Welcome to the June 1st One Little Word Blog Hop. In case you're new, the hop was started by Margie (who, by the way, spends a considerable amount of time organizing, communicating and publishing in an effort to bring us all together….so thank you, Margie, for all you do!) . If you're going in order, you've just visited Melissa's little home on the web (and what an awesome OLW post she has there today!) and next on the list is Sam . If you're bouncing around, you can find the entire list at the bottom of this post.

Maybe it's the bookworm in me (even though I'm not ready to admit how long it's been since I picked up a book. sigh), but I am in love with the idea of a new month. It's almost like a new school year….fresh, nothing written in the boxes of the calendar grid, practically begging for me to fill it up. I read a piece of advice recently about how to live a better life, an it emphatically stated that time should be invested, not spent. Been thinking of that quite often.

Especially now that summer has arrived and the kids are home. The days are B-U-S-Y; so busy, sometimes, that I barely stop to breathe much less really tune in to my thoughts. I think that's why, even though I don't participate as often as I should, I love the One Little Word challenges. They force me to take a few minutes to reflect. To play with paper and glue and inks (which I miss so very, very much).  To gague where I am, if I've achieved anything worth noting in the previous 30 days, or–God forbid–slid backward on the big scale of progress.

 This is our smallest hop to date, which I guess makes sense when you think about it. I think many of us started the One Little Word class as a New Years Resolution of sorts, and like many resolutions this one has lost steam over the months as real ife has taken place. I realized as I was working on my pages that my word is one GREAT BIG RESOLUTION; nothing like being true to myself and biting off more than I can chew. If you're interested in seeing all of my One Little Word posts in one place, go here.

My word in and of itself is a beautiful word: become. Thing is, I'm a believer that you can't really become who you truly are until ALL the aspects of your life are in order. So I'm not just working on one thing (why coudln't I have picked the word SLEEP?!), I'm working on all things Lisa. The biggies: weight, health, finances, calling, motherhood, me. Quite a mouthful to chew on, don't you think? Add the fact that even though I'm incredibly talented at recognizing the progress in baby steps that others take in their journeys, I completely dismiss my own baby steps. I look at the bank balance, the number on the scale and notice first the lack of progress instead of the baby step successes. Is that  a personality trait one can change? I don't know; it's been my MO for 40 years now, which makes it a pretty damn hard habit to break.

 

Anyway, today is a new month. 30 brand new days to choose whether I invest or spend. And even though I dislike those annoying Jenny Craig commercials on TV, I do love a quote I found from her: "It's not what you do once in a while, it's what you do day in & day out that makes a difference." I'm reminded of my inspiring friend Diana (who just happens to take the most amazing photographs I've ever seen) and her sharing with me that she and her husband are enjoying a time in life where they are loving life, and they did that by making hundreds of little right decisions. Not one or two over the course of years, but a series of choices to do the right thing even if it didn't pay off for them at that moment. What a beautiful legacy to look back upon.

I wish you a lovely month filled with baby steps and tiny victories!

Here's the entire blog hop list….you can visit anytime. I'm sure they'd love to have you stop by!