My mental health...

If anyone lives a life inside their head, it's me. It's a negative life that is slowly destroying me. I just need to tell myself "STOP"

STOP comparing yourself to others
STOP trying to change who you are
STOP focusing on things that upset you
STOP being obsessed with getting others to like you
STOP thinking you have ruined your life
STOP trying to fix a broken relationship
STOP procrastinating
STOP feeling sorry for yourself
STOP wondering what everyone else is thinking about
STOP trying to get others to feel sorry for you
STOP over-analyzing
STOP over-thinking
STOP gossiping to make yourself feel better

How?
How do I stop thinking about it?
How do I stop talking in my head, listening and feeling bad?
How do I focus on my work when all this is happening in my head?

DO list things to you like about yourself instead
DO try solving your problems on your own directly (don't linger)
DO act fast without thinking too much about it first (the longer you wait the worse it'll be)
DO smile, sit up straight (at least you're projecting happy self-image)
DO communicate issues at the beginning
DO communicate gratitude and happiness
DO take a moment to relax mentally, meditate, relax your tense muscles
DO hang out with people who care for you too

Mental Health for a Man

Hi there.

In the hours since I have become a member of Movember, I have been curiouser and curiouser about what mental issues plagues a man, if any, and what methods (quotes or other means of sharing knowledge...) can help reduce mental problems in the masculine population. 

My logic to date, since yesterday, has been that some men need verbal assurance like women do...but I somehow think the percentage of men is very small. Should I post things like "you are good enough" or "you are awesome"? Or should I try a different approach such as manly inspirational quotes (like yesterday's post-it note)? It's difficult finding suitable quotes for men. 

Today, I found a site called "The Art of Manliness", which is totally awesome!! There is a random post button which is great, and I totally want one. The entire site has manly font and old fashioned pictures which I totally love. (It reminds me of this book "Let's bring back" which lists great old-fashioned activities that aren't popular anymore.) So, I found a page of TONS of manly inspirational quotes on their site. They say that there is a lack of manly quotes on the internet and I totally agree! On this website, they post a few quotes with black and white images of manly men and I think it would be a good idea to print these images and post them as my random notes of Movember awareness.  Here's a good one. I'll print it and post it somewhere in the hallways.



On a side note, since a guy I know told me once he looks up to Georges St-Pierre, the quebecois boxer, I thought of looking up some inspirational quotes from him too. I found some! Here's one:


I'm on it.

Over and out.

Movember

Good day to all, 

It's halfway through Movember, the time when men all over the world are growing mustaches to promote awareness of men's health issues such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health problems. I've known about the promotion of awareness of the men cancers since a few years, but I just learned today that there is also the mental health side of it. Mental health affects women and men alike, but they react and deal with it differently. For example, I'm not sure to what extent men experience anxiety, stress and depression and whether it has anything to do with self-image, self-confidence and relationships with others. I am participating in Operation Beautiful but I feel that it's mainly aimed at women. I want to help men also and I want to prevent mental health issues for both men and women, but what do you tell a man to reduce his risk of depression, anxiety and stress. For me it's obvious that women need confidence boosts by being told you are beautiful, inside and out, that you are worth more than you think. Women have trouble acknowledging how awesome they are. On the other hand, what drives men's insecurities? To me, a woman, it looks like men DO acknowledge that they are awesome. I'm sure many don't but, to us women, men come off confident and worry-free most of the time. I think what happens is that men don't often share their feelings, or even acknowledge them at all, and what causes the stress/anxiety/depression is absent until it hits. Do men get emotional warning signs as much as women do? It's crazy - no one can ever know. Since they bottle up (or have less) emotions, then what do they need to be told to prevent stress?

So, I've decided to join Movember... a little late, but better late than never. Visit my Mo Sista page! I've committed to creating positive self-image to men around my workplace (90% men) and in my life. I'll do so with random post-it notes with inspirational manly quotes, and by dropping out the occasional compliment (or trying to... I'm shy in that department). I'll be taking photos of post-it notes and they might appear on the Operation Beautiful website before the end of the month!

Here's my first message:

Manly, right? I wonder what other manly yet inspiring messages I could write... it's a difficult subject!

I'll also be fundraising in the 11 days I have left...with a bake sale! One thing that makes me happy is baking and I believe I am pretty good at it, and I will be putting smiles on my male coworkers' (and female coworker's) faces. That's what I call good mental health!! 

Until next time,
Happy K-Stache

Inspirational Sounds Sunday

5 songs to find inspiration, to be a better me, to find inner peace, to love myself!

1. Stronger - Kelly Clarkson

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter
Doesn't mean I'm over 'cause you're gone

2. The Climb - Miley Cyrus

There's always going to be another mountain
I'm always going to want to make it move
Always going to be an uphill battle,
Sometimes you going to have to lose,
Ain't about how fast I get there,
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

3. So much love - Fedde Le Grand

The only lyric to mention here is "I've got so much love to give".

4. Invincible - Hedley

I've come a long, long way,
Made a lot of mistakes,
But I'm breathing, breathing,
That's right
And I mean it, mean it
This time
I'm a little run down,
I've been living out loud.
I can beat it, beat it,
That's right,
'cause I'm feeling, feeling,
Invincible.

5. Inner Ninja - Classified

I read the rules before I broke 'em
I broke the chains before they choked me out
And I pay close attention
Really learn the code
I learned to read the map before I hit the road

Nobody's gonna see me comin'
Nobody's gonna hear a sound
No matter how hard they tryin'
No stoppin' me since I've found
My inner ninja

Find some other ones on this link: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/30-inspirational-songs-that-keep-you-motivated-for-life.html

Lesson in Confidence

I seriously lack self-confidence. Everything that goes wrong makes me feel awful, sad, guilty, etc. My insecurity causes trouble in my work and my relationships. My parents and my sister are also insecure so, I don't have to look far to see where I got it. If I could be confident, that would cause all my problems to disappear, and there will be more happy feelings!

So, the first step in being confident is pretending to be confident! So, according to this website, Nerd Fitness (hilarious!!!), there are 5 things to do to appear confident. And, according to me, confidence will follow!

1. Improve your posture (yes, I really do need to work on this!)
2. Slow down, i.e. talk slower 
3. Smile (this is true. Smiling improves any situation. It's not just the mouth, but you have to bring up your eyebrows, let your face, ears even, move to the smile! Sounds weird, but after focusing on your muscles, you'll know what I'm talking about!)
4. Win the staring contest, i.e. look into the person's eyes - yes this is also something I need to work on. I look up, down, left, right, glance at their eyes, when I talk, and look at their mouth when they speak. It's so weird focusing on their eyes. Thinking about it as a game helps! I like this line "you’ll quickly learn that everybody else is nervous as hell too and will quickly look away given enough time." Hahaha!
5. Get out of your head, that is, don't over-analyze, don't over-think, don't wait it out. Get the awkward out right away, it's the worst part anyway. Speaking of which, that's what I was avoiding as I write this... Like he says, "Part of building confidence is taking risks and having the ability (and the guts) to do stuff that scares you."

And finally Don’t change what you are, just learn to be more confident in who you are.

Love, K

I made a cake!

Hello ... I haven't posted any food-related message yet... Food makes me happy. Well, here's the first one! 

I made a cake for my nephew's birthday! Here is the cake that I made: 
 

Mmmmmm doesn't it look delicious?! Cake does make me happy! So does baking! I didn't have much time to prepare it though, I slept in from a Halloween party the night before and ended up having to make shortcuts to create a delicious but simple enough cake! It's a good thing that I have a Pinterest board and that I am pretty familiar with it to pick out the cakes and methods I want to try out!

So, what I made is a dark chocolate cake with pumpkin-flavoured whipped cream topping and dark chocolate shavings. 

Ok so I started with a bookmarked cake photo that just looks delicious. This one is a chocolate buttermilk cake with Earl Grey meringue frosting and salted caramel drizzle, which I found on a blog called Raspberri Cupcakes. Honestly looks fantastic! And the fact that this blogger uses tea to flavour the icing is awesome, since I am a huge tea lover and it actually inspired my icing. 


But I was making this cake for my 8 year-old nephew and well, I don't think he's much into the Earl Grey flavour. Since I have many teas, I went through them, then decided that the winner is my favorite autumn tea from DavidsTea, that is, Pumpkin Chai. (Oh my god !! I was looking for a web link and i realized...It no longer exists??!?! What am I going to do???) Well, I have a good supply for now fortunately!) It's a cinnamony, clovey, carrot-pumpkin blend that is amaaaaazing. 

Actually when I was at the grocery store and I tried remembering the recipe, I really though the icing from this recipe was whipped cream, so I bought a carton, but only after realized the recipe above was made with egg whites instead. Apparently you can add liquid to meringue to flavour it, but it doesn't work with cream. With whipped cream, you either have to steep the tea in the cream and let it cool/steep for several hours, or you have to mix in solids. So what I did was take about a teaspoon of my chosen tea and ground it in my spice grinder until it was powdery and just folded it into the sweetened whipped cream. I also made a small portion of strongly brewed tea and added a teaspoon to the cream... though I don't know if it's really worth it. It ended up being really tasty though! 

For the cake part, I used the chocolate cake recipe from Ricardo (1/2 recipe). 

Then for the chocolate shavings - which was super smart because both my nephew and his father always fight over who gets the chocolate pieces on a store-bought cake - I was inspired by the devil's food cake on Cafe Fernando (which features beautiful recipes). I used 3/4 of the recipe, since I had a smaller cake. You roll the parchment paper - this trick works like a charm!

Anyway, it was a success!! I surprise myself sometimes! :D

Until next time,
Happy K

Celebration Mondays

Woohoo! Guess who's post-it note made it to the Operation Beautiful's website? mine! Here's the note from my blog and here's the entry on the OB site! 

Today I found this blog called Feel Good Day which is also inspiring. Unfortunately, they haven't kept the blog up-to-date! :( Actually, when I was studying at McGill, I was part of this club! But unfortunately I wasn't very active... 

This is a great post on Operation Beautiful: some girls at a school put post-its around the bathroom's mirror. Look how awesome it looks!

Today's Post-It Phrase of the Day on OB: “You are stronger than yesterday.”

Here's my rendition, which I will post at the gym. (It also gives me an excuse to go to the gym)!

So Happy Monday everyone, remember that you are beautiful!

Update: This post-it is currently on the top banner of the OB site!! Yay me!!!