Alright, before I move on to Facet No. 2 I need to report on Facet No. 1.
(Facet No. 1 is “The Two A’s”: Attitude and Appearance.)
I better start off by saying, Hi, my name is liZ and I’m a pajama-aholic. I’m trying to fight it but right now I’m loosing the battle. I’ve been doing the get up and get ready first thing everyday just like Mrs. Hoole says—and that’s cool but most days I just get up, put on a clean pair of…um…shall we call them yoga pants?…and a t-shirt then do my hair and call it good.
Why is getting dressed so hard for me? What’s wrong with jeans? I used to live in them. Hummmmm…I’ll keep working on this…and if I make any progress I’ll let you know.
As for the attitude….that really has changed. Remaining focused on my purpose and goals—-remembering why I am doing what I am doing—being grateful for the good that I have—all helps. A lot. Also, I’ve been keeping my gratitude journal where I write down three things I am grateful for from that day before I go to bed each night. It keeps things in perspective.
And I have noticed that my attitude seems to control the attitude of my household. (Which was kind of a scary discovery.) If I am positive my family is more positive. If I am dragging and grumpy so is my family. And worse than that if I am stressed out and high strung—-my poor kids are stressed out to. As I began to notice the affect my mood has on my family I knew I needed to make a conscious effort to be positive and peaceful.
Sometimes that is hard—especially this week. We have a lot going on–obligations, meetings and such on top of which we have had a very sick baby Ruth who has spent most of her time crying. With no sleep, constant noise and deadlines it is hard to be chipper. But I am trying. I can see the effects that my attitude has on my family and I want our home to be one of peace and happiness. We aren’t perfect but we’re working towards our ideal which means I am working on my attitude.
Now let’s move on to the next challenge. Facet No. 2 “Another A”: Ambition.
Mrs. Hoole says “The ideal homemaker is ambitious and enthusiastic through application of the law that how one feels emotionally greatly determines how she feels physically.”
She also says, “..the more one does, the more he is able to do because ENERGY GROWS WITH USE.”
And one last little ambitious nugget; “It takes a mighty discerning person to tell the difference between tiredness and laziness.”
I’m glad ambition is next. I have a list a mile long of things I want to accomplish this coming week. It will be a perfect time to test out her theory that the more one does the more one is able to do.
Please let this be true or I am in deep deep trouble!
So to wrap things up—Attitude, I can see that it’s a powerful influence in my home both for me and for my family. Appearance—I fail there, I apparently have forgotten how to dress myself and have regressed to the age of my preschooler. And ambition—this week I plan to push myself—really push myself and see just how much I can accomplish (even while wearing my pajamas).
Wish me luck.
Attitude, Appearance, and Ambition! Yep those are all needed to make a home “home”. I will be excited to see how you fair along this path. Who is this “Mrs. Hoole” and where are you reading her material?
I’ve loved following you along on these posts! It is something that I need too 🙂 Keep up the good work!
I may have mentioned this before but after your first post, I downloaded a copy of Mrs. Hoole’s book. I read it enthusiastically (only cringing at a few parts LOL) and hopped on board. I agree with attitude and how much our famiies are affected by it. Appearance? Uhm – er, well. I too need to work more on this one, though I did wear make up twice this past week and was sure to shower every night (yikes! that would mean in the past I haven’t!). I started painting my daughter’s big girl room last night knowing it would start an avalanche of work so let’s hope energy really does grow with use!!
I think you might be ok to temper the appearance aspect. Not everyone’s personality fits into a dress and full make-up everyday. There needs to be room for personal expression. Perhaps if you distinguished between “dressed” yoga pants and t-shirt and “pajamas” and didn’t mix the two, then it would count.
I’m enjoying your journey, and attempting to follow the principles as well. Keep it up!
fwiw I have stopped wearing jeans as often b/c they didn’t fit like they used to. I finally bought some in larger sizes and they’re way more flattering. Anyway, can’t wait til the summer so I can live in my knit circle skirts and still look good and be comfy. 🙂
I’m thinking about enacting a rule for myself that if I wear stretchy pants for a day then I have to do some form of exercise. That way I battle some of the need and desire to wear them.
I love this post series! I’m contemplating ordering the online version of the book. Thanks so much for the inspiration and resources!! Good luck with your to-do list!