Simplifying Life

LollopyBear

I have just finished reading this thread from start to finish - it took 3 days on and off, but it was so inspiring I couldn't skip pages. Thank you for all the inspirational quotations and very useful links. I have created a folder full of the links and will probably spend the next 3 days going through those!

I really do need to declutter and simplify my life. I have been a fluttering flybaby for a couple of years, but think that I am not being successful because it feels like I am doing this on my own. My hubs helps out but clutter/mess etc. don't seem to bother him as much as it does me.

The person who said that instead of focusing on future plans 13 years hence she was looking to see what could be done now really struck a chord with me (I can't remember who said that, sorry). I'm going to be looking at what I CAN do now rather than just feeling caught in a rut because it isn't the time for it yet.

Thank you to all here, and I hope you don't mind me joining you so late in the day.

Ellidee

:hello: Hi LollopyBear & welcome ! This is an interesting and addictive thread isn't it ? Have you looked at the other thread -Enough is enough the great declutter ? Seems to work in tandem with this thread somehow. Another favourite of mine is the Shabby Chic thread . So much to read and not enough time ! Enjoy. X El

mary43

Well, I think I'm winning..............:j
I've re-filed some history stuff about the town I was born in.........it was sort of out growing its current file so I've split it up into two..........well satisfied with that ..............been long overdue.
Lady came and picked up the bike...............more than happy with it. Same lady who picked a load of plastic plant pots last year...............lol
Parcelled up card making stuff to send to mums care home and nearly finished grandchildrens retro sweet boxes for Easter...............just need to stick on some ribbon and personalise them a bit.................another job done.

So, despite having dreadful nights sleep and walking around like a zombie this morning I now feel a bit more awake...................lol And pretty positive.................:T

Busterollie

I'm joining in this challenge starting today!

DAY ONE - TUESDAY

As it happens a 'charity bag' for Great Ormond Street came through our door the other day and pick-up is tomorrow. I usually try to fill at least one bag for the 'charity bag' pickup (often more!) and was going to let this one go by the wayside BUT after reading this thread I decided to get my butt in gear and fill it up. They only want clothes and/or bedding so I have sorted through our airing cupboard/dumping ground for grown out of clothes and found 27 items for the bag. All done and ready for tomorrows pick-up.:j

I had already planned to empty one of my kitchen cupboards tomorrow so that will be the task for my 27 items for Day Two.

mary43

Well done:T

Can;t see me making 27 a day..............my days never seem to go as planned and as for 27 items each time............well I might have done it if I count all the stuff bagged ready for ex foster girls sister to collect but since then its been a few dribs and drabs.....................(memo to self............must try harder but stress free !)

[Deleted User]

Hello all

I haven't posted in a while on this thread but have been reading it all....

I started off very well and have got rid of clothes that dont fit etc and had a clear out, gave books to the charity shops but I bought a bag of books from the library for £1 and today I bought another bag ful!! I just cant resist books... I love reading!!

The ones I have read tho, I'm passed onto my mum and then she'll probs pass them on and prob end up in a charity shop.

I am getting abit better tho. They've got a few sales on still in town but I have been making myself think - Do I REALLY need this and nine times out of ten I dont. I'm learning (slowly!)

Aril

Hello virtual friends:j
Thank you so much for all your kind words of wisdom yesterday- they were much appreciated. I hadn't really thought of everyday tasks as being an opportunity for being mindful and in the moment. I suppose it's about finding the sacred in the ordianary.
A quiet sort of quote today:
Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars...and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidentsand they are not going to become rich and they will never have a bank balance. Look at the flowers- for no reason. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are.
Osho.

Aril

ceridwen

Hi all

wmf - yes, it would be interesting to see how you do with the mindfulness meditation. I know the concept and its on the "wish list" of things to have a go at (says she - right at this moment doing the typical Westerner and multitasking away - reading and eating dinner at same time!). It is scary not to have control of our lives - but thinking that we ever have had or ever will have control of them is a bit of an illusion. I do believe we should make plans as to the practicalities of our life - where the income comes from/what the housing is/take care of health/etc and certainly I can see my finances and health are both WAY better than they would be if I hadnt done what planning it IS possible to do in life. But then - on the other hand - sometimes that "voice of intuition" tells us to do something that makes no logical sense at all at the time (sometimes ever) - but there is a VERY good reason for it. I've found more than once that - where I have listened - then there has been a very good reason indeed and I have avoided something drastically bad. So - I tend by now to even think in terms of with what are very minor decisions (like which way to go to work that day or what to wear) that if a pure "whim" indicates to go for one alternative, rather than another then its worth doing so - in case there is a reason for it that I dont know (it may not even be to do with me personally - it may be to do with someone else). Right now - I am thinking of a teensy leetle incident where - because I had walked one way rather than another - I was in place exactly where someone was needed to guide a blind person across the road. If I feel particularly inclined to stay in on a Saturday afternoon - then I am aware it could mean that a particular friend of mine has decided to pop round on the offchance I will be in (which does tend to provoke the comment from them "You were expecting me, werent you?"). Who knows?

LollopyBear - echoing the welcome. Theres no problem in anyone joining the thread at any point.

Interested to see a Challenge has come up on this thread - well this is MSE after all - and we do rather like a Challenge on this website:D

mary43

Aril- beautiful quote as always...............thankyou. Kind of puts life in its place.

ceridwen - Interesting thoughts. I'm a bit on the 'indecisive' side (think thats what comes with being a Libran - read that somewhere.....lol) and not a great one for acting on a 'whim'. I normally think things through quite carefully, desparately not wanting to make a mistake, but life being as it I have made many 'bad' decisions. But, having said that, I've learnt from them and become a stronger person as a result (with the exception of current stress problems)
I'm a great believer in 'out of bad comes good'..............if 'bad' things hadn't happened in my life I wouldnt be where I am now and the sort of person I am today. I made a bad choice when I remarried after my first husband died but as a result I moved away from my home town, made a host of new friends and when divorce was the only option available to me I met my current OH, without who I would never have moved to where I am now. We had a go at our own business - sadly that failed but if we'd never tried we'd have spent our life saying 'what if..........'
Life is full of 'ifs' and 'buts' and some of the things life throws at us are unavoidable.............'stuff' seems to happen but what we can control are the friends we make and the lifestyle we live.

Hope that makes sense.................

mags50_2

It made perfect sense to me Mary43!!:D

But, there again... I'm also a Libran from Lincolnshire :rotfl::rotfl:

Seriously, I do know what you mean... I've also made lots of bad/silly decisions... but come out stronger on the other side... and thankful of the loving family I have around me.

And I just have to tell you all.... our youngest daughter and her fellah came back from their hols yesterday... and they are engaged... yayayayay!!!!:D