October Intentions.

Even though a minute ago was still July, we are already halfway the month of October and November is on its way. The air has become crispier, the nights are coming sooner and Mother Nature is now just showing off its fiery colours. Fall has always been my favourite; not only because how beautifully the world around us changes but also because of everything it represents. Fall is a season of change. A season of renewal. A season of letting go of the old and welcome the new. And I have never felt all of this like I am currently feeling this year.

“Fall. Everything about this season guides me home, signals me to settle back into myself.” – @mamaeatsplants

My life gave a 180 degrees turn during the last couple of months. When I quit my job at the end of August to accept another one that is more aligned with my interests and ambitions at the company that I have been wanting to work for ages, I was so sure a new season was approaching. Well, I was not wrong. A new one was indeed approaching, not only in terms of “real seasons of the year” but also in terms of seasons of life.

♥

It is easy to fall into the habit of running on “automatic” for routine tasks with little thought to our intentions and emotions. Everytime I experience a big change in my life, I like to just force myself to stop, breathe and take time for self-reflection and real instropection. Sometimes I really need to shift my focus and energy from goals and seemingly endless to-do lists to real simple intentions. When I do this, I become more aware of my thoughts and own feelings. Plus, I have come to realise that it can be pretty easy to get bogged down in the small day-to-day stuff and, as a result, lose sight of the things that really matter to me. For that reason, I am happy to have found that the act of setting intentions helps me to re-center myself in my own being and to reframe my thinking. It allows for a good mental review and reset, which sometimes is all we need to be at the top of our game.

Without further ado, these are my 7 intentions for this month:

1. Make time for Online Dutch classes and make a greater effort to speak Dutch.
2. Prioritise self care by taking better care of my skin.
3. Go to bed earlier during the working week in order to get at least 7 hours of sleep.
4. Get back into my Yoga practice.
5. Finish the book I am currently reading: “Autumn” by Ali Smith.
6. Make time to catch up with friends over a nice cup of coffee or tea.In order ways, to create time and space into my schedule
7. Get outside in order to appreciate Nature displaying its fiery fall colours.

… and ere are a few photos that I took to illustrate some of my above intentions! 🙂

 

 

Now, just a small reminder as this post is coming to an end: Intend for everything you wrote down to work out as it should but then let it all go and allow opportunities to come your way. When setting intentions, dettachment from the outcome may not come naturally to us but I see as fun-da-men-tal. So, all in all, live with intention, embrace the uncertainty and be happy on your own terms. ♥

 

Are you someone who usually sets intentions? Have you set any for the month of October or for the current fall season? If so, please share below. I’d love to hear what you have chosen to focus your energy and attention on! 🙂

Wish you a lovely week ahead x

Much Love,

Blissfully Grateful

 

Dear 2018, thank you so very much. Dear 2019, welcome.

Hi everyone,

Hope you all had a great start to the new year. Let me start this blog post with a quote that, from my standpoint, carries deep meaning:

“Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing we will ever do.” – Brené Brown

 

2018 was a year of countless ups and downs, many blessings in disguise, a myriad of lessons learned and, above all, tremendous growth. 2018 has taught me that all feelings are safe and that it is okay to be vulnerable. 2018 has forced me to realise that my mental blocks are what keeps me to welcome true healing. 2018 has showed me how I can benefit from being more intentional and mindful with my time; in other words, it has showed me how important it is to be present, really present. It has also showed me that I should be celebrating my small wins because they result from challenging myself, which is what ultimately keeps me going.  Even though I am still learning to take each day as it comes, I know that I am in such a better place today than I was one year ago. I am still in the process of coming to terms with myself but I am proud of my progress and of how far I have come. So, my dear 2018, I am now ready to let you go, to leave you behind and move forward onto new experiences and challenges. And as I move forward, my sweet 2018, I am leaving with you the fears and uncertaintes that have become so deeply rooted in myself that they almost fooled me to believe that they were actually somewhat me. Anyway, that does not matter anymore because I acknowledge that it is not true. I surely do not need those fears or uncertainties, which are nothing more than self-limiting beliefs, to feel secure or more like myself.  While it is true that there is still plenty of inner work to be done, it is also undeniably true that I am on the road to healing and there is no going back.

In 2018 I have started this beautiful (though not easy) journey of self-rediscovery, of re-connecting within and of finding peace within myself again. In 2018 I have fallen in love with nourishing and nurturing my body. Subsequently, I have been increasingly feeling a deep sense of connection with it and I am so happy about it. For now, my biggest intention for 2019 is to learn how to let things fall into place, to let each day unfold and to let life flow naturally. I want to learn to wait without anxiety and trust in the process of life.Thus, dear 2018, I appreciate you for all that you were and for having shown me what truly matters in life but… I am now letting you go.

Dear 2019, I welcome you with arms wide open and a grateful heart. I am ready to embrace all the unexpected changes and the newness that you will bring into my life.

♥

Much Love,

Blissfully Grateful

New month: time to set new intentions.

2017 was a year of many achievements, growth and learning. I am very happy with how everything turned out. Nevertheless, it was also a year of some mental struggles. My life went through tremendous changes and I found myself stressing and obsessing over things that do not really matter. This is because at the end of the day they do not define or reflect who I am as a person. To be more specific, I realised that I was placing way too much focus and attention on the foods that I was eating and on how much physical exercise I was doing, which just drained me out mentally and physically.  This is still a currently struggle but I now taking actions towards changing my approach and mindset. It is a work in process but I will get there.

That being said, I want this year to be the year where I regain my body, mind and soul balance. I want to reconnect with myself and achieve greater mental balance. I want to experience things for the first time. I want to travel more and explore new and beautiful places that I did not even know that existed. I want to be more compassionate, kind and love towards myself and others. All in all, I want to start appreciating life more by doing things that I truly enjoy and that are aligned with my authentic self. I want mindfulness to be present in all aspects of my life.

February is almost here and I want to take the opportunity of a new month approaching to set new intentions. They are as follows:

• Read more. I have three books that I want to finish and I will “make” the time to do so.
• Journaling more regularly. This is something that helps me hugely and that I genuinely love to do.
• Re-start my daily practice of gratitude. My boyfriend got me a lovely gratitude journal last year and I can firmly say that writing a gratitude list regularly (almost every single day) helps me to re-focus and feel grounded whenever times get tough. Practicing gratitude is something so simple, yet so mighty and beneficial.
• Travel more within the Netherlands and outside. I have two exciting trips planned and I am so looking forward to exploring more of this beautiful world of ours.
• Make yoga and meditation a habit. I have a brand new yoga mat and I am really determined to incorporate yoga in my lifestyle again as I know that I will only benefit from it. I practiced yoga for almost two years and I used to love how it made me feel. Both yoga and meditation give us piece of mind, awareness for transformation and inner strength, which are all things hugely needed in our life.
• Go to more museums. I have always loved to go to museums but I haven’t visit any for some while now. I considered going to museums as a beautiful way of getting lost in a different dimension/reality as well as an opportunity for building meaningful and personal connections, absorbing local culture and getting inspired. Plus, we can learn so much in just under an hour by simply visiting a museum.
• Let go of what I can’t control. This is perhaps the most abstract and hardest intention of my list but, surely, the one that can make the most positive impact in my life. As this is not a straightforward intention but it is one that, from my standpoint, has heightened importance, I might write a future post just to delve into it.

I think we are so used to having such a fast-paced lifestyle that we end up by focusing on getting through the days instead of on making them “worth” and fulfilling. We rush into our days headfirst without having a specific idea of what we hope to achieve and of what we want to get done. Our days are so filled with mundane distractions that I feel like if we don’t set intentions, we often end up by acting mindlessly and our life just flounders.

What do you guys thing about this? Do you also set new intentions from time to time? Let me know in the comments 🙂

 

Much Love,

Blissfully Grateful