Chantelle Says: Monday Mantra: Let It Go

A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation".

Every Monday I will post a new thought, idea, or focus for the week. When you need a breather from life, when you need a little inspiration, or when you're about to jump over the conference table and strangle your co-worker, remember the mantra.

Monday Mantra: Let it go and give thanks

You know when you love something a lot, you take care of it and nurture it and make sure it's nice and safe and warm at night. You speak soft, loving words to it and always make sure it knows how much it's loved. I assume all of you treat your shoes this way, too, yes?

I had this wonderful pair of black knee high boots that I've been in a loving relationship with for about 10 years now. Every fall I whip those babies out, hug them and tell them how much I missed them, and then wear them as much as I possibly can. Those boots and I have been through a lot.

As I type this with tear filled eyes *sigh* I must report that my precious boots have literally fallen to pieces. I took them out the other day, welcomed them once again to Arizona's cooler weather, and wore them to dinner. By the end of the night they were demolished, as if some tiny evil elves had come and taken razors to them while I was sitting at the restaurant chowing down, innocently unaware.

My boots were cuter than this, but you get the idea.

The next day I tried out my identical brown ones (when you find boots this amazing, you have to get all color options, it's the law). At least I have these left, I thought. At least we still have each other. I looked them over closely prior to putting them on and they were perfectly fine. Forty two minutes and seventy sevens seconds later they were shredding. Invisible tiny evil elves, I tell you! In broad daylight this time! This is my verdict.

Over the next several days I was in BRPM: Boot Replacement Panic Mode. I went to store after store after store and nothing. Nothing compared. Until, exhausted and depressed, I happened into a more expensive store and, as luck would have it, found not one, not two, but three pairs of amazing, beautiful, comfortable boots.

My excitement fizzled out after I realized how much I would be spending on these new beauties. I tried to talk myself out of it, but since I'm equally as good at talking myself into things all the time, it didn't work. I bought two pairs to bring home to the rest of the family.

The next day I decided that I had been kind of dumb. I needed to try harder to find less expensive, yet equally awesome boots, so I went on a new Search and Rescue Mission. This time I found four more pairs, not as comfy, but cute...but not real leather, but cute...but not as awesome, but cheaper...but...

This is how it went on in my head for at least an hour, as I pranced up and down the shoe aisles with different shoes on each foot. Finally, I gave up, got three of them, and went home to worry about which ones to keep later.

The next day I decided to get logical. I applied the little known, but very excellent WWED: What Would Einstein Do? I whipped out an Excel sheet, marked out my important categories with rankings of 0-5, lowest to highest, and came out with this:

	Comfort	Style	Quality	Cost	Ranking	Verdict
FF Black	3	3	3	5	14	A
FF Brown	3	3	3	5	14	A
Born Black	5	4	5	0	14	R
Born Gray	5	4	5	0	14	G
Born Brown	5	4	5	0	14	H
F. Brown	4	4	3	3	14	!


Scale
0-Very, very bad
1- Lowest
5- Highest

Do you see my predicament? I about lost my mind. At least my boyfriend got a good kick out of me trying to be logical about this. I got a, "I'm proud of you, babe!" instead of an, "Whoa, you're super crazy!" like I was expecting.

Later in the week, after I'd worn myself out from the dozen or so shoe stores I visited, I determined that I was going through the 5 Stages of Grief associated in dealing with major life events, such as this: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and finally, Acceptance. In that last stage I had a major revelation- I realized I was an idiot (if you figured this out before me, good for you. Also, I could've used you last week).

Of all the things to stress out about, this was not one of them. I have food, water, shelter. Family and friends that love me and accept me exactly as I am, boot insanity and all. I have a wonderful life. I have options that some people only dream of. Some don't even have shoes, and here I am, acting like a fool over more shoes than I will ever need in my life.

I'm glad we have Thanksgiving this week to remind me to let go of the past, to let go of what I can't change, and to be thankful for every wonderful, amazing, fantastic thing in my life.

I hope you all have wonderful Thanksgiving with your families. Enjoy them. Enjoy every small little moment and be thankful for it. Someone somewhere will never have what you have, the good and the bad and the in-between. Savor all of it.

P.S. If you're looking for recipe ideas for Thursday, check out the links below. They're all gluten free, some are Whole 30, and all are very delicious!

P.P.S. Please don't run over anyone with your shopping carts on Black Friday. Remember, we were all just thankful for everything we had the day before and prison orange doesn't look good on anyone.