Friday Musings—17/11/23

If you haven't read it yet, in this week's post I share one of the main lessons from my Positive Intelligence training, i.e., adopting the "Sage Perspective" and learning to turn every crisis/misfortune/defeat into a gift and opportunity. I'm still struggling with developing such a positive attitude. However, I'm sure that people who have this outlook on life are happier and also achieve more, so I'm going to keep at it.

I'm back from my trip to Utrecht, in The Netherlands, where I had a really great time and also met up with two local women. So today I'm going to share a few pics and ideas I picked up during my stay there.

Breakfast inspo

As I mentioned previously, I practiced intermitting fasting for many years and used to skip breakfast. Then I discovered that fasting isn't always a great idea for women, especially during certain phases of our cycle. Plus, having regular meals is usually recommended to people with a history of eating disorders. I slowly started reintroducing breakfast by eating some fruits and nuts, and at a certain point I decided I wanted to have some veggies, too, so I started making smoothies.

During my stay in Utrecht I took it a step further! The hotel I was staying at had an impressive breakfast buffet, which included lettuce and other raw veggies, along with hummus, mushrooms, avocado, all sorts of seeds and nuts. So I decided to make myself a salad, along with some yogurt with nuts and fruit. And I actually just discovered that having salad for breakfast is really trendy now :) I can attest, I felt great afterwards, and it kept me full for many hours.

I also got some inspiration to level up my habit of drinking hot water with lemon upon waking up. The hotel offered hot water and lemon slices, but also cinnamon sticks, anise stars and ginger slices. The result was incredible, and I actually replicated that at home this morning. Attaching pic if you want to give it a try as well!

Meeting the locals

My eating disorders led me to live a very secretive and isolated life for so many years. I started opening up a bit more while in Dublin, but only recently have I been able to really be okay with letting others see "the true me" and being more vulnerable. Also, after all of the restrictions brought on by the pandemic and all the time spent indoors and online, I decided I wanted to meet more people in real life.

A few months ago, I joined the GGI (Girls gone International) group here in Turin, which organizes several in-person events in the city with both expats and locals. And shortly before my trip, I joined "Host a sister", a group that women from all over the world can use to ask for a place where to sleep for a night or two, or offer to host someone, or simply just see if anyone is interested in meeting up for coffee. I chose the latter option. I posted that I was going to be in Utrecht, and two local women reached out and offered to have lunch/tea together and show me around the city. It was lovely! I learned a lot about life in The Netherlands, saw less touristy spots, and heard some interesting life stories. I highly recommend you try something similar as well next time you're traveling abroad. Meetup.com is another place where you can meet cool people wherever you go, or in your own city, and I'm sure there are plenty of other similar groups.

Quote of the week ✍️

"We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls". (Anaïs Nin)

That's all from me today. Adding a few pics from my trip and reminding you, as always, to share any insights or questions you may have in the comments, or send me an email—I'm always happy to chat. You can also book a free call with me to talk about personal development, positive intelligence, and where you're at in your life. Please don't forget to share this with someone who may be interested.

Enjoy your weekend and TTYS

ML