Amanda Riley Wellness

Get Dirty

Being a full time single mama, business owner and dream chaser doesn’t leave a ton of time for hobbies. I remember when my daughter was around 2, someone asked me what my hobbies are….I was like I work 60+ hrs a week and have a 2 year old…my hobbies are whatever she feels like doing?

As I shared in past blogs, the time of quarantine blessed me a chance to recover + restore. While I dove into my business, I also took some time to do things “I always thought about” but never got done – one of these things was planting some flowers 🙂

Simple, right? Amanda, one of the things on your list was to plant flowers? Yep, I have this nice little area by my front door and for the last couple years my complex hasn’t touched it, so I dolled it up. Now, would I hire me to do this kind of work?? Probably not, as I am no expert. However, I am equipped with friends who are! One of them just happened stop by before I started and was able to tell me what needs to go where, well…because I don’t have a green thumb!

This simple act showed me a few things :

  1. Playing in the dirt is fun. I used to be a part of my father’s paving company, I know what it is like to get dirty…but I forgot. Outside, barefoot, sun shining planting pretty things in the dirt. Not only did I improve the way my front area looks, I was also able to boost my immune system with fun + Vit D + dirt.
  2. Flowers make others happy. Every single neighbor that walked by said something along the lines of “this looks great” “you are going to start a movement” “thank you so much for adding some beauty.” Start a movement? I hope I start a movement of people making the world even more beautiful.
  3. It feels good to get things done. I have thought about about having pretty little flowers at my front door FOR YEARS!!! Finally completing that project this year gave me peace in accomplishing a goal. Go ahead, chuckle at how easy of a goal it seemed, but it built confidence to take on future projects!
  4. Just get started!!! I follow an awesome lady by the name of Jenna Kutcher and one of her famous lines is “done is better than perfect.” Do I know all there is to know about flowers, no – not at all. I went to the store bought some flowers that like the sun, got some dirt and just got started. What happened?? A dear friend was on a bike ride and stopped in. She just happens to have a green thumb and she told me just how to help these flowers have the best chance of survival. I didn’t need to know everything about flowers to start, I needed to start and the answers came.
  5. I feel GOOD for contributing to Mother Nature’s beauty. I live in a beautiful suburb that has plenty of green, and adding the splash of color felt GOOD!!! Still 2 weeks later, my neighbors comment on how nice the flowers look! Yes!!! I am not only doing this for me…please enjoy the flowers people. It is the simple things that help us feel good.

What is something that has been sitting on your list? Why haven’t you taken care of it? Are you much like me and think of all the reasons to not do it so you talk yourself out of it? What if you just went and got it done, TODAY? There is always a ripple effect, what is the ripple you are spreading?

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