A Little Inspiration to Welcome Change

January 2021

“Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.”
Karen Kaiser Clark

We all have stories of how change was thrust upon us. This is one of my more recent changes.

When COVID hit and we were locked down in March 2020, I had every reason to be angry and to feel the victim. My mother had been admitted to the hospital and I wasn’t able to see her in person before she passed away. I was in quarantine having just returned from a trip. We were not able to have a funeral, nor even was I able to see my father or brother until weeks later. It was hard, to say the least.

If you want to, everyone can create a long list of the negative impact COVID has had on their life.

Change can be uncomfortable. Many individuals find comfort in routine, familiarities, and the constants in their life. But sometimes change is thrust upon us and when it happens this way, it’s often quick and we feel blindsided. How do you react when this is the case? Do you welcome change?

A Little Inspiration To Welcome Change

Resilience, adaptability, curiosity, and optimism are character traits that help us to adapt, embrace change and keep moving forward with a renewed enthusiasm. For those who find change particularly challenging, it’s not so easy. When circumstances are beyond our control, the only thing we can control is how we react and what we do. In times like these, one’s true character comes to light!

Do you see change as an opportunity to learn and grow?

This past year has forced us all to press pause on many of the things that make up our daily life. Many of you have taken this opportunity to formulate new perspectives; reassessing what’s important and essential, finding new ways of doing things, re-organizing priorities, and simply learning how to slow down (probably the hardest thing of all). These people have chosen to learn and grow.

Use Every Opportunity to Fill Your Glass

I am sure you have all heard the expressions “the glass is half full” or “the glass is half empty” to describe someone’s character as being optimistic or pessimistic.

Like everything in life, learning how to do something well simply takes practice. I think if we practice an optimistic point of view on a regular basis, we can positively influence our reaction to change, and be ready especially when it is thrust upon us.

Mothers Know Best

My mother was always one to look at the glass half full; both my parents always modeled the character trait of being appreciative. Within a few weeks of losing my mom, I took a large piece of art paper and attached it to a window in our kitchen.

The top half had a heading that said “Things we are looking forward to” and the bottom half had a heading that said “Things we are grateful for” — I was the first to add things under each title and my kids and my husband followed suit. It was a small thing, but it was very present in the heart of our home. It did provide a nudge to change our perspective — to be both optimistic and appreciative despite all of the things that we had lost and were losing. It helped us to choose optimism.

This is not to say that I was able to just erase the feelings of frustration, grief, and so on. But it did help to pull me back into the present moment, where I can feel grateful and hopeful.

10-Day Practice (Appreciation)

I would like to leave you with a little inspiration to practice optimism and gratitude this January.

I welcome you to try this for the rest of the month. Take a piece of paper or a page in a notebook and mark the numbers 1 thru 10. Then take a few minutes each day, either in the morning when you wake up, or in the evening right before you go to sleep, and think about what you are grateful for, as well as what you look forward to. Feel free to write them down if you are so inclined, but be sure to tick that day off your list. Be committed to doing it every day.

Take note of how you feel today and once again at the end of the month. Perhaps you can make an observation at the end if you wish. After 10 days of practice, you may be more inclined to look for the positive in things that happen to you and to the world around you.

I tried a 30-day yoga challenge online last year starting in January. It was hard at first to motivate myself to show up every day. There were many excuses at my fingertips, making it easy not to do it. But after some time, I started to look forward to it. In fact, I have been doing yoga almost every day since then. It has changed my posture and my perspective and it feels like no effort at all nowadays.

Welcome Change. It is Happening Whether You Like It Or Not

We cannot change what is happening in the world around us, but we can change our perspective. I invite you to try — even the most optimistic or most pessimistic of you can make that light shine a little brighter… sometimes all it takes is a little inspiration!

If you are interested in a little inspiration monthly, please feel free to SUBSCRIBE to my monthly POST HERE or you can do so below.

Sincerely,

Heather

AN UPDATE — “A Little Inspiration” Today

Things have changed at ‘A Little Inspiration’, so I thought you might be interested in an update!

A Little Inspiration Before…

As many of you know, I used to provide clients with a little inspiration through my interior design services. I also provided young girls with a little inspiration to explore their creativity at Camp Heather (cooking, baking, sewing, and arts & crafts). And, many young volunteers were inspired to give back to various communities through We Can Change the World Day. And there was a lot of creativity, excitement, events, challenges, and opportunities in between.

If you are so inclined, feel free to take a walk down memory lane with me HERE.

Empty-Nesters… WHAT?

I cannot believe so much time has passed. It is hard to believe, but my husband and I are empty-nesters now! My daughter is in 3rd-year University in Halifax and my son has graduated and is working downtown Toronto. Many of those young Camp Heather campers and volunteers are off to university as well.

Embracing Change ~ A Little Inspiration Now!

2017. That was the year that changed the trajectory of my life’s path. I didn’t know it at the time, but here I am today! Feel free to read about what happened HERE.

If you would simply like to see what I am up to now, how I am still able to provide a little inspiration, it’s just in a different way. (HERE)

In addition to this…

I Hope You Will Choose To Enjoy My MONTHLY POST

subscribe BELOW if you please!

I don’t use social media, so this year I wanted to try something new. I have decided to reach out and stay connected, in a rather old fashioned way… via email and a newsletter (or rather a BLOG post). With each post, I hope to provide you with a little inspiration in the following ways:

Interesting thoughts and perspectives
Monthly challenges (if you are so inclined)
Recipes and food!
Creative inspirations
FREE printable original art and inspirational quotes and videos

I know that most people, myself included, avoid joining mailing lists because there is too much ‘noise’ out there. All the more reason to only sign up if you feel that you might benefit from A Little Inspiration once a month in the form of a short newsletter PLUS you’ll receive a free printable illustrated inspirational message. If so, then I would be honoured to have you as part of my community.