Be Well {Updated}

Self-care is a big buzz word these days. I don’t know what it is, but that term always makes me feel a little queasy. It makes me think of cleaning a wound or something equally unappealing. This, perhaps, is because I’ve never had a strong stomach. I gave blood last week and looked the other way the entire time. 

But my wimpiness aside, I do believe in taking care of yourself and not just in the get enough sleep, drink enough water, eat enough veggies kind of way. I believe in feeding your soul.

To me feeding my soul means good books, lazy lounging tv with a cup of tea (Cranford, Call the Midwives, The Land Girls, Kingdom and Doc Martin, who incidentally faints at the sight of blood) and enjoying life’s pleasures, big and small.

I find I always can enjoy myself more if my mind and my life are less cluttered. Gretchin Rubin talks about this principle in her book, Happier At Home. You can read an excerpt of it here. But here’s a snippet, “I've often heard that happiness is having less. But as I cleared clutter, I learned that happiness is not having less or more. Happiness is wanting — and using — what I have. No matter how nicely organized, useless things make clutter.”

Here are three practical ways to declutter and make more room for joy in your life today: 

1. According to the Federal Trade Commission, you can opt-out of prescreened credit offers by calling toll-free 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688) or visiting www.optoutprescreen.com.

2. Get rid of unwanted catalogs using CatalogChoice.org.

3. Put all of your appointments on an online calendar. I use Cozi. It’s free, and you can access it from your phone or computer. It color codes each appointment by family member, and it gives you the option of emailing calendar items to other family members.

Live well, love well.

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UPDATE: Want an additional way to be well? There’s a new adoption retreat, Called to Love, taking place in Oregon in November for adoptive and foster moms. Learn more about it here.