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It’s Time to Optimize October!

The Unabridged Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word optimize as: “to make as perfect, effective, or functional as possible.” I read that definition recently and thought: I wish I could optimize my life! Seriously—who wouldn’t want to have things in his or her life as perfect, effective, or functional as possible?

So, being the OCD content-specific perfectionist that I am, I opened my calendar to find a month that would start on a Sunday (the official first day of the week). However, as I began to consider just how many missed “optimized moments” would slip through my fingers by waiting until February 2015 to “get optimized,” I decided that the time to live up to all my blah-blah-blah about how things don’t have to be perfect was now.

Once I revived from the hyperventilation that occurred after realizing that October begins on a Wednesday—I might, just might, have been able to handle a Monday (as in December 2014), but a Wednesday?—I pulled on my “big girl britches” and said, “Let’s do this.”

That’s when I sat down and thought of little ways that I could start to optimize the “mini moments”—i.e., make the most of my fifteen to twenty minutes of “down time” in between edits or projects or while waiting for someone or something.

And that’s how “O-3” came about: Operation Optimize October. And I want you to join me!

Each day this month has three things to do. Pick and choose or do all three.

OPEN and READ:

Since this is a faith-based blog, I added in a Proverb reading for each day of the month. The reason I chose this book from the Bible was because of the purpose of Proverbs, clearly stated in the first five verses:

These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel. Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise. Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair. These proverbs will give insight to the simple, knowledge and discernment to the young. Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. Let those with understanding receive guidance. —Proverbs 1:1-5, NLT

OMIT:

Set a timer for fifteen minutes. I’m serious. If you’re not done at the end of the fifteen minutes, it’s okay. Come back another time for fifteen minutes more. You’ll be amazed what you can get done in fifteen minutes. This is not an original idea—with anyone of this generation. In fact, I first learned this little tip many years ago while reading Emilie Barnes’s 15 Minute Home and Family Organizer. I was amazed by how much I could accomplish in such a short time! You will be too!

ORGANIZE:

It’s not enough to just get rid of things and clutter and time wasters. You need to replace them with good habits and good organization. Each day (except for Sundays and Wednesdays) has a quick organizational tip that you can easily implement in a short amount of time.

In fact, this week’s organization tip is to do what works best for you! For example, when you gather all your pens and pencils together this week, put them in containers or in places that are the most functional, practical, and organized for you! Your method is the only one that will truly work for you!

Subscribers: You will receive only three e-mails from me each week (sometimes less and on a rare occasion more). This is a self-structured “event!” The guidelines and schedule can be found here, but doing it is up to you! If you skip a day, it’s no big deal! Just get back on track and keep moving forward! (And did I mention that there are some really great prizes available to subscribers at the end of the month?)

So I hereby declare this the start of OPERATION OPTIMIZE OCTOBER!

 ___________________

For those following my dad’s health updates as he continues his journey through end-stage Parkinsons Disease, there is also a new update posted on the Ben Strohbehn Health Updates page today.

By Petals from the Basket | October 1, 2014 | Events, Ideas, Organization |

So This Is How It Feels

Moms of all ages, I bow to you in humble admiration. Being a caregiver has wiped the idealist right off of me! I finally have five minutes tonight, and it’s late, and I can’t make any noise. But the silence is literally something I want to wrap in a blanket and store in my hope chest. (Yes, I still have one—but that’s not the point of this post, now, is it?) No bell ringing, no pills to crush—and then, like a mom with her kindergartner now gone or her “baby” off to college, I think how grateful I am to have those sounds still filling my days, and I long for tomorrow morning to hurry and arrive.

By Petals from the Basket | September 24, 2014 | Life Changes |

That Time I Knew Everything

It’s the smartest I’ve ever been. I was a literal treasure trove of information. I was a specialist, a subject-matter authority, and a willing instructor to all who sought my wisdom and expertise. In other words, I was a recent college graduate.

The naiveté of my novice brought both good and bad sides to the table: good because my ideas were fresh and innovative; bad because I was only interested in showing my knowledge of the new without gleaning the knowledge offered by the tried and the tested.

Following a moment of success, it’s easy for our minds to declare us experts and to feel that we are now officially designated by the whole of humankind as the sole authority—and thereby the worthy critic—over all others in that area that we have so skillfully mastered after mere minutes of experience.

But as I age and truly  become a “subject-matter specialist”—after all these years of seeking, trying, hoping, pretending, wishing, and even faking—I see that those who “win” are those who, in their eighties, are still saying, “I have so much to learn.” Those who “win” are those who, in their twenties, thirties, and forties are saying, “I’m smart enough to know that I don’t know everything. Teach me. Let me learn from you. Let me follow in your steps.” Those are the people who are in it for the long haul. Those are the people who, as the well-used expression goes, will have a “long obedience in the same direction.”

Those are the humble learners who are bound for worthy roles of leadership as teachers, business leaders, bloggers with influence, writers whose words make an impact, and speakers whose words inspire long past the conclusion of the seminar.

Those who think themselves to be wise say, “I know.” Those who are truly wise say, “Teach me.”

_______________

“Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance” (Proverbs 1:5, NIV).

“Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning” (Proverbs 9:9, NIV).

“Intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge” (Proverbs 18:15, NLT).

By Petals from the Basket | September 21, 2014 | Friends, God-and-I-Time, Life Changes |

Keep Looking Up!

Sometime between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. each evening, my mom and I help my dad sit on the edge of his bed for a few minutes. After raising the top of the hospital bed in his bedroom, I generally lean in and wrap my arms around his entire torso, and he wraps his arms around me as I push my right knee solidly into the side of the mattress so that we can use our combined strength to swing his body from facing forward on the bed to facing the side wall in their bedroom. While we are accomplishing this easier-than-it-sounds task, my mom is swinging his legs from the top of the bed downward to a 90-degree angle so that his feet reach the floor in order to create the “seated” position for him. Again, no small task, but it only takes seconds.

Once Dad is in the seated position on the edge of the bed, it’s clear that he’s unsteady on his own. We support him with our strength, and then we encourage him to “look up.” This gives him a stable focal point and helps to steady him. When he looks up, you can literally see the relaxation and calm that replaces the uncertainty caused by the frailty of his Parkinsons-affected body.

After a few minutes of chitchat and a few oft-repeated memories about the days when we took the family pictures that grace the wall he is facing, it’s time to help him stand by the bed. With Mom on one side of him, circling her left arm so that the bend in her elbow fits tightly under his right armpit and I on the opposite side using my right arm to accomplish the same position with his left side, we generally recite the same three reminders:

1. Make sure your feet are firmly planted.

2. Let us help you.

3. Look up. (Again, this creates a solid focal point, providing the ability to stand firmly without wobbling.)

Tonight, however, I realized that once he’s up and doing well, his glance generally goes back down to the floor, and invariably one of us will say what is quickly becoming the fourth reminder:

4. Keep looking up.

If you’ve read this blog for any period of time at all, you know right where this is headed because my physically frail, spiritually faithful father taught us all a huge lesson with his life tonight. So here’s a quick application for our own lives:

1. Make sure your feet are firmly planted.

The unchanging Word of God should provide the foundation for every choice, every decision, every business move, every relationship, every thought, every word, every action—everything! Read it. Know it. Apply it. Opinions and emotions come and go. God’s Word never, ever, ever changes! Seeking wisdom in its pages should be the first go-to in our attempts to take the next steps. (Read James 1:5.)

2. Let us help you.

You weren’t meant to live life on your own. Others are in your life to encourage you, teach you, help you, support you, pray for you, love you, and so much more. And they are also there so that you can reach out and do the same for them! There is strength in numbers—utilize it! (Read Galatians 6:2.)

3. Look up.

Look to the unwavering goodness of Jesus. Don’t be distracted by extraneous attractions or things that this temporal world tells you matter. Fix your eyes on His amazing, solid, always-the-same grace! (Read Hebrews 12:2.)

4. Keep looking up!

It’s so easy to get “comfortable” and let our upward gaze slowly find its way back down to the horizontal trivialities that so easily distract us from our “sanctified stare!” Don’t stop. It takes effort. It’s a deliberate choice. It’s got to be intentional. It needs to be continuous. Choose. Decide. Determine not to let anything be so important to you that it takes your eyes off of Jesus for even one fleeting moment. Choose Christ. Then keep choosing Christ. (Read II Timothy 3:14.)

To know the power of a stance grounded on an immovable foundation, supported by other believers whose desire is to see you standing strong, look to Jesus. Look up. But don’t stop there.

Keep looking up!

Thanks for the lesson, Dad….

 _______________

You can check the “Ben Strohbehn Health Updates” page on this website for frequent updates on Dad’s health.

By Petals from the Basket | September 10, 2014 | Bible Reading, Family, God-and-I-Time, Life Changes |

Perfect Strength

I stayed up late last night to write. I planned on catching up on this blog site as well as on my self-titled site, where I “encourage and equip others to share their stories” and where I’m so far behind on my writing schedule that I’m often tempted to scratch the whole thing and start over.

That’s a common trait of true perfectionism: If it can’t be perfect, don’t do it. (With a true perfectionist, this only applies to the areas that matter most to him or her. In other words, not everything has to be perfect.)

But I’m not a perfect person, so if I wait for perfection, nothing will ever get done.

So I went into analytical mode this morning and began to think about what keeps me from writing not only what I want to write but also what I should write:

Sometimes I just plain talk too much, and that makes my posts (and e-mails to friends) long and storytellerish. Sometimes I say too little, leaving readers uncertain of my meaning or feeling that I’m not concerned enough. Sometimes I want to be funny, and I’m not. Sometimes I don’t mean to be funny, and I am. Sometimes I don’t care enough about what others think. Sometimes I fear what others are going to think. Sometimes I even worry that I don’t have the correct number of opposing “sometimes” pairings in my list!

But I think the important thing to do is to keep writing. Keep learning. Keeping making mistakes so that I can learn from them—even in areas unrelated to my writing.

Because when I do that, I see the power in the well-known Bible verse: “I can do all things through Him Who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:14, NIV). He tells us that He strengthens us because He knows that we need His strength! We can’t possibly do it on our own because…get ready for it…we’re not perfect.

But Christ is, making him the perfect Source of Strength!

So I’ll give my best, do my best, expect my best, and never settle for less than the best, moving forward in the strength that He provides.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some writing to do.

 _____________________

Thank you for your many prayers, comments, and kind notes regarding my father’s health and his time in home hospice care.

You can read the latest updates regarding his health and other information related to this time by clicking here.

By Petals from the Basket | September 5, 2014 | Bible Reading, God-and-I-Time, Life Changes |