Hellllooooo! Happy Sunday and Happy Super Bowl! It has been a bit for the blog and for that I apologize. For those of you that are glued to your TV I hope your team wins. My husband is in preparation by getting his plate filled with meatball subs and loaded tater tots which I made earlier. I on the other hand, have chosen to spend my evening relaxing with my little dog in my sewing room. I haven’t introduced you to our new little addition. He is a mini schnauzer named Dale. He is 10 months old and has completely stolen our hearts. That’s a great story which I will share with you in another tale. You’ll be sure to love it. I just know it.
Winter! I will be the first to say that I love it. Well….I have kind of a love hate relationship with it. I love winter until January 1st. From January 1st until about the middle of March I loathe it. For me its full of gloomy gray days. Lifeless trees and dead grass. A lot of time inside. Its just a time of waiting for spring and sunshine. For many years I spend the last week of December in dread. I think there are a lot of folks that do. I live in an area where we get four beautiful seasons but the end of winter seems to hang on a little long. This year I made a promise to myself to emerse in good things during this time. Ive learned to embrace slow living, which we’ll talk about that one later too. I can tell you that you can talk yourself out of gloom. You can keep yourself busy enough to keep from thinking negatively. And you can also embrace time to rest.
This time of the year is the perfect time to wind down a little. The holiday rush is over and everything begins to get back to somewhat normal. The sad part is that all of the excitement is over. If you think about it, it doesn’t necessarily mean that all of the “fun” has to be gone. Its a great time to learn a new hobby, read a good novel, learn to cook some new nutritious meals, and rest. I live a very busy life. When my son became an adult I thought that I might get to slow down some. It in fact got even busier. Busier in a good way. Instead of taking care of every need for my child, I now take care of myself. Mothers tend to let ourselves go by the wayside. Now that I can take the time to make myself a priority, I see how amazing even the winter can be.
Lets talk a little about a to do list or setting winter goals. Not new year resolutions. I don’t believe in those. I’ve tried, really I have but, they crumble by about February. A few weeks ago I sat down and made a list with good ole pen and paper. My to do list grew very quickly. Then I put it on my office table and decided not to even think about a due date for completion. I prayed over that list. Not to get it completed quickly but, to work at it in a way that wasn’t stressful and didn’t overwhelm me. Any progress is progress and I told myself that it was going to get completed. Funny thing happened when I took the stress out of it. I have already checked off half of that list. Most of it was spring cleaning but, it was things that needed to be done that I’ve just not gotten around to. It felt like huge accomplishments every time I crossed something off of that list. The best part about it was not feeling like it was required or rushed.
Life gives us time to do all the things that we want to do. Even if you are like me and work a fulltime job and 2 side hustles, you can make time to do all the things you want and need to do. It sounds a little silly but, if you slow down, every little thing will fall in to place. I’ve learned to prioritize the things that really matter. Its freeing.
My hope for you is that this time of end of winter you have time to wind down. Enjoy all of the little things. Make time for yourself. Surround yourself with people who make you happy and love you for the person that you are. Happy Sunday. Remember that you can handle any thing that this week hands to you.
Always…….Brooke
Uplifting, Encouraging, and Fun blogging. 