30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself

It's been a while...


Loved this blog so much that I wanted to share this with everyone...

great words to remember!

Self Love Program - Day #8

I am not sure if ya’ll know that I started a 30 day Self Love program.

On this 8th day of my 30 day self love program, I’d like to share my gratitude; I am grateful for having the circle of friends that I have, my great companions and who encourage me daily to Love myself. Thank you friends!!!

So get this!, I did not know loving myself would be so much fun!!. For the first time, I can honestly say that I am doing things strictly and exclusively for ME, without a ‘second agenda’, meaning, they are not because I want to impress someone else, or because I saw a dress that needs to fit me, or looks that I envy, or because I yearn for my 16 year old body back, etc.

Today, I look in the mirror and recite my affirmations, and admire how beautiful I am, how grateful I am for my health (even if I am sick at the moment), and how fortunate I am to be able to reach my goals, step by step and all within my reach, I am happy of the commitment I made to myself, of the love I share and it’s given to me, and of blissciplines that bring me security and happiness.

I feel my love is concentrated on truth and bliss. I love my curves, I love my personality, and I love the world around me, I love my family, I love my friends, I choose to feel good, I choose to stay healthy.

I give great thanks for having the power to smile and coax others to do the same….so contagious is a smile when it comes from your heart and your belly!!.

I encourage you today to write down your affirmations. To look for thoughts that bring you prosperity, love, peace, health. To practice these thoughts until they become the dominant thoughts inside you.

Namaste,
Caro

WE ARE SWELL TREES

As I said before, I like to start my blog as if we were already in the middle of a conversation....

So, in order to keep my life together I make lists, I make lists for everything!. I make lists about things to pack for a vacation, things I need to do at work, things I need to buy, lists of movies to see, of books to read, of words to learn. If I don’t have my lists I go ‘mad’! (but in case you haven’t noticed I am already mad!). I make little squares on the left side of each scribble, and then cross them out as I am done with them. They work marvelously!.

I also like acrostics. They are a pretty awesome way to remember things to do…specially with my ADD and all…

So I came up with my EVERY DAY discipline list. The things that I remember to do every day. Then I thought…why not make it an acrostic. So since I like the Ocean and I also like the Trees, and I also like words, and I can use words in different ways and different meanings, I came up with:

WE ARE SWELL TREES.

So…to remember my Every day TO DO list here it is:

Write a journal: a strong and awesome way to get to know myself. Include also my Gratitude journal.

Exercise: My body, my mind, my soul. Running, surfing, hiking, diving, laughing?, yoga, these are all included here.



Awareness: Of my surroundings, of the Sun and the Moon, people, nature, recycling, of my words, of the World.

Read: Enjoy and comprehend what I read. The brain is a muscle that needs to be used; reading is the greatest food for the brain. Me loves to read in other languages too!

Eat Healthy: My body is a temple. I must remember I only have the one given to me in this life time, can’t return it, exchange it or re-grow it. darn!



Smile: Smile because I can cry, cry because I can smile and then smile about the fact that I can do either or.

Work: My every day distraction. Enjoy it, welcome it, and be grateful I have it.

Educate my mind. Absorb good teachings, good energy, comprehend and digest what I can.

Love: Love me, love people, love nature, love life, in no particular order.

Listen to Learn something new. A big challenge for me! LISTEN to LEARN! Every day I learn something new.



Talk: That’s an easy one for me, but the challenge is to 'think' before I speak. Express myself! be grateful I have a voice! a strong voice!.

Replenish my spiritual energy: Meditate, connect with the Divine Source, with God, with Jesus, with Brahma, with Buddha, with Mohamed, with Nature… to remind myself ‘They’ are ALWAYS connected and a part of me.

Erase the Chatter: The chatter box, the negative thoughts of my mind need to stay away; it’s not easy but if I do it everyday, I just might be able to keep them down to a minimum, with them fade away illnesses and addictions.

Enjoy every moment: Do not think of the future, do not dwell on the past, enjoy the now.

Sleep Well: For the brain to function, sleep well. We have 60,000 thoughts a day (yikes!), we need a little break.


Then finally, I remember my word of the year. I picked Simplicity. I think my acrostic as long as it is. Is simple enough for me to remember and if I practice it well, I just might memorize it someday.

For now, now my lunch is over so I must go back to work.

Namaste

Philosopher's Notes

Several friends often ask why I am happy 'most of the time'. Well, I believe it is because I am surrounded by positive influences and positive energy. Speaking of great influences, about a year ago my dear friend Tim Houston gave me a gift. This gift has been one of the greatest gifts someone ever gave me! Thanks Tim!.
So if you are like me, one of those people who does not have time to read hundreds and hundreds of books on living an optimal life, and you still want guidance on how to live your life fully, I invite you to experience Brian Johnson and his Philosopher’s Notes. He has been a great influence to my life and I am forever grateful for his philosophy and the way he spreads his goodness to the world.


For more information click on these links.

http://bit.ly/h9uArf

http://bit.ly/f0pqJ9

http://bit.ly/ejOSCl

http://bit.ly/dMW4FF

For an overall, check out his intro video and check him out!
http://tv.aphilosophersnotes.com/6/a-fun-intro-to-a-philosophers-notes

Namaste,

Caro

Finding your “Life’s Purpose”

As many of you know, I love doing lots of things, but that also brings me to get lost in the ‘so many things’ and then, I have a very hard time finding one goal. Perhaps, like me, a 37 year old gal!, many of us don’t truly know what our Life’s purpose is. For me, I feel that I am on the ‘right’ path to finding that purpose but it’s not specific just yet. While I recently started my quest of ‘living in the present’, I also like ‘living for a purpose’.
By no coincidence, I found the push, the help, the knowledge, of a person extremely dear to me, a truly inspiring and wonderful being to help me find MY ‘way’.
Susan Bird, is not only a dear friend, but a multi-talented gorgeous, fantastic diving instructor and life coach —among many other things. Therefore, I invite you all to participate in the ‘Spring Manifestation’ series that Susan is putting together this New Moon, April 3, 2011. If you are interested, please visit her website at: http://wayofthewhale.com/ direct path here: http://wayofthewhale.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56&Itemid=89
Please feel free to ask me any questions about this life changing experience and about Susan.
I wish us all a wonderful week, filled with great thoughts, positive energy, happy moments, mindfulness, and Love, lots and lots of Love.
Namaste, Caro

Carpe Punctum

I believe the hardest part of starting anything in life is to start; OK I am starting right now.

I’ve often wonder what to write about. I live a small life, a small but a meaningful life. I am grateful and I spend a lot of my days contemplating the fortune and the gift of being alive. At first, I thought to be ‘kidding’ myself by thinking that I was superficially happy, that my smiles were often hiding deep pain, but after much deliberation, I realize I have absolutely no reason not to be 'happy'.

I am healthy, I have the love of my family, I have the love of my friends. The beauty of the world around me is beyond measure. Sure, there are days that are harder than others, sure, I’ve suffered pain in my life and yet I feel like my suffering was mostly because I was not able to learn to deal with pain. I believe I am learning now. I feel I am able to embrace pain and welcome it as a positive learning experience and as part of being alive.

My life’s purpose among other things is to bring joy to anyone who wants to read my blog, to inject positive energy, to share anecdotes about life and to maintain a positive flow of energy and kind vibrations throughout the universe in good and also in bad times.

So let me start my blog as if we were already in the middle of a conversation…(and yes, does this remind you of a movie?) would you remember which movie this is?

It’s a beautiful day in the City of San Francisco. I take a break from a project at work and inhale. I have a nice big window that overlooks the street downtown. I am enjoying the passing of the clouds and remembering that the two plants on my desk need watering. Their names Kimmie and Tamara. By the way, have you tried, for a change, to live in the moment? carpe punctum – seize the moment? to truly take the time to look at the items on your desk, at the coffee mug, at the water glass, at everything around you? to listen to the different noises, the smells, and open your senses to the now; this happens to be a great way for me to quiet the chatter in my brain, this seems to be the answer to many things that I will share with you...


For now, give this a try. Try. Carpe Punctum.

Useful Links

Please feel free to check out my flickr account at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolinalarotta/sets

Or if you would like to be my friend on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/worldofcaro

Finally, these are some of the websites that I find extremely wonderful and helpful to follow our passions:

http://www.oceanhealth.org/

http://www.tmmc.org/

http://www.honu.org/

http://www.sfsurfrider.org/

http://www.baue.org/

http://www.gue.com/

http://bluemarbles.org/

http://www.philosophersnotes.com/

http://wayofthewhale.com/