Day 6: Jewish Guilt isn’t THAT hard to overcome

December 19, 2011 By

So, today’s Day 6 task was to ‘shrug it off’.  I’m supposed to live guilt-free today, as apparently beating myself up about the little things will only lead to self-defeat and stress.  However, I’m JEWISH.  So, the guilt-free thing is a hard one, supposedly.

What I tried to do, however, is follow the teachings of my yoga teachers.  When thoughts invade when you are practicing yoga, you are supposed to welcome them, embrace them, and then let them go.  Just like little birdies, you send them to fly away.  So, in that spirit, here are some things I felt guilty about today, and FORCED MYSELF TO LET GO.

I felt guilty about my daughter who didn’t feel well, and who I made go to school anyways. Oh, actually, I didn’t feel that bad as she wasn’t really sick, but just didn’t want to get up.

I felt guilty about sitting at Bagel World and having a long and chatty breakfast with my friend.  Oh, actually, i didn’t feel guilty about that, since its been a long time since I had a nice breakfast with a friend.

I felt guilty about eating a double poppy toasted flat bagel with cream cheese at aforementioned breakfast. Oh, actually, I didn’t feel guilty about that since I had poached eggs with the bagel, which are definitely lo cal.

I felt guilty about spending $250 at Costco. Oh actually, I didn’t as I  bought TP and paper towels on sale and actually SAVED $8.00 doing so.

I felt guilty about the 9 loads of laundry that were waiting for me at home while I was out doing all those other things above.  Oh, actually, I didn’t, since most of those clothes were not mine, and seriously, how many pairs of pants can people wear in three days.  i mean, SERIOUSLY.

I felt guilty about the fact that I only made soup for my kids for dinner.  Oh, actually, I didn’t, since it was homemade lentil barley soup with tomato, onion, and cumin, and was extremely healthy.

The only thing I felt guilty about is that I didn’t have the time to go to yoga today AGAIN.  Oh, actually, I did have time at 8:00 but I was on Twitter instead.  So, maybe I can feel guilty about that last one.

Oh, and I POSSIBLY feel guilty that tomorrow is Chanukah and I don’t have any of the accoutrements for the kids such as chocolate money, applesauce for the latkes, or THEIR GIFTS.

Notwithstanding the last one, which may be serious, Chatelaine Magazine is right. Because, the little indulgences, like breakfast with a friend, or hanging at Costco, actually let you feel more satisfied and content when you’ve got bigger things to deal with (like a hugely messy kitchen or 9 loads of laundry in one day.)

And, writing this while drinking a lovely glass of Chateau des Charmes GenSeven wine, I can enjoy a guilt free indulgence.  Because the  Bosc Family, owners of the beautiful Chateau in Niagara, Ontario, donate $1.00 from every bottle sold of this delicious vino to Meal Exchange:  A hunger problem and student solution.

Now, for a little humour about appeasing our guilt.  Enjoy!

Filed Under: Humour, Refresh: 21 Days Tagged With: , , , ,

The pathetic explanation for my blog holiday

August 22, 2011 By

An open letter to anyone who’s ever read my blog and wondered what happened to it.

Dear single blog reader:

Well, here it is. A long awaited post on my blog. Please don’t be bored, as I’m going to ramble for a bit and quite possibly you won’t care what I have to say.

I lost my bloggy mojo a few months ago, and no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find it. It had disappeared, muddled in the detritus of my somewhat apathetic mind. I didn’t lose my marbles or anything-I continued on with my daily life, working, getting my kids ready for camp, going to yoga. But I seemed to misplace my zingy zesty self that feels the need to be reflected in the written word . And the longer I went without writing, the worse it got. You see, what I possess is the avoider of guilt syndrome, sometimes known as momprastination or to be more personal, Maraprastination. If I don’t do something I know I should do, instead of doing it, I just avoid doing it for longer. I erase it from my mind.

What my Maraprastination brain looked like when I thought about writing a blog post.

What spurred this bout of Maraprastination? It was a big glass of behind, shaken with a big juicy dose of shame thrown in for good measure. (Do you like the liquor references? I’m trying to be literary here)

Let me explain. So, my other blog, www.booksandbrands.wordpress.com was getting some good face time and I was offered a lovely brand new Explorer from Ford to drive, plus a gorgeously giant whack of books from publishers like HarperCollins and Simon and Schuster to review. Except, I never did it. I never wrote a thing. There’s the behind, and a bit of the shame. That’s not so bad, you say? You still tweeted about the books, you say? You weren’t so behind. We still like you.

My terrible awful shame

Well, wait till you hear the rest of the shame and then maybe you’ll change your tune. The rest of the shame is a Terrible Awful (a The Help reference. Go see the movie. For sure read the book. You won’t be sorry).

You may notice some of your favorite blog posts missing from this site. This is because I removed them. I referenced my work life in them-in a very sarcastic way. This was very unprofessional of me, and nevermind made me look like a total misfit and dork. As well, I found that I was making you, dear lonely single reader, laugh at my own expense. This self-depracating humour was not shining a flattering light.

All of this made me feel shame. The kind that makes you hide in your bed. The kind that, if my Dad had been alive, would have caused him to berate me upside down and backwards. For like 10 hours. At least.

So, that is the cause of the Maraprastination. And this post is the end of the Maraprastination. I will start writing again. Hopefully I’ll still make you laugh, or sometimes tug at your heart strings. But, I will also try not to look stupid. Because I’m not. I’m a smart woman-person. And I think you’ll like me, you’ll really like me (Sally Field reference…)

So, keep reading. Tomorrow you may hear about my dog toileting problems. Poop is always funny.

Love,

ChickyMara

PS if my Twitter bestie @suzieswapper who tells it like it is and writes at www.wrestlingwithinvesting.com and www.spaghettiandspanx.com hadn’t forced me to write this, I wouldn’t have. So thanks. I owe you!

Filed Under: Life, Life Lessons Tagged With: , , , , ,