at a loss....

for words that is....

its been 4 days since my last post and i had to force myself to write something today.  i know the best way to get past a writer's block is to just start writing....but i am so uninspired lately!  i haven't pulled my camera out either.  some weeks i have a hard time deciding what to write about because there are so many thoughts running through my head.......not lately.

its raining here today. i'm not minding it so much because i am at work.  this past weekend was absolutely beautiful.  spent a lot of time outdoors doing yardwork.  it felt so good to feel the sun on my skin - to walk barefoot in the grass - to crumble the soil in my hands.  this weekend i was inspired - to paint a patio chair, to widen flowerbeds - to prepare the veggie garden for planting....but not to write.

oh well

how do you get past these roadblocks?

but instead........

if i were here:

i wouldn't care that my camera cord is missing and i can't upload pics

i wouldn't care that i got on the scale and after weeks of hard work - i'm only down 2.5 lbs

i wouldn't care that is going to be absolutely beautiful today while i'm stuck inside an office

but instead:

i'd be hiking with a friend and our kids on a camping weekend

i'd feel the sun's warmth through to my core

i'd be having a non-crabby day

but that's okay...the down days make the up days all the more worthwhile!  and tomorrow i'm having lunch with a dear old friend......and its going to be even warmer than today!!

see now i feel better already

pre - st patricks day excitement.......

the boys have already started talking about setting their leprechan traps in the hopes of catching one and grabbing all his loot.  the traps they set are pretty elaborate but have yet to catch anything....except magic beans....which we plant in a pot and wake the next day to find they have magically sprouted into chocolate shamrock lollipops. 

being italian - i'm not very good at coming up with irish foods to eat on st. patrick's day...but i want to try something for tomorrow - i just have no idea what.  i'll google later to see if there is something i can whip up.  otherwise - it'll just be chocolate shamrock lollipops for dinner.......at least for the boys - since i gave up chocolate for Lent................

using others as your mirror..........

"everything that irritates us about others can lead us to a better understanding of ourselves"

~ Carl Jung

i've read that thought (or very similar ones) in a number of self-help books. those around us are our mirrors.   basically whatever you find yourself picking on someone about (or nagging someone about) is what you are supposed to be changing in yourself.  while i can understand how it can be true - it is not one of my favorite ones to actually work on.  you see - that would force me to see the darker side of me...the meaner one...the one i am trying to work on changing.  and who wants to do that! well i do - and i do work on it - but in baby steps....not all at once.

what i didn't really think about (and what i like MUCH better) is that the opposite can be true too!  i recently read somewhere (and i'm sorry i cannot remember the source!) something i found quite interesting.  here is what you do.  pick 4 people you admire - they can be anyone you've met, never met, want to meet, have read about - whoever.  list the qualities and characteristics of that person you admire the most.  most likely most of those characteristics will overlap each other.  take a look at that list of characteristics.  those are the traits that you have not fully developed yet and what you aspire to be!  once you develop those traits - undoubtedly you'll find other people who inspire you and you do it again.

i like that second exercise much better. to me it sounds more positive - more like the goodness is inside me and i just have to identify it and accept it - and finally own it.  it reminds me of this recent post about inspiriational bloggers.  it's not as negative as the first one - where you have to confront the bad to get to the good.  while both are very worthwhile activities - i may just focus on the 2nd one for a bit.

it's almost that time again

let's play ball!

identify the problem........

i am currently reading the happiness project by gretchen rubin. in a nutshell - gretchen lives a nice life yet feels that she should feel happier based on all her blessings in life and decides to devote a year to becoming happier. every month she picks an area to focus on and within that area she comes up with 3 or 4 resolutions she tries to follow that month. the book itself is happy and easy to read and i've been enjoying reading her ideas and how they are working out for her. i'm thinking that after i finish reading the book i'd like to really sit down and think about what i'd like to change and set up my own resolutions chart to chart my progress. some of her ideas are things i already do - others aren't that important to me - and still others are ones that i really like and am trying to implement right now.

one such idea is identify the problem.

such simple words - common sense to many i am sure.......but until i read them in her book - it had never occured to me to use that as a guiding principle in reducing my stress.

here's what i mean - my youngest is not a strong reader. periodically his class gets assessments. i want to keep those assessments to see his progress. so i empty his folder - pull out the assessment and throw it on the counter until i can actually put it away. well - that paper gets mixed with other papers and a huge pile of crap develops. i go through the pile - pull out the things i can immediately put away and am left with the other stuff i'll get to..........more stuff gets added to the pile and the cycle continues.

when overwhelmed i get stressed...most people do. i don't know what to do - i see crap lying around the house - i have piles of laundry - i have back to back activities forcing me outside the house all day...so just look past the mess and do nothing - which then causes more stress. so when i see his assessements being thrown in the mix it drives me insane and i think again why i haven't just put these papers away!

identify the problem...

one day i found myself stressed over the messy kitchen and cluttered paper and yet another assessment had come home and thinking about gretchen's book i stopped and said "identify the problem". it didn't bother me so much that his papers weren't upstairs - but that they were mixed in with all the other stuff. so i said that's it - and i went upstairs and grabbed an old folder - brought it downstairs and stuck his papers in it. i felt immediately better. my clutter wasn't cleared b/c at that precise moment that wasn't what was making me nuts...it was specifically his papers.

since then i've stopped myself whenever i've gotten stressed and said aloud "identify the problem". i am amazed at how quickly my stress is diffused and how i am able to really look at exactly what is bothering me and not what i think is bothering me. 3 simple words. a phrase i have heard over and over and have no problem telling others - but for whatever reason - when it was presented to me in gretchen's book - it clicked.  the simple act of saying those words have made a huge difference in how i handle stressful times.

there are other ideas from her book i'd like to implement when i really sit down to do my own happiness project. if they end up being as helpful as that simple principle - then i have no doubt that i will have some pretty useful tools to implement and share with others.

Treasure mapping! (aka vision boards)

last year i made my first treasure map.  for those of you who don't know what a treasure map is its a visual representation of goals you'd like to see manifested in your life.  the ideal time to make a treasure map is during the aries new moon - which this year is april 15th.  aries is the first sign of the zodiac and the time of new beginnings.

last year i made my first one.   a few friends came over with posterboard and magazines and scissors and glue and we spent the nite cutting and sharing and pasting!  we had a total blast!  i am looking forward to making another one again this year.   

once i find out that that there is a right way to do something - i tend to do it that way.  that is how it is with treasure mapping.  there are certain rules to follow....

1 - the time before the aries new moon is spent decluttering your mind, body, space...whatever!  you may find yourself doing that naturally as spring approaches (why do you think we all feel a need to spring clean!) and this is the reason why.  you are basically preparing yourself for a fresh new start. - ridding yourself and your surroundings of clutter!  it is also the time to rid yourself of bad relationships and any negative-ness in your life.  remove it!

2 - while you can think about what you'd like to see manifest this year- you do not look up images or start cutting pictures or pasting anything until april 15th.  i won't buy a single magazine until that day.  if you want to buy mags or borrow mags you can do so now...but you cannot open them until the 15th!

3 - while you can set up your tm anyway you want - last year i followed the 9 baguas of feng shui and placed images in each specific section.  i'm not sure what i'll do this year.  i read someone's idea of making a book of sorts with 9 sections based on the baguas.  i like that idea b/c i like the idea of making it portable.  i had taken a picture of my poster and printed it out to keep in my journal - but i didn't find myself looking at it as much as i wanted.  making my journal from my board may be more powerful.

this weekend i will pull down my tm from last year and really look at it.  i want to see what has manifested and what has not.  after a quick glance i can see some things that have and others that suddenly seem to be manifesting now...and that is very likely to happen in general.

  i want to see if there is anything i'd like to possibly carry over...and other things i don't.  i want to look at what did not manifest and see if in fact i worded my intention correctly (b/c it is very important to word your intentions correctly - if you chose to use intentions)  i used a combination of images, printed text and afirmations i wrote myself on the board. 

if you've always wanted to make one but never did i'd recommend doing it!  you have plenty of time to research it before the aries new moon so you can make one this year!  you can have your children do one too.   either have them go through magazines as well or just draw pictures of what they'd like to have in the upcoming year!  it may end up a wishlist of toys (lol) but maybe one or 2 things might actually come through as "goals". 

i'm sure i'll be posting more info as the time nears and i definitely will be posting this year's board!  i have a lot of things i'd like to see manifested this upcoming year!!