To-Do List
Instead of forcing myself to try to FINISH projects I will instead make a to-do list of things I want to work on and hopefully complete within a reasonable (or unreasonable) amount of time. Last January I vowed to complete the kitchen cabinets (done!), finish working on Jack's blanket (not done!), call a friend on the phone once a week (major bomb!), and have a secret date night once a month with my husband (another major bomb!). Clearly, things just do not get done if I set my expectations too high. So my to-do list will look something like this:
- Buy a dining room table so that we stop hitting our heads on the chandelier.
- Paint the main level of the house (piece of cake after that kitchen project!)
- Work on Jack's blanket at times other than long car trips.
- Run as often as possible, but don't beat myself up if I don't get to it. Try something new, like yoga, even though I think I hate yoga. I need yoga.
Ok, so I still have to set some concrete goals. I'm going to keep it simple and stick to my running goals. I've decided to run a 10-mile race in April. It's a long shot, but I'm going to do it. That's it. That's my goal for now. If I make it throught that then I'll set a new goal for the fall. Half-marathon, perhaps? Not setting that one now for fear of disappointing myself. It can wait.
The Important Stuff
The to-do list and the goals are important to me because they keep me focused on something. When I'm accomplishing things I tend to feel better about myself and life in general. But they are still not as important as the really important stuff, which are the intangibles, the little things that make you feel human.
Someone recently posted this quote on Facebook and it really spoke to me. We're all guilty of nodding our heads and saying "uh-huh" when our kids are talking to us as we multi-task and try to juggle all those things that MUST BE DONE by the end of the day. I vow to put down the iPhone (addictive as it can be), look up from my paperwork, stop what I'm doing when those little voices are trying to tell me something. Read this quote and apply it to your own life if you have kids. It's important.
“Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what. If you don't listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won't tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff.”
― Catherine M. Wallace
Listen to your children. Spend time with those you love. Make time for family and friends, even when time seems limited. Take the time to listen to yourself, to think, to pray. These are not resolutions to be made once a year. These should be the tenets of daily life.
Life isn't perfect - but it's not meant to be. There are days where I know I'll be impatient, I won't listen to my kids, I'll lose my temper over something stupid, like a cluttered house or cat puke on the couch (my blood is boiling just thinking about that one). I promise to try to do the following things to make myself a better person . . .
- Apologize to my kids and my husband when I'm wrong (and I'm wrong a lot)
- Think before I speak (getting better at this one, but still a work in progress)
- Smile frequently. It's amazing how this can change one's mood in an instant.
- Be ok with not getting everything done - it can always get done tomorrow. Except for paying bills - this definitely does not apply to paying bills. But everything else can wait.
- Spend quality time with my husband - whether it's an actual date or just a walk around the block. Remember that he is my best friend and partner in this crazy thing called life.
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