For the Love

Every now and again a writer comes along and makes everything you're going through completely normal and almost (gulp) alright.

Every good thing.  Check.

Every bad thing.  Check.

Every embarrassing thing.  Check.

Everything you wouldn't tell your best friend.  Check!

Reading this book is kinda like sitting down and talking with your best friend.  The chapters are basically essays on love, marriage, friendship, motherhood, balance, all wrapped in faith.  Her honesty and logic are refreshing at a time when I seem to need them most.

I've needed someone to tell me (for a while now) that everything is as it should be.  I had a feeling it was, but it's nice to hear it from someone else.

It's funny - I've always believed in book karma... When you receive a book that you need at that very time.  Many times books can speak to us and teach us more about ourselves.

This is that kind of book.

Do yourself a favor and buy this book.   You won't regret it :)

Happy Monday!!

Time

If wasting time was a full time job, then I would get paid over time.

Possibly every week.

I could write books, train for marathons, and have a clean house if only I took my time more seriously.

Now this isn't supposed to be a guilt trip to get you to stop watching the Bachelorette.  Nor will I try to stop you from flipping on Facebook for the tenth time today.  

Just notice it.  Notice the time slipping away every single day.  How many times do you see someone post photos of their kids asking where the time goes?  It happens all the time.  

So, just for today, commit to stopping for one minute and just paying attention to what is going on around you.  Don't try to change or fix anything, just notice it.  The one thing I've notice this past week is that the problem isn't that I don't have enough time... I don't make enough time.  

I don't take my priorities seriously and haven't for a long time.  I'm too busy trying to comfort myself from daily life instead of getting on with what I'm supposed to be doing.  

The best thing about a birthday (or any big event) is the clarity that comes along, and I really try to make each year better.  I know this year's focus is going to be on time management and paying attention to what makes me feel good and what things can go.

It's a little like New Year's Eve for me tonight, without all the winter and regrets.  I look forward to 47 29 again this year and looking forward to making it the best one yet.  

Happy Birthday to me :)

Back to the Beginning with Grace

“Like a blinking cursor on an empty page, it was just the first thing. The beginning of the beginning. But at least it was done.”  ~Sarah Dessen

Back in 2008 I started a blog called Words to Live By, and it was one of my favorite things I had ever done as a writer.  I wasn't writing for anyone in particular - I don't think I even shared the link with anyone - I just wanted to start writing consistently for myself.  

And then something happened along the way.  People started reading, and seemed to like it, and suddenly I was feeling the pressure of writing for other people.  While I was flattered that others liked what I was doing, I also started to doubt the content I was posting on here.

Insert inner critic (I call her Sap after my incredibly mean high school lit teacher.)

Well, that's stupid.  Who wants to know about that?

You just did a post like this last month.

WHY CAN'T YOU COME UP WITH ANYTHING CREATIVE?

Fun fact about myself... I am only driven by positive words, so when I start listening to Sap, I completely and creatively shut down.  When I start writing for other people, even my people, I suddenly become the writer with nothing to say.

So I gave myself a time out and tried to figure out if I even wanted this anymore.  Is it worth the extra time and hassle of putting my heart on the internet for anyone to read... and even worse, judge?

The answer is yes.  The answer is always yes.  

Yes, please!

"Grace is available for each of us every day - our spiritual daily bread - but we've got to remember to ask for it with a grateful heart and try not to worry about whether there will be enough for tomorrow.  There will be." ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach

I bought this necklace in Nashville this past weekend to remind myself to make my writing habit a privilege and not a chore.  Being my birthday week, I often go back and see what's working and what's not.  This past year was one unlike anything I could've ever imagined (or maybe I did), and good, bad, and ugly, I am here now, looking forward to starting a new year and filling it with more words.  Should my words inspire you, well then I am grateful for that.  If not, that's okay too.

Feel free to share :)

Have a wonderful Monday...

Sunday Inspiration

Happy Sunday!

I am not going to bore you with any of my own thoughts today.  I know some of you like them, but lately my thoughts are boring myself.  I need to get out of my own head start something different.  

Youtube to the rescue.  

Here are the things that made this week inspired...

I get to take pictures like this at work.

I saw this in someone's bathroom at an open house.  Consider myself inspired.

This woman is my new hero...

My girl Lori has done it again.  Read this!!

So that's my week in a nutshell.... hope this helps you get through yours!!

Happy Father's Day to all those amazing dads out there :)

Endings and Beginnings

“All endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time.”
~ Mitch Albom

So yesterday was my last shift ever at the rink, and it's just hitting me now that it was the last weekend I'll have to work.  The last shift I'll have to dread.  The last time I'll have to answer the same endless questions.

I know there will be other endless questions in my future, but we have a couple years for that.

For now, I am surprisingly content with the feeding-diaper-make faces cycle I have going on every three hours.  I actually feel like I have my life back for the first time is a long time.  Too long, if you ask me.

The past two months have been a whirlwind of changes.  Changes for my kids, for me, for seasons, and for my family.  Some are good changes and some are a little more difficult, but since I am here to find the #dailyinspiration in life, we are going to find the good in all of this.

The biggest thing I've learned in the past two months is that more than anything I need to write for myself again.  I spent a lot of time last year trying to figure out what anyone needed to hear.  Writing for an audience is the quickest way for me to procrastinate.  I will clean out junk drawers, do 5 loads of laundry, and bake a batch of cookies before I could figure out what to write to you.  (Yes, I've done all of that today).

The best thing you can do is immediately stop worrying about what everyone else expects from you.  Do your best in whatever comes your way and use your own judgement.  If something makes you

happy, keep at it.  If not, find a plan b, c, or d.

Which leads me to the next thing I've learned about change:  There are no rules.  Nothing in this world is permanent, and you can start over at any time.  Sometimes we are forced to start over, but hopefully it's your choice.  Either way, make up your own rules as you go.  Don't let anyone tell you how to do something, because nothing else matters other than how you feel or what you want.

Lastly, take your time.  Good things take time and by forcing or rushing change, you're just making it more difficult to see clearly.  If something doesn't work out, then it wasn't meant to be... trust me on this.  It has taken me years to get to this point where I feel like stars are actually lining up for me.  I'm not feeling that anxiety that says things like, "When this week is over, I'll relax."  Anxiety is a bitch and will always make you feel bad.

I left my anxiety in the left bottom drawer... the one with the candy :)

I also know that life is life and won't always be rainbows and butterflies.  But, for the time being (and a long time coming), I am happy with the changes... even the hard ones.

Are you ready for a change?

credo

credo  /ˈkriːdəʊ; ˈkreɪ-/
noun (pl) -dos
1.  any formal or authorized statement of beliefs, principles, or opinions

I have been slightly obsessed with Danielle Laporte since I stumbled upon her flipping through Instagram.  I immediately bought her book and read it, thinking I hadn't read anything like that in a long time.  Its just different and makes so much sense.

I follow her Facebook, IG, and Twitter.  And by follow, I mean stalk :)

And the reason I do is because of gems like this.  I have watched it easily fifteen times today.  It just speaks to me, and I hope you find something in there too.  Otherwise, I'm just a loon.

Enjoy...

Gracie's Wisdom

How many of you look at this picture and think "Yes!"

You can feel your stomach near you heart, which but the way, is beating madly.  You can feel the wind in your hair and hear the screams of your friends cheering you on.

Can you feel it?

And when you're done, you swim back to shore, probably a little sore in places, but you can't wipe the smile off your face.  You did something crazy and incredible, and now you carry that memory with you for the rest of your life.

How often does this happen in our lives?

Probably once if we're lucky, but more often than not, it's never.

And that's okay, really.  I'm not here to make you feel bad that you don't have million dollar dreams and goals that are unattainable.

But as I was working on my next project, I did realize that the advice one of my characters is giving might be beneficial to you as well.  I know most of us are still just going through the days trying to get to the next one, or the next weekend.  Always something to look forward to, but never focused on the now.  It's time to start living and giving our own lives the attention they've been so patiently waiting for.

Gracie’s Steps to Reinvention

1. Take care of your health.  This is non-negotiable.
2. Find your hobby.  Not a job.  Not a kid.  Something that you can lose yourself in even for a small amount of time each day.
3. Take 24 hours before making any decisions.  Any. Decision. At. All.
4. Journal every day.  Have a place to dump all the thoughts that you can’t say out loud.  It doesn't have to be long or well written.  Just get the thoughts out of your head.
5. Have a connection… a touchstone, a theme song, a prayer that will bring you back to this place of knowing what is most important to you.

No, these are life changing, and they seem so simple, but how many of us are doing these everyday?  I'm here to tell you that numbers 1 and 3 are kicking my ass, while the others are okay for me.  I would love to tell a co-worker that I needed to check with someone before taking their Sunday morning shift.  My initial instinct is always to make someone else feel better, even at my own expense.

Sometimes Usually I regret this quick decision.

Life is a work in progress, a journey, and it's not meant to be mastered by the age of thirty-five.  I actually think that's when it really begins.

So take a moment today and think about what you could (reasonably) change in your life to make it better?  Is there a hobby calling your name... photography, maybe?  Can you fit in a walk, even if it's a short one?  What song would be playing if you were walking down a runway?

Today is about inspiring yourself.  Take the time to do one thing on the list today... two if you're feeling adventurous.  Start somewhere, anywhere, and see what you can do.

Happy Wednesday!!