Tag: my13daychallenge
Of Peaches and Mosquitoes
On Monday, I sat outside to eat a peach. The weather was nice with a light breeze. I felt happy and grateful to be alive. Everything was perfect and then a mosquito bit me. With that little bite, I remembered everything that was not okay in my life. That bug ruined my perfect moment. I grabbed the little pest and sent it to mosquito heaven. I celebrated by finishing my perfect peach.
“Life consists in what a man is thinking of every day”. –Ralf Waldo Emerson
The Dish Fairy
We have a dish fairy at our house. The dish fairy jumps in and does a household chore when it has been forgotten for some reason. Sometimes I’m the dish fairy and other times the Accountant is the dish fairy. It usually works except for the week that neither of us wanted to do the dishes.
Day One
Accountant: Do you think the dish fairy will visit us?
Me: No. The dish fairy is on holiday. I bet the dish fairy has a friend that might be willing to do them.
Day Two
Me: Don’t use that regular plate. Here is a paper plate.
Accountant: Two minute sermon on the environmental consequences of using paper plates
Me: (gave him a big hug) You’re adorable ,but I’m still using a paper plate so we don’t have any more dishes to do.
Day Three
Accountant: (as he is washing a dish) What do you think about us working together to clean up the kitchen?
Me: (grabbing a rag to help dry the dishes) Equal partners in all of this house stuff. Yeah, I can live with that.
Be Brave and Laugh at Something
I had surgery this last week. The whole thing was not fun so I decided to make it more fun by dressing up like a flower child for my grand entrance to the hospital. My favorite part was the the way the dress swished on my legs when I walked. I even made a little sign that said”Make Peace, Not War”. I was the best looking flower child in the entire place. Then I had the surgery. Oh boy, I did not feel like a happy go lucky flower child. Then I saw the sign above my bed. It made me laugh. I could defiantly meet that goal!
Our tree is growing
The hubby and I have been trying to grow a lemon tree for the last two years. Our first attempt died last year during a frost. Today, I looked out my bedroom window and discovered that our lemon tree has bloomed with happy leaves. I was so excited. This one might actually yield fruit. I’ve imagined making lemonade and pies and fish flavored with my own lemon seasoning. It was wonderful to see the tree finally listening to me and growing a bit. It made my day to see it.
“What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered. “–Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Be Brave and Ask for What you Want
Have you ever wanted something, but did not ask for it? I do that some times. I’ll want something, but I won’t ask for it. I was sitting in the doctor’s waiting room ,and I kept seeing kids come out with stickers. For some reason, I wanted one of those stickers. It was a small thing, but in that moment I decided to ask for what I wanted.
Me: After this is done, I’d like a sticker please.
Technician: You’re an adult. You don’t need a sticker.
Me: It is just one sticker and you have a whole roll over there.
Technician: You know you are really too old to get a sticker. Adults can be brave and have tests without stickers.
Me: Yeah, but it is a lot easier to brave when you know you get a prize at the end.
(At this point, I realized that asking wasn’t working. She wasn’t going to budge. I needed to try a different approach.)
Me: I write a blog on the adventures of doing 13 day challenges. Give me a sticker and I’ll write that you are best technician in this entire place.
Technician: (chuckles) Ok, here is your sticker.
I got my sticker. Thank you Susan. You are the best technician in this entire place!
Choose Your Own Adventure
When I was a younger girl, I loved to read the Choose Your Own Adventure books. If you’ve never heard of them, let me give you a quick summary. The books had stops in the story where the reader made a choice. Does the character go with the aliens to their planet or does the character stay on Earth? The ending was based on the choices made during the story. I loved those books. If I didn’t like what happened on page 98, I could go back and pick a different path. That path would take me to page 75 and a better ending for the character. Sometimes, I would read both endings and then decide which one was the best way to go. Life isn’t like that. You don’t get to read both endings before making a choice. I’ve made some choices in the last few days about my health, my employment and the way I’ve been dealing with the challenges of life. It would be nice if I could skip ahead and know that I made the right decisions. I guess that is why we have faith. I’m moving forward and praying that I’m heading in the right direction. I’m living my own Choose Your Own Adventure book minus the kidnapping by aliens.
Be Brave and Get Rid of a Dress
For today’s brave activity, I got rid of my old Winter Formal dress. The dress has been in my closet for the last 15 years. It is hopelessly out of date and no longer fits me. My closet is not that big so I would see it two or three times a week. I wouldn’t think about the lovely date I had while wearing the dress. Nope, I would think about the weight I’ve gained since high school. Well, today I took that dress out of my closet and put in a bag for thrift store. Who knows someone might buy it for a 1990’s themed party? Winter Formal was fun. I still have the picture and a nice memory, but I don’t need to beat myself up over gaining weight. It is time to brave and accept who I am today and not use an old dress as a trigger for negative thinking.
What’s in your closet you need to remove?
Challenge Eleven: Being Brave
Several years ago, the Accountant and I visited Iguazú in Argentina. I was surrounded by the roaring waters , and I cried as the streams of water struck the rocks. Life was simple and beautiful. The world made sense and none of my fears seemed to bother me. God lived and I felt like I had come home wrapped in a warm blanket of love. I wanted to stay right there in that perfect moment. I felt brave, confident and complete.
There are times that I do not feel brave and confident. Times where I let the tasks of life overwhelm me. For my next challenge, I’m going to be brave. 13 days of doing one brave thing every day. It may be little brave thing or it may be a big brave thing. I’m sure I’ll feel some fear along the way, but the goal is just to do it.
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers the fear”.
–Nelson Mandela
Honesty
I lost my cell phone last week. I went for a walk and the phone fell out of my pocket without me noticing it. I looked all over the house for my phone. I looked in my car. I tore my desk apart at work trying to find my phone. I called my phone about ten times, because the first nine times I didn’t hear anything ring. I was quite frustrated about the missing phone. Finally, I gave up and told the Accountant that it was time to replace my dinosaur cell phone with a modern one. We set up a time to go look at new phones.
Two days later, I got a call from my dear Mom. She wanted to know if I had lost my phone. Walking home from school, an honest girl had found my phone. She gave the phone to her mother who used the contacts in my phone to call “Mom”. It made my day to get my phone back and to know that there are honest people in the world.
my 13 day challenge 