Eat the Cookie, Buy the Shoes

If you’ve known me the past few years, you know that I’ve recently begun two new traditions:

1. I write an “End of the Year” blog every year
2. Within said blog, I declare a motto for the upcoming year

Thanks to my little brother, I found my motto for 2012: Eat the Cookie, Buy the Shoes

I love Joyce Meyer! I buy one of her devotionals every year. She’s so inspirational, and she knows how to keep it real at the same time. She doesn’t just preach a bunch of cliches. She speaks the truth, and injects plenty of humor into it. You have to be able to have a sense of humor in life!

My brother got me Joyce’s book, “Eat the Cookie, Buy the Shoes” for Christmas. I haven’t had the chance to read more than just a few pages this week. But I have looked into the book in the past and basically, it’s Joyce’s way of telling us to lighten up. In the first few pages of the book, Joyce reveals the meaning behind the clever title. She tells us it’s ok to indulge every once in a while. Life shouldn’t be one big diet where you don’t allow yourself to have any fun because there’s always some responsibility staring you in the face. You need to have fun in life. You need to laugh. Again, with the sense of humor! We get so wound up in life, at work, at school, with chores at home, and with situations with people, we forget to have fun and take care of ourselves!

This past year was full of lessons: some harsh, some revealing, but all very much needed. It’s the tough times that teach you the most about life and about yourself. I learned a LOT this year! With losing a very dear friend who has the same disability as I do, becoming distant with friends I had been so close to, things taking a 180 at work, and taking on the responsibility of caring for two crazy animals, and trying to keep a somewhat clean home…I’m tired! I’m tempted to just sleep straight through 2012!

Don’t get me wrong, I had some AMAZING times in 2011! But for the past few months I’ve noticed, and apparently so has everyone else, that I’m just tired and burnt out. Suddenly, I roll up to people at work and instead of saying, “Hi, how are you?” they say, “What’s wrong?” or “Are you ok?” Of course after you hear that so many times in one day, you end up NOT being ok.

I realize that all I really need to focus on this next year is lightening up. I need to get my stress under control, and get my life organized, so much so, that it will be nearly impossible for things to get out of hand.

I need to have my home organized. I need to stay organized at work. I need to keep my events and activities organized. I need schedules. I need lists. I love lists!

My aunt took me shopping last night to buy stuff to help me get organized. You should have seen the piles of paper I had with me. I had lists of each room broken down and what I needed in it and I had lists of what I needed (and what I can currently afford) to get started on the organization, as well as the very aisle they could be found in at the store (I love the new Target app!). Shoot, I even had diagrams of each room in my apartment AND diagrams of different pieces of furniture and what would go on each. It was quite sad, but it was me. That’s the way I have always been. I always make lists. In college I sat every night before bed and made a detailed to-do list for the next day including classes I had to go to, assignments I had to do, phone calls I had to make, chores I had to do, places I had to go. Everything! Pretty much every minute of every day was laid out for me. It may sound a bit much but it worked. I got so much done, and I felt such a sense of accomplishment each day when I crossed things off the list. I was happy. I need to get back to that.

I may not do that exact thing since my days pretty much consist of going to work, coming home, eating, maybe watching an hour of tv, showering, and going to bed. But I really need to sit down and decide what needs to be accomplished on a weekly basis, or a monthly basis even. Then keep track of it. And I will be sure to include some “me” time in there. If scheduling “me” time in my day is what it takes to remind myself to lighten up, then that’s what I’m gonna do! And you can bet, on every page of that schedule you will see two things:

1. Eat the cookie.
2. Buy the shoes.

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