Tag Archives: Happier

Live one day at a time

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A while back I bought a little poster to hang in my cube with Zen principles/sayings called “Live one day at a time and make it a masterpiece: A – ZEN of Life.” I thought this week I would review the first 6 principles for my daily mission, reflect on them, and think about how to incorporate them into my life.

  1. Avoid negative sources, people, places and habits
  2. Believe in yourself
  3. Consider things from every angle
  4. Don’t give up and don’t give in
  5. Everything you’re looking for lies behind the mask you wear
  6. Family and friends are hidden treasures, seek them and enjoy their riches

Weekly mission:

1. Avoid negative sources, people, places, and habits

A tough first one to look at. For some time over the past couple years, I have been the most negative thing in my life. I was run down by all the challenges I’d be trying to overcome or find ways to deal with. It was hard to see positive through the negative. I caught glimpses. Then was knocked back down. Being tired of that way of living is part of what brought me to this journey of self-improvement. So now I face each day trying to recognize opportunity, reminding myself of the ways in which I am doing well, and trying so hard to see positive before negative.

Negative habits. Boy do I have some. Ignoring compliments or turning them into something negative is one I’ve been working on. Simply saying “thank you” instead of arguing with those who compliment me. Sounds simple. But it was hard when I first started trying. I had to pause before responding. But its getting easier.

The other negative habit I choose to focus on improving now is being defensive. Be open to what others say. Give it appropriate thought. Hear what they are saying before reacting. Assume the positive intention. The key will be to be really honest with myself. Get rid of excuses. And work to fix those negative things I discover instead of being upset about them.

2. Believe in yourself

Step 1: know yourself. Step 2: Believe that you can be the person you want to be. Step 3: Love the person I am each step of the way. Easy peasy 😉 Right? Easier than I thought actually. And it feels really good. Taking time to really get to know who I am, consider who I want to be, and recognize the value in who I am has been a really good experience. So far. I have a long way to go. Forever, probably. But like the title says, “Live one day at a time”

My mantra “You’re doing better than you think you are”, from week one should help me along this journey.

Thanks for reading!

~Teresa

Clutter Be Gone + Power Hour

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This week’s missions are proving to be invigorating. And not scary at all. Unlike last week’s journey of self exploration and affirmation. Monday and Tuesday’s missions were to:

  1. Go through the house and take two things from each room to donate or give to a friend.
  2. Create the “Power Hour” list and post it on the fridge

I grew up in a house that was stuffed floor to ceiling, wall to wall, with stuff. I rebel against this philosophy of home “decorating”. I am sentimental and there are things I just won’t part with. But in general, I just don’t like “stuff”. Watching the Hoarders TV show makes my skin crawl and immediately want to get rid of half of my stuff. So I was really looking forward to this mission.

I successfully dug into each room of the house, including bathrooms and the basement. Although, I skipped my husband, Roger’s, bathroom. The only thing I have in there is extra toilet paper and allergy pills. Not giving up either of those! We recently did a whole house evacuation of stuff (thanks to a little house fire) so it was a little tougher to find things to get rid of in some places. We’re still in replacement mode in the kitchen. And I got rid of about 50% of my clothes. But still, I managed to create this pile of give-aways. Not pictured are the empty shampoo bottles taking up space in my bathroom (a bad habit I vow to resolve).

20150526_213959Items slotted for donation include:

  • art I no longer feel a need to display,
  • candle holder thingys,
  • Partylite candles I paid way too much for and have never used,
  • chair cushions for chairs I do not own,
  • LOTS OF BOOKS,
  • an extra hair dryer,
  • leggings (because really, they’re just not for me),
  • some college text books I told myself I might use one day

See anything you want? Let me know. It goes to the charity on Saturday.

Tuesday’s Mission – to make a Power Hour list was inspired by the podcast Happier, by Gretchen Rubin. If you keep following my bloggy journey, you’re likely to encounter several references and inspirations related to Ms. Rubin. I bought her book, The Happiness Project some time ago. Then proceeded to not read it until recently. My cousin turned me on to her podcast, and a 12 hour drive to Tulsa gave me just the opportunity to do something good for myself and listen to it. I scribbled down several helpful tips and things I can’t wait to try.

Now that that unpaid advertisement is over. I’ll explain the Power Hour. The idea of the Power Hour is to create a list of to dos that are NOT time sensitive. Things you just never seem to get around to doing because you never have to. Then, set aside time once per week to tackle the things on your Power Hour list. If you get through one or 10, that’s ok. Just start ticking things off the list. And add to it as things come to mind. I love this part, because if I don’t write something down, it rattles around in my head screaming at me to be remembered. Its quite rude. So writing things down helps me shut up that little voice in my head gently reminding me to do something. To be honest, I doubt the power hour will happen every week for me. Maybe once a month. But that’s better than nothing. I’ll share my list with you to give you the idea. I’d love to hear if you try it!

  • Replace burnt out light bulbs in the garage, dining room, and living
  • Run the cords for my computer properly (lessen the crazy tripping hazard)
  • Frame and hang art/photos on the wall
  • Clean off end table next to couch
  • Clean off and remove little table next to the china cabinet (it serves no purpose but to collect junk)
  • Assemble the breakfast nook chair
  • Go through post-fire paperwork in the basement
  • Get rid of old college reading materials I will NEVER read again

To the fridge the list shall go! Stay tuned for this weeks Weekly Mission where I start tackling the Power Hour list.

This week is going to be so liberating! I can’t wait to clean out and clear my head 🙂

Thanks for reading

~Teresa