Once Again Time Moved On Without Me

March 4, 2021 - already? The last thing I remember is it being Valentine's weekend. Then the Polar Vortex came through the state of Texas! 

We lost power, had to boil our water, cook around small pockets of time when we did have electricity. Slept all bundled up with layers of blankets over our heads in hopes of staying warm. 

Remember my posts a few weeks back when I was discussing survival tips and what you would do when the need arose? Well, we had to reach into that bag of tricks and use a few of those tips I shared with you. They were our saving grace…

Flashlights twinkling through the house when the sun and the light should have been shining brightly. (Thank goodness I had batteries!)

Playing dice at the kitchen table with our youngest daughter and her husband by the twinkling of the same flashlights. What an experience it was...

I couldn't finish the Ultimate Blog Challenge as I had set out to do on February 1st. I'm bummed about that just a little bit...there will be others I'm sure. I'm not sweating it...

A few months back I was told about a small Boutique in a town near where I live. It's called The Hangout Gift Shop & More. They have unique, handmade things in there for sale. I told the individual who had told me about it I would check it out...time-lapsed and I just recently was able to swing by with a friend of mine, Glenda Cates of The Mommies Review.  I met the owner and asked a few questions. We looked around and we left.

Since my initial visit, I have been tossing around if I wanted to commit to doing something like once again. You see, I have tried my hands at Craft Shows and honestly, it's more trouble and more money out of my pocket than I earned at the show. I have sold more of my crafty creations by word of mouth than I did at these craft shows. Should I commit or should I not? That is the question at hand. 

I told my daughter about the opportunity and she said, 'do what you want mom - I know you enjoy crafting". Still tossing the possibility around I buzzed my daughter on Tuesday of this week and asked her if she would go with me to check out the shop. I wanted her to see what I was considering...she obliged me and tagged along. Well, she drove us since she has the car seat in her car for my grandson! LOL

Visiting with the Owner again, I decided that I would place a few things in The Hangout. We left. As soon as I got home, my mind was going all over the place...I can make this, I can make that. I need to do this, and I need to do that! Oh yea, did I say this would even play into my blogging journey? Just think about all the other vendors in that little shop I could do shoutouts for!!! 

I'm so glad my crafting mojo has finally begun to make me happy again...it's been two years of hard-fought tears of trying to find my happy place again with it. Why you ask? LIFE. Marriage. STUFF! Thank goodness I know about Self-care, Coping Tools, and enough gumption to push through it all. Prayer also helped me muddle through the daily ups and downs with time moving on without me. 

This week, I have started another album. I am going to make five of these from different paper themes. I will also make a few legal pad holders, some Mother's Day Loaded Envelopes and a few other goodies. I will blog about this experience as I walk through it...I'm excited about that, to say the least. Who knows, one of these days I may even venture out and do a few videos of my own. It's not like I haven't been asked to do them... :-)

Since I started blogging in January 2020, I have been trying to juggle the nuances of the ins and outs of blogging. Some of that has been trying to find my niche and being comfortable with it. If you have followed my blogs any over the course of the last year, you will see I write about Crafting, Genealogy, In the Kitchen, Life's Journey, Reviews, and from to time a Give-A Way. 

I would be lying if I said it has come easy to me. It hasn't. I constantly question if I'm sharing topics that others find interesting or if they are just for my own personal gain. You know, CONFIDENCE building!!!?? I'm sure I have many flaws in my writings and the way I do things, but these are my thoughts, and I can only do me. So, I will stay in the arena that I have lived experiences with and expertise. Thank you for rooting me on...I appreciate it VERY much!!! I enjoy reading all the comments that are left on my blog posts. Do you ever see my responses when I reply to them? 

I am going to be juggling time to get these creations made in between watching the little guy for my daughter, and days that my health seems to be acting up. This week has been the norm for sure. Here we are on Thursday and I've had three horrific days of low energy. Thank you, Thyroid Disease, - for me being told the latter part of 2013 that Thyroid Cancer would be the easiest to live with, it has NOT been in any way shape, or form. I had surgery for cancer in January of 2014 and here we are in March of 2021. Still, I live with the challenges of the disease daily. UGH....anyway. 

I need to get off here as the little guy will be coming over soon. (It's my day to watch him while my daughter edits weddings). She is a professional Wedding Photographer. I have a new album sitting on my desk that I started yesterday. I'm still in the early stages of it...but here is a sneak peek. 

I refuse to let time move on without me today...how about you? What does your day look like? 

Heart to Heart Soul Creations

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Practicing Personal Self Care with a Busy Life - day 13 UBC

When I was able to work, there were days I burned the candle at both ends (figuratively speaking) in order to get everything accomplished in a day's time done.

Not only did I have a full-time job working 8 - 10-hour days, but I was a mom of three children, a wife, and I also had other obligations outside of the home. (i.e., boards, Praise Team, Bible Study, and PTA just to name a few). Below are pictures of my three children and me. The bottom photo also has my mom in it and my #2 child. These were taken between 1984 and 1994.

Many nights, I'd be washing clothes at midnight, vacuuming the house after the kids were put down for bed, and ensuring the kitchen was cleaned up before settling down for the night myself. The next morning, the cycle started all over again.... get up two hours before everyone else in the house did, take a shower, get my makeup on, and fix my hair. I'd then prepare breakfasts, lunches (if needed), and then wake up the three kids ranging in age from 10 - 2 years old. 

I'd get them ready for school, pack their lunches, make sure they had something to eat for breakfast, and out the door, we went...there was no time for self-care. I was caring for three little people and their needs. My needs always took a back seat to everyone else. Can you relate? I could have used some self-care tips back in the day, trust me! I should have learned that two-letter word NO many years ago! 

By the time I arrived at work, I was exhausted from the hectic schedule I maintained with little sleep most days. Now mind you, my kids are grown and have families of their own. I'm no longer working - - but there are days I feel like I still burn the candle at both ends with little to no sleep. I can thank my health for this today. There is a difference today though, I've learned how to ask for help if I need it with the housework and preparing the meals. There are even days I just don't do anything. I can't...and I don't! 

Trying to balance personal self-care with the busy life I led seemed almost impossible to my family, but I did it. Day in and day out...no, this wasn't and isn't healthy. Burn out was setting in. Frustration was setting in. Days were beginning to run into the next and I began getting sick...

I needed to balance my busy life, but how? Back in the day, for several years, I was a single mom (the middle photo above, I was a single mom with a newborn baby and two older children) - I didn't have the luxury of having a partner to assist with the housework, the cooking, the financial assistance, etc. I just had to figure it out. Like I mentioned above, self-care wasn't even in the equation other than the morning routine of showering (and in most days, that was rushed) out of necessity. 

I had routines. These were necessary to keep my life in check and keep me sane...but at times, even the routines were difficult to manage. But I did it...when I think back to how life was back in the day; I'm amazed I accomplished all the things I did. But guess what...I did it! Sure, I could have done things differently now that I think about them, but then - I just had to manage and manage I did. 

Do you have a busy life? If so, how do you balancing it all? 

Continue reading along to learn how to tweak a few things in your life to balance personal self-care with your busy life. 

How to Balance Practicing Personal Self Care with a Busy Life

One of the most difficult challenges a lot of people face with self-care is finding the time to fit it in. When you live a busy lifestyle, it can seem almost impossible to find extra time to look after you.

So, how can you balance practicing self-care with a busy lifestyle? Here, you’ll discover some great tips you can follow.

Schedule it in

A good tip you can follow to ensure you can fit self-care into your busy routine is to schedule it in. Think about it, you schedule in everything else, so why not self-care? When you set a time to focus on yourself, you are much more likely to stick to it. No matter how busy you think you are, there will always be time for self-care somewhere in your schedule.

Establish a morning routine

If you are struggling to find the best time of day to practice self-care, you might find it easier in the morning. If you’re a busy parent, you might disagree here but think about it. In the morning, you could get up just 30 minutes earlier, or 15 minutes if you want. This can be the perfect opportunity to practice self-care.

Alternatively, if you are a parent you could focus on self-care in the evenings when the kids have gone to bed. It doesn’t take long to practice self-care so you should always be able to squeeze it in somewhere.

Look at automating daily tasks

There are all kinds of tools and gadgets that can automate various aspects of our lives. If you are constantly busy, you’ll find automating certain tasks can be a game-changer.

For example, you could switch from going to the grocery store, to ordering groceries online. If you have items you frequently purchase, these can be added to your favorites list, making it easier to add them to your order next time. Doing your grocery shopping online can free up a lot of free time during the week that can be used on self-care.

Start small

You don’t have to start by completely overhauling your lifestyle. Instead, you can start small with self-care. Begin by taking just 10 minutes out of each day to focus on a self-care activity. Focus on developing one positive self-care habit at a time. Once you have mastered that, you can move on to the next task.

By starting small, it makes it easier to fit self-care into your busy life. Many people mistakenly think they need to begin with at least 30 minutes a day. The truth is, however, much time you can free up for self-care is enough. Once you get started, you’ll find it easier to start focusing more on self-care due to the benefits you experience.

Overall, balancing practicing self-care with a busy lifestyle isn’t easy. However, the tips above can really help. You’ll find a lot of tips online too from busy people just like you. Remember, self-care is essential to your health and wellbeing. So, no matter how busy you are, you should always try and make time for self-care daily.

Now that I have given you the equation of how to balance personal self-care with a busy life, what is the first thing you are going to change? Do you feel you would be able to manage life better if you were able to implement a few changes that enhanced balancing your self-care and busy life? 

Drop me a comment and let me know how you could achieve balancing personal self-care in your busy life. 

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Are you Taking Care of Yourself? day 12 UBC

 Why People Fail So Badly at Taking Care of Themselves

Even when you know how important self-care is to your well-being, it isn’t always easy to incorporate it into your daily routine. In fact, do you know many people fail when it comes to taking care of themselves?

Here, we’ll look at why people generally fail when it comes to self-care and the main things holding them back.

It is often perceived as selfish

One of the main reasons people fail to take care of themselves is because they feel it is selfish. It could be that you feel guilty when you take time to focus on yourself. Or, you may worry about what other people think, or that you are a terrible parent for not focusing solely on your children’s needs.

It is a total myth that self-care is selfish. In fact, it can help you to be a better parent, friend, spouse, and relative. The more you take care of yourself, the easier you’ll find it to take care of others. You’ll also show your children the importance of self-care. Teaching them to take care of their own needs is a crucial life skill that’s going to help them to grow up to be happier adults.

It requires effort

There is no getting away from the fact that self-care does take some level of effort in the beginning. When you aren’t used to making self-care a priority, you’re going to need to make quite a few changes to your routine.

Coming up with a self-care plan can feel like a chore, making it easy to put it off. However, there are ways to reduce the effort. For example, focusing on one thing you want to improve at a time can really help. Perhaps you’d like to start working out more? Scheduling time to exercise as soon as you wake up, for example, can be a great start. Or, if you’re looking to drink more water, focus on that goal first.

If you break down your self-care tasks, it makes them much easier, reducing a lot of the effort involved.

Different approaches work for different people

Every one of us is different, which means we enjoy and dislike different things. When you initially look at examples of self-care, you’ll find a lot of them relate to things like reading a book or taking a hot bubble bath. These types of activities aren’t for everyone so they might feel self-care really isn’t for them.

Self-care isn’t just bubble baths, yoga, and meditation. It is anything that relaxes and takes care of you. So, if you find going for a run is a more effective way of feeling good, that would be classed as a self-care task.

If you find one self-care approach isn’t working, try something else. Self-care should be personal to your own needs.

These are the most common reasons people fail to take good care of themselves. It can be difficult overcoming the initial barriers to self-care. However, once you fully understand what and how important it is, you’ll find it much easier to stick to a self-care routine.

How are you taking care of yourself today? 

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Recognizing Change Is Needed - day 11 UBC Challenge

Self-care and Change go hand in hand although it is difficult to do in many instances. When I worked in the Mental Health field, I facilitated support groups and many different conferences for people living with mental health, families, and staff. Among the topics discussed, the importance of Self-Care and Change was always talked about. Let me pose a question to you, how do you implement Self-Care in your life? Does it just happen or is it something you must conscientiously work on? 

It takes courage to put Self-care in the forefront of our lives. It takes courage to change things that are familiar to us as well. Courage is a mindset that all of us hold within ourselves. 

Did you know that Self-care is the practice of doing things for your body, soul, and mind that promotes wellbeing and less stress? Less stress? Promotes a wellbeing. I don't know about you, but I have stressors every single day unless I change the situations around me. I have learned there are good stressors and there are bad. How many of you live with stressors in your life daily? Does the same stress promote your wellbeing? If you said YES that you have stress, then you might need to make some changes to promote wellbeing. 

Thinking about the things that promote my wellbeing, I came up with a list of things that promote my Self-care. Read through the list and let me know if you can relate to any of them. Did any of mine, hit a nerve for you?  

*getting plenty of sleep.

*maintaining boundaries.

*learning and saying "no"

*eating healthy meals.

*removing toxic people from my life.

*be willing to change.

*removing the negativity around me.

*affirming myself daily.

*giving myself grace.

*taking care of my health.

*taking time for me (in other words, having ME time)

*doing things that make me happy.

*communicate my feelings.

*don't bottle things up inside (let those walls down)

*ask for help if needed.

*recognizing change is needed.

*be mindful daily.

*be truthful daily with self and with others.

*have purpose.

*be forgiving and ask for forgiveness if needed.

*don't live in the past.

*don't let the past define who I am.

*don't hold grudges.

*love self and others.

*don't allow judgments of others to define me.

Could you relate to any that I have? Did you have others I didn't list? If so, what were some of them? 

To have Self-care, one needs to recognize that change is needed. Have you ever known anyone who is set in their ways and refuses to change no matter the cost? I have...and it isn't fun. It's like that broken record...I want to change but I'm NOT willing to do anything different. If that is the mindset, then how will the change be achieved? Newsflash - things will never change. You will continue to live in the vicious cycle of going around and around and around, wanting, and expecting different outcomes without doing anything different. It doesn't work like that. To change, things must be different. Plain and Simple. 

The First Step to Change is to Recognize it is Needed.

If you’re struggling to make healthier changes in your life, it could be that you’re not convinced a change is needed. Many of us are also great at avoiding change. It tends to be something we dread, rather than look forward to.

However, if you want to live your best life, it’s imperative you recognize when a change is needed. So, how exactly can you recognize that change is needed in your life? Below, you’ll discover some of the common signs to look out for.

You feel lost or stuck in life.

Do you feel like you’re stuck in a rut and you have lost your purpose? This is a sure sign that a change is needed. Everyone has a purpose, but it isn’t always easy to identify it. Also, your purpose can change as you get older and go through life’s experiences. So, if you feel like your life isn’t your own anymore, it’s time to make a change.

Your mood is consistently flat.

Another sign change is needed is if you find your mood is constantly flat. That is, you don’t really enjoy anything anymore. You don’t have to feel depressed to make a change, simply feeling constantly flat is another indicator your life isn’t satisfying.

Think about the things that used to make you feel good. It could be that you once enjoyed your career. If you now don’t like your job, it’s a sign you need to make a change to get back to feeling that initial excitement.

You suffer with poor self-esteem.

Low self-esteem can develop for a lot of different reasons. However, it tends to be more prevalent in those who don’t take care of themselves. If you lack self-care, you may criticize yourself more or feel like you aren’t worth much.

Over time, poor self-esteem can lead you to feel like you don’t deserve good things in life. This in turn can cause you to give up trying to be happy. If you suffer with poor self-esteem, it is a good sign you need a change.

You have very little energy.

Having little energy throughout the day could be a sign of poor sleep. However, it can also relate to a deeper issue if you are constantly tired. It may mean that you have lost your passion and interest in life. When you spend a lot of time doing things that don’t inspire you, it can zap your energy quickly.

So, if you wake up feeling tired and drained consistently, take it as a sign you need more self-care in your life. When you are taking care of yourself, you’ll feel energized and ready to take on anything.

As you can see, there are a lot of signs that could point to the fact you need a change. Self-care can really help to improve self-esteem, give you a sense of purpose and help to make you feel happier and more energized. So, if you want to make a change, recognize where your current issues lie and use self-care to eliminate them.

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