I resolve to .......

New Year, New Start...sure why not?  What the heck, huh?

Lose weight?  Eat better, exercise?  Nope.  This year, I'm going to focus on pampering.  Myself, others.  Just the year of Pamper (not to be confused with a year of "Pampers"... hopefully diapers are a long way off)

Perhaps

• Stress pampering - learning to let go.  
• House pampering - following the Fly Lady at Flylady.net  (a home keeping blog, with daily suggestions and monthly habits)
• Creativity pampering - more crafting and homemade gifting.
• Mind pampering - more reading - Bible, enrichment, mindless enjoyment.
• Body pampering - exfoliation, hair care, okay - exercise and losing the gluten (gulp) and maybe dairy (double gulp)
• Stomach pampering - more experimentation in the kitchen.  Less eating out, more simple cooking.
• Wallet pampering - how to do all this on less money?  

All right, that seems like a good start.  The list.  Not too overwhelming (yah, right)  but still, it's good to have goals.

Step one - learning to let go.  Stuff and self inflicted obligations.  So maybe for the rest of the week, I'll take a good hard look at what I've committed to doing.  I'll look at not only what I'm doing, but why I'm doing it, and how it makes me feel.  

Then next week, I'll do the same for "stuff"  Ooh, look at that.  I see a plan forming.  A plan, always a great place to start.  Yes, that's it.  A plan.  hmmm.

and of course I shall deploy my mantra "Just get started"  

And, since the sun's shining today, I suppose I should "just get started" cleaning up dog doings in the yard.  Blech.  

On that happy note....I'm off.  

Happy New Year !!!

La Multi Ani

Yesterday was my birthday.  My 47th birthday to be precise.  And in exactly four weeks, I'm going to be getting on an airplane and travelling to Romania.  Hence the post title, which is how Romanians wish you "Happy Birthday."    It's one of the few phrases in Romanian I know.  The other one is "Ham and Cheese."  (sunca si cascaval)

I'm going to Romania on a short term mission trip.  To be more precise, I'm leading a short term mission trip to Romania.  The team and I will be there for 8 days.  We're holding a women's retreat the first four days, then travelling to another city and presenting a Reader's Digest Condensed version of the retreat at a women's conference there. Finally, we'll be hanging out with Romanian women in their homes and learning about their lives. 

And for all you would be robbers and thieves...the rest of the family is staying behind...so don't be thinking my house will be empty and easy pickins.

Now if you had told me 5 years ago that I would be leading a mission trip, I'd have thought you nuts.  Let's see...five years ago, I had a teenager, a tween, and a toddler too at home.  A toddler who refused to nap.  Oh, and I had a cat who peed on the walls.  Honestly, my "five year plan" consisted of

1.  not changing any more diapers. 
2.  going to the grocery store in the middle of the day all by myself. 
3.  having intelligent conversations with other adults on a regular basis. 

Nope, I'm gonna say going on an overseas speaking trip, much less leading an overseas speaking trip was not anywhere on the radar screen.  Not even a tiny blip. 

Five years ago, I'd have peed on the walls myself, before I'd have gotten up in front of a bunch of people and spoken.  Or at least have spoken for any duration.  I think five years ago, I had begun to speak in front of the church - giving financial updates as the Church Financial Officer.  You know, two minutes tops, spewing out numbers.

And I was planning to upload a picture of my first trip to Romania in 2008 here. A picture of me standing up in front of a crowd of people with a microphone in my hand.  The picture clearly shows enjoyment and enthusiasm on my face.  That picture documents the start of my love of public speaking.  But...as you may recall, my computer crashed a few weeks ago.  The pictures are nowhere to be found on my hard drive.  They are on the backup my husband makes on the home network, but...I have no idea how to access anything on the network.

I hope my husband never dies...cause I will never be able to sort through his technology.  And all will be lost.

Now the whole point of this post, as originally intended was to talk about how the "five year plan" can be a good thing, but we can't cling too tightly to the plan, cause "stuff" happens.  And often times, that "stuff" can lead to a better "five year plan." if we let it.  And, as if to prove my point, "stuff" happened in the midst of my plan for this post. 

Time will yet tell, if this was a better way to convey my message.  Which of course, is usually how those things work...the frustration of "here and now" blocks our view of "the big picture" until much later.

I Like Nike

No, not the shoes...though I don't dislike them.  It's just that one athletic shoe looks and feels much like another to me.  So obviously I'm not very athletic!  But I do like their slogan.  "Just do it!"  Hope I'm not copyright infringing here. 

Keep in mind Nike and I aren't talking about the "just do it" we bark at our kids when they are whining about having to brush their teeth or clean their rooms.  No, Nike and I are talking about that gentle encouraging nudge we often need to get started.  Maybe I should change the mantra to "just get started."

I have found, if I "just get started," I'll often times actually enjoy what I'm doing.  Like doing a blog, for instance.  I know I love writing.  I've known this since I was a tween and writing my "little stories."  A blog seems like a natural extension of that.  But then something happens.  I start looking at this huge, seemingly insurmountable commitment of writing hopefully helpful tips in an entertaining fashion day after day, and get rather daunted.  Yet, once I sit down to actually write, I find time flies by, and I have a great time.  What to do, what to do?  Well, I started by reading other blogs.  This inspires me, and with that inspiration, I find I can "just get started" writing.

Exercise, same thing.  I love the idea of exercising.  I feel great when I exercise, and afterwards too.  (so long as I can ignore the sore muscles, because I don't exercise nearly enough) But the hassle...All the obstacles.  I don't like to exercise in front of people, so that means at home.  I have to move furniture in order to exercise at home...what if I get sweaty, then I have to have time to take a shower.  (nevermind that I'm probably going to take a shower anyway).  Then I read this tip.  "Just lay down on the floor."  The theory is, once you are laying down...yes, laying down, odds are you will do something.  Maybe stretch, maybe some crunches, maybe some bridges. Once you get started, you'll probably finish.  Maybe not finish an hour, maybe not half an hour, but even if you exercise for 10-15 minutes, it's still exercise and it's still better than exercising for zero minutes!!

Momentum is a powerful force.    You pick up speed as you go along.  One step leads to another.  For instance, when my house is thrashed and I'm totally overwhelmed by the sheer volume of clutter facing me, my initial tendency is to sit down and wallow in my overwhelmedness by surfing the web.   Second, more intentional idea, is to put 10 things away, or set the timer for 15 minutes and tidy during that time.  You'd be amazed what you can put away in 15 minutes, even with little ones clamoring for your attention.  Often, though, momentum takes over, and I get in a "puttin' things away" groove and when the timer buzzes, I turn it off, and keep cleaning.  (Did I forget to mention, I also turn the music up, and entertain my 6 year old while I dance and tidy)  Ooh, two chores, one stone...exercise and tidy.  Who doesn't love that? !!

So, next time you are faced with a task and you find yourself getting that whole, deep breath in, audible sigh kind of "I don't want to do this" feeling, think of me and Nike and "Just Get Started."  Or in the immortal words of Mary Poppins, "Well begun is half done !"