Reaching for the life jacket
Sometimes you get into a mode of living and before you realise it, you're stuck. You get so busy with living your life, doing things a certain way and not changing your habit, even though sometimes you should. Other times you get too overwhelmed to catch up. You're so busy trying to make some parts of your life work, that sometimes other parts go by the wayside. Then things keep piling up, and you try to make a dent and the dent can't be seen no matter what you do. This is when you realise you're in a rut.
But how did I get there? Well, for me it is being overwhelmed with doing too much. Being depended on to do too much all at once. And not getting the help I need to get some things done so as to release me to concentrate on the bigger things. That was happening to me both at work and at home.
So, I was happy to get the help of a new assistant at work (not that I have a lofty position or anything like that but what I do is a lot and I needed someone to do the little stuff) and that's been a big help.
At home, I realise I've got to stop treating my kids as if they are still 3 and 4 years old. Even though I do have a five year old who is quite a handful, you've read about her so you know what I mean. But my two older children, the 17 and 12 years old were not being helpful at all. I kept going behind them, telling them what to do, watching out for their mistakes, or what they didn't do, I would clean up after them.
I realise to myself, "wait a minute, they're not babies anymore, what am I doing?!" So, I'm leaving them to their own devices, telling them what I want done only once and leaving them to figure it out. I don't have to tell them how to do it, no. They are old enough to figure things out for themselves. And if it's not done, well lets just say mom is being really firm on saying no to any requests for socializing and hanging out. Yep, mom is learning to take charge at home and not be stressed out anymore.
As for my five year old, well, she's still a handful, more than, but i"m also letting her do things for herself. She usually have the habit of yelling out for me no matter what she's doing but now I guide her through it step by step and she's learning, sometimes unwillingly.
Yesterday I did something for myself, I uncluttered the kitchen. Yeah, yeah, it's housework, but if you're someone who can't operate properly when the place is really cluttered, you would know what I mean.
It took me a couple of hours but I finally did it. I threw out everything we weren't using or that was not working. You would not believe the amount of coffee cups we had, some even without lids! My husband hates to throw stuff out and he's also a hoarder, worse than me. Someone had to do it and I knew it had to be me.
You wouldn't believe how much 'lighter' the kitchen feels! That might be weird to some people, but it really does. Now everything has a place, and if someone wants to reach for a glass or cup or spoon, they were all put away neatly somewhere. No more clutter!
At least for now.
In the meantime I'm hanging on to this new found life jacket. I'm pulling myself out of the quagmire of rut. I'm still knee deep in it, but I'm hanging on for dear life! Today the kitchen, tomorrow my bedroom! OK, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually!LOL!
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