Simplifying Your Life… Process for the Overwhelmed

Ok, so let’s imagine we write on an index card every thing that you do/want to do. The idea is, you’re going to look through the big stack of things that make up your life and try to remove some of them in order to simplify. You know you’re spread too thin, so this was your brilliant plan. (Thanks again, OneThankfulMom!)

Some things are easy to take out (things that aren’t even in there, for instance), like:
– Having kids in multiple sports at the same time
– Buying a membership or two and attending weekly its activities (Children’s Museum, OMSI, zoo, Children’s Theatre, Portland Symphony, etc.)
– Edging the lawn, removing unwanted bushes, and weeding beyond the main yard area
– And so forth and so on…

Some things I really want on my list… things I don’t want to discard:
– Attending most local free family activities (park days, festivals, face painting, ice cream socials, etc.)
– Weeding the immediate yard
– Keeping the blackberries down
– Weed control in the pasture
– Enrolling one child in one sport/activity at a time (ballet for Anna and gymnastics for Maggie)
– Not letting the laundry eat us alive (ie. Make sure we don’t run out of clean essentials)
– Keeping the floors clean inside (I don’t mean clutter… I mean dirt.)
– Washing the windows that Jordan has marked once a day
– Making bread and cheese now and then
– Daily wishes: quiet time, nap time, Bible time
– Responding to emails and phone calls… if not same day, at least sometime.

That’s just off the top of my head and those things… are not happening. And I haven’t been ok with that. BUT… I am going to learn to be ok with that! As my stress level decreases, regardless of the length of my list, I feel better and I do better at the things I do get to. I am learning to replace my feeling/thoughts of failure with new thoughts.

1. I look at the grass and I think, “I don’t care if it’s a foot tall. That lawn mower part is coming in the mail and if the neighbors judge, too bad. I have more important things in my life than weeds and lawns.”
2. I look at the laundry and think, “It’s ok that we’re out of napkins and towels. The towels are clean anyway; we can just pull them out of the basket. I’ll catch up again, I always do. Taking a moment of quiet time in my bedroom is just as important as folding the clothes piled in here.”
3. I look at my big girls as they dance and sing around the house and think, “Going to class to learn dance and song and gymnastics is awesome and these girls would excel at them. But they are creative and learning and happy right here right now. Maybe they will go later, but even if they never do, they can still have good memories of their childhood.”
4. I walk around downstairs and food, dirt and random stuff sticks to the soles of my feet… I think, “I will get Josie over here to vacuum. The floor is not my top priority….” Ok, so this one bugs me.

Honestly, they all still bug me, but I am intentionally (trying to) releasing them. I am trying to release all the non-essentials. I am trying to come up with the list of REAL essentials. And to enjoy the moments. And to rest. Rest in God’s love for me. Rest in my family’s love for me. Rest in God’s grace. Grace. That’s been a really important word to me lately. My husband, my family and God have been extending me grace. It’s a required ingredient.

Next post: Real essentials for this mom