The more that time passes, the more I realize that I need to pull it together and get my life into some semblance of order. After a weekend of interspection, self analysis, chats with good friends, vision board design and self realization, I have decided on a plan to get myself to where I want to be. Sounds ominious doesn’t it!
For the most part, I am pretty happy with my life and who I am. However, I am swiftly and painfully learning how far from perfect I truly am. So, in a (somewhat) grand effort, I am going to kick it into gear, bite the bullet and try to close in on that gap.
The Problem:
As too many of you know, I have fallen off the organizational bandwagon. It started years ago, and although this is a lame excuse, I am sticking by it. When I got married right in the middle of life. I was a full time grad student and a full time elementary teacher. I would teach every weekday from 7:00 a.m. until 3:20 p.m. I would hop into my oh so fancy Mercury Topaz and race from Salt Lake to Provo to attend classes from 4:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. every night. I would get home a bit before midnight and start the whole process over the next day. The weekends were reserved for studying, library and spending a little time with my family. Although I did spend some time trying to make our house a home, I fell very short of perfect.
Since that time, I have had a hard time catching up. I could bore you with the details of the birth of my children, moving to a new house, illness, stress, family, yadda, yadda, yadda. Now, I know a lof of you are thinking, “Why didn’t I start over when I moved to the new house.” Well, I was pregnant, very sick and tired of living at the inlaws. So, on move in day, I had everything thrown into the garage. Coincidentally, that is where a good portion of the disaster has remained.
But, I digress. In so many ways, my life has now slowed down. I have two kiddos in school. A toddler instead of a baby. My surgery is over and done with. My basement is finished…for the most part. I finally took a look around and thought “Dang!” (not the exact word but…) “How did I let it get this far.” I immediately got discouraged and thought that there was no way that I would be able to get myself out of the situation that I had so ignorantly turned a blind eye to.
My Solution (I Hope):
This solution came two fold. The first part came from my good friend Leigh. We were talking on Saturday when she mentioned that a friend of hers is trying to lose weight. This friend has set up a rewards system at each of her milestones. She has it set up that she will reward herself with a purse at 5 pounds all the way up to a trip to Hawaii with her husband at 30 pounds. What an awesome idea! Although, I am not really interested in losing weight per say nor will I be making it to Hawaii any time soon, I loved the idea of a personal rewards system.
The second part came when I sat down on Saturday to work on my vision board. (Yes, I do them. Yes, I think that they are great. Yes, I know that they get a lot of slack but, they work for me.) Anyway, I started noticing a theme on my vision board. There were the things that I wanted to accomplish organizationally and things that I wanted to eventually treat myself to. So, BING! My idea came into play like a little cartoon light bulb above my head. Why not kill two birds with one stone. I can get my house and life organized and treat myself with some of the things that I would like as a reward along the way. I know! Don’t I sound like I am working with a 5 year old. I think that it might just do the trick! Not only will I get the nice organized house and life that I crave but, I will get the satisfaction that I did it on my own. Not only will I get those treats that I am seeking after but, I will know that I worked hard for them.
So, cross your fingers and wish me luck. If you are super interested in what exactly is on either list, let me know. I am debating as to whether or not to post it!
3 Comments
What is a vision board? Also, I was reading in one of my magazines some interesting things for organization. I plan to share them with you.
I would love to know what are on your lists.
That would be great to see what’s on your lists. Especially how or with what you’re going to “treat” yourself. This is a novel concept for us grown-ups. I’m intrigued.
Let me know what you are buying yourself first, second, third, etc. I will help you reach your goal.