How Much Stuff is in Your Life

Thursday Toss and Tidy

Today is organization tips and tricks right? First I would like to address some of the things from yesterday. Look around at all of your stuff. How much of it brings you true joy? Honestly think about the term joy. What does it bring to mind? Playing with your kids? A night out with your significant other? Or more stuff? What if you got rid of the stuff and created a more harmonious atmosphere to live in? What if you stopped buying new stuff with the aim to spend that money on doing things with your family? How much more joyous would your life be?

Here's a trick I learned: Look at one particular area-your bed, your desk- now close your eyes and imagine it clean. Everything is cleared off and straightened. Now open your eyes and merge the two images together. You should feel a new surge of inspiration in order to clean it. Set a timer and see how much you can accomplish in 5,10,15, or even 20 min.

Want to do an entire room at the time? Start in one corner and work your way clockwise or counter-clockwise around the room. This saves time if you don't continue traveling back and forth across the room.

Commit to spending 30 min - 1 hour a day decluttering your home one room at a time. This may take one week or more depending on the size of your house. My home has seven rooms and a long hallway so I am doing the bathroom and the hallway in one day.

Don't forget the bloghop for Haiti. I will donate money to Compassion International Haiti Relief for every unique comment and every follower that occurs by Friday, January 22 at 12AM.

It's All in Your Head

Wellness Wednesday

For those of you that are following this blog, you know that I have pledged to spend 10 minutes a day in meditation. These last few days I have had what Oprah Winfrey calls my 'lightbulb moment'. I realized that the condition of my health (my being overweight) was all a result of my overeating. Okay, not rocket science. But I realized that my overeating wasn't because I liked food (which I do). It's from feeling out of control, from feeling less-than, from feeling as if every situation around me is helpless. To quote a cliche', I have been eating my feelings for about 5 years. That's a long, long time.

Transfer that to my feeling trapped by the chaos and the clutter in my home and it's a recipe for a very angry woman. The problem being that my feelings of anger and helplessness created the chaos that I live in. It's a vicious circle that has continued on until today.

This epiphany that I wasn't my feelings and that I can be as healthy as I want to be was a smack in the face. I know that it sounds dumb for a woman in her 30's to "discover" these truths. But it wasn't that my brain didn't understand. It was that my heart and soul didn't understand. In order to be healthy, the mind, body and soul must all be in alignment. When one of them is missing then things do not run smoothly. My health is a result of the choices I make. Whether past, present, or future these are all my decisions. If my body is not calm then neither will my mind and spirit, the converse is true also.

Take a moment today and reflect on why your life/health is the way that it is. Are you overweight? Maybe you're thin but you stay tired all of the time. Are your emotions out of sinc? Do you fly off the handle and snap at people often? How healthy do you want to be and what steps do you need to accomplish it?

Love is not Selfish, Are You?

Togetherness Tuesday

In following along with The Love Dare, we come to the subject of selfishness. When a husband or wife puts their wants ahead of their spouses needs this is selfish. Even if our intentions are noble, if it is sacrificing our spouses needs then we are being selfish. How many times have you been guilty of this? I know that this has happened to me quite often. It most often manifests in the fact that I would much rather take the time to accomplish what I believe is necessary while my children or husband have certain needs that should be met in order to make them feel loved, wanted and secure. Today marks a changing point in my selfish ways. I will focus more on what my husband needs to feel loved instead of what I think will make him feel that way.


Don't forget to help the Haiti victims by leaving a comment or becoming a follower.

BlogHop for Haiti- I'll donate money and you can help out too.

I have been searching for a way to help the people of Haiti but had yet to come up with something other than a few dollars. That is until I found Tania over at Larger Family Life hosting Bloghop for haiti. As of today, it's official, the bloghop for Haiti starts  and will run through Friday, January 22. This is open to anyone with a blog that wants to raise money and awareness for the Haitian victims. I will personally donate .25 for every comment on this blog, .50 for every follower that joins between now and Friday. I will also donate all google sense proceeds between Monday nd Friday. If you would like to donate money or join the Blog Hop for Haiti then click on over to Larger Family Life and find out more.

Ruth from the Bible and Other Spiritual Revelations

Spiritual Sunday

Before I get into what I learned from Ruth I want to discuss the unrest that I have found happens in my very soul when I do not spend time meditating and connecting to the spirit within. It is nothing short of night and day in how I handle different situations. It is a necessity to find the quiet place that exists in every one of us and to find the peacefulness that rules us. It is important to remember that we are in control of our emotions not our emotions in control of us. When we allow our emotions to overrule our thoughts we create a recipe for hurt feelings and out of control actions.

Now on to Ruth. The essence of the story comes down to a woman who followed her heart and had faith in where God would lead her. She had the courage to ignore the hatred heaped upon foreigners and married the man she fell in love with. Upon his death she followed her mother in law to the hated country only to make a new life there. This she did although fearful of what she would come to find. Her faith allowed her to have a life that was beyond her wildest dreams.

I have learned that if we allow ourselves to step out of our comfort zone and follow what we know to be our true path then we will have success beyond our wildest dreams. That success will come in many forms, but it will come by our own standard.

Do you have a schedule for your career dreams?

Career Super Saturday

After writing out your career goals it's time to create a plan of action. This requires a schedule that breaks down your monthly, weekly and daily activities that must be done to accomplish your career goals. An example is: my current career goals are to publish 6 novels this year, continue freelance writing and create a passive income with my new blog experiment. This involves some serious time management issues. I find that I accomplish a great deal more when I have a plan. To accomplish such feats I must write one draft per month, revising and editing it over the next month, I must also spend 15-20 hours a week blogging along with 20 hours a week of writing for various clients.

Have you decided what you must do to accomplish your career goals? Are they realistic? Do you have the determination to reach your goals?

How is Your Relationship with Your Kids?

Family Friday

Do you spend time with your kids? Really? I'm not talking about transporting them from one place to another, getting ready for school, eating in the car, or even just being in the same room together. Do you play games with your kids? How about eating at the same table together? How much do you know about your kids?




Stop, breath, think. Take a look at your average day/week. How much time do you actually interact with your children? Or for that matter, any of your family? None of us are here forever. Strive to take a few moments today and this week to invest in your family. Give lots of hugs and kisses, read stories, bake together, sit at the table together, whatever needs to be done.