last year I wrote a blog about the year I was 25, the age I’d long awaited for. I looked at the ideas and concepts that I felt I had started to learn in the past 25 years of my life. I enjoyed thinking about all of these points and where I had grown and discovered within myself and life. So I thought why not do it again!

If you know me, you know I’m always making plans and goals in every area of my life. It’s 2019 so of course we’re all “busy”. (Uh, I cringe when I hear someone say that.) However this year was a little slower, in the big concept learning that is and by choice. This year has been about solidifying everything that I’ve previously learned. Inevitably with the consciousness of being aware of those things makes you see them and think about them more. With that being said, I would say being 26 has been about how to make life simpler and learning how to give myself grace when I don’t measure up to what I had planned. And what that really looks like on a practical everyday level.

For an enneagram 7 (personality type) to practice optimal health your supposed to concentrate on slowing down and enjoying the moment where you’re at. When really, all us 7’s want is to, do more and try more! However, I really do feel like I’ve been more intentional with the choices of how I’m spending my time. Looking at a calendar full of activities makes me so excited for all of the people I’m going to see and the cool things I’ll get to do. Yet at the same time I feel overwhelmed by those plans. I know it makes no sense. I crave to live a life of purpose and direction. I see everything you do as building blocks to a future you are making or destroying before you even get there.

I sat down and wrote out everything that was important to me. Not only “what” was important to me but ways in which I could prove that to be true in life. Like a check list to see if your putting your money where your mouth is. First, I listed out my priorities and  in which order they rank and why. If you’re ever feeling like your life is all wack-a-doodle its probably because your not making choices that are coinciding with what you value without realizing it, causing that state of wack-a-doodle. If you’ve never done this, I can’t recommend it enough!

Now back to that craving for living a life of purpose and my love of activities! If what I am choosing to do with my time and what I am filling my calendar with doesn’t fall into any of these categories of importance and the ways that I am proving my values, then it’s simply out. One of my priorities is myself. Not in a selfish way but rather living in a way that allows me time to pour into myself so that I am able to pour into others. On an air plane they tell you to put your mask on first before assisting others, same thing. How can you truly love on others if your over there suffocating? So, full circle here. If I don’t slow down and focus on my priorities then I get all caught up in living for the more. More home decor (we’ll talk later) food, clothes, excitement then I am living in a “can’t keep up” and can’t enjoy where I’m at position. And ain’t nobody got time for that.

Along the lines of choices, comes time. Time is a resource we can’t renew. We get what we get. That alone stresses me out to think about! Since the world we live in doesn’t include time travel at this time, that drives home my above point of making choices your proud to stand by. Which leads me to talk about Parkinson’s Law. If you’ve never heard of that before it means “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”. If you really pay attention to how long certain tasks takes you, your either hurting yourself or helping yourself. Meaning you could be wasting your time resource by hem hawing around and not giving yourself the opportunity to do more and stretching out the couple of tasks you’ve given yourself. Or if your like me you’ve given yourself 20 jobs to do that day that actually take like 4 hours each. Thats 56 hours I’m running short on in the day which obviously doesn’t include sleep.

Which upsets me and feeling like a failure is where I go mentally, but I wasn’t even giving myself a fair chance to actually get those things done. Anything worth value isn’t completed in a split second so why put yourself up against an impossible clock, but rather be realistic with the time given to you and do your best to get what your able to do.

One day I was standing at the microwave and had a lightbulb moment. All of a sudden that came out of no where! Am I the only one that this happens to? That lightbulb was that our homes are like collections. I love home decor and making our space feel a certain way. Sometimes my brain goes so fast and I just want it to all be done by the accompaniment of my magic wand that doesn’t exist, Apple really needs to get on that one! And when I can’t have walls knocked down and the room color change along with a whole new something or another build in a day I get frustrated and think I’m the only one who can’t have this! I know that’s ridiculous but thats where my head goes. However with this new collection concept it’s given my little noggin a lot of peace. How many times have you met an old person who shows off their collection of magnets or spoons and says I just picked all of them up on my last visit to Target? It doesn’t work that way, there’s a story behind each one of those magnets and a journey behind each spoon. When you don’t have exactly what your wanting just remember it takes time to acquire these things and that’s okay. Although you know I’m so ready for those stories and journeys!

You can’t un-pickle a pickle. Once you know something you can’t go back to not knowing it. It’s like finishing a scary movie then walking through the dark hall way that you’ve gone through a thousand times to the bathroom makes you uneasy. What if something is in the shadows and watching me!? In this time and age we get exposed to so many things on a daily basis that goes into our minds which has the ability to change our thoughts. Maybe it’s comparison or something you morally don’t agree with. Why give that a foot hole in your brain? Be very careful of what your putting into your mind because your mind is who you are. Don’t let some outside source tell you who you are or confuse you.  

Philippians 4:8 Whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.

Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

I’m sure you’ve heard that by faking a smile tricks your brain into feeing happy, which science says is true. And this is a new one (but fun) thing I’ve read, people who use Botox are less prone to anger, because they can’t make frowning faces! I think we all know who we “wish” we could be so why not just do those things and become that way and not let our emotions over rule us. Act the way you want to feel. Our feelings are not reliable so why not chose to be who we want to be instead? When there’s something I’m not too thrilled about doing “Act the way you want to feel.” is what I tell myself and it helps keep me in check.