Ode to the JDIA attitude

Each New Year always brings out a list of resolutions that heartily take effect for the month of January and wane by the time February 1st rolls along. Just check out your local gym – it’s amazing how many people are running on those treadmills! Check it out four weeks from now. I guarantee the crowds will have dwindled.

Sadly, I am no exception. I make a long list of things I wish to accomplish in the new year, only to have completed none of them by the time December 31st rolls along. But this past year was different for me. My mother, who was the picture of health both physically and mentally, died suddenly from a brain aneurysm at the age of 78. While this is not exactly a tragedy – she lived a wonderful and full life – it was a totally unexpected shock and a sad reminder of how fleeting life can be.

With this in mind, sounding like a modified Nike ad, I decided to opt for JDIA (Just DO IT Already) attitude. I took 5 things I have been meaning to do but kept putting off and just did them. Some of them were small (cleaning out my make up drawer) and some of them were big, like redesigning my website and adding this blog. This JDIA mentality is not to be confused with a “bucket list”. No, I have not climbed Mount Kilimanjaro nor ran the NY marathon (neither of which I have any desire to do anyway) but yes, I am getting to projects that enhance my lifestyle and career.

It would be wrong if I didn’t credit a recent client as an additional source to my JDIA frame of mind. Last spring, I began working for a couple who have 2 sets of twin teenage girls. She and her family have been living in a spacious rental for the last 15 years. But due to a busy lifestyle of careers and raising 4 girls, her apartment became overrun with paperwork, furniture and meaningless tchotchkes. During our first meeting, she expressed a JDIA attitude and we quickly realized that I wasn’t just re-designing her space. Rather, she was making a life change. She worked tirelessly with a professional organizer and spent all of her spare time, purging, cleaning and editing her belongings. Meanwhile, I devised and implemented a stylish new furniture plan that was more functional for her family’s daily needs. Check out this before and after picture and get inspired.

Happy 2014!!!! Now get out there and JDIA!!!