Every single day we're given opportunities to grow and enjoy life more! (Even in a pandemic.)
Years ago, a woman wrote that she'd been married for 25 years. Her husband had cheated on her more than once and she'd “lost” herself and hardly recognized her home or her person. (Could be the way some of us feel because of COVID.)
But it's never too late to change your life! This woman had successfully raised two happy sons and worrying about what her husband did and not focusing on the important job she was doing, could very well have given him (in his dishonest mind) a good excuse for the affairs. Focusing on getting her act together and not worrying about him, could have erased that excuse he probably used; "My wife's fat and the house is a pigsty."
When someone is unfaithful it's his/her problem. It’s only OUR problem if we make it ours. I remember going to my minister when my husband was caught having an affair (I had three little kids and they came to the session with me because I couldn’t get a babysitter) and he told me that my job was to be the best me I could be, not for my husband but for me.
Back when I was frumpy, suspicious, and overweight and keeping a totally cluttered and dirty home, I knew what I needed to do. I knew disorganization affected every aspect of my life; my health, relationships, finances, appearance, recreation, hospitality etc. but I got temporarily stuck in self-pity.
How can you eat a whole elephant?
When I discovered that I could be organized with a simple system, I let go of the vision of a mountain to climb. In "Sidetracked Home Executives: from pigpen to paradise" my sister and I wrote, “You can only eat an elephant one bite at a time!” Not that we were into eating elephants, we just initially saw our “problem” as something so much bigger than we were. When you break any problem down into little bites you see that you are bigger than the problem and you can do anything in baby bites! Start by the intention to get organized just enough to please you.
The elephant we've been facing for the last two years is the pandemic. We've all had fear, worry and frustration and each of us has stories how it has affected us personally. To eat this elephant one bite at a time, if we appreciate the good that has come out of this, consider it a bite. The good is everywhere if we focus on finding it. That focus can become a habit. Hopefully, when things get back to normal we'll have established the habit of being appreciative of the simple things in life.
My prayer is that we'll find ourselves happier when the pandemic is behind us. If you're lost in clutter and chaos, hopefully you'll realize you can do more than just survive a pandemic; you can get rid of the clutter and chaos too. Getting organized is WAY EASIER than surviving a pandemic!
Love,
