Live Joy

We all have that weight we think we should be. Maybe it’s what we weighed in college, what we weighed when we were 30, or what we weighed when we felt like we were in the best shape of our lives. Somewhere along the way, that number became our “ideal weight,” and we continue to use it as the number we need to get back to or maintain, regardless of how much our bodies, lifestyles, and goals have changed. For most of our lives, we have been conditioned to believe that the number on the scale is one of the biggest indicators of our health. The lower the number, the “healthier” we assume we are. But weight alone tells us very little about what is actually happening inside our bodies, and as we get older, body composition becomes much more important than simply trying to make the number on the scale smaller. Two people can both weigh 130 pounds and have completely different body compositions. One person could have a much higher percentage of body fat and very little muscle, while anothe...

  There is something about the beginning of fall that naturally feels like a reset. The mornings become cooler, the days get a little shorter, routines settle back in after summer, and there is a noticeable shift in the energy around us. While January gets most of the attention when it comes to fresh starts, I have always thought fall offers its own opportunity to pause, reflect and decide how we want to move through the remainder of the year. The Fall Equinox marks the astronomical beginning of fall in the Northern Hemisphere and occurs when the sun crosses the celestial equator. Around the equinox, daylight and nighttime are nearly equal before we begin moving toward shorter days and longer nights. Because of this near equality between light and darkness, the equinox has long been associated with balance, transition, gratitude and letting go. I love the symbolism behind it because balance doesn't necessarily mean giving equal amounts of ourselves to every area of our lives. T...

The universe has a way of making you make changes and usually, it happens when you least expect it and definitely when you don’t want the change. At least, that seems to be how it works in my life. Things will feel good. Stable. Predictable. I’ll finally feel like I have found my rhythm, and then suddenly life decides it is time to shake things up. And there I am, standing in the middle of a situation I didn’t ask for, didn’t plan for, and certainly didn’t feel ready for. I was talking to a friend recently who is going through her own version of a life “shake-up.” We were talking about how difficult it can be when something changes that you had no intention of changing yourself. She said something that stuck with me: When unexpected things happen, I try to find the lesson in them. I love that perspective. Not because I believe we need to immediately turn every difficult experience into something positive. Sometimes things just hurt. Sometimes we are angry, disappointed, c...

  In life, we’re often told to strive for balance. Yet when it comes to our emotions, it can be surprisingly easy to live at one extreme or the other. We tend to think negativity is bad and positivity is good. Be grateful. Look on the bright side. Stay positive. Don’t focus on the negative. But the truth is, neither extreme serves us. Life is made up of hard seasons and beautiful ones. There are wins and losses, joy and disappointment, excitement and grief. We are supposed to experience a range of emotions. The goal isn’t to eliminate the uncomfortable ones. The goal is to learn how to feel and regulate them without allowing them to take over our lives. We all know what constant negativity looks like. You say something good, and they find the problem. You share an idea, and they tell you why it won’t work. Something goes wrong, and it becomes proof that everything always goes wrong. They are constantly looking for what could go wrong, what didn’t work out, what isn’t fa...

  Every January, we start with the best intentions. This is going to be the year. The year we finally get stronger, save the money, take the trip, start the business, change careers, get organized, prioritize ourselves, finish the project, build the habit, or finally do the thing we have been talking about doing for years. And then life happens. January becomes March. March becomes summer. Summer flies by, and suddenly we look at the calendar and realize another year is almost over. Some of those goals we were so excited about are still sitting there, untouched. Maybe we made a little progress. Maybe we completely forgot about them. Maybe somewhere along the way we decided there was always next year.   But here's what I want you to remember: 2026 isn't over. We still have approximately 16 weeks left in this year, and 16 weeks is a lot of time. That's 16 weeks of mornings, workouts, saving, writing, learning, practicing, changing, and showing up. Sixteen weeks is enoug...

  I came across this quote from Yung Pueblo, and there was one line that really stayed with me: “The magic happens after you accept that you can’t regulate other people’s emotions or experiences.” I think this is something a lot of us spend years learning. Especially if you’re someone who cares deeply about other people. You want everyone to be okay. You don’t want anyone to be upset with you. You explain yourself when you feel misunderstood. You replay conversations wondering if you said the wrong thing. You try to smooth things over, fix situations, keep the peace, and sometimes even make yourself smaller so someone else can feel more comfortable. And somewhere along the way, you can start living your life based on how other people might react to it. You Are Not Responsible for Everyone’s Reaction This might be one of the hardest lessons I’ve learned in midlife: Someone can be disappointed in your decision, and it can still be the right decision for you. Someone...