Brave Wings...

Cheers to 2015!

I kicked off the year with great friends, yummy food and lots of bubbly (hence the somewhat blurry midnight 'cheers' photo).

It was a Simple yet perfect way to start the year....and remember, this year, I'm ALL ABOUT SIMPLE! There was reminiscing, remembering all the fun we've had over the past 17 years (as well as reflection on some of the tough times), lots of laughs (Cards Against Humanity is a HOOT) and plans made for the year ahead. 

I am very grateful that I not only got to spend New Years with these friends, but for also seeing other great friends this afternoon too. I can't think of a better way to kick off the year.

Charlie and I returned home this afternoon after the festivities, relaxed, had an amazing dinner (thank you so much to my friend from around the corner who brought me some leftover EPIC lasagna from her NYE get together last night - it was a 28lb homemade lasagna like no other you will ever have - AMAZING!) and we then decided to stretch our legs and head out for our evening walk. 

There was snow in the air, the blowing wind adding an extra chill....and I couldn't help but smile. An overwhelming feeling of contentedness came over me.... Life is Good...Very Good!

We wandered home and I began writing this....surrounded by new journals, notebooks, my 2015 agenda and books I am reading/will read..... 

These books will be the venues that will assist me in Simplifying my life... They will allow me to get my thoughts, plans, promises and goals on paper in black and white..... Through the words I read or write on the paper bound in their spines, I will identify my Needs vs Wants, formulate my budget, develop meal plans, journal, write recipes and most importantly, I will keep myself accountable.

I Believe we need more accountability in our lives because as I mentioned in my last post, we create our own lives, our own happiness, our successes and failures....life is not a passive exercise of letting it happen to you. We are accountable for our actions, our words...and those actions and words form what we call our life...our day to day existence.

To be accountable is to be brave. It means taking ownership and at times, that can be incredibly difficult. Sometimes, it would just be so much easier to let someone else make that tough decision for you...to not have to accept responsibility for our actions.

**Print by: life i design **

"With Brave Wings She Flies"....... The braver we are, the more accountable we are and the more I Believe that we can Simplify our life through making changes we may be nervous to make, to realize behavioural alterations that need to be made but we know will be difficult....

Change is necessary to grow. Simplification can be the ultimate in growth. A change to a 'Need vs Want' approach to life keeps you accountable for not only your material things, but your emotional well being as well. Less truly is more!

I'm about to go get into bed and start my first journal entry for 2015. I'm going to read a few pages of a new book. I'm going to take a glass of water with lemon with me to drink before I go to sleep.

Again, it's the little things...the Simple things that make up our life.... Hold yourself accountable to the decisions you make.... Be brave. It will be sooooo worth it! Happy New Year!

RR

Promises to Myself!

I truly do Believe this.

As many wonderful days that my life has had in the past 35 years, I really do think that some of the best days are yet to come.

I also Believe that we create the lives we lead...they just don't happen.

We create our happiness, our successes, our fun....and we also create our sadness, our failures and the not so fun moments. We need to find a balance....happiness and success are what we strive for but in order to really appreciate and experience happiness, we need to also experience sadness and failure as we learn from these and in turn, we therefore increase and maintain the positives in our lives.

My promises to myself for 2015 (not resolutions) include a lot of things I'm already doing fairly well, but also some that I want to improve on. If I had to choose a word for 2015 that will keep me focuses on these promises, it would have to be BELIEVE! This word has been pivotal in my life over the past few years (heck, I have it tattooed on my foot) and it sure has gotten me through some tough times but has also reaffirmed my thoughts and feelings in the great times.

For 2015, I Believe.......

For 2015, I Promise myself.....

Again, some of these promises I am already doing and want to continue, while there are some I want to improve on and also add into the mix.

Some I would like to improve on are:

• Eat better.
• Drink Water (I realllly need to increase my water intake).
• Talk Less. Listen More.
• Experience Life. (to me, this means finding balance between Needs vs Wants; living more fully with fewer `things` and having more experiences that result in amazing memories!)

Some I want to do more of are:

• Read books.
• Adventure.
• Feel deeper.

And of course..... BE HAPPY! Like I mentioned above, I Believe we create our own Happiness. Don`t get me wrong....I`m uber happy and have very few concerns with life at the moment...but...(and this is a good but)....I want more! More Happiness! I want more and am willing to do what it takes to make this happen....

I honestly think that for me, simplifying life will lead to even more happiness. This is something I`ll be `testing`through 2015....Simple things like eating better, listening more, going on adventures can only add positives to my life, without adding any type of complication or negativity. Let`s call it a `back to basics`approach.

With this approach, along with Believing that happiness can and will be created through how I choose to live my life, getting back to basics, in every aspect of being, is something I am really looking forward to! I can`t help but think (and Believe) that through Simplicity and identifying Needs vs Wants, life will almost automatically improve in a number of ways (ie. emotional, health, financial etc).

Create that life you have always wish existed for you.... The best days of our lives truly are still ahead of us....

Cheers to 2015! Cheers to Promises to Myself! Cheers to Believing! Cheers to Simplicity!

RR

2014 - The Year of the Bucolic Lifestyle!

I'm so excited for 2014 and all the opportunities and possibilities yet to unfold! 

A fresh start...A clean slate... This is the year I've decided to get back to basics and get back to being me! 

I went downstairs, dusted off my vintage chalkboard and started to put together what 2014 will be for me... Words, phrases, ideas, lifestyle choices.... All things I currently try to embody and want to continue to, to keep improving on, to holistically integrate into my life!

Bucolic: of or relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life. 

The country life...the life I grew up in and with.  Rolling fields, acres of trees, babbling brooks, horseback rides, long walks, lying in the grass under the stars....A life of quality, not quantity...where less truly is more.

A life of happiness, laughter, dreaming and believing....Calm.......

I will continue to purge the unnecessary, to set goals, to believe, to breathe....to LIVE!

Ancora Imparo...still I am learning...but... Tout Sera Incoyables...everything is amazing!

As I'm still learning, still hunting for who I've not yet become....I decided it was time to take the next step and launch this new website. It is a work in progress and it has been the perfect opportunity for me to look inside myself and re-visit who I am....the true and honest ME!

I welcome you along on my journey this year....and I encourage you to continue on your own journey....

Orenda: a mystical force present in all people that empowers them to effect the world, or to effect change in their own lives.

Embrace that force, effect change in your life..... 2014 is going to be an AMAZING year...I can just feel it!

RR