Tag Archives: plans

On Plans and Planning

Posted on by
6

Photo by JESHOOTS.com on Pexels.com

Beginning is the toughest thing to do. There are many things I want and need to do but how do I start? Often I am overwhelmed with indecision. I waste much time fiddling and twiddling, pacing and drinking tea. It’s a habit hard to fix. I have had it for so long that it is woven into my very fabric. I am not a planner. I live by the seat of my pants. I have no concrete plans for anything.

Perhaps I could make some changes to make life easier. I’ve done well so far winging it but I could do better if I sit down and write down whatever it is I want. Then break it down in simple small steps on how to get there. That would be a plan. We’re halfway through the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I can start working on making plans for the second half. I found a few famous quotes to inspire me.

  • “It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.” – Eleanor Roosevelt.
  • “By Failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin
  • Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln
  • “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” – Yogi Berra
  • The more time you spend contemplating what you should have done…you lose valuable time planning what you can and will do.” – Lil Wayne

How I do start the day is always with my morning tea. I used to meditate with 20 minutes of sitting meditation with Mark Williams on Youtube. I’ve given that up and play Wordle and Spelling Bee instead. My brain wants to busy. It feels wasteful doing nothing. I’m not sure it’s a good thing. At least I am not subscribing to play so the time is very short. I guess I do have a mental plan of limiting myself.

REASONS, PLANS AND DESTINATIONS

Posted on by
Reply

April 17th. The month is more than half over. I have yet to think of tackling my tax return. I’m a procrastinator but I will tend to it when I hit the deadline. It is the best motivator so I shall not waste time feeling bad/guilty/whatever about how I am. Life feels so busy and I have no plans at all, let alone best laid ones. I think it could be one reason why I feels so lost and in a puddle. I really should get my shit together, pull up my socks, get organized and make a plan. Who am I kidding though? How long have I talked about this? And has it happened yet?

I could get depressed about this. I think I am a little. I am thinking, instead of feeling down in my boots, I should make a list of things to tend to in these funky blue moods. I could just choose one little item, do it and cross it off. I’m sure it would give my morale/mood a boost. I don’t have a list yet, but I do push myself to do something – even when I feel least like it. For instance, I did finish transplanting my leggy snapdragons this morning. This afternoon, I put in 20 minutes transplanting the purple petunias. Little bits here and there add up. Even if I wasn’t feeling better, I felt no worse.

I went for a walk after lunch. It’s been a long while since my daily walks with Sheba. It’ll be 3 years middle of May. Funny how hard it is to walk without a dog. Sometimes I feel a little lost without Sheba. I need a reason and a destination. Exercise is a very good reason. I walked to the Dollar Store for oven mitts and pot holders. Then it was to the quilt shop to buy some bobbins for my Bernina sewing machine. I’m sure Sheba was tagging along. I could feel her at my heels.

THE SUMMER OF 2018

Posted on by
2

OMG it is October! It came fast. It is raining and snowing alternately most of the day. Suffice to say summer is indeed over. I’m not at all sad to see its back side. I can say that the summer of 2018 was the summer from hell. What was so bad about it? For one thing, my left hand pained me the whole time. It still does but the pain has eased and changed these last few days. I know it will disappear soon. (Hope, hope) Secondly, I had a summer cold for a month. I coughed, coughed and coughed some more. I sucked endlessly on Fisherman’s lozenges. I couldn’t sleep laying down. It was a very distressful time.

It is just a memory now and not a very clear one. I hardly remember the summer and what I did except that it was a very bad time for me and it was a volatile season of climatic changes. It was cold. It was hot. And it was HOT – up to 40 degrees Celsius in parts of Saskatchewan. There was no rain. Then there was the smoke from the forest fires on the west coast. My part of the world looked and felt apocalyptic. My heart in my mouth most days.

I welcome the new season and its changes. I welcome the rain and snow. Even the grey did not bother me today. There’s a new energy in me. I feel a bit of joy and hope in me and I’m looking forward to new challenges. The summer was tough but looking back it had many positives also. Given my pain and cold, the garden and all the raised beds got planted. Despite the lack of rain, we had captured enough water in the rainbarrels to keep the raised beds filled and to water the garden. The beans and peas suffered a bit but they still produced. I had enough energy and will to see that my parents’ house insurance came through for the hail damage of last summer. I looked upon my ability to coordinate their house repairs as a sign of my mental health. It was a big confidence boost for me.

I’m giving thoughts to the coming days leading to Christmas and winter. What and how will I fare? It is good to have some plans in place while I’m feeling confident and happy. I want to experiment more with my art and sewing.  It is easy to get stuck and staid even in creativity. I tend to do the same old, same old till I’m really sick and tired of it. For long whiles I did just watercolours. Then it’s acrylics. I have so many mediums. There’s my charcoals, soft pastels, oil pastels, neocolours, Inktense blocks…It’s just occurred to me to let loose and have fun with them all. And why not paint on cloth and then do my free motion embroidery on them? I could join a sewing/quilting club and create amid a crowd.

I’m rambling now. Time to bring this to a close. There’s so much fun to be had. My time on earth is limited. I better not waste it on things I can’t do anything about or things that don’t matter a squat.