When I started this blog it was simply a personal outlet for me to put my thoughts down, and to help me make sense of having had a stroke. It has morphed into a way to keep me engaged by focusing some of my creative energy into cooking, eating and sharing my primarily plant based diet along with some of the recipes I’ve tested. Now, I want to expand and create a more meaningful life and maybe a life that is (or could be) meaningful to other people (or even one other person) and do better by Mr. Fantastic and Miss Herbivore.

One thing that has continued to nag at me since my stroke is the thought that I have been given a second chance. I can do and be whatever I want – I get that in theory but I seem to get in my way. I have been desperately searching for that special “thing” and I don’t want to blow it. I’ve come to realize that maybe coming at it from that angle is just too much pressure on myself. I often find myself slipping back to who I was before my stroke and that is not what I want. I want to make sure that I am living my best life, experiencing all that I can and becoming a better person too.

I know that I am lucky to still have my health and that I have had a pretty easy life; for which I am grateful every single day. I do however, feel like I am missing something. I’m not unhappy but I am aimless.

So begins the next chapter; my 30 day journey to find that spark and passion. Maybe it’s counter-intuitive to need to read up on “how to” go about this journey but I guessed correctly that many have come before me. The proof was in the search engines that were overflowing with advice and how to’s. (clearly I’m not picking an original topic but it’s a topic that’s original and meaningful to me to move forward with).

My starting resources are Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project and I Googled living your best life and I found Magdalena Halford’s www.livemybestlife.com website and additional inspiration. Here is a snippet from Halford and my motivation to move forward with this project.

Because we are all capable of more.

If you’ve read this far, the time has come to audit yourself. To face the gap between what is possible for you and your current reality. Doing this entails asking yourself some hard questions and having the courage to answer honestly:

What would you like to do that you are not doing?

What are you doing that you wish you weren’t?

Magdalena Halford’s, 30 Day Challenge: Live Your Best Life

Halford goes on to point out that all around her “lurks the undone”.  That resonated with me – as I looked at my to-do list with things from the simple – empty compost bin, to the more advanced (yet vague) sell things that no longer serve me. Most things in that category I donate but there are some items that I want to sell to someone that truly wants them and then I know they will bring someone else joy (and an added bonus is a little bit of extra “mad money” for me).  For example, I  just sold our river tubes. These tubes brought us much joy in a past life and I sold them to two young entrepreneurs who had just moved to Boise. I could tell that our tubes were going to bring them much joy in their new home town.

My goals this week are to answer those two questions honesty.

• What would I like to do that I’m not doing? and
• What am I doing that I wish I wasn’t?
• I will identify what is “lurking undone” -i.e. “low hanging fruit” (to-do’s) that will help me feel productive and accomplished.
• Begin cleaning out and letting go of the things that no longer serve me:
  • Starting with my clothes. Clean out what I no longer wear. Donate or turn it into cleaning clothes.

I will be accountable to this blog over the next 30 days. So follow along if you know me and/or you are interested enough to stick with me! Maybe you’ll learn something that you can apply to your life too!