If you missed the 365 Day Challenge that I’m doing this year, you can click that link to find out about it. It’s #3 on the list.

My first week wasn’t that productive, but I didn’t expect it to be, as things happen the first week.

However, I did change some of the plans I listed here. They are basically still the same, as far as this blog goes, but I’ve added some other focus areas to my overall plan.

I also read Nicole Dean’s post on not doing any resolutions. Instead, people are choosing one to three words that describe how they want their year to be. It’s like a mantra, a focus word. I ended up with 7. Yikes! I need to narrow those down to 3. I just don’t know which ones it’ll be as they all fit some area of my life and are things I need to concentrate on.

I don’t want to draw them from a hat either. They need to “pick” me. The three that did strike me the most were wealth, abundance and gratitude. Neither of those necessarily equal money either. Don’t get me wrong, I want to make boat loads of money, but that’s not the reason I want to do the things I do. If I don’t feel good about them and if I can’t help others find direction or feel good about themselves, then no amount of money will ever fulfill that desire.

Three other words that struck me were action, discipline and mastery. All of those need daily attention from me. So you can see why it’s a bit hard to choose 3. Maybe this method wasn’t ready for me. The final word is compassion, which is something that almost all people need to work on. Even if you rock the compassion world, you can always do more.

Maybe in my next post I’ll have my words narrowed down, or I’ll just choose my own special word. One thing I still need to do is break my big list down into weekly action steps. I plan to work on that this weekend.

On Sunday we take my daughter back to college. The trip always wears me out, so that day won’t include much work or planning, but I get my living room back. :)

Enough about me. How was your first week of the New Year? Leave your thoughts and all in the comment section.

Hugs!
Patti

Yesterday I posed the question of, “Are You a Turtle or an Armadillo?” Last night and this morning I was reminded that sometimes you’re the porcupine.

These guys are really cute…until you rub them the wrong way. Are you rubbing people the wrong way or the one getting rubbed the wrong way? It happens.

This morning I’ve griped at Mr. Kitty, a lot. He’s usually wound up pretty tight, but the past two days it’s gotten on my nerves. Last night, it was not only him, but the birds and everything else. The birds don’t usually annoy me, but lately, Turk is making this new squawking sound and it’s just irritating. I don’t know where he heard that sound either.

This morning (Saturday) I told Kevin that I’m grumpy. Here’s how the conversation went:

Kevin: You know you’re allowed to be grumpy once in awhile…just not on Saturday, I have to be here all day.

Me: Oh, would you like me to reschedule that for Monday then?

It lightened my mood. Sometimes we don’t feel like it’s okay to be grumpy, especially with our spouse and especially when they work outside the home all week and want a nice, quiet weekend at home. But it’s also nice to know that it’s okay if you are grumpy once in awhile. I rarely get grumpy–or I rarely let it show, I should say. And I won’t go into the whole age and woman bit. The fact is I normally practice better control over things that annoy me. But, sometimes I’m a porcupine.

Another reason the conversation lightened my mood is the fact that he used humor (successfully) to put me in a better mood. Humor doesn’t always work, but in this case it did.

The third thing that makes this conversation significant is the fact that he thinks I should vocal about my irritations more often. It just blows his mind that I let so much roll off me. I wasn’t always this way, but one day I decided that something needed to be pretty big and significant for me to give control of myself over to it. It’s a control thing. There’s so much in life we have no control over. The one thing we do have control over is our own self. I refuse (most of the time) to give up control of that—this is where the age and woman thing comes in. Not going there. :)

Most of the time, I’m like this guy:

The duck lets things just roll off his back. He’s calm on the surface but paddling like heck underneath.

Choose your battles. If being the duck, the turtle or the armadillo doesn’t work, some days you have to be the porcupine, whether you want to or not.

Have a great day, no matter which critter you are today, make today count.

~Patti

image credits: Wikimedia Commons

How do you handle situations that life throws at you? Many creatures are equipped with a hard outer shell to protect their vulnerable soft spots underneath. The two main ones that come to mind are the turtle and the armadillo. Each have a similar way to protect themselves, but one of the two has a better way. How do you handle your situations? Are you a turtle or an armadillo?

The turtle closes up his shell which protects him very well from predators or perceived danger. It’s a good mechanism but, unfortunately, the turtle is stuck inside his shell (for God knows how long) until he’s sure the danger has passed. Many people do this, except people often stay in their shell and never continue on their journey.

The armadillo is a bit different. He can roll up into a ball that protects his vulnerable spots.  His other defense mechanism is his front claws. Have you ever seen an armadillo dig a hole? Man, they are FAST!

You may think, “Well he’s still rolled up in a shell or he’s burying himself in a hole.” True, but these are both active defense mechanisms. If he’s in a ball he can still “roll with the flow,” or he can get busy digging his way to safety.

Do you clam up like a turtle? (Possible pun intended.) Or do you get active and either roll with the flow or start digging your way out? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Have a great day!
~Patti

Did you witness history this morning? The happy couple shared two kisses on the balcony. It will be remembered for generations to come. If you’ll remember, Charles and Diana were the first royal couple to ever kiss on the balcony.

Kate was extremely relaxed during the whole procession today. She fit in beautifully. In showing footage of past royal weddings, it’s quite clear, that Diana was not as relaxed and almost looked as if she felt out of place. But, you’ll also remember, that over the years, Diana invented herself. No small feat in her situation. My topic today is reinventing yourself. You don’t have to stay stuck in the same rut you feel as if your life is in. You can reinvent yourself, and should, from time to time.

It doesn’t matter how you were raised or what your family life was like growing up. In fact, if you aren’t happy with your family roots that’s a great reason to change. Maybe your family looked down on people who had money or maybe you had a family that looked down on people who didn’t have money–it goes both ways. I’m from the former line of families. My mother was really bad to berate those who had money because she felt as if they flaunted it. She didn’t bother to get to know those people or try to realize that that was just part of who they were and likely they were not flaunting anything, they were just enjoying the fruits of their labor–as they should.

On the other spectrum you have families who berate the poor. I’ve come to realize that people aren’t berating the less fortunate for being less fortunate, they berate the idea that they don’t do anything about it. They stay stuck in their circumstances and just accept it as that’s how life goes and they can’t do anything about it. That’s crap! You can do something about your circumstances, you can do things to look better and dress better. You can get more education, learn new things. You can become sparky, sassy, and charismatic. You can get a personality if you don’t have one. Or you can change the one you have if you don’t like it.

In older times it was unheard of for a royal couple to show public displays of affection. Charles and Diana changed that. William and Kate took it a step further. The royal family has protocols and strict guidelines–or they have in the past. Times have changed and if the royal family can start new traditions or break old ones, why can’t you? Maybe you don’t see the importance of those two kisses today, but the fact is, if people who live under stricter guidelines can break out of old, archaic traditions–so can you!

I’ve reinvented myself several times. Actually, it’s an ongoing process.

What are some things you’ve done to reinvent yourself? Do you feel you need to? Do you think anyone is ever completely happy with who they are, or do we all need to continually improve ourselves–if for no other reason than to just break monotonous old habits that no longer serve us?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

image credit: http://www.popsugar.com/Prince-William-Kate-Middleton-First-Kiss-Balcony-16115993