DAY TEN

Yesterday on my weekly phone "meeting" with my friend and co-creator, I deemed today the "Day of Sexy Awesomeness!"  According to a lot of Youtube gurus, you should live a "juicy" life.  Make juicy art, plans, and say juicy things, etc.  But to me, the word is Sexy.  I want to live a sexy life, Embrace all the sexy awesomeness of myself and the positivity of the world around me.
So this morning I got up with the sun and made a commitment to get out into the GORGEOUS 80 degree weather.  I went and got a cotton candy ice cream cone and some Kombucha tea and walked around.

Then I explored the local bookstore and bought a bright faux-leather bound journal for my next big IDEA!
Inspired by the lovely ladies of Tiny Devotions (I simply adore their lovely malas!) I am going to make a vision board- except MINE is going to be a vision journal!  (Combination art/creativity journal and vision board- I'm sure it's been done before but I thought I'd give it a go.)  I got my mod podge and some old magazines, ready to go. 
I finished my Sexy Awesomeness day at the best BBQ place in town with some friends and good laughs.  Today was a great day to appreciate laughter- after all, what's sexier than that?

DAY NINE

Be awesome.  Overcome.  Give back.  My 3 biggest challenges for the day were met with ardor.    After receiving some bad news this morning, I went out for a walk to enjoy the beautiful day outside and I checked the mail and lo and behold!  I received a baby care package with a gorgeous bookmark, some magazine articles, and notes from my dear friend and co-creator!  It was so perfectly timed I couldn't believe it.  After being outdoors and getting such a sweet gift I was ready to face my day.  That, and having a pastille!  :)  I worked hard and felt accomplished when I came home.  I tried to represent awesome in all my interactions throughout the day; I often at work get asked if I am the owner or the manager and that always makes me feel proud that I am representing my work the best I can.  I drank some great Body + Mind, Black Dragon Pearl, and Citrus Lavender Sage tea, I tried to relax... yes my mind was on my bad news most of the day.  I decided not to ignore it but to embrace and accept it and kind of try to think of it in a positive light.  Yes, this happened.  But I don't have to lie down and die in front of this news.  I got this news for a reason; perhaps the Universe is telling me to shift my focus.  Regardless, I tried to handle my thoughts on it with grace.  Then, I tried also to focus my prayers and thoughts on the needs of friends and family who are going through trying times.  And in my work, I was able to help many people.  Several people were educated and went away happy, satisfied, and ready to live better lives because of what I do.  Not everyone can say that about their jobs.  So in essence, I tried to live up to my challenges, and I will always try every day to incorporate them somehow.

DAY EIGHT

My challenge (& yes, I have chosen to accept it) for the day was to Embrace my inner goddess.  As it is Ash Wednesday, I took the FlyLady approach to my day and blessed my home.
To connect with my spirituality, I went for a walk outside (it was a beautiful day) and then I set to work cleaning and clearing my entryway and coat closet of clutter.  I felt like a million bucks afterward!  Then I opened up the upstairs windows and let the fresh air and sunny light in and worked on cleaning my room and doing some laundry.  So what does boring old housework have to do with spirituality or the inner goddess?  Everything!  If our outer world is chaos, our inner world will reflect that.  By taking the time to bless my home, I took the time to bless myself.
Another thing I did to connect with my inner self was to meditate.  As I am a beginner, I use both guided meditations and music to help me along.  Pandora is great; I hooked it up to some Zen tunes while I centered myself, I put up my grounding shields (one each for the root and crown chakras); and I did the guided visualization to see my higher self. 
My higher self was the ultimate goddess version of me!  I was surprised how clearly I was able to picture her/me.  She had superlong black hair and a white gown on that looked a bit like a flowing kimono.  It was a very energizing and delightful little time for myself.
I also want to make my body healthier.  I indulged in some Joie de Vivre & Caribbean Calypso Mate tea, some green tea mochi, a delicious spinach and carrot salad- it felt good to be good for my body.  (Well, maybe the mochi wasn't the healthiest but it sure was tasty!)
I think embracing the inner goddess, subtly all day long and consciously for a few minutes each day, is something I want to continue to do over the course of this challenge.  It was very calming to the anxiety in me and yet energizing and refreshing to the part of me that's been a bit downtrodden lately. 
I hope it will continue to bring that balance into my life that I've been looking for on my search for SERENITY.

DAY SEVEN

Making time to spoil yourself is so important to achieve inner serenity; it's easy to think about doing but it's quite another to put into action.  After a long day at work it can be tempting to just "crash" when you get home.  But I want to make it a priority to take some time to myself.  Blogging daily has been helpful, and I also decided a pedicure was in order tonight!  I put Penelope on TV, busted out the nail polish, and booted up the computer.  As tired as I am, I also know I'm going to call it an early night.
After a little research, and already knowing how important sleep is to health, I find it interesting to note that it's been reported having the same bedtime and wake time every day (or close to it) helps the circadian rhythm stay in check, guaranteeing regular, adequate rest and repair of the body.

"It is important that you get enough rest and relaxation to give your body time to repair itself and give your mind time to de-clutter and unwind. This is a part of achieving life balance.
Rest and relaxation isn’t just about lazing about on the beach – of, course that sounds pretty good too! It’s about taking “Me Time” out of your day and doing something for you and your life balance – a favourite hobby, reading a good book, taking a trip to the country, going for a bike ride – whatever works for your life balance." -http://www.achieve-goal-setting-success.com/life-balance.html


If you take good care of yourself, you'll be prepared to help someone else if/when they are in need.  I sadly had to discover this tonight.  Feeling all zenned out with my freshly painted toenails and James McAvoy on the screen, I was in prime condition to deal with some sad news about a friend.  As backwards as that sounds, if I had already been feeling down and lousy, I might've taken it as a worse blow.  Oddly enough, the news inspired me to try and give another friend from my past a second chance... it could very likely crash and burn, but you never know until you try, right?

DAY SIX

Renewal Day.  Taking time to refresh and breathe and re-examine my 100-day priorities has been my focus for today.  I feel as if in the past I have focused my ATTENTION on things I want that just might not ever come into my life.  Time for that really unwanted but completely necessary reality check!  If I want SERENITY in my life, the balance of joy, I must be grateful for what I have and stop focusing on what I don't have.  I'm not saying I plan on turning my back on my dreams, goals, or what I want for myself.  I only think I have been spending too much time being unhappy because I've been misdirecting my attention unnecessarily.  My new INTENTION is to focus my gratitude on my current blessings and gifts, by accepting and cultivating myself as I am, not what I wish I was.  To put this into ACTION, I plan on taking more "me" time than I have allowed myself in the past.  Joining with the journaling and blogging I already do, I plan to meditate on becoming my most positive and satisfied self.
I really want to find ACCEPTANCE in myself.  At the core of this challenge, this is what I want.  I can achieve nothing (none of my "balancing my life" goals) until I find the balance within myself.  Working from the inside out!

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.  Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next. Amen." -Reinhold Niebuhr  

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths." -Proverbs 3, 5-6

"Personal core values describe qualities that are absolutely necessary for your integrity, your wholeness and satisfaction, as a person. With a knowledge of your values in hand, you can more easily lower the stress in your life, you can clarify your life purposes and motivations that will bring you to action. To put the list to use in looking at your life, think of your life as a pie. Divide the pie into different pieces: family, career, social, spiritual, physical/health, and financial. Taking your list, consider each piece of the pie and your roles and actions within it. Are you acting from your personal core values in each piece of pie?  Think of ways of being and actions that you could take that would allow you to live more fully from your values in each slice of your life." -sserenity.wordpress.com

My Core Values:

1. My Faith. Jesus Christ is the center and foundation of my life.

2. Family & Friends.  The people closest to me are my support system.

3. Learning. I strive to enrich my life with knowledge.

4. Love. I will play the game of life with all my heart.

5. Hope. I have deep and profound faith in the goodness at everyone's heart and in happy endings.

 

DAYS 4&5

intention. attention. action.  the first step is to find what you want.  making a plan. focusing on a specific need. choosing your desire is to intend.  having a pure focus will enable you to clear away everything else that isnt important or may distract from what you truly want to bring to yourself.  then focus your attention only on your intention.  when you think of your worries. you give them attention 7 therefore power.  strip your worries of their power by focusing on your intention 7 the positive things you want only.  meditating on our happiness 7 desire will bring it power.finally call your intention forth into being by taking action on it.  remember that as a human you are limited.  this is understandable.  but also remember that god can do anything.  and when god is a part of you and your life. he can do all things within you.  taking action is not about doing the impossible.  taking action is about trusting that when you try. god will do what you cannot and bring those wonderful things into your life.  trusting and having faith and moving in a path by doing things to support your goal and meditating on your goal and giving positive thoughts to wwhat you want is how to manifest.

DAY THREE

Today my friend informed me she is reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.
So I swung by the library and picked up a copy.  I haven't begun to read it yet, but as soon as I do you can bet I'll be posting about it!
Today was about simplicity for me.  I did not have to work so I focused on a handful of necessities (vacuuming out my car, helping the folks put things up in the attic) and a handful of fun things (going to the movies to see The Woman In Black, eating a late lunch at one of my favourite restaurants, spending quality time with my family)
I am blessed.  It is so important for me to remember why I don't have all the things I want in my life right now: because I already have so much.  Although I can feel bummed about not being in a relationship, especially just after Valentine's Day, I need to focus on the fact that it might just not be the right time for me to have one.  When the time is right, it will happen.  I believe that wholeheartedly it is meant to be.  In the words of Damon Salvatore (LOL!) "It's right, it's just not right now." 
Simplifying my life will help me on the way to remembering and valuing what is important, and taking the focus off all the things I constantly worry about that don't really deserve my attention after all. 
Today I found my SERENITY in a balance of work and fun, of needs and wants.  I can't wait to see what joys and SERENITY tomorrow will bring for me.