Words of Comfort

Last night, as I was wrapping it up for the evening and heading off to bed, I thought about all of the stuff I’d gotten done. Emptied trash cans, laundry, dishes, and my home office. Yup, it being the first of February, I started organizing my home office. No file cabinet yet, but I do own some file boxes and they use hanging folders just as well as the cabinet does so that was an easy temporary fix for me. I just kept going last night. Every time I hesitated over doing something I thought about all of the books I’ve been reading lately that urge you to finish what remains unfinished and to take care of things now, not tomorrow. Why put off to tomorrow what you can do today, Mutant? Why!? Because you’re tired? But don’t you forget: “Clutter accumulates when energy stagnates and energy stagnates when clutter accumulates!.” I think bees buzz because they’re chanting little motivational things to themselves the way I was last night. But I was proud of myself. Because I didn’t put a lot off to tomorrow and I took care of a lot of things I had put off yesterday (and the day before that and the week before that and the month before that and the year before that).

Another reason I went to bed feeling quite good was thanks to yet another book, the one I’m reading now: Your Money or Your Life. Do you see why you need to read? Reading is so important and powerful! Anyways, back to feeling good. So, I’m still early in the book and had just finished reading the part about the Inventory. Basically, as a way to really grasp what your assets are, he recommends inventorying absolutely everything you own. It’s also a good way to appreciate what you’ve been able to bring into your life so far. So, I lay in bed and started thinking about it and wow, I was impressed! Especially at the volume of things that have been given to me for free thanks to friends and family. And so I’m encouraged by this to keep giving. And that’s where I’m going to focus. I’m not exactly ridding my life of “clutter” (always hated that word), I’m finding things to give away so I can pay forward the millions of kindnesses that I have been blessed with. It just so happens that this process also greatly reduces the things that clutter my house, making it difficult to keep a clean, welcoming, and productive environment.

Positive, positive, positive. It’s something you have to work at and it’s not always the most obvious (I’m still trying to find the positive spin on the fact my soup exploded inside my lunchbox and all over my strawberries this morning).

One mantra I’ve been repeating for a few months now is “Do what you love, love what you do.” But really, I find myself sticking to the last part of the phrase: “Love what you do.” It’s not just about your work-life, it’s so much more. When you love everything you do, it’s because you’re conscious of what you’re doing. You’re lifting yourself out of the fog of everyday life– the automatic daily responses that are stacked millions upon millions. On the money front, lots of people talk about Conscious Spending and I think that’s a big step to Conscious Living. I wrote about this in the comments to Adam Baker’s post about his own inventory which I read, funny enough, today. Think about how many times you’ve suddenly realized you’re driving and yet you don’t remember anything about the last five, ten, twenty, forty minutes of your drive. You know there’s this one traffic circle you go through every morning but you can’t remember going through it and yet, you must have because you’re on the same route you take every day. What happened? How many times have we wandered into a room and suddenly wondered, “What did I come here for?” Or you start doing something only to suddenly exclaim, “Oh my gosh, I totally forgot to finish this other thing I was doing!” and you drop what you’re doing and run back to the other thing. That’s not Conscious Living. That’s just moving through life.

It’s incredibly powerful to understand not just how much control you can exert over your life but how much your daily actions impact not just your future life but the lives of those around you. I mentioned yesterday how it all fits together– the money, the home, the body, the relationships, the career, etc. It’s because these things are our lives. And I am starting to understand that when any of these things are a mess, they never operate on a singular level. In other words, usually one thing isn’t the only problem– is it? We say “When it rains, it pours” for a reason, don’t we? And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that when you start really fixing one thing, you either get the itch to fix another or you notice it starts fixing itself. Wholly healthy folks lead healthy lives because of conscious healthy decisions. After all, if you really start paying attention to what you are doing, you’re less likely to choose detrimental options. Because, even though we sometimes beg otherwise, we are human beings. And human beings are into self-preservation as much as any other animal.

By the way, one conscious decision I’m super happy I made? Making these amazingly delicious Pillow cookies I saw on Maytina’s site. Mine may look more flying saucerish than pillowy but I can guarantee they are AMAZING. What is not to love about chocolate chip cookie covered brownies, people? And if you’re awesome and lazy in the kitchen like me, know I successfully made these with boxed brownie mix and refrigerated cookie dough (much to Maytina’s chagrin). My entire plate of twelve disappeared in one evening and I only had two!