I REFUSE

It was November 29th and I was walking around my neighborhood.  As I was walking, I saw several houses completely decorated for Christmas and several neighbors out decorating.  I started hearing this little voice in my head start to clamor for my attention:  

Peggy, you are already so behind.  You don't even have the first Christmas thing out of your attic. 

Peggy, look at how pretty that house looks decorated.  You decorate the same way every year and your house needs painting and your roof needs fixing and you should use fresh greenery and, and, and.......

Well, as I continued to walk I decided to take hold of that voice and replace it with my own real thoughts and truth. 

Peggy, you are not in a competition for how your house looks at Christmas or any other time of the year.   Is your home welcoming?  Does your home have good memories?  

You will eventually get your decorating done, it doesn't have to be done today, tomorrow or even the next day.  There are no Christmas police that will come knocking on your door to ticket you for not being decorated.  

Peggy, your home is not their home.  It does not have to look like theirs, it doesn't have to look perfect; it has to look and feel like you and your family. 

Peggy, stop comparing.  It is a dead end street.

So, all this to say, I REFUSE, to let the joy of Christmas be taken out of me by the voice in my head. I REFUSE to let that voice be in control.  I CHOOSE to listen and think truth and keep my priorities and values in line with who I am, where my life is right now and my schedule. 

Are you comparing yourself with others lives or perceived perfection?  Are you allowing comparison to be the thief of your joy? If so, pull those thoughts out of your head, replace them with truth and live a freer, less stressful and simple life as a result. 

One side note:  I do want to be the Christmas police in February when people still have their wreaths on the door......just saying. 

Math....It Really Is Important

 

The other day it hit me.....a lot of the things I do are based on basic math principles. 

Here are several examples:

• If you want to weigh less you have to eat less junk food and exercise/move more.  

• If you want to have less clutter, you have to bring in less and get rid of more.

•  If you have only so much square footage, you can't fit more than that amount of stuff  into it.

•  If you want to have a successful marriage, you have to spend more time working on it  and less time fussing about it.   

•  If you want to increase the odds of raising responsible kids into responsible adults,  you have to take more time to nurture, teach, discipline and love them and less time  yelling at them, berating them, buying them stuff and expecting someone else to raise  them for you.

• If you want to have financial peace, you have to spend less and save more.

• If you want to be happier, you have to spend less time worrying, fretting and complaining and more time figuring out what you can do to change your situation, changing what you can and developing an attitude of gratitude. 

•  If you want to feel better, you have to spend less time indulging what you know you shouldn't be indulging in and more time on things that are good for you.

• If you want to make a difference, you spend less time on yourself and more time on helping others.

• If you want to live purposefully, spend more time doing the things you are created to do and less time comparing yourself to others.  

More and Less......basic math principles that equal some great results. See, you should have paid attention to that math class in school!  It really is important. 

How good is your math? 

Confessions of an Organizer

I am a Certified Professional Organizer....sounds impressive right???  Well, here is the truth about me:

1.  I can still be a messy Millie.  Check out this photo of my current work area.  Yes, it all makes sense to me, therefore, I am organized but it is still, nonetheless, messy. 

2.  I do not have my underwear folded or my t-shirts folded and stacked like a Banana Republic Store.   

3.  I do not have matching file folders with matching printed labels.  I have file folders (whatever was available in my home or on sale) some have printed labels and some have written labels....whatever was going to get the job done the fastest. 

4.  I do not have my sheets and towels folded in ways that make them stack beautifully and neatly on the shelf.  They are folded but not precisely.

5.  I do not have all my photos in albums with beautiful trim, borders, and extra accouterments to make the photo explode off the page.....nope, many of my photos are still in boxes (by year!) but in boxes.

6.  I do not have my filing done.....much of it is stacked on top of the filing cabinet. 

7.  My laundry room looks like a laundry room.....with dirty clothes and clean clothes commingled, staying enough apart for me to know what's what! 

8.  Sometimes at night, I leave dirty dishes in the sink.

9.  I haven't been able to let go of my kid's rock collection. 

10. I have a basket of shoes, overflowing, by my back door.  I hate wearing shoes and taking them off, the minute I walk in the door immediately relieves some of my stress.  

So, what makes me organized? 

1.  I can find what I need when I need it because I do not have too much stuff and I know where everything is. 

2.   My underwear does not need to be folded because no one else is going to see whether it is wrinkled or not and my t-shirts are folded well enough.

3.  I can find my paperwork when I need it.....again because I don't keep too much and because it is labeled in a way that makes sense to me for retrieval.  Matching folders are not magic....you still have to have a system that makes sense. 

4.  My sheets and towels have worked just fine not being folded perfectly. 

5.  My photos are in boxes, sorted by year and many of my kids' pictures are in an album for them but I still have a long way to go.  I will never be a scrapbooker, the tediousness of that makes me sweat thinking about it!

6.  My filing is not done...one small stack, on top of a filing cabinet is not killing anyone.  Remember it is small because I don't keep much paper!

7.  My laundry room is a place of function, not beauty.  I can get done what I need done very well, which is evident by everyone in my home having something clean to wear. 

8.  Yes, I am just plum tired some days and I leave the dishes in the sink.  The FlyLady would not approve, however, I do take care of it as soon as I wake up.  

9.  I love my kid's rock collection....I have it in the bottom of a vase with beautiful flora coming out the top.  A beautiful decoration for me.....a great way to keep memorabilia merging it with  with my decorating style.  There is nothing wrong with keeping sentimental stuff, there is only something wrong with keeping too much of it. 

10.  My shoe basket is overflowing but at least I have a basket, right?? 

All this to say, I am not perfect, I am not what many would call "organized" because I think they have the wrong idea about being organized.  As Julie Morgenstern (the organizer guru) says:  "Being organized has less to do with how something looks as how something functions".  My house functions great but does not look like I live in a magazine.  Life is busy and life is sometimes very overwhelming.  I work....all the time, I get tired, I get frustrated, I don't have time to focus on my house looking like a magazine.  I do have time to get systems in place, that work for me and my family and I have time to tweak those systems until organizing is just a side note in my life.  

None of this means that I can't organize to make a house look like a magazine because I can. It's just I know what works for me and I know how I think and my house is organized accordingly. 

So there you have it, the truth about this organizer........I guess Martha Stewart will not be calling to hire me any time soon :) 

Utter Confusion

The other day I happened to glimpse up and see this news flash on TV: Taking an aspirin a day may not be good for your health.  

Ok, really???  It seems like it was not so long ago all the doctors were telling people to take a baby aspirin every day to prevent heart attack and stroke. Now they are saying only if you have a family history and if you do take an aspirin a day you can develop bleeding in your stomach.  

These are just a few other things I am confused about:

1.  Carbs or no carbs
2.  Yolk or no yolk
3.  Real butter or margarine
4.  6 meals a day or 3 meals a day
5.  Hormone replacement or no hormone replacement
6.  Running or no running 
7.  Real sugar, stevia, honey or nothing 
8.  Organic or not
9.  Dairy or no dairy
10.Red wine or white wine  - cause it is going to be one or the other. 

So, what am I going to do? Live life in moderation.  So far my parents have lived to the ripe ages of 95 and 89 and are still kicking it!  They have tried to take very little medication, have eaten when they felt like it but at least 3 times a day, have exercised on a regular but not rigid basis and have laughed and loved a lot.  

For now, that's my plan.......no matter what the news throws at me.  

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? 

Comparison

It is the time of year where everyone is figuring out ways they can do better, be better, and look better.   One of the dangers, in this process, is when we begin to compare ourselves to others.  

It is never a good idea for me to compare this 54 year old body to the 20 something year old body on the workout pictures on Pinterest.  Even when I was the 20 something year old, I didn't have that body and didn't have the discipline to ever achieve that body.  It is never a good idea for me to compare my lived in home to the beautiful homes in magazines. My home is beautiful to me but I have raised two boys, 3 cats, and 1 dog in this house, along with my home being open to neighborhood friends and families.  I don't live in a magazine and never will.   It is never a good idea for me to look at all the DIY ideas and get frustrated by what I haven't done or could do.  There are some DIY projects that intrigue me, but there are some that are just not worth my time and effort.....that is just the way it is.  

For 2014, I want to be a better me, not a better version of anyone else, but be a better version of me.  Striving to achieve some of the things others have achieved is only good when it is something I should be striving to achieve.  I am on my own journey, with my own purpose, with my own body, with my own set of obstacles, gifts and talents.  I do want to do things better this year, but I will set my own achievable, manageable goals. 

Comparison is the thief of joy and I choose joy instead of comparison.