January. Good intentions, resolutions, new starts. It's such a good thing. (Except for when it feels depressing, if ya know what I mean.)
I'm not big on new years resolutions, but I am big on trying to do better and improve. My focus right now: overcoming the clutter. It's been a goal of mine for years, but my efforts have never yielded any results that could be termed permanent. I haven't quit trying, but my attitude about the whole things has become one of: you're-never-gonna-get-anywhere-but the struggle-is-important . Needless to say, not a happy feeling.
Last week, while perusing this blog I came across a short mention of this post on yet another blog and was intrigued enough to click on over. Not only did I find some good ideas and simple to implement strategies (an absolute MUST. Any hopes of following through on anything that is complicated is deluding myself!); as I read I actually found hope in the housekeeping department!!! Wow!
I think one of my problems in the past has been that I've always felt like I needed to make my home immaculate, which is unreasonable for me, and so felt defeated before I even started. Her blog helped me figure out the level of clean that is acceptable to me and then determine the minimum required to maintain it. So much more doable!
I've started implementation. It's been surprisingly easy and pain-free and the house has been orderly (well, orderly for me, others would beg to differ). There's been an extra bounce in my step, a smile on my face, and a feeling of a burden being lifted. I'm diggin this whole thing!!!!
Now to see if I can keep up some semblance of the system for more than a week!
Thanks for the links. I needed that fresh approach. Definitely.
ReplyDeleteI have the opposite problem. I am addicted to throwing things away. This use to drive my husband crazy. not so much anymore. It is a great feeling when you find something that works for you. I am happy for you. Maybe if we got together we could find a happy medium :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link! I need all the help I can get. I am forever fighting the entropy in this house. I keep telling myself that this "just isn't the time" for me to have a regularly immaculate house. I have a whole post started on this... :)
ReplyDeleteThis is long, but does have a point.
ReplyDeleteOnce, when my wife was working on a very large assignment for church, we were talking to our stake president. We discussed how our house was a mess, and he shared a story. When he was a child, he was taking piano lessons from a lady who had never married. She was a psychologist or psychiatrist, and was professional in all aspects of her life, including her home. Everything was immaculate. One day, for some reason, the lesson was held at our stake president's home. His mother was very nervous that the house was messy, and apologized when the piano teacher arrived. The piano teacher responded that if the home was all cleaned up, she would expect that something was wrong. When children are in the house, it is normal to have some clutter. The lack of clutter and mess is a sign that there is a problem in the house. So you can feel good that the messes are a result of doing your job as a mother correctly!!!