“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase just take the first step” - Martin Luther King Jr.

I like this quote. Wonder where it will lead me...

Today I will

Today I will be present. I will share the joys, sorrows and love of those around me. I will be thankful for all of my blessings and find joy in all I do.

What did the Zen practitioner say to the hot dog vendor?

"Make me one with everything."

lol...I heard that joke at church awhile back and just saw it in a book a friend recommended. It's titled, ConZentrate: Get Focused and Pay Attention -- When Life Is Filled with Pressures, Distractions, and Multiple Priorities. I just put it on hold at the library and can't wait to get it. I'd love to hear from any of you who might have read it. It sounds like it was written just for me. It's kind of funny that I got the suggestion right after I signed up to volunteer for a bunch of school functions. I want so badly to do everything. It's difficult to admit I can't do it all. I mentioned this quote before, but I've been replaying it in my mind so I can stay somewhat realistic.

"We must not promise
what we ought not,
lest we be called upon
to perform
what we cannot."

--Abraham Lincoln

Come on and smile!!!

“Because of your smile,
you make life more beautiful.”

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile,
but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”

“If in our daily life we can smile,
if we can be peaceful and happy,
not only we, but everyone will profit from it.
This is the most basic kind of peace work.”

--all from Thich Nhat Hanh

“Before you put on a frown,
make absolutely sure there are no smiles available.”

--Jim Beggs

Health blog

I just wanted to share a new blog I've started. I'm using it to help motivate myself on my health journey. You can check it out here:


http://dippidy-onmyway.blogspot.com/

Thanks!

Happiness

Happiness --Alfred D. Souza

For a long time it seemed to me
that life was about to begin - real life.
But there was always some obstacle in the way,
something to be gotten through first,
some unfinished business,
time to still be served,
a debt to be paid.
Then life would begin.
At last it dawned on me
that these obstacles were my life.

I love this quote. I want to live it.

If any of you have any tips on how to live "in the now," I would appreciate them greatly. I'm not good at this and need all the help I can get. :) Thanks!

Check out this blog/store!

A friend of mine has started her own online store. She's amazing...a wonderful mother, wife and seamstress. You can see her site here:

http://xxstitchesxx.blogspot.com/2009/08/grand-opening-of-stitches.html#comment-form

You can also find out how to win a holiday apron by clicking on the link.

She's a cool kid so make sure to check her out!

Back to school this week!

My son starts back to school this week. He's excited and I think it's going to be so good for him to get back into the school routine. I feel like the start of the school year is as much, if not more of a fresh start for us than the actual New Year is. I'm not making resolutions, but I do have a few big goals I'm focusing on this new school year.

1. Get the house in order and stay on top of it. I'm hoping to finish off a couple clutter areas and organize a couple more closets before school starts. Once they are done, the basement will be all that is still in disarray. I've also made a study area, complete with calendar and bulletin board. The beginning of school always seems overwhelming at first...there's always a ton of paperwork, dates, and excitement. I hope to stop the craziness before it starts. Wish me luck, please! :)

2. Create and follow a healthy routine. I have a schedule already put together. I have tried to build in healthy and creative activities for us all. I've even included time for self-care, which is something I tend to overlook. It might need some tweaking, but for the most part, I think it will be good. The main issue will be sticking with it.

3. Limit activities and groups. I tend to get so excited about all the opportunities that come in the Fall. I want the kids to be able to participate in everything and I want to help with everything. The only problem is we can't realistically DO everything. I'm going to stop and think before I overextend us this year. This is going to be a hard one!

This quote, by good ol' Abe says it for me:

"We must not promise
what we ought not,
lest we be called upon
to perform
what we cannot."

--Abraham Lincoln

Feeling good.

We had a wonderful day yesterday and I am so excited that the weekend is here. There's a festival in Old Town and the forecast calls for nice, cool weather. I'm thinking about biking to the Farmer's Market this morning and then biking to the festival tomorrow. The kids will love them both. What fun!!

SAVINGS!!!!

I have to share this, I'm so proud of myself. :) I spent $45.50 and got all of this:



I saved $102.74!!! Woohoooo!!! There are three bags of tilapia and a Santoku knife in there too. There were two donuts as well, but those were bribery for good behavior in the store and are long gone now. Wooohooo!!!!! Oh....AND I got 60 bonus box tops for school!!! Yay!

Who am I?

Who do you think I am? Can you see me clearly? How about your spouse, child, parent? Have they become just a persona you created? Are you able to look deeply and see who they truly are inside? Do you see them as the same as they were last year or when you first encountered them?

I have a tendency to think of my sisters as they were years and years ago. I still picture my baby sister as a five-year-old. (This particular sister is almost 30 and has 2 little girls of her own!) At times I have to stop and remind myself that she's a grown woman and see her for the wonderful person she has become, not the little girl I remember.

Sometimes I see my husband as he was when we first met...and forget what a loving, capable father he has become.

Sometimes I see my parents as infallible giants and not as normal people with the same struggles as the rest of us.

Sometimes I see what I want to see.

I think it's so much easier to see things in black & white...decide something is good or bad and then be done with it. Seeing the shades of gray...that's harder....it means you can't just give something or someone a label and be done with it...you have to stay open and receptive to change. At least you have to if you want to truly see and truly love. I think it's worth it though, so I'll keep trying. How about you?

Today

For Today, Thursday, August 13, 2010...

Outside my window...is a beautiful day...it's cloudy and cool and the birds have come to visit.

I am thinking...today will probably push me to my limits, but I'm up to the challenge.

I am thankful for...having a wonderful husband for a team-mate.

From the kitchen...my son made crepes for breakfast and is planning lunch for us.

I am reading...The Chronicles of Amber, Setting Limits, True Love, and Even Firefighters Go Potty.

I am hoping...that my son stops talking long enough to take a breath at some point today.

I am creating...strong, healthy, creative, talkative children.

I am hearing...a replay of something that happened 10 seconds ago.

Around the house...I hope to clean bathrooms and attack some clutter areas.

One of my favorite things...is hanging clothes out to dry.

A few plans for the rest of the week...tomorrow is our 10th wedding anniversary...not sure what we're going to do, but I'm planning on celebrating!

Ahhh...the possibilities!

I got a new bike basket!! I'm sooo excited. It's going to hold so much more than my last one and be a lot safer....especially since my old one was on the front and the mount had broken, so it kept hitting the tire. :) Think of all the groceries I can put in here! Or library books!! So many wonderful possibilities! I am so lucky!

Here it is:

Who are you?

How do you view yourself? Can you see yourself clearly? It's harder than it sounds. I mean YOU....the real you...not who you've been told you are by teachers, friends, family, coworkers....they only see parts of you and what they see is filtered through their own thoughts/beliefs/needs. Sometimes it's so easy to accept their ideas as who we really are....it can cause us to stop growing, stop becoming who we are truly meant to be. Fight against that tendency. Be yourself, the authentic you. Keep growing and changing. Don't get lazy and let others decide who you are. Become more awesomely YOU with each passing day.

These two quotes go along with this...at least in my mind. :)

"Learn to...
be what you are,
and learn to resign
with a good grace
all that you are not."

--Henri Frederic Amiel

***

"We must
always change,
renew, rejuvenate
ourselves;
otherwise
we harden."

--Johann Von Goethe

Strange

So I have this sister....actually I have quite a few, but today I'm thinking of the blond one. Anyway, when I was on vacation last month she did this crazy...I mean strange thing. Early in the morning, before I was even half awake, she took my daughter for a walk. I mean, how weird is that? Waking up and wanting to get right out and moving?! Granted, a walk w/my two-year old daughter is not that strenuous....but getting up and going straight outside to start moving?!? Just seemed a little out-there to me. Not that I didn't LOVE that she did it...just kinda struck me as different.....definitely different for us. I usually have to have my alone time on the computer first and maybe a little cuddle-time or something.

Fast forward to yesterday....I was giving my Fall schedule some final tweaks. I decided to try to build in some ways to get healthier. (It can be a little tricky with the kids' activities, housework, school and all of the other excuses I always create.) My sister popped into my mind yesterday though and I put "walk and meditation" first thing on my schedule. Now I'm the strange one, huh? Well, I tried it this morning. My dog couldn't figure out why I was forcing her out of bed, I know she thought I was nuts. We walked around the block to the park. I sat on a bench overlooking a pond, with the mountains in the background. I pet her while watching the mist rise, the geese waddle and the sun come up. It was glorious.

I feel so present, grounded and joyful. My dog is happy and knows she's loved. Life is good, especially when you're strange. Thanks, Brinny.

Thank you.

I just wanted to thank everyone for the posts and emails I received about my Depression post. Your support and understanding means so much to me.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Depression

This is not the easiest thing I've blogged about, but I feel drawn to address it. So...here goes! :)

It seems like "being depressed" or "suffering from depression" is just an over-used excuse these days. At least that's kind of the way I used to view it. When I was diagnosed with it, I didn't really "believe" in it. I thought it was just a nice way to say I was a downer or just plain moody at times. Recently...just over the past month, actually...I've felt big changes in my life. I know it sounds hokey, but it's as if I'm coming out from under a fog..... and kind of like the gravitational pull has eased up a bit. I feel lighter and more capable. Things that seemed like huge under-takings before are now just items to check off my to-do list. I feel like I'm taking charge of my life and getting things under control. Kind of like I'm standing up and ready to be counted. I'm sure many who read this will think it's just me being silly. That's okay. For those of you who are currently depressed or have been in the past....I just want you to know, I understand.

Used Bike Lot

All morning my driveway has resembled a used bike lot. That's one of the reasons I just love my neighborhood. :) Kids have been up and down the street, riding bikes, scooters, skateboards and flying turtles. They've played legos and nerf-war. The kids are just great together....my 2 year-old-daughter is always surrounded by older kids trying to help her and entertain her. I got to sit in the shade and read a cookbook while watching them. Summer is good.

Amends

This is a follow-up to yesterday's post. Here are some ways we can make amends to ourselves and get back on track. Again, this is taken from Debbie Ford's, The Secret of the Shadow.

Making Amends to Yourself

....."Now is the time to make a commitment to honor ourselves where we have once violated ourselves. Here are some suggestions for transforming our relationships with ourselves.

• Tell the truth to ourselves and others.
• Take time for the people we love. Schedule time every day to go for a walk, connect, and share what is truly important to us.
• Meditate every day.
• Volunteer our time to causes and organizations that inspire us to help: children with learning disabilities, reading programs in schools.
• Stop gossiping.
• Take care of our physical bodies with nourishing food, adequate rest, exercise, fresh air, and recreation.
• Honor our boundaries and listen to our inner sense of what feels good and what doesn't.
• Make a daily connection with the Divine.
• Process our painful emotions when they come up so they can be healed.
• Keep our checkbooks in balance and clear up our past debts.
• Take time to acknowledge ourselves for all we are, for the joy we bring to others, and for the contributions we've made to the world.
• Eat foods that nourish our bodies, and stop eating when our stomachs are full.
• Feel gratitude every day for what we have."

Violations

I've found the following excerpts very thought-provoking. They're from The Secret of the Shadow by Debbie Ford.

"Many of us get alarmed and inspired into action when we witness violations in the world. When someone is mugged, raped, or abused, we feel an immediate sense of injustice. It is more difficult to catch sight of the violations we perpetrate against ourselves, for we often violate ourselves in seemingly small and unnoticeable ways. We violate ourselves when we don't listen to ourselves or trust our instincts or claim what we want.........We violate ourselves when we look for what's wrong instead of what's right. We violate ourselves when we fail to do what brings us joy. We violate ourselves by keeping ourselves small."

Some of the ways we may betray ourselves:

"We violate our bodies by:

• overeating
• telling ourselves we are going to exercise and not following through
• not taking enough time for rest and recreation
• abusing ourselves with cigarettes, alcohol or drugs
• criticizing ourselves when we look in the mirror
• paying more attention to our flaws than to our beauty
• staying so busy that we cannot hear the signals our bodies send us
• listening to our self-loathing internal dialogues."

"We violate ourselves in relationships by:

• staying in relationships with physically or emotionally abusive people
• doing things for or with friends that we don't want to do
• having sex when we don't want to
• depriving ourselves of intimacy when we want it
• breaking agreements and commitments with others
• gossiping about others
• pretending to like people we con't
• not spending time with our loved ones
• withholding our feelings from others
• stepping over our personal boundaries or compromising our integrity
• making other people's needs more important than our own"

"We violate our financial security by:

• spending more than we earn
• running up credit card debt
• bouncing checks
• lying about our income
• not saving money
• being unconscious about our spending
• stealing
• ignoring our debts
• paying bills late"

"We can read thousands of self-help books, meditate every day, and sit at a guru's feet, but if we use the wisdom we've gained only to put ourselves down and diminish our worth, we have violated ourselves. Each time we look in the mirror and see only part of who we are--every time we spend more time listening to our unconscious internal dialogues, rather than acknowledging our greatness---we have committed a violation of self."

This is something that needs to stop.

Let's have a good day today.

It's a fresh new day, let's enjoy it for all it's worth!

Make Strong Choices

Greetings! I'm back from vacation and ready to re-enter the blogging world. :) Commitment is on my mind today. I like these excerpts from Dare to Be Yourself, by Alan Cohen:

"Make strong choices. Strong choices require commitment. Choose one path or another, but don't try to straddle the fence. When you commit, you may make a mistake, but at least you will know it and you'll be able to move on with the benefit of what you've learned. If you don't act, you won't make any mistakes, but you also won't learn."

"Whatever you choose to be, embrace it with strength, conviction, and a whole heart. Be whatever you really are, and go all the way with it. If there is ultimately a higher path for you, action with conviction will lead you to it. Make strong choices. Make and be a strong statement to the world. Don't apologize for your dreams and desires. Make up your mind. Step ahead. Dive in. nd if you commit with a loving heart, your life will be different forever."