SHOPPING MY CLOSET

Shopping My Closet

I received a compliment from a friend the other day on the outfit I was wearing.   When she asked where I got it I replied “I shopped my closet”. 

My friend asked where this shop was located and I repeated to her that what I was wearing came from my closet and that I had just “shopped my own closet”!

I explained further that I was not working much these days, basically just delivering some part time Training.  

I was transitioning into retirement mode and trying to cut back on spending and part of my restraint program involved a personal challenge to stop buying unnecessary clothing. 

I have always loved fashion and take great pleasure in shopping for clothes.  The result was a closet bulging with so many items I had a tough time finding ‘anything to wear’! 

New items would be purchased and added to the already overflowing closet and although I did on rare occasions clear out that which I didn’t fit or wear much I knew that I had more than enough to wear without buying more. 

Shopping, although fun and therapeutic at times, had become a costly habit for me! 

My closet is not large and yet it isn’t too small either but I knew it wasn’t more space I needed. 

I needed to organize the space I already had.  This would aid my motivation to ‘shop my closet’ instead of a store.  I devised a plan to clean out my closet and organize it in a way that I could clearly see and find outfits that I actually wore.  In the past I had thought about removing seasonal clothes however it seemed like too much work at the time.  In spite of this I started with the removal process and I eventually removed EVERYTHING with the intention of only putting back what I actually wore regularly!

Having freed up some space allowed me to spread out my outfits and be able to clearly see what I had available to wear.  I tried on everything and if the buttons were bulging or the waistline too tight they were sent off to the Thrift Shop.

I found things that I had forgotten I had.  I discovered ‘shamefully’, outfits I had never worn. 

 

I had more than enough to wear and the best things were jammed in where I couldn’t even see them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So now that I have completed this mountainous task I can ‘shop my closet’ and revisit items that are like new.  

So take a peek in my closet and think of me the next time you say “I have nothing to wear” and consider “shopping YOUR closet”!

Author:  Trish Repay (BlackCrowCurios)
visit me at my personal blog:  http://blackcrowcurios.wordpress.com/a-bit-about-me/

THE ART OF PERSEVERANCE

THE ART OF PERSEVERANCE

WEBSTER’S DICTIONARY DEFINITION:

PERSEVERE - TO TRY HARD AND CONTINUOUSLY IN SPITE OF OBSTACLES AND DIFFICULTIES

Many skills are required to become successful in sales. Etsy sellers require creative skills, marketing skills, time management skills, search engine optimization (SEO) skills, sales and customer service skills, and social media and technology skills. And yet all these skills pale in contrast to perseverance, which is the one skill that often, makes up for our deficiencies in other areas.

Having perseverance allows us to be successful no matter what obstacles are placed in front of us.  It isn’t a cake walk to meet sales and marketing challenges head on while wading through the competition and dealing with customer service issues.  And yet many of us know what we need to do and yet we simply don’t do it.

We sometimes spend our time looking for an easy way out rather than using the path of determination and perseverance and doing what we need to do even when we don’t feel like doing it.  We want to achieve multiple sales, lose weight or get rich instantly! We want immediate gratification and we don’t want to do the painstaking, persistent and thorough work that it takes to achieve these successes. 

I personally believe that the ability to persevere is the key to success in all walks of life. Remember the children’s storybook about “THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD?”

Talk about determination and perseverance!

 

I’ve been married for a large number of years and if anyone were to ask “how have you hung in there for so long?”  I would of course first reply that being married to such an wonderful, easy-going, lovable man makes it easy; however I also sincerely believe that having the ability to persevere is also very critical!  In the best of marriages you have your moments when it just seems like too much work and it would be so easy to say “adios my fine fellow” but by persevering through the hard stuff you reap amazing long term rewards. 

We need to practice at being determined and persistent. Whether it is simply exercising, learning a new skill, staying in a relationship or working diligently on our SEO, we need to resolve that we will persevere until the task is completed or we are satisfied with our results and ready to move on. 

Desire may be the key to motivation, but it’s through determination and perseverance while in pursuit of our goals that enables us to attain the success we seek. Perhaps the best technique to conquer the skill of perseverance is to just start. Sometimes just beginning a task is often the most difficult. However once you begin, you pick up the drive that leads to your success and accomplishment.   

Many of us remember being told when we were young that “a job worth doing was worth doing well” followed up with “do it well or don’t do it at all." Perseverance, in my humble opinion, is the one skill that guarantees your success!

What do you think? 

Which skill do you consider to be of importance in attaining success in life?

 

Author:  Trish (BlackCrowCurios)