Self Awareness

Stressed, Frustrated – Doubting my abilities!







So this week has been a bit stressful with a very sick hubby, a sick neighbor/friend with pneumonia and me not feeling all that well either. I have found myself so stressed out with the daily to-dos, the home projects still not perfectly at an end and the in-laws coming to stay the weekend. The house has been a total chaos for 2weeks now…. I have felt a little out of place in my routine of things. Of course nothing seems perfect as I feel it should be.






Looking forward to next week being a better week and hopefully more structure!!







Self-Awareness



Perfection



A tree is no less perfect because it is a seedling. A tiny infant is no less perfect than a grown up. It is perfection itself. Because it cannot do a thing, does not know a thing that does not make it somehow less perfect.



A child makes mistakes. She stands. She toddles.

She falls. She stands again, a bit wobbly, hanging on to her mommy’s leg. Does that make the child imperfect?



I tell you it is just the opposite! That child is perfection itself, wholly and completely adorable.



So, too, are you.

Visual Chaos No More!

As my hubby and I finish some much needed home projects I finally realized I have an addiction to not only purses and shoes for myself and the girls but an addiction to what becomes - “freebie clutter”. After watching him spend a day on building organizational items for our closet and the mountains of clothes, purses, shoes & unlimited amounts of make-up, pens, lotions, jewelry and the “clothing for the kids in the not so near future”.etc… It was all tucked away in the “I might like this someday” corners which was placed upon every open spot of my bedroom yesterday. I have to admit when I went up stairs a few times to see if he needed help or to see how far he was with the project- the mountains in my room did not seem so bad until……..







This morning was a slow day to get moving, (even though I stuck to my 10pm bedtime) with the littlest one not feeling good and me as well I figured it to be a good time to read. As I open my copy of The Happiness Project I felt a little behind in my resolutions. A little that the mountains were very much real craziness! As I read further I did not feel alone and I stumbled upon the term “freebie clutter”. I felt a huge sense of relief knowing I could put a term to this craziness. – The too often a friend calls and says I am getting rid of clothes that my kids can’t wear anymore – do you want them? I say sure! Well not anymore. I have realized that the clutter is more stress then the spending over budget to buy the kids new clothes! I have also found that less is more. Fewer things to choose from bring faster choices and the will to make it all work.






Next on my list to tackle is more visual clutter! Focusing on the “dump zones” (and believe me I think every room in my home has its own “dump zone”!)






Things I will be trying? “Virtual move” – walk around my house and ask myself if I were moving would I pack this or get rid of it? For my sentimental reasons to keep things I will use the tip “Only if I’m still using it”!






I have high hopes to finish this before this month is at an end...










Happiness Tip of the Day:


If you can’t find something, clean up! One of life’s small pleasures is to return something to its proper place!

"My" 12 Commandments:

1. Be more spiritual/more devotional time



2. Play more/Laugh more – (with the kids / embrace non-sense)


3. Live Thankfully


4. Be Nicole


5. Be Optimistic


6. Prioritize better


7. Live Healthy


8. Love, Love, Love,


9. React to situations with out emotions ruling. ( 48hr rule )


10. Live more patiently


11. Act how I want to be treated


12. Relax more

A week into my "happiness project"

"Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp but, if you will sit down quietly,may alight upon you."-- Nathaniel Hawthorne


So, I am a week into my "happiness project"! I have de-cluttered the office space/front living room.  Next on my "to do list" is the kitchen and my actual closet!  I have been keeping up with my nightly routine of no electronic gadget use after dinner and retiring early to bed by 10pm, with waking up at 6am.  I am a night owl so this has been a challenge but I have been successful! ( ok I have slipped a few times and made it to bed by 10:30 - still good for me!)

I had a wicked busy weekend - so I am a little behind on the to-do list which I plan to tackle the rest of the week.  March I am sure will fly by so I need to get busy.

I have yet to work on my personal 12 commandments but hopefully will do this tomorrow!

So for now - I am getting off this blog in hopes to get a few to-do things accomplished!
Not bad for the 1st week!

Happiness to all :)

Day 1 of My Very Own "Happiness Project"

“What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while.”





So I finally received my book – The Happiness Project. As I am in the 1st stages of starting my own “happiness project” I think I am off to a good start! Although I am only in very beginning of the book starting with January’s resolution (yes I know its March) of –Clear My Closets (boosting my energy) I am very much enlightened with how the book fits right into my life! I am also very eager to start with actions. Last night I even made myself go to bed before 10:30 – which is a hard task for me since I am a night owl.

Result: Woke up early, refreshed at 6am, no fighting with the kids – everyone had a great morning and I even had breakfast with them! After they were off to school I got a 40 min workout in and all done before 9am – Plenty of time to tackle more of my “happiness project”!



As she did in the book – I too have decided to start with tackling the visible clutter first. I have re-arranged my office/living room for what I hope is a more suitable functional space. Also as luck would have it - this was a nagging task/to-do list as well.





Tomorrow- off to clean and organize my actual closet so my bedroom is more a bedroom than a place we shove things when cleaning other parts of the house.



Motivational statement of the day from book:






“I am happy- but I’m not as happy as I should be. I have such a good life; I want to appreciate it more – live up to it better.”



“I complain to much, I get annoyed more than I should. I should be more grateful. I think if I felt happier and/or healthier, I’d behave better.”



**healthier- something I personally added to statement that is a must for my “happiness project”



Off to work on my personal Twelve Commandments



NAT

9 Things you can do everyday even if you can't do anything else!

So I am still waiting for the UPS guy to get here and bring me my new book the Happiness Project. I'm thinking I should have just went out and bought it - then again I am very impatient! Maybe patience should be one of my resolutions for the project, Lord knows I need to work on it!

I have yet to come up with all 12 resolutions, I may just use the same ones from the book....we will see..

For nine things you can do every day even if you can't do anything else! (*source-The Happiness Project)

Every day…



1. Make your bed.

2. Wear sunscreen.

3. Wear your seat belt.
4. Jump up and down a few times.

5. Pick up one object that’s in the wrong place and put it away.

6. Go for a ten-minute walk outside.

7. Eat a fruit or vegetable.

8. Put your keys away in the same place.

9. Touch everyone in your house with affection