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Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Turning Our Problems Into Solutions


Yesterday, after I received a phone call from my child’s school about a rumor of a possible threat to the students, I could feel the tension creeping into my neck. This is the third time, in approximately a year, that something like this has happened. My thoughts were racing and my stress levels were rising with each thought. I wanted to rant and complain about the problem. For a few minutes, I allowed the anger to simmer and even contemplated ways that I could approach the situation. With each negative thought, my anxiety escalated. Until, I decided to stop it. 

When I forced myself to look at the situation as a whole, instead of the viewing the parts that made me angry, then I was able to defuse my own anger and change my state. 

First of all, I had to realize that my son was fine. He was even texting me. So instead of allowing my mind to race to those dark places of fear and uncertainty, I felt gratitude for his safety. Next, I forced myself to think rationally. Reacting to a situation is never a good idea. If I truly want to address the problem, then I know that I need to do so as someone who wants to solve the problem, instead of creating more problems. 

The only way for me to truly address the problem is with prayer. God knows the situation. He knows the solution. In order for me to be able to handle the situation wisely, I know that I need to ask Him for guidance. God is in control, and I trust Him to help me always. 

I will not allow the devil to make my fear bigger than my faith. Nor will I allow the enemy to steal my peace. 

Love and blessings, 


Candida 

Monday, February 27, 2017

Love, Serve, Repeat

What a blessing it is to serve others. Helping someone else is the closest we will ever get to serving God. We are all His little children and He wants us to help each other. Imagine how much greater our lives could be if we were always ready to help someone else. 

When we can adapt the my-life-is-not-just-about-me mindset, then our lives will be more joyful. Jesus served the people. At one point, He even washed the disciples’ feet. He left us an example of how He wants us to act. Keeping score and expecting people to help us because we helped them is not serving. That is doing business. And it causes us to get our feelings hurt. Especially when we expect people to treat us as we have treated them. 

If we truly serve others from our heart, however, and love them unconditionally, then they won’t have the power to hurt us. Because we will have no expectations of them. Even if they reject our love and help, then it won’t hurt us. In that type of situation, we would just love and release them. 

The devil is the one who tries to put restrictions on our love and generosity. We need, however, to learn how to love freely and unconditionally. Then we would have an opportunity to make a difference in the world. Let’s start today. 

Today let’s take every opportunity that we can find to help someone else. Even the smallest gesture counts. If we all commit to doing this, can you imagine how much better our world will be?

Love and blessings,


Candida 

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Do You Have A Vision For Your Life?



Do you ever allow yourself the opportunity to dream—without limitations or restrictions? So often we get caught up in life and forget about our dreams. We settle for the life that we have instead of going after the life that we want. 

Barely making it through the day, however, is not really living. That is only existing. Suppressing our dreams is what makes us miserable. We all have greatness inside of us waiting to come out. When we live according to our purpose and do the things that set our soul on fire, then we will live fulfilled and joyful. Even just working towards our vision gives us a sense of satisfaction.

Life is too short to be miserable. What have you always wanted to do? What type of person do you want to be? If you could design the life of your dreams, what would it look like? Take some time today to think about it. Every day is a new opportunity to start over. 

 Love and blessings,


Candida

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Why I Fix My Hair Every Day


I get comments all the time from people about my hair. Some of them are nice and some of them are not. We all have different thoughts, however, about various things. Just because we do things differently doesn’t make it right or wrong. So I’m going to explain why I fix my hair every day. Not because I feel that I need to explain it, but because I want to. 

For years I lived in a hole that I created for myself. My thoughts and daily actions continuously brought me down. I was always rushing from one moment to the next. My life was a constant struggle. On so many levels, I didn’t even like myself. And I didn’t do anything to take care of myself. Every day I felt as if I barely made it through the day. 

Lying in the bed for months, barely able to walk and consumed with pain, changed me. It helped me to get my priorities straight. My health and mindset are extremely important to me. So every day I do simple things for myself. I blog, exercise, meditate, read my Bible, drink superfoods, and fix my hair. Taking time to get ready every morning sets me up for a better day. It boosts my confidence and makes me feel better about myself. I also use that time to listen to a podcast, audiobook, trainings for my fitness business, or work on chapters for my next book in my head. It is a daily gift to myself. I enjoy the time and look forward to it every day. 

While this works for me, I know that we are all in different places in our life. Regardless, take a few minutes every single day to take care of you. Do something that makes you happy and something that makes you feel good about yourself. You deserve to feel great!

Love and blessings, 

Candida


Friday, February 24, 2017

Someone Else’s Success Is Not Our Failure


It does’t matter what you do or how great that you are someone will still find fault with you. Social media has really opened my eyes to this. Every day I see people bullying and trying to tear each other down. When I witness this, it breaks my heart. 

We need to help one another. I can’t imagine intentionally causing another person pain. So often, however, we don’t realize what we are doing. Sometimes we feel that we need to put someone else down to make ourselves look better. What we don’t realize is that someone else’s success is not our failure. 

Putting down someone else’s accomplishment doesn’t change it. It just changes our ability to share the joy with them. This is something that I try so hard to watch in myself. I hate the feeling of envy or jealously. Every time that it starts to creep up in my life, I try to immediately change my thoughts. 

No one is perfect. We all make mistakes and have to deal with the devil daily. The most important thing we can do is watch and pray. When we start having bad feelings toward another person, we just need to take our situation and feelings to the Lord. He can help us see our situation with a different perspective. 

 Love and blessings,


Candida 

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Don’t Give Up: Strategize A New Solution


The devil wants us to give up. He places stumbling blocks in front of us continuously. So often, we stumble over them without even realizing it. Our enemy knows that he cannot defeat us if he comes charging at us all at once. Then we would recognize his intentions and call out to God for help. Instead, he distracts us and discourages us. 

One of my biggest problems lately has been my inability to focus. My thoughts are scattered all over the place. I’ve developed a bad case of squirrel brain and I’ve been allowing it to dominate my day. Sure I’ve been busy all day, but my tasks have not moved me closer to my goals. I’ve allowed the art of busyness to interfere with my productivity. 

Until now! I will not waste another day. In order to succeed, I need a system to help me overcome my problem and habits to ensure that I keep my commitment to myself. Starting today, I am changing how I do things.

For the next thirty days, I am going to do these three things daily, and see how my life changes. My mind is screaming at me that I won't do it. I'll fail. But my heart reminds me of how far I've already come. 

  1. Make a list of things that need to be completed daily. 
  2. Schedule the tasks in my calendar.
  3. Commit to doing them daily. 

When life gets tough, we can’t just throw our hands up in the air and accept defeat. We need to talk our situation over with the Lord and develop new strategies and habits to accomplish our goals. Most of all, we have to keep trying until we are able to overcome whatever is hindering our life and our ability to be the best version of ourselves. 

Love and blessings, 


Candida 

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

What Kind Of Energy Are You Radiating?


A few years ago, I was having a really bad day. I was in pain and nothing was going right for me. As I went to pay for my items, the cashier jolted me when he said, “I hope your day gets better.” It shocked me because I hadn’t said one word to him. I hadn’t complained or even made eye contact. But he sensed my mood because of my expression and body language. Afterwards, it made me sad that I had radiated such negative energy. After analyzing my day and even my life, I realized there was no excuse for my actions. My life wasn’t as bad as I was perceiving it to be. 

So now I try to always smile when I am around other people. Most people smile back at me and it gives me a connection with others. Sometimes I think, I wish you well, as I smile at them. I want the energy that comes from me to be positive and loving. 

We all have problems. No one is exempt from them. Some days it is harder for me to smile than others, but it forces me to think about the other person instead of just thinking of myself. Even when they are rude or short with me. I take it as a cry for help. Instead of lashing back at them, I try to respond with love. A little kindness and compassion could change the course of their day. 

When I notice my thoughts are turning negative, I immediately start practicing gratitude. As I shift my thoughts, my mood changes. The devil will sneak his negative, hateful thoughts in our mind whenever he can. We have to develop a plan to notice and change these thoughts as soon as possible. The more we do it, the better at it that we will become. 

When I do school visits, I challenge the children to smile at everyone they meet each day and count how many people smile back at them. It has the boomerang effect. Whatever we send out into the world has a way of coming back to us. Today, I challenge you to send out love and positivity. 

Love and blessings,


Candida

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Laser Therapy Progress: My Scar Is Healing


For someone who loves words, I am at a loss for just the right words to communicate what my heart feels. As a little girl, I prayed for God to heal me because I hated being scarred and stared at. As an adult, my reasons are completely different. I want to continue working so that I can help others, as well as enjoy my life. I know how it feels to be consumed with shame, pain, hopelessness, and depression. I also know how it feels to overcome it all. 
The situation with my elbow and thumb sparked a whole new level of hope for me. God showed me then that He is in control of it all. He heard my prayers as a child. Through the years, He has saw my tears of pain and held me through the darkest of times. Through it all, He would never allow me to give up. At my lowest moments, He would always give me a tiny spark of hope. 

Now He has transformed my hope into healing. A few weeks ago, I got the scar on my arm measured via ultrasound. During that time, several cyst were also discovered around my scar. When I first started receiving laser therapy treatments on my arm, the scar was so tight that my hand was going numb, my rib was coming out of alignment, I had trouble with my shoulder, chest muscles, and my neck hurt. I was having trouble sleeping, and preforming every day tasks. Now weeks later, the pain in my arm is completely gone, and my rib is staying in place. The numbness is gone in my hand and I don't feel the usual muscle knots, I always have. Praise God!

When we compared the measurements yesterday, I was amazed, shocked, and so incredibly grateful! Also there were no cysts. 

Scar measurements:

02/06/2017 02/20/2017
AP Medial: .77 cm APMedial: .63 cm
AP Middle: 1.46 cm AP Middle: .11 cm
AP Lateral: 2.1 cm AP Lateral: .90 cm
Back:         2.82 cm Back .91 cm
The pictures on the top are before the laser therapy and the ones on the bottom are after.  The lighting and angles are a little different. Honestly, I didn't realize that I'd get to post before and after pictures or I would have taken more before pictures. 

Every time I look at these results, I can’t help but smile and thank my Lord. He is healing me. The scar that I’ve had since birth is healing. My mind can’t even comprehend how this is going to change my life. For so long, I’ve lived with constant pain. And now I have hope that I can overcome it all. It all happens in God’s timing. Even if this doesn’t give me the level of healing that my heart desires, I have ever confidence in my Lord. He can create something else to help me. 

If you would like more information on this, please contact Foster Chiropractic Wellness Center. Dr. Stephen Foster has been treating me for years and he has never given up on me. He is always searching for new techniques and ways to help me. My results with the laser therapy are phenomenal, and I would love for it to help you as well. 

Love and blessings, 


Candida

Monday, February 20, 2017

Be The Change You Want To See In The World


It is so easy to blame others for the things that we don’t like in the world and in ourselves. If we would learn, however, to take responsibility for our own actions and learn from our mistakes, then we could grow and prosper. 

We can’t learn anything, if we think we know it all. In order to grow in our lives, we need to be humble and willing to grow. Then, God can use us. 

Imagine at what we could do, if we truly humbled our hearts and allowed God to use us according to His will and not ours. We all have the power and potential to make a difference in the world. The ability to be a leader and touch other people’s lives is in us all. We just need to seek God’s wisdom for our life. When we live our lives according to His will for us, it will inspire others, and make a difference. 

We need to lead with actions and not words. When we focus our attention on what we can do, then we take responsibility for our actions, and open our hearts to give and receive love. What can we do today to make someone else’s day better? 


Love and blessings, 


Candida

Sunday, February 19, 2017

From Heartaches To Blessings

This morning was tough. I woke up in so much pain. My hand was swollen and throbbing. It was such a struggle for me to get ready. At one point, I was drying my hair with my hand submerged in a cup of ice water, in tears and praying for relief. When it gets this bad, it’s hard for me to not feel some type of self-pity. 

As always, God gave me what I needed to get ready and go to church. He helped me to flip the switch on my thoughts, and use this trial to get closer to Him. He died for me. He suffered for me. My aches and pains are not worthy to be compared to what He suffered for me.

The same love that held Him on the cross, still exists today. He loves me and He cares for me. And He will never leave me. He hears my prayers and understands my tears. When my strength fails, His strength begins. He knows my situation, and exactly how He will help me. 

In times like these that I am reminded of what is truly important in life. All the things that distract me every day are not even important. When I count the magnitude of my blessings, I realize that I have absolutely nothing to complain about. My God is wonderful and I am blessed with so much more than I deserve. It is a great honor to be a child of the King.

Love and blessings,


Candida 

Saturday, February 18, 2017

Conquering Negative Thoughts With Gratitude


The devil is a master manipulator. He can take any situation and turn it into a tragedy. Regardless of our intelligence, he has a way of showing up expectedly and slipping his lies into our mind before we realize what is happening. It’s his job to challenge us.

Most of the time, instead of being on opposite sides of the war, we join forces with him. He works in our mind. He is the negative voice that we hear in our mind. In all honesty, no one has ever said more hurtful words to me than I have said to myself. Just this week, I have been beating myself up because my hand is swollen and painful. Of course it’s my fault. I must have done something wrong to cause it. Maybe if I was stronger then I would be able to workout without always getting injured. 

As my thoughts continued to bring me down, I recognized them for the lies that they are. All of my limbs are affected from Amniotic Band Syndrome and yet I still workout every day. Instead of allowing the devil to use it as a weakness against me, I see it as a strength. Without the challenges I face every day, then I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I’m used to adversity. I battle it every day. And through all the battles, I have developed abilities that I might have never acquired otherwise. I can modify anything to fit my needs. When life gets tough, I don’t quit. But I keep looking for another way to do what needs to be done.

Today, I celebrated the fact that I completed three weeks of yoga, instead of beating myself up over my swollen hand. While I wasn’t able to do all of the moves, I did what I could and I enjoyed it. That’s what it is all about. Regardless of what we go through, we should learn to love ourselves through it. Beating ourselves up about it won’t change the situation. We can, however, change our mindset about the situation. 

Gratitude is my favorite way to change my mindset. When I start listing, and actually feeling, all the things that I am grateful for it lifts my mood. I have learned that I can’t be feeling down and grateful at the same time. So every day I make it a point to find some time to be grateful. 

I will not be sad for the few things that I can’t do, when God blesses me to be able to do so many things.

Love and blessings,


Candida 

Friday, February 17, 2017

B E L I E V E


So often we feel alone. As if we are in this great big world and expected to figure our life out on our own. God, however, did not set it up that way. He is our leader. When we follow Him and seek His guidance then He will help us. 

I don’t know about you, but I often get caught up in the how. In my heart, I know God can perform miracles and make the impossible possible. It’s my mind that I have to convince. My mind wants all the facts— the how, why, where, when of it all. Lots of times this causes me to stand in my own way. 

We need to remember, however, that we can only see a fraction of it all. We don’t know all the pieces to the puzzle or how God has been arranging them for us since we were born. Sometimes we get stuck in our limited beliefs, and only believe what we can see. This is where trust comes in. God has a plan. He knows how it will all work out. He just wants us to believe that it will—wholeheartedly, without wavering.

Once we can get into that type of mindset, then we can accomplish more than we even dreamed possible. God has an abundance. His resources are unlimited. Sometimes we just need to take a step back from our situation and look at it from a different perspective. Usually we overlook the necessary step to help us reach our goals because it is too easy. We expect it to be so hard, but God’s plans are easy. 

We don’t have to know how it will all workout to belief that it will. The Bible is filled with examples of this. When I think of how God parted the Red Sea, delivered Noah and his family, shut the mouth of the lion for Daniel, and protected Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego from the fiery furnace, then I know that He can and will help me, too. We just need to believe. 

Have a wonderful day!

Love and blessings, 


Candida

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Finding The Certainty In The Uncertainty


If there is one thing that I have learned about life, it is that we can’t predict what we will happen to us. I went to bed last night just fine, and woke up at 3 a.m. with my left hand throbbing and swollen. Since then I’ve been elevating it and using ice every hour and the swelling and pain are not budging. While I’m not sure what caused it exactly, I’m thinking that maybe it was the yoga program I’ve been doing. It puts my weight on my left hand and stretches it. It may just have stretched it too much, too fast. 

Honestly, I could just cry. The yoga is helping me control my pain on other parts of my body. I started doing it to help my arm recover from building the muscle too much. Now I really don’t know what else to do. If I was a quitter, I’d quit right now. 

  • Walking and running hurts my feet and left hip.
  • Weight lifting hurts my hands and right arm.
  • Yoga hurts my left hand.
  • Cardio causes a misalignment in my ankle. 
  • Working my core too much hurts my ribs.

Thankfully, God has blessed me with the ability to figure things out. I will not just give up, but I will keep trying until I figure it out. While I may not be fighting for my life, every day I feel like I am fighting for the quality of my life. My God is bigger than my enemy. He will help me overcome every single obstacle that the devil places before me. Of that I am certain. And when it is all said and done, I will be victorious through my God. 

My friends, don’t give up on your own battle. God will help you. He has a plan and the strength you need to get through this. When the enemy is raging all around you, find a quiet place and talk to the Lord. He has your answer. Ask Him to help you. 

P.S. Before I went to sleep last night, this was the last verse I read in my Bible. God was preparing me then for my battle that He knew was coming for me.  

Job 23:10 KJV
But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. 

Love and blessings,


Candida

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Why Getting Enough Sleep Is Important


For years, when my kids were little, I was sleep deprived. I was barely able to squeeze in 4 or 5 hours a night then. Between everything that needed to be done and a sick baby, I was always exhausted. The effects of very little sleep caused me to become sick. I always had a virus or some type of infection, and it was so hard for me to lose weight. Then, I didn’t realize that sleep alters our immune system and our whole body. 

Now it seems as if a lack of sleep is some badge of honor. We have conditioned ourselves to sleep less so we can do more. Then to combat the lack of sleep, we often drink tons of caffeine and sugar to compensate. Only it doesn’t. Steady streams of caffeine might help us make it through the day, but it doesn’t give us the same benefits as sleep. 

Long term sleep deprivation has serious side effects on our body, and is linked to certain diseases.

  1. Diabetes
  2. Heart disease
  3. Cancer 
  4. Alzheimers
  5. Decreased immune function 
  6. Depression

When we sleep, our bodies heal. If I understand it correctly, it also organizes our brain and declutters it. It helps us to figure things out. Sometimes when I work all day on projects or speaking engagements, I become so exhausted mentally. No amount of caffeine can help me. But a power nap or meditation energizes me. 

We need to always listen to our bodies and do what we can to help ourselves. Now I am very protective of my sleep. I make it a priority to go to bed early enough to get in my required sleep. If I don’t my whole day feels wasted. I am not creative or able to concentrate. 

Even though we may try, sometimes it’s just not possible to get enough sleep. In those cases, meditation might be helpful. According to Dr. Mercola, twenty minutes of meditation is equivalent to a 1.5 hour nap. Meditation has helped me so much. It helps me to relax and to not feel overwhelmed. I have apps for guided meditation. But I am also learning how to do it myself, with music and deep breathing. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend it. 

Have a wonderful day!

Love and blessings, 

Candida

Resources: 


Tuesday, February 14, 2017

The Gift Of Love


Love is one of the most treasured gifts that we will ever receive. It breaks through language barriers and has the power to heal. Before we can truly feel the magnitude of its power, we have to first welcome it into our hearts.

God is love! When we allow Him to come into our hearts, He places His love in our hearts. It is so powerful that we can love our enemies and even pray for them. His love strengthens us and makes us want to share it with others. The love of God equips us to serve Him and teaches us how to love and serve others. 

While it is wonderful to celebrate Valentine’s Day with our loved ones, it is also so important for us to remember where that amazing love originated from. God set this up so beautifully. The more love that we give, the more love that we receive. 

Here are some of my favorite verses on love.


John 3:16 (KJV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

1 Corinthians 13:13 (KJV)
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

1 John 4:7 (KJV)
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

1 John 4:19 (KJV)
19 We love him, because he first loved us.

John 15:12-13 (KJV)
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Happy Valentine’s Day!


Candida

Monday, February 13, 2017

The Struggle Is Real And It’s Hard


Anytime that we make changes in our life, it will be challenging at first. Especially if our mind is not in the right place. When our thoughts line up with our actions, however, it makes it so much easier to embrace the change, rather than fighting it. 

My decision to completely eliminate dairy was not one that I wanted to make. Whether or not I add creamer to my coffee does not change my weight, but it will change how I feel. Sometimes we don’t want to make those tough decisions for ourselves because we know that it will be hard. Ignoring the problem is also a decision. However, it is just not the right one for me. 

The only way for me to be able to overcome the temptations is for me to know why I am doing it. If my reasoning was simply to lose weight, I would have abandoned my decision yesterday. Because I really wanted to put creamer in my coffee, and eat a Krispy Kreme doughnut. So while the kids were eating doughnuts, I had prunes. That’s all my mom had that was naturally sweet, but also gluten and dairy free. It was hard. 

I asked God to give me the strength to overcome my temptations. Then I touched the cyst at the base of my skull and the one in the bend of my arm, and reminded myself what dairy and gluten does to my body. While it was hard for me to avoid the temptations, it is also hard for me to be sick. 

If I had given into the urge to eat the foods, it would have been instant pleasure. For a little while, I would have enjoyed it. And then the consequences of my actions would have appeared. The pain and damage it does to my body is not worth the pleasure. I have to remind myself of this constantly as the temptations occur. 

I want for my body to heal more than I want creamer in my coffee and a Krispy Kreme doughnut. Now, I am willing to do whatever it takes. Every day I give my body the tools that it needs to heal. I meditate, exercise, drink superfoods, and believe that God will heal me. Even if I never reach the level of healing that I desire, I can still go to sleep each night knowing that I did everything that I could do. 

Whatever your challenge, just know that God can help you overcome it. While we may be weak, our God is strong. Nothing is too big for Him. He is faithful. And He wants to help us. 

Have a wonderful day!

Love and blessings, 


Candida 

Author shares message through Zippy the zebra