Life leftovers

I know, it does sound like a strange post... just wait till you read it! This post was inspired by a visit to some of my relatives that are close to my heart - my cousins and their kids. I was blessed to be born in a big family...well, not that big. I am a single child at home but my mom has two more sisters and a brother. My cousins are all married and two of them even have kids. I love those kids (one of my cousins has a daughter and the other one has a boy and a daughter), completely adore them...I was amongst the happiest person to hear the big news... felt a connection forming with the kids ever since they were embryos. After they were born I spend like lots of time with them even though they lived pretty far from me... about 30 mins of walking ('cause yeah, I am addicted to walking). I watched them grow, I was there with them at their first day of kindergarten and I didn't miss one recital... I watched them go to school and I was the crazy one cheering when they took their first prize. 

But, as it always happens, the past two years we grew apart...we didn't really grew apart... I just filled my time with other things and stop visiting as often. From the "at least once per week" my visits turned into a ...twice per year. And I thought it was cool like that, until today. I took the time to go visit them with my mom... and it gave my heart fuzzy feelings. I felt so like a stranger at first... I couldn't really fit in anymore (guess that was all in my head after all) but then I relaxed when I saw that my bound with them was just as strong like there wasn't a day when we were apart, they started sharing stories with me like there was a conversation going on all this time. I was surprised to see how much they grew and changed...

They are wiser and taller and ... growing up too quickly. They offered to walk me home (well not really home but a little bit closer to home) and of course being a child deep down inside of me I played with them on the way. We had a running contest, then we played I spy... and I was over flooded with info about their classmates, friends, tv shows and all that, but it also got me thinking...

Memories will be all that's left at the end. That's my concept of life leftover...what's left after you feast from the platter you call life. 

The college degree? You can get that anytime. The money? same with them. The clothes? all these material possessions can be acquired at any given time...but you can't go back in time. You can't go back and live the moments you had once again. Which led me to this conclusion... all I'll still have in this life, close to the ending of it... will be my memories. All those well lived moments and happy ones and the disappointments. I won't be left with anything else to make me feel better... therefore I found another good reason to live the moment...seriously. Forget all about worries and troubles, I wanna have in mind the good memories... of bonding and sharing and loving and becoming wiser. I want every moment of my life to be filled with happiness and bliss. Make the most of each moment and make memories out of them. 

And yeah, even thou I have bits of regrets for not being there for everyone when I could've... or acting like an idiot when I shouldn't have, I do regret the times I hurt those I loved... but I also learned not to over regret things but to learn something from them... after all they made me wiser... what I am today... and today, I can truly say I wish all of you the best. I am happy. I hope all of you are as well ... and if you are on your journey of finding it, I hope I can help you if you need anything.

Live your life, get to know the people around you... make happiness a habit and do not forget to make the most of everything 'cause memories will be all you'll be left with. 

My review of Pretty Little Liars book series

Pretty Little Liars is a series of eight books: Pretty Little Liars, Flawless, Perfect, Unbelievable, Wicked, Killer, Heartless, Wanted...or at least it was when I finished reading all of them. The ending did leave an open door for future Pretty Little Liars events but I didn't think of checking it out. There were four more Pretty Little Liars books published in 2011 and 2012, I'm going to get them as soon as I finish reading what I'm currently reading (which is Anna Karenina btw) and I'll do another review for the last four books. 

Meanwhile, let me tell you about these eight books. 

The whole concept of the book is twirling around the disappearance of Alison Dilaurentis, Rosewood's it girl. Not too soon before her disappearance she becomes best friends forever with Hanna Martin - the chubby girl in the newly formed gang, her parents get a divorce and her father remarries a "perfect" housewife that has a daughter which Hanna thinks it's just more beautiful than her , Emily Fields - raised in a strict family she discovers she likes girls when she is crushing on Ali(son), Spencer Hasting  - competition is everything to the Hastings so Spencer struggles to live up to their expectations and last but not least Aria Montgomery (which is my favorite character) - raised in a strange family that seems to have it all until her dad has an affair with a student of his.

Alison switched her 2 best friends Naomi and Riley to hang out with Hanna, Emily, Spencer and Aria all of a sudden which shocked the girls and everyone at school a bit but no one really mind since Ali had strange ways. The girls adore Alison and become her worshipers doing everything Ali tells them to. But their happiness just couldn't last for too long so one night Alison disappears and  never returns...months after her disappearance her body is found and just when everyone thought they could move on with their life, that's when things get crazy. 

The girls start to receive strange threatening messages from A, messages that demand the girls do specific things or keep quiet about what they know and so on. The whole A character makes it clear that he/she is not joking and proves it when it runs over Hanna with a car. The girls become even more close than before and decide to start searching for the truth, who killed Alison and why. The books have so many twists and turns, it's really captivating, the whole idea of Alison being their friend turns 180 degrees when the girl share their stories of how Alison got them to do what she wanted or what she thought was right threatening to reveal their secrets to everybody if not. This A was definitely crazy after knowing all of their secrets, one of the things she kept telling the girls was how "the secrets keep us together". While searching for the truth the girls realize it was only Ali that knew their secrets and they had not idea of Ali's secrets. The whole Ali character goes to pieces when they start doubting Ali's every action, and it gets even crazier when A knows everything about the girls which makes them believe A is Alison. 

The thing I adored about the book series was that it had action and even a grim sense of humor, I felt pity for the girls every time they been through some rough stuff but at the same time, that's what made the A character so important. The girls are on the edge of losing everything they ever had, they get arrested, Aria's mom kicks her out of the house and A leaks some private info about her to her current boyfriend so he kicks her out as well, Spencer get nervous breakthroughs and at one point believes she was the one that killed Alison. Emily's parents send her away to some really strict relatives when they discover she is gay but she manages to runaway. And when Hanna's mom is going away to work in another country her dad with his new wife and daughter move in Hanna's home to live with her. With a little help from A, they manage to drive Hanna insane (well, she really wasn't but from the outside that's what you would say) and she is sent to a mental hospital. 

The book is really captivating, the characters have very well shaped personalities, friends turn into enemies when you least expect it and the girls bound becomes stronger than ever. The ending of the eight book was...woow... amazing, it was such a big twist I reread the last 4 pages at least three times to make sure I understood what it was written, it was really well thought and it was more than I expected. One things that bothered me at the books was how the chapters flipped from one character to the other. I found it hard to remember everything that Aria went through before I read about Hanna, Spencer and Emily so I had to put an extra effort and I have to admit that's why sometimes I let the book down. I would just try to remember everything that happened in each girl's separate life. And another thing - the last one, would be that the third, fourth and fifth book weren't really that intriguing, but I don't know if I can really blame it on the books or on my desperate need to also check the TV series...so maybe it was me who knew things before they happened and that's why I didn't find them so intriguing, who knows... 

But, to end this review, I would really recommend the book if you like twisted, complicated stories. I like to give an opinion from the beginning of the book on what's really going on but this book... I wasn't able to tell, which was surprising. 

Books I recommend: The alchemist

Book description:

"My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy told the alchemist one night as they looked up at the moonless sky." Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams."

The Alchemist is the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain he journeys to the markets of Tangiers and across the Egyptian desert to a fateful encounter with the alchemist.

The story of the treasures Santiago finds along the way teaches us, as only a few stories have done, about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, above all, following our dreams.

Every few decades a book is published that changes the lives of its readers forever. The Alchemist is such a book. With over a million and a half copies sold around the world, The Alchemist has already established itself as a modern classic, universally admired. Paulo Coelho's charming fable, now available in English for the first time, will enchant and inspire an even wider audience of readers for generations to come.

My opinion

I eventually picked up the book last week and started reading it - I was one amongst those that never read it. I thought it was going to take me a while to read because I wasn't really in the mood of reading The Alchemist but several friends kept on bugging me to read it, so I gave it a shot. As I started reading I was like, yeah, well, Paulo Coelho does write nicely but it's not such a big deal... and after three hours I was still reading it, I just couldn't get my eyes away from it. It became so intriguing already that it was impossible to just let it down and read later on... so I finished the book in four days, days in which I read like a maniac. 

The book begins with a very well described landscape, it makes you feel like you are right there with Santiago, it describes how Santiago places a book underneath his head and goes to sleep under the roof of an abandoned church. The atmosphere throughout the book is amazing, it describes perfectly the landscape and it definitely paints the picture inside your mind. Almost every page has words of wisdom and stories filled with meaning to share, which is such a great addition to the storyline. 

The book speaks of the importance to follow your dreams, listen to your heart and pay attention to the omens. I noted down some phrases from this book which I couldn't afford to forget so I'll share them with you, hoping that I'll convince you to read the book - seriously, it is a great read. 

Quote: "When we strive to become better than what we are, everything around us becomes better too." "You'll never be able to escape from your heart" "The darkest hour of the night comes just before dawn", and so many more.

Also one more reason to read the book is that it has some serious stress building moments, like you know something wrong or big is going to happen but you can't put a finger on it... until it happens. The book has just the right amount of twists and turns - in my opinion, and even the ending...which I was completely sure I could predict... had a twist to it... an awesome one.  

So, I wholehearted recommend this book to all of you, your friends and family. I think it's a great gift to give to those you love, it is filled with inspiration, love and meaningful words. 

How to decalcify your pineal gland

As a really late response to my previous post Stuff you didn't know about your pineal gland, I finally decided to write the post I promised about how to decalcify the pineal gland. We already know the pineal gland plays an important role in your state of happiness, balancing our emotions and influencing our sleeping patterns and so on. If you haven't read the post I'm talking about, I advise you to read it now. It is important because it talks about the functions of the pineal gland and its working mechanism. If, however you already know that or read my post here I go. 

1. Avoid flouride 

If you can, avoid the flouride in your tap water by drinking alkaline or distilled water instead. I however, find this method kind of  hard to obey to. I did some research and apparently you can't consume more than 500 - 1000 ml alkaline water per day, nor you can take pills while drinking alkaline water.  Distillate water on the other hand is healthier and has no limitations to it... only that you have to make it yourself so it's time consuming. I think investing in high quality water filter is the best option since it does the work for you. Another effective way of avoiding fluoride is using toothpaste with no fluoride in it. You can find it in stores or online. 

2. Meditate

Meditation is another important technique used to decalcify the pineal gland. Meditation is effective because of the state of mind it induces. I'll probably write a post about the importance and benefits of meditation 'cause I'm a huge fan.   

3. Less meat, more veggies and fruits

I know you are probably tired of hearing the same thing over and over again but guys, it's really important. It took me 17 years of my life to start considering the idea and then 2-3 more years to get accustomed to it. Once you get a grip of how tasty veggies and fruits really are you won't even want to go back to eating meat. 

4. Sungaze and sunbathe

Don't over do it however! 5 minutes per day is more than enough. Sunbathing is also good, since it helps you get optimal levels of Vitamin D. But, just like the case with sungazing, don't spend too much time sunbathing either. Take everything into moderation (even World of Warcraft xD ) 

5. Use fluorescent light bulbs

The pineal gland is light sensitive and therefore needs light that resembles the best natural light. These types of light bulbs are also good for the health of your eyes. It would also be great if you could sleep in complete darkness. 

6. Avoid mercury and other toxins

Mercury can be found in most of the vaccines on the market, that's why I'm not the biggest fan of vaccines. My last flu vaccine was three years ago and guess what? I didn't get colds more often than before. Instead of using vaccines to prevent flu, I rather drink plenty of tea, eat at least one apple a day and focus on keeping a healthy state of mind.  The tooth fillings have mercury in them as well but I guess you can't avoid it all. 

7. Work with a healthy mind

The human mind is capable of miracles. Not too long ago I read Dr. David Schwartz's book: The magic of thinking big. Thoughts are very important for the health of your mind, there are some thoughts that can make things worse. That's why it is so important to maintain a positive outcome, good thoughts and a happy state of being. And do not forget like attracts like. (you can check out The secret - great movie, if you haven't seen it already.) 


Wishing you the best,
Rachel

Bet you didn't know this about sins

As long as we are humans we all know that at one point in this life we'll sin. Parents tell us, teachers tell us, preachers tell us... but what they all fail to tell us is what really is a sin?

The word derives from old English, while the stern may be related to that of Latin's sons, sont - guilty. In Classical Greek, it means "to miss the mark" or "to miss the target" which was also used in Old English archery.

In the Aramaic Language and culture that Jesus taught in, the terms for "sin" and "evil" were archery terms. When the archer shot at the target and missed, the scorekeeper yelled the Aramaic word for sin. It meant that you were off the mark, so you should take another shot. Sin is when you are operating from inaccurate information and thus a perceptual mistake. Where the arrow fell when it missed the target was referred to as evil. 

Which makes you wonder... Should we really pity and despise our sins that much, feel embarrassed and do our best to forget all about it, or should we learn the lesson, focus on what we want to achieve and "shoot" one more time, doing our best.

I never understood the necessity of continuously begging for forgiveness for your sins, what's done it's done! Learn something from it, learn to be a better person. I think it's much more meaningful to say a sorry after you did something wrong and then prove that you have changed your ways, than beg for forgiveness while doing the same mistakes over and over again. 

In my opinion, a sin should be perceived as feedback rather than fault. You know that what you did wasn't what you intended in the first place, "you missed your target" and instead of complaining and starting to blame all those around you that made it impossible for you to shoot how you wanted to, just consider it feedback. You know you missed, identify the real reason why you missed and adjust your behavior to succeed next time.

Just imagine all of your sins were just arrows missing the target, forget 'em. You have plenty more arrows and more wisdom to shoot right this time. Stop worrying about the enormous luggage you carry around named "past" and focus on the future. Work towards becoming who you know you can be, and whenever you do something wrong... or you sin, remember to make it up to those you've hurt and learn lessons from what you did wrong. If all of us would just change our actions instead of changing our words, this world would be a much better place.


Wishing you the best,
Rachel

My review of Neale Donald Walsch's Little Book of Life

 

Book Description:

In 1999, Neale Donald Walsch wrote three little books, each focusing on different areas of life: Neale Donald Walsch on Relationships, Neale Donald Walsch on Holistic Living, and Neale Donald Walsch on Abundance and Right Livelihood.

Now, 10 years later, Walsch has revised these three books and combined them into one volume. In this little book, Walsch provides his readers with the basic principles for satisfying personal relationships, an inspirational approach to the real meaning of money and prosperity and how they apply to the secret of happiness, and the basics of integrated living--how to live with joy and harmony.

This book presents the core teachings found in the Conversations with God series. Warm and inspirational, Walsch’s words provide hope and help for readers living in a particularly challenging time.

Want to know my opinion? 

I say it's a must read in case you have unanswered questions about human relationships, other means of healing your body and living  a good life, being happy with who you truly are. 

The book impressed me from the very beginning when Neale touched a sensitive spot, the love-commitment-marriage part of human relationships, and I was surprised to find out that we have some common opinions.

Another thing I liked about this book is that it has a funny, easy way of putting things. I do enjoy some casual facts but I just hate it when authors base their entire books on scientific proofs that in time don't apply anymore because there are really no certainties. I think that we should look at things in a humanly manner - after all we are human, why not exploiting this opportunity and creating connections through empathy? But that is my humble opinion...now back to the book. 

The first part of the book speaks of how important relationships are to us humans. He also talks about what he considers to be healthy relationships and he has some interesting stories to share. Quote, long quote:  "Relationships are the most important experience of our lives. Without it, we are nothing.
Literally. 

That is because, in the absence of anything else, we are not. 

Fortunately, there is not a one of us who does not have a relationship. Indeed, all of us are in relationships with everything and everyone, all of the time. We have a relationship with ourselves, we have a relationship with our family, we have a relationship with our environment, we have a relationship with our work, we have a relationship with each other. 

Normally confident, competent people fumble and fall, stumble and stall, crumble and call for help.

We simply find it very difficult to get along - much less actually love each other." 

The second part of the book is talking about holistic healing. Now I've only met this term once or twice in the past year but I did gain some interest in it and am still studying more about it (going to let you know more when I'll know more). Anyway if you are a noob at holistic healing (like me) you'll find it easy to understand what he is talking about in this part, because just as I stated before Neale doesn't go all philosophical on your ass, he has a way of putting things and making you understand what he means. 

The third part and sadly the last one, is about having an abundant life. How to live an abundant life and what does it really mean after all.  There was something that really stuck in my head out of this part of the book and that is the way he explains that we today don't really know the difference between having money and having an abundant life.  So I couldn't agree more to him when he said that money are the less significant part of abundance. 

So, to finish my review I would give this book a 5/5 stars. It's a really good book, that has words of wisdom to share and lessons to consider learning. It is an easy read and it can light up your day with its funny stories that have meaning beneath the surface. 

What did you think about it? 

Ten things I've learned from guys

I always envied the Y chromosome carriers for the easy life they seem to have. You know they way they always get out of trouble and things just come their way magically, not to mention they don't have to worry about PMS, and they always get more dough at work.

So, after years of observing their behavior I've come to understand some things about them that are actually cool. 

Here we go:

1. Forgiveness should come naturally

You don't see guys holding grudges like we do, and I bet whomever said, quote: "revenge is a dish best served cold" was a lady. Now, I have to admit, there's nothing sweeter than revenge but it also time and energy consuming, which is not good. Guys say what they have to say WHEN something annoys them (they do not keep it in mind for other times like most of us do) and get over it. Hell, in some ways they remind me of children. Kids fight whenever something bothers them but make up after 5 minutes and become the best of friends once again. When something steps on their nerves, girls become a ticking bomb.

2. A good sense of humor gets you out of trouble 

You know how whenever you screw up, first you think of what went wrong, how could you have done it better and then how to fix it. Guys screw up and when they realize it they crack some jokes and voilà ! The problems melt. No one can stay angry on someone who has something funny to say and give you the puppy eyes after. It's much easier to stay angry at someone who admits they did something wrong and feel bad about it.

3. Spending less time in front of a mirror is beneficial 

Guys don't spend half as much time as us in front of a mirror which turns out to be a good thing. Now I know they don't have to apply make up and then make sure it doesn't get ruined, but we over react sometimes. We spend so much time in front of the mirror trying to fix each and every flaw until that's all we see and we forget how beautiful we truly are.

4. An advice is not always required 

Guys usually listen to what you have to say and be there for you. Girls go extra miles (which is very cute, but not necessary nor helpful sometimes) - they listen and comfort you after which they give you tons of advices... which are not always the best ones.

5. Comfier is healthier

Those wonderful heels that damage your feet, those low waist jeans that affect your kidneys, not to mention those tights and thongs that welcome yeast infections and Urinary tract infections. I'm not saying wear baggy clothes just try to wear healthier clothes... and dress up when the occasion really calls for it. 

6. Gaming is a great experience

No! I mean it. It's GREAT! 

7. A couple of genuine romantic moments are much better than a whole relationship of fake feelings

I find it cute how guys don't go crazy to suffocate you with compliments. And the thing I like even more is that when they say it, they mean it. See, some of your "girlfriends" might compliment you 24/7 even when you don't deserve it and then go behind your back and gossip about it. Same goes for the romantic part, we tend to say "I love you" faster than we can even understand the concept.

8. Just a beer with the boys is NOT just a beer with the boys

It may start out like just an innocent beer but after the first three it'll turn out into the wildest party ever. So whenever your guy tells you he's going "with the boys" for just "one beer", don't wait for him to be home for dinner.

9. Keeping calm

Even thou on the inside the sizzle, their palms are sweaty and most certainly there is a thought frenzy inside their mind ...on the outside the just keep the calm appearance. Or maybe... they really are that calm. Who knows?  

10.  It you want something, say it! 

Seriously, it's that easy. Most of the times we get angry because others don't know what we think, well how can anybody know what we think if we have a habit of keeping secret the things we want. If there's something you want or expect from someone just be open about it and say it.
E.g He: "Babe what's wrong?"
You: "Nothing."  "It really bothered me that you didn't pick up your phone when you were out with the boys." 
Ta daaaaa, that easy. Just say exactly what you mean.

Wishing you the best,
Rachel