5 Things: The Love of Friends and Family!

I have a lot of good people in my life, and today, I'd like to give them a little shout out! I'm not sure how I got so lucky, but I'm thankful nonetheless!

RSVP cards! My guests are NOT slacking on this at all! Thanks, guys!

A gift from my lovely friend Katrina!

A beautiful handmade invite to a wedding shower in my honor!

A homemade breakfast by Adam - just for me! He even taught himself how to make breakfast hash!

A gift in the mailbox from my little bro - Looks like I'll be stopping by Brooklyn Industries!

Friday, Katie Hughes, PhD., joins the blog to help you get the most out of your group fitness class, so stay tuned!

5 Things: Welcoming Fall with Gratitude!

Fall has officially arrived. It came quickly in the night and sent me running into the subway station shivering because I left the house without a proper jacket. Yes, friends, it's cold in NYC!  Maybe it's just me but fall feels like the New Year (not cold, dreary January). Granted, things aren't blooming (in fact, they're mostly dying), but there's something about the crispness of the air and the way the bright blue of the sky contrasts with the changing leaves and well... it just makes me feel alive!

Today, I'd like to start a little something called "5 Things". You've probably seen it done on other blogs and maybe that makes me an "idea stealer", but hey, a good idea is sure to get stolen by someone! You and I both know that attitude is everything. IF you think you're going to fail, you'll fail. IF you concentrate on the negative, things will be negative. But in contrast, if you visualize yourself succeeding, you will. And if you find the positive (even within the negative), life will seem a bit more positive! Today, I'd like to use my 5 THINGS to focus on five things that make me thankful to be alive today!

Maybe you could steal my stolen idea and make a list yourself! It's a great reminder of all the GOOD in your life so that when the bad inevitably pops up, you'll remember to adopt a "glass half full" perspective!

Wishing everyone a wonderful day... and a very happy birthday to my bestie Sarah over at Beyond the Batter! 

My very own, always reliable, always cute alarm clock...

The taste of a chai tea latte and the way it warms your whole body as it goes down..

The beginnings of the most glorious sunset from my rooftop (and the fact that this happens almost nightly)...

Wedding invites finally finished! Designed, printed, stamped and dropped at the post office!...

...and really awesome friends like Sarah! Happy Birthday, girl!

The Experts Weigh In: Attitude is Everything!

Image via theunboundedspirit.com

BY: LYDIA BUSCHENFELDT, CONTRIBUTOR

If you had told me five years ago, that at age 30 I would be two years into medical disability and leaving behind my beloved teaching career, I would have looked at you like you had three heads. Five years ago, I thought that at 30 I would be in my eighth year of teaching, traveling the globe with my husband over the summers, and thinking about starting a family of Baby Buschenfeldts.

Needless to say, that's not exactly how it worked out.

In short, my body broke in 2010. I was a newly wed fourth-grade teacher when a virus passed along from my students wreaked havoc on my apparently less-than-stellar immune system and paralyzed several systems in my body. All of a sudden I became a young woman on disability, fed through a tube and watching multiple parts of my body struggle to survive. Like a slow leak in a tire, my body fell apart a tiny bit more with each passing day. I began to collect diseases like baseball cards and within three years I was diagnosed with Grave's Disease, Gastroparesis, Thyroid Cancer, Dysphasia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Vocal Chord Paralysis, Visceral Hypersensitivity, Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome, Overall Dismotility Disorder, Inappropriate Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, Raynaud's Disease, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease, and so many others that eventually it was all lumped into a "complex and obscure multi-system illness."

Let's just be clear, it isn't exactly a bucket-list moment when several top hospitals categorize your illness as "complex and obscure."

When your life is turned upside down, it can be a very dark and cold place. I could have chosen to brace myself for the terrifying roller coaster of a chronic health battle. I could have focused on the long, lonely nights in the hospital or the ever-increasing road map of scars covering my body. I could have let one virus erase who I am and what I stand for, but I said no. I realized that with every obstacle in life, you have a choice. You choose who you are and you choose how you will unwrap what is given to you. I made the choice to embrace my life. I chose gratitude over devastation, and I never looked back.

I returned to school to become a certified health coach. My company, Hatch Health and Happiness, was originally an acronym - Help Adapting To Changing Health - but it has morphed into the concept that we are never really starting from scratch. When you are diagnosed with an allergy or disease, are struggling to lose weight, or surrender to stress, it can feel like you have to start over to feel better. Change is scary, especially when you do it alone. I help my clients learn to hatch from within and make lifestyle and dietary changes to reclaim their health and happiness. I have the opportunity to pay forward all that I have learned and to devote my life to making that transition to health and happiness easier for someone else. The truth is that I've been there, I get it, and I can help.

When I started blogging in early 2012, I thought my blog would be the story of my trip to the Mayo Clinic and how I got my life back. Turns out I did regain my life, but not exactly as I planned. Instead I learned that regaining your health and happiness has little to do with receiving a diagnosis and taking a pill. Instead it comes from a place of laughing at life's many quirks, indulging in nature's pharmacy, accepting and loving your innermost thoughts, and approaching each day with an abundance of gratitude.

An undiagnosed disease takes away the feeling of certainty in your future. Many days I wake to a mind-boggling new symptom and the adjustment to a "new normal" starts anew. The truth, however, is that the world comes to all of us one day at a time, undiagnosed disease or not, and I choose to jump in and embrace the chaos.

Lydia Buschenfeldt is a Certified Health Coach who specializes in helping individuals and families reclaim their health and happiness while living with allergies, chronic disease, and other stresses of daily life. Having lived with an undiagnosed disease for years, Lydia knows firsthand how to learn to listen to the body, our greatest teacher, while living a life of health, happiness , and abundant gratitude. Lydia lives with her husband in Fairfax, Virginia, where she can often be found outdoors with horses or inventing new creations in the kitchen. Find out more about Lydia's coaching practice at www.hatchhealthhappiness.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @LydiaHatchHealth.

Perspective for the Weary: Living for Today!

Image via ineedmotivation.com

I know I'm not the only kid who's classroom was covered in these inspirational posters. No matter what grade I advanced to, they somehow managed to stalk me throughout my whole educational career. Just when I thought I rid myself of them in 3rd grade, (surprise!) there they were, waiting on me in 4th - encouraging me to be better, to be kind, to work harder. What a tall order for a 4th grader!

Because of the constant 'inspiration inundation' of my childhood, I typically seek out alternatives when it comes to my own personal decorating. Maybe a nice painting... a wall clock... anything BUT an inspirational poster. Yet there is one picture hanging on my bathroom wall with a message that I read every single morning (and I wouldn't have it any other way). It says, quite simply...

HAPPINESS IS A MEANS OF TRAVEL, NOT A DESTINATION.

This quote came to mind yesterday when my client Anna sent me an 'SOS' email. She's been on a job search for the last few months and is starting to feel utterly exhausted. The right job hasn't come along yet and all the applying, interviewing and strategizing has left her discouraged. She feels like she is 'waiting for her new, better life to begin'. 

Image via cauldronsandcupcakes.com

While pondering her email over lunch, I had an 'aha' moment. I do the exact same thing as her! I fantasize about the future, thinking 'If I just had (this), then my life would feel like (that)'. For her it's the job. For me, it's too many things to get into or we'd be here all day. But the bottom line is that we all fixate on the future to some extent. We glamorize it. We imagine how great our lives will be when we have that job, that promotion, that ring, that perfect figure. It's almost as if we picture all our frustrations melting away when 'that thing' comes to fruition for us. 

But let's be honest with ourselves. You and I both know that acquiring all those things won't magically make life better, or less frustrating. With new situations, come new concerns. And once a dream or goal is reached, another one appears right behind it.

So what are we to do in the meantime?

Live in the present and enjoy the journey. Remember that each day (even with its frustrations) is a gift from God. Make a conscious effort to be thankful for all the good things you DO have in the here and now. And frankly, enjoy the comfort of your current situation. It's not scary like a new job or a new relationship. You know exactly what to expect... and that's one less thing to worry about!

It's just like I told her, don't fret about what you can't control. You will end up where you're supposed to be. And as for that fantasy world you're striving for, it doesn't exist.

So today, let's remember to enjoy the journey!