Fall Down Seven Times Get Up Eight

Houston We Have A Problem...the last checklist is the Do Do List!

Okay let's be clear...raise your hand if you don't have some DoDo swirling around in your head! 

Okay one of you...   :)   ...that's great for you but the rest of us it's there.  And it can cloud everything else we are trying to see.

DoDo is just bad stuff that has happened that you can't for some reason let go of.  I have it and it comes up sometimes when I least expect it.

So here's my idea...use a checklist for DoDo stuff.  Then for each thing you list write down how it makes you feel.  Then write down what you get out of feeling that way.  BE HONEST!  That can be the hard part.

Maybe you like being a victim.  Maybe you like people feeling sorry for you.  Maybe you like feeling sorry for yourself.  Maybe you get fueled by anger.  I don't know.  Sometimes I don't know that for myself.  But what I do know is that until I clear out the DoDo List it will keep clouding my vision.  And I for one am making a commitment to see clearer every day.  Care to join me?

Tomorrow...what these checklists can mean for us.

Houston We Have a Problem...the checklist continues with Long Past Due.

When you are making your checklists to run through so you can figure out why you are feeling unsettled...a very uncomfortable checklist can be Long Past Due.

Long Past Due covers things you know you have to do but for some reason you put them off.

You think you are ignoring them when it fact they are like little mosquitoes that keep coming at you.  You may swat them away...but they ccccoooommmeeee back! Time after time until you finally get them done.

I have some reports I need to do every year and for the last few years I have been late.  I don't understand what my problem is to getting them in on time.  When I sit down and do them they take less than five hours.  Yet I put them off...it bothers me...yet not enough to get them in on time.  My goal this year is to break that cycle. To get them done before the deadline.  That's my goal.  And as the person I deliver them to faints from the shock...I shall have a smile on my face when she comes to :) !!

So what do you put off?  What does it cost you?

Tomorrow our last checklist: Your Do Do List

 

Houston We Have Problem...the checklist continues.

We are going through our checklist...just like the astronauts who radio back to Houston that they have a problem.

Something doesn't feel right...grab your checklist and work your way through the list.

Today's category: Scared To Do.

What's swirling around your head that you are scared to do?  Write it down!  Really....write it down. Simply the process of writing something down is clarifying and can make something less scary.

Once you write it down.  Look at each thing you wrote down and write down what it the worst thing that can happen if you deal with it.  The worst.  Now realise that the chances are that...the worst...happening is slim.  Sometime the worst is not even reasonable. 

Here's an example.  You have to make a phone call that you don't want to.  You believe the person will yell and scream at you and come right through the phone.

Okay...take a step back.  They cannot come through the phone.  They simply would not fit! Could they yell? Yes they could.  Do you have to stay on the phone and take their abuse.  Ah...NO you don't. 

You simply say, "Call me back when you have calmed down so we can have a reasonable conversation.  I look forward to hearing from you." 

Okay that last part is optional :) but you get the idea. 

Is it easy to deal with scary stuff. Hell no! But it's doable.  I have a few things on my Scared To Do list...so you are not alone. Let's promise each other that we tackle one thing.  Just one in the next 24 hours...I pinkie wear I will work on one of mine before the day is over. You?

Tomorrow...The Long Past Due Category.

 

Houston We have a problem...the checklist continues.

Things don't feel right.  Something is a miss so just like astronauts who have alerted Houston We have a problem we are going through our checklist.

Today's category:  Want To Dos:

Pull out your paper and make a list of what you Want To Do. Having things swirl around your head that you want but you are making no progress towards them can make you feel restless and at some point resentful. 

Here's a big first step...write them down.  Writing things down make them more real. Gives them texture and they can start to take shape the more details you include.

Example...you want to take a trip.  Lord that could mean to the grocery store.  Write where you want to go.  Where do you see yourself?  More descriptive the better.

Letting them simply swirl and clutter your thinking gives them no chance to come forward.  They are stuck in unfulfilled land and they deserve much more than that. :)

Tomorrow we tackle Sacred To Do.

It's a snow day and I am taking a thinking break.

I am taking a thinking break today.  There were storm warnings out and when I left the house to run some errands the sky was clear.  By the time I left one store the snow was coming down.

What's a person to do on a snowy Sunday?  My idea...nothing but sit with your dog and watch a movie.  Everything will be there tomorrow...of that I am sure.

So no heavy lifting today in the thinking department...may you be as blessed. :)

Houston we have a problem...checking the list!

When they have a problem in their spaceship the astronauts go through a check list to see where the problem is...I suggest we can order stuff into "check lists"  in our lives so we can see where our problems may be too.

Yesterday I said we should take out a piece of paper and write down everything that is flying around in our heads. Put things in catagories.

First catagory:  Need to do.

What do you need to do?  Sounds simple but are there things on your list that you need to do that trip you up because you don't get them done?

Let me ask you...have you ever bought more underwear because you didn't get to the laundry?  I thought so...I was the one in line behind you! :)

Solutions...look at your Need to Dos.   Can you lump some togther and devote a certain period of time once a day, once a week to do them? Really hate something? Can you barter with someone else to do your "I hate it" and you do theirs?

Years ago I had trouble mowing my lawn.  I coud never get the darn thing started with that pull string.  My neighbor came over every time to start it.  Finally I said I will give you my lawn mower if you mow my lawn along with yours.  Plus I will throw in cookies :)  ...

WIN-WIN!  Cool looking lawn and I like to bake!

So look at your Need to Do list...what can you do with it?

Tomorrow our Want to Do list.

Houston we have a problem.

That's what was going through my head this morning while I was making coffee...Houston we have a problem.

That is the message that comes back from space when an issue pops up...or at least that's what happened in the movie Apollo 13 :) so that's real right?!  LOL...

Well it was real this morning.  I have so many thoughts swirling around in my head...ah... it's a problem. So in space talk we have to get to ground zero...is that space talk?

And how do you get to ground zero?  I think I will be getting there the old fashion way.  I shall take out pencil and paper and start writing everything that is flying around my head.  Write it down.  Everything that I am thinking about.

Write 'em down. Line 'em up and see what that line up looks like.  My bet is things will fall into several categories. 

 Need to do. 

Want to do. 

Scared to do. 

Long Past Do.

And Do Do.

Tomorrow I will discuss dealing with each catagory. Why do I think Do Do will be fun chatting about?!

Does your relationship need a DNR?

In simple medical terms a DNR means if someone dies...do not try to bring them back.  Let them go...

I think there are relationships that should have that label attached to them.  It would make life a lot easier.

There is a belief that things last forever...or at least they should.  The car you buy, the toaster...the relationships you are in.  Okay they don't all carry the same weight...your toaster and your relationship but they can carry the same kind of expectation.

Here's the deal.  The real deal.  Everything has a beginning and an end.  I read that once in a wonderful book that explained death to children.  Everything has a beginning and an end and the middle is where life is.  No one knows how long the middle will be so we need to embrace it while we have it.  I simply love that...

Same with relationships...be they friendships or romantic ones.  They are not all meant to last forever. So when thetime has come to let them go.  Let them go.  Trying endless and exhaustingly to revive something that is gone...is simply exhausting.

Rather feel the sadness for the ending if you must but also embrace the joy for what it was.  Then let it go in peace.  It honors what was and helps make room for what is coming next.

Today be a beauty hunter...

Go ahead and make it your goal today to find 5 things that give your pause because of their beauty.  5 things...write them down.  Yes make a list.  Then reflect on that list tonight.  :)

Why you ask?  For several reasons really...

#1  There is beauty all around us and most of us live our lives with our heads down and focused.  Lift your head and see what is around you.

#2  Looking can slow us down a bit.  Rushing through your day does get you to the end of it...but is that the purpose?

#3  Your life has more color than you know...look with eyes wide open.

My list has started...

#1  Pumpkin, the wonder dog, has a coat that is a mosaic of colors.  Very striking!

#2  The light snow that is falling out the kitchen window.  Light, fluffy...like a sprinkle of powdered sugar to cover the earth!  Now that is sweet...

Go on.  Get started on your own list.

You are what you absorb...

Interesting concept don't you think?  You are what you absorb. 

It begs the question then...what do you surround yourself with?  What are you absorbing during the day...and at night?

Joy, light, support and love or anger, frustration and angst.  Or do you fall somewhere in between?

No time like the present to look around and see...