Starting a Different Life

Starting a different life.
It doesn’t require a complete life overhaul.

My sisters and I take turns staying with mom to help her out.  If we aren’t in the room with her when she needs something, she sings out, Whoo hoo!  Not a big deal when it’s daylight. But when I hear Whoo hoo! at 4:00 a.m. in the morning, I fling myself out of the trundle bed and already have an emergency plan in place by the time I tumble into her bedroom.

A few mornings ago, the flinging and tumbling were part of my early a.m. activities.

She wasn’t sick. She wasn’t confused. And she didn’t need the TV channel changed from The Golden Girls to Joel Osteen.

She just wanted to let me know that she didn’t want anyone to “babysit” her anymore.

{Realizing she’d been up for hours thinking about this and that it was a big-deal conversation for her, I asked her to just give me a moment to catch my breath, get my brain out of overdrive, and go and get my glasses.}

We spent the next 45 minutes discussing what she needed help with. How she has gotten too dependent on us. What she needs to be doing on her own. What she needs to do if she doesn’t want to have a “babysitter.”  [There is no way that she can be without someone here most of the time, but we are willing to find ways to give her some more space to help her feel more independent. This was an important conversation.]

Fast forward to this morning. Part of our new normal is that when I’m at moms, I try and get home in the morning to see Steve for a few minutes. I stop at Caribou or Panera and grab him coffee and a muffin, and then dash back to moms to get her up and going.

When I got back to mom’s this morning she was up and changing clothes. (Not something she typically chooses to do on her own.) I asked her what she was doing. Her response…

I’m starting a different life.

She never ceases to amaze me.

She was trying to change her life. To be more independent. And I love how she described it.

Her first step in starting a different life was simply to change her clothes. That demonstrated independence. And it represented putting off the old and putting on something new.

It made me think.

If I want my life to look differently, I don’t need to create the big plan and set 3-5 goals and have all my ducks in a row. I don’t need a complete life overhaul.

I simply need to start doing one thing differently.
One change that creates a different life.

Do you know what I mean?

Instead of finding the perfect, healthy eating plan…
Just fix one green drink a day.

Instead of committing to 45 minutes on the treadmill…
Get out and take a walk around the block.

Stop doing one thing.
Start doing one thing.
Do one thing differently.

I am the creator of my future. I have the power to change my life.

To become who I want to be…
I need to keep it simple.

I just need to start a different life.

Would you like a little inspiration from me every day?

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Comments

  1. This was a great post. It made me realize how often we set ourselves up to fail by needing to tackle everything at once. (Kim told me about what a great speaker you are and about your blog). I have also read and shared your book with my daughter and daughter in-law and college student granddaughters. It’s a wonderful read.

  2. Hi, Dee! Oh, how nice to hear from you! Thank you for your note. I agree with you – setting ourselves up for failure just doesn’t work. I look forward to staying connected with you, my Class of ’75 Friend!!

You are Extraordinarily Significant!