resolution

ShaRhonda’s Word for the Year-Believe

January 22, 2015 By Debbie Leave a Comment

2015WOTYBElieve

Can’t believe January is almost over! I will be continuing to share other people’s Word for the Year. I think it is something you can start anytime, not just in January. By now, some people’s resolutions may have worn off, but a Word for the Year is easier to focus on and more lasting, at least for me. Actually, it hasn’t been all that easy. I chose the word Simplify before the beginning of the year and since then my life has been anything but simple. I think sometimes that just means you are onto something big, when you face a lot of adversity.

Well, I am excited to share ShaRhonda’s word for the Year, Believe. She is such a light to everyone around her; I admire her boldness in her faith. Oh, and I hope you enjoyed Leigh’s word too, Genuine. I have such a great mix of friends and am excited to share them with you with their different outlooks and perspectives and inspiration! More to come! Oh and remember you can also get ideas from our Word for the Year pinterest board. So here’s ShaRhonda….

The Monday after Thanksgiving Break 2014, I found myself having “the talk” with my seven year old daughter. It seemed the kids on the bus had decided to spoil some of her Christmas magic. My response to her, just like it was to her 14 year old brother several years ago was simply this: “if you believe you receive”.

Those five words I said that day can and do apply to so many things in our everyday human life. As a Christian like myself, if you believe Christ is God’s son you will receive everlasting life. In the classroom, at work, in the dance studio, and even the basketball court if you believe in yourself along with hard work, you can receive great success. But greater than that is the satisfaction and the belief of knowing you did your best.

Believing with all your heart, soul and mind will be my family’s 2015 focus. Believe is the one word that I have found myself repeatedly saying to both of my children and my husband in the past few months. Whether it’s telling them to believe that they will do well on a test, in a game, in a performance, or that things will get better at the workplace. This house of mine will be a house that believes. A house that believes in all things seen and unseen.

Believe will be my 2015 word. It will be the word that I look to when I personally need encouragement with my own day to day struggles as a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend. It will be the word I continue to look at and use to encourage others. It will be the word and action that I use when I doubt just how far I can go.

Believing IS receiving, especially when it’s BElieving in YOU.

Just believe.
ShaRhonda Crow
Happy First Assistant

ShaRhonda’s 2014 Word for the Year-Restore

January 3, 2014 By Debbie Leave a Comment

ShaRhonda Crow, Happy First Assistant, and author of the blog The 4-Crow’s is our guest blogger today! I love her 2014 Word for the Year. Here’s what she has to share with us!

The word RESTORE stands out to me for 2014.

I want to restore my relationship with God. I want to delve deeper in what HE wants of me.

I want to restore my home. We have a few projects that need to be done in our 10 year old home. It’s time to pull my frugal creative side together for my home, get the have to’s done along with a few redo’s.

I want to restore and focus again on my family, I know that I can always be a better mother and wife, especially after God gets a hold of me. I’m finding being the mother of a teen boy and an almost 7 year old girl is entirely two different parenting strategies. It’s time to restore some balance and discipline in my life as well as theirs.

I also want to restore my writing on my blog The 4-Crow’s. 2013, brought 151 blog posts, that included reviews, giveaways and lots of family stories of living, laughing, learning and loving. But, I want to get deeper. I have a story or two to tell, maybe this is my year to get off the blog and onto a manuscript.

There are also a few relationships I would like to restore, and help restore.

Health, now there’s a restoration project for a woman who turns the big 40 this year. I don’t think I have to go into much detail about what I have in mind with the meaning of this one.

RESTORE:

vb (tr)

1. to return (something, esp a work of art or building) to an original or former condition

2. to bring back to health, good spirits, etc

3. to return (something lost, stolen, etc) to its owner

4. to reintroduce or re-enforce: to restore discipline.

5. to reconstruct (an extinct animal, former landscape, etc)

What is your Word For the Year? I find that ONE word to focus on rather than resolutions works best for me. In fact, frame that word. Put it on your desk, frame it, pin quotes that contain your word. Keep it front and center. God only knows what I will find to restore in 2014. He knows I don’t sit still for long and that I always have to be doing something. I can’t wait to see what all 2014 has in store for me to restore!

2014 Word for the Year-Zen

January 1, 2014 By Debbie 9 Comments

zen frame Happy January 1st, 2014! Here we are again, a new year and a new word to choose for the year. This is the 5th year that I have chosen a word to frame and look at everyday. It all started in 2010 at the suggestion of one of my favorite yoga teachers, Mary NurrrieStearns, and I chose the word Create. 2011 I chose Pursue, 2012 was Delve and 2013 was Focus.

2013 Recap

2013 turned out to be a rough year in many ways, and I was really tested with the word Focus. It was very hard to do with last year’s life circumstances. But I did try even though it was frustrating! I waver about how much to share personally and how much to be private, but I think I am supposed to help others and be real and I don’t want you all to think Happy First is just about being happy all the time and that my life is perfect. I think the philosophy behind Happy First is about having a positive attitude and outlook in good times and adversity and just having faith that things happen for a reason sometimes that we don’t understand and that adversity can make us stronger and the experiences we have can help others.

So a brief recap of 2013 and then let’s start fresh with a new year. My mom had been really ill for couple of years and I was constantly running back and forth to Dallas from Tulsa (4 hours away) and had the guilt of leaving my family here and not being down there enough to help my sister who lives in Dallas. My mom passed away in April. It was really sad but she had suffered so much so it was good that she was no longer suffering. She had a full life and helped so many people. Now we are working on cleaning out her house and that is a huge job. So I am still going back and forth.

In the summer we lost 2 of our 4 dogs. In August we had to put Baron, our Great Pyrenees to sleep. He was 10. He was such a sweetie and a protector of our other dogs and property. Then we lost Scooter, our blue heeler mix, 6 weeks later. He was around 12 years old and we knew he didn’t have long. But he died doing what he loved-he went running with me and the 2 remaining dogs on our property and then disappeared after the first lap. I found him dead in the woods the next day. He must have had a heart attack.

Then my Uncle-my mom’s only sibling, passed away suddenly of a heart attack in November and we flew up to New York City for the week for the funeral and to be with family. It was sad and unexpected but it was so good to see family we hadn’t seen in a while and met some new people that were so close to my Uncle.

We also have lost both of my husband’s parents in the last 2 years.

Great things too in 2013. Fun trips with family and friends. Our oldest son got engaged to his high school sweetheart and we just love her and her family. And then he just graduated college this December, yay!

Also I have finally delved more into my own hand drawn simple designs and am learning to delegate to some great helpers so I can spend more time being creative and do the things I love instead of being bogged down with the busyness. (Thank you so much my friend and mentor for your help-CC Lawhon, author of Guru You– in finding ME and being ME and helping me on all of this)

We had a busy fall with Happy First sales, even though the weather sometimes got in the way!

I went to an awesome meditation retreat at the beginning of November-Transformative Meditation and Yoga Retreat– facilitated and created by Mary, my yoga teacher. I will have to do a separate blog post on that, it was so great.

And we just got a new puppy a few weeks ago-he is half Great Pyrenees and half Anatolian Shepherd. He is a handful but so much fun! The 2 older dogs are slowly getting used to him. His name is Otto.

So I hope I didn’t bum you all out. Just wanted to let you know that we all go through stuff and every day is a new beginning. I think 2013 was an incubation period for me. And that is fitting with the egg logo and what Happy First represents. So now I am ready to once again burst out of my shell.

Now to 2014

My word for 2014 is ZEN. I had just come up with some new “Zen Chick” tees and a scarf this fall for our Yoga Collection but didn’t realize it would be my word for this year.

Zen has a Buddhist origin meaning achieving sudden enlightenment but that is not really what I am talking about here, or what Zen means to me.

I did look up some other meanings of Zen – the Urban Dictionary (isn’t that an interesting source?) says Zen is-“a total state of focus that incorporates a total togetherness of body and mind. Zen is a way of being. It also is a state of mind. Zen involves dropping illusion and seeing things without distortion created by your own thoughts.” It also says Zen is “complete and absolute peace” (wow wouldn’t that be something?)

One of my very favorite blogs is Zen Habits. This is what they say- “Zen Habits is about finding simplicity in the daily chaos of our lives. It’s about clearing the clutter so we can focus on what’s important, create something amazing, find happiness.”

I’m also reading a book that CC recommended called “Zen and the art of making a living” by Laurence G. Boldt. It is really good; I am not too far into it just yet. Several things I like that it says so far is that Zen is spirit in the everyday. The integration of spiritual and material. An awareness of the sacred in the ordinary. Also awareness and spirit applied to everyday life and work.

So what I am wanting to do with this word ZEN is focus on simplicity and BE PRESENT. The way I draw is pure and simple and happy. I want to be in that “creative zone” that I sometimes get into when I am really focusing and having fun creating and losing concept of time. (oh oops my husband says I never have concept of time, ha!).

I also want to smell the roses. This Zen book above talks about being aware of nature. Here I am surrounded by woods and beauty and birds and animals and sometimes I get so caught up in my busyness that I don’t even see it. And I have had a hard time just slowing down and relaxing. So going to work on that! And also balance (if there is such thing?) and mindfulness-oh- see Kelli’s post last year on mindfulness.

I love doing this Word for the Year and I love hearing what everyone else comes up with. We have some great guest posts lined up and we also have a Pinterest board where you can share there too or just get ideas! And I so welcome your comments here on the blog and pinterest and if you want to guest blog, please let me know!

I am thinking that along with the Word for the Year, I also want to break it down with related Word for the Months (maybe because I am ADD and get bored!). I think sometimes people get excited at the New Year but then fade as the months go by so if we make Words of the Month, it will help us focus on our overall Word for the Year.

I don’t have all my words planned out for each month yet. I will keep you posted. I want to get organized and declutter in January so I feel more free to create (January is National Creativity Month) and I also like to talk about health and fitness so let’s say the January Word will be Zen which includes all of these and we will go from there.

So I am excited for a new year, a new word, and to the word you choose and why!

What’s your 2014 Word for the Year?

December 31, 2013 By Debbie 2 Comments

word for year question Happy New Year’s Eve! As you know, every year for the past few years, I have come up with a Word for the Year (see last year’s I did- What’s your word for 2013-and my friend Kelli’s Everyday Mindfulness) for me to focus on and I have invited you to do the same. And this year we have a pinterest board where you can share too! I’m still working on what my word will be, will let you all know tomorrow! Also, I have some fun guest posts with their words for the year. And I would love to hear what YOUR word for the year will be!

I love January! It’s all about refocusing and new beginnings. 2013 was crazy for me, some sadness and some happiness! Ready for a new year! I will fill you all in later. (Sorry about the lack of blog posts this fall, we got really busy with Christmas sales!)

Happy New Year’s Eve! I’m looking forward to this week to reflect and incubate (the egg, get it?) and plan for the New Year.

What’s your Word for 2013?

January 1, 2013 By Debbie 6 Comments

Happy January 1st my friends, and Happy 2013! As you know, I love to celebrate firsts and new beginnings! I love the start of a new year, it is so fresh and fun and full of possibilities. I view life as a big adventure and I love to experience new things.

I’m spending this week reflecting on 2012 and planning for 2013.

Yesterday on my Happy First facebook page I asked the question- Does anyone make resolutions? The first response came from a dear friend who said she doesn’t make resolutions, too much pressure and she doesn’t want to be disappointed. Someone else agreed. Wow, that is so foreign to me, I am constantly setting goals. I am so Type A, have trouble slowing down. And I look at this dear friend and wish I was more like her, so balanced and calm.

But we have to work with who we are right? And that is what makes everyone so fun and different and that is what is great about having friends and a spouse that are totally opposite of me. They keep me in balance!

So back to my Type A goal setting-ha ha. (By the way, check out my earlier blog post about setting goals) Every year for the past few years I have chosen a word to embrace for the year. It started in 2010-my word was Create, 2011 was Pursue and 2012 was Delve (delve in 2012). I encourage you all to think of a word and frame it so you can see it every day. This year I am putting it on my desk.

Before I tell you 2013’s word, let me reflect on 2012. I chose Delve. I wanted to learn new things. Well, I did learn new things, but I think my word should have been Explore for last year, because I did so many things on the surface but didn’t really delve or get good at any of them. I looked into classes at our local community college and took all of these classes last year (I dragged some friends with me too to these classes)-Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Indesign, a 5 week photography class (I got a digital SLR for my birthday and wanted to learn how to really use it) and a jewelry stamping class!

I learned new skills and met fun people, but this year I want to really FOCUS so that is my word for 2013. I have said that before, I am spread too thin. I want to be super business owner and super mom and super volunteer and experience everything! Well, I can’t be good at everything if I am overextended. I am really going to work on my schedule and say no more and when I am working I am focusing on work-no distractions-and when I am doing family things I am with family. I love Yoga-one of the things they are always saying is BE PRESENT-so I am going to work on being present!

Some other ideas I came up with for some good words-be LEAN in 2013-that can be like lean in being fit or lean in your business. I had New Year’s Eve dinner with cousins last night and I was asking them their word ideas and my cousin Ralph said Lucky 13 for 2013. So maybe 2013 will be your lucky year! (as you may know, I have a lucky chick tee and I wrote about Luck).

But I digress, I must FOCUS on my word FOCUS. What is your word for 2013? I love hearing everyone’s ideas! Let’s inspire each other! Happy 2013!

focus ps-I tend to want to make everything perfect. I could have spent hours choosing the perfect font or drawing up something to frame. Instead, I just chose to keep it simple! So it is not perfect, but it is already sitting on my desk.

The Art of Goal Setting

February 21, 2011 By Debbie 7 Comments

Last Monday I talked about figuring out your dream or vision for your life. Once you do that, start writing down your goals to get there. It is weird how when you write your goals down and start focusing on them, it starts coming together! I am a very goal driven, type A person. I do so much better if I have goals set before me. Goals energize, challenge me. You can do anything if you put your mind to it!

Write down your goals on paper

Put them where you can see them every day. You can make a whole list of goals, but start out focusing on no more than three at a time. A book that has helped me so much with this is “The Power of Less” by Leo Babauta. It is about setting goals, reaching them, focusing and simplifying your life. He talks about figuring out what your goals are and saying “No” to activities that are not in alignment with your goals. This has been a constant struggle for me; I have a hard time saying no! I want to be involved in everything and I want people to like me. I don’t like to be left out. I want to be Super Mom, wife and business owner. But I am learning in order to be effective I cannot spread myself too thin. Babauta’s book also talks about time management and how to be more streamlined in your day. I highly recommend it.

Once you set your goals then break them down into projects and tasks to get there. Your goals must be measurable, not just broad statements. For example, don’t say, “I want to lose weight this year or exercise more, say “I am going to be at this weight by this date and this is the way I am going to do it”. Goals seem overwhelming at first, but if you break them down with a timeline and into projects made up of tasks, it is doable. If you have too many goals or make them too difficult, you will give up easily. I read an article in the business section of the Tulsa paper back in January by Harvay Mackay. He talked about goal setting and said “Setting goals is all about taking charge of a situation.” What is it that you really want to accomplish? You have to really want it!

Harvay Mackay cited an example about a company setting a difficult production quota goal. There were 2 different test groups. They both had to reach the goal in 12 weeks. The first group was just told to reach it in 12 weeks, the second group was given weekly goals to reach that same difficult goal at the end. The first group only reached 66% of the goal, the second group exceeded their goal. That is why it is so important to break down your long term goals into monthly, weekly, daily goals.

I love this quote by Harvay Mackay “Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new end.”

I have divided my goals into different areas-home, business and fitness. I will share them with you over the next few Mondays.

What goals do you want to set?

What’s your word for 2011?

February 1, 2011 By Debbie 15 Comments

inspiration word for 2011 is pursue Happy February 1st!

Where did January go? Did you set any goals, resolutions? It’s not too late! Every day is a new day! That is what the egg in Happy First represents-new beginnings, breaking out of your shell.

Every year I like to set goals. I have different areas I like to focus on-my family and home, my business goals, creative goals and fitness goals. I have more focus and purpose each day when I am working towards something. A fun way to get started with goal setting is to pick a word for the new year. Write it down, frame it, and put it in a place you will see often each day. I put mine on my bathroom counter. I got this idea from Mary NurrieStearns, an incredible teacher at Inner Peace Yoga in Tulsa. She is also a therapist and always gives us great ideas to reflect on while we are getting a super hard workout. (I think she is just trying to distract us from the pain!)

Last year I chose the word Create. I looked up the definition in the dictionary and it means “to bring something into existence, to cause something to happen as a result of one’s actions.” Part of what Happy First is all about is breaking out of your shell. I believe everyone has creativity inside and will be happiest when they burst out!

I am happiest when I am creating. I love to play in my craft room and draw and sew. I felt like I wasn’t making time anymore for fun things like that in my life so I decided to focus on it. My friend Amy and I ended up taking a knitting class last year. I still didn’t get to do as much as I wanted to do creatively last year so I am still working on it. For Christmas I got a Bamboo Fun Wacom tablet, which enables you to draw on your computer. I just need to block out time each week for me to be creative.

This year my new word is Pursue. The Webster’s definition is “to find or employ measures to obtain or accomplish.” My quote on www.happyfirst.com is “Find your passion and pursue it”. I have lots of new ideas for Happy First and my life in general so this is my year to get out and pursue! To quit thinking and do!

I talked about this idea last year and here are some of the words and phrases my friends came up with for themselves-faith, simple (and this led to my friend decluttering her home), husband (one friend wanted to focus on her marriage), kindness, patience, just do it, and healthy body (and this friend, Pam, went on to lose weight and run her first half marathon in 2010!). Here is an excerpt from what my friend Amy wrote in choosing the word “free”:

“Free! As we have discussed in person, free is my word. I am focusing on being free from all the things that hold me back from being my best every day. Since my kids were babies I have to them to wake up every day with the goal of being their best every day. Now it’s my turn to listen to my own words.”

Some other words people have come up with for this year (I posed this question on www.facebook/happyfirst ) are balance, lean into the fear, trust, love, overcome, inspire and believe.

So what is your word for 2011? I would love to see your ideas. It would be so much fun to share and inspire each other and maybe even be accountable to each other!

Happy 2011!