What? Laughing at us.

A year ago we started tins blog. We scheduled ourselves to post through January. Then life took over. Our commitment waned after the first month. This summer my brother laughed at Shelley and I about our blog or lack of it. 

Alan did fuel the motivation to take this further and have a longer commitment. So, it can't be all bad. The start is good. Each week will prove to be better and better. Then in six months from now. I can laugh at him. Ok, really just prove to him that this blog can and will be better than ever. 

We all know that life can take over and we can forget the great things we started. The difficult part many times isn't getting started it is the "keep it going" that gets hard in life. For me if I can just have the habits be part of my life and not have to think about them, I am more successful. That is what I wish for myself and others in 2018. To develop the habits that can lead us positively into each day with the grateful heart for others. We have this. 

#2018 #wegotthis #sisterstrong #family

One word 2018

2018 My One Word

This it the fourth year that I will be doing My One Word by Jeff Gordon. Instead of a New Year's Resolution I use my word to focus my goals. I am super excited how my word is going to be motivating and reflective at the same time to help me move forward. 

http://getoneword.com/

 During the last five months of 2017 this word has come up in different areas of my life. I have written it down and prayed about it along with a few other words. Another exercise I do before finally deciding on my word is to define the words I have written down as possible options. This year's word is Why. 

Today is the last day of 2017.  I have began creating my vision board and word. Along with setting my first 12 week goals.  Of course these sheets are in my Mambi Happy Planner. 

I am looking at my Why in different areas of my life: getting healthy, career, adventure, personal growth, spiritual growth, home, and finances. I have written down my why for each of these areas to build a better foundation for myself during 2018. Now the how and what have more meaning to accomplishing my why. 

Cheers to 2018, 

Melissa

Declutter

So many beautiful things. How could I not live without all of it?
I need to. I feel that my home and office reflects what goes on inside of me. Cluttered. Spreading my time,  my thoughts, energy, words, actions, etc so thin among all of the people and activities that need to be completed.

For two weeks I am going to commit to taking 10 items a day out of my home. Along with that is I will not bring anything new into the house without taking something out. How is this going to go? What will it feel like? I will be letting you know.

The 5 Second Rule

I stumbled across a video on my Facebook feed a few weeks back and was sucked in. The caption was why motivation is garbage. I watched the clip, then proceeded to pull up the entire video interview ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCHPSo79rB4 ) and then went back to watch her TED talk ( https://youtu.be/Lp7E973zozc ). If you’re not familiar with Mel Robbins she is a very interesting speaker and former host on CNN. I had no idea who she was or why I should care until after watching this interview. She brings up the point that we are our own worst critic/enemy/saboteur. Not only is there fear holding us back from achieving everything we want, but that we can ultimately control and reverse it. She talks about the tool that she uses called the “5 Second Rule” and how it has helped her to overcome not just negative self talk and fear but her depression and severe anxiety.

I put it to the test for a few weeks to see if it was a practice that I could put into place and sure enough just a simple stop, 5-4-3-2-1, and focus could really change my thinking. At first it was more of a conscious mental change but as I used it in the coming days in other ways it really has become even a physical change that I can feel. I’ve noticed more now after a few days of really re-focusing that I don’t have the same negative dialogue running through my head and I’m starting to add this mini countdown to other areas.

I love finding tools and stories like this that help me feel like I really can achieve my dreams and hit my goals.

#sisterstrong

Shelly

Decision Fatigue

What is that? Through reading the 5am miracle by Jeff Sanders and listening to his blogs. This is something I have learned that makes sense to me.

How often do you wake up in the morning ready to go? You have the best intentions for the day. I plan to exercise, eat healthy, pray often, etc. I do this everyday. By the end of the day someone will make a suggestion that doesn't fit in with my commitment to myself, and I will join in. Ugh!

Have you noticed that your decisions as the day goes on aren't as strong and fast as at the beginning of the day? Decision fatigue. The number of decisions we make a day can leave us tired and sluggish. I find that it leads to poor decisions in the evenings. I overeat and eat less healthy options.

What can I do to solve this? I need to meal plan. Not only evening meals, but all the meals and snacks during the day. The secret to that is to have all the food on hand to make sure the commitment can be followed through on.

Be prepared and know that you can do it no matter how hard it is. This all includes your health, business and relationships.

Not To Do List

To do or not to do...
We all seem to have a long list of to dos. Saying yes when asked. It is hard to say no. Many of us have this problem. That adds to our list of to dos. Who doesn't love that feeling of crossing things off our list. What does your to do list look like?

• Laundry
• Sweep the kitchen
• Go to Walmart
• Pick up forms
• Mail the letter
• Plan for community ed class
• Basketball practice
• Wrestling meet
• Basketball game

But what about your not to do list? Have you ever thought about a not to do list?
This can be a really healthy list to have and keep. So what might not go on that not to do list?

• Eat sugar
• Over schedule
• Be on a screen after 9pm
• Be hung up on details
• Do everything

To be honest it feels real good to create a not to do list. That helps you keep life in perspective and enjoy being able to say no to things that are not a priority to get you healthy emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually.  

Prayer Warrior

This month has had lots of emotions. The one constant has been prayer.

This month we have been challenged with all four of us having to have doctor visits. We started with Ryan having his annual yearly protocol for Li Fraumeni Syndrome. Today we had final results on follow up appointments. We are much relieved that it will be another year before he has to undergo the testing protocol.

Rylee followed up next with a wrestling injury. He has a sprained MCL and is undergoing physical therapy and working on getting back on the mat. He did get back to the mat at practice today, but it didn't go as well as he would have liked and against the recommendation of the physical therapist:( Listen to the experts please. Rylee will need time to heal, but with individual and team tournaments coming up in February he is anxious to get back to normal.

I tried to cross the street one night and slipped on the ice. For the person who usually is well, I ended up in the emergency room with a pulled/torn hamstring. For the most part things are back to normal with some pain that is manageable.

Sully Warriors: Sully had his three month follow up for his oseteosarcoma. Sully was so excited to have clear results. We are are not watching any spots. Three months of smooth sailing.

The above is the short version of the month:) This mom has been a dedicated prayer warrior. I know that I by no means pray enough or maybe the right things, but daily I write down who I pray for and others in need of prayer. A friend and I read, Before Amen by Max Lucado. I find Max's pocket prayer a simple outline to praying each day. The pocket prayer is a tool for us when at times we are not sure how or what to pray.

The power of prayer is amazing. The miracles from prayer are seen everyday. I find that there are season to my prayers. Most often due to the external circumstances that happen, much like this month. I prayed diligently for my family, as well as, others. Now my focus will change to pray more for others.

I pray daily for my family, but more often for others when our circumstances are not like this January. I am thankful for what we have overcome this month as family. The trials bring us closer together and we draw our strength from all our family members. As we drive away from Rochester and I am able to inform family how things have went. The encouraging words we receive get us through that next hurdle that is waiting for us.




God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Psalm 46:1

Sample of Max Lucado's first chapter.