Where Do You Sit?

I had a PolySci professor who would bellow again and again and again, every single class, “Where you sit is where you stand!” It was a call to action. It was a call to the realization that even NOT taking action is also an action. It was a call to the reality that even a non-decision is a decision unto itself.

He didn’t want us to just go along with the status quo. He wanted us to continue to challenge the “this is the way it’s always been done” of life. And, although he an I were on opposite sides of the political fence, he felt as if he had done his due diligence by making sure I stood somewhere, that I chose to stand for something.

I don’t remember much from that class except that prof allowed me to spend an entire semester studying all there was to know about Arnold Schwarzenegger for my semester project, and this phrase the he would repeat. However, I do remember that line A LOT. I remember it when I am challenged or when I’m unsure. I remember it when I am indecisive or calculating. I remember it when I don’t feel like creating a #DAILYCHEER video for my YouTube channel but then hear that phrase in my mind’s ear and always remember that optimism and energy and motivation and problem solving is what I stand for.

So, where do you sit or stand today? Even in this presidential election year, this isn’t actually meant to be a classically political statement. It’s more of a statement to encourage you to live the life you believe in, one that you are proud of. Allow yourself to be heard, realizing that sitting back and just allowing life to happen to you is making it’s own statement. Don’t allow yourself to be relegated to the back of the bus on issues you find important. Stand up.

Where YOU sit is where YOU stand!

Until next time, my friends…

Make it a great day,

Mari!yn

Focus on Your WHY, WHAT & HOW

 

You may be thinking right about now, “Really, Marilyn? Two posts in a row about making comparisons?”

To that, I respond with a simple, “Yes.”

Hang with me a moment…

When you’re scrolling through your Facebook feed and see other people posing with their new cars or in front of fancy houses or sharing news of landing their dream job with the accompanying insane salary and bennies…do you EVER think, “that could have been me,” or “I work my booty off every day and am stuck and struggling, everything they touch turns to gold,” or “is she EVER going to age?”image

It’s one thing to see completely unattainable and unrealistic Photoshopped magazine covers staring at us over our overflowing grocery carts; we don’t know the celebs smiling back at us. However, when it’s our friends, our family, or our classmates sharing perfect snapshots of their perfect jet-setting life with the perfect kids, still married to the perfect high-school sweetheart and more in love than EVER…It’s a little more difficult to resist the temptation of comparison. Am I right?

Making comparisons in the business world is really no different. If you have an innovative idea, a new spin on an old idea, or anywhere in between, comparisons can kill your biz buzz. If you focus on what the other guy is doing, you’re focusing less on WHY you’re doing what you’re doing. If you’re going to focus on the other guy, just go ahead and let him do the business and you be his customer. If you want to take off and soar on your own wings of innovation, then setting your own path is a big part of the flight plan. Comparison–so it’s said–steals your joy, but it also kills your creativity.

Resist the urge to give a care what the other guy is doing. Resist making comparisons. Resist social scrolling.

You! (…yeah, I’m talking to you…) Do you!!! You know what you do and who you are and what you have planned better than anyone. Focus on doing, being, and creating all that and more!

I believe in you. Do YOU believe in you?

Until next time, my friends…

Make it a great day,
Mari!yn

P.S. I am still reading Simon Sinek’s START WITH WHY: HOW GREAT LEADERS INSPIRE EVERYONE TO TAKE ACTION. Everyone from stay-at-home mom to CEO’s would benefit from this one. So good!

Maximizing Your Closet & Your Money

We all have those clothes…clothes we love, clothes we purchased 15 years ago, but haven’t worn in 10. Clothes that we just never seem to wear anymore, but also can’t stand the thought of getting rid of them.

Let’s quit being sentimental and start being practical!

You could keep those clothes for-ev-er…continuing to never wear them, of course. With every house move, you’ll require more and more closet space for these clothes you don’t wear but can’t seem to part with, either.

You could donate them to a charity of your choosing and be filled with warm-fuzzies for your good deed.

You could turn the whole load of cast-offs into a consignment shop, and then cross your fingers that they accept everything.

Click to go to my eBay page!

Click to go to my eBay page!

Or, you could do as I did in my most recent flood of Spring Cleaning, and eBay it all! This way, I set my price, and I am thrilled when someone new can get a new lease on my clothes that are still fun, still cute, and still in great condition…just because I don’t wear them any longer doesn’t mean someone else shouldn’t be getting some good wear out of them!

If everything I cleaned out of my closet this week sells, I’ll be a couple of hundred dollars richer, which is good for my closet and my budget! The items that don’t sell in the first round will be relisted. If there are items that stay stagnant, I’ll happily donate them and know they’ll still find a good home and I’ll get a small dose of warm-fuzzies, to boot!

Charity is great! I’m a huge believer in charitable donations. However, there are some times when you could use the cash more than the tax deduction.

So, what’s stopping you? Go see what clothes you have left that you love but still don’t wear. If you love them, someone else will, too…and that new person will see those gorgeous garments with fresh, new-to-me eyes that glimmer! The buyer gets a good deal and some great, new clothes; you get a little more room in your closet and in your budget–it’s a WIN-WIN scenario!

Until next time, my friends…

Make it a great day,

Mari!yn

P.S. If you’d like to see what’s available from my own closet, here ya go: http://www.ebay.com/sch/ironwritress/m.html?item=322079455822&ssPageName=STRK%3AMESELX%3AIT&rt=nc&_dmd=2

I’d love for you to tag me if YOU participate in this closet clean-out, too!!!

True Love Gives All

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Love is wonderful!
Being loved is beautiful, euphoric!
But true love does not take everything without giving everything in return.
Protect yourselves from anything but this full-on, all-in kind of love!

Make it a great day,
Mari!yn