What if the Vision You Had For Yourself as a Teenager Was Real?

The lake, an early summer morning.

Hi everyone! I hope you are doing well. I apologize for the inconsistent posting schedule lately. I know it must have been strange to have no posts for six months, and suddenly, it's three in a month. Yikes! Get a schedule, girl! But, I am experimenting to see how often I can squeeze in some writing, in between my crazy work schedule and everything else that needs to be done.

I Am Not A Hockey Fan

Little kids playing hockey. (MorgueFile Photo)

Hi everyone! This next post is a bit different than my usual. It's more of an essay style. The other night, I went to a little hockey game in my community, and it had a profound effect on me. I wanted to share my feelings about the night with you.

First of all, I am not a hockey fan. Never have been. I don't care for the frigid arena where you freeze your buns off, in order to watch.  

My Christmas Was Better This Year

Hey, everyone! Happy New Year! I hope you had a good Christmas, and are settling into your routine for the new year.

It's been a while since I've shared with you here on the Life in the Woods blog, but I have missed this page terribly. School this year (like every year) is just so crazy busy, that by the time I come home, I am mentally and emotionally drained, and find it difficult to put words together.

Life Doesn't Have to Be Perfect. In Fact, it Never Will Be!

Hey, how is everyone? I know it's been a while since I posted, and I have lots to catch up on! By the way, spring is officially on its way, but you could never tell by looking at our front yard: 

About four feet of snow tell us spring is not quite here! 

But first, I wanted to share something that I have been learning lately. And it is this: 

Sometimes you have to just simply accept that perfect is never going to happen. And that's okay. 

Let me share an example from my own life. As a university student, my major was for teaching high school English. I loved to write, and high school English was where I felt very comfortable. 

And after graduating, I have taught high school English. For four out of the approximately ten years that I have taught.

The other years, I have taught E.S.L. to adults, grade two, alternative high school, junior high Social Studies, and substitute teaching, where you teach almost every class in the school (even gym -- groan.)

Do I wish I could teach high school English? Well, that is my ideal, yes. I absolutely love the deep discussions, love helping students communicate. I love literature. 

My ideal year of teaching was right before I met my gorgeous husband-to-be. It was the perfect set-up: teaching 100% English, with a shot of Drama the side. Perfecto.

But ... it wasn't meant to be. That blissful year came to an end, and as the newcomer to the division, the job went to someone else, who wanted to move up from teaching junior high English. 

Perfection came to an end, and I was moved down to teach grades five/six. I felt so out of my comfort zone, that I ended up leaving the division. And moving me and all my boxes across the country. 

This was my future husband helping me move across Canada

I kept searching for that ideal job, again, but alas, high school teaching jobs are at the top of the pyramid of teaching jobs. Those that have these jobs rarely leave them. 

Plus, the place where I had moved (for love -- read that story here), had worse employment rates than my home province. 

I did other things. Worked for Statistics Canada. Then taught alternative school. Started writing again. 

And then I taught grade six. Yes, if you remember, grade six was the level I had turned down before, because it was out of my comfort zone. 

And it still was. Out of my comfort zone, that is. But I worked really hard to learn the curriculum, to learn how to reach 11 and 12 year old kids. 

For two years. Then, I decided to go back to writing. I was just exhausted from stretching myself, feeling like it would never be good enough: my teaching, my classroom, me. 

I re-started this blog, printed up business cards, and started writing for the local paper. 

View of Lake Winnipeg, in the early morning. 

While covering the school's Christmas concert for the newspaper, my old principal asked me if I could come back and teach grade six, the job I had left. The other teacher had left. He was in a pinch. 

I did. Now, a two-month contract has stretched into six months. And I am looking at coming back next year. 

What changed? What changed was me. I finally saw that things don't have to be perfect. I stopped longing for that perfect job, and just started accepted the life that I have been given right now.

My house is not perfect. I am not perfect, and my classroom is not perfect. 

And that's okay. I will only do what I can. And it feels pretty good. I started to finally learn to live this verse:

 "...for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."

--- Phillipians 4:11b

My kitty, Jo, demonstrating complete relaxation yesterday. 

And so I encourage you, today, to accept what life has given you. Life doesn't have to be perfect. It never will be. But do what you can, with what you have.

And remember: those things that are the hardest, will eventually become the things that make you the strong person for others who are walking the journey behind you. 

Love Sharilee. Hey thanks so much for reading. I would love to hear your comments and input in the space below. Also, if you like what you are reading, sign up through my Facebook page. or receive posts by e-mail by joining here

** All photos are property of the blog's author, and cannot be reproduced, without written permission from the author. 

Get Caught Up in the Hype of New Year's!

I wanted to cancel New Year's this year -- too much hoopla!
Pedro Subercaseaux [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

I Like 2015 So Far!

Hey there! Happy New Year to you! So far, I am liking 2015 quite a bit better than 2014. It might sound kind of silly but I am serious! 

It's funny how the holidays seem to allow us to open up more and share more. This New Year's Eve, I talked to people I haven't talked to in years, danced with my gorgeous husband, for the first time in, I think, EVER. I feel a peace I haven't felt in a long time. 

Why I Wanted to Cancel New Year's

And the funny thing is about my warm feelings is that this year, I really wished we could have cancelled New Year's. I just wasn't feeling it. 

Slightly depressed, I just kind of felt like it was way too much pressure and hoopla. After all, technically, it's just one day on the calendar. 

And resolutions? Why bother?

If I want to lose weight, I reasoned, there is no special reason I need to make that decision on this particular date.

I didn't feel like reflecting on the mistakes of the past year, because I had made way too many of them. And I didn't really care for making goals for next year, preferring to take things one at a time.

And I think this might be a common feeling among those of who have been struggling this year. The whole holidays, including New Year's, can seem like an awful lot of extra pressure. 

So, I stalled. Tried to ignore the onslaught of Best of 2014 articles and posts on making all those smart goals. 

Even my brother-in-law showing me his detailed goals, broken down into beautifully organized categories into the program, One Note, did not move me.  But then ...

Why I Couldn't Cancel New Year's Eve

"Hope" is the thing with feathers --
That perches in the soul --
And sings the tune without the words --
And never stops --- at all -- 

-- Emily Dickenson 

As we got closer to December 31, I was drawn in by the utter and undeniable hope of this beautiful holiday. 

At what other time of year are we allowed, even strongly encouraged to admit our mistakes?

When else do we loudly proclaim our intentions to people we barely know?

Yes, New Year's is a ready-made, hand-delivered socially acceptable excuse to be cheesy, sentimental and reflective.

And most of all, who does not want a new start, a chance to start from scratch? We all want grace. To have our mistakes left in the past. And to start again.

A New Year is a marker in the endless blur of our days. A time to stop and look, at what has been done, and what has been neglected. 

So, on December 30th, on New Year's Eve Eve, I made a request of my gorgeous husband. Could we sit down and do some reflections about our last year, and what we want next year to look like? 

What made me change my mind about this holiday? It was the draw of hope. This has been a hard year for us, with adjusting to a move, and me quitting my job, and a myriad of other smaller problems. 

The Smell of Hope Drew Me In

But the smell of hope drew me in. A fresh start. It was too alluring to resist. And once again, as I do ever year, I took part in a ritual which goes on all over the world, in different forms. 

My husband and I prayed the New Year in this year.
Jean-François Millet [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

My husband and I prayed. We made our peace with our mistakes, sins and fears from 2014. And we renewed our commitment to the things that are most important to us. 

Our shared resolutions were simple: to spend time daily getting to know God through prayer and Bible reading. And to exercise regularly. Taking care of our spirits. And our temples. 

As you enter the New Year, I encourage you to revel in the excitement. Let yourself be caught up in the hope, and the hype!  With all of the bad news we see coming every day from our screens, don't feel bad about feeling and needing hope. Hope is what keeps us alive. 

If you haven't taken part in our annual ceremony of renewed hope and desire, I encourage to try it. Even if you feel cynical like I did, you may be surprised at how good it feels. 

And for those of you who have made resolutions, or goals, or expressed desires, please feel to share some here. I would love to hear how you would like to improve in 2015! 

Take care, and God Bless! My hope for you is renewed strength, courage and faith. And love, happiness and peace. 

Love Sharilee. If you like what you are reading, sign up through my Facebook page. or receive posts by e-mail by joining here.

The OTHER Reasons We Feel Stressed Out At Christmas

Giveaway Winner

Hi everyone! Well, the first Life in the Woods giveaway has come to a end, and the winners have been selected. The winners were chosen from a hat. Here is my husband's Russian-style hat, with all your entries in it. 

And here is our kitty, Shiloh, wishing she could pick the entries instead. 

My husband chose two random names out of the hat, and here are the winners! 

1. Dina -- she wins a calendar a journal
2. Jenny -- she wins a journal

I am just waiting to hear back from both of you, as to where to send the prizes. Congratulations to both of you! 

Christmas: Why the Panic?

Well, it is two weeks before Christmas, and I confess, I am not even close to being ready for the holidays. How about you? Are you feeling prepared, or just a wee bit  completely panicked, like me? 

Tonight, with my panic brain, I started praying and asking God for understanding. I was trying to pinpoint why so many of us get overwhelmed over the holidays. And what came to me, is that it goes deeper than just having a lot to-do (although that is certainly large part of it.) Here are the four OTHER reasons why we feel stressed out around the holiday season:

1. The holidays are a deadline. 

Because of the importance we place on this holiday time, and it's place on the calendar, Christmas time can act as kind of due date for us.   And I don't mean just a deadline to buy all our gifts, and stock up our cupboards for the upcoming feast. But this time of the year is cut-off, for all the things we hoped to accomplish this year. 

December Calendar, used under CC0 1.0, via Pixaby

The holidays are the end. The end of this year, the end of our hopes for getting what we wanted to, this year. We feel we should have certain things done by Christmas, and if they aren't happening, we judge ourselves, and feel bad. 

For me, this was the year I was supposed to get organized, once and for all. And I am not quite there yet. It's much better, but it wears on me, that I am not where I wanted to be. 

For some of us, it might be personal goals, like weight loss, or or or marriage improving. Or a career goal, like getting a decent job. Whatever it is, we think all year, "by Christmas ..." and then we get to Christmas, and it doesn't happen. 

Yikes! What a letdown. And so we are dealing with, not just the failure to shop ahead, but the failure of a whole year. 

2. Christmas is a time of inventory. 

Now, the second one is very closely related to the first one. First, we feel like we are on a deadline, and then, we may feel that we have to take inventory of what we have done for the year. 

By Mattes [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

And this does make sense. Because this is what businesses do at the end of the year. They count how doo-dads they have in stock. They tally up their expenses and income, and send the records to the government.

Employees are issued tax returns at the end of the year. Kids get a break, and start over -- next year. 

And the media is all over it.  The ten best marriages for 2014. The worst moments of 2014 ... and so on and so on. 

And I think we feel it, too, even if not consciously. It's in the air, part of our society. And again, this can create real pressure in us, to be good enough, according to whatever standard we feel is expected of us. 

3. Christmas is a time for making memories. 

Please humour me here for a minute, and try to think of three past Christmases of your life. Was it difficult, or super-easy? 

I think for most of us, it is easy to remember past holidays seasons. Even if we don't remember much more about that particular year. 

Why is Christmas so much easier to remember than other times of the year? Well, my theory is that it is imprinted on us to remember the events that happen around the holidays, like no other time. In other words, it's like an instinct, that is not even conscious. 

As a culture, we put such a high importance on the event, it is elevated in our memories and minds, whether we want to remember it, or not. 

By Albert Chevallier Tayler, via Wikimedia Commons

And so why does this sometimes make us panic, or feel anxious? It can make anxious because we feel pressure to make it perfect, to make these special times, that we are sure to remember, good memories. 

And for those of us with children, it is even more important to us, to make good memories for them. And it is this desire, a good desire, to make good memories, to have a good time, that can create incredible anxiety for some of us.

4. Christmas is when relationships are on display. 

Have you noticed how different Christmas is from the rest of the year? I remember one year, seeing a sign on a Tim Horton's that said they were closed, and they usually never close! 

It is the one day above any other when even the most Scrooge-like of employers seem to have more sympathy on their employees and give them the day off to celebrate with family.  

And as we are all told to go and "be with our families," it means that the reality of those relationships shines forth, for better or for worse. 

For many of us, it is quite a bit of "worse" concerning our families, and those relationships given to us, rather than chosen. And that can be scary to face, and make us feel anxious, or panicky, even when we don't know why. 

What Can We Do? 

So, as you move closer and closer to December 25th, and feel overwhelmed by all the things you have to do, try to remember that the feeling of panic you feel may be more than merely having a long to-do list. (Although that is hard, too!)

Take a few minutes to examine whether the issues mentioned in the post apply to you. Do you feel like you should have gotten more accomplished this year? Do you feel you need to be accountable for what you have don this year? 

Do you feel pressure to make everything perfect this season? And you feel afraid of facing some difficult relationships this year, that you usually avoid? 

If you are feeling these things, take some time and reflect on what is bothering you, and admit it to yourself. You may deal with it by writing in a journal, praying about it, or talking to a good friend. Maybe your friend is feeling something similar. 

This year, I encourage you to face some of the emotions that may be stressing you out this year. Face them, and remember that it is not abnormal to feel them. I believe as we face our scary emotions, we are more able to welcome some of the wonderful feelings that can also come with the seasons. 

I wish you all a peaceful Christmas! I would love to hear how you deal with stress at Christmas, and how you are feeling this year. God Bless you and your families!



Love Sharilee. If you like what you are reading, sign up for regular through my Facebook page. or receive posts by e-mail here: join here.

And This is the Reason That I Write --- To Know That I Exist

Hi everyone! First of all, thank you, thank you, thank you, for filling out the surveys, signing up for the e-mails, and commenting. It is really nice to see some new faces here on the blog. I appreciate each and every one of you. I know that is Thanksgiving for our neighbours to the South, so Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends. 

Also, in case you missed it, we are in the midst of a giveaway right now. Check it out here, if you haven't done so yet! 

Today, I would like to talk about why I write. If you are a writer, this is for you. If you draw, craft, or sing, this is for you, too. Writing is about expression. We all express ourselves in different ways. 

This post is about why I write and I get pretty honest. Cause sometimes I gotta get real. So here goes! 

Photo from Ncgrahpics, via MorgueFile

My first writing was in a diary. I wrote in that diary because it was the only place where I had  privacy, from a home where a wrong move could mean a night of shouting, and incrimination. A home where a Mother I loved endured yelling and sometimes blows, and I cowered in fear, waiting for the time when I would be able to help her escape her abuser. She did escape for a while. But she always went back. 

I wrote because I was determined to have a voice, even though I felt that it was not allowed. I was determined that I would not be crushed. Writing was survival. It kept me from going crazy, allowed me a place where no one could make fun of me, and acted in the place of a therapist for this suicidal teenager. 

And why do I write now ... I am no longer suicidal. I no longer hear shouts coming from the bedroom down the hall. I have forgiven. Why do I write? I write because I must. I must have a place on the paper that is separate from the world around me. Writing is the only way I know to see reality, to touch reality. To connect me to the world. 

I write because I need to be real. 

I am not just a woman who lives in a house, who has a job, who drives a truck. I am still that little girl who wrote in that diary. I am still that young woman trying to find her way in the world. I am still a soul, not just a worker. I still need to write, to survive. To keep that part of me quiet that feels like it will die and become invisible. 

So, I continue to write. I have to. Even if no one else reads it. Even it is only in a journal. Because I have to keep that part of me alive. When I don't write, I feel like I don't really exist, not the real me. 

If you are a writer, I encourage you to write. . If you are an artist, paint. If you are a cowgirl, ride your horses. Do what you love, so you will know that you exist. Doing what we love, even when we feel old or washed up, or done, requires hope and faith. But do it anyways, so you will know that you exist. That you are alive. Not just a mother, or student, or a employee. 

I write because I need to have a voice. A way of expressing who I am. What is the thing in your life, that gives you your voice? Are you doing it?

Love Sharilee. If you like what you are reading, sign up for regular updates with Blogger or through my Facebook page. or to receive posts by e-mail, join here

The Journey to Simple

Everyone is just so busy these days!
Photo by Ryan Ritche, via Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0

Everyone is so Busy

We all know life in the 21st century is complicated, right? Everyone you talk to, is always busy, so busy ... There's so much to catch up on. We are all multi-tasking ... so many things to do ... no time to stop, to think, to reflect ... 

But does it have to be that way? Could we choose to make our lives more simple and less crazy? Could we just STOP? Yes, I believe we can. I believe we can choose to be less busy, and to have less crazy lives. The only problem is ... 

It's not easy to go simple. The journey to simple means making some hard choices. It is choosing to do with less, even when more feels safer. It means giving things up, when we are used to having what we want. It is not easy, but I believe it is worth it. 

Our back yard, surrounded by beauty. My own photo. 

Our Story

My husband and I are on a journey to simple.  Eleven months ago, we moved out of the city to a place located in an actual forest. We were in search of a quieter, less expensive lifestyle. The house we bought was smaller, with more land. We wanted to get away from the traffic, pollution and noise. We dreamt of a different kind of life.

However, like many dreams, the reality was pretty far from what we had envisioned.In fact, we hadn't seemed to simplify our life all that much. 

Besides working long hours, now we also had to stack wood. And just to get some decent groceries, you had to drive at least an half hour. And our lovely rural hide-away? Well, let's just say that the place, although beautiful, was undeniably flawed (as in needing  quite a few repairs!)

My wood pile. My own photo

We started to wonder about this "simple life" dream. Was it just a silly fantasy? Were we better off back in our inner city lot? 

But then, after wringing our hands for a while, we both saw something special. What we had.  Sure, it was difficult now. But we had made a good choice. We had space. Privacy. A wood stove. A lake nearby. Bracing fresh air. An affordable home.

Getting to a simple life would not happen just by moving to the country. No, this was a start. But we still needed to pare down. Our stuff. Our diet. Our money. Our life. 

Please Join Me in the Journey 

Please join us in our journey to simple.  We're not there yet. Like any journey, we can't expect it to always be smooth, or completely straightforward. 

But we know our destination, and that is a huge advantage. This blog is about getting closer to simple ... in the midst of a crazy world.  

I hope it encourages you, the reader, to get closer to simple in your own life.  And you don't have to live in a forest to do it ... just find the advantages to where you live. What do you have right now? Focus on those advantages, and then take steps towards whatever a simpler life means to you. 

Now, what about you? What does the "simple life" mean to you? What steps are you taking towards having a simpler life now? What advantages do you already have? Tell us your story! 

Love Sharilee. If you like what you are reading, sign up for regular updates with Blogger or through my Facebook page. or to receive posts by e-mail, join here

3 Simple Organizing Secrets ... from a Reformed Slob

Confession: I Was The Queen of Disorganization

Growing up, I was known for my distinct lack of organization. Teachers would tell my parents at parent-teacher interviews: “she has so much potential, but she needs to be more organized.” 

My desk was a mess. I was constantly losing my glasses, my pencils, my papers.

My desk was a huge mess!
Photo is free photo from Sgarton via MorgueFile

My worst memory was of losing something very precious of my Mom’s. She had lent me her Strong’s Concordance book. For those of you who don’t know, that is a massive volume requiring great strength just to haul it down a hall. 

I had asked to borrow it for a skit I was performing in the local music festival. She gave it me, extremely reluctantly, warning me over and over again to lose it. But guess what I did? I lost it. 

When we got the building for the skit, I was so preoccupied with feeling nervous and self-conscious, that any thoughts of the concordance were out the window. Until I got home. And what a feeling of shame I had! I still a sense of shame when I think about it. 

Yes, I was the queen of disorganization growing up. And then I kept my reign into my 20’s and early 30’s, but somewhere along the line, I determined that this HAD TO STOP! 

I am now a Reformed Slob

And now, I consider myself a pretty organized person. Yes, me, the former queen of the mess. I love having a place for everything, and everything being in its place. I fantasize about new containers and drool over creative storage ideas on Pinterest. (Check out some of my Pinterest boards, if you want to see what I've been looking at!) 

Organizing -- Kitchen
Organizing -- Bathroom
Organizing -- Bedroom 

I won't claim to be perfect at it, I like the feeling of having order in my life.  My point is that my level of organization is FAR HIGHER than it was before. So, what happened to change me? That is what I would like to share with you today. Because I believe that anyone can become a more organized person using these simple principles. 

I am going to offer you some changes in thinking patterns that can help anyone, whether yourself, your child or someone else .you know. 

Principle #1: Do It For Yourself

You have to determine that is important for you, and not to do it for anyone else. Growing up, I felt a great deal of pressure from my father because I wasn’t organized. Although I was never diagnosed with a learning disorder, it was definitely not something I was doing on purpose. 

But my father would get volatile about me losing things, where he would yell and call me down. So, organizing and cleaning were things that I felt were for him ... and not for me. 

And then, at the age of twenty, I found myself in an early marriage to another angry man (not my current husband.m)  He was very displeased about my lack of housewife skills, and wasn't afraid to let me know. 

But in spite of the pressure from others, it was only when I truly realized that being organized and clutter-free was for me, to help me, and not just to please other people and stave off the shame, that it started to click. 

If you struggle with organization (or know someone who does), find reasons that it will help you in your life, to meet your goals. Maybe being organized will help you get ahead in your career, by giving you the confidence to apply for a better position. Perhaps it will make you feel less stress because you will be able to find your things. Maybe it will make you more money, because you will be able handle more clients. 

If you are helping a child who struggles with organizational issues, help the child find his or her own motivation. For a teenager, the motivation might be being able to find her clothes, so that she can look her best each and every day. For the child, it might be the ability to find a favourite toy when a friend comes over, or the feeling of warmth they feel when they are able to invite friends into their room for a time of play. 

Your reasons will be unique to you. And that is good. Don’t do it because of the pressure from society. Start looking at staying organized as a special treat for yourself, instead of a dreaded task that you must do someday! Do it for you. Because your life counts. 

Principle #2: It's Never As Bad As It Looks

The next realization I had about organizing is that my clutter and mess is never as bad as it seems.  I have seen this principle so many times in my own life, and in the lives of others. 

Why do we tend to see messes as worse than they are? Let me explain why. A mess is just that: messy. And it’s ugly and it’s unpleasant. We, as humans, are wired to be turned off by something ugly and unpleasant. So we exaggerate the mess, in our minds, until it becomes a ten feet wall of junk and garbage. And more than we can deal with. I will give you an example from my own life. 

When my husband and I moved to our place in the woods, we were in a rush. I was teaching,with an extremely hectic schedule, and driving back and forth three hours a day. My husband was working full-time and trying to get our old house completely renovated in a very tight schedule. 

Our moving date kept moving forward, and we were afraid of losing the deal. So when we actually got around to moving, it was rushed. Despite my careful organization at the beginning of the move, by the end, stuff was just being stuffed into random boxes. No careful labeling. Just boxes upon boxes of stuff. 

 A mess of boxes from our home.
My own photo

And then after all the stuff arrived here, it didn’t get any better. We were living in our dream home, but life was still too busy. Stuff didn’t get unpacked. There were boxes strewn everywhere: our master bedroom, the two other bedrooms, the living room. Even the kitchen. And we couldn’t catch up; in fact, mess kept adding unto mess. Have you ever been there? 

And I felt completely overwhelmed by it. Living in this chaos was depressing for me, and I know it made my husband crabby We couldn’t find anything. It felt like nothing was getting done. We could not invite guests over. Yuck! 

But you know what? As bad as it was, it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Because once I started, the place started to come together. Yes, the year of neglect did take a while to get out from under, but it was do-able. I am still working on right now, but as I tackle each room, it is coming. And it’s not as bad I thought! 

And this principle is so true, no matter what the mess is. Once you start, it won’t be nearly as bad as you thought it was. The presence of clutter in our life can make some of us feel debiliated and helpless. But that is just a feeling. It really doesn’t have to crush us! 

And it is only stuff. It does not have some magic power to destroy us. It is not a lion that threatens to devour us. It is just stuff -- sometimes junk -- that we bought or acquired in some way. It’s just a bit unweildy right now. But it is controllable. When we avoid it, thinking it is unconquerable, we are giving into an illusion, a lie. And we are giving our stuff power that it does not possess on our own. 

Principle #3: Starting Gives You Confidence

The final change in thinking I am going to offer is realizing that just starting will give you confidence. Not starting is the most debilitating thing you can do. I should know because I am still bad at procrastinating!  I am also confident, however, that once I start, even just for a few minutes, the pressure  decreases expotentionally. 

When we start, we start to believe and see our own ability to do the task we have been dreading. We start to see ourselves as competent, and this belief in ourselves will carry us through to be able to do more and more. 

A nicely organized shelf from our home.
My own photo

I have seen this principle at work in my own life more times than I can count. This works for any task. Sometimes I am so scared of doing something that I try to avoid it, and put it off. But the moment I start, I realize that it is possible. And I just have to try my best. 

Don’t think that you must do it all, before you start. It's nice when we can finish a job all in the same day, but it may take some time to get a big job done. But having even one little area organized can be a tremendous morale booster. Start with one cupboard, or your purse. Or your one drawer in your desk. But just start. And you will start to feel better. 

So, these are the three changes in thinking that I strongly believe will help someone become much more organized. They are: 

1. Do it for yourself
2. It's not as bad as it looks
3. Starting will give you confidence

Please let me know if this was helpful to you or for someone you know. How are your organizing skills? Tell us your story! 

Love Sharilee. If you like what you are reading, sign up for regular updates with Blogger or through my Facebook page. or to receive posts by e-mail, join here

Ten Reasons to go for a Walk Tonight

How are you doing today? By any chance, are you feeling overwhelmed, stressed, maybe a bit depressed? Or maybe like something is missing? 

If so, allow me to make a suggestion to help you for getting out of this mental slump. And it doesn’t require pills -- you don’t have to go to the doctor for any prescription. 

My idea for you is get your fix. Your nature fix, that is.

When was the last time you went for a walk in the park? Or the forest, or the field? When did you last see birds up close or hear the sounds of leaves falling from the trees? 

Has it been a while? Do you tend to dwell mostly, in the tunnel so many of us create for ourselves: home, garage, work, garage and then home again?  

If it’s been quite a long time since you felt in touch with nature, I am going to give you ten reasons to get in touch with nature again.

And don’t wait too long ... the snow is coming and this late autumn won’t last forever. Why not go tonight? 

1. It's excellent exercise. In fact, there is extra value in walking outside compared to the treadmill, because of the extra resistance you gain from walking against the breeze, as well the variety of muscles used by obstacles you may encounter outdoors, as well as natural slope.

2. Walking outdoors can help curb your appetite. Going for a walk outside always makes me want to eat less. As I get more in touch with my body, I tend to have less desire to eat unhealthy things and overeat.

3. Walking outside helps cure stress and anxiety. In fact, a recent article in Forbes magazine quoted Dr. Sobel, a leading expert in preventative medicine as saying that spending time in nature is one of the top cures for stress. 

4. Nature makes you feel connected to something bigger than yourself.  Whether it's looking at the stars at night, or simply gazing up a forty foot elm tree, we are reminded that we really aren't the centre of the universe! 

5. Time spent outdoors connects you with those you love. When I was a kid, my mom used to take my sister and me on nature excursions. Sometimes it was a mysterious path that we had never been on before. Other times, it involved going for a drive and finding an abandoned coulee. These are the best memories, because we were together, exploring.

6. A walk in nature is romantic. Whether you are planning a first date, or planning your retirement, there's nothing better than a romantic stroll to pump up the intimacy level between two lovebirds. 

7. A nature walk is educational. Helen Keller asked her friend what she had seen after a walk in the woods. She was shocked when her friend replied. "nothing." She then goes on to say, "How was it possible ... to walk for an hour through the woods, and see nothing worthy of note? I who cannot see find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch."  Let's learn from Helen. When we walk outside, there is always something to see, and to learn. 

8. A walk through nature helps cure depression. This fascinating article talks about the latest research on how walks through nature have documented physical and sensory effects that help people that struggle with depression. The author also goes on to explain how, in Japan, "forest bathing" is considered a therapeutic option for healing. 

9. An outdoor walk is excellent for planning and goal-setting. I have gotten some of my best ideas while on a nice, long walk. There's something about the rhythm of walking that lends itself to dreaming and planning.  In fact, don't think of a walk as just one more thing you have to do,  but as a productivity tool for getting more done in the long run. 

10. You are walking in the shadows of greatness. Jesus himself was a great walker. Albert Einstein is reported to have walked the 1.5 hour distance to work and back, when he worked at Princeton. And C.S. Lewis, was inspired by the regular walks he took on his five acre wooded property.  

So, have I convinced you to go for a walk tonight? I confess

that I have been skipping my walks lately, and during the writing of this post, I actually went out and got a quick walk in. So, what about you? What are you waiting for? 

Or are you already a dedicated walker? What are your reasons for walking? Tell us your story. 

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