Do you get enough? Do you crave it? If you crave it, you don’t get enough. I know there have been times in my life when I absolutely CRAVED solitude…usually around the times that I had a needy newborn and was running ragged. But, my experience is that solitude is not a want, but rather, a need.

When you have time alone, you are able to:

Think
Get to know yourself
Create
Unwind and kick back
Reflect
Hear your inner voice

Optimally, everyone should have enough solitude that they do not feel compelled to squander it in busyness. Quality solitude will rejuvenate and renew. If you spend your solitude running around trying to get things done, you will not be renewed when your solitude ends and you will be left feeling unfulfilled and unsatisfied.

Find a way to get some solitude each day. For me, solitude is more important than sleep. Although I dearly love my bed, I think I love solitude more. I am willing to get up at 6 am to get an hour of peace before kids start to get up. This is arguably one of the best parts of my day and I’m not sure what I’d do without it.

So…do you get enough solitude? Is it worth it to you to carve out some solitude out of each day? I heartily recommend you give it a try.

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Well…not me right now, being pregnant and all. I’m really not one for diet pills anyway even when I do have baby weight to lose (which I’m not looking forward to). Not sure if I would ever work up the courage to try something like Lipofuze or not. While they sound all well and good…I dunno…I’m an old fashioned girl at heart and we old-time girls have a hard time wrapping our brains around new fangled things.

I will just say that I am eagerly anticipating getting out in the garden…even with this huge belly…and tending the vegies that will nourish my family this summer. There is nothing like it. I also LOVE watching the kids thrive as their diets become centered around whole and raw seasonal vegetables.

Yep…it’s the way God intended it to be.

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I am sitting here in a completely quiet house. Hubby has taken the kids on a bike ride and they will probably be gone for at least an hour. Doesn’t sound like a long time does it? Well…no, it’s not…but it’s amazing how I can recharge in as little as an hour.

I’m going to finish this post and then putter around the house for a bit. Puttering is one of my favorite pastimes when I have extra time. I rearrange trinkets, do a little clutter control, restore a little order…and all the while I can be alone with my thoughts without anyone intruding or wanting something from me.

I like my solitude in complete silence…probably because I am so often barraged with noise when the kids are around. I don’t need music or any background noise at all to feel completely at peace. I used to be a background noise person, but all that changed when the house filled up with people, I guess.

When I finish my puttering, I will probably curl up with cross stitch and try to get 15 or 20 minutes of cross stitching done on my sampler. I will consider that a beneficial hour of solitude.

How do you spend your solitude?

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Do you pamper yourself? If so…bravo! If not…why not?

For me, there is nothing so rejuvenating as a special scent, luxurious lotion, spending a few extra moments in the bathroom after a leisurely shower and doing my nails or giving my heels some attention. I’m past the stage for acnepril, but if I needed it, I would do it!

It only takes a moment or two to make yourself feel a little special…a little pampered…a little pretty. Time well spent. No, I don’t do it every day…and no…it doesn’t have to be extravagant or expensive…but I do something special at least twice per week.

So…try it! Pampering would make a great new habit!

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OK – so we’ve discussed some of the warning signs of being too busy and the problems this creates in one’s life. Ready to leave this lifestyle behind?

The first step is to admit that things have gotten out of control. You likely did this when you read the last post…right? Good!

You do have choices; however, and choosing to slow down and create a balance in your life is a reasonable choice and wise choice.

Spend a short time visualizing a time in your life when you were not overwhelmed with busyness. Think back to what it felt like. It felt good…right?

Now it’s time to plan how you are going to achieve this calm and serene feeling in your life. Redesign your life so it encompasses only the things you choose for it to include. Remove every single thing you don’t love or want. You can do this!

With happiness as your goal, you have the motivation to make these changes.

Begin to conquer the physical clutter around your spaces. Remove things that are unnecessary because these things lead to stress…whether you realize it or not. Once you make a dent in the physical clutter, start getting rid of the obligations that clutter your time. Delegate where you can and where you cannot delegate, you must ruthlessly eliminate the things you no longer wish to include in your life. Make sure your priorities are in order. Don’t forget about yourself as your whittle down your obligations. For example, if you have always wanted to take a crafting class, prioritize this in place of something you want to remove from your list of obligations. When you reassess your priorities, you suddenly have time for things like this.

OK – chew on those things for a bit…next time: making your home a sanctuary from the crazy world.

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Have you noticed that our society seems to be obsessed with being “busy?” You cannot be too busy, it seems…and people even enjoy topping each other to see who gets the title of “Busiest.” BUSY is the new status symbol that gives people an instant lift of self-esteem. They are SOMEone if they do not have enough hours in the day.

Well…the bad news (you knew there was some) is that this hyper speed will inevitably lead to burn-out. The elevated stress may lead to sleep problems, headaches, digestive problems and even serious health issues over time.

So…time to take stock. Is it possible you are TOO busy for optimal productivity and happiness?

Are you constantly multitasking?
Do you lose items often?
Are you missing important family events?
Are you becoming increasingly short tempered?
Do you use caffeine to fight fatigue often?
Do you get frequent headaches or other physical signs of stress?
Do you skip exercise because you are too busy?
Are you phasing out hobbies you used to enjoy because you don’t have time?

Yes answers to these questions may indicate your life is moving too fast.

Being too busy has to cut somewhere…and this is often found in a key area of your life. Family, health, career, spirituality, home…do you see this evident in your life?

If this seems to fit for you, come back next time and we will begin to explore how to rebalance a life that is TOO busy.

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So…one week into the New Year…how are your resolutions going? You did make at least one…didn’t you? I’m assuming you did and I’m also going to go out on a limb and assume it had something to do with getting healthier or looking more fit.

How are you going about accomplishing this? Have you been out shopping for treadmills yet? Or…are you hitting the exercise DVD every day (Shred anyone?)?

You must have a plan to succeed. No plan is a plan to fail. Don’t make it fancy or complex…but do make some sort of a game plan to accomplish your goal. Even it if is simply blocking out 30 minutes some time every day to make your New Year’s resolution happen.

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Have you studied your face lately? I mean…really studied it? I’ll prepare you…if you are anywhere near 40, you probably won’t be entirely jazzed about what you see when you take a moment to really study your face.

But then…you need to consider all of the experiences and wisdom you have added along with those wrinkles. Wrinkle cream may ease those tiny lines…but it cannot take away the hard earned lessons you’ve learned over the years. It cannot steal from you the memories that make you who you are today.

I know the wrinkles are not all that pleasant to find…but they are hard-earned. The laugh lines speak volumes about a happy and content life. The worry lines are a testament to the hard times you’ve survived. Consider the wrinkles a road map and an outline of…YOU!

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Anyone else suffering anxiety lately? I’m putting my hand up. Let’s face it…economic woes all by themselves have many of us worried and anxious. I also have teenagers. That should be self-explanatory. One of my teenagers is embarking on his first year of college…’nuf said, right? I also have many younger children at various stages of childhood. It’s enough to make it necessary for me to take long pauses several times during the day to make sure I’m still on top of my game.

Exploring anxiety…we are programmed to feel anxiety because it helps keep us safe and productive. Anxiety is an internal reaction to stress. It is when anxiety becomes a chronic negative mindset that problems arise. We can train ourselves to respond to stress in a positive way instead of a negative way.

We can compare anxiety to a mild physical ache that we sometimes feel when we are tired. Anxiety is actually a mild fear. Often we cannot even pinpoint the exact cause of anxiety. Anxiety is pervasive and fear has a definite source.

When we are confronted and feel fear, we respond in one of three ways: fight, flight, or freeze. Let’s plug these responses in to how we deal with anxiety.

Fight: When we are fighting anxiety, we tend to feel irritable and often are short and impatient with those around us. Often we don’t even understand why we feel irritable, but it is usually coming from feeling anxious.

Flight: Often people feeling anxious try to avoid what makes them anxious. They don’t want to think about it or talk about it.

Freeze: Does procrastination sound familiar? Often people feel frozen and unable to accomplish things that need to be done when they are feeling anxious.

Self-doubts, worry about the future, fear of failure, and high self-expectations are all common threads among people struggling with anxiety.

Sooo…what to do about it? How to transform anxiety into something productive and positive? Here are some suggestions:

1. Simplify everything you can. Pare down and get down to the bare bones in life. Eliminate as much of the “fluff” as you can.
2. Keep a complete calendar and list of everything you have to do and all appointments. Trying to carry all this information around in your head adds to frustration and a “muddled” feeling. Let it go, get it out of your brain, and record it somewhere else!
3. Relax when you feel stressed. Make a conscious effort to take deep breaths and physically relax your body.

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How’s this for simple fat burners?

I was just reading about how celery actually takes more calories to chew and digest it than it contains. This photo supposedly contains approximately 200 calories of celery. Now, if I were to eat that much celery, it would probably take me all day. That, in itself, would be quite an effective fat burner.

I’m all about all natural fat burners. What do you say?

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