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I found this on Pinterest the other day, pinned by my friend Shawna. I love it. I love that it’s colorful, I love the way that it is drawn, and I love the message it sends. Altogether too often, I find myself playing the role for other people. I try to do and be things for the “crowd” that I am not or cannot do. Why take all of your energy and pour it into being someone else? Its a waste. Take the energy you’d otherwise spend stressing over what others think, and use it to consider what YOU think. What do you like? Are you presenting yourself using YOUR style? Are you taking care of YOUR needs? Like on an airplane, you can’t help others until you put your mask on yourself. Why? Because when the oxygen runs out and you pass out, your kids won’t be able to survive either because there will be no one left to put on their mask. After my My Story of Triumph After a recent battle with depression, I decided to no longer live a life that made me unhappy. Whenever there is a situation where I get to choose, I will look to the longer-term happiness factor when considering my options. While short term happiness can result from a fast pace, I’m learning that slowing down and thinking through things before taking action makes a lot more sense and works best in the long run. With two kids under 3.5 years old, there isn’t a whole lot of time to spend re-doing things that I already have done once. Perfectionism runs hard in my mind, but I’m learning to accept “well done” and “best effort” in its place. Just be yourself and do your best. That’s all the world can ask of you. If you have something in your life that is causing you stress, look for a solution to improve it. I’m right there with you. Current projects for progress in no particular order:

  1. Lose the remaining 20 lbs by continuing to make healthy choices in my eating and attending the gym 3-4 times per week.
  2. Complete the purge of unnecessary items in my home, so that I may truly appreciate the items that I value.
  3. Learn to spend more time listening to my kids without being distracted by life’s immediate distractions.
  4. Play more with the kids.
  5. Call family and friends back East more. Skype/FaceTime more. Send stuff. Reconnect.
  6. Put down the technology more. Cut the cord to my iDevices. I promise (myself) the world won’t fall apart if I miss a call, text, or Facebook message for a couple of hours.
  7. Wardrobe changes. It’s been a long time since I wore normal clothes. From having two kids (maternity gear), to post partum (too big for me now), to being a dog trainer (polo uniform shirt and jeans), in the past three and a half years I have become a fashion slacker. In the past six months, I’ve started to step it up. Dare I say that a few of the outfits I wear are even trendy? I want to get rid of the clothes that don’t make me feel like I look good in them, and replace them with clothing that makes me proud of the work I am doing on my body and mind. I used to think that it was a superficial/vanity issue when people did stuff about their appearance. Now I realize that you can do it as much to express yourself to the world for your own benefit, as out of concern for what other people think.

What are YOU working on? I want to know! How is it going?!