Jessica@SheekGeek This is part three of the focus series.
I wanted something with fun colors and loved the quote I found here. I’m usually quite the optimist, but I have felt that part of my personality weakening. I am working on flexing that muscle.
Adam and I saw this tree while driving down a country road. He is the one that took this picture.
See the first in the focus series here and the second here.
This is number two in the focus series. The original inspiration was here.
It is too easy to get caught up in what other people want, or what you think other people want. As a wife and teacher, I am used to putting other people first. I have good ideas that will remain simply that if I do not focus on making them a reality. That does not make me selfish. Focusing on my ideas will benefit others. (Repeat to self.)
I was feeding this raft of ducks and although they were individually focused, they remained a team.
Checkout my first in the focus series here.
I feel like my life can take a million different directions and I want to be open to every single one. Realistically, I want the journeys I take to be purposeful and the best ones possible. With that, I have my word for 2014.
Focus.
I loved this quote, so I used it to create my own word art. This is the first in a series of 5.
I spent the day with my dad and Adam at a local lake and took this picture. For me, it is the epitome of focusing on what makes me happy.
I have implemented many “Git r done” routines in my life. Whether online at todoist, or in real life on a post-it note, to do lists are my bread and butter. (I actually really love bread and butter. ) When I get to the root of it, to do lists are my attempt to feel better about my work/life balance.
There are only so many minutes in a day, and I find it easy to beat myself up about how much I get accomplished. The best realization that I ever came to is for short time to do lists. I only put down what I can reasonably accomplish in the given time frame. That way I feel good about marking everything off instead of depressed about only finishing two of my 900 things to do. I feel even better when I have “extra” time to get things finished that I didn’t expect to.
A little bit about me: I started two new jobs this past year! One is my full time gig. The other is a part time thing, but requires Monday-Friday attention. I embrace change. I heart change. I yearn for change. Still, these two changes put me for a loop. New = learning curve = more time needed. I’m still adjusting to these changes, but proud of my successes with all this newness going on.
It is easy for me to compare myself to other people, which usually results in negative feelings about my self image. Most of this arises when I compare myself to people who are not like me. Young House Love is a great example. They post 7-8 posts a week. Gah! It is easy to feel jealous, but then I remind myself that two awesome people are working more than 40 hours a week to accomplish that feat. Comparing yourself to others does not help the work+life=happy equation. Compare yourself to your previous self. How has your life changed and how have you adjusted (for the good and/or the bad)? Be your own yardstick for growth.
I was inspired to write this post from another post, “Work Smarter, Not Harder” from Young House Love. I love that it offers advice from a myriad of different people, so you can soak in what sings to you. I found myself nodding along to some advice, thinking “Hey, I do that!”:
Some of my fav “new” ideas to try include:
What idea is your fav?
∞ Jessica
Yesterday was a great Saturday for exploring new places. Adam and I watched our first roller derby game. We sat in “suicide seating” which was on the ground right on the rink. Even better, our home team – the Charlotte Roller Girls – won their bout. Next Adam took me to a great burger joint called the Kickstand. It was great food and I surprisingly (or maybe not too surprisingly) loved having avocado on my burger.
In honor of exploring new places, I felt inspired to tackle the skill of changing signs in photos to say what you want. Here is the original photo I took at a North Carolina beach.
Here is version 1.
Version 2.
Version 3.
Version 4.
Version 5.
This time around I don’t have a very strong favorite and I like them all. Take all of them as a “sign”
∞Jessica