Out of Balance

                                    (photo courtesy of stuartmiles/freedigitalphotos.net)

Life was meant to live in balance.  Is your life balanced?  

If you assess your life in these areas, how satisfied are you in each area of your life:

1.  Work
2.  Health - Physical and Emotional
3.  Personal Environment
4.  Social Life
5.  Spiritual Life
6.  Family Life
7.  Finances
8.  Relationships
9.  Personal Time

"The key to keeping your balance is knowing when you've lost it".  Anonymous

Have you lost your balance and you haven't taken the time to find out?  If you take the time to assess these areas of your life and see what is out of balance, you can take the steps necessary to get it back in balance. The changes maybe not happen overnight and the steps may not be easy but they are necessary steps to live a more purposeful, enjoyable and balanced life. 

Where are you out of balance?   

10 Common Reasons You Can't Get Organized

I hear it all the time...HELP!  I work and I work and I work and I just cannot get organized. 

I can give you 10 of the most common reasons why you can't get organized. 

1.  You are trying to organize like someone else thinks....not how you think.
2.  You are trying to organize too much at one time.
3.  You are not willing to let go.
4.  You are not staying focused for any length of time.
5.  You are not taking the next step....are you hanging up your robe, are you putting the trash in the trash can, the dirty dish in the dishwasher, are you taking the designated donate items to a donation location, etc.
6.  You do not have a home for everything
7.  You have not scheduled time to organize
8.  You have unreal expectations about how long it will take to undo what has taken years to do.
9.  You want to talk about getting organized more than you really want to exert the effort to change habits and ways of thinking.
10. You have life reasons such as sickness - physical or mental or you have way too many things on your life plate.  

All of the above are legitimate reasons but all can be overcome.  You just have to be honest enough, with yourself, to know the reasons why and see what you can do to combat those obstacles, because you truly can combat them.    I'll tell you a little secret........if you look at the top 9 reasons, just do the opposite of what the sentence says and you can overcome that obstacle.  
For example, #1 - You are trying to organize like someone else thinks....not how you think.
What you say to yourself is - how do I think and what will work for me?

#2 -  You are trying to organize too much at one time
What you say to yourself is - I am going to organize one shelf.....not the whole kitchen. 

See how that works.  The only one that will not work with is reason #10.  There are things in life that are really out of your control but even in those times, you do have more control than you think......sometimes you just have to do things you don't really feel like doing.  

Take a look at the list above, do any of them ring true to you?  
There are other reasons, too, what are some of yours? 

Are You Discontent?

The word discontent has been rattling around in my brain recently.  I am not sure why but I try very hard to pay attention when anything is rattling around in my brain!  

Dictionary.com defines discontent as not content; dissatisfied; a restless desire or craving for something one does not have.  At first glance, the word discontent would appear to have a negative connotation but upon further reflection and review, I might say it can have a positive connotation as well.

I can become very discontent if I receive a catalog, sit down to look at the catalog, turn down the pages of what I love and then realize I can't order any of it due to budget constraints.  
I can become very discontent if I walk into a friend's house and see everything in pristine condition and order
I can become very discontent if I exercise and eat "right", for a couple of days and the scales do not seem to reflect all my "hard" work!
I can become very discontent if I watch the news, day in and day out and see the sad stories of corruption, death and economic despair. 

However, I do believe that discontentment can be a positive force in our lives, if we so choose.

I can become discontent about my business, which can lead me to look for ways to see how I can improve.
I can become discontent about my spiritual life not growing, which causes me to seek ways to go deeper.
I can become discontent about my marriage, which motivates me to examine what part I play in trying to make it better.
I can become discontent about just about anything, but I can choose to do what I can to adjust my circumstances but more importantly my attitude. 

Discontentment can breed more discontentment, however, you can choose for it to breed contentment and gratitude.  Guess whose choice it is? 

The Faith of Scott Hamilton

I am in a business where I see a lot of pain. As a professional organizer and life coach, I see people caught up in their clutter, their problems, their past, their expectations, their unhappiness, their sickness, their comparison, their lies and their grief.  This video speaks to so much of that and more. 

"The only true disability in life is a bad attitude"

Snow, Snow, Snow

It is snowing here, in Eastern NC.  For many of you reading this snow is no big deal, however, here in Eastern NC, it is a very big deal.  When we get snow, it shuts us down.  Schools close, roads and bridges close, businesses close and we come to a screeching halt!  

This kind of weather makes me think about so many things:

1.  How thankful I am to have a warm home

2.  How much I miss having my children home to play outside and come in to warm by the fire and drink hot chocolate when they were ready for a break.

3.  How magical a world can look dressed in white.

4.  How each snowflake is only one but as a group it can create quite the scene (hmmm, a lesson in there somewhere)

5.  How sometimes I just need to stop.....stop and be thankful for what I have.  Stop and be in the moment and not thinking about all I have to do. Stop and appreciate the beauty of this world...whatever the season, whatever the weather.

So, I am signing off now.....to just watch the snow and drink in these moments. 

KeepItSimpleGirl