Working With What You've Got

Hey everyone!  I hope all of you are having a wonderful week, staying healthy and enjoying your families and friends.   For those sweet ones of you who always read my posts, you know that my "resolve" for this year is to be more "authentic" and to follow the  encouragement of the book I'm reading daily, 'Simple Abundance' by Sarah Ban Breathnach.  Since this is a book written as a "daily reading," I thought I would occasionally share some thoughts about what I'm learning about life and myself.

The title of this post is rather catchy and timely, I think.  Since packing away all of the Christmas glitz, I knew I wanted a more calm and simple environment for The Man and I. 

 Life often times throws you curves, and you have no control to stop them.  What you can control is how you react.  My daily read from this book today is titled "Working With What You've Got," and seems so appropriate for how I want to live.

It is so easy to get caught up in the "rat race" of life and circumstances and allow all of those outside forces to control how we live.  I've been there, too, many times.  You find yourself saying over and over again, "When this gets done" or "If only we had a bigger paycheck" or "When the children are all in school," then I can do this, work on that or begin to live my dreams.  Well, guess what?  Life is constantly changing and adding circumstances beyond our control.

You can decide to sit in the backseat with a limited view and be totally driven by life's circumstances and chaos, or you can move to the driver's seat and begin to set your own pace and enjoy a different view.  Even in dark times there can be hope and abundance, we just have to be more creative and open, and more willing to dig a bit deeper to find our happiness.

Look for some simple things you can do today to lift your spirits -- wear a pretty scarf with your jeans and tee-shirt, use a spritz of that perfume you save for special occasions, put together a soup or stew that will fill your home with its wonderful aroma, call and chat with a friend who might need some positive encouragement, use your best china for dinner tonight, or add a votive to a recycled jar with a ribbon around the neck & sit it somewhere you can enjoy while you work.  

Remember, happiness comes from within and cannot be bought with any amount of money.  Embrace and bless your circumstances.  Do not allow them to control and define who you really are.  You deserve better than that.

Thank you so much for stopping by.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

I am happy to be joining Ricki Jill at Art @ Home for