Make A Difference Monday - Self Reflecting

Hey!

I am sorry I'm so late getting this posted.

But first - in honor of Martin Luther King Jr today,

one of my favorite quotes:
“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.”
As you've seen in the earlier post,

I spent the weekend with my crazy sister

for a good 'ol sewing weekend.

(more to come about that on my Friday post)

Well, I left the charger to my laptop at her house

and my battery died, so I couldn't do the post this morning.

If you are joining me on this journey,

then you are also doing a lot of self-reflecting.

I do want to make sure that you understand

where I'm coming from when I write about all this stuff,

and that is,

I am in the best place I have ever been in my life.

I used to beat myself up

continually if I did something

and it wasn't done perfectly, or...

did something wrong, or...

said something I shouldn't have, or...

ate something just to get rid of the bad feelings.

etc.

You name it,

if I wasn't perfect,

I wasn't good enough,

which explains why I'm such a rule follower.

God forbid I should try something on my own

and I fail.

That's not who I am anymore.

But I share these things....

these feelings...

because I want you to understand

where I was,

so you know the journey

I'm taking

to get to my goal.

Now...I'm not going to go spilling

the beans on my life,

or share dark, dirty secrets.

I'm talking strictly about how I feel about myself.

What kinds of things go on in my head

to make me react the way I do.

I am blessed in the fact that I have

amazing people in my life.

I have friends and family

with good heads on their shoulders,

who help me see life as it is today.

My mom sent me a beautiful email

and the last line of the email was

basically telling me I don't have to be perfect

(um...yes...I struggle with that...ugh)

and that there was only one perfect person on this earth

and He died on the cross for all those things

I'm not so perfect about.

And I have a friend at work

who reminds me

to love myself  for who I am today.

That  today, and every day, I am worthy of all things good,

and just because I don't look like a super model,

doesn't mean I'm not one 'hot mama'.

LOL

But it's those are the things

we all need to hear.

Because we are all worthy of feeling the best

about ourselves at whatever stage we are at

right  now in our lives.

So this week,

really work on loving yourself

AS YOU ARE TODAY

because you are absolutely wonderful.

And for those of you that have different religious

beliefs then I do,

IT'S ALL GOOD!

I'm not a preacher.

I'm not judging.

That's not my place.

My place is to love

and live by the values and morals

of my life.

Each of us finds our own way in life

and our differences are what makes the world go round.

So I leave you with the goals of this week:
Love yourself as you are today.

Be accepting of yourself,

and just work on being the best 'you' that you can be.

Live by YOUR values.

Make sure you take care of you

and don't leave that up to someone else.

When all this comes together,

it's becomes easier and easier to

'spread the love'.

And the difference starts...

the love starts spreading...

and the ugly can be put to rest.

Here's a poem I received today:

May today there be peace within.

May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that

are born of faith in yourself and others.

May you use the gifts that you have received,

and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content with yourself just the way you are.

Let this knowledge settle into your bones

and allow your soul the freedom

to sing, dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and every

one of us.



Enjoy YOU!

 

xoxo

Cindy

Sisters Sewing Weekend Update

Yes...we are tired.

Our cousin Mary stopped by.

She was the first to fall asleep.

This is what happens

when you don't drink your

5 hour energy drink

when you're with Sarah & I.

So we had to do our own

little comedy show

while Mary took a Snooze.

And I'm pretty excited

that I figured out

how to use the video on my camera.

So whenever you are ready

to come hang with my sister and I

(PS...I'm the cute one....LOL)

Come on over!

But make sure you have plenty

of sleep before you stop by.

Who knows what will happen next!

xoxo

Cindy

Favorite Things Friday

Here we are!

Another round of Shay's Favourite Things Friday!

YAY!

So here is something I've been holding back on.

I won a giveaway from my all time hero,

Monica Solorio-Snow

aka Happy Zombie.

I won this fabulous jelly roll to add to my stash of

Happy Mochi Yum Yum.

If you have not checked out Monica's blog yet, you really should.

She will

CRACK

YOUR

STUFF

UP.

I always tell her she's my hero.

I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm a psyco stalker,

but that's OK.

At least she knows how I feel.

:o)

I also took some 'me' time this week

and made a Valentine curtain for my kitchen window.

Melissa....you will be very proud of me.

I didn't use a pattern and

it's lined with an eyelet trim.

YAY me!

:o)

We have this local shop

that is so incredibly reasonable regarding their prices.

The heart

was only $7.

The flower ball

was only $4.

The old glass heart

 

was only $6.

Can you believe it?

What an awesome week it has been!

And to top it off,

I get to spend the weekend with my sister

(she has my very own bedroom for me,

thank goodness....because she snores.)

and we are going to sew...sew....sew.

Guess what my topic will be for next weeks

Favourite Things Friday? 

:o)

Love to all!!

xoxo

Cindy

Make A Difference Monday - I Am Worth It

Happy Make A Difference Monday!

I will say, I did have a couple of rough days this week.

I've been under a lot of stress at work, however,

I really paid attention to my surroundings

and kind of looked at things

 as if I were watching someone else.

When stress & pressure get to me,

I need to keep my mouth moving.

So...

I kept wanting to find something to munch on.

Now, Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday

I was prepared.

I had healthy food

and made some pretty darn good choices.

But Thursday and Friday...

not so much.

I learned a lot in those two days.

I also started keeping a journal

of how I feel when I have those

'have to keep my mouth moving'

moments.

Those moments come when I feel I haven't

done my best,

or didn't pay attention,

or tried to hurry,

because someone wants and answer,

or something done ASAP.

They come when a friend or loved one needs me

and I just can't be a support system at the moment,

because I need to heal myself.

What am I going to do about this type

of self-sabotage?

I'm going to stop,

take a slow, deep breath in,

exhale slowly,

and repeat over and over

until I start to believe it,

"I AM WORTH IT".

I am worth being respectful to myself.

I am worth having my alone time.

I am worth an organized home.

I am worth not hurting my body

by eating something unhealthy.

I am worth taking time to exercise.

I am worth putting myself first from time to time.

And so are you!

You are worth all things good.

You are worth being good to yourself.

Respecting yourself.

Loving yourself.

So...for the month of January,

we'll continue to work on ourselves.

We'll put ourselves first,

so we can better be there for those that need us.

I don't know about you,

but I am so tired of feeling like the life has been sucked out of me.

So take time out,

just for you.

Enjoy it.

And when the ugly tries to creep it's way in,

just repeat this to yourself:

source

My New Thing for Favourite Things Friday

Hey everybody!

Another one of my goals for this year is to

link up with Shay

for her Favourite Things Friday.

So....my favorite thing this week
is thinking out of my creative box.
I am such a rule follower
that patterns are perfect for me.
It tells me what to do,
how to do it,
when to do it,
etc.

I finally just did something on my own
right out of my scrap box.
I made this cute little gal
for Valentine's Day.

No pattern.

No templates.

No instruction.

Just a drawing I did on scratch paper,

and brought to life with fabric and thread.

Probably for a lot of you,

this isn't a big deal.

I can't BELIEVE the

talent I see out in blogland.

And it's been such an inspiration to me.

I'm even going to develop a new character

and build a series around it.

That's how much 'outside of the box'

thinking I've been doing.

So, for my Favourite Thing Friday,

I am celebrating creating something

of my very own.

This has already started out to be an awesome year.

I wonder what else it will bring?

If you have a favorite thing this week,

head on over and link up with

Shay of Quilting in My Pyjamas

xoxo

Cindy

Make A Difference Monday

As promised...

the new direction of my blog.

Along with my everyday crafting,

cooking, and whatever else comes up,

I am starting a Make A Difference Monday.

This means every Monday I will be doing a post

on how to make a difference.

I have a photograph that I took hanging in my bathroom,

to which I photoshopped a quote onto it.

It's one of my most favorite quotes by Gandhi, which says,

"You must become the change you want to see in the world"

I totally love this quote.

So, for this first Make A Difference Monday,

I'm starting with me.

Now, you are welcome to join me on this journey,

or follow along,

or share ideas,

whatever wets your whistle.

But the first few posts will be how I can start with myself to make a difference.

The first change I am working on is my thought pattern,

my internal voice,

that most of the time isn't so nice to me.

It's the voice that sets me up for failure.

If I'm going to do this,
I have to be honest.

So, though I may always seem happy-go-lucky,

inside I have this old tape recording,

that lets me know I'm really not

"good enough".

Now, I will tell you, I do not like pity.

All of us are worth more than that,

so please don't think that's where I'm headed with this.

I am heading on the path which leads to great things!

But, in order to get to the 'great things', I have to be

honest with what my internal voice is doing

to sabatoge me from moving forward.

Why, do you ask, am I doing this?

Well, I have always felt that somewhere in life,

I would do something great.

But again, I have let that nasty voice

keep me from doing the things in life that I really want to do.

Once I became an adult, I have no one to blame

but myself for not achieving the things in life I wanted to achieve.

So, if you are coming on this journey with me,

look deep inside yourself.

What is your internal tape recording saying to you?

Is it telling you that you're a victim?

That the way your life is now, is because of someone, or something, else?

Where you are at, where I am at, is because of the choices we ourselves have made.

If you don't like what you see when you look in the mirror,
(meaning from the inside out)

fix it.

On July 7th, I will turn 50 years old.

And I am excited.

One of my biggest hurdles will be loosing weight.

 I didn't get this way because I love food.

I got this way because I let the internal voice

take over and I stuff my feelings.

No more!

So....here I am today.

Yep....this is me in all my chubby cuteness!  LOL

The first of every month

I will post a picture of myself

with my accomplishments from the prior month.
Not only the physical changes,
but also the internal changes
I hope to make.

Let me tell you...

this was a hard choice for me to make.

Now that I've made this public,

I HAVE to do something.

Keeping my word,

makes a difference.

Right?

Now, I am by no means a therapist,

or trying to be one.

I'm just trying to work on myself,

 and because I know what's wrong,

I am choosing to fix it.

So, the first few weeks will about self-improvment.

Once I get the hang of that, I'll move

on to 'sharing the love'.

Referring to the lyrics of Michael Jackson's, "Man in the Mirror"

I'm Starting With The Man In
The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change
His Ways
And No Message Could Have
Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World
A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself, And
Then Make A Change

So here we go, folks!
Whether it's loosing weight,
something inside stopping you from being truly happy,
your creativity is blocked,
whatever the case may be,

we can do it!
I'm, by no means, saying this is going to be easy,
but it is going to be worth it.

xoxo

Cindy

Happy 2012!!



Wishing all of you much happiness and success in 2012.

Leave the past behind.

It doesn't have to go with you.

Take what you like and leave the rest.

Looking forward to all the adventures the new year has to offer.

Tune in tomorrow.

I have something new in store for my blog.

You are welcome to join me,

follow my progress,

or ignore it.

Any choice you make is fine!

I so appreciate all the new 'virtual' friends I've made in 2011.

Each of you have touched my life in a special way.

To my entire family, I love you all dearly

and I am so blessed to have the family I do.

To my 'real life' friends,

I couldn't live my life without you.

Thank you all.

I appreciate every single thing about you.

Much love & happiness.

xoxo

Cindy