Life is what you make it!

Have you ever noticed that it is easy to live by that thought whenever things are going your way? Well, what about when they aren't going your way? A lot of times it is easier to wallow in self pity instead of keeping your head up and moving forward. I think Zig Ziglar did an excellent job when he said, "It's not what happens to you that determines how far you will go in life - it is how you handle what happens to you."

The recession is effecting so many people every where, for example, in the last 7 days, I lost 2 of my income sources. Talk about a blow below the belt. The way I see it, I have 2 choices.

1. Sit around and do nothing, wallow in self pity, and cry the blues..
2. Be proactive. Get up and do something and view the unfortunate events as a NEW Beginning.

My choice? The latter! This is MY new beginning! Good things never last forever, so it is my opportunity to create something new and better for me and my family! 

Will it be easy? Well, is it EVER?? 

Will it be fun? ABSOLUTELY!

Will I shed a few tears along the way? More than likely, I tend to be weepy sometimes :)

Will it destroy everything I have accomplished within myself? I think NOT!

Point: Don't let the circumstances of today mold who you'll be tomorrow. You have to be you. You have to make decisions based on what you need not what life thinks you need.

So, if you are under the weather, today is a new day and the forecast is

SUNNY with a 100% Chance of OPPORTUNITY!

Good Deal Alert: Airwick Freshmatic Refills

At my local Dollar General store, the Airwick Freshmatic Ultra Refill Winter Luxury Edition is marked down to 25 cents per can! These things are $5.00/can at Dollar General and not too far from that at Wal-Mart. I am not sure if this is a company wide mark down, but if you use them, it would be worth it to look and see if your store has them marked down as well. I paid less than $2.00 for 7 cans.

Just an FYI :) Everyone loves good deals!

What is success?

Success (n.) - achievement of intention: the achievement of something planned or attempted

Have you ever noticed that somehow in the process of try to attain whatever level of success we are working toward, we lose sight of what success really is?

It is so easy to forget about the small achievements and only focus on the progress of the long term goal. And if your long term goal is a lengthy work in process, it can feel like you aren’t achieving success.

So, my question to you, what IS success?

I learned a long time ago that success is manifested in many different ways. Success is in the small goals, the short term goals, or the completion of a day’s to-do list or task, etc. Success is how you feel about YOURSELF and your purpose.

Are you happy? Are you doing something that you love? Do you have a healthy family?

If you answered yes to even just one of those questions, you have achieved a level of success in your life.

I remember when I first started my home based business four years ago, I achieved a level of success my very first week in business, which was very rewarding. That one success turned in to two, then three, and so on until just 6 weeks into starting my business, I achieved my first promotion. I was definitely at a high spot in my new business and I felt invincible! I set unrealistic goals in my excitement and when they didn’t happen, I was crushed. I felt like a complete and utter failure.

But was I a failure? Of course not!

I had completely lost sight of the many successes I had already achieved. I focused on the long term goal and in haste didn’t set a realistic timeline for achieving it.

It took me a little bit of time to come to this realization but when I did, my life and my business turned around.

I began to reflect on my past successes and the current successes I had achieved but failed to notice.

Success doesn’t have to come in big packages. It is the small things that lead you to the big things.

So, if you are feeling discouraged in whatever you are doing. Stop and think about all the things you have set out to do and achieved. Even if it is as simple as fully completing a to-do list you made for today, you had an intention and you completed it.

After all, you have to walk before you run.

Chicken Spaghetti - Pioneer Woman Style!

Let me tell you, if you haven't tried this recipe, you are so missing out!

My recipe for chicken spaghetti is a lot different from this one, so it was a nice treat to have a different version of an already great dish!

The only revision made to the recipe was totally accidental in that I FORGOT to buy a green bell pepper, so that was omitted. Bell pepper or not, the dish was fantastic! Even my picky five year old loved it, and THAT is saying something!

Tomorrow night, it is Beef Stew - Pioneer Woman Style!

I'll report the results :)