State 3 Things You Are Grateful For. Everyday.

A couple of months ago, I decided that on top of yoga practice, more meditation was needed in my crazy London life. So I’ve labeled my everyday alarm with a “Be Grateful” message.

The challenge is to state at least two or three things that I’m deeply grateful for and meditate about them. Everyday.

Regardless of how many meetings or calls or presentations I have to do. ‘Force’ yourself into good things. Because it works. And I’d like you to do the same. It’s a simple and quick practice and it can be done everywhere. When still in bed after the alarm goes on, at night before going to sleep, whilst commuting to work, riding your bike,  during your coffee/ lunch break at work.

Today one of the things I stated was: I feel blessed about living in a country without war.

I am so privileged to be a free woman in a democratic country. I can go to work, read the news, educate myself freely. Educate myself. A thing that we give too often for granted these days. Internet, schools, universities, books are privileges that millions of kids and particularly girls would love to have across the world.

And there’s more and more you can think of to feel special. To feel gifted.

Think of the real childhood you had, with real toys and not guns. And family and love.           Think of the rights you have as a human being. To freely express your thoughts. To wear whatever you want to. To read and write and share. To be whoever you want to be. A doctor, a bus driver, a teacher, a mother. To merry the person you love and that YOU decide to spend the rest of your life with. To be able to travel without a guardian’s permission from your husband or son.

I could go on and on for pages.. There’s so much we take for granted. Simple things that are privileges for many other people across the world.

So, please, please, please be appreciative and do not forget to CELEBRATE LIFE everyday.

 

Wake up everyday and be awesome

Be an enthusiast. That’s the key.

It doesn’t matter where you are from and what people try to make you believe in.

If you’re passionate about something, chase your dream. No one will ever be strong enough to tell you what you are good or not good at.

Knowledge can be acquired with time and experience_but PASSION is what makes you unique.

Approach everything in life with this attitude and good things will come. Embrace every single day with positivity and open arms.

Be inspired by great life examples. Here are some stories worth reading about: http://www.makers.com/

Only decide to do what adds value to your life and truly makes you happy. Don’t be average_ wake up everyday and decide to Be Awesome.

 

 

 

Respect Yourself: Eat Healthy

I’ve come to the conclusion that the first form of self- respect is eating well.

Your body is what represents you. You’ll be living the rest of your life in this outfit, don’t you want it to be great?

Think about it: what you are eating today will give you strength and energy for tomorrow. It’s not just a shape/ appearance matter. What you eat makes you the person you are.

Starting from breakfast until the last thing you eat before going to bed: food affects your personality and your daily choices.

Let’s think for instance of a juicy burger with French fries VS an avocado salad with fruit and nuts. Instantly, the first thing that comes up in your mind is ‘I’ll probably be hungry after the salad so I’d better go for the burger’. Wrong! The initial feeling of satiety doesn’t mean satisfying your body needs_ Feeding yourself with carbohydrates and saturated fat will give you half of the chances of living a good and active day as eating sources of vitamins and Omega3.

Making healthy choices during your lunch break is not easy at all, (particularly being vegetarian and living in Spain, trust me) – that’s why a good strategy can be thinking in advance at what you want, cook it and store it! Your body will be thankful 🙂

Another big challenge is to try to stay away from grocery shops! Another conclusion I’ve come to is that everything that has an expiry date shouldn’t be consumed regularly. Sounds impossible right? I’m telling you, it’s not! Fruit shops, local markets, organic fresh shops, nuts and dried fruit can change your life! Natural sweets can be way more tasty than packed biscuits and Nutella (poison) – if you would only have a quick look at the ingredients (added sugar, colourant, palm oil, artificial flavour) you’d probably realise that what you are going to eat has very little of ‘food’ and nutritious.

Obviously I’m not saying to become paranoid and to follow these rules every single day of your life… however once you are in the loop, you’d feel so full of positive energy and active, that you won’t go back to your fast food and pizzas that easily.

Now, it’s your choice. Do you want to be a sexy banana or a fried chicken wing?

Respect yourself_respect your body _eat green!

Don’t stop wondering: live abroad and travel a lot!

India, Kashmir, Puerto Rico, France, Spain, Poland, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Nepal, Portugal, Russia, Vietnam, Italy, Czech Republic Ireland, Scotland, Switzerland.

I shared flats with people coming from all these countries.

Korea, China, Germany, Taiwan, Cook Island, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Brasil, Mexico, Morocco, Romania, Israel, Lebanon, New Zealand, US, Colombia, England, Australia, Argentina… and I’m sure I’m missing some. These are the home countries of some of the people I had the pleasure to work with in London, Australia and Barcelona.

Do I still remember all their names? Probably not. However, I definitely remember a little something of each and every one of them. Their religion, their courage, their story, their passions, their food culture, their music, their way of dressing up.

Every person I met made my journey special, in a good or sometimes in a bad way.

Frank and his brilliant idea of making money by taking Polaroid photos of tourists on Abbey Road.  Momo, my first Muslim friend who introduced me to Ramadan, fasting and enlightened me on why women wear burqas or head scarves. Always patient and welcoming to answer all my ignorant questions.

Cook Island people, how could I forget them? I met them in a remote farm in the middle of nowhere, 1000 km from Sydney. These people moved with their tribes or extended family, from a semi-desert island in the Pacific Ocean to the land of hopes: Australia. Now think of an aboriginal who lives only of fish hunting and trees fruits for his entire life and one day, without knowing ANYTHING outside his little island, moves to a big westernised country, where all he can see is skylines, fast cars, Burger Kings and most of all Alcohol! With no education and guidance, that person will most likely become an alcoholic, obese and will never be able to adapt to the fast pacing lifestyle of a big city. I’ve been asked from one of them how long it took me by car to get to the farm from Italy… obviously she had no idea where Italy was. But I am telling you, I’ve been taught some great life lessons from this people. About generosity, hard work, giving and not asking back.                                  Once one lady told me: “I don’t understand why you people from the west of the world are so attached to money. You look sad. Don’t you see how happy we are? We have no savings, everything we earn, we share it in our community…because what is happiness if not sharing life with people you love?”

I was speechless. And I perfectly agreed with that.

Yasin, escaped from Afghanistan 3 times, travelled for weeks by bus, unstable boats (no seats, no toilet) to finally arrive as a war refugee to Darwin. In his broken English and with his big dark eyes, his brave story gave me shivers. He was younger than me and only God knows what he went through in his life. He made the decision to change his life for better, and he did it alone.

Linda ❤ an Iraqi lady who took care of me like a daughter, preparing me delicious food and caked. I called her Mum (don’t tell my original mum, please). She, her husband and brother in law used to work for 9 months in a raw (no days off) 13-14 h a day to manage to save up to USD 150K, go home and buy properties for their kids and help the rest of their family.

And all the backpackers I met on my way, crazy travellers with no objective in life at all!

Strong stories. Brave people. Incredible adventures. I will never forget them.

All this goodness came to me because I was curious to explore, willing to get out of my comfort zone, to sail out my safe harbour. I’m glad I had the opportunity to see so much, to experience life in different countries, different languages, slang and cultures.

I don’t blame ignorant people, because they have no fault in being born in certain places, surrounded by closed minded folks. But I do blame, people who have the possibility to get out of that hub but not wanting it at all!! Guys who don’t want to improve themselves, thinking that what they are living is the best possible life option. People who travel but don’t open up to different food experiences or meeting random foreigners and hang out with them!

We are so immensely lucky to be born in this part of the world, being educated, having paid jobs, internet and books!

But most of all to have passports who are accepted EVERYWHERE in the world.

Give yourself a gift: TRAVEL and never stop wondering!

 

Be the best you can be #BeHappy

Everyone deserves to be happy. However, as happiness is a state of mind, what we should ask ourselves is:

“How do we keep that happiness constant”?

Obviously there is no right answer to this question. Happiness is very relative_ it can be related to self development, to love, to heath and so on.

So, all those books about ‘how to be happy and live more life in 10 easy steps’ are a big lie? Well, it all depends on YOU.

You have everything in your power to be happy. Right here, right now. BUT you need to make it happen! And there is a key element that most people can’t easily find in themselves: courage!

Happiness IS an act of bravery! You can’t expect to be happy if you don’t apply any change to your life. How can you attract something good and positive to you if all you do is worrying and having negative thoughts?

A simple act of courage can truly change everything. If there is something that doesn’t make you happy as your current job position, the country you live in, the kind of people you are surrounded by, the person you live with, your body shape… all you have to do is to take that decision NOW!

I know, the first thing you are going to say is “Well, it’s not easy!”. I’d say “Well, that’s an excuse”

How many other excuses are you going to make up before making that choice?

Today, I am so happy and proud of a very good friend of mine! She has been struggling for the past 2-3 years of her life. She started working when she was still at high school and always been an hard worker, looking to improve her skills every day! She is ambitious and always wanted to invest in her future, to open her own business, to look for opportunities in a different city perhaps. But she was blocked, for some reason or maybe for someone. She’s been in a committed relationship for nearly 10 years, since she was a kid basically. And only recently realised how much of her time and energy she was investing on that. 3 years ago her dad got sick and died of cancer in about 6 months; this immensely sad event heavily affected her life decisions, her ambitions. She had to take care of her mum, making sure she was never alone. It was the darkest moment of her life, she was hurt and tired.. but you know what?? I’ve never heard her complaining for what happened to her family. She reacted. She was grieving but she knew how strong she had to be for her beloved ones. For years, she has been in a deep crisis with her boyfriend, being convinced not loving him any more but too indecisive to end the story because of his support during her dark time. A couple of months ago, she took that decision.

Free_ that’s how she was feeling!! Free to live life on her terms. And today, I wanted to briefly write her story because she made me so proud. She just communicated me, she will quit her job and move to New York with her mother!

Now, I don’t know how common that is in your country but in Italy, particularly in Napoli.. it is a HUGE life change!! Without speaking a foreign language, with no certainty about a job, with the grief and disappointment that life gave you.

But their hearts are filled with high hopes! Their love will take them wherever they want to get! Their courage will be appreciated and I’m sure their attitude will be rewarded_

So… what were you saying? Oh yes, that your life sucks because you are no longer having sex with your partner but you guys are sharing the rent_ and the dog. So that makes things impossible to be fixed and you are fated to live a miserable life when you are supposed to be living the BEST time of it.

_Please_

Stop under estimating your brain, it knows you are lying!Pull yourself together and be that person you admire. Be that super hero you wanted to be as a kid. Be that funny, inspiring teenager who loved learning something new every day! Discover yourself. Your passions, your fantasies_ don’t let fears holding you back_

Be the best version of yourself_ and do it NOW!

#LoveYourSelf #LoveYourBody #HappinessCanBeSoEasy

The smell of good things_ #Home

There are smells you can’t forget.

Even if you don’t remember, it would only take few seconds before associating them with the right match.

The aroma of coffee when waking up, the unmistakable flowery fragrance of the house you grew in, ironed clothes, the sea breeze, an oven baked pizza, the delightful flavour of rum on top of Babba’ (typical Neapolitan pastry).

Home smells good_ Home is the place where I recall all this_ where a simple tomato paste has a different scent.

Then you have got people_ people you couldn’t possibly forget because their essence means so much to you. Mamy. Mum’s perfume_ so unique and sweet.

This is what I mean when I talk about “The unique connection”. This social experiment gave me shivers down my spine.

We are lucky enough to experience this special bond from the first day of our life_ However you might be so blessed to be able to connect with someone special without even knowing how. You can call it love, friendship, bond_ I prefer to define it: unique connection.

As animals, we select the people we want to interact with according to their perfume.

It’s not only about the sensation of the odours themselves_ Perfumes evoke emotions, memories and feelings. So hard to decide not to remember a smell. It’s scientific_ Smell sensations are relayed to the cortex, where ‘cognitive’ recognition occurs, only after the deepest parts of our brains have been stimulated.

So whether you want it or not, that smell becomes part of you. Somehow.

Learn to live with uncertainty__Embrace Change

Take a moment and answer these questions.

What would you do if people you love didn’t have expectations for you?

Would you still be living in the same place, doing the same job or being together with your partner?

Try to be honest with yourself. Most likely you wouldn’t.

The thing is as much as rebel, unconventional and unique we want to be, we DO follow rules on a daily basis.

Unconsciously we make choices to gratify someone else. Or even worse, we do not make choices at all to avoid letting people down.

Why? The answer is easy. We have been raised on beliefs that someone has imposed on us without our permission.

Go to school – get a fancy University degree – build your career – buy a car – get a mortgage – get married – have kids – pretend to be satisfied !

And we all know it. We all know we are following steps. The reason why we stick to the script, is because as humans we love certainty. We love the feeling (or illusion) of being safe and needed. Being needed is seductive.

I feel such a stranger to this society sometimes. I don’t see myself as part of a plan. Trust me, letting down people can be the best life decision you can make. Living life on your terms. 

Do something unexpected_Don’t be scared of changing. 

Fifty Shades of Gay

Today I would like to talk about “equality”. What does it mean? Who is responsible for equality?

I just came across the TED Talk of iO Tillett Wright. An artist that had the idea to photograph 2000 people around America, people who don’t know how to define their sexuality. So she asked them :

Can you assign a percentage to how gay or straight you are?

Most people, it turns out, consider themselves to exist in the gray areas of sexuality, not 100% gay or straight. Which presents a real problem when it comes to discrimination. Human beings are not one- dimensional. Why should they be considered second class citizens? Why their rights should be different based on one element of their character?

So iO Tillett decided to take pictures of anyone who is not 100% straight, to show their eyes to the whole world. To show their humanity through the simplicity of a face.

They are exactly like us, but religion, society rules and politics don’t allow them to be totally free as we all are.

We are all responsible for equality.

One of the darkest days of humanity

About 130 people today lost their lives during a terrorist attack in Peshawar, Pakistan.

Most of them, were kids_young people_ innocent students. The target was a school. An Army Public School.

Kids watched their brothers and sisters being killed, and their teachers being burnt alive. Talibans literally set the teacher on fire with gasoline and made the kids watch.

How far can ABOMINATION go? What is going to stop this HATE? How can this people KILL their own children? Their own blood, their own country!

Nobody knows the answer. And today is an horribly sad day.Today humanity was defeated once more. Today terrorists wanted to prove to their people that they have the power. They are in control. They are not afraid to kill kids, to kill the future.

About this atrocious attack, Malala said: “I, along with millions of others around the world, mourn these children, my brothers and sisters – but we will never be defeated.”

My heart bleeds thinking of those poor broken lives and their families. I don’t pray, but I hope their souls will find peace, wherever they are.

I want to believe that a better world is possible. But something in this war against terrorism has to change, otherwise days like today will be repeated over and over.

I STAND WITH PAKISTAN_ #PEACE

#TheLast: the story of Malala

I had the pleasure to read the book “I am Malala” about a year ago. I couldn’t immagine a 16 years old girl would have been so inspiring for me.

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani girl, who stood up for female education, in a country where women have very few rights. She started running a blog when she was only 11 years old, to tell the people how hard life is under the Taliban occupation. Malala wanted the world to know that there are places like her beloved Valley, where education is banned for girls.

On 9 October 2012, Malala was shot 3 times, she remained unconscious and in critical condition for weeks.

Her story is not unique. Her story is the same of other 66 MILION children all around the world. What makes Malala so special is her courage! Her attitude to fight for human rights and the light in her eyes.

This year, she was given a Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle against the suppression of children and for the right of all young people to education.

Today, she keeps fighting for these rights and her message is so full of love and hope.

Let this be the last time that we see a child deprived of education.
Let this end with us.