A little different this year

My kids are all grown now. All in their 20's and the oldest pushing 30. For the past several years I've relished the idea of redoing what I put on the Christmas tree. Like, away with the things they made in school, or the ornaments I got them each year growing up. 

The storm trooper and Frodo, the little kitten and the C3P0. My reasoning has been they don't really care anyway, what I put on the tree. So, one year I went to Menard's and bought all new fairly inexpensive red and green ornaments and the tree was a theme instead of hodgepodge stuff. 

Then one year I bought a tinsel tree. A table top size, but I wanted "different" that year because everything in my life had changed, or so I thought. 

Three years ago we downsized and have not had enough room to put up our full sized tree which just stays in the box. So, I bought a real tree from Whole Foods and I just put "special" ornaments on it.   I wanted a gold and silver vintage theme. It worked for me. I loved the little vintage looking tree.

Yesterday I got out the ornament box to decorate the table top tree I bought at Hobby Lobby at half price a couple of weeks ago. I put on the Frank Sinatra station on Pandora and went to work. The new tree is my first pre-lit tree.

I started out with a vintage theme again. I bypassed Frodo again and then I saw the ornament that the nursery made when my 24 year old daughter was a mere 3 months old. 

A sentimental warmth mixed with sadness washed over me and I picked it up and put it on the tree. I found one my son made in first grade. A hand drawn and colored elf. I found a faded green construction paper wreath of my oldest son's making with his 1st grade picture inside. This went on my tree as well. 

I didn't cry, but i felt like it. The feels were coming, I could tell. My "kids" who are 29, 27 and 24....looking at them again as little ones. 

Out came another angel from their childhood.

Then my daughter came home from work. She added the new storm trooper ornament given to her by a co-worker. 

This year, my tree is themed "I remember and I'm grateful for the memories". I'm looking forward to making more. 

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First admission is that I went quite a bit over 5 minutes for this! It's been several months since I've done this and I really wanted to get these words down. :)

I'm linking up with other brave and bold writers at fiveminutefriday.com for Five Minute Friday. The idea is to write for five straight with no edits, just for the fun of it. This week's prompt is the word different.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Blessings and Merry Christmas,

Anne

 

Layers

yellow feathers collect at the bottom of his cage

it's that season again

a season of shedding the old to make way for the new

i'm like him

the old, outdated parts of me are shedding

they've been peeling away like outdated wallpaper to reveal yet more layers underneath

when will the peeling back of layers be completed?

his molting and growing of new feathers will be complete in a matter of weeks

mine may take weeks, months or even years

a lifetime of time-worn layers peeling off

being scraped away as extra grout

laying at my feet

discarded

how can I ever paste them back to me?

i cannot

nor would I ever want to

those layers of me are in the past

they are no longer me

i will never be the same 

the old me and the new me dance until the day the new me

the new layer is complete

When you need to be mom to yourself

Linking up today with Five Minute Friday, wild and free writers writing on a prompt for five minutes straight, with no fancy edits. I'm linked up over at Kate Motaung's blog. Head on over to see what others have written on the prompt, "mom".


Several years ago, I began a quest, a journey, to wholeness and wholeheartedness.  Lots of physical symptoms were popping up in my body and life, alerting me to changes that must be made.

For the past seventeen years, I've been determined on this quest to be a mom to myself. That's right, regardless of the parents I had as a child, I realized I needed to be "mom" to the little child that was still residing inside of me, and always would be there..

I started slowly to

#1 realize she was there

#2 realize she needed me as an ally and friend and "parent"

#3 realize she needed healing

Several opportunities arose for me to help me on this journey. Counseling, yes. And also, an inner child healing ministry.

Sometimes, because of the healing I've received in the past 17 years and counting, I want to be a "mom" to the whole world (even though I KNOW that's not my job, but I can pray..)

And, you know what the mom in me wants to tell my biological kids and the "kids" of the whole world? (the kids inside us adults and the real kids!)

I want to reveal to them the secret of life indeed.

Life abundant.

Life healed and whole.

I believe this secret knowledge is available to everyone. But we must BELIEVE and SPEAK it over ourselves.

Here it is:

WE ARE 100% ACCEPTABLE AND LOVABLE JUST THE WAY WE ARE. 

 Thanks for stopping by today, friend! I hope this good news has helped you in some way. 

Blessings to you in abundance,

Anne

a better place to be

Linking up today with Five Minute Friday. A group of writers who write on a prompt for five minutes straight, with out fancy edits. This week's prompt is "more". 




so many years I stayed attached, tethered
to those around me. loved ones who I mistakenly thought I could change
on a moment's notice.

no.

I cannot.

why did it take this long to realize that all who are alive on this planet are on their own life's journeys, learning their own life lessons and I have nothing to do with it except to be a companion.

a friend, a comrade to come alongside the ones I love, the strangers I meet,

to observe.

not control.  not manipulate. not cajole into doing or being anything

except what their Creator made them to be. 



yes, more detachment means more peace.

better alignment in expectations means I have more peace, too.

this will be a life long journey, I see, to make this adjustment in life long patterns of thinking and being.

I am unhinging from old patterns of relating with myself and others. untethered to fly free in the unknown.

Yes, uncertainty is scary, but hanging on to old patterns of being is stifling and suffocating.

I'm learning and leaning on the One who can help me down new paths.
Learning my own life lessons along the way, but I belong.

I know that now.
I belong here. 
I accept myself right where I am, on the way to where I need to be.

*****************************************

Thanks for stopping by today!

Blessings,

Anne

What's in your circle?

Linking up with other writers today for Five Minute Friday. A flash mob of writers who write for five minutes without going back to do fancy editing.  Hop on over to Kate Motaung's blog to see what it's all about.  This week's prompt is "control".

Everywhere I turn I see people trying to control others by their words and actions. I've even been on the receiving end of this type of control and I know what it feels like. 

It doesn't feel good. 

So, why do I often find myself with the urge if not the actual actions or words coming out of my mouth trying to control a person in my circle or the events or circumstances around me? It doesn't work!! And, I know how it feels to be on the receiving end, so why would I do it?

It's ingrained I think. And you know what else? I think fear is at the root of control.

I'm afraid my expectations won't be met.
I'm afraid my needs won't be met.
I'm afraid my voice won't be heard.

I'm afraid that I won't be seen.
I'm afraid my opinion is not important so my voice might get a little louder.

I heard something recently that made a whole lot of sense. It actually came from my husband from something he learned at work.

He talked about the circle of concern and the circle of control.
There are things in life that we can be concerned about that we cannot control. Which are most things, by the way. 

Then there is the circle of things I can control. Picture two circles, one inside the other. The smaller circle is the bulls eye. The circle of things we can control. 

That pretty much leaves us. Our own person, ideas, faith and our being. 

Simple.


*not simple. Just kidding

Blessings to you today,


Anne

The gift to give yourself

Today I'm joining other writers for Five Minute Friday. The prompt is "refine". For the first time ever, I wrote for five minutes, but then let myself keep going. I don't normally like to do that, but I had a lot to say about the topic I chose to write on and the words just kept coming.  Go on over to katemotaung.com to see how you can join in this flash mob of writers too! 

START.

I'm not known for being too organized or efficient. I'm also not known for caring too much about it either. Well, I do care. But, it is definitely not something I'm striving for, to do more quickly.

Maybe I could refine that and improve, but I've never been one to like New Years resolutions. They have always seemed like something that sets one up for failure. I have enough trouble staying in a good place with self esteem, so no resolutions.

I have discovered something about energy balance and self care recently though and I'm passionate enough about the results that I'm going to continue refining what I know and things I do about these two catagories long after 2017 is out the door. 

Know why? 
Peace. 
Joy.
Space to breathe.

Space to think, grow and learn.

Energy balance.
I don't mean acupuncture or holistic medicine. I mean the balance of what kind of energy I'm letting into my life and what energy I'm letting out. 

I've refined my follow feeds on all my social media. This hasn't been a choice really, as I look at how my body handles stress. If something is causing negativity and resulting stress, it's going off my radar.

It might be my age talking here, but I don't have enough margin in my physical, emotional and mental health to tolerate negativity any more. 

Self care. 

Huge!! 

What do I need right now? What will bring joy and help me to focus on gratitude?

STOP

I read just yesterday that if you're grateful, there's no room in your brain for anger. This is from a well known author, but really, I could have told you that. 

If you're like me, anger about just about anything can creep in pretty sinister like. Before you know it, we're feeding that anger and it's getting bigger. According to this author, what we feed gets bigger. 

However,

by intentionally beginning to focus energy and attention on gratitude, the anger has no where to go but out. 

In the beginning of 2016 I started a gratitude jar. I bought a vintage jar and found scraps of paper at first and put these on a prominent shelf in my living room. Every night before bed, I stopped at this shelf and wrote out at least one thing I was grateful for that day. 

I watched this jar fill up. Then, I had to go junking to find another vintage jar because I just can't use a new one. At the end of the year I had filled two big jars to the very brim, even having to shove the pieces down in each one for 365 gratitudes to fit in them.

On New Year's Day I had a huge gift to give myself and it lasted into the next week. I started reading through all of those 365 gratitudes that I'd written each day of last year.

I smiled as I reminisced my time in June with my tribe in Maine. I chuckled at something my hubby had said to me in August. I warmed as I read "today my daughter came home from England" on July 20th. So. Many. Gratitudes. And, I had given this gift to myself without knowing it.

Without knowing it, I had filled two big jars with tons of positive energy. Those two jars sat in my house giving off positive vibes (not trying to be woo-woo here, just funny). It was all I could do to wait until New Year's Day to dig in to them and start being grateful all over again. 


I've begun my 2017 gratitude jar and I'm excited. Every night before bed, I stop at the shelf with the jar and my paper and pen and pause. Sometimes it's hard to think of something right away if the day has been kind of hard.

But this forces me to think of even the littlest thing to write down. Maybe Mr. Cardinal stopped in my fir tree for just a few minutes bringing me joy.

It's not too late to start preparing a huge gift for yourself on New Year's Day 2018! 

Thanks for stopping by today friend.

Blessings, 

Anne

when the muse shows up

Linking up today with other wild and free writers at Kate Motaung's place for the first Five Minute Friday of the new year. This week's prompt is middle.  Five minute Friday is a time when we write for five minutes straight without fancy edits. Just writing for the fun of it. Come on over to Kate's blog to find out how you can join in in 2017!




Sometimes you just don't know when the creative muse is going to show up. It was in the middle of the week before Christmas. I was on the 2nd day of the worst cold I've had in my life. I was sitting on the sofa with my journal and a cup of tea and the muse showed up. 

I had wanted to write a short story for my daughter's short story collaboration called Meet Cute. But, I told her, I just don't have a story ready. I was also hesitant because what if it wasn't good enough for her to pick for her book?? How would I feel?

Well, all of that went by the wayside that morning in December. My pen started moving across my journal pages as fast as you can imagine. I couldn't really believe it myself. I just kept writing and writing and it was fun. I wasn't editing as I went along either. I wasn't scrutinizing my writing. I was just having fun and letting the words tumble out of me and through my pen and onto the page. 

And, I had let myself off the hook. I had told myself it didn't matter if she, as the editor of the Meet Cute book, chose my meet cute story. I decided it mattered just to write a story for fun and see what happened after that.

That's when the creativity usually shows up, doesn't it? It shows up when it isn't pressured to show up. It shows up when it doesn't have to be "included" or perfect. It wants to be free to just "be". 

I loved writing the story called Matt and the Beauty, based on how I met my future husband. 

And, you know what? My daughter really liked it.*

_____________________________________________________


Thanks for stopping by today! It's lovely to have you here,

Anne

*My short story, Matt and the Beauty, will be published along with 18 other short stories with the "meet cute" theme! Meet Cute is a collaboration of short stories along with illustrations from separate artists from around the world. So excited for my daughter Kara Landhuis, editor. Find out more at meetcutebook.com!

What we want most this Christmas

What can you do NOW? What do you control and what is your concern but out of your control?


These are things to ponder during these days of gatherings and special moments. Even good things can bring stress--the stress of self-imposed expectations
--threats on self of perfectionism.


KNOW that you are enough.
You. Are. Enough.
Even if you did nothing else but be you, 
you are enough.


BOW--Bend the knee to the One who made you and calls you by name.
He loves you.
He came for you.
He died for you.
He rose for you.
He's declared you good. Very good.

Rest in that knowing in gratitude.

ALLOW people to be exactly who they are. No more, no less.
This is harder said than done, but will decrease stress and promote inner peace in your soul.

Isn't that what we want most this Christmas? Without our health and peace, we have nothing.

Allow yourself space
--to think
--to dream
--to know you're loved
--to know you're enough

on this crazy spinning ball called earth.

Stop off for some moments of calm and 
bow
now 
and allow.

Blessings and thank you!!

Anne

Thanks for stopping by. Linking up late to Five Minute Friday with a tribe of writers each week at Kate Motaung's blog. Stop over there to see what others have written on the prompt, NOW.

Surrender to a moment

Linking up late for Five Minute Friday over at Kate Motaung's blog. This week's prompt is "surrender". 


God, thank you for Mr. Cardinal who just swooped by and flew to a branch in Mr. Evergreen. He's been sitting there for at least a minute, bobbing up and down on the tree branch swaying in the wind.  It's definitely as if he's there on assignment from You to me. 

He's still there. In all of his red gloriousness. 
Feathers standing out against the green back drop. 

Now, it's close to two minutes. He's still there. 

What is he thinking about? Does he know he's brought me to tears because of his presence? I surrender to this moment in time where this beauty has flown in and perched right in my view.

He's still there. It's got to be three minutes. 

My tears are flowing freely in gratitude for this gift that has lifted me out of rumination to gratitude and awe. He's perfectly content in his world. Surveying in silence and stillness, he looks to be the King of his kingdom. His feathers puffed out in contentment, he must feel safe.

Probably almost four minutes now, of his presence in my evergreen.

His contentment and presence startles me. 

Startling me out of negativity and into joy and peace and the thought that all is well and all will be well.

He knows he's enough just as he is.
I know that I'm enough, too.

This pause has unraveled anxiety about what is to come. I've been instead invited into the moment that is.

I surrender.

************************************

Blessings to you, 
Anne

It's time

It's time for more beauty and less chaos.
It's time to watch the birds
free, 
flying, 
flitting at the feeders
It's time to smile at the squirrel antics and stop scolding them for stealing the bird seed.

It's time to show compassion to animals and people.
Even people I disagree with.
Compassion and joy and enjoyment of all that is around me.


It's time to surround myself with 

calm
grace 
and 
freedom.

These have become my dearest friends.
Friends who encourage the best in me. Friends who gently guide me.
Friends who lead me to truth.

It's time to believe the truth about myself and others.
It's time to give myself the worthy messages I'm so deserving of.

If I don't celebrate my worth, who will?

If I don't celebrate and believe my worth, how am I capable of celebrating yours?

I am worthy of all good things.
I am worthy to be treated well.
I am important and my gifts are important and worthy to be shared.

And so are yours.

Let's celebrate beauty
let's celebrate worth
let's celebrate with love and compassion all that is good within us and in each other and the world.

We'll be so much better for it.

**********************************************************

Thanks for joining me today for Five Minute Friday! I'm joining with other wild and free writers over at Kate Motaung's blog. Come on over and check it out and even join in. We write for five minutes on the prompt of the week. This week's prompt is enjoy.

Blessings to you today,

Anne

taking the test

The months since June have felt like one test after the other. Tests of character and resolve.

Tests of integrity and living by truth. My truth.

More than ever, there have been tests. seemingly endless. Moments for tea and breathing and living in-between. But, tests.

I've been learning more about myself since June. I'm learning old patterns and unlearning them. 

Learning new patterns of self-care and self-compassion.
Learning new ways to give myself permission.

Permission to be alone.
Permission to heal.
Permission to be myself....

to create
live my own life
beat my own drum


and listen for what's next.

Is there ever a time in life where we know, without certainty what's coming next?

No.

Sometimes we have an idea. We've dreamed a dream. We've made our best laid plans. 



Oh yes, we. do. plan, don't we?



But, in reality, the only thing we know for sure is what is right now. What's right in front of us.

Taking personal tests of bravery, courage, fortitude, steadfastness, creativity, longing, looking, learning and more have been in my recent past.

I'm guessing more of those things are coming right around the corner.

I know I'm up for it, good for it. Gonna show up for it.

How about you? What tests are you facing these days?

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings to you.

Anne

Linking up with other writers for Five Minute Friday where we write for five minutes straight with no fancy edits. Stop in over at Kate Motaung's blog to see what it's all about! This week's prompt is "test".

When I'm five

I'm at the table for coffee time. I'm with my parents and the old people. 

I'm always with the old people. They are my dad's aunt and uncle. But, these old people are like grandparents to me. They raised my dad from age 16 after he came to the New Country from the Old Country. His aunt taught him English.

I love my great aunt for that. She is nice. She is lovely.

I'm five. The adults at the table are dunking their rusks into their Sanka, which has been laced with a sugar cube or two. I can still hear the clank clank of the spoon sliding against the side of the coffee cup (always a cup on a saucer) as they would stir in the sugar. Rarely cream.

I'm five. Life is good. I am an only child so far. My brother would be born the next year. I get all the attention from my parents and the old people who we are with. A lot. I get all the attention from people at church.

I have a farm with a swing set. I like to swing. Alone.  I fly high into the air, but always come back down. Only to fly again.

I am five and I don't know what's coming soon. 

I don't know that my bedroom will change from the one that I've always known. The one with the yellow sweet peas on the walls, my white four poster bed, and where my brother's crib is on the opposite wall as mine. 

The bedroom where the house is so old that corn cobs were used as insulation. 

This would be the reason my mom, in the coming years, after the tornado came through my life and I was moved out of my farm, 
then moved back, 
and then back and forth...

this would be the reason my mom buys fancy fire detectors for our ceilings, so that she can feel like I'm safe. 

Because she is not with me.

********************************************

Blessings to you!

Thanks for joining me for Five Minute Friday. Today, I took the prompt "five" into mini memoir mode. I'm linking up with other courageous writers over at Kate Motaung's blog. Come on over and see what other writers have written for this week's prompt!

Anne

Listen to your heart

You should do what people want
Listen to your heart.

You should be more helpful.
Listen to your heart.

You should care more about what others think of you.
Listen to your heart.

You could live your life pleasing other people, forget your dreams.
Listen to your heart.

You should bury the hatchet and pretend nothing ever happened.
Listen to your heart.

You should follow this career path, not that one, because it's more suitable.
Listen to your heart.

You will only be hurting yourself if you don't do what they say.
Listen to your heart.

You'll be sad and all alone if you choose that.
Listen to your heart.

You won't be liked, admired or respected.
Listen to your heart.

You're not good enough to do what other people do. You'll see.
Listen to your heart.

You should take care of others, even when they can take care of themselves.
Listen to your heart.

The voices.
They are loud.
They are many.
They arrive unannounced and uninvited.
They laugh.
They sneer.
They try to manipulate and control.

But, I won't listen to them.
I won't.
I will not.

I will listen to my heart.
It's there that I'll find truth and integrity.
I will listen to my heart.

Blessings,
Anne

Sharing on a theme that's been ringing in my ears this week. Linking up with other writers for Five Minute Friday. Last Friday's prompt was "listen". I listened and wrote. Come on over to Kate Motaung's blog to read what others have written on this prompt!

the path to wholeheartedness

Linking up today with other brave writers for Five Minute Friday, almost a week late! The link up is over at Kate Motaung's blog. So, hey there! The prompt for last week was "path". It took me this long to decide which direction to go with it. What path are you taking these days?




There are myriads of paths to take. Even with this prompt, I'm tempted to give up even before I begin. 

Know why?

So many choices! How do I decide where to take this?

What path will I choose for this week's prompt?

The path that comes to mind over and over again is wholeheartedness. I think that's been the theme of this blog.

My dream and desire is to take the path of truth, both to myself and to others.

The path that might be the less worn, but the path that leads to wholeheartedness.

Sebasco, Maine

Being brave in the face of fear.

Facing the fears or enemies of peace head on.

Protecting myself from danger when possible.

Leading my soul to greener pastures that promote peace in the midst of chaos.

Pointing my spirit to the One and only One who can point me to truth, peace and all other good things.

This I believe. 

This I want to live.

Wholeheartedness and truthful living means that I might find myself *face down in the mud, in the middle of the arena more times than I would like.  It means that I'll have to remind myself that I'm not alone. That I am a warrior, living out my messy story. But, it's my story to live. No one else's.

I'll have to remind myself that I can get back up from the mud. That with my fellow brave warriors around me, I can survive and thrive the tough stuff. I can wash up, get up and try again. That I'm not alone in this.

I've got friends.
I've got fellow warriors.
I've got myself.
And, I've got the God who made me.

****************

Blessings to you, friend. Thanks so much for stopping!!

Anne

*references to the "arena" are from author Brene Brown's book, Daring Greatly, which has had a huge influence on my wholehearted journey. You can click on the Daring Greatly tag at the bottom of this post to read other posts I've written on daring greatly and wholehearted living. :)

when you're picked last

Do you remember grade school recess? I do. Some were fun. Some, not so much. 

I wasn't very athletic, and I was a little chubby. I was pretty much one of the last to be picked for the team, whatever game was being played that day. 

Funny, how most of the games that were played in grade school involved running. I think about that now, and I wonder why? 

Hmm. Thinking out loud here.

Sometimes i can feel "picked last" as an adult. 

Oh, it's not the same. I'm not playing kickball or Pump Pump Pull Away, but I can feel picked last anyway.

I'm realizing that this feeling is something I've carried over from childhood. Digging deep, I realize that by being picked last for games, and coming in dead last at the annual "Fun Day", I started to equate being last with my worth.

Not a good combination.

I started reading a book this week that has begun to heal this feeling of being "picked last", or to put it another way, low self-esteem.

The grocery store clerk isn't always silently mocking me. People probably aren't talking behind my back.

Lysa Terkeurst used the term "live loved" in her book Uninvited. 

 I soaked that phrase up like a damp sponge.

I think that's the key to kicking the feeling of being "picked last" in life.

I'm going to start reminding myself that I'm loved deeply.

I'm going to say, "live loved" to myself a lot.

I hope you do, too. Because it's true.

Blessings to you, friend. Let's live loved.

Anne

Linking up today with other writers for Five Minute Friday. Head on over to Kate Motaung's blog to find out about it, or join in. Today's prompt is "team".

lift the hand

Linking up today with other wild writers at Kate Motaung's blog for Five Minute Friday. We write for five minutes and don't do fancy edits. In fact, today, I didn't even reformat. Just added a photo. That's really wild. Today's prompt is lift.

What if you don't know what to do, but you know you have to lift your hand to do it. 

Anything you want to do has to have effort behind it, and initiative.

Is there a dream burning a hole in your pocket?

Have you had dreams come and weigh heavy, and then vanish into thin air?

Have you wondered what to do with the rest of your life?

What would you do if money were no object?

What would you do if happiness was the result?

Sheer happiness with no strings attatched?

Sometimes it takes some deep soul searching.

Sometimes the hand is heavy and sluggish.

Sometimes the hand doesn't know which way to go, so it's paralyzed, so to speak.

Paralyzed by inaction.

Oh, the ability is there. 

But, the initiatve and motivation are lacking for some reason.

That reason may be unknown.

Lift your hand.

Lift the pen.

Lift the brush.

Lift the saw or hammer.

Lift your eyes to possibilities.

They are truly endless.

Why don't we think this way more often?

The freedoms we have to create and make something beautiful from nothing are here. They are right in front of us.

What will it take for us to lift ourselves out of the un-initiative, the un-motivation to start?

What makes us stuck?

What if the doing something big (or small) is just in the "getting started". 

The lifting of the hand.

Thanks for stopping by for Five Minutes of crazy free writing!

Let's lift our hands and do our happy work!

Anne

choose the happy

Linking up with other amazing writers at Kate Motaung's blog today for Five Minute Friday. Five minutes of writing for the fun of it without fancy edits. Today's prompt is happy. 


Sometimes it takes work to find the happy. Life isn't always as you want it to be, nor how you planned it to be.

Is it possible to be happy even though?

Sometimes it takes work to find the happy.

But, sometimes it's in the work, or in the looking for happy that happiness is found.

I find that the older I get, the more intentional I need to be about finding my own brand of happiness.  I mean, the only things I get to choose in line with finding happy are 

my thoughts and my behaviors.

I cannot control those around me and "make" them "make me" more happy.

Can I?

I cannot control them. I can only control me.  I can only control ME and my happiness and my way of being in the world.

What will I choose to fill my mind and my days with?

What will I ruminate on? I can choose. It is my privilege to choose my thoughts.

I can either choose to ruminate on a disagreement I had with someone, and what I could've done differently. 

Or, I can choose thoughts that lift me higher. Choose the happy.


Painting makes me happy.
Smiles and good times with my family make me happy.
Writing makes me happy.
Having a cup of tea makes me happy.
Watching birds outside my window makes me happy.
Thrift shopping with my daughter makes me happy.


I get to choose what to focus on.  Sure, life is not always happy. What happens to me on a daily basis doesn't always make me happy.

So, I have to CHOOSE my happy.

How about you?

Blessings to you, friend,

Anne

Five simple ways to create space for yourself

Linking up today with other writers over at Kate Motaung's blog, Heading Home. We write for five minutes straight. No fancy edits, just writing for the fun of it. Today's prompt is create.


Do you ever feel like life is closing in around you. Like the demands for your time and energy are more than you can manage, and you're getting more and more resentful?



Maybe it's time to take a little "me" time. Time for some self-care. Time to slow down.  Below are five ways you can create more space for yourself. 

1.  recognize your limits.  We all have them. Another word for these are boundaries. We can set a simple boundary for ourselves by saying the simple word "no". Boundaries and limits protect our time, treasure and energy.

2.  be aware of how you're wired.  Are you an introvert, gaining energy by being alone? Or are you an extrovert, gaining energy by being with others? This is a very important piece of data to have about yourself. Know yourself and you'll find out quickly if you should say no to that party or YES, I'M all in!!

3.  Julia Cameron (author) advocates "artist dates" for yourself. I'm advocating a "take time for yourself date". What do you like to do?? Museums? Swimming? Coffee? Walking? Learn to be content doing things alone.

4.  Create. I cannot say enough about this. Create and your heart will be happy. Create and you'll feel free in your soul. I've written many posts about this and I've become a firm believer.

5.  Write yourself a letter from your "highest self". I mean this. It sounds weird, but it's not. It's totally legit. You'll be surprised how your higher self just "knows" something that your emotions have been overriding. I highly encourage this for emotional freedom.

Most of all. Listen to your intuition. Listen to your gut. It's going to be right. It knows what's right for you.

Blessings to you, friend.

Anne