November is here and traditionally it's the time to begin preparing for the holidays.  For most of us, it's like taking on an additional part time job - shopping, cooking, decorating, wrapping gifts, entertaining. 

 Since joining Activerain, I've already taken on a second full time job... writing market reports and hyperlocal posts, revamping my website and attending online courses in Internet marketing and technology, otherwise known as reading blogs.  The homework level is crippling.

 As I sat down at the computer this morning, I found a note to myself scribbled on a scrap of paper:

"Edit your life as though you're a writer or a filmmaker.  Cut out the chaos and the clutter.  Keep only the very best."

So with this extra hour on the first day of November, I'm taking stock of how I want to spend the other 24 hours today and every other day.  This isn't going to be a blog about cleaning out your closets.  It's about getting back to the basics.  Which of your daily activities brings you joy or enriches your life and the lives of those around you?

 Starting the morning by sharing a cup of cowboy coffee with my husband as we sit on the deck and greet the sunrise is one activity I'll never give up.  I'd much rather miss an extra hour of sleep and have that special time together to start my day.  

 Baking an apple pie is an acivity that takes a great deal of time.  But for me it's a way of bonding with my daughter.  The time we spend talking and laughing together is priceless.  So I'll be keeping that chore.  I'd rather have those memories years from now than to recall dashing to the store for a frozen dessert because I spent that extra hour on the Internet.

But I've made the decision to delete negative people from my life.  That's one of the toughest things to do, especially if it's someone who has been in your life for a long time, but it can have the biggest payoff.  Listening to complaints, backbiting and gossip every time you take a coffee break at the office or run into your neighbor at the store drains the soul.

Another group I'm getting rid of are the drama queens.  And I'm not just taking about women here.  Sorry, guys, but some of you are the biggest drama queens around.  I don't care how big your deal is - real estate is not a life or death matter.  And I don't need to spend MY time listening to your endless tales of triumph and tribulation.

 So as dawn breaks over the mountains in Murphy, I've decided that today, I'm going to look at eveything I do with two questions in mind -

•  Does this bring me joy?
•  Does it enrich my life or the lives of those around me?