January 2nd, 2024 ~ another clean sheet of paper upon which to write, live, sing, breathe, laugh, walk (stretch)...

There are so many great ideas out there!

My real estate colleague/team lead and I say this all the time - so many great ideas for our business. But it takes time to choose, time to implement and time to consistently follow-through.

I'm going back to full-on WFPB SOS-free eating on January 4th - that is the day that I'm returning from "holiday" mostly full-time to "normal" mostly full-time. 

We had a super fun and heart-filling "Totally Casual Come 'n Go, Eat, Drink & Relax AFTER the holidays Open House Bonfire Afternoon PARTY" on 12/30/2023. We, and when I say 'we' I mean himself mostly - made delicious split pea & ham soup, Haggis (a la "American"), mashed potatoes, sausage rolls and a new offering this year - fried Haggis "bites." I made vegan chili (Krocks in the Kitchen "Brian's Super Tasty Vegan Chili [plant-based, oil-free]" that I adapted to my taste), and I bought "the goodie plate" from my catering friend and Pampered Chef consultant. The goodie plate included delicious peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies, fudge & chocolate-covered peanut clusters... YUMMY! I also ordered some Blueberry Cream Cheese bread, and for New Years Day - green corn tamales. Alta, your food is delicious! Thank You! The link is to her FB page.

And after having delicious Crispy Peanut Butter covered Chocolate balls at a friend's for Festivus, he made me my own batch... which I did not share and will finish before the 4th of January!

But I came on here to say that there are lots of great ideas out there to get our thoughts flowing about what kind of year we want to create for ourselves. What our intentions are. Not new year resolutions, as such, but more of a focus for creating... more habit building.

It is important for me to remember that I have to actually carve time - make space - to meditate and pray on these concepts and ideas. What do I really want? What is my purpose and am I pursuing that?

I love this quote ~

"The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away." ~ Pablo Picasso.

 

Here's just a few that I put in a word document to reflect upon:

 

From Mel Robbins Podcast

“Howto Make 2024 the Best Year: 6 Questions to Ask Yourself” 12/21/2023

1. What are the highlights of your year?

2. What are the harder aspects of the past year for you?

3. What did you learn about yourself over the past 12 months?

4. What are the things you want to stop doing and not bring into the next year?

5. What do you want to continue doing in the next year?

6. What do you want to start doing for real in the coming year? What really matters to you?

 

Robin Sharma (email)
You’ve been graced with 12 pristine months, fresh and available for you to shape into your highest destiny.

1. Who must I become to make 2024 legendary meaningful?

2. What one breathtaking new project will I bring into the world this new year?

3. What [and who] must I let go of from last year to make 2024 wow myself better than I have been in the past?

4. What major daily habit will I install to make the next twelve months my best yet?

5. What gifts and talents within me must I salute and cherish more often? [Self-respect is a giant performance multiplier].

 

Jan Carley –
https://creativecoachinggroup.com

I recommended that you all do a "daily control project" - like maybe 15 min. to clean a cupboard or fold your laundry - something that would make you feel a satisfied sense of "completion" at the end.

 

Ben Nemtin

Here are three things I learned from my conversation with the wise Dr. Gilovich:

1. You get more out of life when you invest in experiences instead of things. At the end of our life, all we really have are the memories from the experiences we have collected. Too often we are tricked into thinking that we need more stuff to make us happy, but Dr. Gilovich's research is proving that experiences bring us the most fulfilment.

I asked him what kind of experiences make us the happiest? He said, “Spending money on other people makes you happier than spending money on yourself.” Consider this as you write your new year’s list. Think about experiences you can plan with loved ones or solo experiences. And don't forget that the age-old saying is not just lip service. It truly is better to give than to receive.

2. We are most fulfilled when we are taking action. In other words, being passive makes us unhappy. When we are moving toward a goal (even if we don’t reach the goal) we are most fulfilled. Remember this and take all the momentum of this new year and funnel it into taking steps towards your goal. By doing so, you will start to feel inspired, and your spirits will begin to lift. 

What easy steps of action can you take? 

1. Write your list in a journal (I recommend The Bucket List Journal).
    
2. Pick one goal that commands your attention and commit to doing three things in the next 48 hrs that will move you closer to that goal (even if they are tiny steps).
    
3. Ask a friend or family member to be your accountability buddy and keep you on track.

3. The headwinds vs tailwinds asymmetry. If you have ever cycled into a headwind, you are keenly aware that you are in a headwind. However, when you turn around and suddenly have a tailwind, you notice that tailwind for a few minutes and then you don’t notice the wind at your back. The same is true in your life. When you move through your days, you must pay attention to the barriers, but you don’t have to pay attention to the things pushing you along. Therefore, it’s much easier to feel resentful towards the barriers than be grateful for the things going your way (because those things are oftentimes invisible).
 
We know past research has proved that when you are grateful, your life is enriched. The key here, Dr. Gilovich said, is to have an active gratitude practice. Consider keeping a gratitude diary as you move into 2024. It’s very simple, at the end of each day, write three things you’re grateful for and three things you appreciate about yourself. I do this, and it really is so effective. 

Happy New Year, friends. Here's to pursuing our passions, our talents and our people that bring us JOY. Peace, Health, Love, Compassion, Kindness & Grace to us all in 2024 ♥ And Harmony ♫ ♪, of course!

Courage.

I've been on a weekend kick of watching videos and reading blogs of people who have chosen to become RV "Full Timers" or "nomads." There's a couple favorites I enjoy, but my favorite is Robin of Creativity RV.

...

Back in June I was asked the question, "what do you want your life to look like in a year?" 

I'll say again, while this is not a new question... it has been the first time that I've thought of my answer(s) almost every day. 

I've also been trying to figure out what I really want. 

I've been incredibly blessed in my life. I'm grateful for all that I've been given. But when given much, much is expected, and I'm afraid I've not lived up to my potential, and am disappointed in myself.

I heard on either an Amy Porterfield or a Marie Forleo podcast the other day about the 10-year Question... which is this: Will I regret NOT having done something/tried something in 10 years? Will I kick myself for having ignored the voice inside asking to try something.

I want to be able to be financially independent while traveling around the United States. 

I want to see every state, and while I wouldn't mind sharing some of the adventure with a good friend, I mainly want to do it myself as a self-confidence building, personal growth challenge.

To simplify my life by decreasing the unessential ~ “It is not daily increase but daily decrease, hack away the unessential." ~ Bruce Lee

Goals. I am creative. I have skills and talents to offer... I am a natural teacher, but I've not ventured into YouTube or even just videos here in blogland. I can write. 

I love learning. Learning about people and our tendencies, habits, the reasons behind why we do things is fascinating to me. I love learning about natural health, food as medicine and healthy eating.

What can I teach that would be worth a $9.95 eCourse or eBook? I come back to singing, but that is usually something taught one-on-one in person. Using learning to sing as one of the pathways to personal growth and development is real, and is something I am passionate about.

Life is short, that is a lesson that keeps showing up every day. 

What will it take for me to have the courage? Will I ever "feel ready?" 

Just start, right?

 

 

Busy Busy!

Long time no post....

First ~ a sunrise

The sunrise this morning was at 7:14am ~ it was not a spectacular one, as there was a few mornings ago... but I want to make it a goal of mine to be sure I'm up and outside (if it isn't raining) a few minutes before the sunrise and take a picture, and post it somewhere (here, Facebook, Google+ or Twitter). It is difficult for me to be an early riser, but I am better than I was a few years ago.

I'm reading on my Kindle "The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8AM)" by Hal Elrod. Before reading this book, I have already read a number of articles along the vein of "what successful people do that most of us don't" from LifeHack or similar all say the same thing - get up early and Pray/Meditate, Exercise, Focus on your Goals, Review your day ahead, etc... I like "Miracle Morning" because it digs a little deeper (not much) into the nuts and bolts of HOW (though there is a lot [a LOT] of 'this is why you will love this book...' and 'when you do the things I'm going to tell you about, you will love...' which drives me crazy. I've bought the book, stop selling it to me!).

One quote I love from the book: "How you do anything is how you do everything."

In my thought process, this is similar to one of  Gretchin Rubin's Secrets of Adulthood (from the Happiness Project): "What you do EVERY DAY matters more than what you do ONCE IN A WHILE."

How I do what I do today matters... because I will either build on it tomorrow, or have to lay the foundation again.  For me, getting up at 5AM means going to sleep before 11PM. My stomach hurts when I don't get enough sleep, and I am so busy doing singing stuff I can't afford to get sick, and without enough sleep, historically I get sick. So, saying "no" to watching the second newer Star Trek (which we started watching at 9:50pm) is where my self-discipline has to kick in.

That being said, one of the strategies is to affirm to myself, before going to sleep, that the amount of sleep I'm going to have is going to be perfect, that I'll have exactly the amount of sleep I need and will feel rested and energized in the morning. When I plant that thought in my brain before going to sleep (instead of counting on my fingers how much sleep I should get, and lamenting that it is never enough, and berating myself for my lack of self-discipline), I do wake up with a kickier step.

I woke up at 5:25 this morning, I didn't snooze - and got up and came in to organize calendars and write goals, do some things on my 'To Do' list. My Real Estate mentor and I have purchased "Passion Planners" and I've been looking at that a little... it is exactly the kind of planner I've been looking for and I'm incredibly excited about it!

So my point... I haven't really applied myself to working the Real Estate business. My floating along time has come to an end, I have some tools I need to use, and we've started an Accountability Group, which - for tomorrow I'm supposed to have my goals written down. So many goals, so little time, right?! Work-related goals. My Why to motivate me toward Real Estate is Independence and Flexibility. Both things are necessary for me to do what I love which is sing.

Singing/Performing is my passion. Why am I not pursuing it?

Creative Genius

I just watched a TedTalk by Elizabeth Gilbert (author of "Eat, Pray, Love") and in the middle of her talk I had a storm of emotion race through my mind and body and in the path behind it left behind some internal destruction.  She said at the beginning of the talk, "Is it rational to be afraid of doing the work you were put on this earth to do?"

This is profound for me. Asking a rational question regarding doing my passion (which isn't Real Estate, for what its worth) as my work. My Job. This isn't a new idea or thought for me, not at all. But her presentation and that question - from my perspective and belief that we all have something to contribute to enhance and help others (i.e., 'make the world a better place')... well, this question cut to the chase and poured salt in my personal wound. This itch (need) that I only scratch - which only makes it bleed; this itch (need) - to contribute creatively (through music) to the world - is becoming infected. I have been unsuccessful in 'stitching it up to heal neatly.' Rather, I've ignored and distracted myself with other roads I've taken in order to "be sensible" and "be rational."

I really have not been honest with myself.

I signed up for the Scott Dinsmore's Live Your Legend (not sure what to call it) Course a couple years ago and have been putting off  'doing the work' to really engage in the 'assignments' and 'homework.'  I did read an email as a participant of this course recently, which linked to a blog post that had a list of things to think about doing, and I started to narrow my focus on how I can use my passion and talent to maybe create a living. I jotted the following down on the back of an envelope.

Music - specifically singing.
Everyone can sing. Everyone (probably) wishes they could be better, even with no intention of singing for anyone else. Ever. I can help you with that.

After 10 or 15 minutes of hard crying, I feel refreshed, exhausted, inspired.  The things I wrote down while in the middle of this storm were:

anguish. torment. capricious. storm of tears. crazy. break between rational and passion - living my passion. conflict. "right thing." be sensible. I'm afraid. DO YOUR JOB.

Eleanor Roosevelt

"Work is always the antidote to depression." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

I want to become an expert on this woman.

"Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art."

“The only advantage of not being too good a housekeeper is that your guests are so pleased to feel how very much better they are. ” (that one is for my mom...)

“Do the things that interest you and do them with all your heart. Don't be concerned about whether people are watching you or criticizing you. The chances are that they aren't paying any attention to you. It's your attention to yourself that is so stultifying. But you have to disregard yourself as completely as possible. If you fail the first time then you'll just have to try harder the second time. After all, there's no real reason why you should fail. Just stop thinking about yourself.” 

and my favorite...

“Today is the oldest you've ever been, and the youngest you'll ever be again.”

Seriously, I need to get my hands on autobiographies, biographies and other goodies to read. And memorize a couple of quotes!

Action vs Distraction

I put in my Gratitude Jar today ... "I am thankful for the internet (and all that it has exposed me to)."

I met my husband online, of course... he's one major thing I'm thankful for. But besides himself, I was thinking about all the sub-cultures that now have a voice and an audience because of the internet.  And that some people are incredible visionaries... and that they take action on their vision.

* * *

This year I will take action on a vision. As of yet this vision is blurry. It is brightly-colored, and full of glitter and glistening dew in the morning... it is being looked at through a filter, which makes it very soft-focused.  I spent some time really thinking about what course of action I want to take this year - and while the road is extremely wide, and meandering still a bit, it is going in a single (if albeit a scenic) direction.

I wasn't feeling very good today, and I left work early and came home to sit in my recliner with a heating pad and the Netbook, with HGTV on the telly, and snooze if I needed to. I re-discovered a fascination I've had for a few years: the Tiny House Movement.

In my internet travels this afternoon ~ in and amongst the tiny house websites and blogs, I came across this quote,

"What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it."

wow, huh?

Follow up questions:

1. What is valuable enough in my life that I would exchange a part of my life for it?
2. Who are the people that are valuable enough in my life to spend it with?
3. If something isn't worth this gift of a day, then what, instead, should it be replaced with?

My frustration with me is that my answers change. Daily. My feelings drag me around by the nose, and *look! Shiny!!* is a huge distraction and pulls me off in another direction altogether. (My love/hate with the internet and all the distractions links is a topic for another post!)

BUT -- I found a great question to ask myself as I go through and try to simplify my collection(s) of stuff... "If I were going to live in a tiny house... would this item stay or go?"  It isn't asking me if I love it, or if it is useful, or some of the other emotional questions that cause me distraction instead of action. It is straightforward, it has 'hacked away the unessential.'

* * *

Photo Day 3 (hearts) and Photo Day 4 (The View From Here)

Looking at my collection of Heart Stamps helped
me downsize my stamps! 3 sets and a couple of loose
ones... Very Proud!

This is a Gratitude Jar with one slip of 'Gratitude-ness' already in it...
In this Jar I will also put notes about great
things that happened (since I will, of course, be grateful for great things that
happen... ;-) ). My view today needed vision, and I'm visioning 2013 as a year of
things that I know I will be thankful for. And a Full Jar by the end
of the year to look back on.

 * * *

Decreasing
I have a bag of tops and some jewelry and a pair of shoes (never, ever worn) in a bag to give away. I'm struggling with keeping it until the Chorus Rummage Sale (March, I think), or just taking it to Goodwill Now!

* * *

One more thought for the day... What makes you happy? Not what you think makes you happy... what actually brings happiness to you?

My answers surprised me.

Always Having Something To Say

I've committed myself to an adventure this year.

Not ready to reveal it *just yet* - but one of the actions I need to take is to get back to blogging regularly. For now, I'll just call it >Watch This Space<

Sometimes I don't feel inspired... or that I have anything to write or say worth reading... but if I commit to Being Thankful for something in each and every post, what a fabulous jumping-off point that is!

* * *

January 1, 2013 ~ Thankful For:
The World Not Ending.
On the lighter side, I'm really glad the Mayan Calendar's last date of December 21, 2012 didn't signify the end of the world. Just really thrilled that we're still here.

Losing 100 Pounds, Gaining 30 Pounds Back
Seriously... I'm still incredibly thankful for MediFast and the fast weight loss I experienced in 2011. 2012 saw lack of focus, boredom, quitting of the walking two 5Ks a week, and regular ups and downs of life stuff; but I'm thankful for all of it... because gaining 30 pounds back fuels my desire to experiment with wheat-free cooking/baking/eating and whole foods, and the Slow-Carb Diet (which I'm going to try for 29 days, like the Becoming Minimalist blog post and the Live Your Legend founder Scott Dinsmore are doing). My 29 days starts on Monday, however. (January 7)

I just found the Slow-Carb Diet (SCD) post with real-life stories of people who have lost over 100 pounds.  Wow. This is the link.

* * *

>Watch This Space< 
Accountability & Action (in other words, things I'm doing to move forward in my adventure)

[1] Writing This Post.
[2] Signing Up for Fat Mum Slim's Photo A Day (Just this month... 29+2 days only) to help me keep focused on the adventure I'm not revealing quite yet.

* * *

My Photo for Today:

Since I took this photo of this page (from Susannah Conway's blog, btw), I've written on it the Bruce Lee Quote that has become my 2013 Mantra...

"It's not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential."

DECREASE is the word for the year... decrease my weight. decrease my stuff. decrease my discontentment. decrease the complexity.

* * *

DECREASE ACTION:
My Plan is to use 15 minutes (or more, if that is the course it takes), 5 or 6 days a week to reduce, de-clutter, simplify and decrease my belongings
.
I threw away a lot of recyclable paper (junk mail), clearing the corner of a table in my studio. (I'll only say this once, here... My craft room is no more... I may use the space to create, but it is my studio... and the decreasing action(s) are to help me realize that expectation.  What we name things is important.)

New Mantra

Never trade what you want
THE MOST

for what you want
AT THE MOMENT.

Good, huh?

2011 in Haiku Form

Another inspiration from "Ben Does Life"

Lost one hundred pounds
Still looking for who I am
what is it I want