What on earth are you waiting for?

Part 1:

Good morning!
I'm writing this morning to make a little commitment. Over the years, I've found that if I really wanted to do something BIG, scary or larger than I could fathom, I would tell someone.
My twin-sister and I cycled across Canada on a tandem bike, raising funds for the Heart and Stroke Foundation in 1994. Our mom had open heart surgery in 1992 and we wanted to say thanks to the organization that gave us our mom back. Prior to her surgery (valve replacement) she was really tired and could not do too much but after her surgery, she was literally able to do anything! Anything! And everything!

When Carla and I came up with the idea, we told everyone we could about our idea...specifically so that we would do it, in the end. It was a huge endeavour....getting sponsors, organizing the 93 cycling day trip (7906km) from coast to coast, all while studying for school.

We told everyone we knew so that we would not back down. When we told our mom of our idea, she was not impressed. She was scared for us. Once she realized we were serious, she would just shake her head and smile. In the end, we were the first people to cycle on a tandem bike across Canada and we raised over 1/2 million dollars in the process, for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. I think Mom was so proud of us. She was always proud of all of us, looking back.

Anyway, the fact that we told everyone we knew was an outward commitment. It helped us stay committed to our cause when things didn't go so well during the planning stages.

More on this later tonight....for now I'm making a commitment, mom, to finally go through my clothes tonight in my closet and give all the clothes I don't wear to the second hand store! Yay! It's time!

My mom would say, "What on earth are you waiting for?" when she knew I wanted to do something...or when I was supposed to do something and was procrastinating...

What on earth are you waiting for?


Part 2:
OK...I've started to go through every single piece of clothing I own to either decide if I actually want it, wear it and love it....or if it should go to the local second hand clothing stores or given away.

I started rather late, at 8:30pm, so I didn't give myself enough time to get this task finished in one evening. I am going through absolutely everything in my closet and drawers, asking myself a few questions that my friend and colleague shared with me...

Linda Andersson of Organizing Help (www.organizinghelp.ca) shared with me a few ways to eliminate the clothing items you don't want. She shared with me the following:

Linda asked me to consider my clothes in the following manner:
1. your best friends: the clothes you love, feel great in and wear often
2. your acquaintances: the clothes that you don't wear very often but appreciate and feel pretty good wearing.
3. strangers: the clothing items in your closet that you have not worn in ages, that you don't really like or that don't fit properly

As you do this, discard the strangers most of the acquaintances and give them away. Simple. Effective! Perfect!

I'm in the middle of my pile of clothes, but want to go to bed early b/c I'm up at 6am every morning this week to drive to the next town to work/speak with a group of aspiring entrepreneurs. I have only one tiny problem. I was a bit excited when i started this project and took EVERYTHING out of the closet and piled it on to the bed. Probably not my brightest moment b/c now I have 1/2 the pile of clothes still on my bed and I want to get to bed. Needles to say, we won't all fit.

I've started though, and that's the first step. I am so excited about living intentionally this year (and forever, I hope) and celebrating my mom in all her wisdom, through this project. Writing a few notes this morning on this blog, and committing to tackle my closet was the catalyst to get me there (even if I'm not finished), after a long day of work and 2 hour's of driving. Same place. Same time. Tomorrow night.

Mom, thanks for asking me, "what on earth are you waiting for, dear?" when I was hesitating or procrastinating. You have always been the most gentle but firm guidance in my life. If you were here right now, I know you'd not only be asking "What on earth are you waiting for?" but also "What, pray tell, were you thinking?". love you, Crystal