Good Girl Gone Plaid & Link Up On the Edge #276
“It’s Christmas Eve! It’s the one night of the year when we all act a little nicer, we smile a little easier, we cheer a little more. For a couple of hours out of the whole year, we are the people that we always hoped we would be.”
Bill Murray
Well, I don’t know if I have been a really good girl, but I suppose it depends on who you ask. I do try my very best to lead with love and light, but I am only human and I do fuck up a lot. But I am the first to admit it when I do and I am also more willing than most to do the hard introspective work that is required for growth as a human being.
I try to remain as objective as a person possibly can when it comes to the way I approach the world and the people in it. I learned a long time ago that it truly is best if you accept each and every person exactly where they are in the moment that you meet them. We all carry such high expectations of others which generally leads to disappointment. So I have stopped expecting anything and have started simply accepting everything just as it is. Because just as it is is exactly as it should be by virtue of the fact that it is exactly that way! Acceptance of our reality is a great way to shift our perspective into a place of extreme gratitude. And when gratitude takes over, the rewards are extraordinary!
I was thinking the other day about a new focus word for the new year. For 2021, my focus words were Gratitude and Perspective. I don’t really know how I got to those words, but I do know they were instrumental words of focus for helping me to shine straight on through the past year. I hit some bumps in the road along the way, but every single time that I shifted my perspective back to a place of gratitude, my light seemed to shine even brighter.
Without gratitude, I am just a regular incandescent light bulb…burning bright and dying fast. When you add gratitude into your life, it’s like switching to an LED light bulb. Gratitude makes you shine brighter, longer, and requires significantly less energy than walking though life without it. I hereby declare 2022 the year of LED.
Actually, my focus word for the new year popped into my head the other day as if it were planted there by some external source. Elevate. That’s all I heard. It was like a faint whisper containing a lot of power. I heard it clear as can be as if Jeff were speaking it to me. Just that one word. Elevate.
I am not entirely certain how to apply this focus word to my life yet, but I am thinking I am supposed to elevate myself above the bullshit of life. But for right now, I am just going to pay attention and listen to the message until it becomes clearer while a perspective of gratitude will remain my foundation.
So what the heck does all this have to do with a Good Girl Gone Plaid? Likely, nothing at all. I just found the title cute for this double plaid outfit. Then I started typing and followed the words…this is where they led me.
What will you be focusing on in 2022?
“Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart…filled it, too, with melody that would last forever.”
Bess Streeter Aldrich
“May you have the gladness of Christmas which is hope; the spirit of Christmas which is peace; the heart of Christmas which is love.”
Ada V. Hendricks
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Wishing you all the very best this Christmas. May your lives shine brighter than ever as we light the way for each other heading into the new year…the year of LED!
Keeping it on the edge,
Shelbee
Joining these Fabulous Link Parties.
Outfit Details: Velvet Blazer-Zara (Thrifted) / Sweater-Target / Skirt and Scarf-Charlotte Russe / Tights-c/o Sheertex / Boots-Shoe Dazzle / Hat-Wona Trading / Earrings-Old
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.
26 Comments
Jennifer
Merry Christmas Shelbee!!
Jennifer
Curated by Jennifer
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Jennifer! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas as well!
xoxo
Shelbee
Mica
Love the red with the black and whtie tartan! this is such a cute outfit 🙂 I’ve never picked a word for the year – I rarely set resolutions either, haha! just take things as they come really!
Thanks for the link up!
Hope that you have a wonderful Christmas 🙂
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Mica! I am not much of a resolutions person either. But I do like the focus word because it gives me something to ground myself when I start losing my balance! It’s like more of a daily meditation to keep me sane. I hope you have an amazing Christmas as well, my friend!
xoxo
Shelbee
Laurie
Have the best Christmas Shelbee xx
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Laurie! You, too!
xoxo
Shelbee
Nancy
I love the way you look at life and to other people. Wished I could see it that way. Wished I could accept people more the way they are. That’s a great gift if you can! Enjoy Christmas time with your lovely family. Give Jeff a big hug of me, because he makes you happy!!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Aw, Nancy, thank you so much, my sweet friend! I think you accept people for who they are more than you think you do! Acceptance does not mean that you have to be friends or even acquaintances with everyone you accept. Just the act of acceptance itself is all people really want anyway. We will never all be compatible with everyone else, but if we can just accept each other and let each live our best lives, that would be cool. I know that you definitely share that perspective! Wishing you a very Merry Christmas as well! Send Gerben a big hug from me because he takes such great care of you and makes you so happy! And hugs to you from all of us here!
xoxo
Shelbee
Tamar Strauss-Benjamin
What a cute look. Have a merry Christmas!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Tamar! Happy New Year!
xoxo
Shelbee
Di
Shelbee, that is the perfect outfit for Christmas Eve! I love the white platform boots with red and plaid! This is such a thought provoking post. Focus words are a great grounding technique. For me, acceptance is easy in some areas, but so very hard in others. A work in progress, and a lifelong practice for sure! Hope you have a wonderful holiday and thanks for sharing!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Di, thank you so very much! Acceptance is definitely a process whenever you are presented with something new and uncomfortable. Some things take a little longer to get to acceptance than others, but that is always my end goal. I am definitely a work in a process for my lifetime. I don’t ever want to settle into a place when I know I can still do better and be better. I hope you have a blessed holiday!
xoxo
Shelbee
Michelle
My dad always used to say, “You can trust everybody, but you have to trust them to be they are. (“Not who you want them to be,” was implied.) I’ve always found that bit of wisdom helpful.
I like your approach with the annual focus word(s). I think the concept might be helpful to me as well. I need something to bring back to center sometimes. I’ve been doing a lot of research into fibromyalgia. More knowledge is always helpful in my experience. But there is much that’s unknown, and of course that’s frustrating. And it can lead me to feeling unaccepting of the condition. Unaccepting is not helpful. So yes, a word or phrase to bring back to center might be just the thing.
Your double plaid outfit is super cute!
Michelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Michelle, thanks so much. I really love that bit of advice from your father as well. It really is a helpful approach to having peaceful relationships.
I have always taken the route of knowledge as my first line of defense when presented with any obstacle. When I was first diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, they literally handed me a pamphlet and a prescription and sent me blindly on my way. I had to learn all about my diagnosis and I had to do it on my own. The knowledge I gained from researching it from every possible angle was instrumental in saving my life.
As for the focus word, it really is a helpful place to return to when I get off balance. I will continue focusing back on perspective and gratitude and will just add elevate into it. I am thinking Acceptance may be a great focus word for you!
I hope you have a wonderful New Year, my friend!
xoxo
Shelbee
Michelle,
Acceptance may indeed be the perfect word!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
As soon as I read your comment, it became an obvious choice to me! Haha.
Michelle
I used it yesterday in fact. 😄
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I love it!
Lauren Renee Sparks
Thanks for sharing your focus words! Mine for 2021 has been trust. Trying to determine if I need to stick with it again for this year. I feel like there’s so much left for me to learn here.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thank you, Lauren! I am still sticking with my 2021 words of Perspective and Gratitude and simply adding the new word Elevate into the mix. Since they are all helpful focus words for different situations, I’ll keep focused on all three. Although Perspective and Gratitude have sort of become second nature to me after really focusing on them for a year. Trust is a great focus word as well and a wonderful foundation to build from, too! Wishing you all the best in the coming year, my friend!
xoxo
Shelbee
Patrick Weseman
Love how you quoted Scrooged which is my second favorite Christmas movie. Yes you are a Good Girl and I hope you got the gifts you wanted. Thanks for hosting this wonderful party.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Ha, thanks, Patrick! A very good girl, indeed. Depending on who you ask! I hope you had a great Christmas as well, my friend!
xoxo
Shelbee
Marsha Banks
You know, I have never been one to make resolutions…ok, I’m lying. I used to make resolutions all of the time. It was the keeping of them I failed to do! So, I quit making them. I mean, seriously, New Year’s Day is just another day in your life. Any day can be a day to start (or stop) something. And, I’ve never been one to have a word of the year…that I can honestly say. I’m just not organized enough to pick one, remember it, and stick to it. I guess I am just one of those people who goes through life meandering down the varying paths. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Some days, it feels very, very good. Other days, it feels very pointless. I should have an endgoal in sight, right? I dunnaknow…life is just such a weird puzzle. It seems like you get all of the pieces to fit, and then one of the little f*ckers pops out and messes up the whole damn thing! But, the days when it all fits…those are glorious!! IDK…maybe this is the year I make some changes. I guess I’d better figure that out and fast, right? Or, not…because NYD doesn’t really mean anything. Thanks, Shelbee for all of your powerful words today and every day. You DO make the world a much better place, and I thank you for that!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
OMG, Marsha, first of all, this might be the best comment that I ever received here! Second of all, you made me cry a little…the happy kind. And third of all, I totally relate to everything you just wrote! I have been flying through life by the seat of my pants forever…never knowing which direction to head, never having an end goal in sight, just living in and enjoying the moments and the ride at each and every turn. I really do view the bumps in the road as opportunities for learning and personal growth. And one thing I have learned, finally (and very recently), is that it really is okay to be the kind of fly by the seat of my pants person that I am. It has gotten me this far and I suspect it will take me straight through to the end now!
And I am definitely not one to make resolutions either. For all the reasons you shared. Any day is a new day when I can start to make changes. I don’t have to wait for some arbitrary date on a calendar to start any kind of personal progress! But the focus words have been super helpful for me. They keep me, well, focused! Ha.
Also, I don’t think you need to figure out anything, fast or slow. Just keep being you and shining your bright light into the world! Yesterday is in the past, tomorrow is in the future. All we ever have is right now. So we should all just be enjoying the moments we are in. We never know when they will come to an end.
Wishing you all the best, my friend!
xoxo
Shelbee
Michelle
This discussion reminded of a favorite meme:
Unpopular opinion: I don’t think your life has to have a purpose, or you a grand ambition; I think it’s okay to just wander through life finding interesting things until you die.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I freaking love that unpopular opinion! Although I think I kind of have a purpose but I really am over trying to figure it all out and now I just want to enjoy the living while the living is good! Show me all the interesting things, life!
xoxo
Shelbee