Guess who is at the door? Old Mr. Change

as_seen_on.jpgFor a long time I thought I didn’t like change. But since I try to be very careful about the words I use, saying “I don’t like change,” bothered me enough to take a closer look at those words. (Saying you don’t like something makes it so; and since change is inevitable, we may as well decide to enjoy it.)

What I realized is thinking I don’t like change is a lot of hooey! I do too like change! I love clean sheets, fresh four_seasonstowels, and the change in seasons. I like the time when day turns to night, night turns to day, each different day of the week, the growth in goodness of my children and grandchildren, new stuff like cars, shoes, books and such. I love a change of scenery, a vacation, and even “the change of life” had its very good qualities.

The reason I thought I didn’t like change was because I love a routine. When I have a routine (good or bad) I don’t have to think. I think what happens is we can get stuck in dumb routines and they become such habits we just don’t stop to think ourselves out of them. When my house was a mess I was just stuck in a routine that served up a messy home. When I didn’t include exercise in my daily life it didn’t serve my body well. When I used credit cards as if they were income, the outcome was predictable. So it’s not that we don’t like change, we don’t like having to think about getting out of a bad routine.

albert_einstein.jpegIt was Einstein, or maybe it was Miley Cyrus, who said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result.”

When we baby step our way into a better routine, we get the best of both worlds. We get to gently take ourselves into another way to live and be happy with ourselves in spite of our circumstances, knowing they will change. You’ve heard the term KISS. It stands for Keep It Simple Stupid. I use the same acronym only my KISS stands for Keep It Special Sweetie. I heard Garrison Keeler on Prairie Home Companion say, “Having ice cream for breakfast one morning is wonderful, but after ten days of it for breakfast it would lose its specialness.”

When I embarked on my plan to get organized, I included in the plan a day each week in which I could do nothing if I wanted to. I could stay in my nightgown all day if I wanted to. I could eat over the sink if I wanted to. Funny thing is, as I began to live a different life of order it took me into a whole new world and there is no way I would go back to what I have always termed, “my slob days.” I still have my free day which has evolved into what I call; My Day and I love to stay in my nightgown all day if I want to.

I love that we have the freedom and the ability to put things behind us and move on and being easy with ourselves as we go makes the whole process of change enjoyable.the_joy_of_being_disorganized-1-517427-edited

Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts on change. Pick something you’d like to change and start doing something different than you’re doing now to make that change you want, become a reality. If you’re in the habit of putting yourself down, my book The Joy of Being Disorganized will give you a whole bunch of new thoughts about your SHEness. Just for an example, did you ever consider that your disorder is a blessing? It certainly is.  

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The Joy of Being Disorganized

 

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