Coffee and Letters

February is more than just the month of love, it’s also the; Heart Health Month which makes it a great time to make sure your ticker is ticking properly.

We’ve all heard it:

Change your diet, maintain a healthy weight, be physically active, quit smoking, go for your annual check-ups.

These may seem small, and you may ask yourself if this advice can really help you improve your heart health? The answer is YES!

Making small changes in your daily routine can add up to big benefits and help you live a healthier and longer life.

In a heart health check-up, your doctor will check your risk factor for heart disease and help you minimize or manage them. Some of these factors include:

So invest in yourself this love month by making your heart health a priority.

Happy Heart Health!

If you were asked what it was that you absolutely needed to do to live a happy and fulfilled life, what will your answer be? And most importantly, why are you not doing it right now?

This question is actually what led me to start writing. Before now, I’ll always find excuses like; lack of professional training, lack of time, ability, inspiration and so on. But then while working my butt off in a low pay job and going through the monotony of everyday life, I’ll find myself frustrated with my inability to actually do what I want to do instead. Then I asked myself, why not? I mean, why can’t I just pick up my phone and write what I feel like right now? And that was exactly what I did (and what I’m still doing actually). The moment when I did that felt so satisfying that I couldn’t believe I had waited so long to give myself the freedom to just be!

I was speaking to an old acquaintance some days ago and she said; “Cynthia you are always so calm and purposeful. Amongst all of us friends, your life must be going best. I feel like I’m the least accomplished”. I laughingly responded to her that “calm is my superpower, and my facade”. Of course it wasn’t funny. I have battles I fight everyday, they just don’t appear on my face.

We had a good long conversation where I helped her take account of what she had accomplished over the years, and she parted with the realization that she had done quite well for herself. And I left with the realization that making comparisons between your life and the lives of others is dangerous for your self esteem, your happiness and your life in general. This was what she had been doing for so long that she wasn’t seeing her own accomplishments.

Unlike what she believed, my life is not all sunshine and rainbows. I struggle like everyone else with life’s lemons. And like everybody, I have to figure out how to turn my lemons into lemonade – by changing my mindset. Each day I wake up, I am grateful to God for the life I have and make a conscious effort to BE HAPPY!

Today I am determined to do my best in what I can, to smile and to laugh with the people I meet on my way. To share myself with others, and appreciate my little victories. Its not always easy, but when I remember that I don’t want to live a life without regrets or what ifs, that gives me the strength to keep going.

So what if you don’t have the qualifications yet? Who said you can’t start now and figure it out as you go. The secret to making everyday the happiest day of your life is simply to follow your heart, and be grateful for the little joys we easily take for granted. This is the only way to maximize your life and make it count for something, to inspire somebody and to live without regrets!

Ask yourself; “What is that which I am already regretting not doing right now? Why am I not going after it? Why am I going in a completely different direction from what I know will make me happy”? “Why am I in this job? Okay so I need this job to feed my family, but then, why am I not using every spare time I have to pursue my dream”? This could be the only reason you are frustrated, unmotivated, angry with your life right now or even possibly depressed.

So why not take the first step now to make everyday of your life regret free and as happy as possible!