I kept being drawn to this card and yet my life is not crazy.
So this is what I did.
To get a bit serious for a moment, I'm well aware I'm in a season of less busy. I also know it won't last but I do want this feeling to last.
Over those 13 months, life was indeed crazy. I still had physical time because I set up my life that way but the mental energy required to fake smile and pretend on a daily basis meant that it felt like my life was busier than it actually was.
With enough space to think and reflect clearly, I never want to be in that position again. I think those happenings were such defining moments for me that I will never forget them.
But more than that, I'm deciding on the story I tell myself. If I keep saying "life is crazy", guess what? Life will be crazy and more important, I will feel like my life is crazy.
I'm choosing to say things like, "yes, my Saturday is full, but family gym and meeting with these friends is important to me". Or, as I currently say, "I know it's cold, but I will enjoy the walk once I'm out that gate". And I do.
I read a Kindle sample yesterday and I loved the way the author (I don't know who it was - I was trying to delete a lot of samples!) explained time management.
Like a bookcase.
Some of us try to cram our bookcases full of books when it's clear that there's no space. If you want another book on your bookcase, take something else off.
I love having a bookcase with some space and even if it becomes a bit full, I know I can move things around, toss some books, move others to another area (for now) til the bookcase looks decent again.
I need to write some more about this on the OQ blog because I've talked about this before but somehow that image of a full bookcase is very profound.
Is your life crazy busy?
What does your (time) bookcase look like?
Love it! I'd have to say that I feel like my bookcase is a little overcrowded, the ones with books shoved sideways on top of the neatly lined up books. :/ Overall I'm glad to be busy though, although a few new books would liven things up!
ReplyDeleteYip life here is crazy busy - pretty much all the time. After much soul searching, attempts at simplifying - I have accepted it. (accept is my year after all).
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to say no to stuff on behalf of the kids because I need calm - so we say yes, we drive, we rush, we enjoy and we enjoy the moments of calm we do have now and then :)
I think my bookshelves at home depict my life - books shoved in every open gap :)
I really like this post. I decided a few weeks ago to try to start letting go and to just be me and take the me time I have been pining for. My bookcase was so crammed, I almost needed to empty it out completely. I needed to know when to ask for help.
ReplyDeleteMy life is crazy.. but I've decided that I like crazy! I love having a full schedule JUST as much as I love having a PJ day with B and the kids. I love being on the go, having things to do and places to go and people to see... it keeps me on my toes...and when we declare a stay home day, it feels all the more satisfying. PS: We having a PJ day on Sunday (well after church that is). But you're right, it depends on your PERSPECTIVE and choosing your words carefully, what you speak, so shall your life be. My life is GOOD-CRAZY :)
ReplyDeleteWell you know our lives are crazy but honestly, I think it will be much duller if it was not for all the crazy. Now and again I wish for some quite, that mush is true. But I think I like my bookshelf nice and full
ReplyDeleteI agree 1000% (yes, 1000) that our life is how we choose to see it. CHOOSE to be happy. CHOOSE to frame things as you like. Some times are easier said than done, of course, but you're so right.
ReplyDeleteLove your altered PL card!!! And thanks for the reminder!
I love your project life card. I believe in the power of words and yes it is true that when we constantly say or hear negative things we start thinking negative if we don't learn to filter out stuff. My life is busy but not crazy busy. I do have some weekends that are too jam packed but then I always still try to get some me time by walking for an hour or there about every few days before everyone is awake.
ReplyDeleteYup...I am in over my head...and that is the way it will be until end of September when we go on holiday to Plett for 2 blissful weeks. Then coming back to a two week backlog...just cannot win 💙
ReplyDeleteI feel like I'm hardly touching sides at the moment...but I guess crazy is the new normal. ;-)
ReplyDeletePersonally I think the way one looks at the word crazy is the differentiator. Crazy doesn't necessarily need to mean BAD... My life is crazy, but in a good way. We have ebbs and flows of business and often find that everything happens on the same days and then we have weeks of relaxed stay at home time, but it works for us. I like getting out but the men in my life are home bodies. They like being home, so we compromise and shuffle our bookshelf when needs be ;-)
ReplyDelete