Intentional Living

Midyear Musings

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Another month done. Halfway through 2018. Six more months and it would be just another year gone by.

How much have we accomplished thus far? Is life all about the passage of time, or about how much we do or make in a given amount of time?

Do you measure life by how you feel?

If we want happiness – how does happy feel like? Stop for a moment and think about this: how do you want to feel? Whatever that it is – do what you need to do to feel that way.

Many times, I catch myself thinking about how much time I have wasted. It’s as if I look back at days, weeks, and months, only to realize that I’ve only been going through the motions but not really being fully alive.

But I don’t really think that’s 100% true. I think what’s true is that my idea of living constantly changes. Sometimes I want more, and other times, it is enough to simply exist.

And always, these ideas are influenced by what or who is around me. My husband is prone to saying that social media is evil – and he has a point. How many times have I looked at my social media feeds and come out feeling bad that I didn’t do this, or I haven’t been there, or my house doesn’t look like that? So many times.

But it isn’t social media‘s fault. I realized that I’ve allowed myself to compare my life with an idea of someone else‘s life based only on carefully curated photos. I judged myself.

It took some introspection, some inspiration, and some deep conversations with like-minded people, plus the husband, for me to come to terms with the reality of the choices we make in life. Because ultimately, that is why we are where we are in this season of our lives. It’s about the choices we make. It’s about what we prioritize.

That’s how I managed to stick to the habits I learned when I gave my health a reboot. That’s how I’m finding time to spend with the people I want to surround myself with. It’s also how I’ve managed to complete 8 crochet projects so far this year, and read 16 books! It’s also how we’ve now managed to travel to two countries in less than a year’s time vs ZERO travel in so many years.

Life is all about what we make space and time for. When we look at it that way, I think, it opens us up to nearly limitless possibilities.

This is not to say that I’m living the life. I am also a work in progress. I know that I am still making bad choices, and my daily actions still don’t reflect my vision for the future I want to have. I am inspired – but more often, as it appears, not inspired enough to take real action. Understanding that, I am less frustrated by how much I haven’t yet achieved.

Inspiration. Choice. These are the precious first few steps, but they are not enough to make our dreams a reality. That requires consistent and focused action. That’s why I share this note to the world, not to preach, but really to remind myself to

Choose your vision. Get up. Show up. Do the work. Make it happen.

24/100

Oh, it’s just a list

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In July 2012, I decided to take on the Day Zero challenge, and managed to share a (partial) list of 56 tasks (should be 101) to be completed in 1001 days. If you’re curious as to what tasks made it to the list, check this 101 in 1001 post. I will be updating that to reflect which ones I already got to do.

The list is almost six years old now and it’s more than double the 1001-day timeline originally set to accomplish all the tasks. Today I look back at the list and realize that based on what made it to the list, there are some things that changed, while some remain the same. And that’s how life goes, right?

Going through the list feels so much like #ThrowbackThursday. It reminds me of how things were, back then:

  • I was missing baking, and was still dreaming of a full-time home based baking business.
  • I was still very much into digital scrapbooking. Although truth be told, I was more of a hoarder of supplies and a stalker of galleries and wasn’t doing much actual scrapbooking.
  • We loved photography. I guess we still do, even if we don’t use big cameras anymore and just use our phones, even on vacation. But now, I want a new camera (or a better camera phone)! 🙂
  • Sewing and quilting is something I was interested in, and still am.
  • Crochet didn’t make it on this list 🙁
  • Reading is LIFE. My pile of books keep getting higher and the to-be-read list just keeps getting longer and longer.

Then I felt worried. Doesn’t my list seem filled with trivialities? Was it reflective of the life I was crafting?

Yes, and Maybe.

Yes, at first one might think the tasks are trivial and so simple. But that’s the nature of the challenge – to be simple and clear enough that you can actually do them. So that’s not such a bad thing.

But does it show what kind of life I was creating? Maybe. I think at the core are all those things I want to have in my life. But I probably didn’t approach list-making from that perspective. I didn’t start with – what kind of life do I want and what do I do to get that? I just made a list.

The Good Life

Essentially, we all want a good life. But our definition of a good life might not all be the same. What is that for me? In all the busy-ness of life, am I still making sure that the steps I take are leading me to that life? Is the way I am living right now already part of that life? Because it should. The good life should not be a faraway concept. Not something to envision only for our future selves. We deserve it now.

Of course, oftentimes we find ourselves in a place we never would have wanted to be in. Things don’t always go as planned, or wrong decisions were made. Rather than staying stuck, we must take consistent action aimed at breaking away from those situations. Easier said than done. I’m not in a very bad place – just not exactly where I always thought I would be (even that keeps changing) – yet I’m still not very consistent at taking action. What more if one was in a terrible situation?

Wow. I did not see that thought bubble coming up when I started this post. But I’m pretty glad I went there.

10 of 100

Why I Love My Passion Planner

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As a former BDJ Bella, I used to carry a Belle De Jour planner everywhere. My first impressions of the planner were published in this post.  I liked the BDJ planners for all the extra pages and features it had. I particularly benefitted from the Cash Flow and Bill Trackers. Talk about adulting huh?! Although I don’t really plan by-the-hour, I found that making lists helped get me on track. I even wrote about Lists on the BDJ Blog!

The monthly inspirational pages, and the quotes all over the pages were also nice to have. I missed having those when I decided to ditch planners and use a handy notebook ala Bullet Journal instead. But my pilit Bullet Journaling days are over. The only BuJo tip I really followed was to add page numbers and maintain a table of contents. 

This year, I decided to finally get my own Passion Planner


I am a Passion Planner Kickstarter backer in their 2014 campaign. I liked CEO Angelia Trinidad’s story and vision. Being a backer gave me access to the PDF printables of the various pages they had available. Right after my wedding, I printed out the Mind Map pages and sat with my husband for a visioning exercise. It allowed us to really think about what we wanted to focus on and understand the steps we need to take to achieve our goals. Of course, the real action doesn’t stop there and is another story altogether. 

Before 2016 ended I had been thinking a lot about how to further up my game. I wasn’t completely satisfied with how I’d been leading my life. Sure, I have a good job, and a happy family life, but I felt that I could do more each day. I had been pushing my team at work to make their game plan a tool for success, but I felt that I didn’t have a real overall game plan. I considered several options, including Elise Cripe’s Get To Work Book, but the cost of the planner plus International shipping was a big issue for me.  Finally, a backer’s sale plus a deal on International Shipping just before the year ended made it easy to choose the Passion Planner. 

My choices were the dated Birds & Bees Blush Classic, and the undated Paradise Blue classic that starts on a Monday. Why 2? One is for next year, but if the wind blows in another direction, I may decide to give it away, Hah! We’ll see. A new edition was released in March and it is taking all my self-control to keep away from carting it. The Lavender Bliss. It doesn’t just come in my favorite color, but it also has a Mandala-themed cover design; and, each purchase is matched (1:1) by a donation of planners to organizations that help raise awareness on domestic violence. You can learn more about the different editions at the Passion Planner Shop.

Get One, Give One

Their mission of giving one planner away for each planner purchased isn’t limited to the Lavender Bliss. The Limited Editions sold just determine which groups receive the free planners, but overall they believe in giving back to the community the best way they know how: by providing people a tool that encourages them to go out and reach for their goals and make their dreams come true. I love that about this company. 

The Passion Roadmap

The Passion Roadmap is also a big reason why I love my Passion Planner. It’s not just the pages, but the process. Because of the mindmap I was forced to really think about what I want. And to examine whether I am spending time towards the pursuit of my goals or if I am wasting it on things that don’t really matter in the long run. The process forces you to be SMART about your goals too. The Monthly Reflection helps in accountability, but also allows you to reframe your thoughts and actions if necessary. 

Customizable

I love how I have been able to really make it my own. It really is becoming more than just a planner, but a journal and keepsake that I can keep and come back to in coming years. It helps me live out my scrapbooker dreams for now (but reminds me that I should spend time on actual scrapbooking too). Look what I’ve done on the first page:



#PashFam

The company behind the Passion Planner has done an excellent job harnessing the power of social media. They have built a vibrant community and they continue to spread inspiration through their Website, YouTube channel, and Instagram. I love spying on other people’s weekly or monthly layouts as featured on their feed. They also share tips and just a lot of motivation too. 

If it isn’t obvious yet, I really love my Passion Planner. I am using the classic size, which I realize is huge, but I can’t imagine having enough space on the compact version. I’m sharing my January pages to close this post, but know that it’s now the first of April and I am still loving everything about it. 





Unboxing

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When a package gets delivered to my door, I always get a sense of excitement. It doesn’t matter that I was the one who ordered it, and I know exactly what’s inside the box or bag.

HN box

It doesn’t matter that’s it’s just an order of bath and body essentials to restock what we’ve already used up around here.

HN goodies

There’s still excitement with every unboxing.

Do you like Unboxing too?

I am a Human Nature advocate and I personally choose their products and encourage friends and family to do the same. If you’re interest in their products, you may sign up online to be an advocate and get a discount for every purchase. Remember to input Vera Ocampo as the person who introduced you to Human Nature. As an advocate you can also earn from selling these amazing products from your friends and family. 

Project Update – Sleep and Work/Life Balance

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Two weeks have passed since I resolved to create new habits. I wish I had better news, but I have to be honest. I have more Xs than checks on my trackers.

So I haven’t been getting enough sleep. But that brings me back to the question of how much sleep is enough sleep? I know, I set a goal of 7 hours because I’ve read more than once that it’s the optimum number of hours of sleep an adult needs daily. But I’ve not been much successful. I have done it a few times, but mostly, 6 hours seems to be the longest on a workday. Most of the time, I automatically wake up after just four hours of sleep. Seriously, I’ve stopped setting an alarm because I wake up without one anyway. And it sucks because then I try hard to sleep again which only happens after about two hours when it’s time to actually get up and get ready for work.

This intense summer heat also isn’t helping. Funny thing is, when the husband and I try to sleep in the same bed, sometimes we end up chatting each other up! Haha.

But there’s progress, and I’ll take that any day.

Progress NOT Perfection

Progress NOT Perfection

 

What I’ve noticed is that when it comes to Habit 1 – Work/Life balance, it helps to have someone pressure me to go home at the appointed time. My friend and colleague lives nearby and hitches a ride with me. If she leaves before I do, chances are I wouldn’t make goal. It also helps to take my lunches along with others. So I’ve taken breaks, but still mostly at my desk. I’ve also loved coming home early. It gives me and the hubby a bit more time to talk. I’ve also been able to help a bit more with some chores, just a bit. Hope to do more.

So I’ll keep at it. Rome wasn’t built in a day. How are you coming along with your own projects?

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