Simpler, Saner Life Makeover Contest
ByI have been moved, humbled and awed at the people that have put in their stories for the saner, simpler life contest. I chose 5 and need your help to choose the winner.
1) Miriam http://www.mysimplerlife.com/blog/?p=1353#comment-34701
2) Kathy http://www.mysimplerlife.com/blog/?p=1353#comment-34530
3) Debbie http://www.mysimplerlife.com/blog/?p=1353#comment-34516
4) Sue http://www.mysimplerlife.com/blog/?p=1353#comment-34513
5) Sandi http://www.mysimplerlife.com/blog/?p=1353#comment-34512
Select your pick in the poll below and I will announce next Monday
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Could you use a simpler life?
Tell me your story in the comments.
You will receive:
- The simpler, saner life course with email coaching from me
- The procrastination ecourse
- Three 30 minute phone/chat or email coaching sessions
- Simple life evaluation
- E-book 365 tips for a simpler, saner life
- My copy of Lighten Up by Michelle Passoff on how to free yourself from clutter
- Access to the chat transcripts and how to’s from the Declutter Club
4 finalists will be chosen based on the answer to this question, "Why I need a saner, simpler life." Answer in the comments. The winning finalist will be determined by popular vote in a poll I will invite you to.
And to make this contest helpful to more than just the winner, I will be blogging about the changes to a saner, simpler life. (I’ll be sharing what I post with the winner before posting, but if you don’t want to be blogged about, you don’t want to enter 
The 4 finalists will be chosen Monday morning Feb 23rd.
You can find similar articles below
- Weekly Simplicity Tips
- Simple Living Questions
- Weekly Simplicity Tips
- Weekly Simplicity Tips
- Comments
[...] Simpler, Saner Life Makeover Contest [...]
Why I need a saner, simpler life: For my kids!
My kids deserve a home that is easy to navigate (finding the toys they want, when they want them), cozy to live in, and comfortably ready for the activities of everyday life, guests, and play, not stacked up with dishes, laundry, and clutter.
They deserve a mom who is present and able to focus on them 100%, not worried about the unfinished projects and chores. They deserve a mom who can teach them to appreciate the simple things and not rely on something outside of them for entertainment and fulfillment.
I need a saner and simpler life for me, too, but so much of my life energy is about building these little people into strong, capable, thriving children, and any tips, tricks, or momentum I get goes straight into making that work better!
MY LIFE IS INSANE!
I am a 56 year old grandmother who should be able to relax and enjoy my children and grandchildren. My job has taken over my life, and my disability has limited not just my job performance, but any spare time I’m able to claim.
My husband and I own and run a repair shop for the personal single engine type of airplanes, and money is tight. He runs the shop with two part time helpers, and I run the office by myself. This includes billing, collections, purchasing, banking, customer service, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. I then go home and cook supper for us (one grown son is our roommate in a rented condo). I finally put my foot down and insisted I have Sunday off for general cleaning and laundry. This is my only day off (if you can call it that), and I still wind up going into work about every other Sunday.
My disability involves rheumatoid arthritis in both knees, diabetes, and a prolapsed mitral valve (heart murmur). It is difficult to walk, and I can’t stand for more than a minute or two. This means that it takes all day to get halfway through a day’s worth of chores.
I am surrounded by stacks of paperwork at work, and dust bunnies and unprocessed mail at home.
I have 5 sons, 4 grandsons and 3 granddaughters. If a saner, simpler life were mine, I would be able to accomplish what I need to, and maybe even have some time for family. Maybe even some hobbies! Wow! Is this possible?
Sandi P.
Why do I need a saner, simpler life?
Well, in the last year…
My husband has been hospitalized twice since November, both times spending some time in Cardiac Intensive care,
I quit my teaching job to go back to school to get a Doctorate in clinical psychology,
I have a Kindergartner and 4th grader,
My 4th grader has ADHD and other mental health issues,
We have lost our priest and now are church,
We lost our family Doc
We hospitalized my 4th grader,
Need I go on?
I am going insane and my house proves it. I’m really embarrased to have people come over. I can’t find anything. My kids are always losing homework, etc. My husband can’t stand the mess, but can’t do too much to help. I spend way too much time looking for things that could be better spent with my kids.
I am hoping that 2009 will be a better year in many ways. Getting a saner, simpler life would be a tremendous help…
simpler, saner life needed. *smiles*
i have good days and bad days. good days where i have the energy to do what i need to do, and bad days where i’m barely plugging along at my daily tasks.
with three young children, one is homeschooled, the other are just there for the ride as they’re not old enough for ‘real’ school, (but we sure have fun doing ‘school’ with them, too)
i could definitely use help with how to organize all sorts of aspects in my life. i’m trying to accept that i will have bad days and to make the most of the good days but gosh, i sure wish i had it more together so the bad days were not as obvious to visitors. . . .
sorry about typing. nursing the youngest while i read e’s. . .
After raising 4 children alone, seeing them through University and settled into careers and establishing families of their own, I anticipate time for myself. Not so I very quickly developed Diabetes, Hypertension, extensive Osteoarthritis, Kidney disease and finally 3 months ago I was diagnosed with cancer in my spine.
I am at a point where I am trying to wind down my lifestyle and establish a calmer quieter environment in my home so I can focus on fighting the cancer. I love your web site and have gained so much from it and the newsletters prior to this last set back. I have always wanted to do your course but never had the time. Now I have the time but my finances are getting in the way.
Why do I need a saner, simpler life? As an adult with ADHD I walk around a lot of the time with my head in a ‘fog’ and find the ‘list of things to do’ overwhelming a lot of the time. Procrastination is a big problem too as when I’m overwhelmed I take the easy option (but not the right one) and put it off! I would love to learn the skills needed to be organised and to “live simpler” as they certainly don’t come naturally to me!
I am completely overwhelmed and need help. Where do I start – divorced, middle aged, overweight, fibromyalgia, two children both with special needs one full-care in a wheelchair the other with sensory problems and learning disabilities, acting out, three years of litigation and paperwork, Special education testing and plans paperwork, X walked out for another woman, 2 hours a day commuting, sold 10 year family home all by myself, downsized my home by 2/3 and my family by 1/2 (my child in the wheelchair lives with his dad), trying to restart my career in terrible economy and after 10 years at home, dinner, spelling, math facts, packing lunches, sports, durable medical equipment, daipers, toys, SLEEP, my apartment looks like a cross between a habitrail and King Tut’s tomb. I am having a hard time juggling it all and letting go and starting over. Would love some intensive, personalized help in organizing life.
Almost 40 and feeling “season confusion”… After remarriage I have 2 grown children and 4 grandbabies (1 still in utero), 2 teens (mine), and 2 babies who just turned 2 and 1 this month (ours). I stuggle- and mostly fail- to make meaningful connections with all the kids in thier various locations and life phases. Throw in some health struggles, full time professional career, money management issues, and we are just your typical -life spinning out of control -family. I long for peace and calm and sleep.
I truly do need a simpler, saner life.
On the outside (of my house and my skin) I seem to be performing well, public and employers are happy, but the inside is falling apart. I’m afraid we are moving from Katie’s “typical-life spinning out of control-family” into one that may not recover from the effects of their responses to all the same problems described by the others here; illnesses, disabilities, money problems, relationship issues, and lack of time to think or plan a way out from under all the “stuff”. Can’t think about the future (though I have pages and pages of ideas) because we can barely function to make it through the day. Don’t have a good example in place to be able to motivate family members to participate in the change.
However, (will you see this as the biggest factor?) I think it’s interesting to note that all who have posted thus far are not women just starting their lives, but those (like me?) who have been working at life for a while, probably have known success and something better, and hope to reclaim that. How can I possibly read about the problems and struggles that these women are dealing with and their hopes for their loved ones and say that mine are more desperate or deserving? I ought to be able to “suck it up” and find the inner resolve to work harder to fix myself so that you can help them.
It is getting more difficult to make lemonade out of the mountain of lemons that has piled up over so many years. So I am putting my name “into the hat” and waiting to see what you think. That is the story of my life.
Hello
I’m 58 years old and my husband decided nine months ago to flee for “real life”. So, It’s high time for me to live MY way, A life to be cool, calm and eager to make friends in this city where I don’t know anyone. I have to go on with a job I don’t really enjoy, as a teacher I must select the core of the subjects and make work simple for my students.
So I need a saner life to be simple in my social life ( which is like a desert nowadays). As an only child, I must do with old parents who are not prepared to any change in relationship.
This week end I decluttered the house ( I rented it with my husband 4 years ago) , next I have to choose and move in a flat. I also have to empty the large house I have been living for thirty years with husband and daughters, this wil be hard job.
So I need to learn how to make a decision and to choose an area to get retired and have a good social life.
Hope you can understand me since I am French
I am a busy 40 year old married mum to four children. I also have a full-time job, I teach French in an American School in the Middle East. We moved here from our homeland of Scotland about ten years ago, and have managed to get used to most things here! My husband is very busy and travels everywhere with his work. Also studying for a PhD., I find I don’t have enough hours in the day to complete everything I need to do. I am always on “Autopilot” My children have chores and the older ones do help out often.
I suffer from MS which causes me to feel weak, and have numb hands and legs fairly frequently. I cannot tolerate the heat in summer, and find it difficult getting organised.
Our house on first glance., appears organised. We have clutter, as do most larger families. Things may be tidied out of sight, but quite often have no designated home. It is difficult to find things. I spend my time trying to clear and sort out “homes for things”, but find time and energy are not on my side. This makes me feel that I am incapable of dealing with everyday tasks that others seem to breeze through.
I would love to live an organised life, with time for ourselves as a family. I believe that this is possible, but I need a helping hand and support to accomplish this. Hope you can help me Beth!
I am dreaming of a saner simpler life…..
I hope I’m not too late to enter the contest! My not so simple habits got in the way!
Instead of leaving a comment right away, I wrote “enter Beth’s contest” on my to-do list. Then my projects got so hectic I didn’t look at the to-do list again! So, I’m here at the eleventh hour hoping to get my entry in on time.
The “eleventh hour” is my life. And I’m tired of it. I work in a deadline oriented job and I consistently work until two or three in the morning the night before I project is due in order to barely make the deadline.
The eleventh hour is my life at home too. I go to the grocery store when there is *nothing* else in the house to eat, and often after we’ve wasted a *ton* of money eating out for a few days. My diabetic husband will sometimes go to the store himself to get his “essentials” so that he can eat a well-balanced, controlled diet.
My own health is suffering, and I’ve reached the eleventh hour with it as well. I’ve passed the point of “a little overweight,” and I’m beginning to suffer adverse health effects as a result. Planning meals and exercise doesn’t work in the eleventh hour!
My eleventh-hour lifestyle is making me frantic, stressed, forgetful, unhealthy, and unhappy. So, while it looks like I’m keeping it together, it feels like a shaky facade ready to collapse at any moment.
Simplify. Breathe. Plan. Relax. Live. That’s what I want to replace my hectic lifestyle.
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