Ilana Estelle is a mental health and wellbeing advocate who combines educational insight with her personal experience of living with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities.
She holds diplomas in Counselling, Diet and Nutrition, Nutritional Therapy, Psychotherapy and Counselling, and Stress Management. Through her writing, Ilana supports others in navigating their emotional, mental, and physical health challenges.
In addition to writing for The CP Diary, her work has appeared in healthy lifestyle magazines.
Ilana is also the author of three books: Cerebral Palsy: A Story – Finding the Calm After the Storm, Spirituality, Healing and Me, and Survival: The Covid Years – Time for Change.
Food for thought: "I never write to disappear and escape. The truth is exactly the opposite. Most people strike me as escaping and disappearing in one way or another - into their jobs, their daily routines, their delusions about ...
Something inspirational: “Anyone can learn to fight. Hardly anyone learns to think.” TAMSYN MUIR, Gideon the Ninth Muir's quote reminds us that fighting is not just about physical strength; it can mean arguing, resisting ...
Food for thought: “All that you touch You Change. All that you Change Changes you.” OCTAVIA E. BUTLER, Parable of the Sower This quote reminds us that everything we do has an impact, and every experience changes ...
I absolutely LOVE this quote!! My family and I have never been wealthy, never had brand new cars and never had the best of the best. And because of that were all really content living in our trailer, driving our old cars and happy about it.
I would never want to live in a big house anyway and with how many people I know that have lived the same, it seems those people have more of a sense of reality.
Because we've had to struggle for what little we have and we're okay with struggling too. Does that make sense?
Thanks Bonnie. I love this quote too. Yes we do have more of a sense of reality. I believe that. It's actually been proven that the less we have the more content we are. I think the struggle you talk about comes from looking at what others have. It's not done on a conscious level though and we're not always aware.
I also think the struggle doesn't necessarily come from having nothing, it comes from stress and thinking we need more than we have and wanting more, just to make our lives easier. Children are the first to bow to pressure, particularly from their contemporaries, but I'm with you.
I had very little growing up too, but I didn't need for anything because in my head I was content with nothing. The less content we are, the more we will come to struggle. The more we struggle the more stress we will have and the more we want because we're not content.
We seem to think that material wealth bridges the gap between being non-content to being content. It doesn't.
Thanks Tim. You definitely get the 'life' thing. Not everyone does. Life is different to everyone. How we relate? How we see life? What we want to get out of life?
But it's only when we can live with less material wealth and be grateful for our lives and what we have that we will be at our most content.
What a great quote. Contentment eludes many of us; as we are too busy telling ourselves we must have the biggest and the best, when we could better spend our time learning to love who we are and what we are.
Thank you. Yes, it starts in school. It's a peer pressure thing; society thing; follow the Jones' thing. Anything and everything that takes us away from connecting with ourselves.
Thank you Ilana! Tonight my dad was worried because after we paid the rent and cellphone bill, there wasn't any money left for the next couple of weeks.
I tried to reassure him it can be so much worse and that everything will be ok because it always is. Not sure if what I said stuck; but that's the way life has always been for me so I'm fine about it.
Thanks Bonnie. I am sure on a subconscious level that what you said to your dad will have struck a chord, although he'll still probably carry that worry until he knows his account is flush again.
You said the right thing to make your dad feel better and that's what counts. Glad you're fine Bonnie. It's the best way to be.
That will also replicate in other areas of your life too.
I absolutely LOVE this quote!! My family and I have never been wealthy, never had brand new cars and never had the best of the best. And because of that were all really content living in our trailer, driving our old cars and happy about it.
I would never want to live in a big house anyway and with how many people I know that have lived the same, it seems those people have more of a sense of reality.
Because we've had to struggle for what little we have and we're okay with struggling too. Does that make sense?
Thanks Bonnie. I love this quote too. Yes we do have more of a sense of reality. I believe that. It's actually been proven that the less we have the more content we are. I think the struggle you talk about comes from looking at what others have. It's not done on a conscious level though and we're not always aware.
I also think the struggle doesn't necessarily come from having nothing, it comes from stress and thinking we need more than we have and wanting more, just to make our lives easier. Children are the first to bow to pressure, particularly from their contemporaries, but I'm with you.
I had very little growing up too, but I didn't need for anything because in my head I was content with nothing. The less content we are, the more we will come to struggle. The more we struggle the more stress we will have and the more we want because we're not content.
We seem to think that material wealth bridges the gap between being non-content to being content. It doesn't.
So very true. I may not wear the same suit as a rich man, but I'm content with what I have. Maybe I know more about me than I think.
Thanks Tim. You definitely get the 'life' thing. Not everyone does. Life is different to everyone. How we relate? How we see life? What we want to get out of life?
But it's only when we can live with less material wealth and be grateful for our lives and what we have that we will be at our most content.
To me that is how life should be lived.
What a great quote. Contentment eludes many of us; as we are too busy telling ourselves we must have the biggest and the best, when we could better spend our time learning to love who we are and what we are.
Thank you. Yes, it starts in school. It's a peer pressure thing; society thing; follow the Jones' thing. Anything and everything that takes us away from connecting with ourselves.
Thank you Ilana! Tonight my dad was worried because after we paid the rent and cellphone bill, there wasn't any money left for the next couple of weeks.
I tried to reassure him it can be so much worse and that everything will be ok because it always is. Not sure if what I said stuck; but that's the way life has always been for me so I'm fine about it.
Thanks Bonnie. I am sure on a subconscious level that what you said to your dad will have struck a chord, although he'll still probably carry that worry until he knows his account is flush again.
You said the right thing to make your dad feel better and that's what counts. Glad you're fine Bonnie. It's the best way to be.
That will also replicate in other areas of your life too.