June 2009 Blog Posts (18)

Your Greatest Work is Ahead of You

If ever there were a time to eliminate anything in our lives that weighs us down or holds us back - or just plain depresses us - it's now. I can't say it enough, you can't grow if you don't let go... And most of you know that my aim for you in writing Throw Out Fifty Things is not for you to live a tidy, well organized life - but for you to be free. Free of the past so you can create a future that thrills you.

Sometimes all our stuff has to be ripped away from us for us… Continue

Added by Gail Blanke on June 30, 2009 at 11:52am — 1 Comment

Take that chair outside.........

I have a dog who likes to sit on chairs- this is ok as he is little and old- kind of like me- but as I have been cleaning

and clearing out I realized we had a chair that looked like a dog sat there --- so my head as been saying to take that chair outside and use it up for summer and then off to the dump-( it is fine for summer sitting in our part of the country)

today I took the chair out- and with it I let go of memories that I have but no longer need to keep- there are other… Continue

Added by Marilyn (Meme) on June 29, 2009 at 12:49am — 1 Comment

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Added by StephanieRose Keiser on June 28, 2009 at 4:46pm — No Comments

lost in the kitchen

I had my kitchen cleaned and etc. a few weeks ago but when I came home the other day I did not find any comfort while standing in there.

So I sat down and thought out some things and decided to have another go at the kitchen-and see if I could make it more user friendly and more comforting.

I worked hard for 3 days and tossed and organized and moved ( yes, Meme moved the fridge). I did this all by myself and this was important to me as I was so used to having dear papa hubby… Continue

Added by Marilyn (Meme) on June 23, 2009 at 12:56am — No Comments

The Power of Passion

It's all about passion. I've always believed that very little good happens without passion - passion for the job, passion for the end result, passion for the possiblity. It's true in a country, a company or a life. It's true whether you're an entertainer, a politician, a baseball player or a small business owner. Passion drives profits; passion works miracles. So I've been thinking that in spite of these very tough times, we've got to get back in touch with what we're really passionate about -… Continue

Added by Gail Blanke on June 19, 2009 at 11:53am — No Comments

SHOPPING IN MY CLOSET...

If you'd told me that I didn't NEED any new clothes for the summer ( I knew I wasn't going to BUY any, but I was sure I NEEDED them...) I wouldn't have believed you - until I followed the advice of most of the current women's magazines and went "shopping in my closet." I'm not kidding. I decided I'd look at all my stuff as if I'd never seen any of it before - shoes, belts, skirts, pants, T-shirts, jackets - and see what kinds of new outfits I could invent. I'd really never done that before.… Continue

Added by Gail Blanke on June 16, 2009 at 3:30pm — 3 Comments

The Attic - part 2 - Storage

A quick run through, that's the real reason I’m even in this space right now is: a) it’s 60 and cloudy so it’s not too hot b) I’ve piles of things that need to go into storage – finally took down the “winter” decoration on the DR chandelier – and I can’t even walk in the space so a quick clean out is over due… The Christmas Deco clean out will just have to wait until December. Less than an hour, things are tidy again! Plus, my daughter is nagging me to move into the 3rd fl playroom so she can… Continue

Added by Sue Triggs-Rhuda on June 11, 2009 at 12:55pm — No Comments

out of one room and into ........

I have the bedroom done for now although there are some things I keep planning in my heart.

Then I was off to the bathroom which was no contest as grand daughter lives here and that is about all I have to say.

If you have lived with a teen age gal, then you know how many bottles of shampoo they require and

all the other girl stuff-. I did a good tidy and tossed some things of mine- I did not toss her things as

that is not my job. I think that is an important thing to… Continue

Added by Marilyn (Meme) on June 11, 2009 at 2:29am — No Comments

Thrown Away: Mental Clutter #2

I let go of the type of person I think I am or am not. I thought that the 'brainy' type was taken by brother #1 and the 'funny' type was taken by brother #2. But I can by brainy or funny if I want to be too. I used to be the sensitive type. But that got blown away after living in Nigeria. You simply can't be shy and live there. Now I can tell you, "You are standing on my toe, and please get off now."

I am now recasting myself as the 'fun-loving' type. My husband was delighted to hear… Continue

Added by Nanci Singleton on June 10, 2009 at 12:21pm — 2 Comments

Thrown Away: Mental Clutter #1

I stopped comparing myself with my brother. I love my brother. He is a genius. He speaks English, French, Spanish, Cantonese and Mandarin. The Cantonese was self-taught. He also plays the piano, violin, viola and cello, and he composes music too. When we were growing up he had the reputation as 'the brainy one' and my other brother was 'the funny one'. What was I? I felt that there was no way I would ever be able to measure up to either one of them, so I decided to be 'the artsy… Continue

Added by Nanci Singleton on June 10, 2009 at 12:10pm — 1 Comment

Ya Gotta Do the Laps

When I was jogging around the reservoire in Central Park this morning (not a nice day; rainy, windy, thunder, really crummy...) it occurred to me that we can get other people to do a lot of things for us - color our hair, do our nails, massage our aching bodies - but no one can do our workouts for us. We have to do it. There's just no getting around it. When I was in my teens, I was a competitive swimmer and had to swim at least a hundred laps a day, just to warm up. There were many times when… Continue

Added by Gail Blanke on June 9, 2009 at 4:49pm — No Comments

continuing the bed- room

I got a lot of things done today because we have rain that is also snow at times so it was

not fit day for man or beast to go outside. I did clear out at least 50 things since I started to

sort out the bedroom..

I just put down check marks as I do not want to get bogged down with lists. I know myself

too well- some is gone, some things went to where they really belonged, and some is going to be giving

away as soon as I get a good day for travel. The main thing is… Continue

Added by Marilyn (Meme) on June 6, 2009 at 12:17am — No Comments

Under Pressure!

Throw out count: 2

I recently threw out some old make up I had.

Crunch time, Grace Institute's program is winding down and now finals are approaching.

It's strange to see how people react to stress, some laugh and crack jokes and yet some cry,( I mean literally someone burst into tears today in the computer lab) Thank Goodness for Chorus practice, it was a nice outlet for my stress. I only signed up to sing at the graduation, because I KNOW I'll be… Continue

Added by karol rubiano on June 4, 2009 at 11:51pm — 1 Comment

A Summary

Have worked full time for more than the past 25 years, and also full and part time for 10 years before that. Retired last August. Deep cleaned over the few months following August and tossed the obvious clutter.

Did not touch the less obvious stuff:

The what if I need this some day stuff--e.g., the pink dress and dyed pink shoes to match I wore to our daughter's wedding, as I hate shopping, and I could "always wear to son's wedding" if he gets married to his girlfriend.

The stuff… Continue

Added by Trixie Belden on June 4, 2009 at 9:31am — 1 Comment

starting the bedroom

I checked out the work book and that means I need to start in the bedroom.

Right now, my bedroom is my safe place. It even seems strange to say my bedroom

because it was our room for so long. Hubby and I talked a lot about this room and when

he went to the hospital for the last time; we both decided that I needed a space where I

could be safe to grieve. It was a hard day as we both knew that he would not be coming

home again. I started to build myself a cozy nest… Continue

Added by Marilyn (Meme) on June 4, 2009 at 3:33am — 1 Comment

Great Phone Coaching Session with Our "Best Picture" Contest Winner

Sarah Bates and I had terrfic time together earlier today. She's terrific. She's definitely on a roll throwing stuff out - and has moved into the mental/emotional junk, too. She says she "wasn't born organized" - welcome to the club, right? But I reminded her that throwing stuff out isn't about being organized, it's about being free... She says even her boyfriend and her dog, Lola, are feeling perkier! Sarah was laid off and is looking for a job (welcome to the club again, right?) so we had a… Continue

Added by Gail Blanke on June 2, 2009 at 4:45pm — 1 Comment

The bitter end-

We can spend a lot of time on bitterness and hanging on to old wounds. When ever we do this we put ourselves

through the injury again and again. Sometimes we are so bitter that we hurt others who had nothing to do with

the original wounding.

Letting go of bitterness is a work in itself as so much of the bitterness has taking root deep in our heart. One of the best

ways to remove weeds from the garden is to dig them up by the roots- one by one. We can put poison on them… Continue

Added by Marilyn (Meme) on June 2, 2009 at 12:42am — No Comments

On a New Journey

I was a wife, mother and grandmother this time last year. But now I am a widow instead of a wife. I spent the winter in deep

sorrow until Easter Sunday. On that first day of the week the Lord rolled away the stone in my heart. I am still in grief

but now my grief has found joy. I decided it was time to begin spring cleaning in both my house and my heart.

So often we tend to just leave things as they are and keep things that have no meaning to us. I started by clearing… Continue

Added by Marilyn (Meme) on June 1, 2009 at 12:32am — 4 Comments