Give Me a Lift

I found a letter I wrote to a friend who was have a hard time and I like it.  It is a little picture of my life at the time and how I like to cheer and encourage.

"These are busy days for us since the garden is starting to produce.  Jim planted way more beets than I really want to pickle, but I am working at it.   Our beans are soon ready to be picked and they are a chore, but I do like to have them in the freezer for winter time.  We’ve reworked all our flower gardens and it looks really nice out there, but we do need to continue the weeding or it will be right back where we started.  I think one of the hardest things to do in life is to just do a little at a time to the final goal.  Just 15 minutes in the flower garden every day keeps it mostly weed free and looks nice even if a few little ones are peeking up.  I have been following the flylady for awhile.  I don’t do everything she says, she has a site for organizing your housecleaning.   There are a few things she suggests that I do and like.  One of her main ideas is to take baby steps to conquer anything.   Most people, myself included, when we see a thing that needs to be done, tear into it, get it all or mostly done and get so tired we don’t want to clean anything for a very long time.  She suggests we have a routine and do it and things get clean slowly and then stay clean.  I’m not really following much of a routine at all, but there are a few things I always keep up. Over the last year, some of them are a quick bathroom clean (counter and toilet) three days a week, lay out my clothes at night, tidy up the living room before bed most of the time, and no dishes in the sink at night, and write up menus for supper, some weeks are better than others for that!! She sends out lots of emails and that can be annoying unless you're really into them.  I enjoy reading some of them for inspiration and encouragement, but if I ‘m not in the mood to read them, I just delete them.  I don’t know what it is about the human mind that doing the same thing every day for a long time is to hard.  Some people are better at it than others.  It sure is hard for me. 

A little over a year ago, when I had yet another slightly high cholesterol result, I decided I was going to do something about it without medication, since I had heard stories of the side effects on others.  It rather scared me, too, than my ‘bad’ cholesterol was so high, as were the triglycerides.  So, because of the fear, at first it was easy to quit eating so much sugar and eat salad twice a day and not eat pasta.  The weight just fell off and I was so pleased.  I worked really hard, felt really pleased with myself ( a little much thinking of myself) and when I got the results in a year, my numbers were closer to where they should be.  And then my mind says, “oh, that was good, we can take a vacation!!”  And I did, all winter and gained most of that weight back, could hardly took at a salad, and felt bad for any bragging I had done about how good my self control was.  So, I really ought to get back where I was and I am finding it very hard not to eat some of the things I love.  I really love to eat.  I am only saved by my high metabolism from not weighing 200 pounds!  I don’t know if I am ready to start again, since whatever I do about my eating needs to last the rest of my life.  But I will start with the no bedtime snacks, baby steps, one thing at a time.

I don’t know if the beginning is easier than the middle for you.  But I will think about you at bedtime for sure"

Re-reading this has been very interesting.  I have gained more weight yet, and my metabolism is slowing down more.  This was written a few years ago, and I have decided I need to start again.  I am a little bit worried about my sugar intake this time, but I'm really going baby steps this time. I'm walking at least 25 minutes every day, and thinking about what I'm eating, even if it is things I probably shouldn't.  I need to do a lot more, but I'm not going to think about that yet.  My ultimate goal is eating less sugar and fitness. 

I have a hodge-podge of stuff going through my head this morning.  I'm doing pretty well at my "keeping off the computer and keeping up in the house" mode.  Since I've decided I need to lose a little weight, I've been writing down what I eat.  I still am eating more than I should.  I seem to have no self control most of the time. My mother is on a restrictive diet for a health condition and in order to best control it she is writing down everything she eats and drinks to manage better with fewer attacks.  This morning after annoying everyone after a snoring session last evening by sleeping in my chair, I feel SOMETHING has to be done.  I know I am snoring because I've gained weight.  If she can do it,  if other people can do it, surely I can.  But, can I do it for the rest of my life?  If I knew I would die in two weeks if I didn't, I could do it.  Otherwise....I just seem to go on living like I am going to be living forever and who cares what I eat and whether I exercise or not.  What is it going to take for me to lose weight and to keep it off?  Regular exercise and watching every bite that goes in my mouth?  I don't like to, I don't want to.  But, I'm going to give it a try.  For two weeks, I've kept on my housekeeping schedule, and I'm beginning to feel unhappy if I don't.  I rebel at times, but I'm keeping the most important things done.  There are two reasons I'm doing this.  One, it makes life easier for me, no rushing, no wondering, and two, I'm happier, which makes my family happier.

I'm hoping to have guilt free time to get some photos organized and used, and other computer projects.  So, my staying off the computer is no games and no internet time wasting stuff. I have to time myself though, because too much mouse work hurts my wrist and arm. I'm also cutting back on the knitting, partly because I don't get more important things done first, and partly because it is hurting my arm if I do too much.

I am happier these two weeks, even though we've had a "teenage incident" that caused us much time and stress.   I don't want to be lazy anymore.  I want to live the rest of my life and know that I am living it, not just marking the days or letting them go by in a hurry without me knowing it.

Some of this is Flylady.  That is where I started. It works for me, so I'm going to keep at it.

Just an Ordinary Day

I’m beginning to wonder how weekly columnists manage to think of things to write about.  I wonder how they do it?  Do they write one every week, or write several at a time so they can take a break.  I would love to write things that could be published.  I’m not sure if I want fame or money.  Earlier in my life I wanted people to notice me, but now I think I would like the money.  I enjoy the columns most that are just about real life and they way people live it. Sharon Randall and Lori Clinch come to mind.  They write about very different things, but they write about their own lives, and that is very interesting.  

I really like to read about the ordinary things of life.  How people clean their houses, what they eat for dinner, what they do to entertain themselves, what their kids do that is good, bad and ugly.  I like to read about the days they manage their time well, and the days they don’t.  I like to know how other people’s lives are different from my own.  Life is funny, difficult, boring, lovely, horrible, and a whole lot of other things, too.

So, what has been ordinary about my life today?  Everything, really.  I worked in our office for a couple of hours this morning, went to the post office, the courthouse (it’s the last day of the month, which means vehicle taxes and licensing), the bank and the grocery store.  I came home and washed clothes and dishes.  I wasted two hours reading a book when I should have been dusting and cleaning the bathroom (oh, well, there is always tomorrow). I vacuumed and got supper ready and in the oven with the timer set before school was out. After school pickup we were able to fit in a quick trip to the mall to check out the clearance and sales.  Then supper and a last bit of folding clothes that should have been done earlier but was pushed back because of the reading episode.

It is so nice when I manage a day like this so that I have time to read the paper in the evening instead of doing the finishing up after supper.  I still need to put away the dry dishes before bed. 

I even fit in one not so ordinary things.  I talked to my brother, who needed it.  Family is a lot more important that anything else that is done in my house.