To Do, Ta Da

Hi there! It's been a little while. Life happens. I got off routine and have just been dealing with some stuff. Nothing earth shattering. Just things like finances and hormones (Oh the joys of going through menopause) and feeling blah and under the weather and missing the zip in my zippity do da. Kind of like depression but not full on. Can anyone relate?

Anyway, it's still not all roses and ice cream, but yesterday I started getting back into the swing of things. Not 100 percent, full force back on track, but I figured I'd just start eating my overgrown elephant one bite at a time cuz doing something is always better than doing nothing. My life has many areas that are a far cry from how I want them to be, but just sitting around feeling overwhelmed or guilty or deliberating on the unfairness of life isn't going to make me feel any better. It is what it is at this moment, so I have to accept both myself and my current circumstances, and focus on what I CAN do with the resources I have right now. Besides, not everything is awful. There are a lot of good things in my life too.

So now I've started doing a modified morning routine again and making sure I get dressed and do my hair and make up even on days when I'm not planning to leave the house. It just makes me feel better.

Oh, and guess what I finally did yesterday! I mailed my intake forms back to the psychologist. I was going to do it a few days ago, but I couldn't find the envelope. (Am I the perfect ADD poster child or what?) The struggle is real, people. Don't judge me. So now, the diagnosis process is back in motion after several weeks of being stuck in a ditch.

Last time I talked about working toward life balance. As I was reading an article about this today, I was reminded of a simple concept, but one that I haven't been using. You probably already do this, but I haven't been using a to do list. I always have one, but it's in my head, along with 28.2 million other thoughts and feelings whirring around in there at the speed of light. So today I, drum roll please, actually wrote the list down. Ok so it was on the back of an envelope, but hey, I didn't want to try to excavate through the piles to find the notebook paper. And the cool thing is I kept it short. Only 5 easy items. And I finished it. So my to do became my ta da! It felt good. I don't know why, but for some reason writing things down makes them more likely to get done. And there's something immensely satisfying about crossing off the items.

I know this isn't exactly an earth shattering revelation, but sometimes I think we just need to go back to the basics, especially when we've been feeling overwhelmed.

Today's list was as follows:

1. Do laundry.
2. Pick up my bedroom.
3. Make my bed.
4. Pick up the stuff on the stairs.
5. Look over the Sunday school lesson I'm teaching this week.

What's on your list?  I'd love to know. Whatever it was, I'm shouting out a big cyber  "Ta da!" in your direction. And if the list didn't happen today, in the words of the infamous Scarlett O'Hara, "Tomorrow is another day."

Til next time, be blessed!