18 Ways to Make Your 2018 Amazing Part 2

#ThoughtfulThursday

18 Ways to Make Your 2018 Amazing Part II

Today, we are picking back up where we left off with the 18 Ways to Make Your 2018 Amazing!

If you’d like to read the fist nine, you can check out the previous post HERE. 😉

(10) Take Care of Yourself – Self care is a buzzword these days, so to avoid sounding like a trendy pop culture site, I will spare you the statistics and evidence regarding why this actually is SO true.  When we don’t take those five minutes / 5 hours / 5 days / 5 weeks (whatever time you need…no judgment….you do you), everyone around us suffers.  Which is directly contradictory to what most of us seek to do in ur daily lives: take care of others.

It really is important to set apart some “me” time.  Why else do you think nap time is a universally accepted practice?!?  Everyone in life, no matter their age, needs a break from time to time!

(11) Find a New Hobby – Are you mad about last year?  2017 for the most part was a dumpster fire for yours truly.  So, I need a fresh start.  I need something that gets me out of bed in the morning and gets me going.  So, I am embarking on a new hobby: organization.  You may be like, “Erin, that is not a hobby.”  Well, whatever.  You get my drift.  Take up golf.  Scrapbooking.  Antiquing.  Whatever it is, give yourself something that is just yours.  An escape for you to either get away to or to invite your people to join you in.

When we cultivate the student mindset, we open up our lives to untold enrichment.  Take a cooking class.  Go on a architectural tour of your city.  Find what makes your heart sing.  And then pursue it day in and day out.

(12) When a Task Pops Up, Get ‘Er Done – Do you know how many times a day I text or email myself a reminder of something I need to do that would take me less time than it took me to text / email myself the reminder?!?  I just.  I can’t with my ignorance sometimes.  Why can’t I just get the junk done?!  I digress.  Anyways, this year I am going to make it a priority to do things RIGHT AWAY rather than cataloging them in my diary and staring at the mirror each night going BUT I DON’T WANNAAAAA…

(13) Clean Your Sink / Do Dishes Each Night – All you Mommas out there, I know what you’re thinking.  And I HEAR YOU, LADIES.  But, a girl can dream, right?!?!  Track with me here, though.  How amazing do you feel when you waltz…errr stumble…down to your kitchen in the morning and discover a clean sink.  There’s just smething about this unicorn experience in my household that causes me to sing a chorus of “Hallelujah” loud enough to usher in a choir of heavenly hosts.  I am going to go ahead and own the fact that there is no way this is going to happen every night in 2018.  But, this Momma is gonna try hard, peeps.  HARD.

(14) Adopt an Attitude of Gratitude – When we are thankful, we can’t help but be happy.  It’s science.  And biblical.  And all the things.  So, this year when we begin to feel that negativity bug creep up, we’ve got to take a second to think of one thing we are grateful for.  It might be the air we are breathing.  And that’s fine.  Every single day is not meant to be the best day of our lives. BUT, when we take that moment of simple reflection, we are signaling to our brain that we want to respond with grace.

(15) Give – Give of your time, talents and kindness.  This world needs every bit of kindness it can’t find right about now.  We don’t have to wait around for others to lead the charge.  We can create our own opportunities to serve on a daily basis doing things as simple as returning someone’s grocery cart to the rack or store for them.  Or helping a neighbor bring in their groceries.  Or offering to tend to someone’s home while they are out of town.

On a larger scale, let’s challenge ourselves to sit down and select a ministry, charity or non profit that we feel deeply about their mission.  Then, we can reach out to its leaders and discover all kinds of needs that we can take on.  It just takes that first tiny step to make a powerful difference.

(16) Make Your Bed – Now, I feel like I’m pullin’ out too much of a Momma tone.  And I want you to know that that could not be farther from the truth.  When I walk in to a fresh hotel room for the first time the feeling I get is probably illegal.  It’s a kind of giddy that I suppose you are only intended to feel at Disney World.  Or Heaven.  It is something about that clean, freshly pressed view that warms my soul right to the bone.   And statistics show that people who live in clean, organized environments are much more creative, calm and successful.  So, let’s be about this whole bed making situation.  Even if that means throwing the comforter up over the pillows right before we peace out…

(17) Focus on Your Legacy – One simple question: What do you want to be remembered for?  Do you want to be known as the girl who gossiped, was always late or came off as a Negative Nelly?  OR do you want to be remembered as the girl that everyone described as possessing all the Fruits of the Spirit and walking in light each day?

I know which one I would choose and I am focusing on making every day count towards leaving a legacy of grace, kindness, light and love.

(18) Get in the Word … Like deep.  I don’t mean let’s dip our toes in there.  I mean let’s jump in heart first and open ourselves up to all that grace.  All that love.  All that forgiveness.  All that wisdom.  We can chase our calm in countless ways.  But, the only lasting way is through Jesus himself.  Twenty to thirty minutes seeking Him each day is not a sacrifice.  It’s honestly not enough.  But, let’s start somewhere.  Let’s give Him a chance to transform our yesterdays, our todays and our tomorrows.