Philosophy According to Spin

I have a favorite spinning class I go to. On Tuesdays and Thursdays Dean leads a great workout - I am challenged there. But I get more than exercise there; it motivates me. This is what I take away from it:

• Work hard, play hard, sleep well.
  
• Be thankful for what you have.
  
• Don't leave thinking you could have done more.
  
• Make every minute count.
  
• You can change.

I think those are great rules for life in general, and I believe they set you in the right direction for a happy and fulfilling life.

A New Year's Resolution

I know it's not New Year's yet, but one of my resolutions will be to be more organized. To that end, I organized my jewelry today. My mom had given me some racks for jewelry. I put a lot of the silver pieces that I wear most in little plastic bags and organized them by type (necklace, earrings, bracelet) and stone color on my dresser. That way I can find things more easily.

You can also see my two buddhas I found on etsy here.

Next for organizing, my work table and craft area downstairs...

Rolling with the Punches

Gosh. This is something I wish I could do better. I am a planner at heart. I LOVE to be prepared.

I can't stand when I've spent time planning and things go awry.

On Tuesday, I found out my mother-in-law, who is coming from overseas for the holiday, changed the date of her return flight at the request of the airlines without checking to see if we already had plans for that day. This means she will be going home during the play that I paid an ungodly amount of money for us to see. It also means my husband will be driving her to the airport during the play that I paid an ungodly amount of money for us to see. It was supposed to be the big event we all did as part of her trip. I will be the first to admit I did not take the news well. Anyhoo, now I am seeing if Chloe's best friend and her mom are able to come instead.

Then today I went to pick up photos for our Christmas card at Ritz. Stupid me, I made the file 3 x 5 instead of 3.5 x 5, so the photos are all cropped on one side. And I have 85 of them. Completely my fault, but completely annoying. (I apparently wasn't seeing a preview of the file as it would be printed when I ordered it, just the file as it was.) I have cut the photos down now, so they are a 2.5 x 3.5 of Chloe. It works okay, but again, not according to plan.

I know I need to just let things go. Not everything will be perfect all the time. But I want it to be!

Goodbye, pretty bracelet...

No picture for this post, and here's why...

I bought a pretty silver bracelet over the weekend for $30. I wore it yesterday. I wore it today. I really liked it.

Now I find tonight I am not wearing it. Hmmm. Called Borders, no luck. Other possibilities - Wawa, the doctor's, my Township building. Most likely a parking lot.

This happened to me once about 20 years ago when I lost a bracelet I loved on a train. I guess I will figure what I figured then... At least I lost it before I got more attached to it.

I hope whoever finds it loves it and that it stays on her wrist.

Women and Happiness

A series by Marcus Buckingham starting at the HuffingtonPost focusing on women's happiness.

From the first article:

Happiness lost Each year since 1972, the United States General Social Survey has asked men and women: "How happy are you, on a scale of 1 to 3, with 3 being very happy, and 1 being not too happy?" This survey includes a representative sample of men and women of all ages, education levels, income levels, and marital status--1,500 per year for a total of almost 50,000 individuals thus far--and so it gives us a most reliable picture of what's happened to men's and women's happiness over the last few decades.

As you can imagine, a survey this massive generates a multitude of findings, (see the full report by Wharton Professors Betsy Stevenson and Justin Wolfers) but here are the two most important discoveries.

First, since 1972, women's overall level of happiness has dropped, both relative to where they were forty years ago, and relative to men. You find this drop in happiness in women regardless of whether they have kids, how many kids they have, how much money they make, how healthy they are, what job they hold, whether they are married, single or divorced, how old they are, or what race they are. (The one and only exception: African-American women are now slightly happier than they were back in 1972, although they remain less happy than African American men.)

I'll be interested to keep reading.

Yet Another Great Etsy Find!

This is a beautiful bracelet I bought from Carol Bradley Designs.

Carol is such a sweet and talented designer. When I requested this bracelet, she pointed out to me that I probably could make it myself. But it's her design and wearing her original work feels so much more special to me than trying to recreate what was her vision.

It's a gorgeous bracelet! The design is fabulous, and the craftsmanship is great. I love it and wear it often.

Movies Can Change Your Life?

Philip and I watched Yes Man recently. While I don't think it will go on my list of all-time favorite movies, I found the premise incredibly powerful.

Jim Carrey stars a Carl, a lonely divorce who has alienated those around him. He falls in with a cheesy self-help program and begins to say yes to every opportunity before him. Before you know it, his life has changed.

While predictable, the movie does make you look at your life and wonder how your attitude shapes events around you. I think it may even make me say yes to more of the opportunities that come my way!

Was I Scammed?

I recently went back to work - for a number of reasons - because I like to be busy, because I am interested in my work, and because, given the economy, it's a fall back if anything happens to my husband's job.

At any rate, I was driving to work the other day. As I came up off the ramp from I-95 there was a woman near tears. She said she had broken down on 95 and needed the train fare to get home. She needed $15. I opened my wallet and gave her everything I had - $8.

I told my husband about it, and he laughed and said I had been scammed. Well, that may be, but I would rather be scammed than ignore a request for help because I was afraid it might not be true.

I wholly subscribe to the idea:

"I shall pass this way but once. Therefore if there is any good that I can do Or kindness I can show to any living being, Let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, For I shall not pass this way again."

Jack Bogle's Rules for a Good Life

I read a really inspiring article about successful Vanguard founder and all-around good guy, Jack Bogle, in the Philadelphia Inquirer the other day. It listed his rules for a good life.

Jack Bogle's Rules For a Good Life

Rule No. 1: Get out of bed in the morning. If you don't do that, not very much is going to happen. Once you get out of bed, try to have a good day. Try to be a better parent. Try to be a better husband. Try to be a better colleague. Try to help those around you. Try to teach people. Try to learn. Try to do something completely off the wall. Be conscious of the world around you, and try to make it a tiny bit better today. If you do that, when you go to bed you'll get a good night's sleep.

Rule No. 2: Repeat Rule No. 1 the next day.

Definitely the key to a good and fulfilling life. If you want to read the whole article, you can find it here http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/31242114.html?page=1&c=y