Gratitude: A Healthy Emotion

2009 comes to a close in a few short hours and I'm thinking back to my last year and even the last decade. 2010 marks a fresh new decade with opportunity. 10 years ago, on New Year's Eve 1999, I was back in the Bay Area celebrating with my Silicon Valley-minded friends. We all heard about the Y2K claims that the world would shut down because of a glitch in software code. I didn't believe it, but I did wonder "what if?" in the back of my mind. When the lights stayed on and we were still alive, we all cheered. I remember rocking out to Prince singing "I'm going to party like it's 1999!" What a fun moment in time. Now, a decade later, I'm reminded by how much has changed in my life. In the last 10 years, I traveled all around the world, met my husband, and worked hard on my career. I'm grateful that now we're beginning a new chapter in our lives. In June, we decided to move to Indianapolis to simplify our lives to raise our family. The day after I moved, I found out that we were expecting our baby girl. This spring, we will welcome her to our lives and begin to nurture her to become a healthy, strong individual. Our expectations about parenthood are that it will both challenge and reward us in ways not previously possible.

It's with these heavy thoughts in mind, that I realize how eternally grateful I am for my challenges in my life. Let's face it. I've had more than my share of trauma and drama. But, the important part is that here at age 33 and with a partner who supports me more than anyone can, I'm embarking on the next decade with eyes wide open ready to take on more!

I started this blog to share my tips and strategies for healthy living in the real world. One thing that you don't read about in the media about healthy living is how to balance emotional and spiritual well being. Health studies have proven that overweight people are more likely to permanently lose the excess weight when they practice a healthy lifestyle AND attended counseling sessions to heal their mind. Your mental health is healthy for the body! You hear about the mind and body connections all the time. People are stressed out and then, they become sick.

On the final hours of 2009, I'm sitting in my kitchen, cooking soup in my new house that we moved into earlier this week. My husband is here and we're genuinely happy and grateful to share our lives together. I took this photo of our backyard on the first morning we woke up in our new home from the fabulous sun room where we will share many meals with our family and friends.

My wish for you is to have a healthy heart, body, and mind for 2010. Let's keep the journey going...