Life is Hard...

STOP TRYING TO BE PERFECT...

STOP TRYING TO BE PERFECT AND START BEING REMARKABLE

From The Big Moo by Seth Godin

Remarkable is being unafraid to stand out.

Remarkable is having a fire in your belly and an idea that won’t quit.

Remarkable is telling the truth, always…even about yourself.

Remarkable is failing often and then trying again.

Remarkable is more doing and less planning. More testing out and less waiting, More dreaming and less sleeping.

Remarkable is when you stand for something and make it happen and change the world along the way. Stand for something or stand for nothing.

Remarkable is following your heart when everyone else is going the other way.

Remarkable is feeling the fear and doing it anyway. You can’t shirk your way to greatness.

Remarkable is not waiting for the world to change, but starting the change with yourself.

Remarkable is thinking and being in the present “Giving up the illusion that you can predict the future is a very liberating moment. “All you can do is give yourself the capacity to respond…the creation of that capacity is the purpose of strategy” Lord John Browne

Remarkable is getting up and getting out

Remarkable is being yourself. No carbon copies allowed…stop being ordinary.

Remarkable is having fun and enjoying the journey.

Remarkable is knowing there are no truly original ideas…just new ways to use them. Look for inspiration everywhere.

Remarkable is what happen when you stop trying to be perfect and just be REMARKABLE you!

You didn't just say that...did you?

Image by

http://www.flickr.com/photos/-bast-/ / CC BY 2.0

Today I was pretty much asked by a non-homeschooler...can I really be successful at homeschooling, all things considered? Apparently, they knew others that had given homeschooling a shot and given up. They seemed to think that was pattern amongst we overachiever type parents. Taking on too much and then throwing in the towel when the going gets tough.  Surely homeschooling is an impossible task for any parent, right? I abhor that attitude. Parenting is not a competitive sport! When you compare your lifestyle to another you are doing a huge disservice to them and yourself.

Is it really something you can be successful at? My answer is a resounding YES! Like anything you are committed to and want to be successful at it takes a great deal of your time, resources, and all your blood, sweat, and tears. It is not a choice made lightly or a commitment made without sacrifice. Some people don't make it out of the gate. Some parents find it's not for one or more kids. And still others excel and thrive at homeschooling.

Homeschooling is a choice, just like, choosing a pediatrician or where to send your child for piano lessons. You as a parent have a -I believe- a God given right to choose how your child is educated. I think it is tremendous sad that we have let so called experts and leaders tell us that we don't know what we are doing. We have allowed them to second guess us to a point that we doubt ourselves and other parents abilities. They have convinced us that they know so much better and that we could not possibly know how to teach our child. Fortunately we live in an amazing county where not all our rights have been stripped away (yet) and YOU the parent get to choose how you want your child to be educated. We have many, many options these days. Education is no longer a 'One Size Fits All' world. There are private schools, charter schools, community schools, virtual schools, homeschooling, tutors, college course credits, and mentoring. Education comes in many shapes and sizes. Just like picking out Johnny's first tricycle, the choice is all yours.


Homeschooling can be a commitment or it can just be something you are trying out to see if it will work or see how long it will work. We started out just seeing how things worked. We did not feel the passion or the purpose immediately. We were interested in homeschooling, but we weren't sure we could REALLY do it. Well-somewhere along the line our interest became our choice and then our commitment. Like a marriage you don't give up on when the going gets tough- We have stood by our choice and committed our lives to homeschooling our children. ( and we like it!)

Is it easy? No.
Do I always love it? No.
Do my kids love it? Yes.
Do I doubt myself? Who doesn't!
Is it rewarding? Extemely!
Is it worth it? Yes
Is it for everyone? No.

Just like choosing between bottle or breast, vaccinations or not, disposable diapers or cloth. You would not go around asking every pregnant woman if they REALLY think they can be a parent? No! (unless you want to get punched in the face) You congratulate them, you acknowledge the huge commitment they have made, and you cheer them on to the finish line.

So I say...stop comparing my life to yours. My life is not yours and my kids are not yours. Unless you truly believe my kiddos are somehow being neglected or abused you have no civil rights to question my choices. I say quit looking for faults in other parents and stand by your own choices, your passions, and your family and I will be here to cheer you on. What are friends for?

P.S. If you can't say something nice, just be polite and quiet and blog about it later.

STUMBLEing through the web

Have you tried Stumble Upon yet? You really should give it a look!!

Stumble Upon is a website service and browser add-on that helps you find and share great web content. It's loads of fun in just a few clicks. You tell Stumble Upon what you like. You tell it your interests, hobbies, etc and it helps you find websites and content you might enjoy. I've never run into anything 'bad' stumbling, maybe a bit strange and irreverent, but never pornographic or very offensive. Due to the unpredicatbility of Stumble I would say, it's not a kids toy. Stumbling is not like websurfing or searching because you have no control over where you are going or even the topic. Stumble just randomly shows you sites of interest and you can thumbs up or thumbs down them to narrow your Stumbling. This info lets Stumble know what you like and offers you similar sites or what you don't like and it won't show you that again. Warning-it can be a bit addictive seeing what you might Stumble Upon next.

 A fun feature is that you can subscribe to your friends Stumbles and see their favorites. You can find me on Stumble Upon at mitchellfamily. I mostly like (thumbs up) art, poetry, and educational resources.

I added the Stumble add-on to my firefox browser. It's pretty handy up there. It has a little SHARE button so you can easily email the page you are looking at or add it to your Facebook or Twitter status.

"My hero!" Mentors for writers

One of my New Years resolutions was to start getting serious about my writing. It has always been one of those someday things in my life. Someday I'll get around to writing that book, editing that poem, or writing that article. Well someday it TODAY!

I know that writing is a journey, being an author is a quest, and actually getting published is like the Holy Grail. Taking all this into account, I've got to be extremely realistic and practical (good thing those are some of my better qualities). I'm taking baby steps to those big goals.

One piece of advice I've heard is to get a mentor. This advice is good advice for any profession. Find someone or several someones whom you admire or look-up too. Who inspires you? If you find yourself saying " I want to be so-and-so when I grow up!" Well, they are a mentor for you!

This step of my quest is all about finding those people that inspire me. I'm learning about why they inspire me. How can I have what they have? What do they do that I don't? What can I learn from them?

I've started a list and then I'll fine tune it. It is a list of those people I am finding. They are like a list of Greek gods and goddesses. The goddess of prose, the god of outlining, or the muse of character dialog. Or I suppose, keeping with the theme of this post it should be more like; Captain Grammar or Super Plot Girl.  I'll need to focus the list after a while to those very special super hero's that really stir up my writing moxie. Until then, it is actually quite fun looking for people that light my writing fire and motivate me toward what I REALLY want.

Do I have to personally know, talk to, or meet these mentors? NO! That's the best part! There are so many, many authors passionate about the craft that they give their advice and knowledge freely. (They WANT to be on my super-hero list!) They have created blogs and books about writing. Sometimes, just the fiction books they have written inspire me to add them to my list. "I want to write like that!"

My list of super-human super hero writers going where I want to go. Maybe they'll let me be the sidekick, Wanna-be Writer.

Be Happy

New Year, New Focus

 
I've never been one for the whole idea of making New Years Resolutions. They always seem more like a list of promises to ourselves we never really mean to keep or a rough draft of our lives for the next year that never actually gets published. They have an "It was a great idea, but I never actually got it down on paper." feel to them.

Alas, this year I find my attitude toward them changing. I have some things I would like to get done this year-more serious then organizing the garage (FINALLY!). I just feel the momentum building up.

For me the timing of this new year is just right. We moved back to the 'big city' in August. We unpacked, set up shop, and got to work with out much reflection. I knew life would not wait while I analyzed our new location and life here. We just jumped in feet first (which is the safest way to jump into anything) and began our life here September 1st after 5 days of unpacking.

We've been attending our new church ward for 4 months now. The school year for our homeschool Charter school started on September 9th. The boys were promptly enrolled in lessons in September also. Our days began to fill and I began to fell like we were on a roller coaster with no end in sight.

I hate that feeling...going somewhere but not really sure where. I am not a huge SURPRISE! person. I like to know when I get in a car, where I am going, how to get there, and why I am going. (ask my husband who is finally getting the hint...surprises are bad). Same with life. I love the security of having as much information and planning done ahead of time. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately for me (it's hard to decide some day) I'm not on this journey alone. I've got some other passengers and often they like to drive too. They are along for the crazy ride I like to call MY LIFE. So having these other people (my family) along can complicate things...especially when we are all yanking the wheel in different directions or as the case usually is we all want to be somewhere different but at the same time. Not to mention all the road hazards that seem to be in the way (like job losses).

I even have the same exact battle with myself I am wanting to be doing and being 3 or 4 different things at once. What's a mom, wife, homeschooler, writer, etc,  supposed to do? Well I think I've found it!!

FOCUS!! for the low, low cost of $19.95 you too can gain FOCUS in the New Year. This revolutionary new idea is brought you by me and for today ONLY...I'll waive the shipping and handling....Well heck! I'll just GIVE it to you for FREE!!

Picture from Innocent English.com

Focus is like your destination. Where are you headed? Better yet, Where do you want to go?
SO gaining focus....lets take a look-

In the dictionary...

fo⋅cus [foh-kuhs]

It can be a noun that can mean a central point, as of attraction, attention, or activity. Or in Physics it means a point at which rays of light, heat, or other radiation, meet after being refracted or reflected. In Optics it can mean the clear and sharply defined condition of an image.

Or as a verb it can mean to concentrate.

Origin:1635–45; < L: fireplace, hearth

Synonyms:

1. center, heart, core, nucleus.

from Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source

Finding your focus is gonna take a little thought cause all those directions your being pulled in have to get you to the same place eventually. Like in Physics all those rays of light are going to have to meet sometime. Your focus needs to be sharp and clearly defined. Your going to have to concentrate to find your focus, and then concentrate on it often so you don't get side-tracked (like spending your lunch break on Facebook). It'll be like a fireplace, after a long hard day your gonna be warmed by the thought that you stayed on track with what you really wanted.

Unfortunately for you, I can't tell you what your personal or family focus should be. Don't you just hate that! All those self help books and articles out there offering advice and answers-just to tell you, you have to make the decisions and do all the hard work yourself. What the heck? 

Alas, I too must tell you to do the hard work of actually coming up with a focus for your year. I can give you some tips though.

• A WORD IF I MAY? Maybe, your focus could just be a word, like Obedience . You could focus on being obedient to what God wants you to do, your kids could try to be more obedient to you, you could learn to stop arguing amongst yourself and just be obedient servants. Check out Amber's thoughts on her word of focus in the New Year.
  
• PERFECT PICTURE Maybe your focus could be a picture or many pictures. Something tangible that represents your goal for the year.  Tristan's come up with a great article on making and implement a vision board. 
• MOTTO MANTRA Adopting a phrase, quote, or scripture can often help you keep your focus. It's something to say out loud, put on a post-it,  and chant to yourself. That sentence or few words can become your own personal cheering section keeping you headed toward your real focus. Meridith's even written you an instruction manual on creating your own personal mantra. 
  

 Wishing you a great 2010 full of FOCUS power!