Thoughts on Consistency

con·sis·ten·cy
n.
1. Agreement or logical coherence among things or parts.
2. Reliability or uniformity of successive results or events.

synonyms: agreement, harmony, correspondence, accordance, regularity, coherence, compatibility, uniformity, constancy, steadiness, steadfastness, evenness, congruity

con·stan·cy
n.
1. Steadfastness, as in purpose or affection; faithfulness.
2. The condition or quality of being constant; changelessness.

Consider the value of consistency / constancy in our lives. Frankly, I think it is an immensely under-valued and over-looked asset by many who just don't realize the value of the trait in themselves or in other people.

Here's a good question: if you could be either brilliant or consistent, which would you choose to be?

Now, I am not trying to insinuate that people are either/or. Plenty of us are both. Plenty of us are neither. (You can file me away into that latter category, by the way.)

It's just that, all too often, it seems that Society values brilliance and ignores consistency.

Take for example, the words of Oscar Wilde: "Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative." OUCH! Dang, Oscar, no wonder you're a Grouch!


I wonder if Mr. Wilde was just a little jealous....

Then there are those who've begrudgingly given token kudos to consistency, such as Aldous Huxley, and I quote: "The only completely consistent people are the dead."



True that, Aldous...but what's the point for the Living? To always be clever, no matter what?

...{SIGH}

Not that being consistent is the right thing to do all the time. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best, I think: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines."



Yes, it is the wise consistencies in people which are the golden gems. They make the world work. And they make it safer, more predictable, more reliable. And, that frees us up to do better things.



That's what I'm talkin' 'bout, Willis!


Take RAIN, for example. All the drops are the same. We know what to expect. What if we had to dodge a bunch of different and unpredictable water bombs every time it rained?


And the athletes we love to watch. Tiger Woods nailed it when he said, "Consistency is the key to repeating success."



True but odd fact: I was a member of my college bowling team for a year. Even had a scholarship. My average was 151... not brilliant, but my performance was amazingly consistent, and that was enough to help my team win again and again.


Yes, consistency is a cookie-cutter kind of thing. It produces an assembly-line of reliable results. I like that in a person. My husband aka Hubs is one of the most consistent people I know. When I think back to why I grew to love him and why I decided to marry him, his consistent manner was a definite deal-maker. I lacked it and he had it, and what was important to him was that I valued it in him when past loves had called it "boring" and "predictable".

Funny how those things work, huh?

I was thinking the other day about my cyber-friend Linda, and I realized that among her many attributes is a marvelous consistency that I in awe of when I think about it. I'm guessing here, but I believe she makes it a priority in her life, to be consistent for her family, her crafting, her blogging, her friendships.

Kudos to you, Linda. You have a rare gift, a talent for consistency, that flourishes by virtue of hard work, discipline and commitment. It just shines through. I want you to know that it shines on me and warms my soul, dear friend.

This year I hope to explore stuff like this, stuff that doesn't often get examined. To me, it's part of re-assessing. And what better way to do that than to discover the little gems of gold that already lay before me in my own life!

What little gems lay before you on your path? I'd love to know!

The life vision thing for 2009

First of all, a heartfelt wish to our military boys and girls in harm's way for a safe, peaceful, productive 2009.

Yes, 2009 is here now, and there seems to be two ways to look at it.

A new year: how exciting and promising -- an adventure with unlimited potential.

OR

Another year: might as well make the best of it.

Which sounds more familiar to you?

What if i told you that, around here, we accept both interpretations. lol

Why? Because, in reality, the truth of the thing is closer to both.

If you have any years under your belt, you know that the first approach is fraught with potential for a set-up for failure for most of us (except for the fabulous Tina Zarlenga and the equally fabu Sarah Coggins, both of whom I'd bet real money on to actually and consistently do the impossible -- they are incredibly energetic and self-disciplined women that I greatly admire, even though I have little understanding of what it is that makes them tick much faster than me...not even when I was younger did I have that much focused energy to complete so many things).

I kid about Tina and Sarah when I say that I privately suspect addiction to crack or something similar...to repeat, I'm kidding! It's just that I would have to literally be hooked up to an amphetamine IV in order to do half of what they get done, and then my lack of focus would sabotage even that. Anyway, hats off to you both, my friends. I'm looking forward to seeing what you conquer this year.

As for Sarah, that goes double since she recently announced that she is expecting her first baby! This is such wonderful news! Congrats to her and hubby Trent.

And a little story on Tina: I read today she mentioned not meeting her goal of reading 100 books in 2008. OMG, did that ever make me eyeroll and chuckle. You see, I'm one of her friends over on Good Reads. I get emails when friends update their reading lists. Let me tell you, that girl updated her list more frequently than a squirrel finds nuts, all year long. She read over 50 books! That's about 1 a week. I think I might have read one the whole year...sigh.

I might kill to get that kind of energy back again. But until then I'll just live vicariously through them both.



Anyway, I'm going to try to just stick to making the best of 2009:

-->Accept what I can and cannot do.

-->Focus on doing the things that will accomplish the goals I've chosen, whenever possible, but remember that it doesn't always work that way.

-->No pie-in-the-sky goals, but stuff that will really make some sort of positive difference in my life.

For me, 2009 needs to be about adjusting to 2008 changes. I need to re-assess and re-calibrate:

-->I am right now working on completing the paperwork that will officially end my tax business and my SOHO-career in accounting. I cannot stress how big a change this is gonna be for me after 30 years of living my life around the IRS's filings and deadlines schedule, but it is a change I welcome with sheer gusto.

-->Ike caused some changes for us that we still need to deal with, namely to finish clearing debris in the back yard and to go through several big plastic bins in our garage that are full of stuff that was stored in our portable buildings that are now debris. Our city had to "hurry up and wait" until Congress appropriated more money to pick up debris, but they finally did. Removal begins again next week and throughout January. We will probably be getting right on that, since we are not being told exactly when the trucks will be on our street...lovely planning, huh? Guess I'd better call them...

-->Missy getting her own apartment in early December with much of our furniture caused changes. Good changes, but changes, nevertheless. I have decisions to make about new furniture, as well as a new room in the house to give a function to.

And, I am finding it very enjoyable. I frankly marvel at how frugal I naturally am. Here it is, the first time in my married life that I can buy outright whatever I want, yet I am firmly rooted in a "if it ain't broke, don't throw it out and replace it" mentality. I figure it's all good, cuz I can always buy it later if things change, right?

Still, I'm needing to move things around and make existing pieces work in new spots, and at the same time look good enough. And, had Missy stayed in the dorms, this would not be happening, and I'm happy she left the dorms. I'm happy to give her the furniture. This is forcing me to re-assess how things work and don't work around here. Plus, I am trying to include my ideas for decorating with all my little ideas, like the miniature trees I've been buying to hang paper pretties and ATC's and such.

-->Then, there is my weight loss and fitness. I go to a nutritionist 4 times a year, and she finally made me a believer of her approach to it. Basically, she preaches that if it took 5 years to gain 40 pounds, it's gonna take 5 years to take it off for good. Anything quicker, and it won't be for good. For the last 2 years, I've been a skeptical follower of this, and I can now say, I think she is right.

Case in point: in May, 2006, I was 80 pounds overweight: 40 of them slowly creeping on over 10-15 years time and the other 40 blobbed on in the immediately preceding 4 years (due to me being over-medicated for pain and depression after contracting my arthritii in 2002). I spent the rest of 2006 losing 30 pounds. And then I spent all of 2007 and 2008 holding the line on those 30 pounds. As of today, 25 of them are still off of me. (I gained 5 pounds over the holidays, which is a blessing considering what I've indulged in!)

This is almost exactly what my nutritionist says should happen: that without surgery, most people can lose only about 20-30 pounds at a time without "resting" and letting the body catch on and catch up. She says that we should have periods of maintenance within the weight loss process, or we are sabotaging ourselves. The body needs to re-learn the new weight and adjust daily metabolism and energy needs, and that takes time. Otherwise, that "fight or flight" thing activates and the body fights against you to reclaim those pounds.





I didn't just waste the last two years, but now it's probably safe to lose some more, slowly and surely. So, I'll be attempting to lose 20-30 more in the coming months. No, it's not much fun to realize that at this rate, it'll take me 4 more years at a minimum under her regime, but hey, if it works for good, I'm there. I just need to remember that all good things take time, and that Rome wasn't built in a day, get back on the horse that threw ya, etc, etc.

So, there you have it -- my stab at doing my life vision thing (aka resolutions) for 2009. Yikes, them's some big goals, and I was trying to not be over-reaching. And double-yikes, we still have some chocolate ice cream and cookies left. Oh, the temptations...teehee.

What is your life vision thing for 2009? I'd love to know!

Degrees of Time: The week that was

Seems like this week's been juxtaposed against my life -- sorta like in the photo, where the clock hangs ironically next to my college diploma, as if to remind me, it's been a long time since I did that (1978). This past week's felt like it's taken almost as long, LOL.

**oh, note to file: I'm playing around with taking a photo daily if possible, like that one up there, but I'll be danged if I call that activity anything. Not yet, anyway. That'd make too many things I'm trying to do differently, then. And that sets me up for failure.*** I am just playing...

Last Friday, I was sitting around, piddling and out of NewYear focus, but happy and optimistic. I began to sharpen my focus on Saturday, 7 days ago. Monday has probably been my most optimistic day, but it's pretty much gone downhill since then.

Monday night, Hillary misted up and the media was in full-tilt nasty by Tuesday morning. Well, I guess I'm one of those women over 40 who were extremely offended by her treatment. My God, you know, I finally got it. The problem with Hillary is that she is threatening. And that's because she's so capable. And that's something I have seen happen to women all my life. And hello, move over racism, there's a new game in town. Now we are going to be dealing with a healthy bitter dose of both of them for the next year, like Battle of the Sexes Meets the Scourge of Racism. Godzilla himself would probably run screaming in fear.

If it plays out that way, then that means the generational history theory I'm such a huge fan of is going to come true 100%, and then it really is the Big One, Elizabeth. (Sigh, guess that one was lost on most...guess you have no idea who Samford & Son were, eh? Make that a 3-way and add in the Generation Gap, or whatever it's called today.)

On the home front, this was the week I was supposed to call the vet for the appointment to put Sheila down. I'd successfully managed to conveniently forget about it every single day until about 5:05 pm (and they close at 5), until today. So, Friday (today) at 2, I have to drive her there and hold her while she passes on, hopefully in peace.

Hubs wants nothing to do with it, and he's already got that on his plate with his dad. (The cancer in his lungs is Stage 4, by the way. And he never smoked.)

So I am giving Hubs a pass on Sheila. So for about the last 24 hours, I've been hoping against hope she dies during the night in her sleep, but that won't happen. I'm at least glad I have no doubt this is the best thing for her. I wish it made it a little easier.

Also this week, I've made a few hearty attempts at Sharing to Care. And wouldn't you know it? I managed to screw both up, somehow, LOL. No harm done, but still. Dang.

And I just know this has something to do with it: Hubs up and bought a widescreen digital tv, which promptly played a fuzzy picture back in his tv room. It replaced an analog set, so maybe it had some bearing. Anyway, Hubs brings the new set and sits it on our kitchen table in front of the little white set that's already there, and there it's sat until today. Hubs has watched the family room tv all week, which means he's hung out and slept in that room, too. Yup, the same couch I've used to do much of my sleeping the moment his snoring becomes unbearable.

Oy, it's just been a Twilight Zone episode all the way around. God Bless My Little Sheila. She's lived a good life. May she continue in Afterlife. Amen.

How Aimeslee Gets Her Groove Back....

... or attempts to, anyway. With me, it's always done by thinking and sculpting ideas.

I thought a lot this weekend about things: life, the new year, attitude, commitment, tasks, goals, dreams. I'm not sure I reached any concrete conclusions, but I do think I have some good leads about the directions in which I want to travel this year. And as I go about writing them down for you, I'm frankly amazed, just a little.

I realized how out of the loop and clueless I was just days ago. It's as if I've been piddling along in my own little world. Well, heck, I have been doing exactly that. Things I knew in my head needed to be decided this time of year were just not showing up on my radar, and I think it was on purpose. I need to ease into this year for some reason. This must be where the "No deadlines" thing is coming from. Anyway, none of these things actually are required of me, but now's the time to set them up if they are going to be done at all.

First, I've decided that the entire month of January is my time to celebrate New Years. It's all too much for me to have in place by 1/1, especially since I'm such an unrepentant slowpoke. Longer if I need it, and I probably will.

Second, what's my Word? This is not as easy to decide as choosing focus last year. I know the convention is one word, one little word, in fact; but, the Rebel in me is yelling. For one thing, I'm not feeling any one particular word over another. I mean, I have a list of like, 6. But no luck narrowing down to one. For another thing, I'm a fan of alliterative language, and I've been very fixated on two phrases using 4 rhyming words. It sounds really cheesy too, but it's where I want to explore right now.

Dare to Bare... Share to Care....

Visions of Care Bears keep littering the view. Half of me is almost ready to just accept them and incorporate them into the view, along with the rainbows that also appear. Pesky little devils. Yup, cheesy alright. Very too much 80's, right? Don't mean to, but the subconscious must want it badly.

I've almost decided to go with this WordQuad and just be different. I'm calling it One Little WordQuad. My Rebel side loves it. (rebel = artist)

Okay, it's official: I just blogged it in a comment to Ali herself, so no turning back. (Not that anyone is going to notice it, that is, LOL).

I had so much more to mention, but I'm needed elsewhere right now. I'll close with the 2peas blogger challenge for Today:

Do you try to get current pictures of yourself by doing a self photo shoot or having someone take them of you? If you have recently taken some new photos share with us

I actually do both now. Started a few months ago and already have double the photos of myself. (This sounds voluminous, but it really speaks more to how few photos I made of myself prior to now.) I've played with making typical MySpace-type self-photos (failing miserably and looking totally dorky), as well as bugging more people to snap the shutter for me. Both have their drawbacks, but I'll continue this way indefinitely.

Here's a favorite one from the holidays, of me with my Missy:


Have a great Monday!

Finally, My First 2008 Post!

Good Lord. You'd think I could come over here every couple of days and at least leave one sentence, a brief thought, anything?

Happy 2008. Hope things in your part of the world are shaping up well. I've been sick some and feeling fair to middlin', and at times downright bad. And I've pulled up the New Post screen a few times to blog, but bleh, nothing would form in my little head.

But my friend Cheryl created a new blog today and that kicked my sorry blogging rear into gear. I hang my head in shame as I was supposed to help her more with it. But I'm so glad she got 'er done. It's much better when the blog owner creates their own blog; they know where all the parts are and set it up like they want that way. Plus, I'm thankful she snapped me out of my fog as I really did need to get back here.

Let's see where I left off last... Since Christmas, my days have been spent either painfully enduring our cold fronts and humid rain, or fighting like a dog to keep my plugged up ear from driving me crazy. (That's another reason I've stayed away, although I could've come over and just said so, sorry...you wouldn't have wanted to read some of my bitchings, I was in such a bad mood and still kind of crotchety.)

At the same time, I've also been busying myself as much as possible in some sort of cleaning and organizing frenzy similar to Spring Cleaning. No, I'm nowhere near finished. There's a lot that is disorganized and dirty. LOL But, I've been hacking away at it. Some days, the only interaction I had with the computer was to check on packages being mailed and attend to our personal banking and bills. A few days I spent starting up the year-end receipt collecting, and a little billing of clients and finishing up last tax season's paperwork.

It's just that time of the year for me to be in 3 places at once, and although I feel more addled than ever (and frequently wonder if that drug trial did any real good or not), I am also handling a lot, so who knows. My rheumatologist reminds me of that when I voice my concerns about it, so that's his position.

And I spent New Year's Eve alone, but that was fine. Hubs and Missy both had to work. That was at the height of my organizing craze, before my drive petered out, so I toasted the new year with coffee and the vacuum cleaner / noise maker. LOL

I really don't mind, but I should note that this has been the most nontraditional holidays I've had in a while. I'll be testing the superstitions, as we didn't eat the usual peas, cabbage and ham on New Years Day. Hubs was working and didn't feel like cooking, and I didn't feel like getting out to the grocery store, so I didn't want it that badly.

I've just really spent my time piddling, going from one project to another, however I felt like it, as long as I was either making progress or sleeping. When the pain gets intense and constant, it is the only two things I can do, and if I run out of food or supplies, I need help; otherwise, I'm able to cope. And Hubs hasn't been feeling good either, but he was able to keep us minimally supplied and the motors running.

Except for the front bathroom toilet. It chose to flood out of the bottom of it on NY Eve, wouldn'tcha know. We just put it out of order and waited for our plumber to get around to us, which was today. Two sharing one bathroom isn't that bad, but then Missy came home Thursday for a dental cleaning and a doctor appt today (she went back this afternoon). The only real problem we had was this morning, when Hubs somehow had a problem with Missy showering in the front bath and told her to use our shower, I guess he was forgetting it would really make it tight for us with 3 people getting ready for the day. She's gone now so the inconvenience was short-lived, but I still say it was not necessary. Don't know what gets into him sometimes.

We had to have the toilet re-seated and a new wax seal set. So, it's still curing, but should be ready for use tomorrow sometime. We can actually go a couple of days for good measure. Our plumber grouted it instead of caulking it. So it's gonna be on there good. I told him we need a fat-person's set-up, LOL He's so sweet, he said, "there's nobody at your house like that", LOL

Let's see, what else. Oh yeah, there's a bit more. I know it seems like getting new stuff is all sweetness and light, but I have managed to find a dark side, and that's keeping up with all the shipments and unpacking stuff and then finding space for it all. Since I haven't felt like crafting, I haven't tried out any goodies yet, and that is sad. Gonna have to find time to remedy that!

But during the holidays, there was a part of the country, like around Utah, where I was not getting my packages from. Took forever on a few items and even one order had to be re-sent, as I suppose it was lost. The rest of the country was fast. Believe me, I know! LOL Don't know what the heck was the problem, bad weather or bad attitudes or sickness, but it has been really apparent. I am still waiting on some to finally get here. I'm talking 8 days, 11 days for Priority Mail packages. Like 6-7 of them taking that long. UPS lagged a bit the week before Christmas, so they had their troubles. Dang, I might could write a book on this subject, geez.

And, I haven't any resolutions, really. Although I must add, I never do. Haven't for like 10 years. When you get to be my age, you find you have the same ones every year, so you just keep one list going in perpetuity. LOL And every year ya get more and more comfortable with your vices, so the list gets shorter. It's basically a To Do List, nothing special. The big thing with me for this year is to only adhere to deadlines that are real and needed, and to quit making so many of the damn things up just to get more done. I guess it's my ear wigging out my nerves, but the deadlines are getting to me. Don't really know yet how to go about doing that exactly yet, but I'll come up with something.

Speaking of my ear, it did FINALLY start popping open intermittently like the doctor said it would, about a week ago. And that has been painful, I guess it's air pressure. Right now, it is finally staying open about 50% of the time, so every day it is slowly getting better, after weeks of totally no change. Unreal. And since I cannot get in to see the ENT until the end of the month, I might be better by then, who knows. I'm a bit embarrassed to say that once I began heating up the drops, they began to work a lot better. Geez. Could I be any denser? Either that or it was a coincidence. I'm not a doctor. And I still have not seen that much wax. So I am keeping my appt. Who knows what is in my ear? LOLOL

Well, my fingers are fixing to rebel. This is fortunate for you, because this has been pretty boring, I'm sure. That's me, boring. What can I say, I like it that way, LOL.