I am watching my vacation wind down. Its been a beautiful week, and I've been able to reconnect with my family. I've read some great books. I've cleaned my house and read some good books. I've been lazy and slept in and relaxed and pushed away the anxiety of not always doing. I've existed on Little Man time for the most part. We added a kitten to our family. I've caught up on chores I've basically neglected for too long.
The big bags under my eyes are virtually gone, without much cosmetic intervention. Who knew that stress was causing most of it?
After this past week, I have realized that I can have it all. Just not in the way that I thought of before however. Instead of taking off more than I truly am capable of handling in a particular moment, I am taking tiny nibbles. Baby steps all the way. I have pared down my life to a few essential truths: if something doesn't bring me joy, peace or happiness it isn't part of my life. That includes people too. I need to limit my interactions with people who don't fit that philosophy. There's so much negativity out there, and I don't need to bring anything additional into my life.
Taking this one step further, I can divide my time into three seperate categories: essential, enriching and serving.
Essential means taking care of my family and home. It also means working. Its the stuff I have to do everyday.
Enriching is the fun stuff. Its my hobbies or reading a book or watching a movie. Its playing with my son or my dog. Its just being and relaxing and hanging around the house. Its the stuff I enjoy most.
Serving is making the world a better place for my family. Its being PTO president, and making my son's school better. Its being involved in church. Its donating blood. Its as simple as being nice to the Walmart cashier or smiling at a stranger. Sometimes, its harder than it looks.
But by looking at life this way, it makes it easier to say no to things that aren't part of my life plan. Despite me thinking that I am superwoman once I don my cape (in this case, apron), I really can't save the world. I can only take care of me and my family.
And that's what truly matters.
Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity. Margaret D. Nadauld
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