Staying on Track Living in Joy

Hello Dear Friends,

For so many of us the new year come with new promises to our selves.

We try with an open heart and bright big eyes to change an old habit, or to delete old ways of thinking. For some of us it may even feel like an grade school punishment, having to write it out on the chalkboard a hundred times.

I will not over eat.
I will not clutter my closet.
I will not fall behind in my life.

We wake with new energy and a new spark to do better, be better, to move forward all the while we try to never look back. Keeping the momentum going can be a daunting task. Adding yet another action into our overworked and not well rested lives can take the resolution right out of a person.

So, how do we stay on track?  For me, learning a new and wonderful skill takes a bit of time.
I will study and read up on my new task, a little research is an amazing tool,then I get my hands dirty.

I dive in, as I clear the clutter from my bedroom and now closets I take my time, not every chore can or should be finished in a day.
Emotional clutter can be quite difficult to deal with.  We get stuck in the thoughts swimming around our heads, and play the game I remember when. The dress my oldest daughter worn home from the hospital is hanging in this closet.  A box of drawing from Pre-K  to 5th grade is packed away in this closet. A set of towels my Grandmother gave me for my first apartment are in this closet. It's so easy to get lost when we start going down memory lane.

How to stay on Track:

Most of us work a solid eight hour work day, we get paid for a job well done. For you moms who get paid with peanut butter and jelly smiles, here's a shout out for all the amazing hard work you do. I truly miss those days.

My secret is I hire myself. I work on each job as if I were getting paid. A contract if you will to myself. By writing down which room I will be working in, and on which day for how many hours a day, I can keep on track.

I let a ringing phone take a message, I keep the T.V. off so not to get caught in a show as I walk pass. Setting a time for a lunch break helps with time management. I find that filling boxes and bags less stressful when I know that that at the end of my allotted time I will be getting paid.

I work only on one area at a time, closet, bedroom, kitchen and don't bounce from room to room by going back to the task I started the day before I can see a real improvement by weeks end. And knowing that what I donated to a family in need with make a different, now that's a pretty good payment.

Dear Friends, how do you stay on track?

Living with Joy
Rain