Motivational Monday: The Lenten Edition #1

Today, I'm seeking motivation, like always. After all, it's always harder to get up out of bed on a Monday after an especially soothing Sunday.  And yesterday was especially soothing... I even did manage to get a nap in after our Lenten reading hour.

Today, I'm going to be focusing on serving my family:

• menu planning
• grocery list making
• grocery shopping
• working (paid)

I'm also going to focus on serving God:

• I have yet to read my Lent with the Saints book (it's in the bag with my bible study/RCIA stuff)
• Catching up/getting ahead on my bible study
• Taking care of my family, which of course is how I am called to serve on a daily basis

So as I set to my daily tasks and my extra tasks... how am I motivating myself?  By giving it up to God... or at least that's the plan.  A friend of mine always used to talk about "giving it up" and I never really understood until last Friday.  Why last Friday?  I attended Stations of the Cross with the school kids for the first time since I was a school kid.  

Oh, my word. No I can see why I have zero recollection of my experience as a child.  I'm going to assume because there was a lot of kneeling which for me as a child would have thrown me off-- I would have been figuring out when to do what and hoping I didn't screw up, so I'd be struck by lightening.  Attending Stations on Friday, something clicked.  I was going along with the assistance of one of the teachers, repeating the prayers, kneeling when I was supposed to, singing when I was supposed to... and for the first 3 stations, I was trying to figure things out.  For the next 3 stations, I was mentally bemoaning all the kneeling-- my back hurt and  my knees felt wobbly.  For the next 3 stations, I got really comfortable with the prayers and the motions of the stations.  For the next 3 stations, I was lost in the prayers...   And then somewhere around the 10th Station, something in my head clicked.   My RCIA director has said, either it's true or it's the biggest hoax.  Suddenly, I was filled with the sense that it was not a hoax... people had to have seen this happen. They would have known, even if some crazy people spread the word, how could this rumor persist across the ages.  [Go ahead, say I'm delusional... I'll be enjoying heaven someday... you can go be sorry for saying I'm delusional elsewhere.]  I was further lost in the rhythm and prayer. So much so I looked over my shoulder and was startled to find that Father was standing about 3 feet from me.  I realized I'd lost all sense of where I was until I saw him at the end of Station #14. I watched Father say and participate in the 15th Station of the Cross and felt this bizarre sense of awe at his reverence.  

Did I have an awakening?  I can't say... though in some of my reading about Lent and the New Evangelization of the Catholic Church, there was an Guide to Spiritual Makeover on the Our Sunday Visitor website, that talked about us needing to be evangelized ourselves in order evangelize others.  I think that's what happened... so I needed to share it with you.

My motivation today is simple... how can I complain about the mundane details of being a Mommy, when someone can willingly die on a cross.  And not just any someone, but the Word made Flesh, Jesus Christ. So when I feel like bemoaning my chores, I will give it up to God... not just to God but for God.  

Amen, I say to you, Amen.

Not sure it's motivational, but it is Monday.

Today, I'm overwhelmed by the trail of mess my youngest child has left behind.  She's a Tasmanian Devil (and if you remember the old Looney Toons cartoons... she even makes the noises while she's running around... spitting craft supplies, dolls, paper schnibbles, clothes and mayhem in her wake).  I'm not sure how to get through to her.  She's begun to think that "putting stuff away" means plopping it in the center of the carpet of any given room.  I know she knows where it goes, because when someone says "where are the crayons?" She goes to the aptly named "Craft Cabinet" and looks around.  They aren't there because she's left them in the center of the carpet, but can't see them any more because they are under a pile.

I'm afraid, the only choice I have left is to motivate her by loss.  Yes, loss.  She doesn't care about her things, or our things, so the only choice I have left is to permanently remove them from her.  She was given a blanket this weekend as an early Valentine's gift.  It's in the center of the floor in my living room.  It's mine now.  I just need to find a place to put it to keep it safe (after all it's brand new).

Unfortunately too, the only answer I have left for her today is "No, you may not." I hate saying no to her... it feels like I'm crushing her individuality.  Then again, constantly being frustrated and annoyed with her behavior is probably also not helping her self-esteem.  And really, this isn't about self-esteem, is it?

It's really about respect.  Can she respect herself enough to not be a complete slob?  Can she respect that people have worked hard in order to be able to afford to purchase her the things she has?  She's going to have to learn.  And I'm pretty sure no one is going to like it.

So now, I'm off to motivate myself into grabbing some storage bins to pack up all the stuff she didn't put away.  I should probably steel myself for the wailing and gnashing of teeth... Oh, it's going to be awesome alright!

Motivational Monday #4

It's so easy to be motivated on the 2nd day of the year, isn't it.  Anybody else got the January fizzle going on?  You know... full steam not head?!

If you've ever watched an exercise video, or been in an exercise class, you know that there's the warm up, the work out and the cool down.  Well... if you're watching Richard Simmons.  In the newer workout videos, there's the 2 minute warm up, the workout, and the cool down too.  Now adays, however, it's "cool" to have intensity bursts in the middle of those work outs.  Trust me, my behind is still sore from last week's Turbo Fire!  After those intensity bursts, there can be a "break for water" command issued or a bit of a mini-cool down and lowing of the intensity. 

Life is like that... sometimes we're moving so fast everything is a blur and other times (vacation, perhaps?) is like that cool down period.  In order to be able to keep going we have to speed up and slow down to keep our energy flowing.  So  if you're feeling the fizzle this week, it's okay to have a mini cooldown.  I'm not saying, "Jump of that wagon and hope to heck you can get back on."  Nuh-uh.  I'm saying, "Back away from the tailgate of the wagon and get yourself all cozy up against the side with people to hold you in and relax a bit."

So if the work out/wagon analogies aren't working for you.  Here's a retail one (yeah, we ALL love to shop for something!):  I was in The Gap one time between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  If you've ever shopped there you know, the shelves always look pristine.  Well, they looked more like my daughter's closet after she's looked for "just the right thing" to wear.  As I'm browsing, and oddly very close to the only customer in the store, the manager called out, "Recover." Then all the employees went into action and it looked like a clean up fire drill.  Folding, straightening, rehanging... you get the picture.  I asked one of the employees, "Is there an inspection or something?"  The answer was, "During the Christmas season, there's no point in trying to follow everyone around and straighten up when the store is so full.  So we plan it out, rather than just keep doing it.  It keeps us sane."

This week, let's all call out "Recover" in our lives and spend the time getting things back in line so that  we can keep our sanity and our motivation going.

Motivational Monday #3-- The "I have a Dream" Edition

Welcome... I'll be honest... there will very likely be very little about Martin Luther King Day in this post.  I (perhaps shamefully) added that plug at the top as a sort of acknowledgement of MLK Day.    I don't have anything to say or anything motivating about it... but to DENY that MLK motivated a lot of people to bring about change would would be plain old silliness. 

I have a dream too, but it's not as grand and socially impacting as MLK's.  My dream is a little more focused on my own world... but it's a dream that perhaps wouldn't be possible without others who are socially and politically active.  In order to bring about my dreams, I have to have long-term and short-term goals.  Honestly, my kids are home today, so I don't know how effective my short-term goals will be today. [Tee Hee]

If you can recall back to the first Motivational Monday... I posted my weight as 210 lbs.  Imagine my shock and horror when I got on the scale my first Tipster Tuesday and saw "215.6" as my weight.  Gah... dunno how that happened overnight... but it was disheartening.  I am pleased to say, however, that by following my own advice... I've lost 4 lbs in the last 2 weeks... last night, I weighed 211.4 lbs.  Yeah, it's working... and when you see positive results in working towards a goal, it motivates you to keep doing it.

• Eat food cooked at home... even if you use canned chicken stock here and there, you're still pulling in less preservatives than if you were eating drive thru foods.
• Plan ahead so that the food cooked at home is ready for you... I had DELISH foods this week from the crock pot.  There's nothing nicer after a long day to come home to the scent of cooked food.
• Only 1 caffeinated drink per day-- my lovely cup of morning English Breakfast Tea... it gets me going (and I mean that in more than one way-- eliminating waste is very important to weight loss.  I'm not inclined to look up the statistics but Dr Oz put on his show how much extra weight you carry around just by not going daily or even multiple times a day... yes, you can be FULL of it).
• Water, water, water!  Really, once you start ditching things like soda and sugary drinks... water tastes sooo refreshing.  I attended my Tuesday Mother's Club last week for spa day... and someone had prepared Cucumber Water.  Who knew the taste of cucumbers could be soo refreshing!  You can add fresh fruits and veggies to your water (probably not at the same time) and suck some of that deliciousness out of the fruits and make plain water taste like summer.

I spent too much time this weekend zoning out in bad ways... I like my weekends to be relaxing but when you fiddle too much on the computer... you really have nothing to show for it.  [Note: pinterest doesn't count, ha ha... that's inspiration!]  I've decided to add a new goal... I'm constantly reading about 3-4 books at a time.  [Presently I am reading two "week by week" organizational books, a book on Catholicism and The Bad Beginning (the first in the Series of Unfortunate Events)]  I read multiple books, not solely because I have R-ADD (reading attention deficit disorder, and yes, I just made that up) rather because there are SOOO many books that interest me.  My new goal is to read 1 book, if not 2 a week.  It might seem like a lot, but I'm completely capable of achieving this IF I stop dinking around on the computer too much. [Note: Blogging doesn't count either... it's about being AWESOME].

Well, I don't know if you're motivated by this... but I certainly am... Did you write out your goals... Do you feel like you need to adjust your goals?  Do you have things you can already tweak to make your goals more realistic or come to fruition?  What is stopping you from doing these things? 

Motivational Monday-- The Interview

Today's "BIG" surprise is my first ever interview.  Not just on the Awesomeness Campaign Blog, but I mean, EVER.  I've never interviewed someone before.  Frankly, I've never taken a journalism class, so uhm, bear with me.  Focus on the content and not the technique please.

Today's interviewee: Dodi Wheeler

Why?  Dodi and I met several years ago when we both enrolled our kids in preschool.  Unfortunately, our kids were in different classes so we mostly saw each other at board meetings.  Dodi has always, always been a draw for me.  Meaning, I've always wanted to sit next to her and talk longer.  She's got this radiating joy coming from her and she's just always "into" something.  When I say "into" something, I really should say "up to" something... and I don't mean that in a bad way.  She's just always seemed intriguing.  I always want to know what she's "up to lately."  That said, let's see if I can capture and share some of this essence with you.

Firstly, Dodi, I want to thank you for being my first interviewee.  I loved your enthusiastic response to my request. "I am the perfect candidate."  Can you elaborate on what makes you so "perfect," because I know you well enough to say it's not your ego talking?  Can you tell me a bit about your family/self?

I think I'm you're perfect candidate because I actually I believe I have the least amount of potential.  I'll be the first to tell  you I don't have the time nor the energy to exercise.  With Three kids and a husband there are far greater priorities than myself in my life.  Getting up early to exercise... I can't exercise early, because my husband has to be at work early and by the time he gets home, our family commitments take over.  I'm lucky to be in bed by 11 with the dishes done and the back packs ready to go.  I think this is a reflection of a lot of people who intend to change their lives, intend to exercise, intend to get fit and don't get it.  I'm tired, I'm rushed, I'm hurried.  I'm representative of a lot of people.

Can you talk more about where you find your strong motivation? 

I'm very firm that I don't think it's motivation.  I'm a big believer in Dr Laura Schlesinger who said, "Motivation is a joke. If you wait for it, it will never happen."  It's all about planning and executing.  You just have to do it. You have to walk out of your kitchen with dishes in your sink, your family protesting, and put your shoes on and go.  My goal is the 5K, so I went to the couch to 5K.  I printed out the directions  and tacked it to the bulletin board-- it tells me what to do three times a week.  Also telling people about  it makes you a real schmuck if you don't follow through.  It's accountability.

I want to ask you a bit about your at-home business, is that all right?  I was always fascinated by your Facebook posts that would proclaim how late you'd be up getting ready for the orders... honestly, how do you function after a night like that?  My kids wake me up once in the night and I'm done for the week.

I didn't.  It was all consuming.  It was an opportunity to generate income for my family and I felt it was wrong to decline those opportunities.  I was spending 40-50 hours a week preparing for these opportunities and I still have one daughter at home.  I wasn't able to give my daughter my time.  I'm proud to be a stay at home Mom and I'm proud to be able to generate income for the family.  I was giving the cakes my all and not my family.  I was focusing as much time on three orders as I did a dozen.  I felt as though it was an all or nothing situation.  The more my schedule opened up as I scaled back, the more things would happen that would validate my idea that I needed to scale back some.  If I would put myself ahead of the business and prioritize myself and my health, it seemed it was the right way to do things. 

So let's talk about this couch potato to 5K business... how do you schedule it in?

It is very common... you can go toFrom Couch to 5K... google it, print it out and it will start you on a 9 week program.  You can get off your couch, walk out your front door and in 9 weeks you will be fit enough to run a 5K.  For example, you work out 3 times a week... you start out walking for 5 minutes, then running for 60 seconds, then walking for 90 seconds... you do that for 20 minutes and boom you're done.

When I decided, last Friday, to do it... I printed out the program and it turns out as I wrote on my calendar, my 5K program ends on March 9 and the 5K I signed up for is on March 11th.  Things like that keep happening that are an affirmation that I'm doing the right thing.  It's very liberating. 

Okay, so one last thing... how does being Awesome factor in to all of this?

I think awesomeness is an over-used phrase; we say a home run or a great movie is awesome, but in truth, I believe awesome is something that amazes and even humbles you to the core - something you are in great and nearly numbing admiration of. When I think about motivation, and our potentials and abilities, there comes a moment, and I think it has to be a quiet moment, when we just finally breathe and we realize we are something more than we gave ourselves credit for. And when you finally realize there is more to you than just a body, and you sort of look at yourself from the outside in, you start to realize the chance or change was there all the time - the barriers just start to fall away and you're revealed in all your glory - and the possibilities are endless. That is awesome. But you have to clear a path or it, you have to unclutter your life to be open to it. In my opinion, to say you're awesome means you've realized you're full of potential and you're blissfully ready to embrace it.

Wow, thanks Dodi!  You've completely captured the essence of Awesomeness!  I hope all my readers will be able to find some inspiration here.

Motivational Monday

Yes, I'm posting twice today... gotta start the new year on the right foot.  I'd hate for you to be missing your motivation on the first Monday of the year.  Today's motivation focuses on Getting Going with a Great Awesome Year!

• So, I hear it's National Weigh In Day... so if you're starting a diet... today's the day to weigh in.  I weighed in at a whopping 205.6 lbs.  That sounds outrageous... but I actually lost 5 lbs over the holidays.  Mostly because I got the stomach flu just days before Christmas... kinda kept my eating to a minimum.  As far as motivation goes-- the fact that I thought I heard the scale groan was enough.  Consequently, we're having Thinner Thursdays... you've made it part-way through the week and we need a boost for the weekend.  Dare I weigh in for more motivation next Monday?
• I'm a huge fan of Tip Junkie and today she posted some great motivational/organizing tips.  Here are a few I thought were extra nifty that linked off her page:
• Weekly Goal Planning Worksheet -- if you have been an early adopter on the Facebook Page, you may have posted your monthly goals (or seen  mine)... well I thought this print off was a quick and easy way to do your own.  [Save it to your harddrive and print off a few copies for each month... so you can keep it going].
• My Simpler Life 2012 Declutter Calendar-- if you want a daily mission this is the way to do it...
• Note to School-- i've used a different format for about 2 years and I have gotten feedback from the school office that they LOVE it... it's very obvious what I need them to know.  Print off a few and have them good to go (of course if you homeschool... you could use this to inform your spouse of something... LOL!).

Alright... that's enough organizational online links for one day.  I'm also using 2 books, Organize Now: A Week-by-Week Guide to Simplify Your Space AND Your Life by Jennifer Ford Berry [which my sister gave me] and The Clutter Diet by Laurie Marrero [which I've had my eye on for about 2 years-- but finally gave myself permission to buy it on my Kindle because it was under $5]. 

Look for my first tips on Tipster Tuesday.