January 5, 2015 | Posted in: Leading Hartfully

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Are you settling for meh when you could have marvelous? What is it in your life that you consider meh? Is it your social life? Your cultural experience? Your wardrobe? Your job? Your surroundings? Your diet? What is it about these and other different areas in your life that you find meh and want to change? Are you settling because you don’t want to make the effort? Marvelous does take more effort, but the payoff is so worth it.

Take a look at each area and sub-categories of how you live and exam what seems too ordinary and how can you make it more extraordinary? What have you outgrown? What can you add or how can you change it up? As I’ve posted before, your space should represent who you are becoming and a place you feel good in, not a part-time job for upkeep and cluttered with meh or stuff that doesn’t represent who you are any more.

Lately I’ve had the itch to update and up-level a few areas I’ll share. I had already done tons of switch-outs with furnishings, color themes, rugs, linens and color of kitchen-ware when I moved the last few times. Seems the old, jewel-toned Chinese silk carpets were the hardest to let go because they were icons of having “made it” in my previous mindset. They were expensive, but they were dark and traditional and generally not at all the me of today. I switched out for fabulous, fun, colorful,  less expensive, modern rugs and I’m happy every day my toes roam across them.

I’ve up-leveled my shoes and ditched many more since I’ve experienced a knee replacement and plantar fasciitis in recent months. I now know what “older ladies” meant in my younger years by wanting comfortable footwear. I need good shoes – quality over quantity. Don’t get sucked into trends. I did a complete change-out of wall hangings several times over the past 10 years to show off all my photography. I’ve done another rendition of the switch to more colorful photographs. I’m having a love affair with color these days and want to be enveloped in bright, cheerful, fun colors. All the photos that now adorn my walls are the most fabulous colors of my most memorable trips.

One a recent jaunt to Europe, my friend and I decided to up-level our scarf collection. All the European women seem to wear their scarves so fashionably and the selection is delectable. Since I’m not a fan of unfettered consumerism, I told myself I needed to give away most of my old scarves if I were to buy better ones. I’m enjoying the heck out of the new neckware and giving somebody else the pleasure of having my previous purchases. Recycling feels good.

We also experienced Angeline’s hot chocolate Africain. One of the top 3 places in the world for hot chocolate. The other place is in Budapest and I can’t remember the other. Angelines is in Paris, with the main café across from the Louvre with several other outlets around the city. The experience was indescribable. It is thick, molten dark chocolate served with a side of fresh whipping cream and a glass of water to wash it down. The usual hot chocolate will never be the same. You must experience this Chocolate Africain before you die. It is to die for.

Once you’ve lived long enough, you’ve experience many places and seeking a marvelous experience gets more difficult to try and top what you’ve done in the past. It’s that way for me with skiing and scuba diving in particular. Once you’ve done the great slopes, the great reefs and wreck dives, some of the lesser ones become meh. I recently experienced both meh and marvelous on a dive trip to Turks and Caicos on one of the largest reefs in the world that drops down 7000 feet. You never know what will be swimming up from the depths. It’s luck of the draw with any dive whether you see cool stuff or not. What is cool for the newbie diver can be ho-hum for the experienced. I’ve been diving since 1983, so I’m seeking bigger, better experiences than an angel fish or sea urchin. Our first dive on the reef was meh. Lots of beginners who sucked their air fast and we had to come up early when there was so much more to see and we hadn’t seen much. (In my eyes, anyway)

We moved to another site and took another spin…. Parrot fish – one of my favorites because of their intense colors and how they peck at the coral. Two sea turtles which are always a favorite. Not big enough to ride on as I’d done in the past when touching the wild-life wasn’t as forbidden as it is today, but very cool nonetheless.  Just when I was thinking, this is nice to be under water and all, but…. Meh.    Then….. from around the corner, I see the woman in front of me startle back. I thought somebody had maybe kicked her mask. I couldn’t see around the bend. Out from the bend came a magnificent, scary looking hammerhead shark as big as a full-grown man. He looked like he’d just eaten one of the local divers at 6 feet long at least. Wow. My experience that day turned from meh to marvelous in the blink of an eye. It’s what keeps me coming back for more. Seeking to up-level my scuba experience with another sighting of something new. It’s what keeps me golfing and skiing – in search of up-leveling the experience.

What do you need to up-level in your life? Your recipes? Your thinking? Your partner? Your dreams? Your activity level? Your mindset about how you want to show up in the world? Your money stories? Your haircut? The color of your space? Your view? Your Hot 100 List? Your wealth? Your knowledge or what you decide to do with your free time? Your community involvement or volunteerism? Your image?

Now is a great time to take on some projects. Start with your stuff close to home and work your way around your life. What doesn’t suit you any more? What is not exactly your style any more? What doesn’t make you smile any more? What just doesn’t do it for you any more? Up your courage to take a good, honest look and shove meh to the wayside as you seek out mahvelous.