Getting the "I Can Do" Spirit

Do you have an "I can do" spirit? Or, are you always saying "No, I can't"?  I think our greatest stumbling block is our attitude. If we think we can, we have a much better shot of sticking to the your plan and being successful. It is not about your successes or failures of the past, it is about right now! Yes, we can learn and grow from these experiences, but we need to move on from them as well. Think about Thomas Edison. It took him 10,000 trials to get the light bulb invented. Now that is a great example of the "can do" spirit. He just kept on trying. Sure he may have had his moments of discouragement, but he never said "I can't do it" and quit trying. He kept on going.

We need to exercise our mental muscles as well as our physical ones. I am one of those people who lost weight, even kept it off for awhile, then started gaining. In retrospect, I let life get to me rather than exercising my mind and staying focused. It takes effort to lose weight. You have to change your eating habits, you need to exercise your body and to change your concept of yourself. If you do not change your habits in all three of those areas, you are setting yourself up for failure. I know many other persons who lost a lot of weight and a year or two latter, those pounds found them and brought along their friends.


So what can we do? First of all, we need to watch our words and thoughts. What we say and think is as important as what we eat. When you identify thoughts and words that are negative, you need to immediately think of something that is positive. It does get easier with practice. Remember the "I can do" Spirit.

Second, you need to listen to what people around you are saying. If they are negative, then you have a choice. Block out what they say or spend less time with them. Do not get caught up in their negative thinking, and do not feed theirs with your own. If something is not working, find a way to change it. You have the power to do it. Remember the "I can do it Spirit."

Third, feed the positive. Start out each day naming three things that you are thankful for. End each day with three things that went right during the day or three more things that you are thankful for. This does not mean that you ignore the problems. You can't. But you can turn your thinking around about them. I find that if I read something positive at the end of the evening, I am more relaxed and can get to sleep faster. If I read a mystery the last thing at night, guess what I do? I relive the mystery. I do love reading them, I just don't finish the day with them. You can also start a praise or grateful journal. Write down those things in your life that are right. When the I can't do attitude begins to creep in, get the journal out and remember all the good things. We were not build to be double minded. Keep the "I can do" Spirit in the forefront.

With the "I can do" Spirit, the solutions to things seem to come easier. I think I can do, then I find a way that I can do it. It is not a Pollyanna attitude, it is an "I can do" attitude that allows you to find the solutions and not get mired down.

If you try the can do spirit for thirty days, you have developed a new habit and maybe a new outlook on life. After all, you can do it.

I would love to hear from you if you would like to share any of your can do experience. Thanks for reading this.

Image of Happy Running Turtle courtesy of wpclipart.com

Who Will Clean Out Our Mess When We Cannot?

Look around you! How much have you accummulated in your lifetime? Who will clean it out when you are no longer able. It is a scary thought, especially for those of us who have no children to do this for us. Do I want a stranger or even a friend to have to go through my things and get rid of those things which I could have but chose not to?

Yesterday, I talked to one of my neighbors when we were both at the market. His father was recently taken ill and the family has decided to move him from Florida to California when he is better. The plans are to put him into an assisted living facility close to both of his sons.  It reminded me of when my brother put my mother in a nursing home and had to clear out her apartment in a few days. She had a lot of stuff. Like I did then, I could not help but think of all my things and what would happen to them if something happened to me and my husband.

Downsizing may not be fun, but it is something that most of us will have to do in our lives. I live in a second floor apartment. Roger and I are getting older. Carrying groceries up the stairs and laundry down is difficult. We would like to move to a first floor apartment or a building with an elevator. Before we can do that, we really do need to get rid of some of the burden we are carrying.

Downsizing can be done slowly, quickly or somewhere inbetween. How fast you go depends on many things. How ready are you to get rid of stuff no longer necessary to your life? Will you ever really need it again? It is something you can do without but want to give to a family member or a friend. If you don't really need it, give it to them so they can enjoy it now. If you need it, make sure you have it labeled to be given to them.

If you have a scanner or a printer that scans, you can take a lot of your paperwork and scan it onto a disk. You can then place the papers somewhere that is out of the way, just in case you may need them again. You can do the same thing with pictures. How many pictures do you have that you don't look at because they never went into a scape book or are sitting somewhere in a box that is difficult to get to. When the pictures are scanned, you will have them. You can also use them on cards and put together little memory books for family as a reminder of some of the good times you have had. These little memory books make great gifts for holidays and special occasions.

Another question is how long to you keep certain documents? I just went through and shredded checks from 2003, 2004 and 2006. Tax documents should be kept for five to seven years. If you own a house, you will want to keep pertinent documents until you sell the house. Most copies of credit cards and bills, unless used for backup for your tax documents can be gotten rid of at least by the end of the year. Again, this is where scanning documents come in handy.

As for me, I find that I need to take baby steps. I need to go through a closet for example. When it is done, it takes me awhile to get to the next project. But like the tortoise, slow and steady gets the job done. Already, I can tell a difference in my environment. I feel better. Now, I need to keep it up, remembering that it takes 30 days to build a habit.

How are you handling downsizing or getting rid of clutter? Let me know. I will be glad to answer any questions you may have. Let's do it slowly and surely.