Last week, I did a little experiment on myself.
I wanted to see what the week would be like if I made some changes. If I put my "type A" personality on the shelf for a bit.
To give you more insight:
I like my home immaculately clean. All the time. I like to be organized. To a tee. I want to accomplish things on my "to-do" list. Every day. I want to have vacations planned. Often. I want to spend time connecting with God. Always. I want the people that I have let into my life to know that they are appreciated and loved. Every day. And even when it comes to this little ol' blog, I aim to keep it up. Daily. I’ll also thrown in that I love a good long bubble bath : ) Whenever I can get one in!
But sometimes I can't get around to doing all of the above things in one day. And when I fall short {even just a little bit} I find myself inhaling and exhaling a lot at the end of the day because I feel that the day wasn’t as productive as I wanted it be.
I have recognized that my husband is repeating one sentence to me pretty often these days: "Relax honey. You put too much pressure on yourself". And I've come to realize that he's right.
Feeling the need to have to accomplish EVERYTHING in one day, and then not {because realistically, how could you if you have an ongoing "to-do" list} is an impractical expectation that I've placed on myself. As much as I want every day to be a productive day, I need to accept that it's ok if they all are not.
Life goes on.
So last week, while cozying up to my husband on the couch, I didn’t stay fixated on the little things around me that I saw out of place. I didn't go to bed thinking about the vacuuming that still needed to be done. I didn't beat myself up for not immediately folding the basket of clothes that I took out of the dryer that afternoon.
Being a stay-at-home mom/wife is new to me. It's a new purpose that I've joyfully come into. Tending to my baby daily, and serving my husband the way that God wants me to, is my top priority - it's my first ministry. And I delight in it. As a homemaker, I take pride in making - and maintaining - a warm, clean, fun-loving home for my family. Through my demonstrated actions I’m fulfilled when my husband and baby see, feel and know that they are loved and cared for. I should never think that if my home isn’t maintained in the way in which I strive to keep it that I have somehow failed for that day.
My new thinking mentality now is that if I don’t get around to doing something that I intended to do that day, I’m just optimistic that I will get it done the following day or sometime that week, rather than allowing that “thing” to affect my mood, causing me to be irritable the rest of the evening over something that was not greatly significant.
I’ve also realized how important it is for me to tune into my own needs. If I took time to do something for myself that day {write a blog post, call a friend, take a bath while the baby was sleeping, etc} it’s probably what I needed to do. Indeed taking care of my family is important, just as taking care of myself is too. I’m a big part of the equation to my family’s happiness. And If I’m burnt out, that’s not a good thing.
I’m sure my “type A” personality will never be gone completely, nor do I want it to be {because there are many good things about being categorized under that single letter!}, but I’m glad that I challenged myself to ease up, tune into my husband’s advice, and don’t just count the days, but make every day wonderfully count.
I wanted to see what the week would be like if I made some changes. If I put my "type A" personality on the shelf for a bit.
To give you more insight:
I like my home immaculately clean. All the time. I like to be organized. To a tee. I want to accomplish things on my "to-do" list. Every day. I want to have vacations planned. Often. I want to spend time connecting with God. Always. I want the people that I have let into my life to know that they are appreciated and loved. Every day. And even when it comes to this little ol' blog, I aim to keep it up. Daily. I’ll also thrown in that I love a good long bubble bath : ) Whenever I can get one in!
But sometimes I can't get around to doing all of the above things in one day. And when I fall short {even just a little bit} I find myself inhaling and exhaling a lot at the end of the day because I feel that the day wasn’t as productive as I wanted it be.
I have recognized that my husband is repeating one sentence to me pretty often these days: "Relax honey. You put too much pressure on yourself". And I've come to realize that he's right.
Feeling the need to have to accomplish EVERYTHING in one day, and then not {because realistically, how could you if you have an ongoing "to-do" list} is an impractical expectation that I've placed on myself. As much as I want every day to be a productive day, I need to accept that it's ok if they all are not.
Life goes on.
So last week, while cozying up to my husband on the couch, I didn’t stay fixated on the little things around me that I saw out of place. I didn't go to bed thinking about the vacuuming that still needed to be done. I didn't beat myself up for not immediately folding the basket of clothes that I took out of the dryer that afternoon.
Being a stay-at-home mom/wife is new to me. It's a new purpose that I've joyfully come into. Tending to my baby daily, and serving my husband the way that God wants me to, is my top priority - it's my first ministry. And I delight in it. As a homemaker, I take pride in making - and maintaining - a warm, clean, fun-loving home for my family. Through my demonstrated actions I’m fulfilled when my husband and baby see, feel and know that they are loved and cared for. I should never think that if my home isn’t maintained in the way in which I strive to keep it that I have somehow failed for that day.
My new thinking mentality now is that if I don’t get around to doing something that I intended to do that day, I’m just optimistic that I will get it done the following day or sometime that week, rather than allowing that “thing” to affect my mood, causing me to be irritable the rest of the evening over something that was not greatly significant.
I’ve also realized how important it is for me to tune into my own needs. If I took time to do something for myself that day {write a blog post, call a friend, take a bath while the baby was sleeping, etc} it’s probably what I needed to do. Indeed taking care of my family is important, just as taking care of myself is too. I’m a big part of the equation to my family’s happiness. And If I’m burnt out, that’s not a good thing.
I’m sure my “type A” personality will never be gone completely, nor do I want it to be {because there are many good things about being categorized under that single letter!}, but I’m glad that I challenged myself to ease up, tune into my husband’s advice, and don’t just count the days, but make every day wonderfully count.
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