A few years ago I started going to a hip hop dance class, and I loved it!

I’ve loved dancing since I was very young but had never taken any classes.

At first, I was a bit uncomfortable with all the counting and following along; although I’m very good at freestyle dancing. It was pretty awkward and confusing at first watching the teacher in the mirror!

But I hung in there the best I could :-)

It was an excellent class and a great way to get out of my comfort zone for sure.

I noticed that the nicer and easier I was with myself the quicker I was able to pick up the steps.

Sure, I’d catch myself here and there getting frustrated that I’d missed a move, but I quickly reminded myself to have fun! I mean that was the point of taking the class, to have fun!

I’m active with resistance training 3-4 times a week, but I wanted to add some upbeat fun cardio to the mix.

You’re not going to find me on the treadmill!!

Besides being super fun, dancing is excellent for your hea...

A few years ago I was spending time with a friend, and he mentioned he was becoming aware of some things as he was getting older.

He feels like everything becomes harder and more is expected of him; things just aren’t fun anymore.

I explained that he’s just very aware of the general way of how things go for most people and what they expect, but that he can choose to do things differently.

As we went about our day, I noticed that he would often smile and say hi to many people, so much so that I thought he knew most of them. Many of them smiled back, but most acted like they didn’t see him.

Towards the end of the night his face lit up, and he said hi to this lady, and she just walked on.

I asked him if he knew her, he said, nope I know very few of the people I say, "hello" too. I just told myself when I was little that I was going to smile. I see so many miserable looking people, and I don’t want to be like that!

What he said was so beautiful and reminded me that I al...

Recently I noticed as I looked around, so many books, posts, and videos focused on problems.

It’s common to overhear conversations and listen to others tell me how hard things are, like it's a badge of honor to do things the hardest way possible.

I usually look at them a little perplexed and ask them if they even noticed how many times they said things were hard in the last 10 minutes of us chatting.

Sometimes they are surprised and say that they don’t want things to be hard anymore.

When I suggest that they can change, things could be easier. Other people look at me like I’m crazy, and say, but it is hard, that’s just how life is.

But, what if it doesn't have to be that way?

There’s a big misconception that life is hard and that to actually achieve anything you need to go through some struggling, suffering, and hardships.

The more challenging the obstacles you overcome, the better.

Heck, look at all the singing and dancing shows on tv, they all have to showcase the mos...

For most people comfort is the ultimate goal in life.

We usually stick to people and situations that are safe and predictable. And if we do happen to do something out of our comfort zones it is often because we are forced to.

Most of us don’t volunteer to give public speeches, really anything that puts us in the spotlight, and how often have you finished a workout thinking that it was so uncomfortable and you never wanted to work out again?! LOL!

Are you only capable of doing what others expect from you and nothing more? Right now I’m at a place in my life where I’m allowing myself to express different aspects of who I am.

Most people that know me, or who have spoken to me for a moment would likely say I’m already very expressive.

Yes, I am; however, there’s much more to me than meets the eye!

I’ll be the first one to say that although I’m very bold, it can be uncomfortable to step out and show people other sides of myself.

Others tend to know us in a certain way and whether they mean to or not, put us into a little box.

So when we show them other skills, talents, or interests, it can rattle and trigger people a bit.

Nothing wrong with that, just good to know that may happen.

It doesn't matter what you choose to do; people will have an opinion (I encourage you to assume they are excited for you) when you finally decide to share your dreams with the world.

Please don’t let anyone, especially YOU, stop you!

You...

As we begin creating our lives more by choice, rather than by default, we may notice certain reactions from others that are uncomfortable to us.

Not everyone is going to be happy or approve of what we choose all the time, or perhaps any of the time.

We have to keep choosing for ourselves anyway.

Firstly it doesn’t matter what you do or say; you will NEVER please everyone.

So spare yourself the agony and running in endless circles of even attempting it.

Sometimes people that you thought were supportive and happy for you will suddenly make an offhanded comment that leaves you wondering what the heck happened?!

You may notice others tense up when you talk about goals or when you share any fun or exciting things in your life. It is their stuff being triggered and by you choosing to grow and expand it is inviting them to do the same.

Some people can find that invitation downright terrifying; Keep going anyway!

People can, and probably will, lie to or about you. Criticize, how ...

When you start the journey to having more awareness, self-love and acceptance it can be very exciting and freeing.

You start noticing you're feeling happier and lighter, and when you do have an off day they’re nowhere near as frequent or intense as before.

That is until you're stuck in a room full of your relatives or in-laws LOL!

We often think once we move away from family or even have our own, many things that used to bother us just simply go away.

We have our lives pretty much together; we have careers, academic accomplishments, our children, why the heck should it matter what our Uncle "Bart" thinks of us?

Well, it technically doesn't, but that doesn't stop Bart or other family members' opinions or comments from triggering the crap out of us!

So, what to do?

Well, first remember that it is entirely normal for things that people say to bother us from time to time, second take a breath and do your best to let it go and not feed into any annoying comments or actions.

The #1 way to feel SO much happier right this moment is…

STOP comparing yourself to others!

We’ve all heard the saying keeping up with the Joneses, btw that was around long before the Kardashians LOL!

Looking around at your neighbors, schoolmates, colleagues, etc. to see what’s the “in” thing, has been around for ages.

Most of us are taught to compare, compete and strive to beat or be better than others somehow. Which truly only leaves us exhausted and looking at everyone as an enemy to our happiness.

The focus and comparison to others and what they have has caused much more grief than most people are consciously aware.

It can trigger deep feelings of inadequacy, anger, blame, all kinds of fear based emotions.

In essence, when we compare ourselves to others we are saying, there’s not enough for me, there’s a finite supply of love, health, money, happiness and I have to fight others to have a little sliver of that supply.

When we realize there’s way more than enough fo...