Iyabo Ojikutu's Blog, page 6

Travel Blog: Cheese making factory in Seelisburg, Switzerland

Our trip to the Cheese making factory in Seelisburg, Switzerland (Village in Central Switzerland).

The ride to explore villages in Central Switzerland. There are really no bad views here. Lakes, Mountains, pretty clouds. So magnificent!

 

Arriving in Seelisberg, Switzerland. What a pretty red house. This was just across from the cheese making factory.

 

Kaserei, Seelisberg- the cheese making factory. Located high on a hill in the mountains of Central Switzerland.

 

One of the factory workers showing us the final cheese product before the aging process starts.

 

Awesome View just outside the factory.

 

The factory also sells jams and other souvenirs.

 

Posing by the cheeses for sale. We sampled every type of cheese!! They were all really good.

 

My older daughter, Reni and I by the viewing window for watching the cheese making process.

 

The cow right outside the factory. Milk comes from cows which is then used to make cheese-just a refresher!

Travel Blog: Skiing & Dinner in Lucerne, Switzerland

Skiing at Mount Titlis, Switzerland, and dinner at the Old Swiss house, Lucerne.

This is the part of our trip we’ve been looking forward to for a while. Taking skiing lessons for the first time. The drive to Engelberg was breathtakingly beautiful. This was at Mount
Titlis. 

 

Breathtaking view!!!

 

My daughters with the instructor. They both got all the steps so quickly. Reni was already skiing fast after the first hour of lessons. It took me a while to catch on. I’d love to try again
sometime soon. It’s a lot of fun!

 

There’s me!!! 

 

Beautiful ski slopes at Mount Titlis.

 

One of my favorite shots on this trip. This was directly across from Mount Titlis. There’s really no bad view here!

 

Back at our hotel—Park Hotel Vitznau. Heading out to dinner post ski lessons. What an exciting day!!

 

Arriving at dinner—the Old Swiss House restaurant in Lucerne. You can feel the coziness and warmth even from outside!

 

Close up of the sign and when it was opened.

 

Hey, girls! My daughters sitting pretty 

Travel Blog 2: Day trip to Lucerne, Switzerland

Headed into Lucerne like......

Travel Blog 1: Vitznau, Switzerland

Welcome to my travel blog for our Vitznau and Lucerne, Switzerland, trip!

Landing in Zurich Airport after a long flight; connecting in London.

 

Yummy dinner, then off to bed, after a long flight!

 

Arrived at Park Hotel Vitznau. Wow! Lovely artwork on elevator.

 

First morning in Vitznau. Lovely breakfast options.

 

Pretty view from the breakfast restaurant. Snow, lake, mountains. Beautiful scenery!!!

 

Cured-meat slicer. Pretty cool!!

 

Had to step outside quickly during breakfast to really appreciate the scenery, and of course capture a shot!

Control and Trust

I attended a seminar recently, and the speaker asked, “What is the opposite of control?” As I was about to answer trust or faith, someone else behind me beat me to it. He answered, “Chaos.”

 

Hmmm....chaos? That answer puzzled me. As I was pondering his answer, the speaker said, “It’s funny. I get that answer most of the time when I ask that question, but the answer really is trust.”

Well, I felt relief and reassurance that my answer was correct. But the “chaos” answer got me thinking. Why would most people think the opposite of control is Chaos?

 

Well, I started to get why. It’s because as humans we always want to be in control of everything in our lives, and if we are not in control, we feel and actually believe our lives are falling
apart and that we are in a state of chaos.

 

Very interesting.

 

I guess I may have answered “chaos” also in my 20s. But always striving to be in control actually often leads to chaos. I have come to this realization as I’ve gotten older.

 

I’ve realized the more I let go of always being in control of everything, the more I can really trust and let my faith lead and guide me.

As I let go of all control, I let in my true life flow and my divine life purpose.

 

Always striving to be in control leads to unnecessary stress, and it blocks us from our true blessings.

 

How could I even not embrace faith and trust that what is mine will come to me? Of course, with hard work, focus, and persistence. I have no choice but to live by faith. I’ve lived life long
enough to know that striving for control is what leads to chaos.

There are many things and situations we can choose in life, but there are also many we can’t choose. Natural disasters, some illnesses, loss of loved ones, some government decisions, actions of
other people… These are beyond our control. So there is no way we can always be in control.

 

Life is full of unforeseen circumstances, so in order to have peace (opposite of chaos), we must trust and must have faith that everything will turn out just right.

 

As 2018 approaches, I plan on walking more by faith and trusting that everything that is mine will flow toward me. I’m already on that journey, and I plan on continuing on it. It’s a much better
and freer way to live. Letting go of all control and the need to plan my life rigidly has been so refreshing and fruitful in so many ways.

The writing of my book was beyond my control. It happened without any prior plans whatsoever, and everything to promote it is coming to me so effortlessly also.

So many changes in my life that have led to more fulfillment and more peace happened when I let go of control and let in trust and my true life flow.

 

I hope you will start to trust more and let go of control. Do what is required of you, of course. A good education, good morals, kindness, hard work, persistence, optimism, love for others,
courage… But let go of things you cannot control.

 

Your life will not end up in chaos if you don’t have control over it. That is living in fear.

Control is a manifestation of fear.

Just trust and have faith. Trust brings hope and a brighter future.

 

Be permanently happy. Let go of control. Instead, work on yourself from the inside out, and watch life notice and join you on your quest.

Give Thanks

It’s the month of Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for so far this year? Do you keep a gratitude journal?

 

There is so much that has happened to me this year that I’m really thankful for. I’m also thankful in advance for the future.

I journal every day, and I write down what I’m thankful for on a daily basis. This practice has helped open up my heart to receive more, and never to take anything for granted. I’m thankful for
the really good days and the not so very good days. I often go back to read what I’ve written, and this really grounds and humbles me.

 

If you don’t keep a gratitude journal, this may be a good time to start. November 1. You can start today and write down what you’re thankful for every day and then review all what you’ve written
on Thanksgiving Day. Maybe invite your close friends and family to join you, and you can all share key parts of your gratitude journal with each other at Thanksgiving Dinner this year.

 

I promise you, this will completely change your perspective on life for the better. You will start to see the goodness and the lesson in life situations because you will start to give thanks even
when the tough times are going on.

Then once you see the effect that practice has had on you, you will not be able to stop journaling. You will continue and look forward to it every day.

 

And you never know—this could lead to the birth of your first book.

 

Journaling has many advantages. Making you more creative is one of them.

 

2017 will be over in about 60 Days.

 

Open your heart.

Find the goodness in everything.

Give thanks daily.

 

Walk into 2018 with a heart of gratitude.

 

Be permanently happy for years to come.

Attract What Is Yours

Do you know what one of the best feelings in life is? It’s the realization that you actually attract everything and everyone that is meant for you.

 

Yes, that’s the truth. It has taken me years to come to terms with this and fully understand it. I now totally get it, and I would like to share it with you today, so you don’t expend too much
energy on what’s not meant for you.

 

The only labor and work you have to do is on yourself. You have no business trying to make others attracted to you or to convince them to embrace your mission.

As you follow your dreams and utilize your gifts and talents to mold yourself into magnificence, excellence and the best version of yourself, you then start to attract all that is yours.

 

The attraction is effortless, but the work you have to do is on yourself.

 

This is true for every life situation. If you’re single, as you elevate yourself, you will attract a partner who is also elevating themselves. There’s a caveat here—you will probably attract a
lot of other partners, but you will definitely be positioned to notice the ones who are elevating themselves also.

 

If a business owner, as you work on solid business operations, you will attract and be able to easily pinpoint solid employees.

For any project, as you build yourself into a high value prospect in that field, you will attract key people who were meant for you.

 

So we all need to quit forcing ourselves on people.

 

Of course, we must still be able to apply for positions and seek out opportunities, but we must approach these with confidence that we are the best for that opportunity and we will give it our
best.

As we portray this excellence, people, situations, and great opportunities will be attracted to us, and they will compete for our attention.

 

How does a business make so much profit from selling its enterprise? By first building it into a position of excellence, which others will want to acquire because they see the potential for
further growth.

 

It’s the same concept with us humans.

 

We must build ourselves up to the point where others notice the great potential in us and want to be a part of that greatness.

Attract what and who are meant for you by working on yourself first. Don’t pressure or force people to your side. They will gravitate toward you as they see your potential.

 

Permanent happiness attracts permanent happiness.

Shine

I love teaching medical students, as you probably have heard me say or have read in some of my writing.

 

Aside from the teaching and mentoring, it is always interesting to experience their different personalities. I get a group of four to eight every six weeks, and it is the most fascinating thing
to watch them interacting with each other and to just observe their uniqueness.

Some are very confident and blurt out answers to questions without much thought. Some shy away from responding and are much more cautious.

 

The personality type I find most fascinating are the ones who have the correct answer 100 percent of the time but act so unsure of themselves. They frown and have this confused expression on
their faces as they answer my questions. Or they respond with a question for me and embed the answer somewhere in the question, still with that confused facial expression. Students who doubt
themselves so much.

 

I’ve had a few students over the years with this personality. The smart but chronically unsure students. The supersmart students who shy away from shining because they are so unsure of
themselves.

 

I had one just a few weeks ago. A really smart female who always had the correct answer to my questions but squeezed her face, mumbled, vacillated, or responded with a question.

I gave her a kind, respectful talk at every encounter on how she shouldn’t be scared to shine.

She should not be worried about having the wrong answer. She should just say the answer that comes to her mind with a smile and with confidence. Answers can only be wrong or right, and she could
miss out on a lot if she doubted herself so much.

But she doubted herself so much, she even tried to explain to me and to justify why she doubted herself. This personality trait was interesting.

 

I have always been on the shy side, but I have never been worried or scared about shining.

 

I give myself permission to shine always, and I do it with a smile on my face. Shyness is not a reason not to shine. You can be shy, yet shine when you need to.

 

I teach my daughters the same. I let them know they don’t need permission to shine. They must always stand or sit tall and own their gifts, talents, and greatness. They must speak up respectfully
and with confidence when the need arises, without changing who they really are.

 

If you dim your own light, doubt your own true essence, you are giving yourself permission to fail in life. Believe in yourself. Shine.

No one would ever consciously want to dim their own light, but some of us subconsciously do this to ourselves by portraying that trait of self-doubt over and over.

 

Shine your light. Smile. Sit tall. Stand tall. Own your greatness. Walk with confidence. And then…give yourself permission to repeat.

 

…and be permanently happy

Celebrate Life

Next month kicks off the festive season. Thanksgiving, Christmas, then New Year. This period is one of my favorites, after my birthday month, of course.

 

My daughters’ birthdays also fall into that time period. One was a Thanksgiving baby; the other was born a day before New Year’s Eve. So there’s a lot to celebrate in my household in the coming
two to three months.

 

It is always a joyous time for us, like most other families, and just a reason to be merry and celebrate life.

 

I always wonder why we just don’t celebrate life every day. Just the mere fact that we are still breathing, still living, needs to be celebrated.

Life celebration and festivities should not be seasonal. They should be done daily.

I have found that the more we celebrate life, the more life keeps giving us reasons to celebrate.

 

If you don’t see the good and the light in everything, you will eventually just stop seeing the good and the light, period.

Loveliness really does exist everywhere around us. We just have to practice seeing it as such, and celebrate it as such.

 

I now find reasons to celebrate just because…

I sing just because…

I dance in front of the mirror just because…

I celebrate life because I still have time to live life.

 

I somehow feel life hears and sees when I celebrate it. Life notices when I’m rejoicing because I still exist in it. Just the mere fact that I’m still present in life, I celebrate. As I keep
celebrating, I keep getting more to celebrate about. It is such a true and amazing concept.

We often get into the cycle of grumbling because of so many dissatisfactions about life. If we don’t grumble verbally, it shows up in our dynamics with other people. We get easily irritated
because we are angry with life, and we take it out on others. People who have nothing to do with our dissatisfaction and irritation. They are innocent.

 

The issue lies with us, because we just can’t see the good around and in us. We can’t make ourselves just celebrate life. Celebrate the act of living.

I’ve been there, done that. Being irritable and taking it out on others who really have nothing to do with the circumstances.

 

It was really just about me. About me not celebrating my existence, so then unable to help others celebrate theirs.

 

If you’re not celebrating your own life, regardless of what situation you face, it will be impossible to celebrate others’ lives with them.

 

So I’m now very conscious about continuously finding ways to celebrate my life, even when it’s not a festive holiday season or birthday or anniversary season.

 

I celebrate just because…I’m alive.

 

Do you practice this too? Do you dance just because? Sing just because? Dress up and go somewhere nice just because? Do a photo shoot to feel fabulous just because? Take your kids, spouse, family
out for a nice dinner just because? Do you tip a waiter 50 percent or even 100 percent just because?

If you don’t do this regularly, this blog is for you. A reminder to start to celebrate life daily. A dance will do. A song from the heart will do. A random act of kindness to another person will
do.

 

If you do this regularly, this blog is also for you. To encourage you to continue, because as you celebrate life, life will soon start to give you more reasons to celebrate it.

Life really enjoys being celebrated.

 

Celebrate life, even when it is hard to do so, and watch life listen and acknowledge by making you permanently happy.

Ask for Help

Are you tired and weary? Exhausted?



 

There was a phase in my life where I was always tired. It was really all through my 30s. That phase coincided with having my daughters, raising young girls, opening my practice, and navigating
all this while being married and sharing life with my spouse at that time.

Those years were tough. When I look at pictures of myself then, I actually look older in some of the pictures, and in some, I looked obviously unhappy and drained. As well as pounds heavier.
Pictures say a thousand stories. They really do.


Juggling raising daughters, driving them to school, attending school functions, cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, seeing patients, managing a new business, teaching medical students, taking
care of myself, and then most of all navigating and making sense of all the cultural and social expectations of being a wife and mother drained me. The husband’s expectations, the husband’s
family’s expectations, drained me and sucked the energy out of me.



 

Expectations on a human being’s soul are energy draining. Don’t let the expectations you have or they have ruin the relationship.


There was just so much of “you do it.” “It’s your job.” “No, it’s your job.” “It’s a man’s job.”
“It’s a woman’s job.” Whoa…back and forth it went.



 

I know this happens in a lot of marriages and other love relationships. We expect so much from each other instead of expecting less or nothing and just loving and respecting each other and having
loving boundaries.



 

Expectations lead to major resentments in relationships, especially in marriages. Expect little from others; expect a lot from yourself, and you’ll find peace.



 

So my marriage dynamic continued for a long time. It eventually led to divorce.



 

And I rebuilt my life, self-educated myself on the true dynamics of life. And I’m now fully aware of what that is.


I read the Bible for meaning, allowed my home-church pastor’s teachings to soak into my heart. I read a lot of books when going through my divorce, and I still do. All this gave me
loads of wisdom.


I fully realized that if you sit around expecting others to do things for you, if you demand it or tell them they owe you, it leads to chaos, turmoil, and major resentment in unions. People do
things for you and serve you only if they want to.


 

So I realized I was fully responsible for my own life and with God’s grace, it was all possible.



 

I carried that vital knowledge with me, and it has brought me peace and happiness since my divorce. My life is now more effortless even though I’m still raising my daughters, running my practice,
teaching medical students, owning a home, and definitely still taking care of myself. And now, I have this new huge and rewarding venture—my writing, which has opened magnificent doors for me.



 

But my life is structured differently.


I now ASK for HELP. For my life to work, I learned from all my reading that I had to outsource some of my life.


I have a cleaner; handyman for odd jobs around the house; and personal assistant for myself, who is also a sitter for my younger daughter—she drives her to school and most places. I use a meal
delivery service 80 percent of the time (this works perfect because I honestly no longer enjoy cooking, and I can get healthy tasty foods in the right portions). I personally ride Uber 80 percent
of the time, which is ever so convenient.

 

This is all money well spent for me because it grants me time to build up on my creativity and to embark on new projects, improve the ones I have, and just really live well and truly thrive.



 

Asking for help and outsourcing my life’s demands has changed my life for the better. For the a lot better!



 

We must practice putting aside savings or a budget just for asking for help. The reason a lot of women are chronically exhausted is because they want to do it all by themselves or they have been
brainwashed or forced by their spouses or extended families that it is their responsibility to do it all. So they go with that flow and they keep doing it all. They struggle through day to day,
they live with resentment every day, and they stick with it, putting living a free, purposeful, and happy life on hold indefinitely.

They get more and more exhausted and eventually lose the zeal for life. They stay stuck and life passes by until one day they wake up. But some never wake up, unfortunately.



 

It takes a village to raise an adult.


Ask for help.


Avoid burnout.



 

Have discussions with your spouse. Communicate what your dreams and aspirations are. Discuss ideas about getting help for the household to take the load off both of you so you can live out your
own individual, and maybe collective, dreams.


Do not keep your dreams on hold for too long or quit on your dreams because of marriage. If you do, you’ll have major resentment and regret in the future.

 

If you’re tired, say so and carve out ways to rest on a daily basis and nourish your own physical and spiritual life. You cannot give from an empty cup.


If your significant other truly loves you and wants the best for you, he or she will give you the freedom to be your best self and to live out your own dreams.

Do not get exhausted to the point
where you quit on your dreams.

 

You cannot put your life on hold because of one person—the other person in your relationship.


God gave you gifts to use to serve others—to serve and to change the world. Do not let your soul get so weary you quit on your God-given gifts. Your gifts are not meant only for your spouse or
life partner. They were meant to be used to create change in the world.



 

Get some rest.


Put your hope in God and in yourself.


Don’t transfer all your hopes to another human being.


Trust yourself. Love yourself. Believe in yourself. Respect yourself.


Teach others how to treat you.


And give your soul rest on a daily basis.

…And be permanently happy.