Can't Stop the Feeling (For the Joys of My Life)

8 years ago today I did something that changed my life completely. March 1st 2009 was the day I took 3 bags with me and moved to Spain. (You can read the story behind it in this old blog post.)

My life today is simply amazing and I am so in love with it and everything in it and the best thing is that it keeps getting better and better by the day. Honestly! Sure, I have days that are not great, but most days are and those that aren't are still good days because I have so many things and people in my life that are amazing.

One of the most fun and amazing things I have done lately was to be able to make two people happy by giving away one regular Home Free ticket and selling a Home Free VIP ticket to a reduced price as Fry It Forwards (Read the story behind it here.). Those tickets now have new and happy homes and I can't wait for them to experience Home Free live. Congratulations to Rae Ellen and Sherry! It gives me so much joy to make other people happy.

Another thing a do to make people happy is my job. I am lucky enough to spend my days calling people to let them know that the company I work for cares. I absolutely love hearing the happiness in our customers' voices when they realize that's why I call them. Amazing!

On Monday I did something new and fun when I attended a choir practice for the first time since I was a teenager. I have been thinking about it on and off for a few years, but never done anything about it because - you know - I'm lazy and comfortable. But back in early January I decided that this was the year to find a fun choir to join. Of course it only took one day for someone to ask me, seemingly out of the blue, if I wanted to join one. I have been busy with other things since then, but on Monday I was finally able to go and I absolutely loved it and will try to go every week from now on! Of course it seems like the perfect choir for me where the joy and the heart is the most important thing and the choir leader believes that everybody has a good singing voice inside that is waiting to be discovered and let loose. I can't wait to hear it! Hehe

Today I went to see an apartment that I loved, loved, loved. I have wanted one of those apartments for years, but they don't get available very often. Well, this is my chance! It's got a big roof terrace and partial views to both the Sea and the mountains and it's in a perfect location and has a perfect layout. It is my right-now-dream-house (because I keep growing, evolving and expanding so eventually I will want something even better). Keep your fingers crossed that I will get it! Send me lots of love and positive vibes!

This blog is something else I love about my life. It fills my heart with joy to write and it fills my heart with joy, love and pride when someone reads and likes what I write. Thank you to all who do!

Today's video is one of my favourite Home Free covers lately. OK, I say that about all of them, I know, but seriously, they all are! Anyway, this is a cover of Justin Timberlake's Can't Stop The Feeling and it's a happy, fun, good feeling song. Perfect for how I feel about my life!

Oh, and one more thing! My life didn't get this amazing just by chance and by me waiting for it to become it - it is this fantastic because whenever something in my life isn't as good as I want it to be I change it to something closer to what I want than it was, one step at a time, and I make sure to enjoy every single step on the way. If something in your life isn't what you want change it - if you can't change it find a way to love it - and even if you do change it find a way to love, or at least like, it before it changes. That's the only way to do it, that's the most joyful way to live your life.
Now, go sing and dance and look at the good things in your life!

Love//
Carina

Life Lessons, and Unintentional Giving

A couple of days ago I withdrew some money from the cash machine outside my branch. My son and I had done the grocery shopping for the week, and I needed some cash so we could have a cool drink while waiting for the bus home to arrive. So I withdrew 70 euro (approximately 77 dollar) while keeping an out on the tables outside the coffee shop to see if one would free up. There are a few tables positioned so we can see when the bus arrives, meaning we don't have to stand around and wait at the actual bus stop since the buses are rarely on time here, and we wanted one of those tables. But, since they were all occupied when approaching the cash machine on the other side of the street I kept my eyes on them.

And we were lucky, as I was in the process of withdrawing my money a table became free and I we rushed over there. Once seated we ordered our drinks and I got my purse out to pay the bill, but imagine my surprise when my money weren't there!! What the heck!?

I then realised that I had not actually taken the money out of the machine, I had only taken the card and the slip, but not the money. Obviously because of the distraction of the table. Also, correct me if I'm wrong Swedish readers, I think in Sweden the slip comes out last, here the money come last, and I think in that moment I was on an old auto-pilot from way back in my Swedish days. When the slip comes out you're done! I do remember looking at the slip before putting in my purse. I might be wrong about the order of things coming out of the machine, though.

Anyway, I rushed back to the cash machine but the money weren't there. Of course.

At this moment I had a few options on how to react;

• I could get mad - but obviously that will not change anything except my mood. 
• I could get annoyed - with the same result as if I got mad. 
• I could laugh at it - and improve my already good mood.
• I could be happy about it - because there is a lesson to learn here. 
• I could be grateful about it - because I probably made someone else's day. 

Well, I started out laughing at it, I mean seriously, how can you not. I certainly think I would have laughed if someone else had done it, actually my bank lady laughed at me when I told her about it the next day. How can you get so distracted by a table that you forget 70 euro? She completely understood though, she had seen it plenty of times and she'd done it herself. At least I'm not alone, right!

Then I thought, well, that will teach me to be focused on the task at hand. Lesson learned, it cost me 70 euro - it took a split second. Maybe sometime in the future I can charge someone that to teach them this lesson? Ha!

Thirdly I thought about the person taking the money; and I sincerely hope that it was someone that made something special with it. Maybe it meant that they could take their girlfriend or boyfriend out to dinner, maybe it meant they could treat their family to something unusually nice, or maybe they needed a new pair of sandals. Or maybe they just needed some food in their stomach or a bed for the night. Whatever they did with it I choose to believe that they appreciated it one way or another. 

Sure, I had things to do for the money, but I am lucky enough to have more than enough to live a good life in every way. And maybe that person do too, but hey, free money is always nice, right! 

So then I thought, lesson nr 2 learned; remember to be grateful for everything I've got in my life, and remember to be grateful for everything that brought me here. 

Life is so precious, and we take it so much for granted most of the time. I think sometimes we need a reminder of that. And I think it's important to remember the gift of giving. This experience reminded me about all this. And that makes me grateful.

So, I threw myself a curve ball, and I caught it, and I (unintentionally) made someone else happy. That to me, is worth a lot more than those 70 euro. 

Whenever I find myself in a situation where I so obviously can choose my reaction, action and emotion (yes, I believe it is almost always a choice) I get proud, and I feel love for life. 

This song was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012, a Swedish win just like this year. 

It always raises my mood and energy. I hope you like it. 

Here's Loreen with Euphoria. 

Love//

Carina

Happy 6th Anniversary To Me!

Today is the 6 year anniversary of when I moved from Sweden to Spain, and I'd like to share the story behind it with you all.

A long time ago, when I was a young girl, I dreamed about living somewhere where it was sunny and warm and where there was water; lake/sea/ocean, it didn't matter. I never liked the cold darkness of the Swedish winters, and as I grew older I started to sink more into depression every winter. But, as with my dream of writing, it wasn't realistic and it soon became a neatly tucked away dream.

6 and a half years ago my dad got sick, with no hope of survival. He was diagnosed with kidney cancer that had spread more or less everywhere in his gut area. We got 2 months and a week after first diagnosis. It was hard, of course, but we made the most of that time. We made sure to say the things that needed to be said. He went peacefully with myself and my sister by his side, holding his hands.

When he was diagnosed I had just moved in with my boyfriend at the time, and his mother was also fighting cancer. And so, 19 days after my dad died, my boyfriend's mother passed too. It was 2 days after my dad's funeral, and of course things where extremely tough on all of us. In the midst of all this, I ended up having a huge, heartbreaking disagreement with someone very close to me, with the result that I lost yet another very important person in life.

Three months after my dad died my boyfriend and I broke up. And I was completely, and utterly, heartbroken. I just wanted to die, That was 3 of the most important men in my life that I had lost in as many months. Breathing hurt. Being awake was agony. It was a Sunday when my boyfriend and I broke up. I spent the Monday crying and sleeping, with friends keeping me company so I wouldn't do anything stupid, and I woke up Tuesday morning with the idea that now was the time to move away. For Real!

I didn't have many things in my possession, most I had already gotten rid of, and most of what I did own were things after my dad. My son had his own life, with his own place and I knew he wasn't going to hang around in our little town longer than necessary anyway. I had some insurance money after my dad. I didn't have a job, and I had to find somewhere to live. It was now or never! I didn't have the strength to resist my dream anymore.

But, where should I go? I had only been abroad once, to Turkey, and lovely as it was I knew I didn't want to live there. I started searching travel agencies just to get a feeling for something. An old friend pop up on Facebook, and I remembered that he now lived in Spain, but I had no idea where in Spain. It turned out that he lived in a town called Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol. Perfect!!

The following day, on the Wednesday, I booked my one way flight. On the Sunday I took two big bags and one small bag and I took the train to Arlanda Airport. I landed at Malaga Airport at 22.54 that very evening. March 1st 2009.

I know today that it was my dad that gave me the courage to do it! During his last months he taught me that life is short and you never know how long you will have. Make sure to be happy, follow your dreams, make your own life. So I owe my happiness today to my dad!

The person I had the huge disagreement with was not an active part of my life for 5 years, but we are now reconnected which makes me very happy.

Sometimes life takes a different turn to what you expected, you will get the opportunity to take a side road to something unknown, And that is ok. Actually, in my experiences those are the best times of your life as long as you follow your heart's desire. Those are the moments that will take you to higher grounds. Everything Will Be OK. Always. If you follow your heart's desire.

I live every day of my life honouring my dad. I make sure to find happiness in everything I do, every day. It might not always be obvious, or easy, but it's my way of making sense of his death.

With this in mind, today's video/song choice was an easy one. My dad introduced me to this song once upon a time, and I loved it so much that he got tired of me playing it over and over. It always makes me feel close to him, and the lyrics are quite fitting too, don't you think?

Love//
Carina

A Walk With A View

After work today I went for a walk with my good friend T and her new dog B. We walked on the long beach along the Mediterranean Sea (it is actually the longest beach in southern Europe, on the mainland), the was dog skipping, playing, in sand around our feet, absolutely loving every second of, and the waves were hitting the beach just next to us. It was a bit cloudy, but the temperature was very nice and we wore long sleeve, thin jumpers; no coats or jackets were necessary. It was lush, beautiful, lovely, fun and energizing. It always is on our walks. Refreshing for body, mind and spirit.

T and I talk about life, about feelings, being in the now and about the future. It's always a very good time when we see each other, and time always fly. Too quickly. But I always leave our meetings feeling happier, stronger and more alive.

Today we went out on one of the piers along the beach, and I filmed the view, all around, from where we were standing. It is T you see in the clip. This is about a 25 minute walk from my house. This is one of the big joys of my life. The Sea, and the mountains in the background behind the houses. The sounds, the smell, the taste, the feelings. It's all giving me life.

Film clip from the pier in Carjaval, Fuengirola, Spain

The African coastline is just out of sight from here, but on clear days you can see it from the mountains behind us. I always think that is so cool.

By the way, next I'll try moving it slower. :)

Love//

Carina