True Love is a Choice. It’s 80% Commitment and 20% Feelings

No good thing happens easy, it takes conscious effort and time invested to make it real. So it is the same for love, True Love is a choice. Someone once told me this, wise words that I never forgot and hold it very dear to me. A relationship is made out of 80% commitment and 20% emotion.

80% Commitment and 20% Emotion

The younger me indulged with too much k-drama influenced by it’s unrealistic and unhealthy love stories. I too, wanted the “relationships” depicted on screen, a relationship that can give me the greatest highs. A high like that, in reality, comes with a price tag, a costly one at that. In order, to reach the highest highs, one will need to have experienced the lowest lows. Of which the frequency of the lows can be > high. It is a vicious cycle. Emotional turmoils that keeps the couple trapped in a constant stagnation. The unconscious desire in chasing for a high becomes an unconscious self-fulling prophesy. The root cause for a toxic relationship is compounded by these accumulated choices.

Lessons that only hindsight can give, I would not have traded the pain and experience for less. The recurring aftermath waves of pain was the constant reminders to reevaluate the choices made and they were crucial turning points in my life. Learning that some fall in love with the concept of being in love, without loving the person. Falling in love with the idea of love. Being in love with the abstract idea of attaining the perfect life also means getting married and having kids.

Love is a Choice

I have come to realize that true love is a choice. Love isn’t an emotional feeling, it is as logical as it can get. It is easy to feel like you are falling in love, but losing that feeling is just as easy.

Relationships require hard work and choosing love as a daily choice is much more beautiful than a mere euphoric feeling.

We first meet, we fall in love

We first meet, we fall in love. We don’t choose who we fall in love with. The feeling of euphoria slowly fades away, and life happens. It is no longer spontaneous but it becomes routine. We learn our strengths and our flaws. We see the best and the worst. We see how perfectly imperfect we are. We learn our pasts, and the demons we can’t let go. We are weird, we are quirky. We learn we have different habits, weaknesses, and flaws. We know discover each other and the aura of mystery disappears. Sooner or later, the cupid spell wears off. That, and the feeling of being in love, slowly fades away.

Do we give up?

When we reach this stage, there are 2 ways to deal with this:
1. Give up, break up and start the search again for the new ideal person.
2. Learn to compromise, accept imperfections, improve ourselves positively and constructively to be a better version of ourselves for each other. 

Feelings are fleeting, No one wants to talk about how feelings fade, that it takes work to keep feelings alive, and a relationship intact. To know that staying in love, is a deliberate choice. Staying in love under the Fundamentals of Love.

Love is Commitment

Just because we don’t feel the same when we first started out, doesn’t mean we stop loving someone. That is when we learn, that love is more than a feeling, we learn that love is commitment. To love each other is a choice we have to make daily. It is an intentional and conscious decision to choose to love each other for better and for the worst.

Emotions are fleeting and transient. It takes more than emotion for true love to exists. It takes hard work for relationships to be genuine, consistent and lasting.

Will you choose love today?

Those who choose love, finds love. Those who don’t, will seek it for the rest of their lives. We choose who we want our soulmates, the love of our life to be. And we both have to choose it together. 

Written by Michelle Kuan 

https://annabellaw.com/2016/05/03/true-love-is-a-choice-its-80-commitment-and-20-feelings/ 

How to Run Happy During THAT Time of the Month

http://nashata.com/blog/?p=5519





Girls hardly talk about challenges while running during period openly even though they are common problems faced by many female runners. Sometimes, we would pray very hard not to get our period during running events so that we wouldn’t have to worry about what to wear, what pain would strike us while running, extra items to bring for the run and the list goes on. All women have different problems and symptoms, and they do in a way or the other affect performance; bloating, headache, stomach cramps, heavy bleeding, hormonal imbalances and others. Whatever the challenges may be, there are ways to overcome.

The nashata runners decided to put together some best practices based on our experiences and share with our sisters.

Pre-Run 

 

Plan your race

Before you register for any running event, check your menstrual cycle and see if the date falls during your period. Avoid racing on the first two days or during heavy flow. If you are comfortable to run during period, go ahead and register. 

Consume the right food a week before the race

Balance hormones and a well nourished body help reduce pain, cramps and mood swing. Every body is unique, hence there is no food combination that fits all. However, you can enrich your body with the right nutrients to:

1. Balance hormones
Consume food that promotes hormone balance. So girls, avoid taking too much sugar and processed food but do ensure you consume sufficient protein. If you suffer from headache during period, sometimes it means your estrogen level is low. Therefore, you need to eat natural food high in phytoestrogen to increase estrogen level. You can try green vegetables like broccoli and green beans, while fruits like dates and apricots, seeds and grains like flax-seeds and sesame seeds are among the delicious high phytoestrogen food.

2. Reduce cramps
Eat natural food that is rich in calcium & iron like spinach and chickpeas. Other natural food that contains magnesium, vitamin B6, potassium, bromelain like bananas and pineapple helps to relief cramps as well. If you like something meaty instead, add salmon into your diet. It is rich in Omega 3 and vitamin D. Lastly, add dark chocolate moderately into your diet!
Keep body hydrated, drink plenty of water.

Prepare Feminine Kit

Make sure these item fit in your pockets / running belt together with other items

1. Sanitary Napkin / Tampon
We find tampons are not favorable among runners. Perhaps many do not feel safe with the method all together. Therefore, if you use sanitary pads, make sure you get the ones with surfaces gentle for skin and ultra thin. Look at the product description and search for the ones labelled “cottony surface” and avoid dry surface, micro-dry cover or dry net sheet. If you have sensitive skin and plan to run long hours, avoid wearing the ones with wings. This is to avoid chafing, blister or abrasion on your skin. Estimate and pack enough for your run. Wrap sanitary pads discreetly in a plastic bag before you toss into your pocket.

2. Pain killers
Sometimes the pain can be unbearable and pain killers can help you focus on your run instead of enduring the pain. So bring along a couple of tablets with you.

3. Ointment (if necessary)
If you know certain remedies that could reduce pain and discomfort just bring it with you. Pack your remedy in a travel-friendly size.

4. A few pieces of tissue paper
Just in case you don’t find any in toilets

Know the Route in Advance

Make sure you study the route and know the location of toilets and portable toilets. Pace, time your run and stop accordingly depending on your condition

Pack Clean Dry Clothes

Pack your best post-running outfits and bring to the race!

Yoga

Prepare your body. There are a few yoga poses that can relief cramps and period pains. You could take a few minutes of your training to perform Cobra Pose and Camel Pose that can be therapeutic for mild back pain and menstrual discomfort
 

During Race 

 

Wear suitable attire

Dark color pants would make you feel more confident. Wear pants that have pockets for you to carry feminine kit. Wear sanitary pads that are as described above. Soft lining, non-wings (to avoid chafing), ultra thin

Estrogen-Friendly Bar

Know the nutrients you need for your hormonal condition and packs them in a form of bars for the race. You can make your own or you buy from Marathon Baker. Find the ones made of dark chocolate, flax-seeds, bananas, dates, apricots and turbo-charged with protein.

Access Health Level

Before you start the race, listen to your body. If you are suffering from severe period pain, headache or heavy bleeding before flag-off, don’t push yourself. There will always be other runs.

Stop and Seek Help if in Pain

Time and pace your run and know where and when to stop to check your period (based on your flow). As much as you wanted to perform, if you feel pain while running, give yourself a break, and if paramedics are easily accessible, get help from them. You can also make use of feminine kit you have packed to relief yourself; pain killer & ointment. When your condition improves, continue the race. Again, listen to your body all the way to finish line.

Focus to Finish the Race

Chin up and keep running. Focus to finish strong!

Post-Run 

 

Quickly Change into Clean Outfit and Rejoice

Make yourself feel better by changing into a clean outfit immediately after your run.

Replenish Your Body Immediately

Bananas and fruits are good for immediate consumption. If you are a slow runner, be prepared to reach finish line to find no food available for you. Therefore, if you are running long distance, pack some fruits (don’t carry them with you at the run).

Improve Preparation for your Next Run

Every body is different and what works for you may be different from others. As long as your remedy works for you, keep doing, keep improving your run during menstrual period. 

The best times to take vitamins and supplements

Healthspan

When people choose to take their daily doses of vitamins and supplements is likely governed more by convenience than anything else. But this infographic shows that time of day is a huge factor in optimizing these ingredients' effectiveness.

A lot of people understand the crucial role of vitamins and minerals play in helping the body work properly, but did you know timing can boost or diminish their effectiveness?

Research from Healthspan, a UK vitamins and supplements supplier, makes a compelling case for paying attention to the clock when crafting your supplement routine. The company brought together a number of studies to produce this go-to guide on the best times to take certain vitamins and supplements throughout the day.

http://m.newhope.com/supplements/best-times-take-vitamins-and-supplements