While you were sleeping...

Acceptance vs. Tolerance

There is a difference between accepting and tolerating. I think we often tolerate things we accept, and accept things we should only be tolerating (and not tolerating very long!).

Let me explain. It lies in the question of control. If we accept things, it means we think that they cannot be any different than they are right now. If we tolerate things, that means there is potential for the situation to change -- we just haven't done anything about it.

We all have "issues" in our lives -- situations we're not thrilled with. For instance, my list includes things like the clutter in our house, the fact my husband travels about 25 percent of the time, the need to find more consistent and fulfilling work, and my stomach. But before I can make the changes I need to, in order to move towards creation of a life of passion and fulfillment, I have to determine which category things fall into. Am I accepting clutter (meaning I have no choice) when I should say I'm tolerating it (meaning I could do something about it if I chose)? Am I tolerating my husband's travel (meaning I think I could somehow do something to change it) when really I should accept it (meaning that's the way things are right now)?

Just by rephrasing the situation, I get a completely different feeling. In some cases, it's relief (I don't have to live like this! I have a choice, even if I have three children!) And in some cases it's scary (My decision to dress in sweats and eschew makeup is something I'm choosing.... I could choose to look better!). In every case, it's powerful.

What are you tolerating that you should move to the "acceptance" column? And what have you decided you must live with (accept) when in actuality you do have a choice? How do you feel when you rephrase the situation?

And so the conversation begins...

Changes are afoot

Anyone who's read this blog for any length of time knows of my predilection for examining my life, determining what is working and what isn't, and making grand resolutions to change things for the better.

While the resolutions don't always pan out 100 percent, I hope that, in the paraprhased words of P.T. Barnum, by aiming for the moon maybe I'll shoot a star. Or something like that.

I'm a great one for making lists, making decisions, making plans. Sometimes they work, and sometimes I forget about them, and sometimes (as my husband can tell you) they crash and burn.

I'm learning to be okay with that, in the unfolding realization that life isn't about crossing things off my list. Life is about making the list and striving to reach it.

So. (You knew this had to preface something, right??)

I'm thinking that I'm getting too old to do/buy/have/accept things that I just don't love in my life. I don't want to settle. And I don't want to clutter my life with a million things I merely like and tolerate, allowing them to choke out the things I truly adore and yearn for.

Make sense? It does to me.

Some of the things I see when I look around me I can change right away. Some will take longer. Some may never get where I long for them to be. And that's all okay.

It's the movement and yearning and noticing and acting upon that is changing me, bit by bit.

Stay tuned.

Weird food

What's your strangest eating preference? Go to Marly's blog and tell her.

My Own Spelling "B"

Do you know what this is?

It is a dragon tail.

Do you know to get one?

You spell a ton of words correctly in front of a whole crowd, including "classification," "amphibious," and -- for the win -- "duplicator."

Ben, I am so proud of you.

I Dun Bin Tagged

Lisa wants me to share six weird things about myself. Only six???

1. I constantly jiggle my leg while seated. My friend Elisabeth, who's an elementary school teacher, always asks me if I have to go to the bathroom. Nope, just nervous energy, I say. Oh, she says, because that's what the kids do when they have to go.

2. I think popcorn for dinner is just fine.

3. My favorite pencils are freshly sharpened Dixon Ticonderoga, #2.5. Speaking of pencils and writing implements, I tend to... ummm... accumulate them (that's a nice way of saying if you leave a pen or pencil in my immediate vicinity, it's mine. Eminent domain and all that).

4. I have a purple belt in Tae Kwon Do. My son is a black belt and my daughter is Purple One (high purple) so that means I'm supposed to call them "sir" and "ma'am" and open the door and bow to them and everything. They get a kick out of that.

5. I HATE red bell peppers. HATE HATE HATE them. Really bad. It can ruin a whole meal for me if there are red bell peppers in a dish.

6. My daughters are named after characters in mystery books -- Kinsey and Callie. A prize to the first person to tell me which books and/or authors! (By the way, my license plate reads "WHODNIT.")

I'm not that weird, am I?

Let's see how you stack up: Maria - Marly -  (and just to keep it in the M family) Moki!

Flickr

Can someone please explain this to me? I have joined. I have contacts, even! But I do not know how to upload photos to my account, and add them to a group... if anyone can email me some help, I'll be eternally grateful (and maybe even send you a ball of yarn -- ahahahah!).

This explains a lot.

What mental disorder do you have? Your Result: OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) You have odd obsessions that you cannot seem to control. You may even perform rituals to make you feel better. Counting and continuously obsessing over things happens frequently.
Paranoia
GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder)
ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder)
Manic Depressive
What mental disorder do you have?

Do You Know This Woman?

No? Well, let me tell you about her.

Once my husband said, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could see people's souls when you looked at them, instead of seeing how they look on the outside?"

That is exactly what happens when you look at Maria. You see her beautiful outsides -- but what shines through even more is her soul. And it is an incredible one, warm, yellow-red-orangey, with little gold sparkles.

Maria is like a big hug when you need it most.

Maria is like sitting by the fireside, eating buttery popcorn and drinking cocoa, warming your toes and reminiscing about the best times in your life as you watch the rain beat against the windows.

Maria is like a bouquet of flowers, freshly picked from the garden with the dew still on them.

Maria is my friend.

I am so lucky.

Today is her birthday... so go here and tell her to have a great day!

She is loved.

The Great Stash Smackdown, Part II

Now that I have unloaded a ton of my old yarn rewarded Marly for her guess of 372 skeins (compared to my actual of 392), I am ready to kick the smackdown into high gear.

A few of you have asked me exactly what a stash smackdown is... well, let me explain.

Smackdown, as I understand it, is a term taken from  World Wrestling Entertainment. You know, all those gigantifous men in the tights and funny shoes, throwing each other around the ring? Well, a "smackdown" (or SmackDown!, as they refer to it), is a wrestling bout of epic proportions. It involves several wrestlers of gigantifous size hitting each other and attempting to throw each other to the floor (hence, the "smackdown" moniker). There are a series of shows based on the SmackDown! concept, as well as a video game and a Swedish punk band.

So what is a Stash SmackDown!? It is an attempt by me to get a handle on my stash of gigantifous proportions. To tame it. To make it mine.

What exactly will this entail? I am not sure. A lot of knitting. Maybe some gnashing of the teeth. Maybe some more contests. Maybe some selling on Knitter's Review. Probably no video games or punk bands, but you never can be sure around here.

If you want to play, here's what you need to do:

-Leave me a comment telling me you're up for the SmackDown! challenge and a link to your blog.
-Knit your little heart out.

Tough, huh?

Oh, and if anyone is up for creating a button for the event based on the graphic above, please let me know. I think one that looks exactly the same but has "WYWS" instead of "WWF" would be really, really cool.

And the winner is...

MARLY!!!!
She e-mailed me her guess... and she was closest to my actual stash count of 397 skeins!!!!

Marly, send me your mailing addy and I will get you your prize!!!!!!!

Thank you all for playing... now, wanna play along with my Stash Smackdown? I'm going to try to get that number DOWN, baby!

Who's in??