TCOY Lessons From My Favorite Bloggers (Mar10)

While cleaning out some old files on my computer, I found a little bit of wisdom from Leanne Ely that I had saved from either her emailed newsletter or from her contribution to Flylady's mailing list. I really wanted to share it on here and looked from an online link to it. I found that she just reposted it recently on her own website. What timing!

From 11 Worthy Things, here is the little nugget of wisdom that I felt must be shared. We sometimes need the reminder!

I’m talking about the basics: reducing stress, living a life of gratitude, eating well, moving. I am worth more than nutritionally negative food, a sluggish, sedentary life, and holding on to resentment, anger and grudges that result in a cold, bitter heart. I am worthy of loving self care and so are you.
Self-Improvement by The Rat Race Trap:

Personally, I've already been applying something like Stephen's post (Change Made Simple – Direct the Rider) during the past few months as I work to regain some inner peace but the combination of the book's message and Stephen's take on it have really inspired me. I feel more focused on what I am putting my attention towards these days, in regards to life changes I am making. The Quote to Reflect Upon for March was selected before reading this post but I find it quite interesting how they are both playing off each other quite well.

Awareness from Raptitude:

One of my favorite bloggers ever is David Cain. The title of his blog explains its purpose succinctly: Raptitude - Getting Better At Being Human. David's posts draw me in with his storytelling style, hook me in the middle with whatever the topic or 'problem' is, if you will, and inspire me at the end as he teaches by his own example how to go about making some sort of change to grow. Or as he would say, "To take responsibility for the quality of your experience in life".

David's away doing some much anticipated traveling and, as he learned, the circumstances of which aren't that conducive for keeping up his regular posting schedule. Thankfully, though, he still manages to share his wisdom at least once a week and continues to hold his audience's rapt attention. Recently he shared something so amazing, so wonderful, and so simple. Well, simple in it's design but not necessarily in its integration in life. That's where the growing comes from!

Here are a few tidbits from How to Make Mindfulness a Habit With Only a Tiny Commitment.

Unfortunately most of life passes that way for most of us. We’re in one place doing one thing, thinking of things we aren’t doing and places we aren’t at...Only when we’re present do we see beauty, enjoy gratitude, and experience happiness. It’s the moments we’re present for that make life good, so it only stands to reason that being present is something we’d do well to get better at...We all know this already. Yet most of us — normal people with errands, work and to-do lists — spend most of our time considering the past and future rather than the present. Why doesn’t it click?


...I must reiterate how small a commitment you have to actually make here. The dividends it pays are incredible. We’re talking maybe five seconds at a time, a handful of times a day, to plant one foot firmly in the realm of greater ease, happiness and gratitude. If you’ve been looking for an easy and powerful way to love yourself, there it is.
House & Family from Small Notebook:

Rachel reminded us that "We’re not taking care of stuff, we’re taking care of people" in Changing Lives One Laundry Load at a Time.

About Suzanne:

Earlier this month I shared one area of my life that I'm working to improve which is to stop eating "nutrtitionally negative food" such as processed and boxed whatever and increase the amount of fresh food I use to power my body. On the subject of nutrition, here are 2 great reads: The 100 Year Diet, Economy & Good Eating Tips by Suzen and Soaking Nuts from The Nourishing Gourmet.

Life Clutter:

A guest post on Unclutterer by the insightful Sherri from Serene Journey and Zen Family Habits titled "10 more uncluttering things to do every day" is the perfect addition to Erin's post. No matter which of the 20 things you decide to add into your life, all would be helpful.

Taking Care Of You on the outside:

On the topic of Taking Care Of You on the outside (because it reflects how you feel on the inside!), I found this inspiring website called My Body Gallery via the always inspiring Sally of Already Pretty.

In a world full of images of how we "should" look it can get difficult to tell how we DO look. Our hope is to build a site where women can see what real women look like. What we really look like. Most women have spent so many years looking at themselves in mirrors that we can no longer see what's really there. The My Body Gallery project's goal is to help women objectively see what we look like and come to some acceptance that we are all beautiful.
In an "Other" sort of way, because being inspired by decor and/or organizing isn't thought of as "Taking Care Of You" by most people (though making our living spaces beautiful and welcoming sure count in my book!), here are a few things that I couldn't help but share.

Organization/Clutter Control
Organize and Hide Your TV Cords
5 Ways to Organize and Display Your Child's Artwork

I am also becoming addicted to sites that illustrate how to use or repurpose dollar store items. As Just Lisa knows, I love going to the dollar stores in the area!

Until next time...Take Care Of You!

Photo Credit: Iron Design

Copyright © 2010 by tcoyou.com | all rights reserved

What are your thoughts on this topic? Leave a comment and let us know!


__________________________________________________________________
You should follow me on twitter. Thank you for adding your Twitter identity to the guestbook on the right!

Enjoy what you read at Taking Care Of You? It's easy to receive free updates by email or RSS.

Click SHARE to help spread the word about TCOYou.com. Please and thank you!

A Decluttering Home Run

Over at the 365 Days of Decluttering Challenge blog, we are powering up to hit a home run this week by decluttering something from all 4 categories (unneeded, unwanted, unloved and unused). If you'd like to be inspired to hit it out of the park, take a look at this month's Focus Challenge.

If you have an idea for a future Focus Challenge, I'd love to share it. Please send it to me via email (address is in my profile) or you can include it in a comment on this post. I will be attributing it to you so be sure to include a website, Twitter ID, etc. if you'd like it mentioned.

Until next time...Take Care Of You!

Copyright © 2010 by tcoyou.com | all rights reserved

What are your thoughts on this topic? Leave a comment and let us know!


__________________________________________________________________

You should follow me on twitter. Thank you for adding your Twitter identity to the guestbook on the right!

Enjoy what you read at Taking Care Of You? It's easy to receive free updates by email or RSS.

Click SHARE to help spread the word about TCOYou.com. Please and thank you!

Saying Yes to CSA

I've been intrigued by the idea of participating in a CSA (community supported agriculture), however I never signed up because:
1) I felt our eating choices & lifestyle may not have supported the commitment and
2) I'm lazy (I didn't want to have to drive to the downtown farmer's market where they did the drop off because it's way too busy...it's the kind that's actually in town and they block of access to a few blocks).

However, as luck would have it, FarmFreshToYou found me. They had a booth set up at Lowe's this past weekend for a Muscular Dystrophy Association charity drive. All told the event had a car show, sponsor booths and Lowe's employees ran a few things for a $1 each (kids bounce house, Raider's gear auction, food booth, etc.) The Lowe's proceeds were all donated to MDA and I saw one vendor saying that 10% of their sales went to MDA.

Anyways, FarmFreshToYou delivers right to my house and there's no commitment or contract, so there goes my objections. We signed up and our first delivery was yesterday. I can definitely tell the taste and quality difference between what we received compared to what we used to purchase at the grocery store. Now I finally get to have organic, very local fruit & produce and support our area farms too.

Another strong 'pro' to their set-up, in my eyes, is that we were not 'stuck with what we get'. We are able to make note on our account of certain fruits and/or vegetables that we never want to receive (really awesome since there are a few strong food aversions in this house!) and that we can substitute for items that we'd rather not get for that delivery. All they ask is that we substitute a fruit for a fruit or a vegetable for a vegetable and that the substitutions have to be called in at least 48 hours prior to delivery. Sounds fair enough, I say.

Our Mostly Fruit box contained a few substitutions. In exchange for the naval oranges, lemons and grapefruit, we received blood oranges and more of the pears and strawberries. Since this was our first experience, I also substituted the Braeburn apples for Fuji apples to have a real side-by-side comparison. Fuji apples are my favorite and most-often purchased choice for an apple.

In the last year or so, as I've become much more aware about taking care of me on the inside, my fresh, non-factorymade food choices have evolved from slim-to-none into eating a greater variety and having several servings per day. My fruit intake has increased from just bananas, green grapes, the occasional melon and Red Delicious apples to several varieties of apples, apricots, avocado, bananas, a number of different berries, cantaloupes, red/green grapes, kiwis, kumquats, nectarines, peaches, plums, pineapples, pomegranates and watermelons.

And to hear me even talking about eating vegetables, or dare I say talking about how much I love eating this or that, is a total 180 from where I used to be a few years ago. Now that I've finally stopped saying "I hate vegetables", I've grown to like most raw veggies and am willing to try just about anything, especially if cooked in a way I haven't tried before. Seriously, I watched Claire's enthusiasm as she roasted brussels sprouts on her show "Five Ingredient Fix" and now I want to have a taste. I'd always imagined brussels sprouts as steamed, mushy and just plain yucky. But crispy and flavored with bacon, now that does sound like some vegetable goodness!

Based upon the yum factor of what we ate from our FarmFreshToYou delivery just yesterday alone, I know that we made a healthy and nutritional choice for our family by signing up. I am so very happy for what I will get to try but, even more than that, I'm excited to be teaching my children that nature is abundant and delicious!

Though this may sound like a paid-for-review post, it is most assuredly not. I'm proudly sharing my family's experience with a local CSA so that others can read a firsthand experience. If you've participated in a CSA, please share your experience in the comments! As all CSA's are not created equal and not all are located in the agriculture a'plenty state of California as mine is, a broader range of experiences will be welcome.

Until next time...Take Care Of You!

Photo Credit: Colorful Veggies
Photo Credit: Fruit Salad
Photo Credit: Roasted Brussels Sprouts
(as prepared by Claire Robinson, Host of 5 Ingredient Fix)

Copyright © 2010 by tcoyou.com | all rights reserved

What are your thoughts on this topic? Leave a comment and let us know!


__________________________________________________________________
You should follow me on twitter. Thank you for adding your Twitter identity to the guestbook on the right!

Enjoy what you read at Taking Care Of You? It's easy to receive free updates by email or RSS.

Click SHARE to help spread the word about TCOYou.com. Please and thank you!

TCOY Spotlight ~ KtotheB.com

Since I've got nothing worth saying right now to inspire you to grow your inner awareness, I thought I'd share Karen Bell's awesome insight with you. Karen, or "KB" as she is known, posts blog entries on her blog, Words of Wisdom for Inner Peace, and video posts on her YouTube channel.

On the blog, KB's "words of wisdom enable her readers to resolve difficulties from the past, define their highest purpose, and motivate them on the path of success". Her video blogs "help others realize the power of thought so they can live more fulfilling lives".

I enjoy reading and watching KB's work as she inspires me to remember that there is more to life than meets the eye. I'm reminded that we all have influence on those around us and it's my belief that I want to be a positive influence.

Here are a few of my favorite blog and video posts.

Make a Not-to-Do List

There Are No "Failed Relationships"

The Power of Focus

The Evolution of Consciousness

What You Are

From the list of video blogs currently available, The Force and How Thought Affects Your Body are my favorites.

You can also see the personal side of her as well by following KB on Twitter.

If you post a comment on the blog or send her a tweet to say hello, please let KB know that Suzanne over at TCOYou.com says "hello" as well!

Until next time...Take Care Of You!

Photo Credit: Heart Spotlight

Copyright © 2010 by tcoyou.com | all rights reserved

What are your thoughts on this topic? Leave a comment and let us know!


__________________________________________________________________

You should follow me on twitter. Thank you for adding your Twitter identity to the guestbook on the right!

Enjoy what you read at Taking Care Of You? It's easy to receive free updates by email or RSS.

Click SHARE to help spread the word about TCOYou.com. Please and thank you!

Feeling Uninspired But Thankful

As I'm feeling uninspired to turn any of my notes into an actual post, I thought I'd just use this moment to say thanks for being a subscriber if you are one. Although my efforts to grow this blog have brought lackluster results, I still appreciate those of you who've found TCOYou.com and like what you read enough to subscribe. I greatly appreciate you.

Until next time...Take Care Of You!

Copyright © 2010 by tcoyou.com | all rights reserved

What are your thoughts on this topic? Leave a comment and let us know!

__________________________________________________________________
You should follow me on twitter. Thank you for adding your Twitter identity to the guestbook on the right!

Enjoy what you read at Taking Care Of You? It's easy to receive free updates by email or RSS.

Click SHARE to help spread the word about TCOYou.com. Please and thank you!

Quote to Reflect Upon (Mar10)


To succeed you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you.
- Tony Dorsett

Until next time...Take Care Of You!

Photo Credit: Light Reflection

Copyright © 2010 by tcoyou.com | all rights reserved

What are your thoughts on this topic? Leave a comment and let us know!


__________________________________________________________________

You should follow me on twitter. Thank you for adding your Twitter identity to the guestbook on the right!

Enjoy what you read at Taking Care Of You? It's easy to receive free updates by email or RSS.

Click SHARE to help spread the word about TCOYou.com. Please and thank you!

Blog Widget by LinkWithin

Popular Posts