"Spring cleaning can also be psychological,
a time-out to confront the emotional clutter
that has accumulated in your mental closet.
It's a pause for introspection
-a midcourse correction for ordinary people
in ordinarily stressful lives."
Cluttered desk, cluttered closet, cluttered home...
Cluttered mind.
Start Quote
While spring is the traditional season
for bringing order to our homes,
it is also the perfect opportunity
for seeking order within...
for bringing order to our homes,
it is also the perfect opportunity
for seeking order within...
One way to begin seeking order within
is to come to grips with what drives you crazy
but what you've been too distracted to do anything about.
is to come to grips with what drives you crazy
but what you've been too distracted to do anything about.
Run a video of your typical day through your mind
and view the woman hanging on at the end of her rope
with compassion...
and view the woman hanging on at the end of her rope
with compassion...
[Mine? The thing that drives me absolutely crazy is that I can't keep my cleaning schedule. I use my bad days and busy days as an excuse, and then my house gets completely destroyed because I didn't do the little things I was supposed to do each day to keep my home in order.]
All these situations cry out for order,
just as your fragmented soul does.
There is a better way to live.
It begins when we establish order within
so that order will become a visible reality in our daily round.
so that order will become a visible reality in our daily round.
Start seeking order within by book-ending your day with reflection
first thing in the morning and last thing at night.
first thing in the morning and last thing at night.
This quietude will remind
you that you can make the choice every morning
to live in the world but not be caught up in the frenzy of it,
especially a frenzy of your own devising...
you that you can make the choice every morning
to live in the world but not be caught up in the frenzy of it,
especially a frenzy of your own devising...
What to do when you first awaken or before drifting off to sleep?
Quiet your mind,
lift up your heart,
muse,
mull over,
make discoveries.
Cosider, conceive, create, connect,
concede that it all starts within.
Pray,
read the Scriptures,
sacred poetry,
or a meditation from an inspirational book.
Think about the day ahead
and how it might unfold more smoothly...
and how it might unfold more smoothly...
Observe how gently but surely
the natural world renews itself daily...
the natural world renews itself daily...
Book-ending your day by nurturing your Spirit
means rousing your body earlier when you're so exhausted
from yesterday that you can barely crawl out of bed,
or spending an extra moment with yourself at night
when you're ready to fall asleep like a stone...
means rousing your body earlier when you're so exhausted
from yesterday that you can barely crawl out of bed,
or spending an extra moment with yourself at night
when you're ready to fall asleep like a stone...
[But it's worth it.]
Today, seek order within,
so that Divine Order may be manifest outwardly
in your daily round.
so that Divine Order may be manifest outwardly
in your daily round.
End Quote
Spring.
I love Spring.
I also loved pondering today on becoming organized within.
If you think about it, everything starts within.
If it doesn't start within, then it doesn't start.
I thought about how I don't keep my cleaning schedule because my mind is a mess somedays. I'll have a really busy day, or a really bad day, or be completely exhausted, and so I'll choose not to spend an hour cleaning. But when I do that I'm not thinking about the consequences...I'm just thinking that I'm getting a little more time to myself.
But all I'm doing is making more work for myself later.
For example.
If I spent 10 minutes every night doing a light mop on the floor, and then once a week doing a deeper mop, the dirt wouldn't build up so much.
Well, I'll let you guess when the last time was that I mopped.
It took me hours just to get the kitchen floor clean.
Basically the entire day.
And then I do this, and then get burnt out and never want to mop every again.
Was it worth putting off those 10 minutes every night?
No. No it was not.
I kept thinking maybe it's my schedule that's wrong...
Nope.
Today it hit me,
it's because I'm not quite there yet mentally.
There is no order within.
Ask me if I read my scriptures every night?
Pray sincerely every night?
Make the bed every morning?
The list goes on my friends.
But today it finally hit me.
It has to come from within.
Order on the inside, so there can be order on the outside.
Thanks Sarah.
***
Gratitude Journal
***
Spring.
I love Spring.
I also loved pondering today on becoming organized within.
If you think about it, everything starts within.
If it doesn't start within, then it doesn't start.
I thought about how I don't keep my cleaning schedule because my mind is a mess somedays. I'll have a really busy day, or a really bad day, or be completely exhausted, and so I'll choose not to spend an hour cleaning. But when I do that I'm not thinking about the consequences...I'm just thinking that I'm getting a little more time to myself.
But all I'm doing is making more work for myself later.
For example.
If I spent 10 minutes every night doing a light mop on the floor, and then once a week doing a deeper mop, the dirt wouldn't build up so much.
Well, I'll let you guess when the last time was that I mopped.
It took me hours just to get the kitchen floor clean.
Basically the entire day.
And then I do this, and then get burnt out and never want to mop every again.
Was it worth putting off those 10 minutes every night?
No. No it was not.
I kept thinking maybe it's my schedule that's wrong...
Nope.
Today it hit me,
it's because I'm not quite there yet mentally.
There is no order within.
Ask me if I read my scriptures every night?
Pray sincerely every night?
Make the bed every morning?
The list goes on my friends.
But today it finally hit me.
It has to come from within.
Order on the inside, so there can be order on the outside.
Thanks Sarah.
***
Gratitude Journal
***
1) KID FREE WEEKEND!!!!!!!!! Boy oh boy oh boy...do I ever need a break. And after this weekend, my parents are going to need one too.
2) Generous people who just give things that they don't need anymore away.
3) Spending time with Robbie.
4) A home, with running water and power...
5) And that Robbie goes to work to pay for all of it so I can stay home with the kids.
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