Trying to Do Better Everyday

I guess now isn’t the appropriate time to write a New Year’s Resolution post, considering we’re a week into February, but I guess the thoughts behind this post really are a resolution of sorts.

For a long time, I’ve made major goals that require serious lifestyle changes all at once. I’ve finally recognized that I don’t ever achieve those goals because they require too much change at one time.  I’ve come to realize that I need to take little baby steps everyday in progression to an ultimate goal. I’m thankful to the Flylady and her methods for pointing this out to me within the realm of taking care of my home. I still have a long way to go when it comes to taking care of my home, but I have come such a long way – by taking baby steps rather than a giant leap. Sure, I could spend a weekend crash cleaning my home, but without putting good habits into place, I’ll need to do that cleaning again because it will just go back to the way it was before.

There are lots of areas I want to improve upon in my life and one of the main purposes behind starting this blog was to keep myself accountable and to push myself in those areas. Along the way I’ve learned that my focus should be to do a little better than the day before, and I’ll be making good progress whether that be in keeping my house in order or eating healthier or going to bed earlier or doing a better job budgeting or having more patience with my kids or having a stronger prayer life. By doing a little better everyday, I’ll be hopefully changing my life in such a way as to embed good new habits that lead to the major lifestyle changes I really want to make.

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On a completely unrelated note, my photo of Ella that won first place in the Paper Mama’s Photo Challenge is in a vote-off for the best photo of the month. I’d love a vote if you like my photo! :)

Getting Back in the Groove of Things

A little over two weeks ago, I vented about my frustrations with not being able to keep my house in the condition that I wanted. At that time, I also mentioned Flylady . . . and her methods have really changed my way of thinking! When I started with shining my sink, I instantly felt better - like I was starting something that was really going to change how I kept up with my house, as well as my attitude about cleaning in general. The next week I spent time clearing out some hot spots, and doing general cleaning around the house. Then we got really busy, and by really busy, I mean really, really busy! We were so busy that I felt like I barely had time to breathe after I took care of Ella, worked, ate, and went to the workshop. I complained to my husband that while I was so thankful for why we were so busy that week, that I felt like I had lost my groove and my energy that I had been so excited about the week before.

Ah, but now I have no more excuses. That busy week is past, and it is time to get back into the swing of things. It is time to get that great energy back and get busy with Flylady's suggestions. While I have yet to read anything specific about laundry on Flylady's site (although I'm sure it is there, I just haven't gotten to it yet), I did spend the day doing LOADS of laundry. It sure did feel good to get through that laundry - it is amazing how much laundry can pile up in a week. And even though I still have quite the pile of laundry, I did make a BIG dent in it today!

So, speaking of Flylady's suggestions, I'm going to attempt to do one tomorrow that I have resisted for a long time (the idea in general anyway): getting dressed to the shoes. The idea is to get up and get ready (all the way to the shoes) before you do anything else. I have been known (cough . . .cough) to hang out in my pjs all day. After all, I'm working from home, so no one sees me right? Well, first off, my husband sees me, and I'm sure he'd appreciate it if I wasn't always just lounging around. Secondly, I think it is really a general attitude change I need to make. With all that said, I know for a fact I won't have my shoes on tomorrow during the day. BUT I do plan to be ready otherwise! :)

Snail Mail

I am terrible at sending anything out in the mail. I don't even have a good excuse as to why I'm so terrible. It takes me less than a minute to walk out my front door to my mailbox, raise the red flag, and walk back into my house. I could say that my problem is that I don't know what to say when I need to send out a thank you card or a note of encouragement, but that really isn't true. If I have the exact same task to do as an email, I have NO problem getting an email sent.

In a book I was reading through recently, I read something about changing habits. The author contended that most people don't give themselves near enough time to change the habit before giving up. He suggested writing down the things you want to change, and then revisiting the list, making sure that you are sincerely trying to make the change. I know I need to listen to this advice on many different levels (physically and spiritually). While my difficulty with actually sending out cards may seem like such a little thing, it really is representative of the way I handle other things in my life that I need to change as well. Here's my attempt writing down what I want to change.

I really want to be the lady who gets the thank you cards out promptly, whose anniversary and birthday cards always arrive before the special day, and who sends a card of encouragement to a new brother or sister in Christ. I want to be the one that already has a stash of cards on hand to send out at all times in whatever situation. I want to be the one who'll send a nice note "just because."

I have a few goals for myself over the next few weeks:

1. Mail a thank you card to a couple to whom I am really, really thankful - and to whom I've been meaning to send a thank you card to for many weeks now.
2. Mail a note of encouragement to some visitors who came to our congregation on Sunday.
3. Mail Christmas cards this year. I don't know how many years in a row now I've actually bought Christmas cards and not sent them. They are making it into the mailbox this year!!