22 Ways I Make My Life Easier and Better By "Deciding Once"

 

                                                                                                   My version of Jeff Novick's Longevity soup

I joined The Minimal Mom's membership group because I love Dawn and her family and her videos make me happy. Today I realized that I could share some things I'm doing there and maybe it would help some of you and increase your happiness too. 

 Today we were to "decide once" on three things (a concept Dawn got from the "Lazy Genius Way" book and that I've been using for many years to make my life (with a host of health challenges) easier).

This list was just what came to mind when I brainstormed after watching Dawn's video this morning. I know there's more. If you want me to keep a running list and do a follow up post with the habits that aren't here, just let me know. They're just in the order that they came to mind, not in the order that they happen.

1) I have the same breakfast every day (kale berry shake in summer; hot blueberry bowl in winter) 

2) I have leftovers for lunch (so dinner includes making enough for there to be leftovers)

3) I do my planned Bible reading before I let myself do anything else online 

4) I walk outside every day that I'm able

5) I do goal reading before pleasure reading 

6) Monday's dinner is usually a simple one-pot meal (soup, stew, chili, curry) 

7) I only buy clothing made of natural fabric (except swimsuits, sports wear, etc. where it's not practical) 

8) I stopped wearing makeup except for fancy pictures 

9) I stopped highlighting my hair 

10) My husband cuts my hair 

11) I have specific morning and evening routines that I follow, resting as needed for my health

12) I go outside and watch the sunset each night that I'm able 

13) I pray, listen to positive things or sing when doing housework (aka "home blessing", thank you FlyLady)

13) As a gift to the Lord, I call someone who is lonely every day that I'm able

14) I do a load of laundry every day that I'm able

15) We change the sheets on Saturdays 

16) I write out Christmas cards (a few a day) starting the day after Thanksgiving 

17) I spend the last week of the year closing it out and preparing for a great start to the next year. 

18) I aim to live in a "beautiful state" (thank you, Tony Robbins!), which is basically an empowered emotional state, zapping myself out of dis-empowering moods as soon as possible after recognizing that I'm in them (I did this before Tony Robbins' beautiful state training but without his 90-second time limit and nice title. The name "beautiful states" resonates with me and helps me get back to a positive place faster).  

19) I tithe every month that I have income

20) Bible study and prayer time are my first sit-down activities of the day 

21) God is my #1 priority for eternity

22) My husband is my #1 human priority

 

Thank you for visiting! I hope at least one of these helped or inspired you in some way. 

May God bless you!

 

Related posts:

Organized linen closet: https://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/07/from-disaster-to-delight-organized.html

Decluttered cabinet: https://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/02/clearing-cabinet-clutter-clutter.html

Take back your time challenge: https://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2016/06/take-back-your-time-challenge.html

 

Note: 

I am not an affiliate of anyone linked in this post, just a fan. All opinions are my own.

Clyde Kilby's 11 Resolutions for Mental Health

 

I first read Clive Kilby's resolutions in John Piper's excellent book, The Pleasures of God. I thought they were so noteworthy that I not only wanted to remember them, but also desired to share them with you. I hope you find them helpful and uplifting.

1. "At least once every day I shall look steadily up at the sky and remember that I, a consciousness with a conscience, am on a planet traveling in space with wonderfully mysterious things above and about me.

2. Instead of the accustomed idea of a mindless and endless evolutionary change to which we can neither add nor subtract, I shall suppose the universe guided by an Intelligence which, as Aristotle said of Greek drama, requires a beginning, a middle, and an end. I think this will save me from the cynicism expressed by Bertrand Russell before his death when he said: “There is darkness without, and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendor, no vastness anywhere, only triviality for a moment, and then nothing.”

3. I shall not fall into the falsehood that this day, or any day, is merely another ambiguous and plodding twenty-four hours, but rather a unique event, filled, if I so wish, with worthy potentialities. I shall not be fool enough to suppose that trouble and pain are wholly evil parentheses in my existence, but just as likely ladders to be climbed toward moral and spiritual manhood.

4. I shall not turn my life into a thin, straight line which prefers abstractions to reality. I shall know what I am doing when I abstract, which of course I shall often have to do.

5. I shall not demean my own uniqueness by envy of others. I shall stop boring into myself to discover what psychological or social categories I might belong to. Mostly I shall simply forget about myself and do my work.

6. I shall open my eyes and ears. Once every day I shall simply stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud, or a person. I shall not then be concerned at all to ask what they are but simply be glad that they are. I shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what Lewis calls their “divine, magical, terrifying and ecstatic” existence.

7. I shall sometimes look back at the freshness of vision I had in childhood and try, at least for a little while, to be, in the words of Lewis Carroll, the “child of the pure unclouded brow, and dreaming eyes of wonder.”

8. I shall follow Darwin’s advice and turn frequently to imaginative things such as good literature and good music, preferably, as Lewis suggests, an old book and timeless music.

9. I shall not allow the devilish onrush of this century to usurp all my energies but will instead, as Charles Williams suggested, “fulfill the moment as the moment.” I shall try to live well just now because the only time that exists is now.

10. Even if I turn out to be wrong, I shall bet my life on the assumption that this world is not idiotic, neither run by an absentee landlord, but that today, this very day, some stroke is being added to the cosmic canvas that in due course I shall understand with joy as a stroke made by the architect who calls himself Alpha and Omega.

11. I shall sometimes look back at the freshness of vision I had in childhood andtry, at least for a little while, to be, in the words of Lewis Carroll, the‘child of the pure unclouded brow, and dreaming eyes of wonder."

May God bless you!

Related Posts:

https://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/08/smile-for-love.html

https://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2011/12/top-10-quotes-from-completely.html

https://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/03/authentic-relationships-book-review-and.html

 

Sources:
1. The Pleasures of God by John Piper, pages 95-96

2. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/10-resolutions-for-mental-health

(Note: The article had the first 10 and the book had all eleven, but with the eleventh in the text of the book and the first ten in the notations)

Cherry Blossoms and Cheery Chaps

Cheery Chaps at USNA: Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler

Normally when people I don't know ask me to take their picture, I agree, take the picture with their phone or camera, and never see them again. But because I'm following the CDC's guidelines for protecting myself from the coronavirus (COVID-19), I am not currently able to handle other's phones or cameras. These easygoing fellows kindly agreed to let me photograph them with my camera and share their photos on my blog (and they have my permission as the photographer to use the photos, print them, share them etc.). They were very good natured about my hesitation and I thank them for their excellent attitudes.

Cheery Chaps and Cherry Blossoms: Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler

These pictures were taken in front of the big weeping cherry trees near the Visitor's Center at the U.S. National Arboretum today.

Weeping Cherry Trees: Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler

The trees were just in the bud stage last week so it was a pleasant surprise to see them blooming this much already today.

Weeping Cherry Trees II: Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler

I just love these trees. Seeing them bloom is always one of the highlights of my year.

Weeping Cherry Trees III: Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler

Thank you for visiting! Thank you to the three young men for allowing me to take their photos! May God bless them and may He bless you too!


Related posts:
DC tidal basin cherry blossoms: https://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/04/cherry-blossoms-washington-dc-monuments.html
DC monuments & cherry blossoms: https://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/04/cherry-blossoms-and-national-monuments.html
2012 monuments and blossoms: https://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/03/washington-dc-cherry-blossoms-and.html