Buying With Good Intentions

The annual decluttering begins. Right after Christmas I always feel a great need to dejunk my home and my life. I know it has a lot to do with the excess of Christmas and the start of a new year and wanting to get a fresh new start. As I decided to start with my kitchen and getting rid of and reorganizing, I was looking at my collection of cookbooks that have gradually diminished from my past dejunking pursuits and realized it is time to really clear out. I must accept the fact that I buy and save recipe books with good intentions. I must think, if I buy it I will cook it. No. Now is the time to really face the truth and realize that instead of just cooking, I keep distracting myself with the good intention of buying, accumulating, and saving. Besides, instead of distracting myself with cookbooks, I can now distract myself with pinning recipes.

Perfectionism

I have given up the goal of trying to have things perfect, and an interesting thing has happened. I now just work hard and find that in the end, things just seem like they were perfect. Take for example, this last Christmas Day. I worked hard but gave up the idea that it had to be perfect; but when the day was over, it felt like it had been perfect. Same thing happened with my daughter's wedding. I now get it that nothing will ever be perfect in this world and giving up on that quest allows for it to seem perfect in its imperfection. The goal that is achievable is just being creative, working hard, and enjoying the process. Doing all of that makes it seem perfect even if it isn't. Goodbye perfectionism, hello satisfaction.

Prayer

Some things are just so much easier than I have realized. I use to think that it would take so much work trying to "fix" someone when all I need to do is pray for them. Is all I have to do is love and be a good example and then pray that Heavenly Father will fix things. Some lessons come late and I am reminded that I have been in the spiritual remedial class, but then it helps me know how truly patient my Father is with me and helps me remember how patient I need to be with others. We are here to learn from our experiences and for someone as clueless and slow as me, the experiences have to be all the more dramatic to get my attention. At this Christmas time I am even more appreciative of my Savior and His loving, patient example.

A Town Like Alice

Every once in awhile I am reminded of lessons I learned from good books. One of those lessons was from this book, A Town Like Alice. What had the biggest impact on me was how the main character couldn't actually live in the town called Alice, and so she worked hard at creating her own town to be like Alice. Often I look at someone's circumstances and wish I could live like that. This book reminds me that I can make my own circumstances more of what I want them to be. It really is up to me. I have to keep reminding myself.

Pray for a Miracle

I was talking with a good friend and she was sharing how important it is that we sometimes just pray for a miracle. I know that miracles can change everything, so I prayed for one and realized that the miracle I need is to change me. I am asking that I can have the kind of unconditional love, understanding, and compassion that my Savior has. Now that's would be a much needed miracle.

Church Cancelled

One of the most interesting blessings of the storm came a couple of days later when church was cancelled and neighbors were encouraged to help each other clean up before the next scheduled storm that was suppose to come later that night. The blessing wasn't in the fact that we didn't have to go to church but in the benefit of giving and receiving service that was shared in the next week's church service.

I have to say that I missed out on all the work because I was attending my granddaughter's blessing and dinner celebration in an area that wasn't so affected by the storms so their church wasn't cancelled. I know I was where I should have been and wanted to be and loved hearing my son give his daughter a beautiful blessing and enjoyed socializing at the dinner in their home, and in my imagination I could also feel the emotional experience and fun my home ward was having as they helped each other clean up from the storm. I felt the double blessing of being with my family and then feeling the emotions of my ward family as they experienced a unique opportunity.

I find it interesting that the scheduled storm that was suppose to come later that Sunday never came. Something to think about...

Benefit of the Storm

For those that don't live on the Wasatch Front, you are probably unaware of the big storm that we had more than a week ago that created a lot of damage and left us without power for an entire day. I now want to reflect on the good that came out of that terrible storm.

1. I have new appreciation for electricity. How many times I would keep trying to switch on a light during that day only to have to remember, "Oh yea, we don't have power" or longed to use an appliance and realized how much I have taken it for granted.

2. I have new appreciation for firemen. At just the moment I was lamenting that I would be stranded for at least 24 hours before our lawn care could come and remove the downed tree that blocked our entire driveway, a fire truck pulled up and came to the door to ask if I wanted them to cut it up and move it. I didn't know they offered that service and I was so grateful that they showed up so quickly.

3. I have new appreciation for my lawn care serviceman, Dan. I appreciate how quickly he came to our rescue and spent an entire day and night here cleaning up the mess of several trees that fell, and his thoughtful concern of wanting to be fair and honest with us. I am thankful that I can completely trust him and for his hard work in servicing us so well.

4. I have new appreciation for a home that I can feel safe and secure in and for the comforts that I feel even when the winds were blowing so intensely outside.

5. I have a new appreciation for a ward family and for a good Bishop who reached out to his flock to offer support and direction, and for other ward members who were reaching out. It is nice to have such a great support system that is right in the neighborhood.

5. I have new appreciation for the crews of our power company and their hard work and diligence in restoring power. I appreciate the families of those employees that sacrificed for the good of the community.

6. I have greater commitment to get better prepared in case a real tragedy occurs. I am going to buy that generator that in times of calm, I am not motivated to acquire. This has been a great reminder of how important preparation is.

Lately I have been given great opportunity for increased appreciation for the little things that I can so easily take for granted. I will always look at a "storm" as being a reminder of being grateful and being prepared.

Get Real!

I was just indulging in my new addiction--looking at pinterest, and something hit me hard. I need to get real. I am looking at the instructions to make snowflake marshmallows and realized, "Tanya, you need to get real--you are never going to make those!"

I need to accept the fact that there are some many wonderful ideas out there that I want to do but won't. It started years ago when I would see a dress pattern and fabric (this was in the dark ages when i use to sew) and actually think I was going to make it. No, I would get as far as cutting it out and then lose motivation and interest. The story of my life.

So now, I am going to see great ideas and say, "Get Real," and just enjoy it and don't even expect that I will do it. There's a lot less guilt that way.

Traditions Revisited

Today I took most of my grandchildren to do something that I would always take their parents to do. We went to the Dickens Festival and had their pictures taken with this real Santa Claus. He is the same Santa that we had the pictures taken with so long ago. He is absolutely adorable and so cute with the kids. They also made the candles just like their parents made when they were little. It makes me realize that special times are never really over; they just get recycled.

P.S.When my one grandson said that he was a different Santa than the one that came to his preschool (bright kid), we just told him the same thing I would tell my kids. The other Santas are just helpers, but this is the real Santa.

Limiting Beliefs

I have been doing a lot of swimming. At one time I had this belief that I could never swim without nose plugs. I am sure glad I got over the need for that unattractive apparatus. I mean a cap and goggles are unflattering enough without adding little pinchers on my nose.

I also had this belief that I couldn't swim long distances doing the American Crawl because it was hard to reach up over my head for too long, and I preferred to swim the breast stroke. Now I have overcome that limiting belief. It sure feels good to overcome some stupid belief that I have let hold me back. Is it possible to get rid of the limiting belief that I can't sing? I better not push my luck.