Question 1: What makes everyone smile?
Sharing your home with someone who needs to be encouraged is a universal motivator for getting our home ship-shape. A orderly and welcoming home says to your visitor, “You are very special.”
Question 2: How have you changed in the last five years?
I am older, that’s for sure! And each day, I am finding ways to stay healthy and as strong as possible. One of the tests for success with graceful aging is the next day after doing my spring cleaning. Success can be on a scale 1 to 10, and all depends on how many aches say hello when rising for the new day! The scale 1 is a real winner, meaning only one kind of ache. Even having 4 or 5 aches on the scale is still not bad for us older folks over 70!
Question 3: Do you see to believe or believe to see?
Being an artist at heart, I tend to creatively envision an immaculate house. That is my way of seeing to believe. Yet, those visions always end up bringing me back to reality of the mess in front of me! Though, it does help create an unacceptable threshold motivating me to get out the vacuum and mop more than anything else . . . that is, except for that surprise phone call of a friend popping over in the next 30 minutes!
Question 4: If you could take a single photograph of your life, what would it look like?
I guess it would depend on who ends up seeing the photo! Maybe that just shows my lingering need to impress someone or at least not feel guilty about not being the “Cleanie” some people find so easy to maintain. So sad, Sharon!
Ok, putting aside this lingering need or character flaw, I think I would brave the photo shoot with me and my family all in pjs and “just out of bed” hair enjoying a fantastic pancake and sausage breakfast together.
Question 5: What does love feel like?
This may sound like a very odd question to ask about this month’s lifeskill, Housekeeping. This question got my attention after cleaning my kitchen and making the beds today. While going about my home, I had an overwhelming sense of gratitude at how much my life is blessed. So many less fortunate have so very little and yet display more gratitude than myself with so much.
The thoughts just kept coming of the love and care shown me with the dishes my daughter, Kimberly, gave me; with the outdoor furniture my husband, John, chose to grace our patio; with the painting my younger daughter, Kelly, surprised me with one Christmas. There wasn’t a single spot around my home that didn’t reflect their love for me. I hope I continue to care for those treasures in a way that also reflects my love for them in every way.
Question 6: What made you smile this week?
This week, June 19th in fact, was my 53th wedding anniversary and still counting! Between a doctor’s appointment with good news and a very special meal out with my one and only love, I have been smiling all this week.
Question 7: What motivates you to be your best?
All my responses to the other questions in this article basically sum up what motivates me to be my best . . . sharing with family, friends, and others needing encouragement, plus keeping myself as healthy as possible so I can.