Living with Intent

Wow it’s been a long 4 months since I last posted and I have a ton of projects to share!   I’m sure you noticed that things look different around Cribbs Style and I hope you like it, but first, let me explain where I have been…

At the beginning of the year I spoke at a luncheon for local business women. I felt it was the perfect time to play off of the energy of New Year’s resolutions, so I chose the topic “Living with Intent.”  I spoke on the importance of setting schedules to allow for the other important things: i.e physical activity, spending time with family and friends, and hobbies, to name a few. Giving weight to these items would allow us to stop putting ourselves on the back burner of life. I warned of time wasters, suggested time savers, and out of the box ways to ask for help.

Next I talked about giving power to the word “no” by recognizing your limits and not stretching yourself too thin. Beginning with the process to purge the excess, not just the physical stuff, but the emotional and the social stuff as well. Understanding the concept that less really is more, which is very difficult when society tells us “bigger is better”, “buy in bulk”, “collect all the things”.  Being intentional with, not only how you live your life, but also what you bring into your life.  The last thing I left the group with was to give yourself grace. Understanding that change is hard, but possible.  Knowing that if we don’t get it right we can always restart, and you don’t have to wait until the first of the year or a Monday, it can happen now.

Like I’m in the middle of doing again.

I left my job with the Federal government of 13 years and started my organizing business and blog. By doing this, it gave me the opportunity to focus on my most important thing of all,  my family.  Over the past year I found that in order to not lose site of my family, I couldn’t equally handle the blog and the business. Talk about a gut check. While I enjoyed the connections of the business and helping people transform their spaces, I missed the creative outlet of the blog.  I wasn’t investing the proper time into the blog and as a result, the blog wasn’t  growing.

This summer I read the book “Present over Perfect” by Shauna Niequist.  So much of this book was the affirmation of what I already knew: it’s never too late to start again, living life with intent, and other friendly reminders to keep focus on what I had wanted for this new season in my life.  It was during that time, I had found a great balance with family and decided it was time to decide between the organizing or the blog, but it would also require starting over. That’s when the fear set in. Fear is an ugly emotion that robs us of getting out of our comfort zones. “Fear of failure” is its ugly cousin and will convince you it won’t work before you even give yourself the chance to try.

And then it happened.

 

We were out one day and someone I was talking to, asked me what I do and my oldest was quick to respond, “don’t you know, my mom is ‘Cribbs Style’?”  Quickly I became embarrassed, because despite how enthusiastic my daughter was,  clearly I was not a big deal. Then it clicked. In being so worried about how I measured up to the outside world, I almost missed how I measured up to my little girls. The time I had intentionally devoted to them, our relationship grew and they saw me in a different light. I realized  that the same passion and focus I have for them, I needed to devote to my blog because to stop now, essentially I would be failing my family.

So on some random day in October, I kick started the change and I haven’t looked back.

Now I pose the question to you, what’s something you’ve wanted to do and what’s holding you back? Time will continue to pass and trust me, it’s not limitless. Living with intent is not easy and it takes a lot of work, but when you think about quitting, remember your “why”. If you want it bad enough, there won’t be an excuse in the world that can keep you from achieving your dreams. I believe in you.

XOXO

Brooke

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