You may say I'm a dreamer...

Happy New Year!!

Oh how I’m loving decluttering! And I haven’t even decluttered that much! Some clothes, some drawers, not a whole lot but by George it makes a difference. And I feel so much better for  the little part I’ve done. Weird…but as I’m clearing stuff out of the house, my head is becoming clearer. I mean…who needs to have so many THINGS around us?  Why do we have so many things around us? 

I have to admit….I’m the ultimate consumer. I love things. I love clothes, I love skin care, I love make up, I love shoes. I used to hate shoes but the shoe obsession has arrived. I love glossy magazines with beautiful pictures (ads!). Show me a coral lipstick on a girl with colouring nothing like mine, I’ll buy it. Might look that good on me? Show me an ad with a model (of course) who has the most amazing skin ever and I’ll research the brand of moisturiser she uses. All things that I think will make me feel better about myself. Things that will cover up how I really feel. So I make sure I feel good about how I look on the outside. But my consumerism is starting to feel a little empty. A little false. A lot unnecessary. I feel a shift. Holy hell. I’m not sure what is happening but I’m feeling it! The need for these things is diminishing. In its place is a need for quiet. A need for reflection. A need for people. A need for a home that reflects who we are, a home that we want to spend our time in. Instead of a new lipstick, I’m wondering how to fix up (read…demolish) our front fence. How to make our verandah look more inviting. How to knock out a wall! Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not a house snob. I want a home, not a display house. But I want to be able to have friends around for dinner. I want to have family over at Christmas time. I want our kids to love being there. I want to love being there. I want the oven to not turn off spontaneously and fill the kitchen with gas. That would be a big plus! And I want to be proud. Proud to have a nice home. 

So it’s time for change in 2019. Along with the decluttering, our finances are going to be sorted. I need to see that we are achieving something other than a bulging bathroom cabinet. In fact, I need a new bathroom. And kitchen. And stumps and flooring. So this year is the year of the goal setting. Where to start, you ask?

I woke up on New Years Day and lay in bed thinking about the coming year. Thinking about the things I need to do differently. Goal setting is going to be my key. Vision boards have always been a bit “blah, whatever” to me. I’ve done them, but not believed in them. But the thought that popped into my head on the first day of 2019 was…I need to do a vision board. I need to do one because I’d forgotten what it was like to dream. Dreams were squashed into reality so I gave up. But not today! So a vision board is going to be done. 

The universe seems to be listening to me a bit lately….I must be putting out a slightly more positive vibe and I think the higher beings like that! So when I open my emails, in pops the email from The Organised Housewife telling my my first task in the 52 week declutter challenge. Guess what the first task is……

A VISION/INSPIRATION BOARD!!

HA! Unbelievable. 

It kind of scares me to start dreaming again. That little negative voice seems be whispering in my ear. “Won’t work, won’t work, won’t work…..”

But what if it does? What if we sit down, set some goals, figure out exactly what we want out of life and bloody well go for it? What if we actually set up our finances to succeed. Success kind of intimidates me. Is that kind of crazy? Well…yes it is! But what if we set a realistic budget that doesn’t allow for excess “stuff” which will in turn, help us get what matters most to us. WHAT IF?!

In saying all that….

I also have another issue. And I need to be better in this area. And that area is GRATITUDE. I have fallen into the bad habit of getting caught up in what we don’t have, instead of being grateful for what we do have. And I don’t like that about me. So along with a vision board, I’m going to do a gratitude board. A board with the things I treasure the most, the things I am grateful to have in my life. We have 3 amazing children who are all happy and healthy and who all love and value each other more than I could ever have hoped. I often joke the the houses we have lived in have been so small that they had no choice but enjoy each other’s company and guess what? For that I am grateful. They never had a rumpus room, or a theatre room to escape to. They had each other and they had us. All piled into one lounge room! And for that I am grateful. We have offered them some amazing opportunities at the expense of a fancy house. For that, we have 3 kids who support and value us, and most of all support  and value each other.  Gratitude. I have a pretty amazing husband who loves me and may roll his eyes at my new crazy ideas but who will go to the end of the earth (that’s Bunning’s to him) to watch me ponder over my dream front door. So the gratitude board will be as important as the dreaming board.

So, yes the house will be fixed up, the car may be updated. Things need to be done. But there needs to be balance. The picture of the Mazda CX-5 can be right next to the photo of my kids!

So a vision board, along with a gratitude board will take pride of place somewhere in our little home. 

What are your visions for 2019? Have you set some goals? Go on….because WHAT IF?!

What are you grateful for? 

Love,

Cherie with a C. 

xxx