Motto to Live By

CSN store offers over 1 million products from over 200 online shops. You can find everything from bedding to cookware and wall art and decor. I have wanted to make some changes around the house and keep visiting their site. I think you will enjoy visiting them too. :)

Speaking of wall art...I recently made one for myself.

Ta-da!



If you get around in blogland, you probably have seen this type of decor. It is all over the place. I love the saying; it's simple, but so true and helpful.

One thing I know about myself is, I don't handle stress very well. So I try to keep my schedule organized, simple (if that's possible), and try not to over commit myself to things. Although, life happens. Sometimes, no matter what I do, I get overwhelmingly busy, and yes, I get very stressed out.

The saying I found last year, really helped to keep me grounded. In many occasions, I reminded myself "Sachiko, it's ok, it's not the end of the world, keep calm and carry on". Whatever serious situation or not, the saying "keep calm and carry on" really puts things in perspective for me.

One serious incident that comes to my mind is when my husband lost his job last summer. I was in shock, and scared for a bit, but I have children to take care of. Besides, being fearful doesn't help with anything. To have inner-peace, and just carry on with the things I can do in our everyday life helped to keep our family going, and made our bonds stronger. He found a new job in a little over a month, it was such a relief.

I will share another incident (not so serious, well, to me it was, but probably not to you) the saying "keep calm and carry on" helped me.

We were visiting my in-law's house, and I went to use the bathroom. I was washing my hands, and looking at myself in the mirror, when...!!!

I found my first gray hair! And there were three of them. Well, at first I thought, "No, that can't be. Maybe, MAYBE, when I colored my hair, I bleached it too much, so it turned a lighter color. Yeah, that's it, that's not gray hair."

AND, I did the thing people tell you not to when you find gray hair. I pulled them out. No, I wasn't thinking straight, don't judge me!

I had to make sure and investigate, if they are gray hair or not. My in-laws have dark cabinetry in their bathroom, so I put my hair against it. No matter how much I squinted my eyes, blinked and stared at it, it was gray hair. Gah!!!

I flushed them, got out of the bathroom, and was feeling sad.

It took me a couple days to finally tell my husband about my dark (well more like gray) secret. He thought it was so funny that it took me that long to tell him about it. He laughed "Hehehehe..." and gave me a bear hug.

Now I think of it though, it is a blessing that I got to see my gray hair. When I was born the doctors told my parents that I would not live past my teenage years, even with all the medical stuff I've been through. All in all, I am still here to see my aging process! I can't say that I am ready and bring it on, but I will remember to gracefully carry on.

My hope is that when I am old and mature, I will have beautiful silver gray hair and pretty wrinkles that only so many smiles can engrave. It will be wonderful, if I can offer wisdom to pass on to the next generation and wit and humor to lighten up a room.

I don't know what 2011 will hold for me, but whatever I do, and how I react in certain situations surely leads to what kind person I will be in the future.

"Keep calm and carry on"

Would you like to take a challenge with me?