Moments for Me Monday - Week 1 AND Bloggy Giveaways all in ONE!

It's week one of this new challenge! Click the meme sign above to read the meme instructions. Write your "Moments for Me" Monday post on your blog and then link up to this blog by clicking the Mister Linky below. Share your stories! Inspire and be inspired! I'm kinda cheating here and posting this early because I'm taking the week off from any blog posting starting tonight!

AND for some added incentive .....I'm celebrating my first "Moments for Me" post with a bloggy GIVEAWAY!

Now, before you go getting all excited.... it's a used book....a previously read book...by yours truly. I enjoyed this book so much that I wanted to share it with one of you.

It's written by Rebecca Wolf ....an amazingly talented mommy blogger.....I've been enjoying her blog, Girl's Gone Child, for a while now and her book is partially responsible for inspiring this challenge. Reading the following couple of paragraphs (pg 265 & 266) made me smile....

"A child is not an excuse for a mother's fading ambition. a child is
a huge responsibility, yes, but so is a dream. So is every goal we give
ourselves, every wish we make on glow-in-the-dark stars.

Martyrdom does not bring into the world children with a strong sense of
self. A mother who sacrifices her livelihood for her children is risking
not only her own loss of identity but also the well-being of her children.
No child deserves to be resented. It IS possible to do it all well.

Having a family is a choice. Happiness is the most underrated
accessory to success. It is paramount to be inspired by life in order to
be an inspiration to a child."

So I found it fitting to pass on this book to someone who participates in this challenge today. Anyone who posts a link to their own "Moment For Me" post will be entered twice. If you don't want to link up then just leave a comment on my post I'll enter you once. If you tell me how someone else's post may have inspired you I'll enter your name twice in the drawing. And, actually, now that I'm thinking about it.....I think I'll include next week's "Moment for Me" challenge in this too since I'll be gone this week anyway. So if you link up both this week AND next week...you'll have 4 entries in the drawing....I'm taking this week off from blogging after this is posted because I'm leaving Wednesday for my annual 4 1/2 day "Weekend for Me" trip to Florida with some friends. So I'll do the drawing next Tuesday or Wednesday .....OOOOO..... NO....I'll do it on Monday night the 28th.....IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! How fitting is THAT! I'll do the drawing Monday night after all comments are in and post the winner before I go to bed!

As part of this meme I decided to try out this meditation thing. Meditation has intrigued me for a while now. Those who meditate swear by it. Learning how to meditate has been on my "to-do" list for months. I just never got around to it. To be honest....I felt a little foolish. Picturing myself sitting in the middle of a silent room Buddha style just made me laugh at myself.

And I just know that my friend Kelly is sitting in her basement right now laughing at me.

LOL!

Heck, I'm laughing at me.

It's foolish....and I don't care! So I sat at my computer and googled "learn to meditate" and found this web site. I learned that there are MANY different styles of meditation....who knew?! But beginners usually start with "breathing meditations" before moving on to more difficult styles.

Cool.

I can breathe.

In fact, it's something I'm actually quite good at.

Why learn to meditate? The very first paragraph on this site says: "The purpose of meditation is to make our mind calm and peaceful. If our mind is peaceful, we will be free from worries and mental discomfort, and so we will experience true happiness; but if our mind is not peaceful, we will find it very difficult to be happy, even if we are living in the very best conditions. If we train in meditation, our mind will gradually become more and more peaceful, and we will experience a purer and purer form of happiness. Eventually, we will be able to stay happy all the time, even in the most difficult circumstances."

Sounds good to me! So I read through the material...took notes...plopped my butt on a pillow in the middle of my great room.... closed my eyes in silence....and.......

giggled....

and giggled......

and giggled......

K....this isn't working for me.....

So I decided I needed to take baby steps. And decided to meditate in my master bath jet tub. Lavender Candles lit....lights dimmed low....ahhhhhhhhh.....k.....this I can do.

And here's the conversation I had with my self...

"Clearing my mind. Thinking nothing. Relaxing my toes. My nose itches. Am I allowed to scratch my nose in the middle of meditation? I don't remember reading anything about this. If I don't scratch my nose I won't be able to clear my mind. I scratch my nose. Now my nose is wet. It's bugging me. Dry it with the towel. K. Relax. Clearing my mind. Thinking nothing. Focusing on my breathing.... ooooohhhhhhmmmmmmm.......I have to go to the grocery store tomorrow. Gotta get some pasta salad for dinner at Mom's. Stop it. Clear the mind. Relax. This is hard. How exactly does one discard of all thoughts. This is tough. No easy task. No-sir-ee. ooooohhhhhhhmmmmmm. That really helps. So that's why people say oooohhhhhmmmmmm. It's hard to have a thought when your saying ooooohhhhhhmmmmmmm. I laughed at the woman who wrote Eat, Pray, Love for talking to herself during meditation and now look at me....I'm doing the same thing. Stop it. Why do you always see people meditating with their middle finger and thumb touching? Should I be doing that? I didn't read anything about that either. I'll try it. I don't feel any different. Am I suppose to feel an epiphany of sorts when my fingers touch? The water's getting colder. Maybe I should run some more hot water. I don't think it's been 10 minutes. I wonder how long I've been here. That candle smells wonderful. I didn't look at the clock when I got it. Hm. Maybe it's been 5 minutes. Oooohhhhmmmmmm."

I'm a work in progress. Clearing your mind is much harder than it sounds. And not feeling like a fool while your trying to clear your mind is even harder. I'll have to keep practicing. But I can say that I did feel extraordinarily good when I got out of the tub. I don't use my tub nearly enough!

My second "Moment for Me" activity was going for a pedicure. This is my favorite thing in the world to do for myself. You know me and feet. Gotta have me some perty toes. And I just went to my kitchen pantry to grab myself a Dove's dark chocolate...my favorite thing in the world to eat!....and you know what the message on the inside of the foil said??.....it said "get your feet messaged!".....Well....HELL!....you don't have to tell ME twice!

Can't afford to splurge on a pedicure? Then give yourSELF a pedicure. Soak those feet, rub and massage those feet, pamper those feet! Or team up with a friend and have a pedicure party. Swap pedicures! Gotta make sure this friend doesn't have a problem with feet though. I would need a whole lot'a alcohol to be rub'n on anyone's toes but my own thankyouvurymuch....and gloves....gloves would be good!

"Unhappiness is a symptom of forgetfulness, as much as joy is a symptom of
remembering. When we're unhappy, balance gives way, perspective collapses, faith
falters, communication often breaks down, doubt doubles, panic ensues, and a thousand different symptoms spill all around us. The disharmony we feel is ultimately a disharmony with our self. We've stepped out of our center; and we "lose heart," "lose spirit," and lose our Self."

Happiness Now, pg 23, by Robert Holden, Ph.D.