Changing Perspective

I did this last year, tried to get back to blogging, but as can be seen from my posts, I was unsuccessful at maintaining this. Which is sad because I really love blogging.  The introvert in me sees this as the perfect way to express myself.  So, I am resolving to get back to doing this more regularly this year. And to further support this effort, I am combining this with 2 'games' I saw online:  a 365 day gratitude picture journal and a 500 words a day writer's game.

Quick mechanics for both games to give perspective: the picture game is about taking one photo a day of something you are grateful for. Reviewing these have helped people become more positive and take stock of their blessings; the 500 word writer's game is to hone writing skills and to just write and get those words out there. Perfect for moi, oui?

This is how I am tweaking things: picture game- instead of taking one picture, I will note one moment/person/event what have you every day that I am grateful for and include in, no less than 500 words, why I am grateful for this.  Occasionally, if I am able (and I say this because I have a hard time uploading pictures from my phone onto my laptop for posting here) I will include a photo.

I am so excited about this!! They say it takes 21 days to form a habit and what better habit to form and maintain than a grateful heart?  Thank you in advance for everything, 2014!

For this very first post, I am choosing encountering these 2 games on my FB page.

I am so grateful for these because they really hit two things on the head for me- being more positive and learning to appreciate my blessings, and writing.  Happiness, they all say, is a choice. It is something you must decide to be and it takes your concerted effort.  And they say one way to help the choice to be happy is to look at what it is one is blessed with. Now, I have to admit, I am not too good at this. I often miss the blessing because I am focused on wanting something more or bigger or different.  Pausing to smell the roses will help me see and appreciate these roses.  The writing bit, well, I just love writing and any reason to do it, I'll take.

And because I started this on the 2nd day of the year, I am choosing another thing to be grateful for from yesterday.  I am grateful for my kids.

Yes, they drive me insane half the time. Raising two human beings, different genders, only 2 years apart, as a single parent is not walk in the park!  I often think that I am becoming Medusa just trying to maintain a semblance of peace and order at home.  Sometimes I also think that I am just really sucking at it, that my kids will turn out as emotionally high strung and OC as me.  But at night, when I go into their room and kiss them goodnight (even when they are already sleeping), I recall their many individual traits that make them unique.

My son is an entertainer and a really creative and sensitive soul.  He loves activity and expression and this is why he loves to read, write, draw, dance, run, and act.  His sensitivity finds its outlet in these things. Recently, in the middle of my brother's wedding mass, as I was walking away from the center aisle after taking communion back to the readers pulpit, he ran after me and threw his arms around me in a big hug. Just because he wanted to. Heart melting.  I hope he keeps this affectionate nature as he grows up.

My daughter is mostly a mini me and that is good and bad. She is not as emotional, not prone to outbursts, and quite to-the-letter, so more controlled but she does need to loosen up more which I am trying to get her to do by getting her to sing and dance for no reason.  But she is also very physically expressive. She hugs and kisses me all the time.  Her taking my arm and then holding it to her check and hugging it with her eyes closed, just out of the blue, always makes me smile. Always.

Remembering these bits helps me stay sane and helps me see and appreciate the little people I have been blessed to love and raise.

Looking forward to blogging again tomorrow!

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Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4:8)

Resolution #1 for 2013

I used to write a list of things that I wanted to do or make happen in the coming year but I think I skipped doing this last year. And the year before, I think. Well, I am in a good mood today. I’m feeling quite positive and hopeful about the coming year.  There is no explanation for this as nothing new has happened.  I just woke up this morning and said to myself, life is short and I am tired of going through each day angry or sad or just exhausted.  I want to enjoy my days too.  So I am making that choice and making the effort to be positive.  They say it is a decision to be happy and this sometimes requires some effort. I figure, if I am going to put effort into anything, it might as well be to be happy; whatever the circumstance and the reason.

And in line with that, I also want to start to be more conscious of the footprint I leave on our planet.  I don’t know. Maybe it is from reading all these articles from folks I have come to admire, at the very least, for the tenacity with which they push their causes.  Regardless, I believe it is important to do the right thing for our planet whether or not someone says so. 

I did some research into ways to be more Eco friendly. I was kind of apprehensive because I was thinking this might be hard to do. Living in a “third world” country and being a single mom to two kids, budget and ease are two words that I look for a lot.    I looked at a post from Simple Mom and I was pleasantly surprised.  She posted about 40 tips to going greener at home aside from recycling and I was pleasantly surprised at what were on her list.  Let me discuss 10 points in this post.  I don’t think I can/will apply all 40 so let’s see how far we go. These 10 are certainly easy.

1.       Stop using disposable bags- done!  To add to this I think we should bring as many as we need per grocery trip to forego using brown paper bags and boxes. 'Coz these come from trees too.

2.       Buy an inexpensive reusable water bottle- done!  In fact, I use a dispenser (non-electric) and the bottles are replaced as they are emptied so no throwing.

3.       Wash laundry in cold water instead of hot- done!  Manual laundry saves on electricity and if you manage your wash schedule well you can save on water and soap too.

4.       Turn off lights when you leave the room- done!  Thought this was common sense though.

5.       Don’t turn on the lights for as long as you can. Enjoy natural light.- done!  This too.

6.       Turn off your computer completely at night.- done!  And this.

7.       Pay your bills online- Now this I haven’t done.  I am a bit wary actually.  I am afraid of online fraud, identity theft, hacking, etc. I know, I know. I am not a celebrity, neither am I rich enough to warrant any special attention. Still…can someone assure me that this is really safe?

8.       Reuse your scrap paper- done! 

9.       Do an energy audit of your home- hmm…how do you do this?  I would love to know how so I can do it.

10.   Buy energy saving appliances- well, mine were bought some time ago and, while I know that these should replaced after a certain number of years, I am not there yet.  I think one of my air conditioners is energy efficient already though. And my refrigerator.  Since I do not use a microwave, toaster, coffee brewer, water heater, and I use the air con very, very sparingly, I think I am still ok.  But, I have to look into this over the next year so I can save for an eventual revamp.

All in all I think this is a very easy list of ways to be kinder to our planet.  I am also pleased that I have already been doing these…so it turns out I haven’t been too irresponsible after all!  Happiness.

I will post about other “going green” suggestions tomorrow.  And, of course, other resolutions for 2013. To quote an individual I admire, “let us be the change we want to see in the world.”

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1 Chronicles 29: 13-15

13“O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name! 14But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! 15We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace.