Confessions Of A Gymaholic

For the past few months I've been constantly reaching out to simple and comfy outfits. Maybe it's just a natural instinct of adjusting to the shades around me, but I've found it hard to pull out any strong colours or prints. I've had a lot of time to reflect and process this season and you can definitely read my mood by looking at what I'm wearing. I think I've always worn my heart on the sleeve.

High boots make it possible to wear skirts and dresses in the winter. Not to mention that they look fabulous with any outfit.

Winter makes me want to stay in my comfort zone and what better time to really work on that self-discipline! I find myself often thinking how I wish I had a stronger character in this or that and the opportunities always seem to rise for me to start working on them.

Before I used to admire people with self-discipline, thinking that there was something special about them, something I didn't possess. I tried to come up with excuses like I'm just not wired that way.

A music teacher once implied to his students that everyone is naturally lazy. That laziness is something we have to fight off and that's how he motivated his students to practise. I disagree. It's true that self-discipline comes easier to some, maybe they are wired differently or their parents were able to teach that value in a way that it stuck, but I honestly think that self-discipline comes naturally for us. It's what we were created for and laziness is rather unnatural. Look at the people laying on their couches and letting their life slowly slip away, they are miserable! 

It wasn't until the first time I decided to sign up to a gym with my friend who already had been bitten by a gym bug, that my view on things started changing. She became my "personal trainer", because of her relentless ways of instructing me and always pushing me to my limits. After sticking to it for a while, I realised that all my life until to that point, I had listened to lies saying "You can't do it, you don't have what it takes." 

The beauty of self-discipline began to unwrap before my eyes. First I had to understand that I am powerful to make great choices and follow through. It meant not being afraid of pain and telling those undermining lies to go back to where they came from. Then I had to get my motivations straight. The promise of a "perfect body" didn't do it for me. Knowing my worth and recognising how extraordinarily I was created inspired me to take use of all the potential placed in me. Why would I live on just a small percentage of my capacity when I have the option of 100%?

My gym experience ended up building my mental capacity more than anything else. I found strength in me that I didn't even know existed. Problems began to shrink in my eyes, because I had adapted the mentality of "I can do it". My emotional intelligence got it's share as well, as I learned to face the pain and walk through it instead of avoiding it. Self-discipline turned from an unachievable proof of character to an attainable part of my nature and now I've been focusing on applying it to every other area of my life. 

The moment you stop being a victim and are ready to take responsibility for your life, you will discover  new strength and beauty hidden inside. You are the captain of your soul. Don't just drift without a course letting the waves determine your direction, but keep your eyes focused on the destination set before you.

xxx

Photos by Adriana Dobrin

Sweatshirt: Madewell

Skort: Zara

Boots: Zio

California Road Trip pt. III : All Things Under The Sun

These are the last bits and pieces from our trip... Right now I'm in arctic Finland, surrounded by snow, frosty weather and candlelight, so going through  these pictures felt refreshing and distant at the same time. Only if you have experienced a full-on winter, one that lasts longer than three months (sometimes closer to five), you know how much weather can affect your mood. I lived my childhood in Austria and still remember how shocked I was after moving back to Finland when slowly each day got shorter until there was only a few hours of daylight left. Maybe because I knew about a better place, I developed a sour attitude and simply hated living in this Sun forsaken place for almost half of the year and only came to life when the first summer days arrived at our shores. Even though seasonal depression is a real thing (might sound made-up, but when you experience this darkness…), at some point I realised I was just making my own life more miserable. By constantly cursing at how dreadful everything was I only created first world problems that weren't even worth fretting about. Honestly, I perceived myself powerless to my circumstances and shifted the blame of my misery to everything else except my attitude and I did this with all negative things in my life. It did take a moment for me understand this completely, but my thoughts and my words do make a difference in how I feel and I how I will go about with my life. 

My mother introduced me to Viktor E. Frankl years ago. One of my favourite quotes from him is: 

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” 

This is not by some random neurologist and psychiatrist (although he was both). This man was a holocaust survivor. These thoughts were spoken after his time at the Auschwitz concentration camp and after loosing his whole family including his wife. What he understood in the most horrific circumstances was that he, and only he can be in control of himself. Even after he was stripped off all freedom and rights, no one or nothing else could take away his will unless he gave it to them freely. He got to choose who he is and who he will be.

You might have something far worse going on in your life than a dreadful, never-ending winter. But I want to encourage you, that no matter what it is, you're not just helplessly hanging on on the receiving end, having to just take anything that life throws at you.

You are in charge of yourself. You get to choose whether your circumstances define you or if you define your circumstances. You choose to either be a victim or a powerful person.

I know I've been a slow poster, but good things are worth the wait, right? :) My intention is to rather post when I honestly feel like I have something to say instead of coming up with all kinds of randomness just to keep you readers busy. But I'll try to speed up my game and keep the creative juices flowing more often than once a month!

xxx

Photos by me and my husband in Santa Monica, CA

California Road Trip pt. II : A Different World

On our trip we got to experience some of the treasures California has to offer. The first pictures are from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Looking at the creatures of the deep blue made me think of all the variety there is when I dare to look outside of my box. Even though we humans tend to create comfort zones, where everything is predictable and not too different, diversity inspires. 

There is so much hidden beauty all around us, but when we look through the glasses of how our society defines beauty, we are deceived. We begin to devalue and undermine features that go against the main stream, the alleged normal. It's such an appalling lie that everyone is supposed to look a certain way. It even sounds completely insane when said out loud, but that my friend is the sad reality. Most of us have been affected by the standards set by whoknowswho for so long, that we're not even able to discern the truth. We are used to sayings like "you're beautiful just the way you are" and " beauty comes from the inside out", but they don't really mean anything to us. We've heard and seen exactly what beautiful looks like through numerous presentations in the media and conversations of what's hot and what's not. The saddest part is that after accepting these standards as truths, we don't apply them only to ourselves, but everyone around us and judge accordingly. We become jealous, competitive and self-destructive.

For years I struggled with this myself, until I understood my unique purpose. I believe that we all have a special calling. Everyone brings something distinct to this world that no other person can. Nothing in you is a mistake, you were created intentionally exactly the way you are so that you can carry out your very own purpose. You're not in a competition with anyone else, you can't become someone else and no one can ever be you. Why waste any more time trying to be something you're not? 

When you stop fighting against who you are, you begin to unleash all the potential placed inside of you. When you start loving yourself, you learn to love others and you're able to focus on your own mission.

Dare to be different… Dare to be you.

The rest of the pictures are from our road trip down Highway 1 and from a very special location called the Hearst Castle (please google it, there are far more pictures showing off this majestic castle). The building began in 1919 and was actually never finished after the builders, the newspaper magnate William Hearst's, death in 1951, but his vision is still very much alive in that place. Great dreamers always leave the greatest legacies.

xxx

Photos by me 

(except the ones with me in them are by my husband)

Editing: Eino Manner