beyond cinderella

What do I do to recharge myself, reenergize my spirit, or simply clear my mind from the daily activities of managing my life with my family, overseeing mom’s care and running our home? How do I keep a positive attitude in the midst of what is sometimes chaos on many levels? I have been asked that many times over the years. In fact, my doctor just asked me that yesterday, when I went in for my yearly appointment. She asked me if I am deeply religious? I said yes, very. She said it shows and that in and of itself made me smile and feel happy.

Since I quit working outside the home, I don’t have money to just do whatever suits my fancy. I have to really think about when and how I spend “play” money. However, I have found I don’t need a lot of money to satisfy my desires. I love to do a wide variety of things and find pleasure in simple things. Here are a few of my favorite things I love to do and when I do any of these things I  always seem to get just what I need from each activity:

I love to sit in the Adoration Chapel at our church and simply be in the presence of our Lord. I pray, mediate or just sit quietly and center myself in the peacefulness of the silence. I get the same pleasure and joy from attending Mass on Sunday.

I love spending time with my family and friends. Nothing gives me more fulfillment, nothing.

I love scrapbooking. Taking something ordinary and turning it into something beautiful, personal, and special is very rewarding to me.

I love to go to movies. Sometimes I pack a sandwich and take myself to a late morning movie, then spend the rest of the day thinking about what I saw.

I love to go for long walks. I mostly go alone and enjoy listing to my music as I walk, but it’s twice the pleasure when I have a willing partner to walk and chat with me.

I love to read and often will just get lost in a good book.

I love to get pedicures and manicures. This is a simple pleasure that makes me feel so pampered!

I love to cook and spend many hours looking at recipes and practicing different dishes.

I love to entertain family and friends and will look for any occasion to have them over for drinks, dinner, laughs and memory making.

I don’t necessarily love the actual act of cleaning house, but I LOVE a clean house, and take great pride in my home, so I do deep cleaning every week and light cleaning everyday.

I love to fish and sometimes take myself to a local fishing pond. Sometimes Bill and I go together.

I love horses and will drive to a pasture where horses are and just sit and watch them. Such beautiful, majestic animals.

I love to people watch and will take myself to a mall to window shop and people watch. I often find myself wondering what kind of lives all the people I see are living.

I love writing my blog. I find it very therapeutic and always hope something I share will be of some help, comfort, or inspiration to someone who reads it.

I love wine and I always make time for myself to have a glass, or two, of wine in the afternoon as I prepare myself to prepare dinner.

I love challenging myself everyday to get enough of the right kind of exercise, so I ride my exercise bike, walk, and now that we have a pool I will invent a new pool exercise program.

I love my girlfriends and am ALWAYS looking for reasons to spend more time with them doing whatever suits our fancy…

These are but a few of the things I love to do. The list could go on forever…but no matter what I choose to do, I always make it a point to stay focused in the moment, and get every bit of what I need from whatever activity I’m engaged in so when I leave the activity, I find myself refreshed, renewed, centered, and never disappointed or deprived!

Next: Everything Happens For A Reason