Life: In Focus

 I live in the desert. And no, I DON"T have air-conditioning (I'm just crazy  kinda used to it now) and after weeks of arid, scorching hot weather, it's always a welcome relief to see the rain clouds gathering on the horizon. Let's be clear - I DON"T like rain, generally speaking, but sometimes that change in the weather is EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED to make it through the week. Being that it is a desert, our rain "storms" generally blow through in a nasty 20-minute mess of lightning and thunder, drenching us in flood-like downpours and then leave us just as quickly, a lot of times with a gorgeous rainbow in it's wake..

  I often feel like I'm falling behind in  my own life, and when I stop to look around at others who accomplish so much while I'm struggling to just stay afloat, I find myself wondering in admiration how they are so successful at so many things?  If you have ever felt like this, let me assure you, you are not alone!

Streamline.  Yes that seems to be a common denominator through these success stories and I'm beginning to see why. Work smarter, not harder. You should still put 100% effort in, just do it efficiently instead of the hard way.

Minimize. Seriously - get rid of the junk in your trunk in your home, vehicle, workspace - wherever it tends to gather.  Ask yourself - you can't take any of that stuff with you when you're dead, so how much of it do you REALLY NEED to live?  Honestly, most of our "stuff" just bogs us down, slows  us down and/or takes us down ( literally, as in, it trips you up in the middle of the night when you're stumbling around in the dark trying to find the bathroom!).

Focus - do one thing at a time. I used to pride myself on being a multi-tasker - as a single mother for a long time, I worked full time juggling a patchwork of employment through 3 jobs while also running a home-based photography business. I felt I had earned the equivalent of a Master's degree in Multitasking. What I found however that while I managed to get a lot done ( more or less)  , nothing was done WELL. Or at least not as well as I could have done it if I had truly given it the proper attention. Learning to narrow down my focus to the things I did WELL, while delegating the less important things that I suck at didn't do as well, proved to be far more effective in my overall success.

 So without further adieu, I'm announcing that I'm going to continue changing and Simplifying My Life - starting with this blog here. The plan is to  STREAMLINE, focusing my efforts in a more efficient way, so that I can bring you all MORE PHOTOGRAPHY, and less BLAH BLAH BLAH. (did I just hear cheering??) You will notice that the top tabs have changed,  as I am focusing purely on photos, not writing.  and hopefully it will feel better ORGANIZED with smoother transitions.
I'm looking forward to this change and I hope you will too!  I also hope it will inspire you to begin simplifying and organizing areas of your own life that have begun to stress you out and cause frustration and wear you down.
What areas of your life can you think of right now that would benefit from some streamlining?

Idea # 31 - Take Me Out To The Ball Game ....

                                                          (photo from Google images)
Major league baseball games have a lot of hype behind them, and don't get me wrong, even though I'm not a huge baseball fan, seeing a major league game is still somewhere on my bucket list. The sights, sounds, aromas ( I'm referring to food here - hot dogs, popcorn, french-fries, nachos, hot roasted peanuts...mmmm!)  are enough to get you into the spirit of the summer season.
If you're like me and don't live near a city center with a stadium, I have a BETTER IDEA.  Go watch a little league game. Seriously, I find them MUCH more entertaining to watch! Kids playing baseball is AWESOME and you can still hit the concession stand on game day for a hot dog or two. Not only that, when you cheer for them, kids actually APPRECIATE their fans in the stands ;)


AND THERE YOU HAVE IT.
31 days of Awesome. 
I hope you enjoyed reading these and I hope at the very least it has inspired you to make your days fun and enjoy the little things that can make the season special, instead of staying in the same ol' rut day in and day out.  My son already pointed out that I didn't post anything about ice cream. Whoops. my bad!
What are some things you like to do in the summer that you didn't see in my list?

Idea #30 Play in the Rain

It's warm enough now that you probably won't catch pneumonia, and how much FUN is it to splash around in the puddles??? I myself am notorious for going out of my way to drive through large puddles. I can't resist!  Don't judge me.  But since my husband shakes his head and warns me that I'm not doing my poor car ( aka "Thumper" )  any favors when I do that, I reluctantly agreed. I hate it when he's right!  So now I simply don't dash for cover when the skies open up during a freak summer rainstorm. I close my eyes, let the rain pour down my face , and splash around in a puddle or two. What's cute is that we have a few neighborly ducks that hang around our place that come join me sometimes!

Idea # 29 Take a (Wine) Tour

If you don't drink that's okay, go for a different kind of tour - bike tour, museum tour, farm tour, city tour, whatever "floats your boat" so to speak. Speaking of which, there's also boat tours....  You get the idea. Get out and learn something new while you're having fun!
This picture makes me laugh cause I can't stop staring at the ridiculous umbrella we borrowed from the winery that day - it was like the remnants of Mary Poppins last wipeout!

Idea #28 - Go for a Swim

As long as the water isn't still like an iceberg where you live. Since we live in the desert, weather tends to warm up from February so by the time it gets into May we have close to 25 degree weather!
Otherwise, get into the mood of the season by hitting an indoor pool,. or if you are like my friends and family out east in Ontario who are STILL shovelling snow this time of year, go soak your tired muscles in a hot tub ;)

Idea #27 Go Kayaking or Canoeing

This is me and my brave friend Kendall ( yes, anyone willing to get into a boat with me is crazy brave!)  kayaking out near her place.
So much fun. You can rent them for a fairly low cost of a few hours. It's a great exercise, but so much fun that you'll forget you're getting a workout. Until the next morning when you wake up and find you can barely hold a toothbrush, hahaha

Idea # 26 - ROAD TRIP !!!!!

 

Be spontaneous.

Pack light.
Bring music. (or if you're vehicle's stereo doesn't work, belt out your favorite tunes yourself!)
Don't forget your camera.


You ain't lived till you've done it.
'Nuff said....