Tag: motivation

Hope

A bloom in my phlox! 3/20/2020

“…it was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person…” F Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Since the beginning of self-isolation and social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19, I’ve been wanting to write; however, I’ve not been sure of what to write. Then, Friday it was nice out, and we went for a family walk. Before we came back in the house, I checked the rear of the house for storm damage from the previous night. That’s when I passed my flowerbed and saw the tiny bloom on my phlox. In that moment, I knew what to write about: hope.

As we are in the midst of a global pandemic, the media is full of gloom and doom. Yet if you look for it, there are signs of hope in the media. Here are some that I think need to be shared:

  • Two of the elderly at the nursing home in Washington where so many have died fully recovered.
  • Two of the people diagnosed in Kentucky have fully recovered (perhaps more by now)
  • People are doing the kindest things for the elderly in assisted living and nursing homes like putting up bird feeders outside their windows
  • People are finding alternate ways to visit while maintaining social distance
  • Andy Beshear is leading our state by showing how much he cares for the people
  • China (as of yesterday) has had no new mainland cases for 3 days
  • Last week, our local school district delivered 26,911 meals to school age children and elderly/at risk communities members
  • Government is coming together to help those facing unemployment, loss of health care, etc.
  • Groups of people are coming together to raise funds and deliver meals to those in need.

All of these example have helped me to have hope during this pandemic. I not only have hope for health, I also have hope that we will come out of this stronger. I have hope that we will come out of this as better people who are generally more caring. I have hope that our planet will come out in better shape because people are using less resources. I have hope that everyone else can see the silver lining in this cloud!

I’d love to know how you are seeing hope! Share in the comments!

XOXO,

The Great Kaysby

Goodbye Grumpy Grumps

“So no one told you life was going to be this way. Your job’s a joke, you’re broke, you’re love life’s DOA.” – “I’ll Be There For You”, The Rembrandts

Ever wake up in a grumpy mood?  You might be grumpy for no apparent reason other than you want to be grumpy that day; you might be grumpy because you’ve let things pile up and they are stressing you out.  For whatever reason you find yourself channeling Ross Geller from early seasons of Friends when he’d walk in and say, “Hi” with the most depressed tone of voice on the planet. (Seriously, that “Hi” alone should’ve gotten him an Emmy!)   Which I suppose season one Ross is better than season five Ross when he goes all crazy over a sandwich made from Thanksgiving leftovers! Either way, some days you just find yourself in a mood where no one should mess with you!

The question then becomes, how do you shake that grump-o-saurus mood?  If you’re looking for answers, then here are some of my go to things to shake a bad mood!

  1. Daydream about vacations! I love to travel (remember why I started the blog in the first place)!  The beach and the mountains are my two happiest geographical locations on the planet.  So when I’m feeling grumpy, it is fun to pretend I’m planning a vacation for an upcoming break!  The catch with this tactic is to not actually book a vacation because then you spend money you don’t have and get grumpy again when the bill comes!
  2. Write! Many times a blog idea comes when I’m experiencing some sort of emotion that I want to sort out.  Just putting things into words even if you throw them away, rip them up, or burn them is very therapeutic.
  3. Brain dump! When I have a lot on my mind, sometimes I like to do a brain dump. This is especially helpful when I’m feeling overwhelmed because there are a lot of things to be completed.  I will brain dump every task I can think of onto a piece of paper.  Then I put all of the things into one of four categories: Urgent and Necessary, Important but Not Urgent, Delegate, or Do Whenever.  I’m also known to brain dump and put things into categories like home, family, work, and self care.  I find brain dumping very useful!
  4. Turn the music up and dance like nobody is watching!  Dance like Phoebe Buffay runs! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-IVhJLD0sQ 
  5. Allow yourself a break from everything you need to do for a short period and do something mindless like watch TV, play a game, take a hot shower, etc.
  6. Exercise, meditate, or do some deep breathing.
  7. Sing loudly like you’re Alanis bashing an ex-lover back in the day! Sidebar: Is that song really about Dave Coulier?
  8. Talk to a trusted friend who will listen without judgment.
  9. Read my blog! LOL

Okay, so the last one might not be my greatest suggestion, but it is there if you need it.  Hopefully some of these methods can help you say “Goodbye Grumpy Grumps!” If you’ve got other suggestions, then I’d love to see them in the comments!

XOXO,

The Great Kaysby

 

Resolution Revelation

It is New Year’s Eve, and there is about 2 and a half hours left in 2019 (to be honest, I started this blog on the 30th in the wee hours of the morning before pumping, but that’s mom life).  There is about to be a new year and decade.  I’m already seeing New Year’s resolutions on social media. There are a lot of “common” resolutions such as:

  • I’m going to lose weight.
  • I’m going to eat better.
  • I’m going to stop cursing.
  • I’m going to be on my phone/social media less.

90% of the time it seems like these resolutions inevitably fail (really I don’t know because stats and research tend to bore me).  If I made New Year’s resolutions, then I’m sure that I’d be in the failure group. Why? For one, because a lot of New Year’s resolutions seem to be made with a band wagon mentality.  Therefore, if my resolution doesn’t actually match my purpose and passion in life, then I’m not going to follow through with committing to the resolution.  For two, if I just make a resolution without planning, then I’m going to forget it before January 2.

Thus, here is my Resolution Revelation!  In order for a resolution to be successful it should actually be a goal. Additionally, it will help if it is a SMART goal.  In this case, SMART doesn’t mean intelligent; SMART means Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time Bound.  I feel like Achievable and Relevant are key components as it is easy to become discouraged when things seem impossible or outdated. For more specifics on SMART goals Google the term. There is a lot of information out there!  I had to Google the term just to remember what all the letters stood for at one in the morning when I started writing the rough draft for this blog.

To test my theory, here is a typical resolution versus a SMART goal:

Resolution – I want to lose weight.

SMART Goal – I want to lose 20 pounds averaging 1 pound per week by Memorial Day as measured by Saturday weight checks.

Do you see the difference? The first is very vague, but the second provides a plan of action. You could even add mini-goals within the SMART Goal such as losing 5 pounds by Valentine’s Day.

I also feel like the SMART Goal helps provide direction.  At this point in my life, I feel that having a sense of direction – a sense of purpose – is necessary.  That said, one of my SMART Goals is the following: I will blog a minimum of three times per month during 2020 as blogging helps me sort out my thoughts and provides me with a creative outlet.

For me personally, this blog is out of my comfort zone. However, they say that we often teach what we need to learn ourselves. I feel that for 2020 to be a success I needed to critically think about goal setting.  This blog came from that thinking.  Subscribe to my blog to see if I make my SMART goal associated with blogging!

XOXO,

The Great Kaysby

 

Lactation Lament – Never Give Up!!!

This morning when I was looking at my blog statistics, I discovered that “Lactation Lament” is my blog that has the most views. Today, I thought I would expand on it with “Never Give Up!!!”

Why today? Because today is December 30. It also marks 5 months of being formula free and only being on breastmilk (plus now some Stage 1 food)! This is huge, and I share that so others can see the importance of never giving up! If you’ve read my first blog on this subject, then you know how easy it would have been for me to quit. However, I’m stubborn and to quote one of my business mentors, Julie Weaver, “You don’t tell a redhead what she will or will not do.” We’re spunky that way!

Breastfeeding isn’t the only time LilKsby has taught me to never give up. When he wanted to sit up, but didn’t have the core control to do so, he did baby crunches until he could sit up. Now his favorite thing to do is sit up and play with his toys! When he wanted to not have to do tummy time, LilKsby rocked himself sideways again and again until eventually he could roll over! Currently, he’s applying this never give up mentality to learning to crawl. Everyday he gets a little closer!

Imagine if all of us could have the determination of babies. What if, no matter what naysayers might try and tell us, we never gave up on our goals? What could we accomplish in life if we would just keep going? I imagine that we could conquer the world with the right attitude!

As a new decade is about to begin(raise your hand if you’re ready to party like Gatsby), I want you and myself to be like LilKsby and never give up! Whatever your goal might be, I’m here to cheer you on as you cross the finish line! I hope that our successes can inspire you (and myself) on any future endeavors!

XOXO,

The Great Kaysby