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Spring has sprung

Spring is in the air. Time for spring cleaning; wardrobe, life, and finances. Time for growth and reenergising. Taking out the old and bringing in the new.

This last week has been very cathartic for me. Being able to walk away from a bad work situation with my head held high has really helped. This has been the start, the catalyst for a deeper and further clearing of all things that drain me. 

I started a bit of a list of things to clear out and I have to admit to going well and feeling better.

  • Wardrobe - clearing out unwanted clothes - things that don't fit or don't suit me - gone to either a good home through eBay or charity
  • Random clutter - I have had a shelf (or two) of various bits I have been meaning to sell on eBay or get rid of. From perfume and books to DVD's and clothes. These are now online and earning me some cash. And pretty soon I will have an empty shelf
  • Credit Card - I am debt free. Yes, that credit card with its hefty interest rate is gone! Paid off in full and when I told the bank to close it off they offered me a better deal that suits my plans. I now have a new no frills credit card complete with low interest and now fees for emergencies only! (It pays to ask! My interest rate is now half of what it was and no more overdrawn fees.)
  • Bad Online Friends - you know the new that sneaked into your Facebook life without you really noticing. The ones who always post about their problems or how much the f@@@ing love science - gone. Unfriended and not missed. 
  • House - While I only live in a small place it is amazing the stuff you collect. I am currently working my way through my stuff. Culling and throwing rubbish (Do I really need papers from my 1999 business course?) Anything useful that i can't sell on eBay going to charity.
  • Fitness & Food - Yep I'm getting rid of the processed food and junk. Cutting our sugar altogether sounds like going to far to me but making more things myself works. SO the freezer and cupboard got a clean out.
  • Store Loyalty Cards - Yep like everyone else, I have heaps of them!! I even worked out a way to carry them all around by hole punching the corner and threading them through a ring. I have two of these - one for clothes  stores and one for various other places. It's time to clean them out. Figure out what ones actually get me any bonuses and what ones are just clutter in my life. Out you go.
  • Email Newsletters - yep I sign up for so many. It is normal for me to get about 100 emails a day in my personal account. And 95% of these are newsletter of some description. So it is time to cull and unsubscribe from these. I'll be keeping my favourite blog updates but do I really need to know that the shoe store I haven't bought from in 3 years is having another sale? Nope. Goodbye emails.
  • Perfection - Trying to give up my need for things to be perfect. Working on something is better than nothing and that great is awesome. Life doesn't have to be perfect. It just needs to be lived.
Spring is the time for new growth and for forming new habits. So waling with the culling above I am working on a plan on bringing news and better for me things into my life.
  • Fitness - After plenty of research and reading I have discovered that my body and body shape stores fat around my middle when under stress (that on top of the food from the USA has meant at least an extra 5kgs). Some people lose weight when stressed, I put it on. Terrible but great news to have. The best bit of this means a change to my workout style too - long extended workouts do not suit my body shape either. It's short and fast workouts that will help me shift the weight. So no more slogging away and feeling bad as I don't do it often enough. It's short workouts that get my heart pumping in bursts. Here's to a bikini body in no time!
  • Spending - with my new accounts set up and my normal account changes to a debit card this means no more spending when I don't have cash. The credit card is for emergencies and the savings are for a house deposit. So while I will not deny myself a meal out with friends, I will think twice about buying things for the sale of it. Let's go back to lay-by if I can't afford it all this week!
  • Me Time - I love reading and escaping into another world. So I am now giving myself permission to spend a couple of hours sitting on my balcony (or the couch) reading. Guilt free time for me. No need to achieve anything other than zoning out.
  • Blog - Yes, part of my me time and way to express myself is writing. I have always loved reading and writing stories. SO I am now giving myself person to spend time on my blog. Weather it be a photo, a story, a list or a cathartic (word of the week) dump of my feelings. It's ok and I give myself time to do this.
  • Goals - time to revisit the goals I set at the start of the year and keep ticking away at them. Reconfigure those that don't quite work anymore and make steps to achieve.
Now feels like a great time to for all this action. being in between jobs and having a few weeks to start new habits it sounds like the best step forward.

The other thing I love about this time of the year is that as the weather warms up the flowers bloom and animal babies are born. A time for rebirth and renewal in all forms. 

Purple Peonies - My favourite flower

A flower strewn walkway

Love this colour and style

Flowers and cake

Pink peonies

A French Flower stall - is there anything prettier?

Flowers and Lady Dior bags - what is not to love?

Happy Friday everyone!

xxx


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