Simplifying Life

Busterollie

Thought as I had missed a few days with the dreaded lurgy that I would play catch up!

DAY ONE - TUES - Clothes to a door-stop charity bag.
DAY TWO - WED - 9 M & M's for boot sale sometime, 13 charity shop items (delivered Thurs), 5 magazines for my Mum (given on Thurs)
DAY THREE - THURS - Dreaded lurgy stopped play but did sort out kitchen cupboard and put aside in the end - 4 plastic glasses, 4 plastic plates, 4 plastic dishes, a large platter, bread basket, a set of coasters, a set of paper-plates, DIY book, a bracelet and other items I can't now remember. Two more magazines for my Mum when I see her next week!
DAY FOUR - FRI - Dreaded lurgy stopped play again but started to sort out some more magazines for my Mum. So not a 27 things day today.
DAY FIVE - SAT - Back on track - Sorted out some books, A fluffy holder thingy, some soft toys, friendship bead set, pencil case, crayons, plastic file for 'stuff', Pint glass, tumber - daft but I counted it to 27 items in the bags even though they will all go to the same charity shop - one trip, one drop.
DAY SIX - SUN - 4 more books, a card making 'booklet', soft toys and a couple of mugs - another 27 items.
DAY SEVEN - MON - Am going hunting for the '27' in the attic !!

groatie_queen

mary, if you've done paperwork, as well as de-cluttering, that definitely counts towards your 27!!

Well done Busterollie for persevering in the face of the lurgy! great progress in adversity.

Beautiful quote from Aril, I particularly like the idea of accepting adversity with the grace of an adult, not the grief of a child.

I'm just in from work, really tired and glad that I gathered up today's 27 items yesterday - will have a quiet evening and hope you all have a good one too.

GQ xxx

mary43

I did it !!!!!!!!!!! Yippee !!!!!!!!!!!!27 items !!!!!!!!!!!!!:j :j :j :j

Began to think I never would..............did about 8 this morning then opened up Dads shoe boxes of stuff...........seemed to take an age going through them but managed to sort out 9 things to send off to my son (small things but they still count don't they ??) So, what was in two show boxes is now in one...........OH found a pile of old music papers my eldest son gave us so they'll go with the old sheet music destined for the music shop in town hoping to make a bob or two................then OH started on his books !!!!!!! Shock ! Horror !............Out they came.............more than 27.........I stopped counting, just started putting them in a box ready for ex foster girls sister to collect. So, now its my books that need sorting..................think I'll do that tomorrow:T

ceridwen

Congrats mary43....when I spotted you over on the "Shabby Chic" thread I thought "have a feeling Mary is strengthening her willpower here....ooh I like this/I like that....but I must resist......":D

Sounds like OH is just the person to lead you astray as well :rotfl:

Right - I'm heading off to my loft again for another critical looksee at contents.

Busterollie

Well done mary43. It's great when you get the '27' things/items isn't it.

mary43

It is a great feeling. Me and OH are as bad as each other when it comes to 'hanging on - just in case'...............lol
Going through Dads odds and ends took the longest.........I'd almost forgotten what was there so went through everything with great care. What my son will make of the box of tricks he's having as a bonus birthday pressie heaven knows but he loved his gramp so I know he'll take care of them.
I'll have to make sure I make a list so he knows what each item actually is.
There was an arm band.........know the sort ? Dad used to wear them to keep his shirt sleeves up when he was with the dance band. For some reason there's only one but it'll make a brilliant bracelet for my son and theres a little sign Dad made for the downstairs loo. It hangs on a chain......one side says 'engaged' and the other 'vacant'...........lol He wrote it all on himself ........I've got no use for it but my son will actually use it knowing him. I kept all the music programmes with the name of his band in - they're Melody Maker competition programmes. I had a couple of duplicates so my son can have those. He'll be thrilled to see his gramps name in print.
Course, now I've condensed two shoe boxes into one the empty one is just crying out to be filled....................lol

groatie_queen

This is nice and simple!

http://zenhabits.net/2007/09/simple-living-simplified-10-things-you-can-do-today-to-simplify-your-life/

Enjoy!

GQ xxx

ceridwen

looks like a good one groatie queen - off back for a detailed read. Quick glance bit - keeping one area simple - I try to keep my meditation room as starkly simple as possible and to not store stuff in there for ongoing projects if I can help it. Helps to know there is one room I can go and shut the door and there is nothing needing doing confronting me (and incidentally its the only part of my house that is finished - the rest is still at one level or another of "work in progress" status YEARS after buying the house - well it was one HECK of a dump when I bought it - not quite disintegrating into a total ruin - but....you get the picture).

Rowan9

Beautiful quote Aril. Thank you. I have written it out after reading it last night and again this morning.
Sunny here but feel a bit under the weather as I have had trouble sleeping. This goes against my simple life stance! What do you all do when sleep evades? I think I've tried everything but you never know.
A couple of years ago, my daughter gave me a peace journal called Never Ending Peace and Love. It has hand made paper in it and is beautiful. Mostly it's blank pages but now and then there is a lovely hand drawing on the equivalent of hand made tracing paper - so quite thick- and a piece of writing beside it. There is no author to any of the texts, nor to the journal itself but here is something from it:

'Peace of mind begind when we let it begin:
Peace of mind begins when we stop thinking of how far we have to go, or how hard the road is. When we stop worrying about all that we have to do, and stop regretting all we wish we'd done, and just let ourselves feel peace - we have peace of mind. Peace of mind gives us the strength and the vision to keep trying, and keep walking along the path we KNOW is right for our lives.

Whenever we feel overwhelmed by the amount that needs to be done and the distance we have left still to cover, we need to take time out for peace of mind. When we think that we have so much to do that we don't have time to rest or pause, this is the time we need to stop and refocus and refuel. When we find ourselves caught up in the moment, in a flare of anger, we need to stop and feel inner peace for a moment before we proceed.'

Hope you all have a good, peaceful day
w

mary43

groatie queen - brilliant site...........thanks. I'll need to go back to it later to read it more thoroughly.

wmf - sound words about 'peace of mine' but how do you achieve it ? Being born one of the worlds 'worriers' how do I switch my brain off at night and not start fretting or becoming anxious over something ? I seem to have been striving for this for many years..............will I ever get the hang of it I wonder?
Some days are better than others and I take everything in my stride......others my mind is full of little worries that niggle away at me.

Think I'm going to have a day off from my 27/9 today...........did so much yesterday and all in a bit of a burst really. Ex foster girls sister is calling on Saturday morning to collect what I've got so I've a goal to aim for...........want the rest sorted by Saturday otherwise I could well get stuck knowing me and just give up. Feel I've earned a breather today though so sat and made some cards for Easter and this afternoon I have to take one of our lads to see Youth Offending Officer. Trivial offence in the scheme of things but we have to go through the 'process' just the same.

Might get around to sorting a few books out though............now OH's made some space I'd better do the same on my bookshelves......and I must not fill up the space he's left in the bigger bookcase................lol