Archives September 2019

It’s Monday again, and my advice to you this week is one of the more recent sayings of my generation – “You do you, boo.”

We can become overwhelmed trying to figure out how we are going to do everything, and if we are doing said things the correct way, that we sometimes get even more behind! So here’s my take on some of the popular life advice out there and how I think it can fit better into your life:

We frequently hear things we are supposed to be doing, such as — Eat healthy. Meditate. Pray more. Find “Me Time”. Exercise. Ensure our children get 60+ minutes of active play. Make goal lists. Keep our house clean. Become minimalists. Embrace nature. Travel. Read to our kids. Always be striving towards a new challenge.

Look, LIFE is a challenge enough without my now to-do list on how to tackle it correctly!

So let me break it down:

1) Eat Healthy. Don’t get caught up in the latest diet trend trying to figure out what is/is not the right one, or start shoveling anything that says organic into your mouth in an attempt to make yourself feel better. If you’ve been eating like crap, pick up an apple. Slice up some cucumbers. Add some non-greased-up food into your life and check it off the list.

2) Meditate. This doesn’t mean you have to sit down for 20 minutes and then be stressed 20 minutes later that you “wasted” 20 minutes. To one person 20-minutes of calmness might be exactly what they need, and to another it may be popping on headphones and dancing while you check “vacuum the house” off your list.

3) Pray more. I’m bad at this one, and I don’t have much advice to give other than if you believe in some higher being and praying to Him/Her makes you feel better, then yes, get on it. Maybe before you pick up that phone in the morning, or as you close your eyes at night. Seems simple and reasonable enough, doesn’t it? I’ll work on it.

4) Exercise. I think this can tackle “me time” at the same time can’t it? Music in the headphones, daydreaming that you’re an amazing karaoke star shocking everyone you know (Am I the only weirdo that does this?) or watching HGTV on the gym’s treadmill.

5) Ensure our kids get 60+ minutes of active play. Accept that some days this won’t happen. Accept that sometimes you’re running around to appointments. Or that it’s 105* outside and Mom is no mood to feel like a roasted pig. Forgive yourself – and then figure out how this can actually be achieved. Recess at school? Great! Kid goes to an after school sports activity? Perfect! Send him/her out in the yard while you get in your exercise? That works too!

6) Make goal lists. If you know what they are, do not get yourself into a frenzy about not being organized and fancy about your goals. If you know what they are, and whether you’re working to achieve them, and you’re happy with that, then carry on.

7) Keep our house clean. I like to clean on Mondays because the weekend can bring about anything, and if it’s spent at home there’s bound to be dirt and chaos somewhere. Remember you’re making memories in that house, not a catalog photoshoot. Yes, let it look the way you want, with the decor and comfort that makes it feel like your space, but every homeowner has sticky crap on their baseboard from some unknown substance somewhere, so nobody is perfect, and don’t you let anyone tell you otherwise!

8) Become minimalists. I agree that extra unused stuff has got to go, but I am not to be made to feel guilty when I find cute, yet realistically unnecessary fall decor. If you see the pumpkin, want the pumpkin, can afford the pumpkin, don’t let this self-righteous feeling of minimalism make you feel guilty about that pumpkin. Buy it, move on, go box up something at home and donate it. It’s all a give and take, right?

9) Embrace nature. Y’all I love being outside in the sunshine. A cool unexpected breeze is the best. But trekking through the woods not knowing when a snake or other unexpected creature may lurk is not my style, unless I’m with a group of people and one of them can become the victim instead of me. Find the nature that makes you actually enjoy it – me, I love the beach! I can sit there all day and night. But I can’t get there everyday, because I have things to do. Find your nature, and get there when you need to recharge.

10) Travel. Yes it is the best thing in the world to actually see and experience the world, but we all have different budgets and priorities.

11) Read to our kids. Sometimes time is not on our side and those little crazies just need to sleep. I get that parent guilt of not reading to them just before bed – I know it’s real, I feel it! Most nights mine get books, but I have to remind myself that they did read at school. They did get the whole rest of their day tailored to them, and if it’s way past their bedtime, or mom is just DONE, they need to sleep. So push the guilt aside. You’re not alone if you miss a night. If they got it elsewhere, I will say this again – Forgive. Yourself.

12) Always be striving towards a new challenge. If life is currently a challenge for you, don’t add another one. Don’t feel guilty because you’re not studying or training for something. Get what you have going on now in order, then consider adding something later. And if you don’t want to – that’s fine, go find that nature you’re supposed to be seeking, pack a veggie sub, meditate and do some yoga. You’ve got the time, right?

Nobody has the answers on how to do all of this correctly. You do you, boo.

Monday is up there for one of my favorite days of the week. Yes, Monday. I’ve never quite understood the “Monday Blues” thing, but maybe if I was trapped in a job or environment I didn’t want to be in, then I’d get it.

Here we are on another Monday. Another fresh start. Another chance to grab this week by the you-know-whats and make him your you-know-who. (I’m trying not to use foul language here, please tell me you understood that sentence.)

So how does one combating the Monday Blues, start the week off on the right foot and keep the motivation going the rest of the week? Even if you partied too hard, or feel overwhelmed and exhausted – You. Can. Still. Do. This.

Step 1: Make A List (but you may have to rethink how you make that list)

Yes, I know a list is not a new revelation, but I want you to consider how you write that list. Often we put big ticket items on our to-do lists when its the little items that are actually clogging up our brain. We all have those pesky tasks that nag us but never seem important enough to handle. “One day I’ll get to it.” I agree, sometimes life is too busy to sweat the small stuff, but if you’re already sweating it, you’re not going to cool down until it’s handled. If every time you open that guest bedroom closet you groan in annoyance at the clutter, then clear the clutter. Put it on the list and handle it. If something is clogging up space in your mind, you’ll never make room for the big ticket items until it’s done.

Unless something is due by a specific date, make the list for the entire week. This way it allows you the freedom to pick and choose what items you handle each day and you can delight in your productivity as you watch the items be ticked off everyday, instead of mumbling about daily items being carried over to the next day’s tasks.

Step 2: Don’t start Monday off with crappy food choices.

If your health and well-being is a priority in your life, then starting Monday off with terrible food choices is not going to get your mental health started off right. Yes it is highly likely at some point during the week you’ll eat something maybe you could have replaced with a healthier option, but you’re more likely to feel okay with it, to forgive yourself for it, to not have a grumpy attitude about it, if its not on Monday. Grab a piece of fruit, or make an egg white omelette (I’m not against regular eggs, I just think egg whites are easier for omelette flipping) and get your Monday energy a healthy kickstart!

Step 3: Prepare yourself for that “Ah crap!” moment.

Without fail, something always happens that causes an, “Ah crap!” Like you forgot to wash your child’s stinky uniform socks before today’s game. You forgot something was due and you’re currently experiencing a slow technology episode, and you’re five seconds away from throwing an inanimate object across the room. An emergency arises and you “do not have time for this!” It is going to come. Accept it. Own it. Yell incoherent noises if you have to, but when the mayhem is over, it’s over. You cannot allow that one panicked time to completely mess up your positivity and accept defeat. None of that, “Ugh, I give up, maybe next week will be better.” If it’s Wednesday, this week isn’t over, so maybe in an hour life will be calmer again, if you allow it to be.

We all know that so much of life is determined by attitude. To get happy results, we must have a happy outlook. Make your lists. Eat that energizing food. Accept the mayhem when it happens, because it happens to all of us, and keep trucking along. Get that Motivated Monday started, and if Monday sucks, there’s always To-Do-It Tuesday. And if Tuesday sucks too, there’s always Winning Wednesday….