Healthy Happy Loving Life: Is it Time for a Break? 6 Top Tips!

11 Thursday Nov 2021

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in A real day off, Dealing with stress, DHEA, Energy, Feeling energized, Kebba Buckley Button, Letting go, stress, Take a break, the life you want, UpBeat Living, why you should take breaks

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A real day off, energy, Kebba Buckley Button, let go, stress, Take a break, why you should take breaks

Image by Megapixl

We all know what “a break” would be, but do we all know when it’s high time to schedule one for ourselves? The man in the above image has multiple tasks going at once. Laptop open, he is also reading from a hardcover book, and he has a pen next to his mug. So he is taking some form of notes on paper as well. His eyes are tired, and his glasses are off, set aside while he rubs his eyes. He is so tired that he has brought an open cup of coffee (or tea) to his desk, forgetting that one spill can ruin his hard drive– yes– ask me about The Great Hot Chocolate Incident of 2009! This man is also clearly on deadline, as an hourglass is pouring sand enthusiastically, silently ticking down the man’s minutes to meet his deadline or fail. Don’t you feel tired, just studying him? I hope someone is bringing him dinner soon.

So, eyes tired, brain stale, back and backside weary: this man needs a break! What should he do, after he meets his deadline? I have 6 top tips:

Plan 24-48 hours of real time off, not taking any business calls, and with an out-of-office message on your voicemail. Stash the children with relatives who don’t feed them sugar.
Choose a vacation from guilt! Promise yourself you will not think about your normal worries. Guilt shifts your nervous system, and what you need is a break from pressure on your nervous system.
Change your channel. Find a place where they won’t find you. Leave for the nearest hotel with pools and gardens. Decide if you may want to go there regularly.
Get some physical relaxation. Schedule a massage. Take their yoga or tai chi class. If you enjoy swimming or lounging in the jacuzzi, do that. Practice stretching across the bed or couch. It’s great for your back muscles and circulation generally.
Eat berries for breakfast and dark green organic leafies– salad or stir-fry– for other meals. The high antioxidant levels in these foods will recharge you within hours.
Consider adding a day. I once did this in San Francisco, where I had gone for business. Then I had free time, and I walked miles every day, exploring the city. I felt so great on the third day that I asked the hotel if I could stay another day. They readily agreed, as did the airline. Yes, this was back when you phoned and made arrangements with a real person. The real persons were charmed that I was just having a good time and wanted to stay longer.

Image by Megapixl

So, here is a measure of your success at creating a refreshing break: what age did you feel when you left for your day/s off? Notice you feel much younger at the close of your break? Now your eyes and brain and heart and back and backside are all refreshed. Everything will seem clearer and easier. You may find yourself smiling more and enjoying everything more. And that’s you: more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert, holistic healer, and award-winning author who celebrates life. She has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within: Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office. To email us, kebba@kebba.com .

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Got a Dearest Friend? Here’s Mine.

29 Sunday Aug 2021

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in Energy, Friendship, Friendship and health, Kebba Buckley Button, stress, the life you want

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effective living strategies, energy, Friendship, Friendship and health, Kebba Buckley Button, stress

Ron and Kebba Button 2016

One of the unsung factors of great health is: friendship. Friendship literally keeps us strong, with the warmth, laughter, trust, relaxation, and shared experience over the years. Friendship makes us happy in ways that relax our shoulders and stimulate our master hormone (DHEA) production. And if your dearest friend is also your spouse, the effect can be multiplied. I would like to share with you about my dearest friend ever.

I was blessed to know my late husband, Ron Button, for over 30 years. I was blessed to be married to him for 15 years. Ron was 19 years older than me and had some health issues that came to a conclusion August 1. I know I did everything for him that I could. I loved him. When he became ill, I gave him the care he needed and drove him to many appointments. I kept him comfortable until he went to the hospital. Then I made sure they kept him comfortable. When he went to hospice (Hospice of the Valley, Ryan House) for his last 4-plus days, I made sure they kept him comfortable. Sometimes I sobbed quietly as I sat next to him during those last days, holding his forearm. Sometimes I talked with him about how he had done his best, in every tough situation of life, and how he had everything to be glad about. He had nothing to feel guilty about and every joy to anticipate in leaving his body and going to the Divine Realm.

Ron Age 1 taking things apart and repairing them

Ron was born in Hollywood, California, in 1933, to a silent movie starlet mother and a prominent attorney father. By the age of 1 he was taking apart objects to see how they worked. And he often got the pieces back together. When he was about 9, he was with his mother, who was visiting a friend. Hearing that the toaster didn’t work, little Ronnie took it apart and repaired it. Several years later, when he realized his parents’ grandfather clock had stopped, he repaired that, using a straight pin. Ron loved machines and devices, which served him well throughout a computer engineering degree from the University of Southern California, and many other slipstreams of his life.

After college, he went into the Air Force, engineering and management positions, and finally into commercial real estate. In his last year, he delved into the intricacies of bird feeders, creating a bird sanctuary in the Feng Shui Garden. When he finally went into hospice, he still had project parts for projects that would have kept him busy for years to come.

I told Ron countless times that I loved him. I told him many times that he was simply the best company ever, my favorite friend ever. I miss my friend very much. But I’ll make him proud by being the best me I can be for the next 20 years. And I’ll enjoy my other friends and remember to tell them how precious they are. And hug them.

Enjoy your friendships (family members or not), love them and appreciate them. Hug them while you can. And notice the more you enjoy your friendships, the better you’ll feel—in every way. And that’s you, more and more Healthy Happy Loving Life^sm!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Do You Need a News Fast? Or Different News?

28 Saturday Aug 2021

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in Dealing with stress, effective living strategies, Energy, Kebba Buckley Button, news, News fast, positive news, stress, the life you want

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effective living strategies, energy, Kebba Buckley Button, let go, News fast, positive news, stress

Image by Julius Drost on Unsplash

In my holistic healing practice, I often recommend effective living strategies. I see people who have clearly been taking in too much regular news, their bodies are tense and tight, and they could really use a news fast. Much of the major news is designed to hook you by fear, so you become addicted to seeing what comes next. You are more likely to tune in again. This fear is very hard on your nervous system, adrenal glands and overall health. Harvard-educated Dr. Andrew Weil, MD, is regarded by many as the Father of Holistic Medicine. He says:

A news fast simply means opting out of watching the news on television, listening to it on the radio, reading newspapers, or following the news on the Internet for a few days or even a week at a time. I believe that taking periodic breaks from the news can promote mental calm and help renew your spirits. In this way, the anxiety and overstimulation catalyzed by the media may be minimized, and your body will function better.

Great advice. Try it and let me know what you notice.

But wait! What if you could take in positive news? I have a few sources for you, and there are more:

Reasons to be Cheerful. A newsletter filled with positive news, especially of people solving the World’s problems in positive ways. Subscribe online.
Undark Magazine. A non-profit magazine “exploring the intersection of science and society”. Subscribe online.
Nautilus. Big-picture science magazine, usually positive. Subscribe online (fee for full edition).
Positive News. Celebrating changemakers and cultivating social change milestones. Subscribe online.
Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation. TV with 7 seasons of positive innovation news, available on several channels. Aimed for youth but fascinating for curious adults who want positive news.) Meet people who are sucking trash out of the oceans and building homes out of other trash.
Lucky Dog (original with Brandon McMillan). TV, 183 episodes available on several channels. Trainer McMillan takes lonely dogs from shelters and turns them into happy family pets through specialty training. Establishing a basis of communication with “loser” dogs, McMillan reveals their intelligence, love, and unusual skills.
Pet Vet Dream Team. TV, Aussie show available on CBS and other sources. Pet veterinarians save a wide array of pets and the worry of their owners. It’s wonderful just spending 30 minutes with loving, competent, positive people.

So consider the source and nature of what you’re feeding your brain and heart. Cut back on watching the news about disastrous storms and fires, wars, climate change, and any brutality. Now add positive and encouraging reporting, and notice your attitude and optimism rising. At the same time, your nervous system will be calming and restoring, and you will literally be healthier.

And that’s you: more and more Healthy Happy Loving Life^sm!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: When Have You Had A Real Day Off?

27 Friday Aug 2021

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in A real day off, Dealing with stress, DHEA, Energy, Feeling energized, Kebba Buckley Button, Letting go, stress, Take a break, the life you want, UpBeat Living

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A real day off, DHEA, energy, Kebba Buckley Button, let go, stress, Take a break, UpBeat Living

If you feel stressed and tired, and you can’t remember the last time you didn’t feel that way, maybe you need a real day off. In my natural healing practice, I often work with clients whose stress is unceasing. Couple that with the heavy world news and the overburden of politichatter—the inevitable election cycle events and conversation—whatever family issues you have, any career decisions on the horizon, and the electrochemistry and noise of the urban environment… well, maybe you need to take a break!

Now, maybe you’re thinking, no way! The cost, the time off work, the yard growing out of control and ruining my neighborhood reputation… A two-week vacation was a standard, decades ago. Then professionals decided those caused more stress than they cured. So people shifted to taking long weekends. This trend was so strong that the Federal Government moved most of the federal holidays to Mondays. That Monday Holiday Law, passed in 1968, was meant to “bring substantial benefits to both the spiritual and economic life of the Nation.” Wow!

But then everyone was driving out of town at the end of the week and returning Monday night. Now many are discovering the joys of midweek 2-day timeouts or even a single midweek overnight-plus-one-day timeout. The key is to really take a break, a genuinely refreshing change day. Or two. Just 24 hours can give you a re-set. And you need it!

Your thoughts and attitude can get stale without change. Your brain can actually get channels worn in it, from reviewing the same worries all the time. So change your channel, change your scene. Find a place to go to where there is a low level of electromagnetic frequencies (EMF); possibly a cabin or bed and breakfast in a small town. Use your computer as little as possible. This will refresh your nervous system. Pick a place with natural beauty where walking will be irresistable. This will repump your DHEA, the master hormone. If you can go to a beach, that’s the highest natural-energy environment, and you will absorb a lot of energy there. Turn off your phone and don’t think about your usual concerns. When you think of something that you ought to do, put it on a list in the Memo section of your phone; then forget it until you’re back at your desk. Let go of all the Usual.

For the fastest recharge, eat dark green leafy salad–organic, if possible– and have very little sugar. This will bring your vital life force energy up very fast. Try to get berries for breakfast. Those will raise your antioxidant levels quickly and refresh your attitudes. Move around. Do yoga in your room or go for walks. Go swimming, if you have found a place with a beach or pool. A business owner I knew used to go to a small motel in Yuma, Arizona, where no one would recognize her. It was inexpensive, there was no traffic noise, and no one could call her. She ate produce (her business), walked and swam and closed out all business thoughts for 2 days at a time. She said it was like Heaven, a real day off and then another. She totally relaxed.

Come up with your own formula. Give yourself the elements you need to have a real day off, to really take a break. Savor every moment. Then let me know what worked for you, and consider repeating! After all, you have a formula now. And that would be you, more and more Healthy Happy Loving Life^sm!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Message Mugs We Love

23 Tuesday Feb 2021

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in cast your cares, choosing happiness, Effective Living, favorite mugs, Feeling energized, fulfilled, Kebba Buckley Button, living beyond, message mugs, stress, the life you want, uncertainty

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cast your cares, choosing happiness, energy, favorite mugs, Feeling energized, fulfilled, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba, living beyond, message mugs

I was excited to get all the responses to my favorite-mug sharing a few days ago! I want you to have the healthiest, happiest life that you absolutely love! And mugs can be a supporting player in that life. Mugs comfort and reassure. They transport liquids that wake us up, that revive us, and that warm us up. Sometimes a mug even gets commandeered to hold soup, chili, or cereal. Even pencils!

Some mugs remind us of a place we’ve been, like the Starbucks in Cabo San Lucas. Or the street fair where we found the array of lovingly hand-crafted ceramicware. Some mugs are simply beautiful, and they create points of color in our office or living room. There are mugs that represent a company or candidate, or even a city. I once received a mug that said, “Genuine Souvenir of Israel”; on the bottom, it said “Made in Hong Kong”. Plus, it was the ugliest mug I have ever seen.

One of the greatest delights of a mug is that it may remind us of something important– a value, a goal, a mood we aspire to. These are the message mugs. Today, I’m sharing 5 of my favorite message mugs, collected over the years.

The first I actually found in a Walgreens. In 5 words, it reminds us that we all have limits, and our job is to do our best, that’s all: DON’T STRESS- DO YOUR BEST. Great advice for anyone.

2. For this red mug, the message is in the shape. It’s a heart! This was unusual when I found it about 10 years ago. When I sip from this mug, I remember all the people who love me, and I remember God’s love. (To find a heart-shaped mug today, just ask your search bar– there are hundreds now.)

3. This is the mug that reminds you your burdens are not yours alone. God is taking care of things on a much more profound level than we can imagine. We are only responsible to do our part. The reverse side of this mug reminds us of Ps. 55:22, “Cast all your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you.” (These are available online in several styles.)

4. The message of this one is clear. It also reminds me of all the love that surrounds us all the time. It’s from an Ellen Degeneres design line and probably still available.

5. This last one is from Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd Wright school of architecture. “Love is the virtue of the heart…Decision the virtue of the will.” I like to drink from this one when I want to feel strong and motivated.

So there you have some of my favorite message mugs. Do you have some that are meaningful or motivating for you? There are so many opportunities to feel bad in this world. Use the tools you have to comfort, uplift, and motivate yourself to create the life you want!

The more we are in step with the positive and the supportive, the inspirational and the motivational, the more we find we’re Healthy, Happy, and Loving Life^sm! The choices are up to you!

Kebba Buckley Button is a stress solutions expert, holistic guide, and award-winning author who celebrates life. She has a longtime energy healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within: Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office. To email us, kebba@kebba.com .

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Crying is Good!

21 Sunday Feb 2021

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in choosing happiness, cry, crying, Effective Living, Feeling energized, fulfilled, Kebba Buckley Button, stress, tears, the life you want, uncertainty

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Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

Crying is natural. Babies cry when they are hungry, need a change, or simply want to be held; we’ve all seen those tiny faces crumble as the crying comes. People cry at funerals because they are sad. People cry because they are happily shocked, like when a young puppy is handed to them. People cry when they are frustrated, as when they’ve just found out they’ve been betrayed. People cry for joy, as when their beloved just proposed. And people cry in relief, as when they have just come through tough challenges, now over. An elephant in India (#RajuTheElephant) was seen clearly crying when its shackles of many years were removed, and good people relocated him to an elephant sanctuary; Raju is doing wonderfully, 6 years after his rescue. I cry with compassion and relief when I think of his journey and his final rescue and retirement.

2021 Photo by Ema Studios on Unsplash

The eyes tear up for non-emotional reasons also. The tear glands release reflex tears when you get something irritating in your eye. And the routine moisturizing tears are called basal tears.

Science has found that other tears have different compositions, depending on why the person is crying. According to WebMD, UCLA clinical psychologist Stephen Sideroff says, “Crying activates the body in a healthy way…[stress] Stress “tightens muscles and heightens tension, so when you cry you release some of that,” Sideroff says. “[Crying] activates the parasympathetic nervous system and restores the body to a state of balance.” And we always want to seek the best balance!

Seeing a movie that touches us can cause tears to well up. I’ve been in theaters where everyone was clearly crying, or nearly crying. In Japan, there are even clubs where people go to cry together. Some find crying with others makes it easier to cry their own tears. Is that true for you?

The more we seek our best balance, release the unhappy and take in the happy, the more we find we’re Healthy, Happy, and Loving Life^sm! It’s up to you!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Your Credo for the Year

20 Saturday Feb 2021

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in choosing happiness, Effective Living, Feeling energized, fulfilled, Goethe, Kebba Buckley Button, New Year's Resolutions, Personal credo, stress, the life you want, uncertainty

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choosing happiness, energy, Feeling energized, fulfilled, Goethe, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba, New Year's Resolutions, Personal credo

Photo by Edgar Chaparro on Unsplash

In the effective living side of my stress management programs, I always recommend people skip the New Year’s Resolutions so many believe in. Instead, I recommend listing the qualities we want to embody in the New Year: vitality, integrity, faith, consistency…fill in your own.

I bring this up now, 50 days into the New Year, because it’s about the right time to ask ourselves: how are my New Year’s Resolutions going? Am I keeping my resolutions and making progress with my goals?

The German poet/playwright Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, usually referred to simply as “Goethe”, said:

Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.

Now how do you think you’re doing with your New Year’s Resolutions?

A personal credo can include all the qualities you want to embody for the year.

Goethe said:

“For the New Year, I would wish to have

Strength enough to battle with difficulties and overcome them,

Love enough to move me to be useful and helpful to others,

Faith enough to make real the things of God, and

Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future.”

So what would your personal credo be? How would your credo compare with his? The more we are in step with our values and desired qualities, the more we find we’re Healthy, Happy, and Loving Life^sm? It’s up to you!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Our Bucket List

19 Friday Feb 2021

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in bucket list, Effective Living, Feeling energized, Kebba Buckley Button, living beyond, stress, the life you want, uncertainty, UpBeat Living

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bucket list, energy, Feeling energized, fulfilled, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba, living beyond

Today, I’ve been thinking a lot about our bucket list, the crazy mixed list of things we would like to do before we die or “kick the bucket”. Everyone probably has a different bucket list. What’s on your bucket list? If you’ve seen the 2007 movie, The Bucket List, with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, you are definitely up on how a person’s background and situation affects their ultimate bucket list. Please see the movie, if you haven’t.

As I think about my own bucket list, I think about my entire life, things I want to do, places I want to visit, and experiences that would, frankly, require time travel. I would like to see:

Carmel by the Sea, a charming and artistic town, possibly a good BNB spot for a few days’ writer’s retreat.
The Redwoods- especially the tree with the arch cut at the bottom, so you could drive through it. I want to look up and see the mist 300 feet above me.
Agatha Christie’s England, staying in a country inn for a month, photographing and writing.
My late mother’s childhood home as it was in 1925, on two acres of citrus and rare plants, with her parents tending the plants and cutting fresh flowers each day.

But I am at peace if these never happen. I have seen and done many wondrous things, and I know I have done my best. So I am square with my Maker. I have seen:

Asilomar near Monterey, with its long and serene beach boardwalks
Bavaria of 1966, Neuschwanstein Castle
Carnaby Street the year miniskirts hit
Rehoboth Beach at dawn (Atlantic coast)
The Pacific coast at sunset
The German-French Frendship Garden in Saarbrucken, with its music-driven fountains
Westminster Abbey and a few Cathedrals.
Market lanes in Nogales, Ensenada, and Cabo. Ships left to dissolve and sink off the coast of Mexico.
Key Largo when it still looked much as it did during the making of the Bogart film– the original cafe’ and Florida brush.

I have held and comforted newborns and dying patients. I have crewed and flown in hot air balloons. I have crewed on a sloop and been hoisted to the top of the mast, to untangle the 20′ banner.

If I see Carmel and the Redwoods, I guess that’s gravy now. Because I’m deep in being Healthy, Happy, and Loving Life^sm! How about you?

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Mugs We Love

18 Thursday Feb 2021

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in choosing happiness, Effective Living, favorite mugs, Feeling energized, fulfilled, Kebba Buckley Button, living beyond, stress, the life you want, uncertainty

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choosing happiness, energy, favorite mugs, Feeling energized, fulfilled, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba, living beyond

Today I’m sharing 5 of my favorite mugs, each for a different reason. And while you’re looking at mine, would you please think about what your favorite mugs are? To me, the humble mug is a symbol of comfort and joy, that vessel that holds our comforting or uplifting beverage, as we shift gears for the day. Aside from breakfast time, maybe we are re-setting ourselves at the end of an afternoon. Or maybe we are shifting down from the day to relax on our way to bed.

Today, a vast array of mugs are available to enjoy. We have personalized photo mugs, initial mugs, and slogan mugs. We have art mugs and souvenir mugs, even plaid mugs and mugs that come in a little sweater (Target). We have mass-produced mugs, hand-painted mugs, and mugs in many different shapes. I love mugs that remind me to set my mood on “great”, in any of several ways. Here are my top favorite mugs at the moment.

This “Happy Happy Happy” mug was produced by the Robertsons of Duck Dynasty fame. Phil Robertson said basically, you can choose to be happy, whether you have a little or a lot. [See Philippians 4:11.] It just reminds me, each time I lift it: oh yeah! Let’s be in our Happy! Sweet.

2. This oriental mug is just pretty. My holistic practice is based on oriental energy medicine, and I tend to be attracted to oriental designs. This mug is also a tribute to our loveliest and dearest things not needing to be expensive: I found it in a market in the $1 mug section, 35 years ago. I’ve sipped a thousand cups of tea and coffee from this one.

3. This mug is special because it’s a dream-reminder mug. You can get the plastic kit from a craft store for about $1 (Michaels). Pull out the white liner, then pull out the paper insert. Then glue whatever inspiring words and images you like onto the paper insert, in the spirit of a dream board. Mine says, “Beyond Expectation” “Imagine a place that arouses your senses” “Imagine” “Dream” “Wealth”. The background is lush desert landscaping and a pine with long needles; a mountain vista is on the other side. So every time you lift this mug, you are reminding yourself of your dreams. Btw, I now have a beautifully landscaped Feng Shui Garden with a giant long-needle pine, in my own southwest-style home. Pundits would say I called it in with my little dream board.

4. This little pair of history mugs each hold about 5 ounces. My husband and I stayed on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California, a few times, and we bought the demitasse mugs there. I love to think about the heyday of luxury cruising: people strolling around the decks in leisurely fashion, taking in the sea air, dancing in the ballrooms to live music at night. So I love staying in a Queen Mary stateroom and exploring the huge, historic vastness of the ship. What sweet memories these little mugs evoke!

5. The final mug I’m sharing today is the most special one I’ve ever had. I purchased it at a massive arts festival around 20 years ago, in the heyday of street fairs. It was probably about $20. I am always thrilled by the colors, the layering of the enamels, the gesture of the elephant, the curves of the piece. For me, it’s elegant artistry, and I feel elegant when I hold it. If you want to see more elegant artistry, look for FoxLo ceramics online. You’ll gasp for joy at their images.

So, how about you? What are your favorite mugs, and what do they evoke for you? Why do you enjoy them? Would you send me an image for a future column?

The World holds so many opportunities for hurt and ugliness. It’s crucial that we nurture the Good and the beautiful in our lives as we are able. The more we are in step with the good feelings of life, the more we find we’re Healthy, Happy, and Loving Life^sm? It’s up to you!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Polar Vortex Again!

17 Wednesday Feb 2021

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in Effective Living, Feeling energized, frozen flowers, polar vortex, Relationships, stress, uncertainty

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adjusting to change, energy, Feeling energized, frozen flowers, fulfilled, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba, living beyond, making changes, moving on, uncertainty

The descent of the Polar Vortex across much of our nation this week has reminded me of an adventure we had 7 years ago. In 2014, my husband and I wanted to visit the relatives in Denver. So we found a week that would work and booked inexpensive tickets that could not be changed. As the dates drew closer, it became clear that Denver would be having snow. Exactly the same days we would be there.

Then it became clear we were flying into the Polar Vortex— science fiction for Phoenix people. My secondary goal of taking Fall photos became the goal of taking icy winter photos. It was 4 degrees for a high, with dark, cloudy skies most of each day. As we debarked at Denver International Airport, it was the first time I had ever seen gate agents *inside* wearing winter scarves and gloves.

We were challenged, not only to stay comfortable, but to keep seeing well, as our glasses kept fogging, freezing, and thawing, then fogging again. Fortunately, we did have warm enough clothing and footwear.

Above is the view from our hotel dining room. Notice the ice coating on the inside of the window? This is looking east across Colorado Boulevard.

All around Denver, gardens were flash-frozen by the sudden snowstorms. Above are some of the ice-clad daffodils from my late mother’s garden– a rare photo opportunity for me. My sister Annie kindly drove us all around town, in messy, icy wintery traffic, so I could get a lot of snowy photos. I learned to keep the camera (iPhone) inside my top, so it wouldn’t crack from the cold. And yes! That was a cold thing to put back inside my top!

Another blessing of the trip was the chance to get this family photo (below) during dinner one night. Yes, there was a fireplace nearby–very cozy! From the left, that’s me, older sister Annie, Mom, and my husband, Ron Button.

When we embrace situations that could be discomforts, we end up with adventures! We all made the best of the 2014 Polar Vortex and now have great memories for a lifetime. And embracing life takes us further into the realm of Healthy, Happy, and Loving Life^sm? It’s up to you!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life!

~ Your source for energized, fulfilled, joyous living!

Tag Archives: energy

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Is it Time for a Break? 6 Top Tips!

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Got a Dearest Friend? Here’s Mine.

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Do You Need a News Fast? Or Different News?

Healthy Happy Loving Life: When Have You Had A Real Day Off?

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Message Mugs We Love

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Crying is Good!

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Your Credo for the Year

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Our Bucket List

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Mugs We Love

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Polar Vortex Again!

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