Last night I laid out my plans for today. By golly, I was determined that it would be a productive day. I simply have lots to get accomplished, and today was going to be it.

The plan: get up at 5:10 am, go to 5:30 Jazzercise, eat a healthy breakfast, and then get going!

Why then do these voices in my head talk to me about my friend’s assessment of me, “You are always in such a frenzy. You don’t allow. You don’t allow things to happen.”

And why do these voices in my head remind me of last week’s message from www.tut.com?

“Rosie, I think you’re amazing. I think your approach to life is dead-on. And I can’t think of anything you’ve ever done that I wouldn’t have done had I been in your shoes.

Hey, it’s my life too.

Tallyho,
The Universe

Yeah, Rosie, nothing you’ve ever done….”

Why is it that when I looked at the tut.com message for this morning, I get the following message?

“Of all the things that matter, Rosie, that really and truly matter, working more efficiently and getting more done is not among them.

Chill,
The Universe

And, quite accidentally, Rosie, such an appreciation leads to greater efficiency and more productivity. Not that that really matters.”

Pushing, pushing, pushing to get things accomplished. Maybe that’s not the answer? And what are you pushing? Are you doing what you truly love? Or are you focused on making a living, paying the bills?

Is fear pushing you forward, driving you toward more efficiency? Are you loving the living you are creating? Do you love what you are working on, working on so efficiently, getting more done? If not, what would it look like to do what you love?

Is it time to pause the frenzy train long enough to catch a glimpse of what allowing might bring?

A couple messages this morning, one from Jack Canfield, the other from Dr. Mercola, communicated a similar message: PLAN.  Interesting that this afternoon I heard still yet a contrasting message: ALLOW. Which is it? Plan or allow?

  “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” communicates a strong message. If you fail to plan enough time, you may miss the most important meal of the day – breakfast. Dr. Mercola teaches that it is best to exercise in the morning. Again, if you don’t plan to set the alarm and lay out your exercise clothes the night before, you set into motion a plan to miss the exercise that your body needs.

If you fail to get to bed at a reasonable hour, not only do you suffer physically and mentally all day long, you simply do not have the zest to incorporate that needed exercise and breakfast into the hour before you head off to work.

More and more the experts tell us that food is medicine. If you do not plan for a healthy lunch, or if you do not pack one, a greasy burger and fries may sabotage your health and well being when the ravages of hunger strike at noon.

Many experts teach a system of using some sort of day planner. Years ago I learned the “Six Item Priority List” system. Every night before going to bed, make a list of the six most important items you need to do tomorrow. In the morning, review the list. Prioritize the list and tackle the biggest item first. Don’t forget to put you and your family on that priority list. Then in a year, look at all the priority items that you accomplished.

What then do you do when you have your list all prioritized, and nothing goes according to plan? So much for planning. What about allowing?

Abraham’s message this morning said, “In your action, you lose sight of the vision, you lose sight of your trust in the process, and you just bang around in a sense of futility. Hold the vision and trust that the Universe will acclimate to your vision. Hold the vision and trust the process. “

Hold the vision…don’t get buried in the action. Trust the process. Tough to do. How easy is it to slip into despair that your day is not going according to plan, that you haven’t been as productive as you’d planned?

A friend this afternoon shared with me he had no plan when he woke this morning. No alarm and no plan. Yet, by afternoon he recited some incredible feats that he had accomplished.

I, on the other hand, busily lamented that it was now 2:30 pm and I had “nothing to show for it.” He turned to me and said, “You need to learn to allow. Just allow it.”

While on the subject of allowing, it seems that gratitude also needs to be mentioned. Every single thing that happens in your day, the good, the bad, and the ugly, are really all good things. Gratitude for all that is weaves magic in your day and subsequently your life – when you can remember and when you can discipline yourself to be grateful for every single thing.

Plan or allow? Maybe it is some sort of healthy combination…with a sprinkling of gratitude for all that is.

I was just on the phone with my friend, giving her a rundown of my day. At the tail end of the list, I mentioned I had not yet written my blog article for the day, but I am working to stay calm in the midst of chaos. She said, “Well, there it is! That’s your article!”

Sure enough, I guess it is! What a day – what a week! My books are printing on the presses in Utah today. It seems surreal. All the edits were finished as of late last night. 1,000 copies of Stop the Needless Suffering, The Complete Woman’s Guide to Balancing Your Hormones are due to be on my doorstep on Monday, October 12. My first book signing is scheduled for Tuesday, October 13 – before and after a seminar I am giving titled, “Stop the Needless Suffering!” Nevermind that the PowerPoint still has to be created!  :  )

 I told my friend that another friend is in process of arranging a book signing at our local Barnes and Noble. The gentleman asked her if my book was in the “Bookmasters System” (a cataloging system they use). She sent me this message: “And guess what??  It IS!!  He told me the title, print date of Oct, etc.  How ’bout that Rosie!” My friend replied, “Rosie, you are an author!”

 An author? Me? That sounds so very weird! It seems that I have been laboring endlessly with no end in sight for forever. In reality, it was only a year ago that I started on it, but I took writing classes several hours per week for 6 months prior to beginning the project.

 For the past year and a half I have been hearing and commiserating over “foreign” terms like Aweber, autoresponders, clickbank, Paypal, sales pages, news releases, ebooks, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, APS, Sales Sheet, LLC, SEO, web site creation, 800#s, taking credit/debit card sales “at the back of the room” – till I thought I would go mad! And now, guess what? Each one of these entities must be in place by October 13. I feel like I am caught in a spiraling vortex!

 On top of all this, I am OOT and away from computers for 5 of the 12 remaining days till October 13. I don’t want to calculate what percentage that is. Yikes! What do you do when chaos is spiraling all around you? Here are some of the techniques I am employing to help see me through…

1)       I meditate once in the morning and once in the evening, irregardless of how much time I think I don’t have to do it. Miracles happen when one slows the mind and connects with the flow of life.

2)      I work to make myself take a 10 minute break every two hours. To keep pushing ruthlessly is to usurp one’s energy till there is nothing left. I have to force myself to do this. Some people recommend setting a timer.

3)      Exercise must be included. For me, that is setting the alarm for the 5:30 am Jazzercise class – and squeezing in a walk out in nature with my two golden retrievers every few days. The air and blue sky is gorgeous this time of the year. If we don’t pause to notice, the crisp beauty of the fall will pass us by.

4)      Three nutritious meals a day are a requirement. The body can’t keep up its strength and energy without the proper ingredients to provide the fuel. A car won’t run if the gas tank is empty.

5)      Soft, relaxing music playing in the background provides a calming effect and subtly allows us to be more productive. Try it. It is amazing how soothing it can be.

6)      Working from a clear area, one thing at a time, keeps the mind quiet and not overwhelmed with a pile of uncompleted tasks. This is the hardest task for moi to master!

7)      Keeping a prioritized, organized list to work from is a must. There may be 40 things on the list, but each time I can check one off, I get such a sense of accomplishment. Plus, if it’s on the list, I can forget about it and not carry all the items in my head all at once. At the end of the day, it is far more productive to look over the list of checkmarks vs the list of uncompleted items. That’s what tomorrow is for.

8)      I plan a reward every week. For me, that is margarita night on Friday night. That’s my night to ingest toxins, if I need them or not.

9)      Plan something fun. I need help with this one. Last week my friend suggested we take a mental health break tomorrow and go to Nashville. It sounded good at the time. Now that it is tomorrow, and I have this huge list of uncompleted tasks, it sounds like a dumbass attack to me. BUT, I am going, and I am sure I will be better off for it.

10)   Just say “No!” This one is tough – but you simply cannot do everything. Take care of you first, and you and the whole world around you will be better off for it.

 Oh my goodness – I just checked the word count on this article…888 words. Time to stop and move to the next item on the list before my two hours are up!  <grin>

 But before I do, I am curious as to the meaning of “888.” Per Doreen Virtue, “888: This is a very auspicious sign of complete financial support from the Universe. Money is flowing in your direction!”

 Wow! Maybe I better add visualization and affirmations to the list!  :  )

A friend called yesterday, and was she ever high on life. She had just cleaned out 7 bags of stuff from various closets, cabinets, and nooks and crannies of her house. The more she talked, the more excited I got. I started looking around my own house and couldn’t wait to finish certain work requirements so I could start de-cluttering myself.

Shortly thereafter a gentleman came to my door to perform my end-of-lease car inspection. I went to the window in a back room of my house to take a look at what he was doing. I found myself noticing the piles of books and papers on the floor, on the table, and on the couch. I noticed the clutter on my bookshelves that extend from floor to ceiling. My eyes traveled to each shelf. I noticed the haphazard appearance of some of the shelves. I cringed when I noted all the papers and magazines stuffed here and there…too many of the “some day I’ll look at these” kinds of items. All of a sudden the thought hit me. The man said he would only take 15- 30 minutes. What if I kicked it into gear to see how far I could get with transforming that room while he finished inspecting my car?

I started racing around that room as if my life depended on it. I gave those piles of papers and magazines a quick look and made an instant decision – trash or keep. At the end of 20 minutes I was stunned at the difference in that room. In fact, I caught myself strolling in there several times throughout the day, just to re-look at it. It felt so good just to walk in there.

At 4:00 I turned on the Oprah show. Guess what the topic was? Cleaning up our messy houses! Oprah had a gentleman who would ring the doorbell of random houses or apartments and announce he was from the Oprah show and was there to transform their messy house. Wow, some of the closets and table tops and rooms looked way too familiar. I sent a text message to my friend to hurry and turn on Oprah. During one of the commercials she sent a message back saying, “Girl, you should see what I have done today! I feel so free!!!!” I knew that she had gone way past her original 7 bags of stuff!

Here are some of the key lessons from the show. Clutter robs you of peace, harmony, focus, and motivation. Your house is a reflection of what is going on in your life. When things are messy and disorganized, you are really saying “I do not value what I own.” You can’t be focused and targeted, living in a messy, disorganized space.

Before beginning, it is important to start with your vision. What is it you want from your space? It is that vision that will drive what you keep in your space.

When you start the de-cluttering process, there are 4 choices: keep, recycle, trash, donation. The rule is “If you haven’t used it in 12 months, out it goes.” The key is to do this process quickly. Don’t commiserate over every item. Don’t be overwhelmed. Start small. Start today. Just 10 minutes a day will make an amazing difference.

A good motivator for me whenever I am de-cluttering is to also think of how selfish it is to hold onto something that I don’t use. I think of the next person who could really treasure that item and put it to good use. Why should it sit unused in my closet? In so doing I believe we keep the abundance flowing. Clean out what you don’t need and don’t use and make space for exciting new things to come into your life. Oh how exciting to let go of the good so we can open up to embrace the greater good..and to feel so free in the process!