Carly's Ramblings Blog - Style

LAughing So Hard,,, & Give Up To Go Up

30 Day Blogging Challenge

The Sunday News!
Comedian and sitcom star Jim Gaffigan recently did a stand-up comedy show in Buffalo, NY, and apparently was so funny it drove a pregnant woman into labor three weeks early. There really isn't any way of knowing for sure if one led to the other, of course, but you can tell us this...'One time I laughed so hard...' (and then what happened?).

I had to check and see who Jim Gaffigan was... and it was the guy I had pictured in my mind.... the guy that is doing that one commercial that can't remember the name of his kids. Not sure what the ad is for though.... I took a peek at one of the YouTube video and had a good giggle as he went on about McDonald's and how we don't admit we secretly like it.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=jim+gaffigan+youtube+videos&view=detail&mid=...

One time I laughed so hard.... well, I have probably fallen off a chair, had to squat to stop myself from peeing, had to use a bag to hyperventilate into... I enjoy a good laugh. The kind that make tears well up in your eyes are the best. Full body involvement... that leaves you feeling like you've had a workout for your abs is excellent. Letting yourself find the funny in the world... now that is the way to let things catch you and take you on a ride to humourville. I can go alone or take others with me. Sometimes a phrase just catches me funny and I can to let it out. My friend's daughter said of a tree standing all by itself - look he has no friends. Well, that got me and I started to howl. I added that the tree had a flat top and that's why all the other trees had left him alone.

Love Louder - Amplifying My Life

I have decided as part of my blog to comment on each of Preston Smiles's ways to Love Louder. He has written an intriguing little book or 33 Ways To Amplify Your Life. The full title is Love Louder: 33 Ways To Amplify Your Life.

Day 22 - Give Up To Go Up: The Power Of Sacrifice
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

"Evaluation requires separation, and at the heart of loving louder is sacrifice. It requires letting go of unhealthy habits, shedding certain relationships, and sacrificing small thinking and excuses." Preston goes on to add, "if you want something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done." Giving up the bad, unhealthy habits that keep you stuck is one way to free yourself for the possibilities of following your dreams. You cannot talk about living your best life if you keep doing things that are out of alignment with it.

We need to find the courage to give up things that hold us back from our dreams. We must sacrifice those habits that are no longer serving us... habits that we do without conscious awareness of them or their ineffectiveness in our lives.

We all have something or someone we know that isn't serving our highest growth or good. I have given up one friend in the past whose negativity was too toxic to stay around.... I just let her fade out of my life... I felt bad doing so, but I also felt a freedom from her toxicity.

If it isn't serving you, let it go. Preston says "re-evaluating what's important, eliminating those things that are in the way and replacing them with new, healthy habits" is what loving louder is all about.
"Sacrifice may not be easy, but it is necessary for us to get to the next level."

#LOVELOUDERCHALLENGE
Make a list of everything you know isn't serving you. It could be a family member, a job, or a favourite pastime, write it down.
Circle three that you least want to give up.
Choose one of those three and create a strategy for removing that / them from your life, for now.


I write to avoid doing what should be done.
I read to avoid doing what should be done.
I hide in things to avoid doing the adulting of my life.
I avoid conversations about what is bothering me or not working for me.... particularly in my marriage.
My husband, now my ex - I would change for him - be quiet, not share my humour around my family as he would take offence, feel guilty doing what I loved when he thought I should be cleaning and doing things around the house.
Social media can take hours of my time.
Not exercising - getting out of shape, gaining weight.
Not moving enough.
Eating junky food that leaves me feeling bloated.
Feeling guilty that I did not do enough to save my marriage.
Staying in a marriage when I was afraid to strike out on my own.
Turning down supply teaching jobs because of fear.
Not looking for work to increase my income.
Not getting a lawyer yet to support my wishes in the separation
Going along with what my ex wants so I don't rock the boat.