gratitude

Mixing A Little Mindfulness Into Your Morning

Samantha Chagollan Learn , , , , , 2 Comments
Mixing A Little Mindfulness Into Your Morning

Back when I was working my corporate job, mornings were a hectic, spastic kind of a mess. To get up and out and take care of everything that needed to be handled before rushing out the door to sit in traffic was…madness.

I always wanted to get more organized, and maybe even bring a little calm to my mornings. But I could never figure out how to do it without making it even more time-consuming and complicated.

As I retooled my life towards a more creative path, reclaiming my mornings was one of the first priorities on my list.

Setting an intention for your day sets the tone for everything to follow; it’s no wonder you’re feeling stressed, panicked and exhausted if that’s how you’re starting off every morning.

Flip that dynamic around—I dare you to just try it for a week and see if it makes a difference in your sanity.

Here are a few simple things I do every morning to bring a little more awareness, calm, and mindfulness to my day. And by the way you guys, this actually doesn’t take any more time than my hectic morning routine did. Read more

Give a Little Bit

Samantha Chagollan Learn , , 1 Comment

I have been fortunate to be surrounded by generous people in my life. My parents are both very generous people, as are my friends, my husband, and his family.

MandyBut I don’t think I really understood generosity until I got to know my mother-in-law, Mandy. She was always extremely generous to me, in all ways. She welcomed me into her family with incredible warmth and acceptance, she was always an amazing listener and advice giver, and she helped my husband and I in so many ways, emotionally and financially. She was a rock for us.

When she passed away last year, we were heartbroken and in shock. At the celebration of her life, people my husband and I had never met came up to us at the gathering and smiled and hugged us as if they had known us for years. “You’re Matt and Sam,” they would say with pride. “She told us all about you.”

And then they would tell us what a thoughtful and generous person Mandy was. “Did you know she helped me out when I really needed it?” they would ask, and then go on to tell us another tale of how Mandy had helped them out of a jam, given them a gift they could never have afforded themselves, or made a donation to a cause they cared about. Read more