Stay Away

My dolls I didn't post this yesterday because the day was filled with people I truly love to invest my time with. I got to hug up on two of my favorite yummy little people and chat up with some great friends and really live the meaning of loved ones and family. This time of year can be very trying for those who have family issues and who struggle with what family is suppose to be. For me I have made peace with what that means for me. If you find yourself in a similar place then maybe my share can help you in some way. 

illustration by pinterest.com

I know what you're thinking...
She stays away because she is "selfish".
She doesn't care about us or what we are going through.
She "thinks" she is better than us, she doesn't have time to "help" us with our problems.

Look at her, always put together.
Always has had a nice place to live.
Drives a nice car and has a great job.
Look at her, problems free.

I know what you're thinking...
She always has an answer.
She always thinks so positively.
She always wants to talk about being loving.

Look at her with her Meditation.
Look at her with her Yoga practice.
Look at her with her healthy eating and
Look at her with her uplifting thoughts.

I know what you're thinking...
She can't be for real.
She is so fake.
She hasn't changed.
She just walked away.

illustration by soreyfitness.com

The truth is your best thinking got you to this place. My reality is...

I stay away because of self preservation.
I do care about you but you don't care about your self.
I am not better than I am just different, I have the time I just don't want to waste it, I can't help you with your problem unless you help your self first.

I am put together because I have value.
I have a nice place to live because I love and respect me.
I have a nice ride because I take care of my belongings and my job is just a job I am grateful to have because it pays my bills.
I have problems, we all have problems but my problems don't have Me.

I don't always have "the" answer but I have faith there is "an" answer.
I think positive because I am open to many perspectives.
I talk about being loving because communication without love is pointless.

Yes look at me with my Meditation, if I didn't have that I would go insane.
Yes I practice Yoga because I want to grow old gracefully not diseased in mind, body and spirit like you have become.
Yes I eat healthy because I love my body, I want to take care of it so it takes care of me.
Yes I have uplifting thoughts because I always have Hope.

I am for Real, life is not as bad as you want to paint it.
I am not Fake, I just work with the cards that are dealt to me.
I have changed and because of that I Stay Away so I can continue to Love you.
I didn't "just" walk away...I decided to live, I decided to accept you for who and what you are and be ok with that.

illustration by sayingandquotes.blogspot.com

I Stay Away because of Love and with that love all things are possible.

What has loving and caring for someone made you do?

Always stress free xo

Mari

Money can't Buy

Not everyone of course celebrates Christmas and as my daughter says it’s really just something that has become commercialized. Not many observe the true meaning of this time of year. Even more just get sucked into the quantity of presents.

Today I will share a list of gift ideas that won’t cost you a thing but will last you and the recipient a lifetime. This is my GIFT to you, stress free and priceless.

1- A walk around your favorite park taking all the sights in with deep breaths while holding hands.
2- A day of you stay in bed, or on the couch and I will take care of the rest.
3- An at home mani/pedi. There is nothing like having your hands and or feet massaged.
4- Write a short story or poem expressing the gratitude you feel for this person is in your life.
5- Find that one special song that expresses how you feel about that loved one and play it for them.
6- Sit quietly together and read your favorite passage from your favorite book. Share why it touched you so, it will shine a new light on a part of you they may not be aware of.
7- Go out and volunteer together. Make someone else happy and you will see the joy it brings you as well.
8- Have a new First time moment or activity together. By this I mean, come up with something you have always wanted to do and as of yet haven’t and make it a point of doing it together. Some examples could be:
 A snowball fight
 Whipping something up in the kitchen with just the things you already have
 Slow dance (you would be surprised how many people haven’t done that)
 Finger painting or body painting (depends on the age) 
 Take a free class together (check your local community centers)
The point is to be creative and think outside the box!!!
9- Play “did you know I?” This is something I just thought of! You and your loved one/ones pic k ten (10) things about yourselves and share it. For example: Did you know that in third grade I had to read a passage from the bible to my class during chapel time and I almost passed out. Sharing is caring!
Last idea on my share list but certainly not the least…
10- Look this person or these people in the eye and tell them what a GIFT they have been to you since they came into your life.

These gift ideas are really gender and for the most part age restriction free. They can be for your step mom or dad, your sister or best friend, your husband or your daughter.  The message is about love and connection. I started a book once I found out I was pregnant. A regular five (5) subject notebook, in it there are all sorts of things representing the last eighteen (18) years of my daughters journey and mine. I will present her with it on her nineteenth (19) birthday. That will be a priceless moment (one I will share with you). Again think outside the box.

Happy Holidays to all my fellow mommies and of course to the daddies, to those that just come and take a glance and to those that come and continue to follow. You have given me a priceless gift for which I thank you greatly and that is the gift of reading my words.
Be safe, be well, be happy, be Love!
xoxo
Mari

Your own worst Enemy

I found myself yelling at the television this morning as I was getting ready for work. My daughter and I just couldn't get the words out of our mouths fast enough. Yet another segment, depicting catty women and mothers on Good Morning America. This time the evil “mother” was Gisele Bundchen .

It always ignites something in me to see women be so hateful, bitter and mean to one another. Catty women, the one’s with the claws (their mouths) ready to tear into you every chance they can get. The ones that feel that expressing themselves in a negative fashion is the way to go and the words that come out of their mouths should be the rules that all women, all mother’s must follow.

We live in a World, let me repeat that again, we live in a World where we get paid less than our male counterparts, where freedom due to our gender sometimes is nonexistent, where our rights can be disregarded, where in certain places what we can do with our bodies is dictated, where we are told we are not complete without a man, where our lives at times have less value.

Being aware of all these obstacles, why on earth would we be so harsh amongst ourselves?

Self-esteem, as my daughter’s friend once commented in a discussion they were having, is esteem of the self, how is it that I am affecting yours?

How are the following women affecting me? Maria Yang, Lee-Ann Ellison, Caroline Berg Eriksen and Gisele Bundchen?

Why because you don’t look as they do, feel as they do and express yourself as they do you find it wrong or obnoxious? Why is it wrong of them to share as they wish what they feel is a grand accomplishment?

You want abs like these women, legs, hair or boobies? Then go and do what they do. Work your butt off and you will achieve the same. Have the life style they have and you will be just as happy and proud. If you are not willing to put in the time, effort or money…then please just try and retract your claws because that right there already makes you unattractive.

I am not a size Two, I don’t work out at a gym, I don’t diet and I eat a pint of ice cream any darn time I feel like it. What I do practice is Yoga, Pilates and Meditation. I also walk around my neighborhood park at least twice a week for about an hour and a half. I don’t eat red meat very often, I don’t eat take out or fast foods very often either. I believe in moderation and I am beautiful inside and out. How do I know that? Because I am confident in my own skin and I love who I am. I don’t strive to be anyone other than Mari Corona.

Women look within yourselves for a role model first. No one is going to make you feel anything you already don’t feel yourself. These women didn't wake up and say “oh let me hurt so and so today”, they woke up and said “wow I look good, period”. Work on why you felt such negativity when you saw those women because trust me when I say the problem isn't them, it’s You.