We spent the weekend in St. Louis. It was fun, as always. When we first drove up, Aunt Eve enthusiastically showed us the Mother's Day gift her kids, Gary and Robin, had given her this year. Instead of the usual candy or perfume etc., they decided that Aunt Eve needed a lovely garden to surround her when she drinks her coffee in the morning. In the area surrounding their patio, they used to have a boundary of large, unruly overgrown bushes.
They ripped the old bushes out, and it was a long process, because the bushes had deep roots. They had to get a stump pulverizer or something like that from the rental store and then haul away all those old bushes.
When all the brush was cleared and new topsoil brought in, they planned and planted a lovely garden, with plants that will bloom every year. Nice!! She loves her garden. I thought it was so sweet that they thought long and hard about what she would really want and put their attention into giving her something this thoughtful and special.
I need to start putting more thought into the gifts that I give this year. How can I make them memorable and special? And what can I give to myself and my family, simple changes I could make that would make a world of difference in the enjoyment of our home environment? Interesting to consider.
10 Weeks of Changes and New Beginnings Report. (My week runs from Sunday to Sunday):
I looked over my list that I made last week and I think it may need some tweaking.
Choose one Habit: Yes, it's the treadmill and that's a good one and a necessary one for me. I wanted to do the treadmill every single day for 20 minutes. I accomplished 5 days - but then we went to St. Louis over the weekend and didn't do any exercise there. But I think getting on the treadmill and aiming for a daily form of exercise if something I need to really strive for in order to get in any at all - because this exercise habit is one of my most challenging healthy habits to develop.
Choose one luxury: I chose taking bubble baths twice a week. But I think I need a different luxury choice each week because part of what is a luxury to me is variety!! For this week, I am going to mediate every morning for a few minutes and visualize positive results. I need to do more positive self-talk and I think meditation and visualization will help uplift my attitude.
Decluttering: I finished the decluttering last week of my yarn stash. I'm so proud of myself. I gave, sold or otherwise ridded myself of the yarn in my stash that I didn't truly love. I also made a list of knitting projects I want to knit, most of which I LOVE and had forgotten about. So I feel really good about the destashing.
For next week: decluttering will be my bathroom. I want to clean out under the sink and in the drawers and get rid of all the old products that I haven't used since the last Ice Age.
A project I'd like to work on: Finish knitting my brown lacey tee.
3 comments:
Ok, it's my experience that you already are a great gift-giver, no improvement necessary. :)
A garden is the most wonderful and thoughtful gift I've ever heard of. What a wonderful story!
Here's a hint for "positive self-talk." Pick a song that has words which make you feel good about yourself. Whenever you find yourself thinking crummy things or singing downer songs, stop and substitute that song. Make it your theme song, and be OK about changing songs if your needs changed.
Before my divorce (1980s) I always seemed to sing "I'd rather be blue over you than be happy with somebody else" and I realized that had to change. I substituted "I'm the greatest star" (also from the film Funny Girl/both old 1920s Fanny Brice songs).
I know that intentionally switching gears in the middle of the downer thoughts, really helped me. Perhaps that information would help you as well.
Lynn, this is so funny that you commented on this on the same day I was listening to your music - see my next entry ("Music is Good for the Soul" for more details).
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