Welcome to OverHall IT! All administration and publication
information is now located at the end of the newsletter.
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December, 2000
Vol. 1, Issue 12
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Table of Contents:
1. Welcome Message
2. OverHalling and Balance
3. Tip of the Month
4. Guest Article
5. Events
6. Ask the OverHaller
7. Jokes, Quotes, and Anecdotes
8. Products, Books, and Web Site Reviews
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1. Welcome Message
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all and welcome to
all new subscribers! I'd like to thank you all for your support
in the last year, and for letting me help you get organized. It's
not always easy, but you can accomplish getting organized if
you…see, believe, you will achieve.
SPECIAL NOTE: OverHall IT! will be published bi-monthly
starting in January, 2001. The Computer Corner section will
be published each month in the middle of the month.
We end the year by starting to examine the spiritual area of
our lives. While watching a special on the * Beatles, * the
commentator said he felt the Beatles brought spirituality to
the Western world. But what is spirituality and have you fed
yours lately?
Please note that while we are discussing this area, there
might be references to God or other entities. I understand
that some of you might be uncomfortable with this and invite
you to substitute Universe, Higher Power, Buddha, Great
Spirit, or whatever else you feel comfortable calling the
unexplained energy and forces that swirls among us.
A reminder as the new year begins that you should be
making your * Goal-Resolves *
(http://www.overhall.com/jan00.htm
) And don't forget to
make all you medical appointments for the year and to
review your budget for the coming year (we did all this last
year, didn't we? <g>) We must NOT forget those areas in
which we talked about this past year in order to stay
organized and in balance.
Okay, ready to start "OverHalling"?
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2. When Was the Last Time…
by: Janet L. Hall
... You enjoyed a bubble bath?
... Laid in the grass and watched the clouds drift by?
... Sat in wonder of a sunrise or sunset?
... Watched a bird make a nest?
... Jumped in a puddle or a mound of freshly racked leaves?
... Made a snow angel?
When was the last time…
... You took time out with your child, your family, yourself?
... You said a prayer?
... You looked inside yourself?
When was the last time you sat uninterrupted and quiet, with
just your thoughts and feelings? When was the last time you
really listened to them? Fed them?
Where do you take refuge and seek balance from the hectic
world, from the noise, chaos, and clutter that’s all around
you?
We are multidimensional human beings! We have our
bodies, our consciousness and unconsciousness, our egos,
our minds, our psychic, our spirits, our souls, our hearts, our
thoughts, and our spirituality. Are they all in balance?
Spirituality is described in my dictionary as spiritual
character, quality, or nature: opposed to sensuality,
worldliness.
Spiritual is described as often in a religious or moral aspect.
Concerned with the intellect; often thought of as the higher
part of the mind. Showing much refinement of thought and
feeling. Of religion or the church, sacred, devotional.
Spirit is described as breath, courage, vigor, the soul, and
life. The thinking, motivating feeling of man [woman]. Life,
will, consciousness, thought. Frame of mind, disposition,
mood, and temper.
What is your spirit saying about your spirituality?
You don’t have to wait for a particular day of the week to go
to a building to be fed spiritually. You can do this daily by
communicating with nature, in your love for family, friends,
and yourself, and in the arts.
* There is something in all of us that seeks the spiritual….
The spiritual is inclusive. It is the deepest sense of
belonging and participation. We all participate in the spiritual
at all times, whether we know it or not. There’s no place to
go to be separated from the spiritual, so perhaps one might
say that the spiritual is that realm of human experience
which religion attempts to connect us to through dogma and
practice. Sometimes it succeeds and sometimes it fails.
Religion is a bridge to the spiritual—but the spiritual lies
beyond religion. Unfortunately, in seeking the spiritual we
may become attached to the bridge rather than crossing
over it. * -- Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D.
In * OverHalling * and Balancing your spiritual renewal you
might choose to sit quietly and listen to nature, putter in the
yard, observe your children or loved ones in play or sleep,
take a walk, volunteer, roam through a church, gallery, or
museum, attend a play, listen to music, or meditate.
Have you ever explored an unfamiliar or non-traditional
spiritual path?
Sitting quietly before the beginning or the end of your day,
try repeating the Hebrew prayer about balance,
* shiviti
Adonai l’nedi tamid * (Psalm 16:8) or translated into English,
* When I am in balance, God is before me always. * Recite
the Rosary, a favorite prayer or verse, chant a mantra, or
recite a poem that feeds your spirit.
Open your heart, ask questions of yourself and listen for the
answers to begin your spiritual journey.
What do you see and hear in your heart?
What are you feeling and thinking?
Escape inside your heart and thoughts from your daily
routines. Discover what your unique life purpose is. What
are you learning about yourself?
The idea is to start to bring inner balance to yourself, which
can result in a new light shining from you; to celebrate your
connection to all beings and things, and to release the
clutter, chaos, and negativity of those and those things
around you that stop you from feeding your soul and spirit.
How much lighter you will feel when you clear out and
release the clutter from your heart and mind.
What’s stopping you? What obstacles are in your way?
~~ Clutter: If you're constantly thinking of all the stuff you
need to attend to or if you’re moving your clutter from one
room to the next, dusting, insuring, worrying,
rearranging…get organized…get rid of the stuff! Stop
saying, * one day. *
~~ Possessions: Are your possessions possessing you?
What is your attitude toward your possessions? How much
do you need in order to be satisfied? Start saying, * enough
is enough. *
~~ Debt: If you're worrying about how you're going to pay the
bills or if you’re working overtime or two jobs to pay the debt
that you’ve incurred because you * NEEDED * to buy more
stuff…get and follow a budget and STOP buying!
Are you willing to continue to drown in clutter and debt so
you can keep up with the Jounces, look successful, or satisfy
that * something’s missing *?
~~ Commitments: If you’re overly committed to activities,
running from one to the other (your body and mind), or over
volunteered your time…slow down…cut out commitments
and activities that no longer feed your soul or that’s taking
you away from the most important thing…YOU! Start
saying, * NO! *
Every distraction you allow in your life can keep you from
finding your unique life purpose, your spirit, your inner
peace, and balance.
Neglecting your inner self can lead you to seeking outside
pleasures, like obtaining more STUFF to stuff into your home
or business life.
Take the time now to dedicate some time to yourself and
your spirituality.
* What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny
matters compared to what lies within us. *
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes
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To schedule an organizing consultation or coaching session
for your life, call Janet at 800-687-3040 or
mailto:janet@overhall.com
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3. OverHall IT! Tip of the Month
by Janet L. Hall
As the holidays come to an end you might be finding yourself
overwhelmed by all the STUFF you have to put away.
Designate a * holding * place until you have all holiday
paraphernalia together (if you have more stored away, this
would be a good time to pull it all out and sort through it) and
then pack and store all your stuff together in boxes or bins.
Make sure you label the containers on the top, bottom, and
all sides with the contents. Store your containers together
and away until next year's festivities. If you have storage
room in the room the items are used or displayed, store
them there.
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Do you have a tip that you'd like to share? Email it to,
mailto:janet@overhall.com
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4. Your Inner Garden
by: Marie T. Russell
Our sub-conscious is a truly wonderful partner. It finds many
ways to communicate with us. The other morning, I found
myself humming "Slow down, you're going too fast..." Now,
that was a clear message.
Have you ever paid attention to the songs that you find
yourself humming, or whistling? In the same way, the people
around you may be communicating with you through the
songs they have chosen (subconsciously, probably) to hum.
If your partner is humming "Leaving on a jet plane, don't
know when I'll be back again," you might want to pay
attention. Or if you find yourself singing "Yesterday, all my
troubles were so far away," sounds to me like you may be
going in the direction of a depression, unless you change the
tune you're singing.
When you were a kid, and you were griping about
something, you may have been requested to `change your
tune'. `Changing your tune' is an easy and simple way to
change your mood — change the song you're singing or
humming (which is the equivalent of changing what you're
focusing on).
Some mornings, if I don't wake up in my usual happy,
`chirpy' mood, I `force' myself to sing "Oh, what a beautiful
morning, oh, what a beautiful day," or some other similarly
positive song. As I start singing, my mind may be inwardly
making comments such as "Yeah, sure!", or "What a bunch
of hogwash." But as I keep singing "Oh, what a beautiful
morning", something happens... my attitude starts to change
and I start to realize that it is, indeed, a beautiful morning.
And after a while, I'm feeling happy and light again. Simply a
question of reprogramming and changing focus.
It's what we focus on that makes something `good' or `bad'.
Roses, for example, are beautiful, but they have thorns. Why
do people love roses so much? Why don't they think of them
as pesky flowers with thorns?
If we weren't conditioned to think of roses as wonderful, we
might take it as an insult when someone hands us this plant
with all these thorns on the stem... What are they trying to
do? Puncture our fingers? Again, that is another example of
programming — we have grown up with the cultural
tendency to think roses are a symbol of love.
Which brings up another point. Maybe roses are like love.
Love `makes the world go round' not simply because it is
wonderful, but because it helps us to look at ourselves and
pay attention to our thorns as well. Once we see where our
thorns are, we can either pop them off, or make certain that
we don't inadvertently hurt ourselves or others by
mishandling.
Another way you can look at roses is to see that we are
somewhat like them. We are beautiful (inside and out), but
have grown thorns that we felt we needed for protection.
Perhaps we can learn more about taking care of ourselves
by observing how we take care of the plants (and animals) in
our lives. We too are blossoming, and we need to make sure
we are providing ourselves with the things we need to
ensure a beautiful harvest.
So how is your `inner' rose? Is it fragrant and full of light? Is
your soul exuding its true nature which is love, peace,
acceptance, joy, vitality, etc. Have you remembered to water
and nurture your rose so that it does not wilt? Have you
been pruning away the dead branches of old patterns and
beliefs, so that the new growth can come out strong and
unencumbered by the past? Have you given yourself plenty
of natural `fertilizer' (love, gentleness, playful time, rest time,
sunshine, good food, etc.) so that you radiate? Are you
giving yourself plenty of space to grow? Maybe you're not
happy with where you are and need to transplant yourself to
some other location...
How's your inner garden? Have the weeds been allowed to
overgrow and choke out the rose? Is the stress in your life
such that you have not taken time to breathe and smell the
rose, let alone nurture it and devote yourself to its
emergence? What is the status of the crop you're raising?
Does it look like the harvest will be one that you will enjoy?
Are you breaking your back to cultivate money and position,
when a crop of love and joy would bring you more
happiness?
Since it's springtime and also the time of Easter and rebirth,
this is as good a time as any to take inventory of your inner
garden and growing methods, to ensure that you are
planting what you want to reap, and that you are supplying
yourself with all of your vital needs. We need to cultivate our
inner beauty so that we can all be wandering in Gardens of
Eden and living in paradise on Earth. It is there for us to
rediscover. Happy gardening!
This article was excerpted with permission from InnerSelf.com, an online
magazine with a free email subscription available at
www.innerself.com.
Author Marie T. Russell is the publisher of InnerSelf Magazine
and The Natural Yellow Pages (www.naturalyellowpages.com).
She has produced a series of cassette
tapes recorded from her south Florida radio broadcast, Inner Power. Her
articles, workshops, and cassette tapes focus on transformation and
reconnecting with our own inner source of joy and creativity. She can be
reached by email at
marie@innerself.com
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5. OverHall Events
LOOK and SEE—I might be coming to your town!
Jan. 3, 2001 (1-1:30 PM)
Entrepreneur's Exchange Luncheon
Annapolis, MD
Jan. 11, 2001 (8-8:30 PM)
Hadassah Greater Washington Chapter
N. Potomac, MD
Feb. 23, 2001 (8:30-9:30 PM)
BPW Winter Board
Holiday Inn, Timonium. MD
Paula Langguth Ryan and I are kicking off our 2-week winter
2001 tour (OverHall Your Life for More Space, Time and
Money & Break the Debt Cycle—For Good!) on January 29
and will be speaking in the following towns:
Feb. 4, 2001 (1:30-4:30 PM)
Christ Unity Church
105 McBrien Rd.
Chattanooga, TN
Feb. 6, 2001 (6-9 PM)
Unity Center of Fletcher
2041 Old Fanning Bridge Road
Fletcher, NC 28732
Feb. 7, 2001 (6-9 PM)
Unity of Greenville
37 E. Hillcrest Drive
Greenville, SC 29223
Feb. 9, 2001 (6:30-9:30 PM)
Unity of Charlotte
1000 E. Woodlawn Rd.
Charlotte, NC
Feb. 10, 2001 (10 AM-1 PM)
Unity in Greensboro
6026 Inman Road
Greensboro, NC 27410
Feb. 11, 2001 (1:30-4:30 PM)
Unity Church of Durham
2604-H Carver Street
Durham, NC 27705
Feb. 13, 2001 (6-9 PM)
Unity Church of Cary
222 E. Chatham, Suite A-6
Cary, NC 27511
Feb. 15, 2001 (6:30-9:30 PM)
Unity in Greensboro
6026 Inman Road
Greensboro, NC 27410
Feb. 18, 2001 (1-4 PM)
Unity of Roanoke Valley
3300 Green Ridge Road, NW
Roanoke, VA 24019
If you know of any organizations, spiritual groups,
associations or corporations that might like to host a seminar
while we're in these cities, please have them contact us at
800-687-3040, 800-507-9244, or
janet@overhall.com
for booking information.
Would you like to host a house seminar? If you’re interested,
please call us before Jan. 15.
To get these seminars on audiotape, give us a jingle!
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AUDIO Organizing Tapes now on SALE!
http://www.overhall.com/Tapes.htm
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Computer Corner section will now be published the middle of
each month.
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6. Ask the OverHaller
Q - * Every year the tax papers start coming in and I put
them in a * safe * place but when I go to get them, I find I
had more then one * safe * place that I put them! It takes
hours to locate all the papers and books needed to file my
taxes on time. Any suggestions?
-- Taxed out at tax time in GA
A - Create a temporary folder, labeled TAX PAPERS and
place in the area where you review your mail. When a tax
document or book arrives in the mail, slip it into your
temporary folder. All papers will stay together in one safe
place until you go to process them. A tickler file is a great
tool to use to store documents like this until needed.
This section is for you to ask any organizing question you
might have. Email questions to
mailto:janet@overhall.com
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Have you gotten your * tickle * for the day? Check out the
secret organizing tool that ALL organized families and
successful people use on a daily basis at
http://www.overhall.com/tickler_file.htm
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7. Jokes, Quotes, and Anecdotes
~~ Never again will I do anything for anyone that I do not feel
directly from my heart. I will not attend a meeting, make a
phone call, write a letter, sponsor or participate in any
activity in which every fiber of my being does not resound
yes. I will act with the intent to be true to myself.
--Oprah, April 10, 1994
~~ We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.
We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
-- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
~~ God is at home…It is we who have gone out for a walk.
-- Meister Eckhart
~~ If you have a joke, quote, or anecdote that would fit well
into OverHall IT!, please feel free to email it to me.
mailto:janet@overhall.com
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8. Products, Books, and Web Site Reviews
BOOKS
Meditations for Women Who Do Too Much
by: Anne Wilson Schaef
A great little book consisting of daily meditations to help
women break the cycle of doing too much. From
Acceptance, Balance, Doing it all, Holidays, Letting go to
Worrying. This book is a must have to get back in touch with
you. Order at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062548662/overhallconsulti
Looking for a place to relax, listen to soothing music, and
look at some beautiful scenery?
http://www.ishaah.com
has
some wonderful inspirational and meditative pages.
Home Based Business News:
Smartbiz.com has a wide selection of how-to resources and
topics to choose from at
http://www.smartbiz.com
Mom's and Family Issues:
MomsonLine at
http://www.momsonline.com
has games,
tips, information, message boards, and more!
Organizer Link of the Month:
Susie of The Busy Woman's Daily Planner is an organizing
haven by providing daily planners, purses, and other
organizing products. Site also includes time management
tips, tricks, and articles. Please visit Susie at
http://www.thebusywoman.com
If you're an organizer and you'd like to be considered for the
link of the month, please contact me!
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FREE ARTICLES FOR YOUR PUBLICATION or WEBSITE
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I have many articles available for reprint in your publication,
company newsletter, website, etc. You may use articles
written by me that you see in OverHall IT! All you have to do
is print the article in its entirety along with my by line, and
complete contact information at the end of each article. I
would appreciate a tear sheet or electronic copy too. Back
issues can be viewed at
http://www.overhall.com/issues_and_articles.htm
Thanks
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That's it for this month! Hope to see some of you at our
upcoming events!
Smiles, not Piles,
Janet L. Hall
Professional Organizer, Speaker, and Author
http://www.overhall.com
"If your current systems aren't working for you... get an
"OverHall"!"
Janet L. Hall is the owner of OverHall Consulting, which is
based out of Southern Maryland and can be reached at
800-687-3040 or 410-586-9440, or e-mail her at
mailto:janet@overhall.com
Janet can "OverHall" your
office, home, and computer clutter and can prepare a
customized speech or seminar for your next event.
Copyright (c) 2000 by OverHall Consulting P.O. Box 263,
Port Republic, MD 20676 All Rights Reserved. Permission is
granted to reproduce, copy, or distribute OverHall IT! or any
articles by Janet L. Hall so long as article(s) is kept intact,
this copyright notice, and full information about the author is
attached.
ISSN pending.
OverHall Consulting is proud to send you the bi-monthly
organizing newsletter that you have subscribed to OR that
someone has forwarded to you. If you are receiving this
issue as a forward, and would like to get your own free
subscription, visit
http://www.overhall.com/newsletter.htm
Here in OverHall IT! it is my hope to help you stop juggling
areas in your life around and help you "OverHall" the areas
that might have become cluttered, ignored, or put on the
back burner. I want to help you bring back into focus the
things that are important to you. I want the chaos to stop for
you and help bring you some structure and hopefully some
useful advice and systems so you can accomplish the most
important task...running your life!
Please recommend this newsletter to anyone you know that
is interested in getting control of their life They can sign up at
http://www.overhall.com/newsletter.htm
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