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Keep your head up!

January 29, 2018January 30, 2018 Emy Minzel

I talk a lot about the importance of staying positive even on days that aren’t our easiest, or life isn’t going according to the plan. I know there’s plenty of negative happenings in life that shake you up, knocks you off kilter, and make you wonder “What the heck just happened here?” It can be difficult to trust life at times we feel pain so acutely like, suffer a failed marriage, lose a job, succumb to depression or illness, or lose someone we love. You want to know “What is there to be positive about at times like that?” My answer to that is there is always, always, something to be thankful for.

We are not meant to suffer endlessly in our mental prisons of depression or anxiety causing us to worry about what might happen, for endless hours. You deserve to have small joys, and happy times even when life sucks socks. I am not saying that you can’t go ahead, have a small pity party for one. Scream, cry to your favorite heartbreak song while driving down the highway, or be good and pissed off occasionally. There are times that call for these reactions, but there’s no good outcomes of extended periods of wallowing in our misery. There is scientific proof that prolonged stress, and negativity will wreak havoc on our immune systems and state of mind; leading to a lesser quality of life.

I believe in the power of positivity, and that there is always, always, always something to be thankful for. It is in these moments of despair that we need to see what we are thankful for the most. When you have the most terrible week at work and you get to sit down at the dinner table with the family that loves you, be thankful that the love of your family is there to help you get through, and you are blessed with enough to eat. When families fall apart, we are thankful for the blessing of supportive loyal friends. When we lose a loved one, we are reminded to cherish the loved ones you still have standing, making your love seem to grow even deeper. If you lose a job, I believe the Higher Power does that to give you something better, move you forward to something more suitable for you. It maybe a struggle financially, but the perks are getting to see the people you love, hang out with your kids or spouse, and finally give them more of your time, love and attention (all things that money cannot buy.)

In our consumerist money driven society, we often forget that quality time, love, and attention are things you cannot buy in a store or make more of when you want it. Being positive means to me that we focus on the blessings we have here and now, even if you feel you have nothing, you do have yourself and your will to make life look the way you want it to. It is our choices that move us forward or keep us in the same situation. When times are tough it is then when we must look deep within ourselves and ask our soul what we really need.

It is often in times of struggle and pain we are able to ask our higher selves “Well, this sucks, what’s the best plan now? Where should I focus my next steps? What is the best direction for me?” When life makes you uncomfortable it is because it is time to move forward from what is no longer serving your best interest. (Maybe not in the case of death but in most other instances that cause us strife like work, relationships, or dramas; these are signs to work on yourself.)

By being positive during these transitional periods helps us look forward to days with longer stretches of joy. Having something to look forward to, is essential to keeping your head up, keeping your eyes on the prize, helping you put one foot in front of the other. It can be as simple as a dinner date with your best friend, or a vacation that’s eight months away. It is something positive that you can put your energy to as opposed to doing laps around your mind; just stirring up vortex of crazy negativity that even unintentionally, yet undoubtedly will spread through the rest of your life and to the people in it. It is our own responsibility to take ownership of our energy/thoughts and how we use it. If we go around complaining about everything and anything all day long, you will be looking for more things to complain about to keep you in your vibration of unpleasantness. Often trying to bring others down with you, because their joy makes you uncomfortable.

That’s how energy works, there is negative and positive flow, if you touch them together it doesn’t feel good. That’s why happy people avoid negativity and negative people look for more negative situations or news to keep there vibes just where it feels comfortable to them. Joy and positivity take practice, I see that even some people are afraid to be happy because they think it’s too good to be true or it won’t last. That’s a shame that you can’t enjoy the moment when it is offered to them, it is sad that we give our power of joy away to the power of negativity when we do have the ability to choose which one we would rather feel.

Keeping positive takes practice, by purposely adding people or events into your lives, scheduling time doing anything at all that helps you nurture the joy inside of you is the best healthy habit that you can give yourself. Being thankful for a good night’s rest so you can face the day, enjoying the beauty in the sunset/sunrise, really feeling your heart swell when you hear you child belly laugh, or a meaningful conversation that makes you feel heard, are the small golden movements we dismiss for having no value because you can’t buy them, when they should be cherished for the same reason. Money cannot buy happiness, you will not find happiness at the store you must be able to see it, and accept it into your daily practice if you want to cultivate more of it.

Practicing positivity brings you inner joy, inner joy brings outer glow, outer glow vibrations will attract love, luck and situations that pull more good things into your energy field. Simple as that. Practicing positivity, keeping your head up in times of adversity, loving at times you don’t feel loved yourself, will help you be the person you want to be. The Universe/God will not give you more than you can handle, I believe it is how you handle the things that come your way that makes up the quality of your life. Trusting our life path even when it doesn’t go as planned is part of the journey, it is up to us to if we want to sit on the cactus we’ve been given, or we can nurture it and water it until it blooms into something beautiful.

Psalm 23:4 – Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

I am not a religious person, but I do find tremendous value in the core of all religions teachings, it is about love, acceptance and trust of your life path. It is the resistance to change that causes the pain, if we can accept what is, look around to find what is also great, we can choose to move forward by taking purposeful steps toward greatness. That is the whole point of the power of positivity, when you can see it, use it and keep your eye on it, choose to keep your head up and aim right for it you will hit the mark or at least get somewhere closer to it then you were before. I believe that makes all the difference in the world to what kind of day you will have. It’s every single day of choices you make that add up to your life time, what kind of life do you choose to cultivate?

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. ~ Aristotle

Wishing you an abundance of joyful blessings,

Emy Minzel ~ Adventure Sister

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Stacy Crep ~ Adventure Sister

The Adventure Sisters on Instagram
@adventuresistersbwca

Asking for help is hard!

January 26, 2018January 26, 2018 Emy Minzel

Does anyone else hate to ask for help? I do. It is so hard for me often I struggle for a long while trying to ‘do it myself’ before I either just give up completely, or finally with a great deal of hesitation I will ask for the help I need. I am not sure why I have this dislike of asking for help. Most people are happy to help when I ask yet there are times when they are not.

I was raised by a single mother who had to do most everything by herself. For a long while I was a single mother too, is this a side effect of single motherhood? Or is it a side effect of stubbornness? I conclude it is most likely a combination of both. Of course; there are the instances when I do ask for help and do not get the support I need. Is there a reason behind that? Does that mean what I want or need help with isn’t meant for me? Does it mean ask someone else? Or does it mean keep trying to do it yourself because I will eventually figure it out?

The Adventure Sisters are working on three book proposals due in April. We are also working very hard to build the public platform of supportive readers. The platforms are meant to help us reach as many people as possible. The Publishers decide whose books to publish by looking for writers who are willing to do extra work to sell themselves, their books, and their ideas. That is why Stacy and I have started the Adventure Sister social media promotional pages also we’ve started blogs to introduce you to who we are. In our blogs we work on expressing our beliefs to expose readers to the why behind what we are writing about.

It is our hopes and dreams that others will support us in the pursuit of becoming published authors. To do this we need to ask for help from our friends, family, and others who resonate with the message of the Adventure Sisters. My job is to trust in our path, continue to believe that God/Universe will bring us the helpers we need to bring our dream of being published to fruition. I believe that the women I met today at Toast Masters were helping angels that came into my life at the perfect time to help me grow by helping me use my voice. All I had to do was show up and ask.

I believe that every path or event happens to help you grow and learn. I believe life will open the doors that are for you, or not, for reasons I don’t get to know right now. I have found that as I embark on this literary writing adventure, I’ve been forced to ask for help. It’s very uncomfortable feeling for me. Some people are more helpful then others, yet I realize that most people are willing to help when you ask. The only fix to this conundrum is to find the courage to keep asking for the help I need, so that we can keep making progress in pursuit of accomplishing our dreams.

I will take this lesson of asking for help with me to the future, I see it takes courage for everyone to ask for help not just me. I will do my best to help others when they ask because I have compassion for the uncomfortable feelings that can come with asking for help. It is my sincerest gratitude for the people who are reading my blog right now, who help the Adventure Sisters move forward in pursuit of our Joy.

Thank you for reading, sharing, liking, and commenting on our posts, it truly does help us to increase our platform. Thank you for helping me confirm the kindness I believe exists in all people just like you. You are the twinkling street lights of support on the road to our literary escapades that lay ahead. Thank you for your help.

Wishing you an abundance of joyful blessings,

Emy Minzel ~ Adventure Sister

Follow the Adventure Sisters on Facebook!

Stacy Crep ~ Adventure Sister

The Adventure Sisters on Instagram
@adventuresistersbwca

What being an Adventure Sister means

January 24, 2018 Emy Minzel

Being an Adventure Sister means that I am someone who goes on adventures and also inspires adventure, it means I enjoy encouraging others to inspire themselves. My dream is to motivate others to feel the same sense of delight and satisfaction I feel when doing something I find exciting and invigorating by getting off the couch and jumping into my life. This reminds me of a saying that I love. “The only difference between, fear and excitement is, your attitude about it.” I find this to be true. There are many times I’ve felt frightened, and excited at the same time. The difference in my experience was decided by my attitude while going through the journey.

I became an Adventure Sister when I realized that I was deeply moved by my experiences in nature. I was hooked on the feeling of personal accomplishments, doing things I’ve never done before, addicted to the feeling of pride that adventure provided! Was it the adrenalin of boldly sauntering into the forest of unknown activities and occupants? Was it the excitement of mysterious endeavors and events that kept us on our toes? Not knowing everything that’s going to happen seemed to lend itself to the magic of synchronicities that appear to motivate our fun outcomes.

Adventure Sister Stacy and I have survived waves that were so large when we dipped our paddles into the water it only hit air, then wildly splashed inside the canoe. We’ve battled waves that muted each of our strokes, so powerful they pulled our canoe to the middle of the large lake no matter how hard we tried to keep closer to shore. We’ve survived athletic feats we were in no way prepared for. We’ve even accidentally popped a gas tank on a rental car in Florida, that leaked so profusely the firemen said, it likely could have been very dangerous. Yet we continue to make it home safely and in one piece each time we dared to be brave. I feel like I should give a shout out and giant expression of gratitude to my guardian angels and guides right now, they’ve helped through some wild rides.

Who you choose to accompany you does matter when on an adventure, and Stacy is great because she doesn’t fuss while working as hard as we needed to. We were able to turn hard-core camping excursions into spiritual adventures that helped us gain confidence in ourselves while building trusting supportive relationship with each other. We grew our spiritual practices simultaneously which became a special type of bond like the one lots of people cherish at church. Only our church nature. It is a blessing to have someone to help you grow in meaningful directions, and inspires you to be a better you. The bond of sisterhood that Stacy and I have founded in each other through our expeditions together has added depth that seem to make our adventures more enjoyable and meaningful.

You just never know where you’ll end up on an adventure, that’s what so exciting about it. Leaving your schedule open to be being able to take that invitation, or the scenic route on vacation can be one of the best ways to find excitement. Going off the beaten path leads us to have new experiences lets us see things I would not have if everything was scheduled on a strict itinerary. Support is essential to a joyful adventure, its important bring someone who you like and trust. It helped that I felt supported by my family who had my back when going out of my comfort zone.

I want to inspire others to bring excitement and play back into their lives, by telling them them how I found Joy in my life, that just so happened to be inspired by adventure. What I find exciting may not be to you, or vice versa, I am not recommending you bungee jump off a bridge if you are frightened of heights. Or go ahead if you want to be courageous! I found the feeling of honor in doing something I never thought I could is one of the best feelings to be in my body for. Not all adventures have to be dangerous, thrill seeking events. Finding courage to write that book, to have a baby (or not) to change careers, or make any change that makes you feel good about yourself are adventures. It’s all in the way you look at them.

I believe with all my heart, you’re never too old, too young or too anything to do something that makes your heart sing. It makes your heart sing for a reason, because that’s your song to sing! I want to inspire the bravery in others to find courage you need to sing your song by being fearless in pursing my own unique melody. To be an Adventure Sister means to inspire greatness in all of life’s adventures, from babies to grandbabies, from college to retirement and everything in between or after, it is never too late to feel great!

What makes you feel brave? What makes you feel proud? Are you an Adventure Sister too?

I would love to hear what inspires you to inspire others!

Wishing you an abundance of joyful blessings,

Emy Minzel ~ Adventure Sister

Follow the Adventure Sisters on Facebook!

Stacy Crep ~ Adventure Sister

The Adventure Sisters on Instagram
@adventuresistersbwca

6 Lessons from my husband ~

January 23, 2018January 22, 2018 Emy Minzel

Women are from Venus, Men are from Mars is an especially fitting statement when it comes to my husband Jason and I. We are opposite in most of our characteristics from our height difference to our perspectives on life, we are just plain different. They say opposites attract because they find their differences fascinating if they can get past them and except each other for who they are on the inside. Because you love that person you should be able respect their right to their own opinion even if it is the opposite of yours. The love we share is an anchor that lets us see other view points by being able to listen with respect.

That does not mean there is no debating! We often contest each other’s opinions if we strongly disagree with the topic. There are also times we must agree to disagree. However, there are times while pondering his different ideals that they change some of mine. Often it is the way that he does something, that wears off on me when I see the results of his actions. Just because we do things differently doesn’t mean they are wrong, yet after years of practice, I cannot argue with the results. Being as different as we are, there are outlooks and actions that have been rerouted in my life because of my husband’s example. I am very thankful for his examples of;

Forward Thinking: Patience was not ever my strong suit, I have a low tolerance for waiting for what I want. Sometimes I would even give up on goals because I was not seeing results fast enough. I have learned from my husband’s example of sticking with your goals, that patience and persistence do in fact pay off. Even on the days you’d like to punch yourself in the face or shoot yourself in the foot instead of persisting, you must persist. This leads right into the next lesson from my husband which is dedication.

Dedication: Not only to the people you love and the career you wish to excel at but also to what is important to you. Nobody can tell you what it is that you want to dedicate your time and effort too, but it is up to you to act on the goals that tug on your heart. It is also okay to have something for only yourself that you dedicate your time and effort to, it does not have to involve other people. If collecting stamps make you happy, do it with your whole heart, no explanations or apologies needed.

Be Generous: My husband is generous with his financial support and gifts, and also with his time and effort. Time and effort are often times more valuable than other generous contributions. I now see that the quality gift of time and effort can be much more valuable than money. When my husband he goes beyond his comfort zone to build me a bench or table with up cycled items, when he changes oil, or snow blows the driveway and in so many other ways he is there for me, I feel very loved. His generosity extends to his friends and family, he is willing to help others who needs his set of skills, he’s also a great IT guy.

Its Okay to say NO: There is not too much explanation needed for this one. Yet it took me a while to learn from his example. Help someone if you want too. If you don’t want too, or you have other reasons, it is okay to say no and leave it at that. No is a perfectly acceptable answer to something you do not feel right about.

Stand up for yourself: If you are feeling taken advantage of, bullied, manipulated or any other uncomfortable situation stand up for yourself. It matters to your self-esteem, self-worth, and self-respect to have firm boundaries of how you allow others to treat you.

Research stuff: He reminds me that you’re smarter than you think you are all it takes is a little extra effort. In this age of instant information available at your fingertips, its your own fault if you don’t use it. If you are looking to purchase anything, read the reviews first, it saves time and heart ache. If you want to vacation, change careers, be informed about politics or the environment, or want to know anything, research it to your best ability, look for the good and the bad so you are prepared for both.

As residence of Mars and Venus, Jason and I value different actions and abilities. Now that I’ve had plenty of time to observe the differences, I can incorporate the things that I find value in. I am very thankful for these qualities he’s helped me to improve in myself, it helps me to want to inspire him in positive ways as well. I am thankful for my husband and his life lessons that help us grow together and keep improving ourselves for the future.

What have you learned from you’re loved ones that’s changed you for the better? I’d love to hear from you!

Wishing you an abundance of joyful blessings,

Emy Minzel ~ Adventure Sister

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Stacy Crep ~ Adventure Sister