I spent a solid week, the very last of 2013, writing lists, reading self-help books (on time management and home maintenance), and scouring through Pinterest for tips on organizing and printable planners. 2014 was going to be different than any before it. I planned to be successful!
January of 2014 I came home from the little trip we were on, the trip I purposed in my heart to change EVERYTHING about me and my world, and set off. I started with the list I had for organizing and cleaning our 1200 sq ft home. The goal to finish that list was 1 week. I literally touched everything in my house, from bathroom supplies, to old mail, to clothes, to dishes we never use. I went through room by room every last item, sorted into piles of keep or toss, and organized all of it until each thing had its own individual home.
I looked back at the end and thought wow! I did it! It took exactly 1 and a half months to complete! As you can imagine I wasn't exactly happy that it took longer than I had planned...A LOT longer. Things were put on hold because of this massive project. Schoolwork was delayed. Cooking good family meals was a minimal. It was a very stressful time of trying so hard to complete my task. By the end of the day, I was always tired and grumpy and not very happy with life in general.
So long story short we kept our house pretty close to how I organized it for about 6 months. Then summer came, birthdays and holidays came, many camps and trips with ministry came. We turned around and everything I had done was gone. What I had now was worst than how it started. All that time. All that effort. The headache of everything postponed just to complete something for it to be undone. Was it even worth it?
This happens to me a lot, especially lately. I know I'm not alone, all of my pinterest scrolling tells me that. So this year I have once again purposed in my heart to complete the same things. Of course, on top of the resolutions, as always, is grow closer to God, read my Bible more, and have a set aside prayer time (you know as opposed to doing dishes prayer time, although I'm sure He hears those too!) But this home maintenance, this life organization, and this time management, I still want to conquer. Here's my dilema...
Knowing last year, knowing the hard work that was put in to all the lists and putting my plan on paper, knowing all the effort and time spent on organizing and decluttering our home, and then knowing the short amount of time it took to go right back as before, I AM DEFEATED. I am defeated already. Before I have even started. I'm scared to just get started because of the certain doom that awaits me. A pile of laundry, albeit a record-breaking mountain, has defeated me. A hectic schedule has defeated me. What seems to be an unreachable goal has defeated me. So, what now?
Where do we go when life presents a mountain we're too weak to climb? There's definitely some obvious answers here.
* We go to our Bible, God's word. So many stories of triumphs and promises comfort me, especially when I compare giants, wandering in wilderness, and lions' dens to a pile of dishes and dirty clothes.
* We go to our worship. After all, a time of grateful worship is where we can be filled with the joy of His salvation.
* We go to prayer. God is the only one who truly knows how you feel, how bad you want to meet a goal, or how hard it may be for you.
Reminders to help when putting our plans to action:
#1. Pace yourself. A mountain does not look so scary if we look through God's eyes. Plus, it will seem a lot more like something we can accomplish if we see it broke into pieces of small goals instead of one great big one.
#2. Don't put everday life on hold. Keep working at your goals but don't let it affect life as normal. Don't put your family aside. Mealtime, schoolwork, and washing clothes, for crying out loud, are far too important to push off for the sake of sticking with "the plan."
#3. Add fun goals. Add your kids to a work out routine. Make goals to spend more time playing in the yard. Make an effort to plan date nights or movie nights at home with no kids.
#4. Schedule your time wisely. This seems like a repeat of the others, but it's obvious. In order for us to pace ourself, keep at our regular life, and do things we actually like to do in between, we have to discipline ourself to a schedule. Give yourself plenty of time to complete tasks. Don't push it or try to rush it for the sake of checking it off your list. Plan for breaks. Plan for interruptions. Plan for life.
#5. Find your balance. That is my biggest goal for this year. Finding my perfect or semi-perfect balance for my family will mean a world of difference in my home maintenance and quality of life. I can't push myself to work nonstop at goal meeting or be a lazy bum for the sake of not pushing myself. I have to balance it all.
Ok, so this was a lot, but my heart as writer is to always be transparent with my readers. That will help me accomplish my ultimate goal with this blog; letting women know they are not the only one with struggles. Here's to our new year, here's to goals, here's to celebrating those met and letting go of those unsuccessful!
