Follow these Steps below to get an instant boost!

Step 1: Make a complete list of everything that is running around in your head taunting you with, “you’ll never get to me, you’ll never get to me.”

You know, things like that plant that needs repotting, or the thank you note that should have been written weeks ago, or that pile of papers that must be filed before something gets lost.

Now at least it is on paper and out of your head!

Step 2: Apply the Bag, Barter, Better It plan (from Martha Beck’s book, The Joy Diet) to each item.

Bag It—simply cross off anything that in the grand scheme of things is unimportant.

Barter It—find someone to do it for you.

Better It—do the task ASAP and reward yourself during or after for getting it done.

Here’s the plan in action. Bag repotting the plant because if it needs replanting it is obviously growing and thriving just fine in its current pot. Barter the filing or pay your son to do it during his free time over the Thanksgiving holiday. Better the writing of the thank you note by doing it while enjoying your favorite cup of tea, listening to your favorite song, sitting in your favorite chair and writing on your favorite and most beautiful stationary.

Step 3: Take a deep breath and enjoy the surge of energy you feel because you just tackled at least 3 things on your list.

Step 4: Keep a notebook with you and when more To Dos pop into your mind, write them down. Again this keeps them from taking up your mental space and clear mental space always equals more energy.

Still have questions about how to boost your energy sans caffeine? Ask away. Leave a comment or question below…

This youtube video was sent to me recently by a friend. Just had to share it because it poetically expresses the way I feel as I approach an empty nest. Katrina Kenison sure got it right with this one. Brilliant writing.

Enjoy,

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Yesterday, my neighbor dropped dead of a heart attack. He was not an old man or a sick man, but rather a middle aged, vibrant man that I had just seen the day before walking around the block, then stopping in front of my house to pick up his mail. At 7:00 PM last evening, he was fine. At 7:05, he was gone. That fast.

We all know death comes in an instant, but seeing it happen before your eyes, drives the point home in a new way. I’ll never forget the image of his lifeless body being wheeled out on the stretcher, while his wife sat in the front seat of the ambulance—waiting.

He and I have had but a few interactions over the years and most revolved around his distain for an eyesore of a bike park that my son built in the backyard. In fact my neighbor’s last words to me, delivered in my living room, were something to the effect of “I don’t think I’ll be able to speak to you or wave to you, if I have to look at ‘that thing’ for the next three years.” That was two years ago.

Why three years? Because my son was 16 at the time of the offensive construction project and I promised the neighbors that it would be removed once my son went away to college.

For obvious reasons I am so sad that my neighbor is gone, and I’m sad he didn’t live to see the removal of the structure that upset him so. But I also wonder, if he had known then, what I know now, would it all have mattered so much?

That question keeps ringing in my ear. You see just last week, I spent way too much time in an upset and angry mood about just about everything. Happens to me sometimes and I’ve come up with a mantra for the feeling…”I’m pissed off about nothing in particular and everything in general.” But unwittingly my neighbor has provided me with a wake up call, which I now share with you.

Death comes in an instant, make sure all the moments before are good ones.

After all, most of the things we spend our time fretting about, don’t really matter, do they?

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