The CallaManifesto: Part 7

The last few things I added in just as reminders to myself.  I think we all have habits that get in the way.  They aren’t always ‘bad’ habits, they are just habits that keep us in our ruts and prevent us from truly looking out for things on the horizon.  So this year I want to remember these few things…

No one is in charge of my happiness but me…it’s never too late to be happy but it’s all up to me and no one else.

Don’t audit life, live it!

Get outside every day.

I think the second one will be hardest for me out of the three, I do like to analyze! 
Must be the scientist that lurks within. 

Well, that's all she wrote! 
My manifesto in a nutshell, a very large wordy nutshell ;)

I will try and keep you posted as the year goes on about how things are going and what I found I needed to add or change.  I am very happy to admit (with no selfish guilt) that I am finally ready to live life for me.  I want to be present for those I love and open myself up to things that I always thought were out of my reach.  I know it will take me more than a year to get there but I am going to give it all I've got for 2013!

As always, thank you for stopping in and taking the time to visit my little corner of the world!

Happy 2013!
~Leah 

The CallaManifesto: Part 6

Be Rich Even Without Money

Coco Chanel (who I love btw!) once said ”there are people who have money and people who are rich”.

 I’m not sure if this is how she meant it but for me I want to be a person that is rich, even without money. 

This year I need to spend more time and energy on the people and relationships that make me rich.  Show a little more love and accept love when it’s given (very hard for me to do!).  The later half of 2012 was wasted worrying about things that really didn’t matter and by focusing so much on the material stuff I lost out on some wonderful, special moments, my goal for 2013 is to never waste any of those times.

How will you be rich this year?
~Leah 

The CallaManifesto: Part 5

Good Health is Self Love

Ah my mantra, I have long thought that there had to be a better way of living this message. 

I have struggled for so long to not only be physically healthy but to have a healthy opinion of myself.  This year my most challenging goal is to stop knocking myself down so much, I actually need to give myself a chance at succeeding in being healthy both physically and mentally.  All rolled into this is making better choices, focusing on exercise and eating right and hopefully trimming off a few pesky pounds that even my doctor agrees aren’t good for me to carry. It’s being comfortable in my own skin and being able to walk by a mirror without thinking a negative thought before a positive one. It’s being able to think a positive thought at all.

This one I fear will be the one that I fail at. Its been a 'resolution' of mine for a number of years but I never seem to quite make it.  This year I started my January off by joining several friends in participating in the Whole30. I wanted to do something I had never tried before an I am very happy to say that even though I am not quite at the finish line I really did change my life in 30 days.  I feel great and I am sleeping so much better.  I have changed the way I think about food and how it fuels me.  

When I was reading It Starts With Food I will admit that I was totally overwhelmed! I thought to myself that I would never be able to do it but here I am with less than a week to go and I haven't had a single mis-step or cheat and I am already planning on keeping it going with some minor tweaks (sorry, I just can't live without my Nutella any longer).  There were 4 of us that started together and I am very happy to say that we are all finishing together as well!

One really positive side effect to this is that I discovered that I am a pretty good chef! (Pat myself on the back!!) I will share a few of my recipes with you at some point in February!

What kicked your year off on the right foot?
~Leah 

The CallaManifesto: Part 4

Floss Once A Day: The Stitchy Way!

Sometimes I feel like I let the things that matter most fall victim to those that matter least.

 One thing that gets pushed aside more than I would like is my crafting, most specifically my stitching.  I am going to make it my mission to do something stitchy as often as I can (even I know I can’t stitch every day) just so I can keep projects moving forward and hopefully have that handmade Christmas I wanted so much this year.  

I have this amazing stash that is just sitting on a shelf right now and I plan on doing something about it!!

Very happy to report that I already have 2 WIPs! I might not be stitching everyday but
I'm stitching enough to keep my hands and my heart happy!

How about you, are you fingers itching to get bust on something?
~Leah 

The CallaManifesto: Part 3

Explore, Dream, Discover.

One of my favorite quotes of all time is from Mark Twain: Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.  

The very first time I heard or saw it was as I was graduating high school, it was printed on a magnet that was given to me as part of my graduation gifts.  It came with me to college and stayed with me through grad school and I still walk past it every day. 

It still inspires me.  

So my plan for 2013 and for the rest of my life really is to explore and try new things, dream about things no matter how silly they seem and discover that those silly things can be real if I simply explore…see how that works, ah the circle!

Do you have a favorite quote that hangs on your heart?

~Leah 

The CallaManifesto: Part 2

Relax: Stress is related to 99% of all illness.

I borrowed this one from the Lulu manifesto simply because I think it’s true.  I know I don’t handle stress well and inevitably when I am stressed out more than usually I do end up feeling less than stellar.

This year I plan to relax; by that I don’t mean quit my job and kick my heels up but I mean I am going to take the time to calm myself down. 

I’m actually going to breathe, take a walk if I have to or even shut my eyes in a quiet space for 5 minutes and just not think.

I never thought of myself as someone that took on to much but somehow for a while there I was walking down that path.  This will be the year that I spend simplifying and letting go of the sources of stress and drama.

How is your mission for 2013 shaping up?
~Leah 

The CallaManifesto: Part 1

“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start,

 ANYONE 

can start from now and make a brand new ending” 

Carl Bard.

I may have shared this quote before, maybe not.  In any case this one is one of my all time favorites mostly because it reminds me that its not about trying to undo what has already happened its about breaking the chain and starting new.  I tend to look back A LOT and second guess myself on things that at this point I can do nothing about and really its just frustrating. One of the reason's why I wanted to make some kind of mission statement/manifesto for myself was to bring all of what I wanted to do and be all together in one place to see if they actually worked with each other.  I'm not going to lie, it took me a long time to get these together and I'm not even sure its done.  Some of these I have been working on since June/July when I really took a look at my life and others are new.  

The first part of this all started with a Post-It note stuck on a bathroom mirror that I happened upon randomly...I have no idea why it was there or who put it there but it stuck with me.  All that was written on it was 'be you, everyone else is spoken for'. I thought it was a hoot so I whipped out my trusty camera phone and took a picture; one because I liked the little saying and two because I couldn't believe people were leaving sticky notes in bathrooms! I figured when I told my friends I would need evidence ;) They weren't as amused as me :(  Fast forward several months and I flip to July in my Mollie Makes 2012 calendar and what do I see but some beautiful photos and another post-it!! Different wording but essentially the same quote; ‘be yourself, everyone else is already taken’. 

Its fate, it must be! 

So this year one of my goals is to just be me, stop comparing myself, stop molding myself, stop trying to be something I’m not.  I can only ever be me so I am going to try to really be honest about who I am and what it means to be me. After all life is about creating yourself, not impersonating someone else!

What do you all have on tap for 2013?

Thanks for swinging through!

~Leah 

**2013**

Whew! It's here, how crazy is that?!?!

Well not that crazy I guess, we all knew it was coming. I was going to do a year in review but then i decided that since I didn't get as much done or posted as I would have liked I decided to look ahead to the future. I've never really made resolutions before and I'm not sure I want to start now so I decided to create a manifesto/mission statement for myself and this next year. Some of it is made up of favorite quotes that really resonate with me so much so that I would like to embody them in some way. Parts are things that I need to remind myself of constantly, sort of like those face yourself in a mirror and say this out loud/affirm yourself exercises. Then the last few bits and pieces are goals and aspirations, and just things I would like to accomplish. I think it simplifies things, they aren't crazy hard non-S.M.A.R.T. goals but things I can incorporate into my life daily.

I'll share a little bit of this mini-manifesto with you throughout January, and keep you updated as things unfold. 

How have you decided to attack this new year?

Here's to the brightest and best being just over the horizon in 2013!

Thanks for stopping by...

~Leah