what’s on YOUR list?

Have you ever found that you might have bitten off more than you can chew?

The merry month of May found me embroiled in a remodeling project!

Having been a Realtor for so many years, I know better than to wait until I want to sell the house before doing all those deferred maintenance projects, don’t I?

It always amazed me when homeowners would finally redo the kitchen or fix up the deck only when they wanted to sell. They’d do for the next owners what they had always wanted to do for themselves!

Anyway, I’m not planning on selling my home for some time yet, but I want to enjoy the remodeled bathroom and newly painted bedrooms and updated landscaping, not watch someone else reap the benefits of my wish list!

So among other tasks, my sister and I set ourselves to “help” the contractor by doing the painting ourselves, while letting him do the “hard” work.

(And it was a big moment when we finally finished the “prep work” and could actually paint!)

Why do we put our wishes and desires last? Why do we postpone our enjoyment? Why is it

• we say we want to do something, but don’t really do anything to do it?
• we say we want to have something but don’t do anything to get it?

Our to do lists often seem to contain items that get moved from list to list: from today’s to next week’s or next month’s list.

We will often let ourselves do the boring items, the small items, the oh-well-we-might-as-well-get-this-one-checked-off items.

Our wish lists, though, often seem to be our fantasy lists. How long did I have that Japanese Maple tree on my list?  (It’s checked off now!) 

Yet, in the time we have been given to live, we really should allow ourselves to live

• fully,
• richly, and
• contentedly!
• Life is too short not to enjoy what we can.

Life is also too long not to enjoy what we can!

Is there something that would bring you joy?

Is there something that would bring you satisfaction?

Is there something you’ve been longing to do but just haven’t done?

If not now, then when?

And what are YOU doing this weekend?

It’s interesting that Europeans have more and longer holidays that we do! Maybe that’s why we make such a big deal of those we do have! The European Union countries guarantee a minimum of 20 paid vacation days. While we here in the US get an average of 9 paid vacation days and just 6 paid […]

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Over 50 years ago, spiritual and political leader Mahatma Gandhi gave a pretty good description of what is still our current situation: “The things that will destroy us are: politics without principle; pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without character; business without morality; science without humanity.”     As my sister has so clearly pointed […]

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