__________ is as____________ does.

 

This morning as I was making my husbands coffee I wasnt paying attention and over poured and hot water and coffee grounds went everywhere. I actually said "stupid is a stupid does" to myself. Do you remember that phrase from the movie Forest Gump? That reminded me of another saying "pretty is as pretty does" which led me to an internet search which led me to several fiction books by that title and even a song Pretty Is as Pretty does from 1989 by a band called Guadalcanal Diaries from their album Flip Flop. That got weird fast, didnt it?

Any word that you put in there will work. Today I wish to be productive so my motto is "productive is as productive does". Others words one might use are calm, happy or optimistic. I think you get the point. Am I going to be as productive as I like? Maybe or maybe not. You just read the first paragraph and see how easily distracted I get. Luckily I have learned to be kinder to myself and cut myself some slack. Every day is a fresh start. Which leads me to my bible verse of the day and l our motivational sticky note.

Psalm 51:10 God make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos in my life.

We normally think of a fresh start as the beginning of our day. For me my fresh start is as I go to bed. I pray and think about my day. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I let go of what I had no control over, like things other people have done. I think about what I could control like  my reactions to things and I think about that was good about my day and give thanks for that. I start thinking about how I can start my tomorrow on the right path. 

Have you ever had an argument with your spouse or anyone you love before you try to go sleep? Did you sleep well? I sure dont. I toss and turn and wake up feeling tired.  My husband and I are getting too old to properly function the next day if we tossed and turned over a disagreement all night. We do our darndest to get over whatever silly thing we argued about. Honestly it may not have seemed silly at the time but after a few days you realize it wasnt as big of a deal as you thought. 

How about eating a big heavy meal late in the evening? That usually leads to indigestion and tossing and turning as well. It only took me a few weeks of eating healthier to realize I didnt have indigestion anymore. I can even drink coffee again. The acid in coffee would upset my stomach every time I drank it. Even if I did decaf. I do still only drink decaf because I am very sensitive to caffeine. Its crazy how I get all jittery and feel anxioous for no reason.  In the mornings when I am making my tea I make a cup of decaf and make an iced coffee for later in the day. It has been wonderful. 

Its 12 oz of brewed coffee, 1 scoop pf MCT powder, or coconut milk or almond milk. I have to limit my dairy so I do not drink cows milk. Getting old is so weird. I like this sugar free carmel syrup I get at Sams club but there are so many good ones out there any will do. I just pour it into my travel mug and pop in the fridge. I use a travel mug in case I have an errand to run. I can grab my iced coffee and take it with me and am not tempted to stop anywhere to grab one. If it gets to be the end of the day and I have not drank it yet I grab it and have a sit down in a comfie chair, or outside with the chirpy birds or even at my computer while I go through recipes or Pinterest. 

I would encourage you to think about your fresh start as you lay your pretty little head on the pillow, preferably at a reasonable hour so you can wake up refreshed. I am so glad I dont have to have it all figured out to get started on a new path. I just have to take that first step and so do you. So your challenge today is to just take that first step to whatever it is you KNOW you need to do. It can be as easy as filling up a bag of things to get rid of or something hard like a phone call to mend a broken relationship or end a much needed one. Maybe its a fun step like finally starting a new project or business adventure, deciding on a paint color to paint a room. Seriously its just paint go buy it and guess what, if you decide you dont like the color when you are finished you can paint it another color later its really not that big of a deal. Can you tell I need to pick out a paint color for something? Thats a post for another day.

I love object lessons and crafting. I have been wanting to make a stepping stone forever using quickcrete and broken plates. I think I will be doing this soon and if you like crafts I would encourage you to as well. If you dont like crafts you can buy some really cute ones already made. So make or get a stepping stone and place it somewhere will you will at least step off it once a day. It will remind you to take that first step at whatever it is you need to do. Dont like stepping stones? Thats okay too. Make or buy a cute rug. Place it beside your bed or anywhere you wish. Waking up and stepping off onto it will remind you to start that first step as well. If you try either craft or purchase one I want to see your pictures and I will update you on mine as well.  So many crafts so little time!

How To Learn to Love Yourself

A quick explanation of the above side by sides. The one on the left was at Christmas 2019, remember those times before we were hit with COVID? I had lost 62.2 pounds then. Fastward to the picutre on the right which was taken on a date night just last evening and I am down 43.4 more pounds for a total of 105.6. My hubby too the photo and I was even shocked that it was me. I almost look like I have my life together and know what I am doing. Maybe its the wine glass that makes me seem more sophisticated. Should I carry one around all the time? Is that allowed at the grocery? So many questions. 

I have been talking with a few people these days about what it means to love yourself. It sometimes seems we live in a world with selfish people who only think of themselves and not others but I am beginning to see thats not really the case at all. My past year, as I have mentioned before, has been  learning to love myself right where I am and working on becoming healthier and loving the person that I am to become. I believe you will never be finished and should always evolving. But you can be happy with yourself not matter where you are in your journey. 

I started thinking about any sermons or bible studies I have done or podcasts I have listened to that have stuck with me on what the bible says about self love. I came up empty. I am not saying that they are not out there I am just saying if I have heard one it didnt stick. I can remember lots of ones about loving others and loving them as you do yourself but I felt like I could easily love someone else way before I loved me. I also felt that if I did  love myself I was being self absorbed and that was wrong too. 

In the past year of focusing on getting myself physically healthy I have also became more loving to myself. Dare I say I actually like who I see in the mirror? Most days yes but I have to be honest, the lady I see in the mirror as she drives sometimes has road rage can be a handful. I guess you have to take the good with the bad. 

So this morning I did a search for bible verses on loving yourself and it was more of the love others like you love yourself. Still not bad advice but not what I was looking for. So I went to the beginning. Like in Genesis Chapter 2 beginning. God created this perfect wonderful world and then he created humans. Maybe or wanting more is why there arent many verses about loving yourself because when you love yourself too much you ruin the world for the rest of eternity? Thats just me thinking out loud dont quote me. 

Genesis 2

Adam and Eve

5-7 At the time God made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or shrubs had sprouted from the ground—God hadn’t yet sent rain on Earth, nor was there anyone around to work the ground (the whole Earth was watered by underground springs)—God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!

8-9 Then God planted a garden in Eden, in the east. He put the Man he had just made in it. God made all kinds of trees grow from the ground, trees beautiful to look at and good to eat. The Tree-of-Life was in the middle of the garden, also the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil.

10-14 A river flows out of Eden to water the garden and from there divides into four rivers. The first is named Pishon; it flows through Havilah where there is gold. The gold of this land is good. The land is also known for a sweet-scented resin and the onyx stone. The second river is named Gihon; it flows through the land of Cush. The third river is named Hiddekel and flows east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 God took the Man and set him down in the Garden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order.

16-17 God commanded the Man, “You can eat from any tree in the garden, except from the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil. Don’t eat from it. The moment you eat from that tree, you’re dead.”

18-20 God said, “It’s not good for the Man to be alone; I’ll make him a helper, a companion.” So God formed from the dirt of the ground all the animals of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the Man to see what he would name them. Whatever the Man called each living creature, that was its name. The Man named the cattle, named the birds of the air, named the wild animals; but he didn’t find a suitable companion.

21-22 God put the Man into a deep sleep. As he slept he removed one of his ribs and replaced it with flesh. God then used the rib that he had taken from the Man to make Woman and presented her to the Man.

23-25     The Man said,
“Finally! Bone of my bone,
    flesh of my flesh!
Name her Woman
    for she was made from Man.”
    Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh.
    The two of them, the Man and his Wife, were naked, but they felt no shame.

These are my words and thoughts so take them as you wish. God thought the world needed a little something more and he created man or Adam and then they worked on all the animals and Adam named them. But then they thought the world needed a little something more and God created woman or Eve.  Its sort of like Adam was ice cream which is good but Eve added sprinkles which accompanies it very well. That thought you can quote me on. 

It all leads to if you are living and breathing you were created by a God who loves you very much and you are much needed to add something more to this crazy planet we live in. You can not be the much needed extra that is needed if you arent feeling it. Loving yourself if the fuel  that keeps you going and allows you to show that love to others. 

Loving yourself starts with finding out what you love. I love cooking, crafting, hiking, biking, gardening, urban farming and recently clothes and shoe shopping and many many more things. I make time for those things. I schedule dates with myself. I schedule dates with others to do these things. I schedule dates with my spouse to do some of those things. I make sure I do those things. 

I have a tiny desk i got from the curb. I found a great little spot for it, my hubby upgraded his computer so I got his old one, my boy set it all up for me and helps me whenever I mess something up and I have a spot I look at crafts, recipes, create recipes and crafts, make labels for things I sell on the urban farm and any thing else me and google get into. 

Its a pretty magical spot and it makes me smile whenever I set here and turn on my twinkle lights. I also say loudly to my guys that I am in my office and not to be disturbed. 

Can you read my little Post it? It says make yourself a priority! Thats your challenge for today.