
The world needs more of Tish MacWebber’s creativity in it. I help people spread it around, with my Blog, Bling, and Lyrics.
#brandstorychallenge #day1
The moment that I decided I would help people was when I decided that I would start with helping myself. I started my blog to share my lyrics, for collaboration with musicians. I realized that writing my blog is bigger than me just writing to practice for writing my books. People are reading, commenting, and liking what I am writing about. They are watching for my regular series stories and following them. What I write about is holding me accountable, and helping me grow in my personal journey through my life. My writing is helping me gain confidence to keep writing, and to write books like I dreamed of doing. I feel good about creating, and writing is a creative outlet for me. It is something that I enjoy doing. As an avid reader, I want to write a fantasy trilogy. By writing stories from my heart and mind, I can help people escape the real world one chapter at a time, and by achieving my dreams, maybe I will inspire someone else to stop procrastinating about making their dreams a reality, and act on those dreams to make them come true. #brandstorychallenge #day2
I’m looking for 5 people who feel like their true worth is being overlooked in their real life, and love to read books that help them escape their every day and inspire them to be someone that is worth taking the time to get to know who they really are on the inside. I am also looking for people that appreciate details, that know the little things matter and can make a big impact if they are displayed in the correct fashion. Are you one of those people?
#brandstorychallenge #day3
My business Superpower is applying Tish into everything I do. Whether it shows in my creativity and thinking, my stubbornness, imagination, finding solutions, embracing my feelings and pushing through them to the other side, facing every project with an open heart, my sense of humour or my geekiness, I give my all and get’er done. When I reach that time that my brain finds the solution to what I have been thinking about, I make decisions and act on them.
My creativity thought processes and quirkiness combined with asking a million and one questions to brainstorm and learn what I need to give’er leads me to creative Tish solutions and final products that I am proud to share with the world. My business superpower is me, and my secret weapon is that I am full of surprises.
#brandstorychallenge #day4
Tish of Tish’s Treasures wants YOU to know that when you want her to create a custom order for YOU that she will listen to what your needs are, and DESIGN unique jewellery for you or someone you love to wear.
Tish MacWebber wants YOU to know that she is the real deal. She is writing her first book, and practicing her writing skills while holding herself accountable in her blog at the same time. Her writing is reaching people through her blog in 50 different countries, and she cannot wait to share her fantasy trilogy with you all. Escape your world for a little while by reading what she is up to. There will be excerpts from her first book shared when it is closer to completion.
#brandsstorychallenge#day5
ARE YOU STILL AWAKE? We are halfway through this epic long story. This can be your intermission break if you need one. Refill your coffee or tea cup, grab a snack, run to do whatever needs to be taken care of, but please do come back. Keep reading, if you made it this far, there are things to do at the end!
In between the challenges, I held a Scavenger Hunt Contest to encourage people to look up my Tish’s Treasures Facebook Page, my Tish MacWebber Author Page, and of course, to check out my blog. I made my first Facebook Live videos. I had a winner, and she now has a custom designed pair of earrings as her prize.
These are the earrings I made as the prize for my Scavenger Hunt Contest.
The second Challenge was the Grow Your Tribe Challenge, #GYTC. It took some of the work I did in #BSC and added to it while exploring different methods of growing your tribe. Here is the summary of the daily prompts for that challenge.
The solutions I provide are unique because I pour myself into everything I create, and it is my passion. As an artist; that translates to being a creator of unique designs that come from my heart and mind. As an author; my writing speaks to people through my blog already. My fantasy books will share stories that are written so well that you get sucked in, don’t want to put the book down, and the readers feel invested in the stories and the characters in my books. I want to help the readers escape their lives by reading their way into my imagination. Not everyone that reads my blog is a writer, but 6 people that I know in real life have decided to look into writing their own blogs and asked me for advice. If I can do this, you can chase your dreams and make them a reality too. You just have to decide that you are going to make them happen, and start learning and doing.
#growyourtribechallenge #day1
My Tribe is amazing because they may not all have been there since day 1, and they may not all know me in person, but they are open enough to learn, laugh, cry, and be surprised by me. They are learning what I am all about and at the same time, they are discovering how my creativity infuses positivity and it is my passion. Oh, and that it is contagious. People in my Tribe check things out, ask questions, and learn to believe in themselves, right beside me. I want to help my readers escape their lives by reading their way into my imagination. They will discover their passion, explore their own imagination, ask a million and one questions and add a little more Tish in their lives. They need it, and they don’t even know it yet unless they are already in!
Please note: There was a new “Tish-ism” created during this day’s challenge, so keep an eye out on the blog, it’s going to be a busy week there!
#growyourtribechallenge #day2
Freebies for Tribe Members!
With my free consultations, I can help you find the perfect gift for that hard to buy for person. I know for a fact that not everyone has a unique beaded design made by Tish’s Treasures, and it is my mission to share a little more of Tish with the whole world. How can I help you at the same time? I am starting up a Birthday Club for the Tish’s Treasures Tribe. There will be a survey to enter, and every month there will be a prize for one person that has their birthday that month. Bonus for everyone that has a birthday that month? $5 off coupon for your birthday month purchases with Tish’s Treasures. The Survey will be ready on Friday, September 1st, and the coupons will be good for the whole month for the September Birthday People. This will continue indefinitely, every month. Prize name will be drawn on the last day of the month, every month.
Need traffic on your blog? Guest posting is currently available with my blog.
I will be both a host for your submission on my blog, and you can also ask for me to write a guest post for yours. What do you get? Both websites get more traffic. It’s a win win!
Do you want to share a story on my blog, but are not confident in your own writing skills to write your story yourself? I can schedule a meeting or an interview with you and help you share that story. I am currently looking for contributions and submissions for my Trust Your Gut series, about issues people have with weight, no matter what those issues are.
Remember Tish MacWebber is Always Thinking…and if you need help with something I am available for brainstorming sessions. I like to help people. Two heads are better than one.
#growyourtribechallenge #day3
Part 1: I’ve decided to present my freebie Tish’s Treasure Seekers Guest Blogging as an open invitation which I will be designing before September 1, 2017, to share on my Facebook Author page. It will invite Bloggers to contact me for Guest Blogging opportunities, either for me to host your story on my blog, or for me to guest write a story for your blog. My initial goal is one or two a month, so shout out if you want to be involved. Guest Blogging is a very good way to increase your traffic to your blog website.
#growyourtribechallenge #day4
Part 2: I’m so excited to create the Tish’s Treasure Seekers Birthday Bling Club, my new freebie that’s a short survey to help people sign up for a contest during their Birthday month! One person wins a gift from Tish’s Treasures every month, and everyone gets a $5 discount for shopping with Tish’s Treasures during their birthday month that is valid for the whole month! It will be starting on September 1, 2017.
#growyourtribechallenge #day4
I am committed to streamlining the Tish MacWebber BlingBlogBooks brand, including all of you, Tish’s Treasure Seekers, because I am passionate about creativity. I want to lead by example, and this means I will be taking the dreamer inside of me and encouraging her to be the successful entrepreneur that I know she will be. I pour myself into everything I create, and it is my passion. As an artist; that translates to being a creator of unique designs that come from my heart and mind. As an author; I want to help my readers escape their lives by reading their way into my imagination. I am already proving that I can write through my blogging journey. I have already swept up people in my enthusiasm and inspired them to think outside of their comfort zone. If you’re ready to start seeking your treasures, then join me on September 1st, 2017 for the Launch of Tish’s Treasure Seekers Birthday Bling Club as well as keeping a watch for the open invitation to Tish’s Treasure Seekers Guest Blogging Series on the same day! It’s a double whammy! I am full of surprises, and when you join Tish’s Treasure Seekers, not only will I surprise you, but you may also find that you start surprising yourself!
As promised, the freebies from above are things YOU can participate in.
Please note the new website address is http://tishmacwebber.com
and…
Tish’s Treasure Seekers Birthday Bling Club Q&A
If you answer 6 questions, you can be entered too! I promised there were good reasons to read to the end!
Since I have completed the second challenge, I have launched the above freebies. I have also renamed and updated the Tish’s Treasures Facebook group. It is now Tish’s Treasure Seekers and is linked to the business page.
What is coming in the future? More fun. More interactions. More writing. More Bling. More contests. Growth doesn’t happen by itself, or overnight. So more work. I will be moving this Blog to an umbrella website for Tish MacWebber. Things are going to become even more exciting than they already are. I hope that you all join me. It’s going to be something you don’t want to miss.
Could I have made this a shorter read? Yes. I didn’t because I wanted you all to see the bigger picture with me. Congratulations for reading all the way to the end. I have to say, the bigger picture is panoramic! I love the view!
by Tish MacWebber | Sep 1, 2017 | Trust Your Gut
The names here may or may not reflect the person’s real name. If someone wants to remain unknown, we will choose a different name for that person’s story. The goal is to help people, and anonymity is a valid personal choice for contributors. I will use a person’s name only if they give permission to do so.
This week I am pleased to share another of my own stories.
Here is Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 28
Somebody asked me a question the day that made me stop and think. The question was, “Where do you get your energy?” My quick response was, “Coffee and kickass multivitamins.” But I thought about it some more and felt that the person that asked me the question deserved a better answer. I met up with him a few minutes later, and I explained that it is from following my passion. When I am being creative, it makes me push my limits and myself. I am inspired all the time, even in my sleep. If I let myself go when it comes to being creative, whether or not it is writing, there are no boundaries. I can be struck by an idea for the blog by having a conversation with my husband or a friend. It can even happen when I am working. I can wake up in the middle of the night with an idea, and when that happens, I make myself go write it down.
I wish I could harness this energy, and direct some of it towards my metabolic rate. The feelings of utter joy I have when I am making progress on one of my projects is unmatched anywhere else in my life. It is all me, from my very core, and it radiates out. It is contagious. It is visible. People can see the change in me when I am working on something that makes my heart sing!
Note: I realized after this was published, that I forgot a very important part of my answer to this question. YOU! Every time someone reads, likes, shares or comments on this blog, it adds fuel to my train of momentum. So thank you, each and every one of you for taking the time out of your busy lives to include reading my words. It means more than I can write here, in just one paragraph, and even if there was a longer place for this note, I don’t know if words can describe the feelings I have inside about every bit of growth it has from your continued support. You all amaze me.
I am starting to prepare for my challenge. It starts tomorrow. I have a long weekend. With the work I have done in the last month with the other challenges, I want to keep the momentum going. I am going to focus on making healthier choices. I am going to use the same fire and determination in my journey to be a healthier version of myself. Tonight, I am getting it out of my system. This weekend, I am going to be setting up my new routine. I will need to get organized and to do that I will need a plan. That means food, specifically meals, and snacks, drinks, testing my sugars frequently, recording all of this and how much insulin I am taking. If I am serious about this, I know I will see results. I wrote in my challenges about why I want to be an entrepreneur. Part of the answer was because I want to lead by example. I am working hard on my dreams, and one of them is becoming a healthier version of myself. I am going to start with planning the next week while I start this weekend.
I will be researching new recipes in my Trim Healthy Mama book. There are other recipes online, and there are my favourites I can mix into the meal plan. I have not made a lot of desserts because I was not certain of the sweetener ratio. I am using swerve in the powdered and granular form. THM uses their own sweeteners, and there are conversions for their blends of sweeteners. I have the chart on the inside of a cabinet door in the kitchen. I have most of the ingredients I need for making THM recipes, so I am going to expand my horizons with testing some new recipes and adding the ones I like to my rotation. I think that might be why I have not been as inspired to stay on plan. I know I need to do this.
#TrustYourGut
by Tish MacWebber | Aug 27, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
Happy Weekend to you! I am here on Sunday morning, using my AGENDA to figure out this busy day. Friday I started a new challenge. It is another five-day, free, online challenge, and since I had such a successful run at the last one I did, I signed up for the next one. The first one taught me about how to Brand myself, as an Artist and an Author. The current Challenge is about Tribe Building, and that is a logical thing for me to learn tips and tricks for, also. Both of these subjects need to be worked on, constantly, because the audience of today may be a different audience a month from now, six months from now, and onward. Not that the core audience should be changing itself, but the needs of the audience will change and refocus over time, and I need to stay relevant if I am going to level up as an artist and author.
The homework for today, Day 3 is making me hesitant to answer. It looks easy, because of launching the contest, I think I am already figuring out the next step for me. I am actually going to delay answering today until after the video for the challenge is posted. I want to be sure that my answers are well thought out because I am Always Thinking…and I need to get the most out of this challenge that I can, which means sometimes I have to think about the answer, not just slam it out onto the keyboard.
I am really inspired from taking these challenges. I ran a contest for people to check out different online projects I have on the go, and I picked a winner. Today I need to create the prize, after having a consultation with the winner, yesterday. I will be delivering the prize tomorrow, as she is someone that I work with.
Yesterday should have been an easy win for the cleaning and prep cooking. It wasn’t. I actually spent the whole day writing on the blog and working on my social media presence, as well as completing day 2 of the GYT Challenge. I made the video, and I wrote two stories for the blog, one has been published, and the other one has been written in draft format. It is waiting for approval on some links before I publish, as I want to be sure that I have gotten permission from the sources before sharing the links. (I did get permission already for the one shared here.)
You may think that it is not hard to spend the day in front of the computer. In one sense, you would be correct with that assumption. On the other hand, I am working on many things at the same time, most of the time with writing as the main event, either here, on the blog, or writing my book, elsewhere. I enjoy the social networking, and I have friends that I interact with online. I also try to share only the best, most clever tweets. I have not branched out far in the Twitterverse, but I do check in daily. It is something I am getting the hang of how to use.
If I am writing, and that is working, then yes, there is a fun factor there for me too. I really enjoy writing, and I do want to work hard at launching my trilogy to be a success. I am trying to learn as I go, and do as much of this as I can by myself. I know my limits, though, and will be in need of an editor when I have the manuscript and my initial editing completed. I will need help in different areas, but I just took a Facebook quiz, and it said that I will be a millionaire in 2019. If that is correct, I am going to be a successful published author by then. I don’t really believe that it will happen because Facebook said so, but it is something that could happen if I work hard to make it so.
Today I went to a movie with my husband. We went to see The Nut Job 2, and it was cute and funny. Full of puns! Not a lot, alright, but there were a few. Then I rushed home to put a roast in the oven for supper. Then I ran out again to help a friend buy what she needed for her store to create a new display. We were both a little off, maybe tired from being busy, so we decided to go get some iced coffee. We both had the sugar free vanilla. I really enjoyed it, and it was just what I needed to pick me up. We also sat down for a bit to have a chat. Sometimes it is good to make time to just catch up. The down side of this is that I had to turn down a visit with another friend today because I had already committed to the first friend yesterday. The timing just wasn’t working out to do everything, and I still have homework and earrings to make.
When I publish this I am going to finish making supper, watch the video for my challenge, do the homework, make the earrings, and empty the dishwasher so I can fill it up again. If I get REAL ambitious I’ll throw a chicken in the crockpot for tomorrow’s prep cooking adventures. I LOVE Roast beef sandwiches, so lunch tomorrow will be a treat! Tuesday I will need something prepared, and I am going to make Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole. Hence the need to cook the chicken, tonight or tomorrow. It is a simple recipe so it can be done in the morning. Then all I will need to do is steam the broccoli, grate some cheese, and mix the recipe together and pop it into the oven. If I get that far. Right now, I could seriously go for a nap. What does that mean? I win this weekend! I even conquered a hard avocado last night when I was making nachos for supper. It never stood a chance. What did you do this weekend?
by Tish MacWebber | Jun 1, 2017 | Trust Your Gut
The names here may or may not reflect the person’s real name. If someone wants to remain unknown, we will choose a different name for that person’s story. The goal is to help people, and anonymity is a valid personal choice for contributors. I will use a person’s name only if they give permission to do so.
This week I am pleased to share another of my own stories.
Here is Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 15
Up to now, I have been sharing my story and the stories of others with their issues regarding weight. That means if you are reading this week’s story, and have been since I started writing, you know that I am struggling. Sometimes week to week other times day to day, but it could literally be bite to bite. I wake up thinking about food. I go to bed thinking about how tired I am or am not, and this is usually related to what I ate that day. When I dream about food, it wakes me up to go test my blood sugar. If it is OK, then it was just a dream. Sometimes it is my body telling me that I need to get a glass of juice.
Today was no different than any other Wednesday. I got up, went to work, went to Zumba, and then I came home. Where I knew I had meat in the fridge, both cooked and ready to be cooked, but I could not bring myself to start making a healthy meal. I wanted the easy way out. I sent an SOS to my husband for fast food. I was tired when I got home today. Bone tired. I decided that I would nap until he arrived home.
Sometimes it is the only way to accomplish everything that you need to do, taking the easy way. But taking the easy way is not the healthy way to live. I am living proof of that. The easy way is not the path less travelled. The easy way is the way to childhood obesity and the epidemic that I happen to be a statistic of, the Type 2 Diabetes crisis that is blowing up all over the world right now. If you continually choose the easy meal, the easy snacks, the sugar, the preservatives, the chemicals and the toxins you will not live a healthy life. It isn’t possible. It’s called junk food for a reason.
What is the alternative? Hard work. If you put in the time and effort into yourself, it will pay off. It doesn’t matter if you stray from the path when life happens. What matters is that you value yourself enough to go back to the path you have chosen to follow because you strive towards living a healthier lifestyle. There are always going to be days when you are too tired to cook. I have had days where I am so tired and hungry that I can’t even decide which restaurant I want to go to. The main thing is that I don’t give up forever. I keep trying. I keep pushing myself to do better. And I keep celebrating every little success along the way.
I cannot stress the importance of planning ahead and prep cooking enough. If I had made that casserole last night, I would have had supper planned, and this helps me to make healthy choices. Sometimes I am too busy. I planned my lunch today but found I was very cold at work, so I bought soup and BBQ chips to give my circulation a little kick in the pants with some mild spices. Would I do that again tomorrow? Not unless I felt the exact same way I did today. I am usually bundled up in layers at work, but there are limits to what I am able to wear and what they will allow me to wear to stay warm at my desk. Today I was maxed out on layers, and still cold. I did what I needed to do to adapt to the day. It worked. Tomorrow may be a different story, yesterday I found it a little cold, but tolerable. Today I could not get warmed up. This is a side effect of having thyroid disease, sometimes I am cold when I should be warm.
When I am out of ideas for lunch, I plan scrambled eggs and cheese. I can cook it in the microwave, and I can eat vegetables with it. I almost made that for lunch today, but I changed my mind and made good old PB&J on sprouted bread. I am not the biggest fan of this sandwich, so I am using regular peanut butter. I bought the kind that has no sugar, which must be stored in the fridge. It was left too long and dried out. So for the few times that I make it, I am using regular peanut butter. When I decide to make something that has a need for peanut butter that is on the plan, I will buy more that is made with just peanuts and salt. I use sugar-free jam. The sprouted bread is on the plan. 2 out of 3 ain’t bad, to quote a song by Meatloaf. I ate my sandwich after Zumba class, to hold me over until the fast food was here to eat.
If you are struggling like me, then neither of us is alone. It can be a solitary journey if you are hiding behind closed doors or sneaking around to feed the monster inside. I am calling it what it is. A monster that is obsessed with food, and thrives off of sugar. It does not mean that I am a monster. It does mean that I have to fight it. The harder I fight, the smaller it will be. It will reflect on the outside what is happening on the inside. And that is where the beauty hides. The beauty that is inside all of us needs to be nurtured and loved. It will flourish and bloom if we give it the attention that it deserves. When this happens, you start to glow from the inside out, and the monster shrinks inside. Just as the monster scares your inner beauty, the glow from that inner beauty outshines the monster if we let it. As someone who loves to sparkle and shine, I am going to focus on that for the next week, and see where it takes me.
Trust Your Gut is the weekly series that I have decided to publish on Thursdays. I think it is time to give it a hashtag of its own. Help me to get the word out to other people that may need to read these stories and know that they are not alone. Help me to reach out to other people that want to help by sharing their own stories. All it takes is an idea to create something big that matters and can help people. I am starting that now.
Together we can help people, just like you and me.
#TrustYourGutThursday and #TYGT
