friday five: snip, snip

It's Friday Five time! Over at RevGals, Pat is pairing today's event with the thundering hooves of sequestration. She writes: "let's all agree that there are some things that it would be good to have less of, some things that could use a nice trimming.

I invite you to name five of them here! The possibilities are endless, from the pruning required for the health of a tree to the hair cut that makes us feel fabulous. What are you planning to cut in the near future? And in what way will those cuts improve someone's life?" 

1) My first cut is my weight, by cutting calories via carbs. I don't actually consume a lot of calories, but I need to shift the content of what I do consume. 

2) Related to #1, cut back on sedentary time, which translates into burning more calories in order to lose the weight.

3) Cut back on computer time. One of my goals for myself is to bring back into my life some former pleasures. I have already had some success with this, Since Christmas I have read four books (my goal is one per month), which is, sad to say, more than what I've read in the last several years!

4) Cut back on fear. There are a few areas of my life where I hold back because I don't want to deal with potential consequences (this is mostly focused in the area of loving confrontation).

5) The other thing I would like to trim is the house. One way to accomplish that is by cutting the clutter (a process already underway: big ol' yard sale ahead!). The other is to trim the house with decor. We only decorate at Christmas. There are plenty of other seasons to celebrate with festive touches here and there to bring a spot of color to an otherwise neglected corner or overlooked shelf. Thankfully there are already a boatload of ideas that I've saved on Pinterest.

I think the benefits of each of these are fairly obvious. Although I may be the direct beneficiary in most cases, the concept of systemic change applies.