Tag Archives: friendship

Allergies to Negative People

23 August

Getting rid of negative people

If you are on Facebook, you’ve seen that picture floating around that has an arrow that points to your name and says “This Person is Allergic to Negative People” or the one of the button that says  “I’m allergic to Negative People”. There are several versions of these pictures, and I had posted one on my profile a few months ago. I received many likes and was shared by several of my friends. That inspired me to “unfriend” a lot of people on Facebook that are negative or use FB as a way to rant. I told a friend at work about getting rid of negative people, and she shared with me that she had done the same both in real life and in FB.

It made me think of so many people I know that are nice but are afraid to “break-up” with the negative people in their lives. It’s the hardest detox I know! So I wrote a blog post on MentalBlox.com about this. Here is the post:

 

The Hardest Detox | Getting Rid of Negative People in Your Life

Detoxing is a very important step in recovery; it frees you and empowers you by resetting your body to start the new life you want. However, there is a type of detoxing we all hate to do. We can survive all sorts of cleansing and withdrawals, but this type of detox is one of the most difficult ones to do and can sometimes delay our recovery process: Getting rid of the negative influences in our life.

Staying Strong

Without the correct support, it is difficult to stay strong. Having people that support you on your path is probably as vital as taking the first step. If you have people in your life that are holding you back, your chances of staying strong decrease significantly. I have seen it with many of my friends that refuse to let go of some of the people in their lives that contribute to either addictions and/or have not taken that first step of admitting they have a problem too.

Freeing Yourself

Letting go of negative people in your life is simple, yet challenging. I find that breaking up with friends and family has been harder than breaking up with a partner. We tend to hold tighter to our friends and relatives and we defend them against almost anything.   So how do we “break up” relationships that are not serving us? Well, the first step is to stop denying that a person is holding you back or contributing to your addiction. Voicing it, saying it out loud helps: “(fill in the blank) is no longer serving me and my greater good.” “(fill in the blank) doesn’t have my best interest at heart”, “(fill in the blank) causes drama and negativity in my life”, “(fill in the blank) is not supportive of my health and recovery path”.

I finally broke up a relationship that was draining me; a friend that for years fed me her own drama and addictions. I stayed in the relationship because I thought I could help her, but also I was in denial that I enjoyed her weekly calls with drama and stress. It was hard to admit that to myself, but once I did and was honest that I was feeding my addictions thru her drama, I was able to let go.

Learning to Build and Nourish Healthy Relationships

After being in abusive relationships or accepting life with negative people that bring you down, it’s hard to recognize and accept those in our lives that bring us joy and have our best interest at heart.  It will take time to heal and learn how to build new relationships that are honest and loving. Once you have broken free from the negative people in your life, you will have space for new healthy relationships.   If your cup is full of negativity, how can you fill it with positivity?  Empty it first, and make room.  That’s how!  Remember, most unhealthy relationships are one way street, where only one person gets heard.  Once I stopped taking the weekly calls from my negative friends, I gained so many wonderful, healthy friends and learned to have two way friendships instead of just being “the sponge” that soaked up all the other person’s junk.  Now I have true friends and we love each other for who we are… and we all get time to share our lives with each other.   Now that’s healthy!

One of my favorite hobbies is clearing clutter, as in physical junk in my surroundings.  However, now  I knew it was time for me to “clear the clutter” in my relationships. It’s scary at first, but so are all new journeys we take in life.  You will know who those people are and the universe will guide you when you are ready to take that step.  Try to recognize these unhealthy relationships sooner than later so they don’t take a toll on your health and recovery path.

 

How different would your life be without negative people in the picture? Share with us three positive things of not have negative people in your life.

Photo by .Habeeba.

 

 

Zen and Diet: Can Food Assist You on Your Spiritual Path?

22 July

denis sunduki

Denis and his friends started this project last week. It’s a documentary on whether a person with a strong spiritual practice can take their practice to a higher level with the introduction of a healthy diet. Here is some information on the current project as described by Denis below.

Outline for the Documentary

  • Carlos Londono as Director/Star, Frank Padron as Director of Photography, Denis Soukhanov as Producer/Expert
  • Daily spiritual practice should include: meditation, yoga, satsang, kirtan
  • Weekly recorded conversations
  • Expert Interviews
  • Daily Video Journal
  • Diet is based on pH Miracle by Robert Young

Phase 1: Yogic Diet (30 days)

  • End of First Week: coffee replaced with green tea
  • Whole Food Vegetarian Diet
  •  “Whole foods are foods that are unprocessed and unrefined, or processed and refined as little as possible, before being consumed. Whole foods typically do not contain added ingredients, such as salt, carbohydrates, or fat.” – Wikipedia
  • Organic when possible
  • Avoid stimulants (coffee, alcohol, drugs)
  • Multi-vitamin whole foods supplement
  • “In the Ayurvedic tradition, foods that are considered sattvic include most vegetables, ghee (clarified butter), fruits, legumes, and whole grains.” – Yoga Journal
  • Learning Ahimsa
  • Fasting on Ekadashi days (11th lunar day, twice a month)

Phase 2: Beyond Ahimsa – Vegan Diet (30 days)

  • All of the above
  • Avoid all animal products (no dairy, no honey, no eggs)
  • At least one big salad a day
  • Learning about pH of the foods
  • Multi-vitamin whole foods supplement

Phase 3: Alkaline Diet  (30 days)

  • First week (Green Juice fast)
  • 80/20 pH balanced
  •  80/20 Raw Vegan
  • Green Juices and Green Smoothies for breakfast
  • Multi-vitamin whole foods supplement

 

Taking a Break

09 May

I used to hear older people say that once you turn 18 life goes fast. I turned 18 and, well it went fast but not too fast.

I started hearing that it would get worse when you turn 30. Well I just turn 30 and yes life still going fast, but not because I got older. I believe it is because I took on too much since the beginning of 2010.

It all started with going to Bhakti Fest and “preparing” for it. And when I came back from Joshua Tree, I decided to go get certified to teach yoga immediately. It was 20 weekends, and with a full time job, it was extremely busy for me. I also  turned 30 and threw a party to celebrate, then it was thanksgiving, the holidays, and I got married.

Then came New Year’s, still in school, and lots of projects at work. So blogging went out the window and so did reading. I even open a new website/blog that hasn’t taken off yet, but will soon. With all the work and homework and reading and attending yoga classes, I was absolutely ready to quit everything.

In March, I Finally  graduated from Yoga Teacher School and had a breather. But not by much. Friends from out of town came to visit, other friends turned 30 and there were parties to attend, and then at work we decided to move another building. Yey, fun for me!

So instead of drinking heavily, I took on reading fiction series until the next Anita Blake novel is out June 🙂

Taking a break has been great, but I’m ready to blog again and have many ideas for not just this blog but also my new yoga blog.  So stay tuned for more to come here at panyvinito! I think I may actually finish the post with all the “Before & After” pictures… yes! Long over due!

Blessings,

Lina

Happy Thanksgiving & Happy Raw Anniversary!

25 November

Thanksgiving Lunch Nov. 2010

Today Denis and I celebrated Thanksgiving and our 3 year anniversary of being 100% raw vegans.  I didn’t want to put a big production as I usually do every year so we kept it to just the two of us today.

Last week, I got asked: “What are you guys doing for Thanksgiving?” and it’s been so overwhelming for us in the last month that I realized I was not planning ahead for this weekend. I answered back: “I’m just trying to get thru today!” Which was true! I’ve been so busy with my school and work and life that I’ve been just taking it one day at the time.

Oh and no, I’m still not ready to share what I’m going to school for… in case you were hoping I spilled the beans here 🙂 .

So I woke up this morning and I asked Denis what he wanted to eat. His response was: “Nori rolls!”  I smiled and got my phone to show him pictures of last year’s Thanksgiving food and even what I made for Christmas last year to see if it would inspire him to ask for something other than nori rolls. But he still wanted nori rolls and instead he said: “If you feel inspired to make something, go ahead.” And I did.

After all, I was grateful that I didn’t have to stress about having people over, clean the house, and roll out the “big carpet” as I always do for my guests. I LOVE having people over, but with all the weekends I’ve had to give up, I haven’t been able to rest. So these four days were strictly for me and Denis to rest, spend time alone, and beach! And that’s what we did!

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Three Year Anniversary to Denis and I! Here is what I wind up “putting together” for today’s holiday:

Avocado Steaks with Sun-dried tomato gravy, cranberry sauce,  stuffing, and salad with hearts of palm and olives on the side and pumpkin pie for dessert.

Raw Thanksgiving Dinner in Islamorada, Nov. 2007

30 Things I’m Grateful For

14 November

In celebration of my 30th birthday, I decided to share 30 things I’m grateful for and some of the best things I’ve done, encounter, experience so far. They are in no particular order, the list was done in the way I was inspired to write it.

Beach

Moving to the beach is one of the best things Denis and I have done in our lives. It has been a spiritual experience for me. Being so close to the ocean has been life changing for me. There is no bullshit here, just you and your true self. That’s what the ocean has done for me and I’m very grateful for it.

Denis

Yes, he’s been THE BEST thing in my very short life. He’s been there for me when I’m down or up, put up with my drama, and has supported me in my spiritual journey. He’s my universe, my guru, my roomate, my lover, my friend, and partner in everything. I’m grateful the universe put us in the same computer lab back in college.

Shasta

Experiencing Mt. Shasta has been one of the most peaceful and adventures journeys I’ve had. I love that beautiful sacred mountain and I’m thankful for all the experiences I had there.

Sedona

Many milestones happened in Sedona for me. Getting lost in the dessert, discovering truth, dropping my heaviest baggage, drumming circles in the night, and my first Blue Moon experience was there too. I’m only sorry I’m boycotting Arizona for what they’ve done to my people there, but as soon as they get real people back into place, I’m sure I’ll be back to my beloved Sedona.

Kitty

I never had pets, but always considered myself a dog person. We rescued Kitty after hurricane Wilma and she’s been really happy with us and loving. When I’m sick or alone in the house, she stays with me all the time. She’s unlike many cats and has taught me that you can’t have two controlling people trying to do one thing. I’m glad she’s off the streets and she enjoys being home in a warm bed with fresh food everyday.

Anita Blake

Anita has taught me so much, specially things I already knew but had forgotten. She inspires me to be brave and not be ashamed. She taught me to never ask someone to do something you would never do yourself. She reminded me that sometimes the monsters are better than humans. She’s now one of my best friends and I’m so grateful to have her in my life.

Raw

Eating raw food has been an incredible journey and learning experience. I have been able to accomplish so many things thanks to being raw. I can’t say I’ll be raw my entire life because life is uncertain, but if I can, I’ll stay raw forever and ever.

Kirtan and Yoga

Discovering Kirtan and yoga 9 years ago was life changing for me. It jump start my heart to the right path and continues to guide me in my amazing spiritual journey.

Blogging

When I first started blogging, it was hard for me to break away from my usual way of writing college papers or office reports. It took a long time to feel comfortable in here. Blogging how now become another tool in my way of healing. I blog for 7 blogs now where I can express my knowledge or feelings in all different aspects of my life. It’s so great to be able to share content with different audiences.

Moving to USA

I always knew I had to go somewhere far and when the opportunity came I took it. I’m grateful I was able to come here and start my spiritual journey which otherwise would not had happened in Colombia.

My Prius

I’m all about making a statement, voting with my money, and walk the walk. Even though the prius may not be the best car for the environment, it makes a stand and it shows people they can afford to be green. The prius is one of the best things I’ve purchased, and if I can afford one, anyone can too!

Kids

I’m extremely grateful for not having children. I’ve been able to be a mother to others that needed one. I’ve been able to experience things that otherwise would be difficult to do if I had children. I’ve been able to experience unconditional love without having to bring another human being to this overcrowded world. And someday I hope to repay this experience by helping children who don’t have parents or are alone in the world just like I was.

Volunteering

I’ve volunteered in different projects, charities, organizations, etc. It’s always an amazing experience to give back without expecting anything in return. To be able to give from your heart and not because someone expects you but because your body, your heart, your soul, your mind wants to. I’m grateful to give back every time I can.

The 2001 Omega Yoga Conference in Miami

This is one of the most amazing experiences I’ve had in my very short life. Denis dragged me to volunteer at this conference 9 years ago and it was life changing for me. I discovered Yoga Trance Dance and haven’t been the same since then. I’m so grateful for having attended this conference because it was one of the milestones in my life.

Shiva Rea

She’s a Goddess and absolutely loving. Shiva has inspired me to take a leap of faith and jump in to something I would not have the courage to do without the love.

Ganesh

My favorite Elephant God! He’s with me at all times either on my neck, my arm, my purse, my bag, my car, my office, every room in my house. Ganesh helps me remove obstacles and protects me. I’m thankful he’s with me every minute.

Manifesting

Learning to perfect manifestation techniques is one of the best things I’ve accomplished. I’m very grateful for knowing how to do it, and for everything I have manifested.

Clearing Clutter

My favorite hobby is clearing clutter. I first discover clearing clutter on my way back from my first trip to Sedona and it’s now one of my favorite spiritual practices. Creating sacred space in your own space by clearing clutter is something I strongly recommend to anyone. I’m thankful for respecting my own space by clearing clutter and creating a sacred space.

Oprah

Yeah ok, she’s in the list. But not because of her show or her “women power” spirit (which yes, I love), but for teaching me to forgive myself and for sharing her story. I’m very thankful for her openness because that contribute to my spiritual journey and healing process.

Mayhem Fest

I wrote an entire post about this, and I’m grateful for that experience.

Bhakti Fest

Experiencing Bhakti for 6 days was amazing. I wrote about and my journey to preparing for it. I’m grateful to myself for allowing this to happen for me.

Suzanne Sterling and C.C. White

Discovering Suzanne and C.C. was like finding a jackpot at the end of the rainbow. No other two women have inspired me so greatly to explore my spiritual musicality. Their voices are filled with so much love and devotion that is intoxicating! They are Goddesses and I will never forget them!

David Deida

Mr. Deida opened my mind to love and healing. His teachings, work, concepts are mind blowing and extremely accurate. He’s contribute to my journey and I’m very grateful I was introduced to his work.

Laurell K. Hamilton

Laurell is my newest role model. She is very honest and open to sharing her love for writing and caring for her fans. She’s helped me heal wounds with her own personal stories of healing and I’m extremely grateful have found her, her work, and her blog.

Becoming a Vegan

Becoming a vegan has been one of the best things I’ve done. Nothing teaches you more compassion and freedom than being a vegan. Not only has it improved my health, but it opened my mind to a new world that connect my spiritual path with every other aspect of my life. I’m grateful I changed my lifestyle and eating habits to create an environment for compassion and love to help me heal.

Belly Dance

One of the best things I’ve done for my body and my belly. Nothing encourages femininity and freedom like Belly Dance does. My belly and I are very happy and thankful for Belly Dance.

Osho Zen Tarot Cards

I pull a card every week and that’s the meditation or subject I work on for the week. Many times things I don’t want to “fix” or heal come up, but I’m grateful they do so that I can stay honest and work on those issues.

Music

Music has always been there for me. It was the first way I knew how to heal. It keeps my mind and heart open to new things. To not judge and to listen. To really listen to what’s there. It’s the only way I can successfully meditate, to get lost in the sounds. I’m grateful for the music in my life.

Me

I’m thankful for me. For all the work I’ve put into my healing and spiritual path. For everything I’ve accomplished and for being here today to write this blog. For forgiven myself and loving myself even though it was the hardest to do. As I celebrate 30 years of pain, love, happiness, sadness, madness, misery, joy,  passion, accomplishments, blessings, etc, I’m thankful for being here today and sharing these 30 things I’m grateful for.

~ Blessings

Preparing for Bhakti Fest

08 September

When I found out that I was going to Bhakti Fest 2010, I was extremely excited but realized I had to get in shape. Why you may ask? Well, the festival is 4 days of Kirtan, yoga, and speakers. Kirtan is almost happening 24/7, so I knew I’ll be sitting for a long time.

To prepare for Bhakti fest, I did what I usually do for any concert or event I go to. I practiced all the songs and studied all the musicians and learned everything I needed about the event. I don’t need to memorize the mantras for kirtan, because we know most of them already from all other kirtan events we have attended over the last 9 years.

For Yoga though, I actually started by registering for yoga classes early this year. But then I quit for awhile and then panicked that time was running out and I was still not ready for 4 days of yoga. So I signed up for an unlimited class pass for vinyasa flow yoga and have been attending three times a week. I guess you may think I’m nuts preparing like I was running a marathon, but if you think about it, I’m doing a “yoga marathon”.

To add more pressure, Denis actually registered me for an all-day-intensive with my FAVORITE yoga teacher/master/goddess ever! Shiva Rea! If there were yoga groupies (I’m sure there are), I would be her groupie. I absolutely adore her and have taken every class she has taught in South Florida. My favorite class is her Yoga Trance Dance.

One year, she invited Denis and I as special guests to one of her classes and it was awesome. I don’t know if she’ll remember me this time because I have lost a lot of weight since the last I was in her class, but I always keep her in my heart. So I gotta be ready for her class.

It’s going to be an exciting time for us, since we get to see a lot of our favorite musicians and speakers. Krishna Das, Deva Premal, Jai Uttal, Geoffrey Gordon, Bhagavan Das, Wah, Prema Hara to name a few. Speakers include Ram Dass, Sam Geppi, etc. Yoga teachers include Shiva Rea, Saul David Raye, Sean Corn, Duncan Wong, and many more!

Hopefully in all my bliss this week, I’ll be able to tweet about this wonderful event.  In the meantime, here is a preview of my favorite kind a yoga. Blessings!

Road Trip to ECHO Farms

01 September

About a week ago, Denis, my new BFF, and I drove to Fort Myers to ECHO Farms to check out their edible plants and trees and see what we could get. After a quick stop in Naples for lunch, we headed north on I-75 to Bayshore Rd and arrived at the farm.

ECHO stands for Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization, they are a non-profit organization that educates and trains people that work or volunteer around the world to help communities in need.

It was getting ready to rain so we had to hurry. But the staff at the farms was very friendly and spent time with us showing us all the greens and fruits available.

The prices were reasonable and they had a nice variety of edible greens.  So here are some of the trees and plants they had at ECHO farms:

Avocado Trees! This made me want to have a yeard to plant some of these!

Grapefruits! Our favorites! Once again I caught myself staring at it and wondering how I can grow a grapefruit tree on the beach! LOL

Neem: We bought this little tree and I hope I won’t kill it. Don’t know exactly what I’ll use it for, but I’m sure I be making something!

Tropical fruit trees: As most of you know, Denis and I stay away from tropical fruit as most is acidic. But ECHO had a good variety of tropical fruit trees if anyone is interested.

Jaboticaba Tree: This is one we love, but won’t be growing in our yard anytime soon for sure. But at least now I know where I can get one.

Katuk: This one will be on my salads this week for sure! We got it and it was about $5 bucks! You can get any better than that!

We also purchased two varieties of hot peppers, a moringa plant, spinach plant, and cilantro seeds for next season and worm manure. It was a great trip to the West coast!

Becoming a Morning Person and Exercising

22 July

One of the intentions I made for the Blue Moon was to become a morning person. I have always been a night owl, better yet a vampire. I become alive at night and died during the day. Always have.
Denis is the same way. Which is not good when we both have 9-to-5 jobs and neither one of us wants to go to sleep at night.
So this year I decided I was going to try and teach my body different, to wake up early and also exercise in the morning… after 29 years of being a night person. “YEAH RIGHT” my body said and laughed in my face.

I tried many times and failed. Of course it didn’t help I stayed up watching TV, reading books, or blogging. But I made a breakthrough! After two weeks of waking up earlier and earlier, my body is finally doing it on its own. Mind you I still wake up ready to kill someone and destroy the world, but I wake up. And to my surprise, I wake up to roller blade!

I don’t know how long this will last as so many of my other “trends” for lack of a nicer term for addiction, but the great thing is that I was able to do it and enjoy it too.

Of course, it’s now 1:48am and I’m here typing away, and probably won’t get up by 7:30am to rollerblade, but that’s ok. I also need to learn to give myself some credit for trying.

Some of you have heard me say this before, my online friend Mike at 365 Ways to Go Green, has a blog about how you can do one green thing a day, well I can open another blog call “365 excuses to NOT exercise” because I can come up with all sorts of excuses why I cannot exercise.

In the meantime, I’m enjoying rollerblading in the morning. Now if I could just get myself to a yoga class, that would be awesome! LOL But one thing at the time!

Photo by alykat

Green Series

22 June

When I started this blog, I decided I didn’t want to rant and be negative. However, lately I’ve been feeling absolutely fed up about people not awakening to what is happening and taking action. I know that part of my frustration is because I don’t want to “convert” people and preach, so I stay quiet and don’t express how much other people hurt me by not participating in conserving resources or protecting the environment.  So in this blog I’m actually going to complain and rant about this situation, and then offer my suggestions as to what people should be doing to contribute to the planet.  Specially raw vegans and people with children!

Warning: If this is the first blog you are reading in my site, please stop now and read everything else cause in this one I have nothing positive to say!… well maybe at the end.

Raw Vegans

Ok, so first let me start by complaining about the people who are raw vegans, and I’m referring specifically to the ones that don’t recycle, don’t re-use, don’t compost, don’t drive fuel efficient cars, and don’t simply care. I go to a farmer’s market on Saturdays and noticed that they don’t recycle at the market. So EVERYTHING becomes trash! Everyone that eats there, uses the plastic containers and utensils provided that later wind up in the trash. Every juice at the market is bottled in plastic as well, which winds up in the trash. I’ve been observing the customers of the market, and they don’t even care, and since I live in my own little “green” world, where everyone recycles and reuses, and doesn’t waste, I didn’t realize how much trash they wind up with at the end of the day.

I brought back all my glass containers for them to reuse and another customer asked me why I did that. My answer is: if they can reuse it and don’t have to purchase more glass containers, they may be able to reduce the price of the butters, olives, etc that are packaged in these glass containers. He was looking at me like I had giving him the best news of his life.

When I sit at the market to eat my food, for which I bring my own containers, utensils, and reusable towels for, I see people drinking juice after juice and throwing away the plastic bottles. Then these same people eat their food and throw away the utensils. Then, they order a dessert or ice cream and take a BRAND NEW PLASTIC utensil which they then throw away again! Oh and if they have another ice cream, then they get a brand new spoon and repeat!

What’s the point in being a raw vegan (of any flavor) if you still an aware ridiculous person that doesn’t care for the environment? This is why I say that food is not all that matters!

Parents

So now for the people with kids! One of the reasons why I choose not to have kids is because there is not much to leave them. Water is going to run out in a few years, if we are lucky maybe two decades. And that’s just one very important resource that I’m using as an example. So why have kids? So that they can suffer for my peers’ and my ancestors’ mistakes and laziness and greed? No thank you!

But if I was a parent, I would certainly be doing EVERYTHING in my power to leave something of substance to my children. And I don’t mean a car, a house, a trust fund; I mean clean water, clean air, stable fauna and flora, a world to live in.

How is it possible to bring a person into this world and be so unconscious and irresponsible? Driving an SUV, living in big house that waste resources, eating shitty food and feeding kids that same shitty food, not being conscious of the impact of every action. Every piece of trash, napkin, paper towel, diaper, toy, clothes, hamburgers, soda, designer coffee, bottle of water you use and consume came from somewhere possibly a natural resource, an animal, or an underpaid person/child in China or Bangladesh.  How will you explain that to your children?

Now that I’ve complained enough and probably got many people (and possibly friends) pissed off, I’m starting a “Green” series of blog posts that can help all of you zombies out there to contribute in your daily actions little by little to wake up and smell the trash you are making. So I’ll post them as I write.

This is How YOU Make Me Feel

Your actions hurt me and the world.  I cry when….

I see you grab paper towels, paper napkins, printer paper, anything paper and forget that was once a tree.

I hear you letting water run and be wasted.

I see you throwing away a recycle or reusable plastic/glass bottle.

I see you uses plastic bag for your shopping and then throwing them away in the trash.

I see you purchase a brand new plastic tupperware instead of reusing containers from other foods.

I see you feed yourself and your children garbage.

I see you contribute to companies that abuse children and workers.

I see you feel up your stupid useless hummer, your porsche cayenne, or your vw toureg‘s gas tank.

I see you water your useless lawn instead of planting food.

I see you vote for people like Sara Palin that kill animals for fun.

If you care about me, your children, your family, and your friends, please take a moment to think about how you can change one thing in your life TODAY and contribute to save resources.

Blessings,

Lina

It’s Not All about the Food

13 May

My Aunt and I

After over 8 years in the path to health, I can safely say it’s not all about the food. The more I learn, the more I understand that one thing alone is not going to make a difference. It can start the way to a healthier lifestyle, but it’s not the ticket for sure.

My favorite Aunt passed away last year. She was a happy woman who drank coffee and smoke for a very long time and yet she was in good physical health. She was surrounded by friends and family who loved her. She also kept herself very active and had a great memory and would tell me great stories about her family and friends. She worked hard and enjoyed her life very much.

I was lucky to spend a few summers with her and was able to learn so much from her. In fact, my love for romaine lettuce started because my aunt would eat them for dinner everyday. I didn’t know there were different kinds of lettuce back then, but she taught me and inspired me to eat them. We also eat a lot of candy and coffee, but we had a great time!

She taught me to reuse and not create garbage before it was trendy. She was creative and the first marketing guru I learned from. She taught me how to count money backwards and how to clean windows the right way. She took me for my driving test when I first got my license and helped me pass the test. She was very charming and polite to even the hardest people and customers ever and that’s something I apply in my life everyday. She always smiled and kept herself busy and up to date with news and trends.

She was 90 years old when she passed away a year ago, and that’s how I know it’s not all about the food. She was happy with what she had, her work, her daughter, her dogs, and friends, and of course her favorite niece, ME! 🙂

I miss her very much, but I know that she’s with me in my heart and that what I learned from her will stay with me forever. I want to honor her memory with this blog but also share that there is more to life than food. We all need love, purpose, exercise, food, happiness, friends, pets, plants, air, ocean, candy, and more to live a healthy life.

I’m not endorsing smoking or drinking coffee or eating candy, not did I changed my believes about raw vegan organic food. I simply believe that food alone is not the key to a healthy long lifestyle. So today, I encourage you to see what is missing in your life to make it complete, and to remember that one thing alone is not enough. Healthy food is not the only solution!