Elegant Evaluating
It’s the beginning of a new year and I don’t make new year resolutions but I do begin to evaluate for the upcoming year. I make mental goals and ask myself questions….
photo credit Ilyas Bolato
1) How is my health? Am I exercising enough? Have I been consistent?
2) How are my eating habits? Am I getting enough sleep? Do I drink enough water?
3) Am I happy with my wardrobe?
4) Where am I with my faith?
And honestly, I can go on and on. Here is the thing. I am constantly evaluating. Not just at the beginning of the year but on a monthly basis. I am constantly asking myself questions.
But honestly doing this keeps me honest with myself. I recently went on a “purging spree”. I got rid of a lot of clothes in my closet that just wasn’t fitting well. I start saying to myself, ” Are you really going to wear that. Let’s just be honest here”. With me having that conversation with myself I was able to let go of some of the pieces that needed to go. I will donate most of it to Goodwill, some will go to Poshmark and I did take a few pieces to my seamstress Mrs. Sunny. There were 3 dresses that I just LOVED but the top part was too loose. So I asked her to turn those pieces into skirts. I pick them up later this week. Fingers crossed!
I also began to talk with myself about “bogus shopping“! It’s a quote that I came up with when I began to purge some of the clothes, shoes and purses that I kept. Some of the items that I purchased were apart of bogus shopping. I purchased it because it was on sale, or I felt like I “needed” to buy something because I hadn’t made a purchase in a while (maybe like a week), just stupid spending. That could have been a lot of money that I could have saved. Even today I was at HomeGoods looking at all of the Christmas ornaments on sale. I began to say to myself, don’t start “bogus shopping“! Buy only what you love, and I did. I am very happy with my purchases.
Then last week I did a “home purge”. There were a lot of things taking up space in closets, pantries, and cabinets. It was a lot of home decor that I didn’t need. So I bagged all of it up and will donate it this week. I now have a lot more room in my cabinets. I only want the items that I use. I will also begin an “office purge” this week. I need to get rid of the items in my office too.
I have also been thinking about making appointments and seeing specialists this year. I have made an appointment with my doctor to review my cholesterol and other levels. I am also having issues with my legs. I had my daughter take a photo of the back of my leg and I have a few varicose veins. Oh no! So I made an appointment about that. I heard that natural witch hazel could help with those. So I purchased a bottle and I have been seeing results! Fingers crossed!
I have also made this a year to have my first professional facial. I have never had one, shocking I know. So that is on my list too! I look forward to making some changes and to see where some of my new decisions will take me. I hope that this inspires you too!
Hello Mrs Shockley,
I am trying to begin my 'purge' also. Last year I got rid of 5 boxes of 'stuff' from the kitchen. I do not miss any of it, and in fact, now I do not even remember what it was. I need to do the rest of the house. Like you, I now want only things that I love.
Hi Gloria,
You got rid of 5 boxes worth of items? WOW! Talk about a purge that is huge! Doing a house purge is never fun but I was so happy dropping off all that stuff at the Goodwill yesterday. I feel so good now!
Hi Mrs Shockley. I go through a similar process on a regular basis. I find it helps to keep my stress and anxiety levels under control. Also i am a big list makerand love the satisfaction of ticking tasks off the list. June
Hi June!
Oh my gosh…. I love checking off boxes too! I thought that I was a weirdo for loving that but it is good to hear that I am not alone. I create two checklist everyday. One before I leave the office and one for home.
Hello Mrs. Shockley,
Once again you have inspired me. I never really thought about elegant evaluating and asking myself questions, such as you do. I read this post yesterday (I check every Mon,Wed,Fri for new posts) and immediately started to evaluate a few areas of my life. And I also purged 2 large bags of "stuff" yesterday. Thank you so much for writing this blog. Oh my goodness my life has changed because of you!
Hey Mya,
Awww, thank you for the lovely comment. My husband read this and said, "this is great, see you are making a difference". So thank you for this. You have no idea how this makes me feel. It really clings to my heart. Thank you!
This year I am not going to buy anything for the sake of just "buying something" and now I have a word for it …. Bogus Shopping!! Thank you … I will be using that in my head when I am in the shops LOL
Lol! Absolutely! I am telling you, I was in Homegoods and the voice in my head said, "now don't you start that bogus shopping"! Once I heard that word the desire to buy that item left me. Seriously, it did.