Must Write

Must Write.

I have a new project.  I'm excited.  My motivation is high.  I can't stop thinking about it.  I've been waking up way too early and hovering over my computer. 

I haven't been waking up early on purpose.  It just happens.  I figure I'm awake, I may as well write. 

This is fun, but I think I'm running on adrenalin.   How long can I go on 5 hours of sleep each night?  How long before I crash. 

Must Write.

Seriously, I need a lot of sleep, but the last few days, I've only had about 5 hours.  I'm really tired at night, but what's new about that.  I can only make it to 9:00 or so, but that's pretty normal for me.  This morning I forced myself to go back to sleep, because I didn't know if I could last another day.

Must Sleep.

My house is looking a little neglected today.  Dishes in the sink.  Cluttered kitchen table.  Grungy bathrooms.  When was the last time I made my bed? 

Must Clean.

What to do? 

I'm not the kind of girl who does desert first, but writing is more than desert to me.  It feeds me.  Will my husband divorce me, if I ignore the mess?  No, but he might not like it that much.  He likes me, though, and he wants me to be happy.  Writing makes me happy.  Cleaning I can live without.

If I clean first, I'll never get to the writing.  If I write first, I'll never get to the cleaning.

What to do?

Must Think.

I'm thinking compromise.  One hour of writing.  One hour of cleaning.  One hour of writing.  One hour of cleaning.  Maybe I can do this.  Somehow I've got to fit a shower in.

Must Write.

Linda Garner

It's Okay to Change Your Mind

My husband and I just polished off a bottle of green olives.  They were not gourmet green olives. (which I love)  Just the grocery store variety.  We enjoyed them a lot.  I ate more than my share.

Once when I was young, my father purchased a gallon jar of green olives on our way home from California. He set them in the back seat near us kids.  I had never tasted them before.  He told us to help ourselves. 

They were disgusting.  My siblings agreed.  We quickly replaced the lid.  We wanted nothing more to do with the nasty things.

Soon, we decided to have another taste.  Slightly less nasty.  We quickly replaced the lid.  We were done.

Before long, we had another taste, and another, and another.  We finished off the jar before we reached the Idaho border.

A lot of things take getting used to.
 
It's okay to change your mind.  It's okay to try new things. 

Try something new today.

Linda Garner

12 Weeks to Greater Peace, Joy and Love  by Jennifer Jones Smith is the ultimate family guidebook to transform challenging relationships into loving ones. With over twenty-seven years’ experience in marriage, parenting and child development, energy healing practitioner and parent consultant Jennifer Jones Smith offers simple, yet profound wisdom.
Get sneak peeks about this book, download 4 Empower Your Family surveys, learn about the $160 in bonuses available on launch day, and be the first to know when "12 Weeks to Greater Peace, Joy & Love in Your Family" is available by visiting

http://myheartfelthealing.com/love

This is a positive self help book with constructive information written in a clear outline form. Jennifer has infused the manuscript with heart-felt stories that apply to us all. She has included mantras and specific assignments to help the reader connect with their own affirmative life force.

This delightful book will bring positive energy into the readers life in just 12 weeks, enhancing their quality of life and empowering them to a feeling of greater worth. I highly recommend this read.

Noteworthy

It was one of the nicest notes I had ever received.  It was from a piano student who thanked me for making a difference in his life.  I saved it for a long time.  I'm not sure what happened to it.

I'll bet you get letters like that.  Not every day of course, but once in a while you get a thoughtful note that makes your day. For me, a meaningful note creates a special kind of happy, one that I like to remember. Think about the last really nice note you got. What did it say?  How did it make you feel? What happened to it?

 When I get letters like that, I save them for a while and read them again and again.  Eventually, though, they become part of the clutter of my life.  I give in to tidiness and throw them away. It hurts a little.  I've sometimes regretted this, but, really, where do you store those special notes and letters? Maybe in a shoebox, right next to the box of photos that your grandkids will someday organize?

I received a gift that changed all that.  It was an inexpensive notebook that had been covered with pretty paper and decorated with ribbons.  It sat on my shelf for a long time looking lovely, but quite empty. 

What to do with an empty book?  What to do with sweet little notes?  I think I found a match. This idea is so simple that even I can do it.  All it takes is a little glue and it doesn't need to be acid free, archival stuff. I'm surprised I didn't think of it sooner.

 Another messy problem for me was those cute little handouts I sometimes get.  They might have meaningful  thoughts or quotes on them.  Sometimes they are decorative.  These go on my fridge for a while, but how many quotes do I want on my fridge?  Do I want my fridge to become a bulletin board? Trust me, I'm not a neat-freak, but even I have limits. 

After a reasonable time on my fridge/bulletin board, these little handouts can also make the move to my empty book. 

 Besides providing storage for special notes and handouts, this book can provide a little pick-me-up, on discouraging days, when I question my value or my effectiveness.  Reading notes of appreciation can remind me that I am making a difference. I am loved and valued.

The handouts can remind me of special times with people who care about me. Reading the thoughts on them can lift my spirits, or change my attitude on a difficult day. Even on difficult days I can be grateful and I can be glad to be me.

 Not every note or handout needs to be saved, but some are worth keeping.  I’m a recovering junk-a-holic, so I am pretty selective. If I come across a thought that speaks to me, I don't have to wait for a handout.  I can write it in my book.  Pretty markers are fun, but totally optional. Sticky notes work too.

This is the first thought that made it into my notebook.  "By being yourself you put something wonderful in the world that wasn't there before." (Edwin Elliot) I don't know who Edwin Elliot is, but I love the way he thinks. Don't you?

 Do you have an empty notebook and some pretty paper? Size doesn't matter. You can dress it up, but only if you want to. Think of it as a little scrapbook, but simpler. No stress involved.

 Make it plain or fancy. Make it fun.  Just do it. Create a space for meaningful notes--a space that you can visit whenever you want.  Mine is called Linda's Love Notes.  Maybe yours will be called Teresa's Treasures or Sally's Stuff.

If notes of appreciation make a difference for you, maybe you can make a difference for someone else by writing thoughtful notes.  Notice people.  Catch them doing something nice and tell them you appreciate it.  Notes  don’t have to be elaborate, just heartfelt.  They don’t even have to be on fancy cards.  Nice words on notebook paper are just as meaningful. Make someone’s day.

 If it’s been a while since you’ve received a thoughtful note, why not write your own.  No one knows you better.  Write a note that says the things you’d love to hear. Write the note that you would love to read.  It’s okay to love yourself.

What would you say to yourself?  Say exactly what you wish someone would say to you.

Linda Garner

Best Foot Forward

I walked through my dining room this morning tidying up and found four pair of shoes, all mine. That piqued my curiosity so I checked the family room, one room to the east.  One pair of shoes, also mine.  I think checked the living room, one room to the west.  Another pair of shoes.  You guessed it, mine again.

Six pair of shoes, all belonging to me, not where they belonged.  What is it with me and shoes?

I have a love/hate relationship with shoes.  I really don't like them on my feet.  They are the last thing to go on when I leave the house, and the first thing to come off when I come home.  I take them off wherever I happen to be, and I leave them right where they land.

Now you know. 

In my defense I can only say that Cinderella also dropped her slipper, and right in the middle of the stairs.  Not very safe.  It was glass, you know.

That's the hate part, the need to take my shoes off as soon as I come in the front door.  The love part is (drum roll, please)  I really like cute shoes.  I want comfort.  No, it's more than want.  I need comfort.  I must have comfort.  However, comfort is not enough.  I also need cute. 

It's embarrassing to say it out loud.  So I'll whisper it.  Cute.  I need cute.  cute. cute. cute. So embarrassing.

I am not giving up comfort, and I have to have cute.  So there you have it.

But maybe, I'll think about putting my shoes away once in a while.  They are not that cute decorating my floor.

Maybe.

Best Foot Forward.

Linda Garner

p.s.

I just found a nearly identical post that I wrote a couple of years ago.  Isn't that crazy.  Oh dear, I'm starting to repeat myself.  I hope it's not terminal.

12 Weeks to Greater Peace, Joy and Love

12 Weeks to Greater Peace, Joy and Love  by Jennifer Jones Smith is the ultimate family guidebook to transform challenging relationships into loving ones. With over twenty-seven years’ experience in marriage, parenting and child development, energy healing practitioner and parent consultant Jennifer Jones Smith offers simple, yet profound wisdom.
Get sneak peeks about this book, download 4 Empower Your Family surveys, learn about the $160 in bonuses available on launch day, and be the first to know when "12 Weeks to Greater Peace, Joy & Love in Your Family" is available by visiting

http://myheartfelthealing.com/love

This is a positive self help book with constructive information written in a clear outline form. Jennifer has infused the manuscript with heart-felt stories that apply to us all. She has included mantras and specific assignments to help the reader connect with their own affirmative life force.

This delightful book will bring positive energy into the readers life in just 12 weeks, enhancing their quality of life and empowering them to a feeling of greater worth. I highly recommend this read.

Goals

I have been sick this week - too much celebrating. I feel like my little four-year-old grandson who (sobbing in his mother’s arms because he was too tired) said, "I’m just having too much fun." I have to rest from too much fun also.

We traditionally set goals this time of year. Sometimes I rebel against doing it, but I know that what I think about and plan, I become. All of us participate in goal setting whether on a conscious or subconscious level. 

We are shaped by our thoughts. We become what we think. Buddha 

Even if I never set goals, I still invite things into my life by my thoughts.  So I do set goals and have a plan because I don't want my life to be run by default.

One of the things I struggle with is consistency. I can start out with really good intentions and then forget about them after a few weeks. All it takes is for me to have to get a lesson or meeting ready and before I know it, I've thrown my whole energy into that project and forgotten all about my other goals. Summer is also a very bad time for me to be consistent. With kids and family, everything goes out the window for a few months.

So one thing I know about myself is that I won't be consistent all the time, and I now I set a time of reestablishing my goals once a month just to check to see if I got off the track. I ALWAYS have to recommit myself in September after everyone is back in school. 

Be flexible in goal setting. Be willing to change your goals over time. (You may not have to be, but I do.

Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity. Lois Pasteur

            So here’s to flexibility, change and tenacity in your goal-setting!

            Share your ideas with me. I’d love suggestions as to what works for you.