‘Tis the Season

This week has been a very odd week for me. I really can’t explain it. I will say I only walked twice. I rode the stationary bike on the other days, though. I feel like I did well eating. With the exception of a few Christmas goodies my mailman husband has been given and brought home to share with us. I am really trying to repeat last year where I lost between Thanksgiving and New Years Day. That’s my goal. If I don’t lose, I am not wanting to gain any. Franklin, my youngest, is also trying to cut some pounds. I am eating healthy with him and reminding myself I can’t cheat on him just as I can’t cheat on myself. It is a little easier when you have someone who is in it with you. Truly. And I would encourage all of you to get an accountability partner in whatever it is you are struggling with. It will help you. People will let themselves down. They will give up on themselves often. But they don’t want to let others down. People are more likely to stick to goals when they have verbalized those goals to accountability partners. It’s like a law or something *wink, wink* DON’T LET OTHERS DOWN . . . Now, on to more important matters.

This week, as I said, has been odd. It’s actually had a real suck factor to it. Let me start from the beginning. The battery in our car died and needed to be replaced. I cut my finger (not at all surprising) pretty good and it’s been a nuisance and very sore all week. (Yes, I am whining because I can) Two gifts I purchased for two friends have apparently vanished into the abyss where all lost packages go. Our bathroom remodel started. Let me clarify . . . it is truly a REPAIR NEEDED project but has run into various complications that couldn’t be helped and it’s going to be a remodel by the time we are done with it. I stubbed and broke the littlest toe on my right foot. And Sunday night my dishwasher stopped working properly. It wouldn’t drain. Have you ever had so much crap happen that it’s truly overwhelming to try and deal with and you feel like you are watching all the other, very important responsibilities pile up because you are dealing with the squeaky wheel at the moment? Yeah. That’s where I was and honestly still find myself. And Christmas shopping hasn’t happened yet. That is the plan for this afternoon. After church and after Wade and my dad get a little more accomplished in our bathroom. I am overwhelmed. Partly because my OCD nature can’t handle the mess of remodeling and all the other stuff piling up because I am so focused on not losing my mind around the messes. It has reminded me of times when I was overwhelmed and depressed and anxious all at the same time. I feel the need to speak to those of you who are feeling those same feelings this week. It’s the season when people seem to lose their minds trying to accomplish more baking and cleaning and cooking in one week than they do in a whole year. And then there’s the Christmas correspondence also. Cards and letters. I still have to get mine addressed and sent. And I am stressing about that. But, you know what? It’s okay. Because I have decided it’s okay. 

I know I am not the only one who has looked at a house as disorganized and messed up as mine is right now and felt overwhelmed and completely unsure of where to even start putting it back together again. If you have ever stood looking at a sink of dirty dishes and wondered how many of them can actually fit inside the dishwasher in one load . . . and how many loads it may take to get them all done; or if you have ever looked in your laundry room and wondered how many loads you will have to separate all the clothes into to get them all washed and dried and folded and put away . . . and you start questioning if you will have enough hours in this day to get it done; or if you have ever sat at your desk and tried to see where to start dealing with the clutter on it . . . or during the week, had to talk yourself into working because you are your own boss and no one else will tell you to do it; this is for you. And even further . . . if you have ever stood over your walking/running/workout shoes trying to convince yourself to put them on and go for that walk/run/bike ride; this is for you, too. And if you’re dealing with anything from the first set of issues I mentioned AND the second issue together, GOD BLESS YOU! You need to hear this. This is for you as much as it is for me. Your life, your success and your failure isn’t found in ANY of the above mentioned things. And your happiness isn’t found in taking care to remedy any of those things. Sometimes I feel like the world gives us these perfect images of things in magazines and on television and on facebook that make us feel that what we have and how our lives are lived is somehow insignificant and inadequate on the grandest of scales. Of course, we know this is how advertising works. It speaks to the “want-er” in all of us. The way to get someone to buy what you’re selling is to make them as dissatisfied as you can with what they already have and dangle something better or newer in front of them. It’s worked very effectively for a long, LONG time!

Let me tell you something you won’t hear on T.V. or Facebook any time in the future, near or far. There is no one on the planet who has it all together all of the time. At some point, someone has had to deal with a sink full of dishes, two weeks worth of laundry and a house that is completely unrecognizable in its current form. They may not advertise that they are dealing with it, but that makes it no less true! Life is dirty, rough, difficult, stinky, messy and downright disappointing. AT TIMES. Then other times, you see the good life holds. One example of when you might see the good could be when you are talking with your friends about their perceived shortcomings. I recently had a conversation with “my girls” that included house cleaning. Two of us are pretty OCD. Even with my OCD, there are times when depression and the anxiety overrun that and things can slip a little. The conversation really was more about when we have other people over and they are amongst our “dirt and grime” and how much of that they notice. We all agreed that most people really aren’t going to notice the layers of dust on the picture frames or in the hidden corners where no one would even see it. My motto has been what my mom has always told me. She would say, “If someone comes into your house and they are looking close enough to criticize your ineptness in dusting or vacuuming, poke them in the eye.” Haha! Then, she would say, “Or offer them a dustrag.” Her point was this: There will always be dust and dirt to deal with. The people who come to visit you are NOT coming to see the condition of your house but the condition of their friend and loved one. 

I don’t know why I felt compelled to write this today. Truly, I don’t. I just know that I always pray over what I am supposed to write and God directs my thoughts in the way I believe He wants them to go. And I really feel like He wants us all to remember that this is the season that brought His love in human form to a lost and dying world. And THAT is what it’s all about. The holiday season can be stressful in itself. Most of us have experienced a deep loss of a loved one sometime in our lives and have had to go through all the “firsts” without them there. The first sets of birthdays and anniversaries and holidays. We have all felt the pressure to decorate and keep up with the other houses on our streets. We have all felt “less than” because we are not the bakers that others are and or we just don’t have the time to do as much as others do in that area. We have all felt that we have let our children down because we don’t want to go into debt to buy them that big, BIG ticket item they are asking for so they are going to have to settle with presents farther down on their list. Or we did put Christmas on a credit card and are now worried about paying that all off. We have all felt like we haven’t done enough to make Christmas perfect for those around us. (Please go back and read my blog from last week.) Nothing is perfect. We wouldn’t want them to be. That’s just too much pressure. This week, as we move into Christmas, I implore you to look at the PEOPLE around you. Not the things. Remember that as long as you have your family and friends in your lives, nothing else really matters. The only gift they’ll truly remember long-term is the gift of your presence . . . your efforts to be there, really THERE, in the moment with them. Don’t let this season be the reason for additional stress in your life. Like I said, your failure isn’t found in the piles of laundry and dishes, paperwork and responsibility. Those piles mean you have people in your life you are caring for and loving and you are busy doing the loving and caring and will get to those dishes and laundry and paperwork and responsibilities eventually. And our happiness isn’t found in accomplishing task after task on any given day. It’s in the faces and voices of those we love. It’s in giving parts of ourselves to them on a daily basis as often as possible. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas! May you feel all the joy and love that is around you. May you forget, even for a day, the responsibilities you have waiting for you after. Let go of the weight of the day-to-day and pick up the peace that surpasses all understanding as you wrap yourself in the love of Christ. The rest is temporary. The rest can just wait. 

#loveyourjourney #youreworthit #bettermewithNewYouCBD #Endo30 #itsuptoyou