Hello friends,

Long time no talk. I have another great nutrition vlog from Shavawn Forester to share with you all later this week as part of our Secret Food Series but one of the great things about running your own blog is that you make all the rules and can also choose to break them and talk about what you think is important theme be damned.

So, this is who I am today, the rule-breaker. Why am I a rule-breaker you ask? Well, I was trying to watch the 5th game of the NCAA second round game between Florida and Florida State (FSU won 3-2) and I ended up on the Official Florida volleyball team page where I came across the article "Free Spirit: Carli Snyder's Unique, Refreshing..." I was drawn to the article not only because of the title, but also because I recognized the name Carli Snyder.  This girl does not try to fit in and even though she got screwed by a bad call in the 2015 NCAA 5th game vs Texas she gives off an air of positivity and optimism. So once I breezed through the enlightening article, I did what all millennials love to do and moved on to Google: Carli Snyder. (Raise the creeper flag but no need to sound the alarm.)

Praise Google because it led me to Carli's blog, Lots of Hair Lots of Coffee, a great read! Almost like a book I cannot put down!  She covers topics about volleyball burnout, coffee addiction, lots of plane rides and more of everything free spirit.

Inspired by Carli, here is a short list of:

Ways to Avoid Burnout (Volleyball, Life, and Otherwise)

• Start a new book or a couple
• Search for new music
• Create (bake or cook)
• Start a conversation with a stranger
• Call your parents or sibling
• Try something new (yoga, Pilates, word art)
• Buy a new outfit
• Logout of technology for a little while
• Go spend time with an animal (dog, cat, hedgehog, etc.)
• Take a road trip
• Make a grateful list
• Clean (shower, apartment, computer files, whatever)
• Get some coffee or tea (treat yo self)
• Meditate or just take some deep breaths and let the tears fall

Because you know what?  Life is pretty amazing, but sometimes it doesn't feel that way. And I know that and the less time we spend trying to hide the fact that we are struggling the more time we can spend getting back to being the magical, great, special people we can be. Have any other ideas that work for you? Comment them below.