Today I’m linking up with Emily P. Freeman at Chatting at the Sky to share what we learned in March. Here’s what Emily has to say about the practice:

“At the end of every month, we have a regular practice here of looking back before moving forward. While some of the deeper, more in-process things I may keep private for a while, other things are fun to share here. And when you share things you’ve been learning, I always discover lots of fun tips, great new shows, and encouraging thoughts to begin the month.

We’re all at different spots on the journey, and these end of the month posts are a way to reflect, share, and celebrate on purpose.” {Emily P. Freeman}

In no particular order, here are the eight things I learned:

1. Reese Witherspoon has TWO movies out in Red Box now. I thought I rented her movie about walking for a year by herself. Instead I kept waiting for Reese and her backpack but all I kept seeing were these Sudanese refugee kids. Turns out Wild is the one about her journey of 1,100 miles. The Good Lie is where Reese plays a social worker in Kansas helping to find a home for these displaced kids. I didn’t end up finishing The Good Lie. I never got into the first part of the movie because I was so confused. Derp!

2. Doing some reading on getting healthy, I learned about the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale. It turns out there’s a scientific scale (now an online tool) you can use to see how stressed you are. Medically, this scale is a pretty accurate predictor of how negatively stress can affect your health. Always the over-achiever, I scored a 431.

3. In March, I finally articulated what it is exactly about Beverly Goldberg that makes her my new favorite TV mom! Seriously, are you watching The Goldbergs? Why not!?!

4. I checked out a book from my public library called I Work at a Public Library (a longtime dream of mine when my kids leave home) and I laughed my way through the entire book. What I learned is that there’s an entire website devoted to the real-life, true interactions between the weird American public and librarians. Holy smokes. This is one of the funniest things I’ve read.

5. I love it when Ryan sends me cool things to read. A devout follower of The Art of Manliness blog, he forwarded me an article on Men and Depression. (Thankfully, my husband doesn’t struggle with this!) However, he knows that I have had a few seasons of dealing with it and some of the suggestions the AoM author makes are the very things I try to do when I’m in a funk. I learned there’s an actual term called “bibliotherapy,” which means helping to treat your melancholy by reading books on depression. And this month, I had already read a book on the neuroscience behind anxiety (related) and thought the entire timing of the book I read and the article Ryan sent was just serendipitous.

6. I learned about a local credit union who does a cool savings incentive program for kids the ages of my own children. It’s called the Frugal Freddie program. We got our kids squared away with their own savings accounts (their earned money) and they are now set up to make deposits and monitor their accounts from the iPad. “Yes I love technology/But not as much as you, you see/But i still love technology/Always and Forever…”

7. On a recent trip out of town with some friends, I heard my friend, Kim’s alarm go off and it wasn’t a loud, annoying alarm. Her alarm went off to soothing sounds. When I returned home, I began digging around on my iPhone, and it turns out I don’t have to be startled awake. I recently set my alarm sound to “slow rise.” Maybe the most useful and practical thing I learned all month.

8. Another thing I learned was monumental for me. Earlier this year I took part in an assessment called Engage Your Strengths and in February attended a training. I have spent several days in March learning more about myself and my gifts and strengths. I’ve been reading up on and gleaning insight into how my strengths manifest themselves in my day-to-day life. I feel like I finally have permission to be me! 

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