Focus On What You Can Do

focus on what you can do.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love And Big Hugs.

Dear Gorgeous Souls!

Focus on what you can do, and you will feel a happier and healthier difference in your life!

Here’s you walking along in all your sunshiny potential …

focus on what you can do.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.

…when suddenly, DRAMA!

focus on what you can do.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.

It could be you caught a news clip. Or you got some bad news. Or someone is mean to you. … This list can unfortunately go on and on, as I’m sure you know. Life can be like that. But drama happens with you willingly engaging in it, or with it [drama] trying to force itself on you.

Either way … drama is not good. It’s a downward spiral that can lead to stress, which leads to inflammation, which leads illness, disease, and even for some, death. Wuuuuut????

focus on what you can do. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

The bottom line: Unhappiness hurts you!

But there is a solution here. It’s easily said, but if you are a drama junkie, it’s not so easily done. Drama is eye catching. It incites the senses. It irks you. Compels you to engage and respond. You’ve got experiences. Opinions. Facts. Feelings. And the energy drama can stir up inside you can’t stay in there. It needs to get out of you. You need to express yourself. Be heard. Be important.

The problems is that a lot of the time, how we express ourselves in the midst of drama isn’t always helpful. It doesn’t fix the problem. It doesn’t resolve the issue. And we end up going around and around with our drama and the stress it creates, and the downward spiral goes even deeper.

Thank goodness we have the power of choice in our own lives! And the “simple” solution that we can choose:

Focus On What YOU CAN DO!

focus on what you can do. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

If it’s a situation, relationship, a moment in time, or an experience happening around you, near you, or with you stuck in the middle, ask yourself: Is this something I can personally fix?  Is there something I can do to help resolve this situation or make it better? Do I really need to be around this person? Do I really need to do this thing?

If the answer is NO, get out of there!  If you can’t help, but you are engaging anyway, you are putting yourself into a moment that will make you feel helpless or inert or some other negative something … but if there’s nothing you can do, except be in the middle of whatever it is, you are taking on an unnecessary stress burden. And the negativity you gain from it is something that you will then have to deal with for yourself. Why do that to yourself?

If the answer is yes – FANTASTIC! You can make a difference, and that can make you feel really good! You can have a positive impact and feel useful! So then:

  • figure out what you can do
  • make an action plan
  • do your action plan
  • then get out of there!!!

Be effective! Make a difference! Then move on!!! And heal yourself from any lingering stress that came from the efforts of helping resolve or fix the drama!

If it’s informational, ask yourself this: Is this something I need to learn or know?  What do I need to learn from it or know about it?

If the answer is NO, get out of there! If you don’t need to know it; if it won’t grow you, help you become a better person, etc; if it isn’t something that will help you become more informed so you can make better choices, then … honestly … you don’t need to know it. It’s information that will only burden you unnecessarily.

But if the answer is yes – FANTASTIC! It’s an opportunity to grow you, become a more informed person … all you have to do is handle the difficulty of whatever the dramatic informational moment is. So:

  • learn it
  • know it
  • then get out of there!!!
focus on what you can do. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

So let’s take a quick moment to talk about how to activate your choice. How can you focus on what you can do? Well, start by asking yourself the questions above, and then, if you find yourself having to engage in the drama – set limits and establish boundaries. And if you don’t have to engage in the drama, then eliminate it from your life entirely.

Setting limits and boundaries comes in handy for negative or toxic people or situations in your life you are not prepared to stop engaging in yet, or that you don’t know yet how to stop engaging in.

When you have to engage in the drama:

  • set your limits and boundaries
  • stick to them (Value yourself. Love yourself. And be strong for you!)
  • get in, get done, get out
  • then self-care and TLC yourself back into wellness!

Eliminating the drama entirely from your life comes in handy for easier, less complicated dramas … like when the media jerks us around like string puppets, playing on our emotions, over sensationalizing the mundane or insignificant, etc. We really don’t need that in our lives, so tuning out, turning it off, and ignoring it is a great step to protecting ourselves: emotionally, mentally, physically … the whole of us.

focus on what you can do. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

For self-care, remember to do things like:

As a general intention to help you be happy and healthy, separate yourself from all of the drama you can.  And whatever you have to deal with, find positive ways to manage, cope, heal, and recover. Here’s the important thing about drama.  It’s drama.  It’s a conflict of intentions that creates an emotional response.  If it is not drama that you need to or want to experience, then get it out of your life.  Because drama creates stress, which causes inflammation, which leads to illness and disease.  And you are an important person.  You are valuable and irreplaceable.  When you are happy and healthy you function better for yourself and for those around you.  You are worth your love and self-care.  And you are far more important than so much of the drama we experience every single day. So focus on what you can do, and you will feel the happy, healthy difference it makes in your life!

YAY!!!

Until next week …

Loving you so big and brightly!!! I’m sending you light and love to hug you the biggest!!!
May your days be drama-free, and when they can’t, surround yourself with people who will love you, support you, help you, and be the best with you!

Love and Big Hugs,

Love and Big Hugs Mary Kate

More Happiness from Mary Kate

Find more happiness, love, big hugs, support, gratitude, POSitude, and Self-Care in these POSitude cards!

Needing some self-care, love and support? Wanting hugs? Treat yourself or someone you love to these Big Loving, Big Hugging daily inspirational, motivational, and empowering POSitude cards! They really can make a big difference in your day!!!

POSitude Cards.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs!  Found at Etsy

Get Your POSitude On!

Feel happier! Supported! Loved! Hugged!

Bring brightness and goodness into your day, and into your life!

What beautiful souls like you think about their POSitude cards!

These cards are colorful and cheerful!  They stay on my desk at work and have made for great conversation with colleagues.  I look forward to choosing my daily pick me up.  I reflect on my current mood or what inspiration I need for the day.  I do have a few favorites that I’ve used more than once or have displayed longer than just a day.   

These cards remind me to stay positive and believe in myself!

Mary Kate Kopec.  testimonial

Stephanie Shay, 4th grade teacher

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

I love my POSitude cards!  I pick one to display on my refrigerator for the week.  Reading the card makes me happy and gives me a variety of ways to stay positive in my daily life.  It has also become a conversation piece for all who enter my kitchen.

Mary Kate Kopec. testimonial

Karen Henry, Retired 4th Grade Teacher, Personal Assistant

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

The Positude cards have made a difference for setting the tone during meetings.  I have set them in the middle of the meeting table and while we are settling in, people pick them up and read them. This small gesture makes a huge difference in the quality of the conversations we have during our 1:1 meetings.

Mary Kate Kopec. testimonial

Mary Freer, University Research Department Administrator

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

I love my POSitude cards!  They are so cute, and the messages are very uplifting and inspiring!

Mary Kate Kopec. testimonial

Mary McMurtry, Retired Bookkeeper, Mom, Grandmom

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs
Promo Image of POSitude cards on Etsy

Get inspired every day with a deck of my new POSitude cards! Each deck has 35 different full-color, fun, happy POSitudes (36 cards total, with one card sharing suggestions on how to get the most out your POSitudes.) Available in my Etsy shop. Check them out and learn more, now!

You can find these POSitude cards in my new ETSY shop!!!

Looking for self-care to share love and big hugs for all ages?

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Lub’s Very Happy Day! is filled with delightful brightness and big huggy smiles!

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Lub is the happiest, PINKest, most love-filled monster, Ever! Her big, PINK heart is always with her, and it beams brightly in everything she does!

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Lub loves you!

Join Lub as she shares with you her love and very happy, monster-ifically delightful day! Feel playful and bright, smile big, and be happy! Have fun and be cheerful!

You can find copies of Lub’s Very Happy Day! to adopt at Amazon!

focus on what you can do. Mary Kate Kopec. Love And Big Hugs.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs!  Celebrating Love.  Stockings filled with love.

Dear Bright Stars and Happy Holiday Hearts!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Pauli and I celebrate Christmas, and if you celebrate Christmas, we wish you a very merry holiday!  For those of you celebrating Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, Las Posadas, Diwali, Chinese New Year, HumanLight, and Newtonmas, we also wish you a very happy holiday!  We wish you all love-filled days!!!

We hope you will celebrate with us in sharing our joy in love, kindness, fostering positive relationships, giving of our hearts, happiness, healthiness, POSitude, gratitude, self-care, peace, and earth-care!

Living Like Lub! My bright star is shining brightly with love!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs!

Each of us are bright stars with light and love to give and share!  We hope you shine brightly, always!

Loving and Hugging you BIG TIME with our whole hearts!!!

ps:  If you find yourself all up in the stress, drama, sadness, and/or hectic chaos that can happen during the season, please remember to take a moment for yourself, take a deep breath, find a quiet healing space, relax, find calm, just be.  Remember, we’re here for love.  Love and big hugs, and positive, happy time spent together will go further than any other gift.  You and your heart – that’s what is important and what they love!  So give yourself precious time to self-care and feel your own goodness.  You are wonderful and beautiful and bright!  You are a bright star!!!  And you are loved!!!

Until next week …

Thank you for being here with me! I am filled with gratitude for being able to share my love and big hugs with you, and for spending this time with you! You are wonderful, and I wish you peace, light, love, laughter, healthiness, and happiness in abundance. May your days be filled with kindness, goodness, and gratitude!

Love and Big Hugs,

Love and Big Hugs Mary Kate

More Happiness from Mary Kate

Find more happiness, love, big hugs, support, gratitude, POSitude, and Self-Care in these POSitude cards!

Needing some self-care, love and support? Wanting hugs? Treat yourself or someone you love to these Big Loving, Big Hugging daily inspirational, motivational, and empowering POSitude cards! They really can make a big difference in your day!!!

POSitude Cards.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs!  Found at Etsy

Get Your POSitude On!

Feel happier! Supported! Loved! Hugged!

Bring brightness and goodness into your day, and into your life!

What beautiful souls like you think about their POSitude cards!

These cards are colorful and cheerful!  They stay on my desk at work and have made for great conversation with colleagues.  I look forward to choosing my daily pick me up.  I reflect on my current mood or what inspiration I need for the day.  I do have a few favorites that I’ve used more than once or have displayed longer than just a day.   

These cards remind me to stay positive and believe in myself!

Mary Kate Kopec.  testimonial

Stephanie Shay, 4th grade teacher

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

I love my POSitude cards!  I pick one to display on my refrigerator for the week.  Reading the card makes me happy and gives me a variety of ways to stay positive in my daily life.  It has also become a conversation piece for all who enter my kitchen.

Mary Kate Kopec. testimonial

Karen Henry, Retired 4th Grade Teacher, Personal Assistant

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

The Positude cards have made a difference for setting the tone during meetings.  I have set them in the middle of the meeting table and while we are settling in, people pick them up and read them. This small gesture makes a huge difference in the quality of the conversations we have during our 1:1 meetings.

Mary Kate Kopec. testimonial

Mary Freer, University Research Department Administrator

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

I love my POSitude cards!  They are so cute, and the messages are very uplifting and inspiring!

Mary Kate Kopec. testimonial

Mary McMurtry, Retired Bookkeeper, Mom, Grandmom

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs
Promo Image of POSitude cards on Etsy

Get inspired every day with a deck of my new POSitude cards! Each deck has 35 different full-color, fun, happy POSitudes (36 cards total, with one card sharing suggestions on how to get the most out your POSitudes.) Available in my Etsy shop. Check them out and learn more, now!

You can find these POSitude cards in my new ETSY shop!!!

Looking for self-care to share love and big hugs for all ages?

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Lub’s Very Happy Day! is filled with delightful brightness and big huggy smiles!

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Lub is the happiest, PINKest, most love-filled monster, Ever! Her big, PINK heart is always with her, and it beams brightly in everything she does!

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Lub loves you!

Join Lub as she shares with you her love and very happy, monster-ifically delightful day! Feel playful and bright, smile big, and be happy! Have fun and be cheerful!

You can find copies of Lub’s Very Happy Day! to adopt at Amazon!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs! Celebrating Love. Stockings filled with love.

Holiday Door Decorating Contest?
Challenge Accepted!

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Hello Happy Holiday Hearts!

So.  Story time.  LOL.  Pauli comes home from work about a month ago and says, “They’re having a holiday door decorating contest at work …”

No need to finish that statement.  “Challenge ACCEPTED!!!”

Challenge Accepted!

In under 90 seconds I’d grabbed the nearest writing implement (a blue highlighter) and a piece of paper, then super scribbled up my instant idea.  Pauli was eating BBQ at the time, and he smiled as the ink spread.  A couple of drops of BBQ sauce later, and he nodded.  He loved it!

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
Insta-scribble door decorating idea conceived … with 2 drops of BBQ sauce from Pauli!

“So we’re in?” he asks.  “We’re SO in!”

LOL.

The Power of a Smile – Our Purpose!

You know I’m all about the power of a smile!  Smiles make people feel happier.  And happier is healthier.  And happier and healthier at the holidays means we can eat more chocolate with less guilt.  LOL.  Let’s be real.  I never feel guilty about eating chocolate!  Chocolate is filled with powerful phytochemicals and antioxidants and it comes from the cacao plant … so it’s salad at its most delicious!

Back to those smiles!  It’s the holidays, and the holidays can be stressful for many.  Even unhappy for some.  I want to do everything I can to make the holidays have smiles and happiness as much as possible for all!

So.  Let’s get to decorating the happiest, smile-inspiring door yet!

Planning Stage!

For planning purposes, I knew I wouldn’t be able to doodle-art all the elements on my computer … my printer doesn’t print door-sized art … lolz … so I decided to get bulletin board paper and paint the larger scene, then doodle-art the detailed fun bits (like Santa and Rudolph) on my computer to be printed out on cardstock, cut out, and mounted with mounting squares to the painting for a 3-D effect. … oooooh, giddy clapping … sounds squee!

I ordered the bulletin board paper, and while I was waiting for it to come in, I started doodle-arting!

My Doodle-arting Begins!

Quick trip through clipart searches for some style inspiration, and voila, I was off and doodle-arting to my heart’s content! (Doodle-art time is so calming and peaceful, and it makes me feel really happy! Gets my brain all destressed and relaxed. Love it! Hope you’ll give it a try … even just for fun. It’s really good for you!)

To give you an idea of what my doodle process looks like:

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
How I doodle. Scribble, scribble, outlines. Start to create color palette. Doodle. Scribble. Digi-erase A LOT. And Ta-da! I eventually get my tweaks just the way I like them!

For my design plan, I needed multiple door smile-making happies: Santa, a sleigh, Rudolph, some stockings filled with LOVE, a Christmas tree, a snowhuman, and a wreath!

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
Here’s all my happy, smile-making door decorating doodle bits!!! Stockings, wreath, Santa, sleigh, Rudolph, Christmas tree, and a snowhuman!

Next up, the door painting. The bulletin board paper had arrived!

I’d had Pauli take a whole bunch of measurements of his door and surrounding area to help guide me. His door isn’t quite 3 feet wide, and I’d found 2 feet wide white paper for the painting … and by awesome luck, we found some amazing nighttime looking paper with stars – PERFECT for the outdoor scene portion of our door. OMG-Totalloo SQUEE!

A few years ago for Christmas, when I was first getting my digi-doodlebug skills going, I made a Christmas pic to share with my peeps on social media. I used it for my inside scene inspiration. Here it is!

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
Christmas digi-doodles from my beginning days of computerized scribbles!

Time to Paint!

Pauli helped me hang the bulletin board paper up, and I got to sketching in the outlines.

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
Pencil sketch to guide my painting!

All doodle-sketched in, I grabbed my paint brushes and my acrylic paints and got going on the background first. (The nice thing, to me, about acrylic paints is that they blend well, and they dry pretty quickly. So it’s fairly easy to keep layering in each bit and layer. Also, they’re water-soluble, so super easy cleanup!)

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
Getting the background painted in!

And then, layer by layer, my doodle-art started coming to life! Every new color brought me happiness and big smiles to my heart. And Pauli got more excited with each stage – especially when I got the fire all done … he loves the fire in the fireplace!

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
That’s me … doodle painting in the flames of the fire!
Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
First and second floors done! Just need the roof, banner, and fireplace rug. (You’ll see those in the door assembly pics!)

Door Assembly Time!

All the while I was painting, Pauli got to cutting out all of the 3-D decorating bits. Scissors and exacto-knifing it up. I’d be painting in my studio room, and I’d hear him out in the living room … “You’re kidding, right? You don’t really expect me to cut around all these little lights on the antlers, do you?????” LOL. I’d smile and keep painting, and he’d get back to exacto-knifing the details. His poor little finger is still hurting. But a partner-project is a partner-project, and sometimes we just have to take one for the team … Getting people to smile isn’t always the easiest of work. LOL (No worries … I’ve been TLC’ing his little finger back into happiness. In all fairness, cutting out is really hard work, and Pauli did an amazing job!)

With everything painted and all the cut-outs cut out … it was time to assemble everything! Pauli went to work armed with the night sky paper and mounting squares. He did a great job getting the sky in place!

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
Pauli gets the night sky background up!

Now for the painted house scene parts! After work, Pauli came home to get me … sweat pant p.j.’s, silly hair, and all, but ready to go! And off to Pauli’s work we went. Once there, assembly was pretty straightforward. Each bit is its own piece: the roof with chimney, the second floor windows with candles, the Happy Holidays banner, the first floor fireplace, and the fireplace rug (bottom of the door finisher).

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
Look at it all coming together!!! Up go all the painted house scene parts!

Finishing Up & The Big Reveal!

All we had to do was double up the mounting squares to add depth and use them to add the final happy, smile decorating bits!!! Oh, and a lil bit of white paint for some smoke coming out of the chimney! And here it is the … the big reveal …

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
Ta-da! One very happy holiday door ready to make smiles and share happiness!!! We’re both very SQUEE with how it turned out!!! Also for fun: note the door-side stocking detail offering organic candy canes for fun and holiday cheer!

A cool and fun unanticipated location artifact is how the hallway lighting outside Pauli’s door lends perfectly to the scene setting with the inside of the house being all lit up, and the outside of the house being dark, like at night.

But so you can see the details all come together, I asked Pauli to take a picture with the flash. It over brightens the door, but you can see Santa and Rudolph so much better!

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
Big Flash and over bright, but now you can see Santa and Rudolph better!!!

Holiday door decorating contest? Challenge accepted! We hope you love our door! We hope it makes you smile and feel a delightful spark of happiness! We wish you a very happy holiday season filled with love, happiness, laughter, and kindness!

More from Mary Kate

This was a pretty big art project. It took Pauli and me a week to do. If you like the idea of Arting It Up for happiness, but don’t want to take on a big project … I’ve got the happiest little activity sampler for you! It’s a 7 day Arting It Up challenge. Instead of doodlebugging everything out from scratch, I’ve given you daily cute, happy, little coloring scenes that only take a few minutes to color, but give you precious moments of peaceful, restful, relaxing time to yourself. And I’ve added in some space for you to have gratitude and love yourself for something you’ve done each day. In short, it’s simple happiness for you that will also help you feel healthier. And it’s FREE … just click below!

Ready to take my Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness: Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge?

Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs
Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

Each day support your healthiness with feeling less stress, less anxiety, more happiness and more positivity!

Easy, fun, happy, silly, adorable, and totally supporting you!

7 days of Love and Big Hugs!

Delightfully cheerful & colorful art will lift & brighten your smile!

11 loving, big hugging, and supporting pages include proven happier and healthier promoting strategies:

  • Smile-making, positivity-promoting, happy coloring blocks
  • Gratitude Acknowledgements
  • Self-acknowledgement Reaffirmations
  • Includes “how to get the most out of this challenge” intro page & a summary reflection page
Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs get button

Find more gratitude, POSitude, and Self-Care from me at Etsy!

You can also check out my new ETSY shop!!!

Looking for a gift that will put a smile on your face and help you feel happier? Treat yourself or someone you love to these Big Loving, Big Hugging daily inspirational POSitude cards!

Get Your POSitude On!

Feel happier! Supported! Loved! Hugged!

Bring brightness and goodness into your day, and into your life!

Get inspired every day with a deck of my new POSitude cards! Available in my Etsy shop. Check them out and learn more, now!

Promo Image of POSitude cards on Etsy

Until next week …

If you start to feel overwhelmed this holiday season, love yourself and take the time you need to breathe and heal. Feel love and happiness, take time to laugh and breathe, share kindness, and know that I’m hugging you with the biggest BIG LOVE so tight!

Love and Big Hugs,

Love and Big Hugs Mary Kate
Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Practicing Gratitude for the win! Do it! Feel better!

Practicing Gratitude.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.

Hello Gorgeous Blossoms!!!

Life happens.  And sometimes it happens to not be nice about it.  We can feel stress, frustration, anger, … a whole range of negative emotions … none of which are actually helpful.  Most are usually hurtful, in fact.

It can be so easy to give into the negative emotions.  So incredibly satisfying.  When we’ve had a really bad day.  Our boss was crap.  A human we had to interact with was an aaaabbb-so-lute jerk.  A relationship we’re in is in trouble.  Sometimes there’s nothing better than a GINORMOUS VENT.  Or even a hard cry.

Processing emotions is vital and important to our well-being: emotional, mental, physical, … all of it.

I’m no saint.  Even with all my positive determination, I have things happen to me that take me down.  Some harder than others.  I have to process what has happened; how it makes me feel; and what it takes for me to cope, get through it, grow, and move on.

I’ve learned, being an active processor (with a toolkit of positive strategies) helps me to work my way through difficult times, crap moments, and mean people.  It also helps me avoid the negative downward spiral and negative self-talk that I can be an expert at heaping on myself.  It also helps me simply live a happier, healthier, more resilient life.

And one of my favorite toolkit strategies is practicing GRATITUDE!!!  I practice it daily.  Plus, it’s in my Healing Toolkit of Goodness for when I take a hit in life, big or small.

Practicing Gratitude

Give the gift of gratitude.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.

Practicing gratitude has been shown to actually alter your brain chemistry (for the better) & improve your mood and life!

“According to UCLA’s Mindfulness Awareness Research Center, regularly expressing gratitude (the quality of being thankful and readiness to show appreciation) literally changes the molecular structure of the brain, keeps the gray matter functioning, and makes us healthier and happier.”

Thrive Global

“In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships. People feel and express gratitude in multiple ways.”

Harvard Health

With practice, you can make gratitude a habit and experience positive, long-term effects on your happiness, healthiness, and your life!

So.  What are you waiting for???  Let’s get you Gratituding like an expert!!!

Practicing Gratitude is really easy.  All you have to do is think of something you are grateful for today; focus on it for a lil’ bit; maybe smile while you’re thinking about it; and if you want to take it up a notch, take a deep breath in and then let it out slowly while you are doing your positive gratitude thinking!

And that’s it.  Like.  Not hard.  So easy. 

gratitude invocation Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

Here’s me … one of my gratitudes … I’ve actually turned it into a daily gratitude intention, and I keep it in my Healing Toolkit of Goodness.  And I have little reminder print-pages that I keep handy on my desk, and on the fridge.  And actually, I often try to go for at least 3 gratitudes a day.  I know.  Whoa – being adventurous.  LOL.  I’m big like that.

All I’m saying is, there are a lot of ways you can work to change your life for the better, efforts you can make (things like eating better, getting more exercise, sleeping longer, etc.), but practicing gratitude is one of the easiest and least time consuming ways you can do it. 

I mean, seriously, how long does it take to think a happy gratitude thought and smile and breathe while doing it?  In the big scheme of a whole day … about a breath.  And for 3 gratitudes and a few moments really focusing on them.  Coupla minutes? 

So really, likely the only thing holding you back from increasing happiness and healthiness in your life, is maybe the know-how (which I’ve just shared with you) and the willpower to do it daily.

Practicing Gratitude Print Page.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.

Come on, print out my lil’ reminder print-pages.  Set them on your desk.  Put ‘em in your kitchen.  … Wherever you’ll do them.  And then … Do Them Daily!  Voila!!! Gratitude is the gift you can choose to give yourself!  I hope you will!!!

Create and Grow Your Self-Care!

Want to dig even deeper into your Self-Care? Snag your copy of my “Mary Kate’s Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!”

Mary Kate'es Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!

When you find yourself feeling low, negative, unhappy – doubting yourself – maybe your confidence has taken a bit of a tumble & your self-worth is low …

Grab my Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!

You can start feeling better and start smiling again!

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14 loving, big hugging, and supporting pages include proven feel better strategies:

  • Reaffirmations & Positive Self-Talk
  • Gratitude Acknowledgements
  • Smiling POSitudes
  • Additional supporting ideas to help you find your calm and happiness again through self-care and self-love
  • Bonus Love-You Supports and Resources section
Mary Kate'es Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!
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Find more gratitude, POSitude, and Self-Care from me at Etsy!

You can also check out my new ETSY shop!!!

Get Your POSitude On!

Feel happier! Supported! Loved! Hugged!

Bring brightness and goodness into your day, and into your life!

Get inspired every day with a deck of my new POSitude cards! Available in my Etsy shop. Check them out and learn more, now!

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Until next week …

Today, I am grateful for you! And all the love and kindness that comes into your life!!! May your day bring you heartwarming goodness and be filled with positive energy!!!
Love and Big Hugs,

Love and Big Hugs Mary Kate
Practicing Gratitude. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth
MK’s Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for YOU!

Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Hello hungry, happy hearts!

Flu/cold season is here.  A day doesn’t go by that I’m not reading about one of my peeps falling down to a mean bug of some sort.  Ugh!  I hate being sick!!!  So let’s talk about one of the most healing foods you can ever eat:

Chicken Bone Broth!

Why is chicken bone broth so healing?  Well for starters, it’s chockful of helpful, healing proteins like collagen and gelatin.  These help your intestines, skin, and joint health. 

Your intestines are Super Important for your immune system, so if you keep your gut healthy, it will help you stay healthy and fight illness and injury better.  Which is wonderful and amazing!!!  Plus, who doesn’t love glowing, healthy skin, and joints that move?

Additionally, if you add salt to your broth while cooking and/or to taste afterwards, the salt and the hydration provided by the bone broth will help maintain and restore your electrolytic balance, which can get wonky when you’re sick.  Have you ever had achy muscles and spasms while sick?  That’s often your body telling you your electrolytes are wonky, or that you are dehydrated.  I used to drink sports drinks to help, but they’re filled with sugars and artificial colorings.  Bone broth is a healthier choice!!!

Also, the hydration helps heal damaged membranes, and SUPER BIG TIME, the hydration helps you flush the bug out!!!  YES, PLEASE!!!

The warm broth and salt can help soothe a sore throat, too.  Also, I add table pepper while cooking, and to taste at the table.  This helps loosen congestion big time.  I love this for helping with my allergies, too.  I gobble my soup and keep the tissues handy.  I love when I can breathe freely again!

So with that, I just want to add … don’t think bone broth is just for kicking bugs to the curb.

It’s SO MUCH MORE!

Bone broth is a super anti-inflammatory, healing food.  When you need to heal from illness, injury, stress, life, etc., bone broth is my go-to and at the top of my healing list along with blueberries, walnuts, broccoli, and sustainably, wild-caught salmon.  Help your body heal, so you can feel better faster!!!

Let’s talk recipe!

My bone-brothing method of choice: the slow cooker.  I love tossing everything into the pot, and letting it do it’s thing.

My recipe will take you veggie prep time + 12 hours of cooking time + rapid cooling time, and an overnight chill.

Here’s what you’ll need:  (I have an 8 qt slow cooker, but I’ve also used a 3 qt.  I’m going to put the quantities for the 3 qt cooker in (parentheses), so you can still make it easily if you’re going small batch.)

  • (2 lbs) 4 lbs chicken wings
  • (3) 5 carrots
  • (3) 5 celery sticks
  • (1/2 – 1) 1 medium/large onion
  • (1 ½) 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • Water
  • Salt and Pepper

Here’s what you do:  See pictures below for fun, happy visuals!

  • Clean and prep your veggies however you like.  Some folks I know rinse and toss them in whole, skins and all.  That’s not me.  I’m a peel-my-carrots, cut-off-the-tops-of-my-carrots-and-celery, and peel-off-the-outer-skin-layer-to-my-onions kind of girl.  You do you, and it will work out just fine!
  • Layer your chicken wings into the bottom of your pot.
  • Add in veggies.
Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
Place chicken and veggies in slow cooker.
Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
Add water, apple cider vinegar, salt, & pepper. Cover and turn heat on.
  • Fill with water (for the big pot, that’s about 18 – 20 cups of water.  Can’t remember the small pot.  Maybe 8 – 10 cups?).
  • Add in apple cider vinegar!!!  If this sounds wonky, it’s not.  It’s IMPORTANT!!!  You’ll never taste it in the end – trust me.  I have the most sensitive taste buds you can imagine, and I can’t taste it.  I’m the kid who’ll turn up her nose at chocolate cake made with sour cream, cuz I can taste it … blehcky.  So I promise you.  You won’t taste the apple cider vinegar.  But it’s necessary to help extract all that healing bone protein goodness!!! So DO IT!!!
  • Shake in some salt and pepper.  I add a couple of shakes to start here in the cooking process, but leave the real seasoning for at the table.  That way peeps can control their salt intake better.  Plus, some days I like more salt and pepper to taste, and other days, I go mild.  I like having eating-time options.
  • Cover with the lid.  Turn the heat on high until it comes to a simmer.  Turn heat to low.  Cook for 12 hours!
Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
After 12 hours of cooking.
  • Scoop out chunks and pour through strainer into big bowl.
Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
Spoon out big chunks, then pour through strainer to get smaller bits out.
  • Cool using an ice bath.  Takes about 10 minutes.  This step is a safety step.  When I was researching bone broth recipes, I learned lots.  And chefs are particularly dedicated to safe handling.  They encourage using an ice bath to rapidly bring down the temp of the broth, preventing bacterial growth that can happen during slow cooling.  Also, putting simmering hot soup straight into your fridge or freezer to cool, raises the temp inside your fridge or freezer significantly and can affect your other foods.  So, again.  You do you.  If you have a soup making cooling method you love … go with it! Whatever works for you! I do the ice bath to especially not have to put the hot soup right into my fridge.
  • Remove from ice bath, then Cover and place into your fridge overnight.
Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
Rapid cool in ice bath for safest cooling.
Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
After overnight chill in fridge, gently scrape off solid fat.
  • Gently scrape off excess fat. You will reveal the gelatinous, happy, healthy, healing bone broth goodness!!!!
  • You can now heat up your portion and salt, pepper, and season to taste … and devour!!!  I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE adding thyme to my soup!  It’s my favorite, and I think it makes the most delicious broth.  If you want to give it a try, I usually add a few good shakes to my bowl after I heat it up, and then I devour it!!! Thyme also has wonderful healing benefits – so added tasty, healing bonus!
Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
The gelatinous goodness you see is your bone broth telling you did a perfect job! This bone broth is ready to heat, season, and serve, or turn into chicken soup to serve!

Okay.  So.  From the gelatinous state, you can totally heat, sip, and devour your chicken bone broth as is.  Orrrrrrrrrrr, if you like, you can turn it into chicken/veggie bone broth soup!  This is what I do almost every time!

You can add whatever you want: baked/boiled chicken chunks, veggies, noodles, rice, herbs, etc.  I will say this, though, the closer you stick to broth, veggies, and herbs, the more you maintain the anti-inflammatory nature of the soup.  Adding in chicken, rice, and/or noodles would minimize that effect a bit.  For instance, all rice – organic, brown, wild, … all – has arsenic in it.  There are tolerable limits for arsenic in your weekly diet (usually no more than 2 servings of rice per week), but if you are using the bone broth for its healing qualities, you may want to consider NOT adding in foods that diminish its awesome power.

At this stage for me, I’m definitely an “I eyeball it” kinda girl.  For my big pot of stock, I usually add:

  • 3 cleaned, trimmed, peeled, and sliced carrots
  • 3 cleaned, trimmed, and sliced celery sticks
  • ½ – ¾ diced yellow onion
  • 1 tablespoon of the chicken fat I removed earlier (you can use a veggie oil if you prefer)
  • Salt, pepper, and thyme to taste, at the table
Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
Make chicken soup! Gently heat veggies and oil over low-medium heat for about 5 minutes. Then add in gelatinous bone broth. Simmer on low for 30 minutes.

Here’s what I do:

  • I gently cook/soften the veggies in the chicken fat; over low-medium heat; for about 5 – 10 minutes.
  • Add in the gelatinous bone broth, 1 cup measuring scoop at a time.  (There is usually a layer of fine particulate “sludge” at the bottom of the pan, which I do not use.  It looks sludgy to me, and that gets my nose rolled up at it … I wash it down the drain.  You can decide for yourself what you want to do with it.  Use it or toss it.)
  • Bring to simmer.  Cook for about 30 – 40 minutes.
  • Portion and serve.  Add salt, pepper, and thyme to taste.  YUMMO!!!
  • At this time, I usually portion all remaining soup into lidded, glass, individual-serving-size freezer bowls.  And then I put all these extra servings in the freezer, making them quick gets for any time I want or need some YUMMO soup and healing power!!!
Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
Season to taste – ready – DEVOUR!!!

Now that you are empowered to make your very own chicken bone broth, let’s talk about some thoughts and considerations that might be important to you:

  • Given that you are making bone broth in which you intend to cook down to the bone and extract the healthy goodness, it is advisable to use the best quality ingredients to fully enhance and ensure healthy goodness.  Consider organic, free-range chicken and organic veggies, apple cider vinegar, pepper, and herbs.  If ever there was a time to cook pesticide-, added hormones-, and antibiotic-free, this is it.  Cooking down to the bone pulls these contaminants out even more, and that’s not in your best health interest.  I have calculated my cost (using entirely organic and free-range ingredients) at $1 – $2 a serving (depending on how big of a bowl I want!!!  Sometimes I eat a double serving, cuz it’s that good!!!)  Even at $2 a bowl, this is not a lot to spend on healthy goodness (especially when you think of what you pay for a serving of fast food these days).
  • If you prefer adding in herbs or other veggies earlier on (things like bay leaves, garlic, leeks, etc., for instance), go for it!  It’s your soup.  Make it yours!!!  For me, I like the delicious flavor of a simple broth enhanced with some thyme, salt, and pepper.  That’s me.  What do your taste buds want?  Do that!!!
  • A 12 hour cook time is actually on the shorter end of cooking time for bone broths.  My research found that you can actually cook chicken bone broth up to 72 hours.  Duuuuuude!  Like I’m gonna wait that long!  LOL.  Actually, there’s 2 real notes here.  One, the longer you cook your broth, the more gelatinous goodness you will extract.  This can definitely be a good thing!!!  Two, if you cook your veggies longer than 12 hours, they will get bitter and mess with the flavoring of your broth.  If you plan to cook longer than 12 hours, you can either try scooping out just the veggies (sounds miserable in even trying) or you could bind them in a cooking cheesecloth bag or something for easy extraction.  Just know that if you desire to cook your broth longer to get more of the gelatinous protein healing goodness, you will want an action plan for getting the veggies out after 12 hours to avoid having the soup get bitter with the veggies.
  • I saw some recipes in which peeps blended up the cooked veggies to “add nutritional value and extra thickness” to the broth.  I’ll leave this one up to you.  What I can tell you is that after cooking the veggies for 12 hours, I tasted them to see if they were still “usable” and yummy.  My answer is a resounding NO – they’re yucky!!!  After 12 hours of cooking, I feel they have been used of all their goodness and are ready to be disposed of.  To me, if you want to add new, fresh veggies for new nutritious and yummy goodness, that’s the way to make delicious soup from the broth.
  • A quick ice bath cautionary: when you fill up your sink or a tub with ice and water to make your ice bath, please note, that when you put your broth/pan into the ice bath, it might have buoyancy. Be prepared to hold it steady or have some help. It would totally suck to spill your broth into your ice bath after all that cooking.

And that should do it! You are bone brothing ready!!! Get in there and make yourself some happy, healthy, healing goodness to warm you and delight your taste buds!!! And heal you right on up!!!

Ready to take my Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness: Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge?

Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs
Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

Each day support your healthiness with feeling less stress, less anxiety, more happiness and more positivity!

Easy, fun, happy, silly, adorable, and totally supporting you!

7 days of Love and Big Hugs!

Delightfully cheerful & colorful art will lift & brighten your smile!

11 loving, big hugging, and supporting pages include proven happier and healthier promoting strategies:

  • Smile-making, positivity-promoting, happy coloring blocks
  • Gratitude Acknowledgements
  • Self-acknowledgement Reaffirmations
  • Includes “how to get the most out of this challenge” intro page & a summary reflection page
Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs get button

You can also check out my new ETSY shop!!!

Get Your POSitude On!

Feel happier! Supported! Loved! Hugged!

Bring brightness and goodness into your day, and into your life!

Get inspired every day with a deck of my new POSitude cards! Available in my Etsy shop. Check them out and learn more, now!

Promo Image of POSitude cards on Etsy

May you tackle this flu/cold season illness free! May your holiday season be filled with laughter, love, kindness, gratitude, and joy! Thank you for being here with me … I love spending this time with you!!!

Love and Big Hugs,

Love and Big Hugs Mary Kate
Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

But, but, but, … I LOVE Gluten!
Having to go gluten-free and making it work for me.

Title pic. Going Gluten-free. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Sweetest Love Muffins,

I LOVE gluten.  I love it in my cakes, cookies, muffins, breads, biscuits, grilled cheese sandwiches, pizza, pasta, brownies, croissants, coffee cake, donuts, gravies, cereals, …

Going Gluten-free.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm … Gluten!!!

I miss it so much.

This will be my second holiday season sans the gluten.  No Thanksgiving stuffing, gravies, desserts … oh my.  I can’t even talk about Christmas and all the cakes and cookies and goodies I won’t be eating.

But I am adapting and making my own way.

Summer, a year ago, I had to go gluten-free for my health.  At first it was just supposed to be a trial run to see if not eating it made me feel better.  I was just over 3 years into what has become a chronic health moment in my life (now at 5 years in).

I make being an aging girl look really hard, and I promise you, I don’t mean to.  Along with transitioning into perimenopause, my body has become alien to me in so many ways.  It’s on a programmed mission that is difficult to cope with and is confusing me and my doctors.  And it’s not telling us when, or even if, this is going to get better.

The symptom highlights I experience that are super relevant here: debilitating chronic fatigue, insomnia, exhaustion, and loss of a 24 hour day (My days can be as short as 2 hours, and I’ve gone as long as 34 hours – it was the major suck!!!).

For those of you who don’t understand what chronic fatigue is, it’s not like you just feel tired, like you didn’t get enough sleep.  Nope, that would be a cakewalk compared to what it is for me.  Imagine unbelievable weakness, where you can’t even get out of bed on your own.  Imagine aching bones and joints.  Being unable to concentrate and think, and not wanting to.  Imagine being so mentally and physically fatigued that even breathing feels exhausting.  And then you just lay there.  A lump.  Too debilitated and fatigued to do anything, and then add in the insomnia.  You can’t even sleep yourself well.  Which, by the way, sleeping doesn’t make you feel better or rested with chronic fatigue.  You can wake up even more tired than when you fell asleep.

So with that picture, you might be able to understand why I was willing to try giving up the gluten.  For those of you who know me and my love of chocolate goodness, you know this was a big give.  But desperation was talking, and I was listening.

Just so you know, I’m not trying to convince anyone to go gluten-free.  It’s so hard to do!  All I’m saying is if you need to, it can be done, and in time, you will likely feel a whole lot better!  And if you don’t need to, maybe my experience will help you to understand how hard it is for us, and help you to empathize with our journey.

The day we came home from the doctor’s office, the decision having been made, I went to our pantry and stared.  I looked at all the yummy food that I wasn’t going to be able to eat. I was torn between feeling good about doing something to help my body but also thinking … what’s left to eat???

When going gluten-free, a first lesson you learn is that gluten is freaking EVERYWHERE!!!  We Americans eat so much wheat and wheat processed product that its gluten has contaminated just about everything.

I came home thinking, all I have to do is move all the bread and wheat stuff to a newly designated “Paul’s side” of the pantry, fridge, and freezer.  But nope.  Just about every grain and dried product that you can think of has been processed in a facility that processes wheat, so gluten.  And if you are gluten-sensitive, then yes, even that is enough to trigger a response. 

So out went my grits, rice, corn, oatmeal, and all their related products, too.  Going gluten-free when you really need to get gluten out of your body means going grain-free – unless, you specifically seek out gluten-free grains, which aren’t always easy to find.

And that cuts deeper than you might think.  Marshmallows, for instance.  Made with cornstarch.  So yep, gluten.  So no marshmallows.  … Seriously?!!!  You’re taking away my marshmallows on top of everything else?  Yep.

So it’s not been easy.  In fact, it’s been really freaking hard.  I won’t lie to you.  Going gluten-free is a challenge!!!!  Especially when you are me, an organic vegetarian (who eats occasional fish).  The variety in my diet plummeted, and I’m still working hard to build up my options and choices.

Going Gluten-free.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.

We are mixed household.  Pauli still eats gluten … like … in front of me!!!  LOL.  We’re talking all the things I miss.  Lots of gluten.  Donuts.  Cakes.  Cookies.  Pizza.  And this list goes on.  And it’s even worse for me … because we’re talking True Love, here … I still make cakes and cookies and all this gluten stuff for him to devour in front of me.  (That’s like a straight to heaven kind of thing isn’t it?!!!)

For a quick explanation about the meat and organic choices … there’s a ton of cancer in my family, including colon and breast cancer.  Just over a decade ago, I learned that practically every artificial food coloring used is correlated with colon cancer.  This knowledge took me on my journey to find foods without additives and preservatives, which led me to organic options, and that has grown into a 99% organic habit.  The meat, for me was hard to digest and came with its own hormonally induced symptoms.  So what started out as removing red meat from my diet eventually turned into cutting out all meat except for occasionally eating sustainably wild-caught fish.  Additionally, recently, I’ve learned the AMAZING benefits of bone broth, so I now also make and eat chicken bone broth (but don’t eat the meat itself).

SO.  Being an organic vegetarian who needs to eat gluten-free brings me to my second lesson: it’s a very time consuming and effort-involved journey.  Why?  Because I have to essentially make all of my own food from scratch – which, let’s remember, the whole reason I’m doing this is because I have chronic fatigue … as in many of my days come with ZERO energy.

OK.  I’m assuming by now, you are ready to run for the hills and say screw that going gluten-free thing.  And if so, I get it.  I understand.  It’s hard, and it can totally suck at times.  BUT, before you lace up your runners … here’s the thing:

It’s working.  I’m not a 100% better.  Not yet.  But within a few months of cutting out the gluten, I noticed that my full-on, totally bedridden days reduced from about 27 days a month to about a week.  And now, nearly a year and a half later, I maybe only have 1 – 3 REALLY BAD days a month, and for the most part, none of them are as bad as what I experienced back then.  I still get fatigue attacks, but these days, they seem to be less intense and of shorter duration – however, they still drop me like a sack of potatoes in an instant and without warning.  Also, I still have the insomnia and the non-24 hour day thing … but hey … improvement is good thing!!!!

So for now, I just want to wrap up with a couple of very IMPORTANT things I’ve learned so far.

FIRST

Gluten is definitely an allergen, and if you are not allergic to it, you can still be sensitive to it and experience negative health effects.

If you are in either of these categories, gluten is a highly inflammatory substance, and inflammation leads to disease like diabetes, heart disease, cancers, and rheumatoid arthritis.

If you have ongoing health troubles, and you are wondering if gluten might be at the core, there’s this great doctor online who freely shares an abundance of knowledge – Dr. Axe.  I love his website, and he has no idea I’m talking happy about him. Check him out. (I’ve linked his name to one of the articles he’s written on gluten intolerance … it’s totally worth the read.)

Also, there’s a hiccup with conventional (non-organic) wheat that has nothing to do with gluten and everything to do with Round Up (the highly toxic weed killer they use to dry out the wheat faster to make it ready to harvest faster.  There is conversation about whether people are reacting to the wheat or the Round Up.  If you’d like to read more, Wellness Mama is a website (human’d by a number of health-invested professionals) that offers tremendous healthy living information.  (I’ve linked you here to an article they wrote about conventional wheat … and if you are eating it and don’t like the idea of eating Round Up, please read this article … it’s eye opening!)

SECOND

It’s true that going gluten-free is a challenge, but making all of my own foods has saved us a lot of money … even with buying organic, gluten-free products.  I’m eating super nutritious foods for far less expense.  And my body is thanking me!  So if you are feeling poorly, and you think gluten or wheat might be the culprit … it’s worth checking out.  Just know that it can take a long time to see the full effects.  It depends on you, your body, your needs, and your sensitivities.

What I can tell you is I LOVE Gluten, and even though I miss it, I am happy and grateful it’s out of my life, and I’m on the road to wellness again!

If you are interested in recipes I’ve found, made my own, and turned into things I love, email me and ask for recipes and I will start including them here.

Ready to take my Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness: Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge?

Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs
Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

Each day support your healthiness with feeling less stress, less anxiety, more happiness and more positivity!

Easy, fun, happy, silly, adorable, and totally supporting you!

7 days of Love and Big Hugs!

Delightfully cheerful & colorful art will lift & brighten your smile!

11 loving, big hugging, and supporting pages include proven happier and healthier promoting strategies:

  • Smile-making, positivity-promoting, happy coloring blocks
  • Gratitude Acknowledgements
  • Self-acknowledgement Reaffirmations
  • Includes “how to get the most out of this challenge” intro page & a summary reflection page
Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs get button

You can also check out my new ETSY shop!!!

Get Your POSitude On!

Feel happier! Supported! Loved! Hugged!

Bring brightness and goodness into your day, and into your life!

Get inspired every day with a deck of my new POSitude cards! Available in my Etsy shop. Check them out and learn more, now!

Promo Image of POSitude cards on Etsy

Gluten or no gluten, I hope your day is filled with sweet love and kindness and the biggest hugs ever to hold you and lighten your heart! Thank you for being here with me!!!

Love and Big Hugs,

Love and Big Hugs Mary Kate
Title pic. Going Gluten-free. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

What you give power, has power …

What you give power has power.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love And Big Hugs.

Hello Gorgeous Loves,

I haven’t always been strong.  For a very long time, I wasn’t very strong at all.  And there are still times when I don’t feel strong.

But there’s this thought in my head, this guiding principle I use to grow:

What you give power, has power.

This guiding thought is an offshoot of a quote:

“It all begins in your mind.  What you give power to, has power over you.”

Leon Brown

Thank you Mr. Brown!  I find his original quote helpful to me when thinking about facing my anxieties, and I am grateful for his words.  To me, they tell me my anxiety is in my mind, and I can control it … which I try very hard to work on.  This quote is a part of my Happy, Healing Place Toolbox of Goodness!

But today, I want to talk about my offshoot thought … What you give power, has power!  To me, this version isn’t about something having control over you.  This version is about growing.  Taking something important to you and investing in it, so that it will grow and grow and grow. 

What you give power, has power.

And I’m talking about you!

Me.  You.  All of us!

  • If you grow your love, your love will be powerful!
  • If you grow your self-confidence, your self-confidence will strengthen and become powerful!
  • If you grow your ability to self-care, your self-care will be powerful!
  • If you grow your self-worth, your self-worth will be powerful!

When you invest in you, you invest in your values and what you can do for yourself.  You make yourself stronger, more self-reliant, more capable.  Better prepared to handle life and its obstacles and challenges.  You will be more open to the gifts of life.  The goodness for you!

It doesn’t mean you won’t stumble or even fall, ever again.  But that’s okay.  You keep investing, learning, and growing.  What you give power, has power.

When you give yourself power, you will have power!

It doesn’t mean you will always have to stand on your own if you don’t want to.  You can surround yourself with people who will love you, care for you, grow with you, support you, and who will bring you up and walk forward with you.  That way when life throws the hard curve balls, you don’t have do it all on your own.  That’s just you being strong and knowing what you need, when you need it, and doing your best to be prepared for when life happens.

What you give power has power.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love And Big Hugs.  POSitude
Live with POSitude!

We aren’t born knowing how to be strong, but as we face life and learn the lessons it is teaching us, we can grow our strength.  We learn who we are and what we are capable of.  We learn what we need and want to grow – what we want to be better at or stronger at.  This is all good!

In the process, we’ll fail, make mistakes, and need time to heal and grow.  That’s okay.  It’s how it works.  What’s important is not letting our failures or mistakes bring us down (at least not for too long).  Look at them for what they are, life’s learning and growing moments.  Learn and grow, and become stronger.  Also, it’s vital that we give ourselves the time we need to heal and grow.  (No one else gets to determine what that amount of time is.  It’s up to each of us.  It’s individual.  And it happens when it happens.)

The bottom line:

What you give power, has power.

So … will you give YOU power, so YOU have power? The power to love, laugh, be happy, be kind, find joy, feel gratitude, be healthy, be strong, be confident, be whatever you value … be your best you.  It’s up to you, but for sure, what you give power, has power!

Ready to take my Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness: Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge?

Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs
Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

Each day support your healthiness with feeling less stress, less anxiety, more happiness and more positivity!

Easy, fun, happy, silly, adorable, and totally supporting you!

7 days of Love and Big Hugs!

Delightfully cheerful & colorful art will lift & brighten your smile!

11 loving, big hugging, and supporting pages include proven happier and healthier promoting strategies:

  • Smile-making, positivity-promoting, happy coloring blocks
  • Gratitude Acknowledgements
  • Self-acknowledgement Reaffirmations
  • Includes “how to get the most out of this challenge” intro page & a summary reflection page
Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs get button

You can also check out my new ETSY shop!!!

Get Your POSitude On!

Feel happier! Supported! Loved! Hugged!

Bring brightness and goodness into your day, and into your life!

Get inspired every day with a deck of my new POSitude cards! Available in my Etsy shop. Check them out and learn more, now!

Promo Image of POSitude cards on Etsy

Thank you for being here – my heart is bright with joy for you! May your day be powerful with you and filled with love and happiness!!!

Love and Big Hugs,

Love and Big Hugs Mary Kate
What you give power has power. Mary Kate Kopec. Love And Big Hugs.

Create your very own Happy Healing Place toolbox of goodness!

Create your very own happy healing place toolbox of goodness. Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs

Hello Happy Hearts!

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how kindness saved my life.  In my story of me, I talked about having a safe place to go and be while life was beating me down.  In our happy chit chat today, I want to grow this idea into a bursting toolbox of goodness that will help you tackle the tough times!

Firstly, lemme explain what I mean by a safe place.  To me, safe can be physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually … it can refer to any plane you are existing on.  So to me, a safe place is a place you feel happy, relaxed, calm, at peace, … to me, it is a place for you to heal your heart, mind, body, soul … whatever needs healing.

So let’s call it our happy, healing place!

Depending on whatever trauma and drama your life is dealing down on you, this place can vary, as well as how you use it. 

Let’s grow your Happy, Healing Place Toolbox of Goodness.  You can fill it with anything that makes you happy and helps you heal.  Things like:

  • happy memories
  • happy imagined places
  • photos of happy times
  • happy meditations
  • songs or music that make you feel happy
  • happy books you can read
  • a journal for creating, drawing, arting it up, and writing out thoughts that lead you back to happiness
  • favorite places you love that make you feel calm, peaceful, and happy
  • spending happy time with a friend
  • … and anywhere or anything else you can think of

To give you an idea of something you can put into your toolbox of goodness, here is a drawing of my favorite imagined place and the words I use to meditate it into my mind.  For me, this place is perfect.  It’s nature and delight.  It’s comfortable.  Peaceful.  Relaxing.  And it makes me smile.  The sun is always warm and bright.  The tree is always strong and protective.  The birds are always delightful.  Even the bugs are filled with mirth (and they never sting or bite!).  My blanket is soft and great for sitting, laying, and napping.  The breeze is always soothing.  Sometimes, I add bunnies, squirrels, and/or chipmunks.  And since Baby Bear (our beloved cookie cat) has gone on to live in the stars on Betelgeuse, sometimes even he visits me here … he always did love a good sun warming.  And if Pauli is away and can’t be with me right then, he comes and sits with me, too.

Create your very own happy healing place toolbox of goodness. Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs

Your place can be anywhere, with anything and anybody that makes you feel good, happy, peaceful … anything and everything that helps you relax and heal.  That gives you and your body, mind, soul, and spirit a rest.

In last week’s post, I talked about how all the forms of stress (mental, physical, emotional …) wear your body down and impact your health.  I talked about when you don’t feel well, you likely don’t feel very happy.  So whatever trauma or drama is causing you stress (be it at work, home, in a relationship, anxiety, whatever, wherever, whoever), it’s hurting you, your health, and your happiness.  Your Happy, Healing Place Toolbox of Goodness helps you get needed rest to rejuvenate and cope by spending time in your safe, happy, healing place.

Your toolbox is a tremendous asset to your wellness!

So a very good reason for you to grow your toolbox and to have it pre-made/thought of, written out, collected (however you want to assemble it for readiness) is that it becomes an easy go-to and reminder of all the tricks you have up your sleeves for when times get tough and your stress levels go up.

Because, honestly, once you are already feeling down, bad, low, stressed, and anxious, it can hard to remember the goodness in your life.  It can be hard to remember the happinesses in your life.  It can be hard to remember what to do and how to help you feel better.  This toolbox is for you!

To help you get started, I’m giving you 2 coloring pages – all you have to do is click below.  One is for you to be able to create a visual of a happy place you love.  The other one is for you to list out, write out, explain, draw, … whatever works for you … your list of happy, healing places to spend healing time in.  Perhaps even a reminder checklist of your options.  Whatever works for you.  Keep in mind, some of your happy, healing places might work better for certain kinds of trauma and drama than others, and etc.  So be creative.  Think happy!  Grow your Happy, Healing Place Toolbox of Goodness, and get to healing and feeling happier! This is self-care that loves and big hugs you tight!

Create your very own happy healing place toolbox of goodness Color Page get button. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs

Ready to take my Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness: Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge?

Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs
Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

Each day support your healthiness with feeling less stress, less anxiety, more happiness and more positivity!

Easy, fun, happy, silly, adorable, and totally supporting you!

7 days of Love and Big Hugs!

Delightfully cheerful & colorful art will lift & brighten your smile!

11 loving, big hugging, and supporting pages include proven happier and healthier promoting strategies:

  • Smile-making, positivity-promoting, happy coloring blocks
  • Gratitude Acknowledgements
  • Self-acknowledgement Reaffirmations
  • Includes “how to get the most out of this challenge” intro page & a summary reflection page
Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs get button

You can also check out my new ETSY shop!!!

Get Your POSitude On!

Feel happier! Supported! Loved! Hugged!

Bring brightness and goodness into your day, and into your life!

Get inspired every day with a deck of my new POSitude cards! Available in my Etsy shop. Check them out and learn more, now!

Promo Image of POSitude cards on Etsy

I’m so happy you are here! You make my day brighter, and I thank you for your love and totally PINK hearts and smiles!!! Wishing you a delightful day filled with kindness and hope!!!

Love and Big Hugs,

Love and Big Hugs Mary Kate
Create your very own happy healing place toolbox of goodness. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs