Terri Lynn's Happy Talk

The fact is: everything is constant change, and the question is: are you changing for the better or worse? Sounds a little like a marriage vow, doesn’t it? In truth, we are married to our body until death. My plan is to keep changing for the better, and with the help of the team at Peak Potential Wellness Center in Malvern, Pa. it appears I am doing just that. Thanks, Peak Potential! 

Dr. Brian Capaldi and his team work together to provide the best care possible for all who enter the center. To maximize your benefits visit a wellness center before you are in pain, however if you do have back or muscle pain, Peak Potential Wellness Center is the team to trust if you are as fortunate as I am to live close enough to visit. They are knowledgeable, trained and professional in every way.

Chiropractic check-ups have been part of my routine since my teenage years, and Dr. Capaldi is the best I’ve found. He listens and responds to all my concerns as if I were his main concern.  

A healthy visit takes no time at all and keeps my body tuned. When my spine is aligned properly my whole body functions better and in turn, I feel better.  There is one thing I know for sure and  that is …when you feel good…good things happen!

Many people have said to me when I suggest chiropractic tune-ups that it requires too many visits. Is that what you think? Not if you go before you are hurt!! Once you are injured it may require more visits, especially if your spine wasn’t in proper alignment to start. Being pro-active is key.

Before a long automobile trip most people get an allignment of the tires, check fluids and tire pressure so not to have trouble along the way. This is your body and hopefully your life is a long road trip…get your allignment to avoid trouble up ahead! 

The minute you walk into the Peak Potential Wellness Center you know you are in good hands. Always a warm welcome from Lynne Scartozzi or Tricia DeSantis, and on certain days, if you are lucky, you may be greeted by both. These two women make visitors feel like family. The decor is artistically fresh with a beautiful waiting area and plenty of current magazines to suit whatever your interests…not that you will be waiting long.

At  Peak Potential Wellness Center, Jeff Myers CMT, is the massage therapist. He has helped me tremendously to get the kinks out my body from years of wear. If it is a relaxation massage you desire, Jeff can do that perfectly, but if you are brave enough to allow him to dig deep into your muscle and tissue, you may just be as happily surprised as I am now to be feeling younger every day!  Yes, that’s right…younger!

Chiropractic adjustments and massage therapy are two of the many things I do regularly to maintain my ’peak happiness’ state. The Peak Potential Wellness Center’s team are definitely at the top in their field . If you live in the Malvern, Pennsylvania area, stop in to see for yourself.

Peak Potential also staffs a nutritionist, offers physical therapy, physical training and much more. Check out their website here:http://www.peakpotentialcenter.com/

Remember, the marriage to your body is for better or worse… and happiness is your choice!

Boot Camp With A Purpose: Exton, Pa.

Elite Personal Training was the first official site to host this international charity event. Boot Camp With A Purpose is an international charity that encourages all fitness professionals to work together and raise money for charity by doing what you love best.

With over 70 locations including Australia, Canada and the United States they are making a difference one push up at a time!

For more information or to find a BCWAP in your area visit www.bcwap.org or www.trainatelite.com .

Personally, I’ve been to BCWAP in Exton, PA, and Matt Sgro gives a very professional training session. Join him if you dare! Matt also offers a free personal session to get you started if you are a beginner…just say, “Yes, I can!”

A fit body helps makes a happier you! All happiness to you!

My continuing technical issues played a major role in my life this week. My computer was returned to me on Wednesday evening with a new hard drive installed. Great! It was only down a week and I was grateful for that. Thursday morning I dig right in to get some work done and that beautiful “blue” screen pops up again. Not what I wanted to see.

Returning to the store once again with the desktop computer and all the accessaries only to find it seemed to be functioning perfectly. Back home I go and get the computer connected once again. My frustration level is a bit higher than normal but once again I am grateful that I will be able to focus on work.

Friday morning I go into my email and something isn’t right. I then check my website and find the computer is running a little slow. Letting that pass I plug in my memory stick to download some of the things I am working on, and during the first download the page freezes. As my frustration level increases a bit I begin to take some deep breaths, and then I proceed to calmly call the GeekSquad, it is time for help and I am certain they can talk me through whatever the problem is. No such luck!

They will send someone out next Tuesday so I don’t have to lug all the equipment back to the store. Accepting the appointment I already knew I had to take it back to the store because if I wait until Tuesday and they need to take it then, I loose more time. In my mind I was just going to buy  new computer and have them install it on Tuesday. When I purchased the computer (only three months ago) it took ten days to get the install becuase they are so busy..

Grateful was I to have a lunch date with an old grade school friend. It gave me something positive to focus on. Getting an hour meditation in with forty-five minutes on the treadmill before I left helped reduce my anxiety. The lunch was great and it was as if we never missed a beat. Nothing like old friends. We know each others history already and we just had to fill in the past twenty years or so.

During lunch my new htc Droid phone seemed to lock up and then went dead. This brought my frustration right back to the surface. Immediately I saw the positive in that…I am making a trip to the store anyway! Not a big deal. Then I realize that it was possibly my angst that caused it! Sounds crazy I know but stranger things have happened.

On my way to the “BEST BUY” I was feeling upset. Knowing that I can either accept these issues or fight them, I threw up a little prayer…”Thanks Lord for helping me find the “happy” in this situation.” Calming myself before entering the store, knowing it is not  Jeff, the managers fault. Being upset with him isn’t going to help anyone.

Having been a manger in a car dealership for many years I know how difficult a job hit is when cars, or computers, break down. Jeff is there to help me. He was the one who listened to my concerns last week and did the best he could to handle my situation as quickly as possible. Certainly, I did not wish to let my frustration out on him.

While waiting, I met a friendly customer in line. We started talking about computer issues and before long he had my card in his hand. Now, there’s a positive in this situation! Next, Jeff explains a new hard drive may be needed and assures me this computer is not cursed! He also takes my card after I explain that I need to have thousands of people “REGISTERED” on my website in a months time. Every day counts!

 I asked him how many GeekSquad techs there were. “Probably a thousand just in this area, and hundreds of thousands scattered all over the country,” he said. Now there’s a happy thought, picturing all of the GeekSquad registering from around the country on my website! I told Jeff  that if he could get them all to register it would help me make up for the down time of the computer. He told me he wasn’t sure he could get ALL of them. I just laughed and said a thousand or two will do! Then the tech next to him said she remembered me from when I bought the computer and she would get her friends to register on the website! Thank you to the GeekSquad!

Jeff promised my computer would get top priority service due to all the issues, and I walked away seeing all the positives. Jeff did a great job of engaging me and helping me feel that this matter was most important to him, even though he had several other customers waiting for his aatention.. Seeing how busy he was I really appreciated his sincerity. Thank you, Jeff!

What happened next just put the icing on the cake! As I walked over to get my phone serviced I was greeted by Nick, the most friendly and positive person you can imagine. He took my phone, asked a few questions, looked at my account, and within minutes handed the phone back in working condition and gave me a few tips to boot.

Mentioning to him it was probably my frustration with my computer that caused it to freezehe and then the battery drained. He laughed agreeably. When you think about it, carrying around any of those negative feelings, anger, hate, anxiety, frustration…it does put a drain on our physical energy. It only takes away  from you. It is not easy to let go of but you can minimalize the enegy drain if you are aware of what you are feeling. Only you can change how you feel.

Nick and I were talking and he was bursting at the seems telling me about his new young daughter, Ryley Jade. He popped out a photo of the happiest, smiling face ever. I pulled out my card and told him that she belongs on my website. He immediately texted me her photo and just look at her smiling face! Needless to say, I walked away feeling very content and happy.  Thank you, Lord! My prayer was answered… as always!                                                                                                                                              

My drive home was filled with thoughts of this little girl Ryley Jade Martini and how her dad just beamed with joy talking about her. It was beautiful to see. Then my thoughts went to having all the GeekSquad supporting my new project! Now that is a happy, fun thought! Is it going to happen? God only knows. What I do know is that being open to see the positive I found lots of it. It is so much more fun to look for the good and imagine the possibilities than to walk away mad and upset over something out of my control.

Hoping you find the happy in your day! When you look for it you will find it! All happiness to you!

It is true that happiness is the best gift you can give to yourself and to the world. Be the change you wish to see in the world.

As a child my mother taught me the lesson of the optimist and the pessimist. It is because of her that my outlook is so bright. Learning to look and see all the good  and happy things in my day has really shaped my life.

May 20th was my mother’s birthday, and on this day I celebrate and remember her love with gratitude.

Gratitude is the great multiplier. Being grateful for all the good things in this life comes easy for me, and it always helps to perk me up if things sometimes look dim. However, being grateful for something you wanted that you did not get…that took much more effort for me.

Last year I went after a job that I was certain was the perfect fit for me. It was just what I thought I needed. When the job went to another candidate I was very surprised and disappointed to say the least. After the shock passed I thought about how can I be grateful for not getting the job I wanted?

It took some time but I did manage to become truly grateful for not receiving that job. Realizing that there must be something better coming for me. It took some work and a lot of faith but once my gratitude kicked in my whole world changed in the sense of a new career path.

After seeing the result of being grateful for not getting something I wanted I began going back in time and looking at situations that caused me pain. Divorce, a life living separated from my children, could I actually become grateful for these horrors? 

Once again, it took much faith to look close at these past events in my life, painful events, but once I did I was able to see the positive side of all the pain. I became truly grateful.  Understanding my past pain has given me the ability to help others. It was not until I felt the gratitude that I was able to see that.

My whole world changed in a matter of weeks and I began a new path as a writer. There is a power much larger than us and with trust in that power comes a knowing that whatever is in front of us now, is meant to be. If someone told me twenty-five years ago that I would be truly grateful for the past horror of my life, I would not believe them. But it is true.

On a happiness survey I took a few years back the question was asked if I would make the same decisions now that I know the outcome  of my life. That question really threw me into a head spin because I feel I made the best choice for my children but now knowing the pain it caused me, I am not sure I’d have the strength to do it again.

Grateful I am, but the survey question still remains un-answered. Only God knows the answer to that. All I know is that gratitude is the key that changed my life. Have you ever had the experience of being grateful for something you wanted but did not receive?

Sometimes things are just out of our control. This past week has presented more challenges to me in several different areas than I’ve faced all year. To start with was some water damage in my home due to a storm a few weeks back. The adjuster came and my insurance does want to pay for the content of my home due to it being a maintenance issue that the homeowners association is responsible for. The homeowner ass. insurance company does not want to pay for damages because they do not cover the interior even though they are responsible for the maintenance(or lack of maintenance that caused the water leak.) So I am stuck in the middle.

Next, my new computer crashes (only 90 days old!) and this really hampers my writing. Not sure when I will have it back, possibly ten to fourteen days.  Also, in between these two major issues, my new website had several problems.

So the question is what can you do in situations like this? Frustrating for sure. The first thing I did when I came home from dropping my computer off was to recognize the stress of the situation which was compounded by the run around I got from the insurance company. Once I recognized the pent up angst I decided to take a long walk outside with the dog. We actually jogged a bit which is not my norm. Upon returning I felt much better.

Then I was off for a long girls weekend, something that had been planned for weeks. The first morning I needed to make a few calls to the insurance company and the computer store. Bad news on both calls and I was angry for a moment. Once I shared my feelings I just put it out of my mind and focused on the pleasure of the moment. My oldest and dearest friend was in from out of town and it was great to spend time with her and the new circle of friends I met through her. (more to share about the weekend in a later post)

The point is that I could not control any of the circumstances that were happening in my life but I could control how I felt, and that I did. It was a great weekend even though these real issues still are not fixed. Starting tomorrow I will be back on the phone and doing all I need to do to correct the situation but I am so glad I did not allow the upsets to hinder my special time with my friends!

Life is grand when you can focus on the good, and the rest will all work out in due time. It is only an inconvenience when you don’t allow it to ruin your present moment. Keep tuned to hear all about our girl’s weekend! Hope you have a great week ahead.

Feeling good is a great start to any day. What do you do to feel good in the morning? My routine is a bit much for most people but it makes me feel so good I actually feel as if I am getting younger. The way I feel most days is what gives me the discipline to do all I do.

Let’s take today for example: First thing was an hour meditation, next I took a break to drink my supplemental GoChi juice along with about 12oz of fresh juice I made with strawberries, oranges and pears. Delicious! Next, prayers then forty minutes on the treadmill to great music while smiling as much as possible.

Newly added to my daily routine is taking my new house guest for her walks out in the fresh air. It is not what I thought I’d be doing, walking a dog, but am enjoying every minute of it. Some days more activities are added to my routine such as swimming or hiking at a preserve nearby…my little piece of heaven!

My daily routine varies but most days I make sure enough time is allowed to meditate, pray, and get some aerobics in because I put my happiness first in my life. My experience has been that happiness makes everything seem easier. The fresh juice as my breakfast,  along with the rest of my routine, just starts me off feeling like nothing negative can touch me, and usually nothing does.

When my schedule does not allow the time to fit everything in I will cut an hour of sleep to get the meditation in, and I cherish my sleep. But the exhilarated feeling that starts me off each morning is worth the effort. With a clear mind, my spirit soars as my body aerobicly works out all tension, and the freedom of being one in complete harmony takes over me. It is beautiful.

It is difficult to be happy when your mind, body, and soul are not tuned in. Most people tell me they just don’t have the time to look inside and meditate. That is so sad because the soul will not steer you wrong, it is the one part of you that will be around long after your body and mind go.

But your happiness is your choice. All I know is that my happiness level is so far over the top most days I need to share it or I will explode. I’m choosing to share…all happiness to you!

Funny how it goes, I wasn’t looking for a new love in my life but now I have one. My niece came to stay with me and she brought her little “Hallie” with her. At first I tried to keep my heart but that only lasted a day! This little charmer has become my new love…and we have so much fun!

She is the sweetest thing, a little bundle of fur! We walk and run, we talk and play, and this just goes on all day, every day now.

What a joy she is! So grateful for all the love.

In a recent study published by the University of Leicester in England more than 80,000 respondents worldwide reported if they were ‘thriving’ or merely ‘surviving’ in their life today. Americans came in 23rd! How is that possible? The Danes came in No.1 followed closely by the Swiss.

So what can be done to boost your happiness level? Check out what Reader’s Digest suggest @ www.rd.com/health/20-simple-ways-to-get-happy/

From my personal experience putting the time and effort to be happy is well worth it. Feeling good and being healthy is worth so much to me that I spend a good ninety minutes or more a day praying, meditating, exercising, making fresh juice and much more. Meditation alone has enhanced my life in the mind, body, and soul connection.

Let’s get happy America!

Have you ever taken a test to measure your happiness level? Your optimism level? On the website Authentic Happiness you can do just that. www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu if you’d like to test yourself. There are several dozen other tests also that may spark your interest.

According to the group “Action for Happiness,” founded by Lord Richard Layard, our happiness influences the people we know and also the people they know. Research shows that the happiness of a close contact increases the chance of being happy by 15%.

The happiness of a 2nd-degree contact (e.g. friend’s spouse) increases your chance of being happy by 10% and the happiness of a 3rd-degree contact (e.g. friend of a friend of a friend) by 6%!

So it is true that happiness is contagious. Being around happier people according to my experience is just more fun. Being happy myself makes hard work seem easier, problems feel lighter and easier to solve, and the list goes on.  On the other hand being around unhappy, judgemental, complaining people is a drain on my energy. Both positive and negative people influence us to a certain degree, where are you in the spectrum?

So go ahead and test your happiness, see where your strengths lie. Choose happiness and then spread it around!

All happiness to you!

What does putting happiness first mean? How do you do that? Most of us are too busy to even think about that. The reality is if we did take time for our own happiness first, all else would be better.

We are beings of mind, body, and spirit. If one of those gets ignored for too long true happiness is not possible. However when we take the time to honor and care for all three on a daily basis everything gets better over time. Most of us don’t put the time into it because we don’t know what we are missing.

Our body needs to be taken care of to function properly. Eat properly, exercise regularly, and get the proper rest. Sounds easy enough but being in the auto business for over twenty years I’ve seen many people take better care of their car then do their own body. Our body is the vehicle of our life, our spirit is the engine or the power that drives it, and our mind is our navigator. Happiness comes when all three are tuned.

It takes a real commitment to make the time to nurture all three but if you do you will see how much easier you deal with the stresses of daily living. It has been my first hand experience to witness the difference in my own life. Meditation really works over time. My experience has been that once you get past the mind chatter and  into your center, it all connects.

Honoring your own spirit by quieting your mind and relaxing your body will be more beneficial to your life than anything else you could do with your time. Today most of us just want that instant fix and don’t look deeper within. If you only start with the ten minute exercise I send to website registrants, over time you would see a difference.

Meditation also brings an awareness to your thoughts, over time. So many people I speak with don’t know what they want and are stuck in jobs they say they hate. When I suggest meditation to them immediately they give a thousand excuses why they don’t have the time, and I know it is only because they have no idea how much better things would be.

Being stuck in a job you hate just kills your spirit one day at a time. With the knowledge we have today of how all things are connected, doesn’t it make sense to look inside and find your own connection? Your happiness lies within you no matter who you are, and only you can find it. My prayer is that you do. All happiness to you!

In his recording of “The Strangest Secret” Earl Nightingale proclaims “You are what you think about all day long.” Earl Nightingale recorded that over fifty years ago. In today’s time Mike Dooley, owner of TUT.com and author of “Notes from the Universe,” claims that “Thoughts become things…choose the good ones!” So how important are thoughts? Is it possible to actually manage your thoughts?

In my own experience thinking happy, or looking at something in a positive way, makes me feel better. Some thoughts are easier to adjust than others but with awareness, focus and discipline it can be done. You are the only one who knows your thoughts, that is if you are aware of them, and you are the only one who can change your thoughts. Your happiness is your responsibility. What are you willing to do?

How do you feel? Feelings are a direct result of thoughts. Happiness levels vary based on many things but true happiness really does make everything better, easier and less stressful. It only makes sense to put your happiness first. How much time are you willing to invest to increase your happiness level?

Every thought is a seed and I am sending loving thoughts your way! Thanks for taking time to share your thoughts.

It has been a while since the “Big Day” posting. Many issues occurred with the website and put everything with the site on hold. Thanks to all of you that shared your concern and  for the support, it really means so much to me.

Welcome back! Now we can finally get things rolling.

My big day has finally arrived! I am filled with excitement and nervous energy. The technical end has been a real challenge for me. I keep putting positive thoughts into my mind to eliminate the stress. Everything will be OK, it always is!

I so appreciate all the help and support I’ve received from my family and friends. By far, my biggest blessing in life! If ever I need to pick myself up and change focus I just start counting all the fabulous people in my life.

I look at happiness like helium in a balloon. As the helium pumps into the balloon it begins to lift. It is the same with us. The more positive feed we put into ourselves, the better we feel, and our spirits lift. We rise above the negativity of life as we fill ourselves with positive thoughts. Feeling good is a good indicator of being in a positive state. If you’re not feeling happy, check your thoughts.

Today I am using my imagination to think of all the fantastic possibilities that may be ahead in this new venture of mine. I am planting seeds of joy on my way down a new road. Wishing joy for you on whatever road you travel, and thanks for joining me! Think happy!

Happiness is your choice. Many times we are unaware of just how our thoughts create the world we live in, and we do not pay close enough attention to what we think. Do your thoughts serve you? Do your thoughts generate the feelings you desire? Only you have the power to decide how you feel. So, what do you do on a daily basis to ‘Think happy?’

One of the many habits I have formed to help me think happy is: each morning I choose one thought to be my theme for the day. I concentrate on the daily theme throughout the day. For instance, today’s theme is vision. I am so happy and grateful I have the vision in my mind of success. I see myself expanding happiness in the world. I’ve planted the seeds of happiness, and am  now watching them grow. This makes me feel wonderful.

Yesterday had a different theme, but each day I choose one happy thought and focus on that thought. What do you do to help yourself keep a happy focus? Please share you thoughts with us because you may just have the one thought that helps someone out of a rut. We all need to help each other.  Thanks, and remember, HAPPINESS is your choice.

Do you have room for happiness? Do you have piled up trash blocking your happiness?Where I live the trash gets picked up twice a week. How about in your neighborhood? Have you ever missed a day? It is amazing how fast trash can pile up. The trash I am speaking of here however is your own personal trash.

The Irish have an old saying that I am sure you probably have heard before: Top of the morning to you! That saying is a great wish to bless people with because if you live life the way life is designed for us to live, you will start each day fresh with no baggage.

Every day is a new start and we all get another chance to be our best. However, if we are carrying about yesterday’s trash, the burden will get harder with each passing day. Learning to take out personal trash on a regular basis makes our lives so much easier.

Personal trash can pile up fast if we don’t pay attention to it. Those thoughts and feelings we all experience over our lifetime. Guilt for something we did or didn’t do, anger over what someone did to us, worry about finances or our job, any and all of those negatives that weigh us down.

Learning to take the trash out by letting go at the end of the day any negative experience will enhance your life immensely. Examine the negative feeling, analyze it if you must and put it in the trash. Then contemplate something positive that happened, there is always something positive if you look for it. Feeling positive will enhance sleep.

It may take some practice to achieve trash free living but it is worth the effort. To start out fresh each day feels so good. When all the negative feelings are gone there is so much more room for the good feelings, and when you feel good…good things happen.

Many health problems and diseases are now being connected to negative feelings such as anger, resentment, and the largest contributor, stress. So learning to let go of these negatives, as best we can, will help us all live happier and healthier lives.

Every feeling generates a frequency and that is why those negative feelings are not good for us. Holding a resentment or not forgiving someone creates a negative frequency inside us and therefore only hurts us. It does nothing to the person we are angry with.

So take out the trash…and make room for HAPPINESS!