How to Get Over an Affair

HOW TO GET OVER AN AFFAIR

How To Get Over An Affair

Article by Camille Ditele
Photo Credit: Hailley Howard
Featuring: Siobhan Barrett
Magazine: Issue #39

Deception and lies are the worst, and when you catch your husband in an affair, the shock can be devastating. Infidelity is the cause of millions of divorces. 
But, what these numbers don’t reveal is what a betrayed wife can do to get past the trauma and rebuild her life. Here are some tips you can use to move past your husbands affair right after the “D – Day”. 

Take time off
Going away for a while helps you gain clarity, so take a few days off from work, and if possible go away for a weekend.

Surround yourself with people who love you
Ask for help and support from your parents, friends, and even your siblings. Don’t be afraid of what anyone might think; this situation is not you fault.

Learn to say “no”
You are under extreme stress; think of the rest of your life, your childrens. Prioritize your responsibilities so that you can put some of them on the back burner.

Put yourself first
Save as much as money as you can, so that you can use this account if your marriage heals or not.

Get counseling for yourself
See your own counselor in regards to your problem first. You can also visit an online support for the help that you need.

Go get tested for STDs and HIV
As scary as it seems, your health is something that is simply too important to hide from. 

Deciding to stay or go
You are not to blame for your husband’s decision to cheat. On the other hand, you must also take responsibility for your decisions

If you choose to rebuild the relationship between you and your husband, here are some things that you must do.

Beware of the “Honeymoon Stage”
At first, a sort of euphoria comes on, but it is a simple false security because the roller coaster ride often comes next. Eventually this concept can help you, but as time goes on it will depend on your husband.

Know the places your husband goes
Always make sure that you have an extra phone call or the key to his office. If he really wants to fix your marriage then he will not mind.

If you choose to let go of your marriage, you should prepare for some things that will happen.

Don’t look at your husband leaving as your life ending
It can be a beginning for you. You can do things that you never could, and a new, more confident and peaceful version of you will emerge.

It’s hard but stop yourself from wondering if he will come home
Focus on yourself (and your kids). Additionally, do things that you like to do. Just do it as long as you feel good and if you have kids, make special time to be with them. 

Using these simple tips offer you gems on trying to build a new life, as you learn to be happy. Learn to create your Newly Single Dream Life and connect with Camille at camille@dailycourage.info

The Handwritten Note is Making a Comeback

STOP & SAY THANK YOU:
THE HANDWRITTEN NOTE IS
MAKING A COMEBACK

The Handwritten Thank You Note Is Still Huge

Article by Cinthia Singleton
Photo Credit: Anum Tariq
Magazine: Issue #39

911, We are losing the art of giving thanks! Sure, we constantly post on Facebook our gratitude for everything from a sunset to a pretty cafe lunch, and yes, we thank our friends, fans and followers there too for the birthday wishes, condolences, prayers, etc. But what is happening to the simple handwritten thank YOU note? 911! It’s going to go the way of the buggy whip if we don’t fight for it!! It used to be that if someone did something nice for us or made/gave us something, even if we didn’t love it (or even like it sometimes), we sat down and wrote one. It’s what the well-heeled wolves taught their cubs from a young age: it’s good manners to acknowledge the exchange of energy with appreciation in the form of a handwritten note.

Example: Birthday party. Gifts given. Fun was had by all. That next day the thank you cards were to be written and dispatched. Seemed like a chore, but really it was a simple formula:

Dear Party Guest,
Thank you for coming to my birthday party. I had fun with you. Thank you also for the nice dolly, t-shirt, book, etc. you gave me. It will be fun to play with, wear, read, etc.
Your friend,
Birthday Boy/Girl

The dolly, t shirt, book, etc. was incidental really. Giftee didn’t need to review or critique that dolly, t shirt, book, etc., just take a moment to say thank YOU. In doing so, Gifter was shown how appreciated the gift of their time and thoughtfulness. After all, this person stepped outside themselves to show that they cared.

Somewhere along the way though, we started moving too fast and getting too technologically advanced. It became acceptable to text a 'Thanks you', or send a funny meme. The thank you note is starting to seem like an old-fashioned, inefficient hassle in the one-click world. Write a single note to that Gifter or post ‘gratitude’ to one’s 500+ friends on Facebook for receiving a gift? Many will choose the latter over the former, but that olde tyme style still melts hearts.

As the recipient of a thank you note, we:
hold that note
feel the paper
read the words
see the handwriting and feel the energy behind it
connect with someone who appreciates us

How to start:

1| Keep blank notecards or stationary around just for this purpose. There's such a vast and beautiful selection out there now.
2| Within the week you are given a gift, get the stationary out and write a simple note.
3| Unsure how to compose a thank you note? There are some great examples to be found on the interwebs but simple is best: 'Thank you so much for feeding my goldfish Sparky while I was out of town. I so appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day to make sure he was happy and cared for. You’re the best!'
4| Handwrite this this note. No typing. No computer. No email. No text. Go slow if handwriting ain’t your bag, or print, but let the human touch come forward. 

When the thank you note goes, a special societal tenderness is not far behind it. We’re seeing it already, every Friday night when Jimmy Fallon writes his thank you notes. Yes, it’s a skit meant to be funny, but the ‘notes’ he writes snark and are critical. They point a finger at something and put it under the examination lamp. Hardly a “thank you”, more like a “thank me for being so clever and funny.” 911. Stop. Step back. A thank you is a thank YOU.

As John F. Kennedy said, “We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.” So right! The moment we give of ourselves when we get is intimate. It’s quiet. It’s not time to bestow an award, nor give out report card. The hand-written thank you note is a personal document of what we treasure and hold dear; you. And when these hand-written thank you notes are gone, so is a bit of our society’s sweet soul. That is what connects us with others, not the emojis. Without it, we lose intimacy and our heart’s eye contact.

"Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."
— Marcel Proust

How to Transform Your Challenges with Crystals

HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR CHALLENGES
WITH CRYSTALS

Crystal Magic

Article by Stacy Stehle
Photo Credit: Victor of Valencia
Magazine: Issue #17

Holistic Living is about integrating all aspects of yourself together – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Ideally it is about maintaining balance and wholeness within yourself.  

As you know, life has it's challenges. Challenges are a way of helping you grow your soul by seeing them as lessons or stepping stones to move you forward. But sometimes they just feel so awful and keep us stuck at a place for longer than you'd would like. What if there was a way to transform the energy around your challenges so that you can maintain a balanced and whole state?

You can do just that through crystal magic.

It is not a coincidence that crystals are becoming more and more common in this day and age. They have been around for thousands of years and can even be dated back to ancient times for their amazing healing and transformational qualities.   

What makes crystals so magical is their ability to absorb and transmute energies. Their energy vibrations are very high. Just simply having them in your presence is enough to take your energy where ever it may be and raise it to the higher vibration of the crystals.  

As you know, challenges can pull you down and keep you at a lower energy level. It is at this lower vibration that pulls you into a state that is not balanced.  

Crystals will help raise your energy on all levels; physical, emotional, mental and spiritual to a higher state. At a higher energy state you are  balance and whole. You are aware and capable of seeing your challenges as a place of growth and instinctively move forward.   

It takes working with crystals to begin to see their magic happen. I recommend choosing a crystal that you are drawn to and begin working with it. Simply take it with you where every you go. When challenges arise, pull out your crystal, hold it in your hands and begin to breathe in the energy. Run your fingers over the crystal and connect with it while breathing and allow yourself to be taken to a higher energy state.  

Challenges do not have to disrupt your life. Allow crystal magic to transform the energies so you can easily feel balanced and whole.

Change Your Reality With the World's Most Powerful 2 Words

CHANGE YOUR REALITY WITH THE WORLD’S MOST
POWERFUL 2 WORDS

Change Your Reality

Article by Priscilla Wainwright
Photo Credit: Victor of Valencia
Magazine: Issue #17

All human life operates according to these 2 words. They control your brain and thought, both conscious and unconscious, whether you like it or not! So, these 2 words control you. They can MAKE or BREAK you: soar you to the heights or plunge you to the depths.

In the late 1800’s, the philosopher Vaihinger founded a life philosophy on these 2 words. They became the centerpiece of psychiatrist Alfred Adler’s system of Individual Psychology. Henry Ford got it right in his famous quote, “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right.”

You’ve waited long enough! Here they are: 'AS IF'. Our brains are wired according to this principle, “We always act as if what we believe is true.” Psychologist Harold Mosak said, “Life’s all fiction. Which fiction do you wish to believe?”

He’s right, you know. We all have belief systems that develop early in life that serve as filters through which we process and interpret everything we experience. Therefore, we never experience “reality” as it actually is. It becomes for us what we subconsciously make it out to be. We’re not consciously aware that we’re doing this, so we think and act that what we perceive our experience to be is the actual reality, the real truth.

Now, here’s the kicker: Whatever we have learned, we can unlearn!

You want a new reality? Change your beliefs! Doing so will give you more control over your life. You will consciously and subconsciously act in new ways that will create a new “reality” and give you different results.

Admittedly, this is easier said than done, but it is eminently doable. You start by creating new positive power statements. Write them out. Then live each moment inside those statements. Start acting “AS IF” they are true. Then you will come to believe them.

3 Steps to Staying Positive

3 STEPS TO STAYING POSITIVE

3 Steps To Staying Positive

Article by Antiqua Lisha
Photo Credit: The Luxe Travelista
Magazine: Issue #26

This past week, I was thinking about this article and then a friend I met at the social Facebooked me with this question, and I thought if they are feeling this question bubbling within them, then I bet a lot of us wonder how to stay positive, after we have been hurt. 

The question: How do you stay so positive?

How does one change their focus in life when they feel like the odds are stacked against them? 

The problem: When they feel like they would just be better being alone then with other people because they are afraid of being hurt by people like they have in the past so many times.

My answer for them and you: 

This is challenging, I know, and what I do goes against the norm when it comes to HOW I stay positive even through life and people have hurt me in the past. 

Honestly, I like many of you stayed on this marry-go-round for years looking outside myself at the situations, people and patterns that kept me (like my clients) thinking I was less than or in need of change. 

Do you know that we are all showing up for one another like mirrors? We hear what we believe and attract who we are. That is not so easy to swallow, but it is powerful to digest. 

To stay positive and change your focus, start by asking yourself powerful questions: What about the people in the past hurt you? Then turn this question around and ask yourself where are you holding a false belief about YOU being that way. Every negative situation has an equal positive it's the law of polarity. 

Once you discover the gem in the patterns, people tend to totally disappear and new people show up – and you can put these 3 steps to defining yourself into action with ease: 

1| Decide who you want to be. (Do you agree with what your past showed you, or now that you see it do you want to reinvent a new way of being.)

2| Discover new ways of being.  We don’t know what we don’t know.  If you want to be happy, then discover WHAT makes you happy and put these habits into action. 

3| Listen to or hire someone to help me reprogram my belief systems and new situations.

5 Simple Ways to Getting Back on Track

women entrepreneurs

5 SIMPLE WAYS TO GETTING BACK ON TRACK

Article by Marlo Wright  
Photo Credit: Nancy Schoenmakers

Often in business, and as the owner of the business, there are times -- those dark times we’d rather never speak about. Times that creep upon us during the quiet of the afternoon when no one else is around. Some thing wisps its way towards us and starts up meaningless and fearful conversations.

“Is this really working?” it asks, then all of a sudden fear has consumed everything about us, from the top of our heads to the bottom of our feet. It’s fight time! It’s time to pull out the big guns and swiftly kick ourselves in the pants --snap out of it. 

Of course it is working! There are employees, customers, and fans! So then why does that feeling come? Why does it seem real? Often times, our emotions are under attack, and our responsibility becomes self-preservation. Most of the time it’s a chance to learn something new.

Perhaps the feeling is coming because though you’ve had success at one level, a new level is in transition. The ground beneath doesn’t seem as sure as it once did. It is something that was desired [growth], but once the tectonic plates beneath start shifting, the jolts and sways of uncertainty can become overwhelming. 

Here are five helpful resources towards getting you back in a more stabilized state of mind and back on track:

1.    Recognize what’s going on around you.

Don’t take anything on as personal during this time. The worst thing is to take on something that doesn’t belong to you and waste precious time and energy. 

2.    Be careful what you ingest.

Garbage in, Garbage out is imperative at this time. Your mouth can be your greatest enemy if it comes into agreement with what fear is trying to convince you of. 

3.    Talk to the right people.

Sharing your business, personal or business, can be detrimental if shared with the wrong people. The last thing you need are naysayers polluting  your space. 

4.    Learn the lesson.

In every great struggle there’s and equally great revelation to learn from. Don’t be so caught up in the mechanics of what is going on that you don’t pay attention to the how to overcome it.

5.    Dig in deep.

Ultimately, no matter if you have your own cheerleading squad behind you every step of the way, they can’t do it for you. You have to dig deep within to win. You have to fight. You have to change your attitude and come out winning. 

Emotions are like waves, they will toss you to and fro if you allow them. You are a fighter, otherwise you wouldn’t be in business in the first place! You would have been content with a comfy, cushy job behind a desk, clocking in and out daily for someone else. It’s time to kick yourself in the pants because at the end of the day YOU CAN DO IT! You keep doing it, until you reach your goals!

Then you’re crazy enough to reach those, and set new ones! You are amazing and one of a kind! the world needs you to flourish! 

Up All Night? 4 Tips to Improve Your Sleep

Improve Your Sleep

UP ALL NIGHT? 4 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP

Article by Darlene Dunn
Photo credit: Carley Page Interiors
Magazine: Issue #37

You have probably heard the saying, “If you want something done, give it to a busy person." That statement probably pertains to most entrepreneurs. We go, go, go… but what happens when we run out of steam? We crash, that’s what.

Here are 4 tips to help improve your sleep:

1| I take a wonderful magnesium supplement called Natural Calm made by Natural Vitality. I just heat some water and mix 1-2 tsp and sip about 30 minutes or so before bedtime. It relaxes me and helps me turn my mind off so I can fall asleep. Be careful- don’t fill your cup to the brim because when you add the supplement, it fizzes!!! Magnesium is an essential mineral that most of us are lacking but if you are taking any medication, please check with your healthcare provider to be sure your medications do not interact with magnesium.

2| Put some lavender oil in a warm/hot bath and soak away the stresses of the day. Lavender is a natural way to relax

3| Play some quiet relaxing music. Classical, harp, instrumental. It doesn’t matter, as long as it relaxes you. I do this every night and I am usually asleep by the 3rd track.

4| Make sure your room/sleeping area is dark. If light is coming in through your windows from street lights, hang darker, light blocking curtains. If you need to, wear eye covers. Your body loves the dark when it rests. 

There are many more natural ways to relax and fall asleep. Pick one and try it, see if it is right for you. Adequate sleep is the number one way to refuel your body so you can hit the ground running and keep changing the world!!!!

5 Ways Activated Charcoal Can Help Your Self Care Regimen

Activated Charcoal for Self-Care

5 WAYS ACTIVATED CHARCOAL CAN HELP YOUR SELF-CARE REGIMEN

Article By: Heather Jadus     
Photo Credit: Dasha and Mari

If we are talking charcoal, then I am thinking of my Grandma.  She used to sketch with it and taught me how to sketch with it too!

Do you know the difference between charcoal and activated charcoal? Both are derived from carbon. Activated charcoal is much more porous than charcoal. Because of its larger surface area, activated carbon's ability to filter out more than charcoal can; is making it a better choice.

Here’s how YOU can use activated charcoal every day for both your health and beauty….

1.    Brush Your Teeth With It!

Activated charcoal helps whiten teeth while promoting good oral health by changing the pH balance in the mouth, helping prevent cavities, bad breath and gum disease.

It actually absorbing plaque and microscopic tidbits that can stain teeth and cause bad breath. This activated charcoal use is cost-effective and an all-natural solution for a bright smile.
The capsules are very easy to find.  Click HERE and you can get 100 capsules for under $10.

You can get 2-4 brushings per capsule by breaking the capsule open into a small dish. Just dip your toothbrush in and brush like normal.  The charcoal has no taste and does look a bit creepy when you see your mouth turning black but trust me it REALLY works!  My teeth have never felt so clean!  Don’t forget to use it on your tongue too!  And be careful, it can get messy and will stain your clothing/vanity etc. 

2.    It Can Prevent a Hangover! 

Yep!  You read that right!  While activated charcoal does not adsorb alcohol, it does help quickly remove other toxins from the body that contribute to poisoning. Because the charcoal is taking care of these “other” toxins the alcohol toxins can be processed through the liver quicker and more efficiently.  In addition, when activated charcoal is taken at the same time as alcohol it has been shown to significantly reduce blood alcohol concentrations.  Seriously try it! You’re welcome!

3.    Uses For The Skin

For external treatments, activated charcoal is effective at treating acne and relieving discomfort from insect bites, rashes from poison ivy or poison oak, and snake bites.

To treat acne, mix one capsule of activated charcoal with two teaspoons of aloe vera gel, and smooth over face. Let dry and rinse off completely. The activated charcoal binds with environmental toxins and dirt that contribute to acne. It’s also good for spot treatments.

After bites stings and rashes, mix one capsule of activated charcoal with ½ tablespoon of coconut oil, and dab on affected area. Reapply every 30 minutes until itching and discomfort are gone. 

The bottom line is that this stuff actually lifts toxins out of your skin!  Here is a MASK and bar of facial SOAP that I love and they work wonders!  And they are less mess than the capsules.  Win/Win. 

4.    Uses for the Body

Activated charcoal uses include helping prevent cellular damage to kidneys and liver, as well as supporting healthy adrenal glands. It’s imperative to cleanse toxins and chemicals routinely from the body. Activated charcoal benefits major organs by helping the body flush out the toxins and chemicals that cause the damage.

Aging is a natural part of life, but due to the toxic load we are exposed to through food, our homes and workplaces, and our environment, to prevent pre-mature aging we must get rid of them.

For this activated charcoal use, take two capsules per day after exposure to nonorganic foods, heavy meals or after contact to other toxins. This supports better cognitive function, a reduction in brain fog, healthier kidney and liver function, and a healthier digestive tract.

5.    Digestive Cleanse

Activated charcoal uses help promote a healthy digestive tract by removing toxins that cause allergic reactions, oxidative damage and poor immune system function. By removing the toxins from your system, you can reduce joint pain, increase energy and increase mental function.
To complete a digestive cleanse with activated charcoal, take 10 grams 90 minutes prior to each meal, for two days.  Eating clean and drinking plenty of water will make this activity that much more effective!

These are just for our skin and body.  Charcoal can do wonders for cleaning mold and toxins as well.  We are just scratching the surface with this stuff.

I hope you try at least one of these tips and let us know how it worked!

Be Informed. Be Safe. Be Healthy.

Charcoal
Charcoal is commonly used in the home. It's used in water treatment systems, reduce odors, in vacuum cleaners, for creating works of art (with Grandma), and for cooking on outdoor grills. 

Activated Charcoal
Activated charcoal, or activated carbon, has oxygen added to it to increase its porosity, thereby, adding to its surface area. It's normally used to remove chemicals, toxins, and gases. Activated carbon has proven to be more successful when it comes to removing toxins!  Yay!