Cabinet Revitalization -Healthy Mind, Body and Spirit 2/27/12

May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands. ~Psalm 90:17

This weekend was a whirlwind of activity on my journey.  I had the idea that sprucing up my home would help boost my low moods.  I know that things aren't important in life; it's the people who really matter.  However, surrounding ourselves with things that we love goes a long way toward helping us feel content and comfortable.

I decided to begin my environmental spruce up in my kitchen.  Keeping in mind that I'm on a strict budget (overspending isn't exactly going to reduce my stress), I set out on this adventure.  I had bee looking for some new dishes to get the ball rolling and set a theme for the redo.  I love retro/vintage kitchenalia, so I knew I would stay with that vibe, but wasn't sure exactly what I wanted.  As luck would have it, a trip to my local Salvation Army made my decision for me.  I was able to snag six five-piece place settings of 1970s Corelle dinnerware in the Crazy Daisy pattern, for about $30.  I'm in love with it, it brings back happy childhood memories, and will hopefully be able to add to my collection bit by bit in the future.

Well, I couldn't put my pretty new dishes in shabby old cabinets, now could I?  That would be a crime.  So I got the bright idea to clean and wax the cabinets and buy some new hardware for them (costing about $100).  This is what the worst of the cabinets looked like when I got started.  I live in a 34 year old house and these are the original cabinets.

I got out my steel wool and Murphy's Oil soap and scrubbed the heck out of the cabinets.  I was happy to have the help of my 12 year old son (bonus bonding with my kid along the way) on this step.  He wiped the cabinets dry after I scrubbed and rinsed.  This is the result of a couple of hours worth of scrubbing, the whole kitchen, mind you, not just this one cabinet: ;)

Next, I found a wonderful recipe for homemade beeswax paste and I set about making a batch of that.  The batched turned out lovely and smelled heavenly of beeswax and lemons and oranges after adding some essential oils to the mix.  When the paste was set up, I rubbed it into the wood and polished the cabinets.  It gave the wood new life.  I am so pleased with the results.  As you can see, it was well worth all our hard work. 

It's amazing what a little inspiration and a bit of elbow grease can accomplish.  I got to thinking about how this concept applies to our lives as a whole.  Number one, having a goal in mind is key.  We can't just be floating about, hoping something significant will happen to us. We have to find something to work toward, visualize it and then do the work to make it happen.

This thought process segued into some pretty deep introspection about setting some goals for myself.  Not just weight loss goals, but goals about relationships and who I want in my life at this juncture; goals about my spiritual life and how I want to grow in that area; goals about what I want to spend my time doing.  So many things to think about.

I haven't set any concrete goals in any of the areas I just mentioned just yet, but I will.  Realizing that I need to have some specific things to work toward is a huge step in the right direction.  I have been really stuck in a rut this past year.  My health being what it was, and with all the outside (family) stresses, I was, in a sense, paralyzed-- with fear and stress running the show.  I have to shake off that fear and immobility and get the ball rolling in my life again.

I feel energized, not only by the physical activity of the past few days, but also by the new-found excitement in the potential wonders I will discover as I set specific things in motion, in my life moving forward.  It's a good feeling-- one I haven't felt in too long a time.  Once the goals are set, I will be ready to roll up my sleeves an apply a little elbow grease and breathe new life into my world.