At one point today I was throwing a silent pity party for myself because it seemed no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't keep up with the mess! I was thinking, "I just don't know how [some people] keep their houses clean ALL the time. Like 'company is coming' clean. How is that even possible???"
And then as I was cleaning up dinner, I had a revelation. Everyone doesn't do everything all the time. Even if someone's house is clean ALL the time, something else has to give in their lives. Not everyone jogs 4 miles a day, bakes bread, makes cookies, cleans every corner of their house, plays with their kids, paints their living room, makes breakfast, lunch and dinner, does the dishes, crafts with kids, goes to work, etc. every day.
We prioritize. And it's ok if our priorities are different. Some people NEED a clean house. Some people NEED to exercise. Some people NEED to do a little bit of everything so they don't ever seem to have anything quite perfect (that's the category I fit into). I just have to remember to stop comparing myself to others, be grateful for what I have (and what I have accomplished during the day), even if it seems small or less than what I had hoped for. That's why we have tomorrow. Do all that you can today, and what you can't do today, do tomorrow.
11 comments:
Very well said! AND I think I'm in the same catagory as you! :)
Definitely been there felt that... I think its so easy especially to compare ourselves to people who seem to be getting more things done than us. Like I found myself always comparing myself to my mom, thinking, I just can't handle doing as much as she does. And worse, some of my single child-less friends.. and then I had to realize the hard way that our lives are WAY different. I'm a stay-at-home mom, wife, and student. I have to prioritize my life so that what 'HAS' to get done, gets done. The rest doesn't when my husband is working over nights. Sometimes it drives me crazy, but then I have to remember that this too shall pass. :)
that is exactly how i have been feeling and thinking!! and if anyone says they do do it all they are liars!!:)
I have learned that it is ok if you can't get everything done!I get bad anxiety when I try to get everything done that just isn't possible!
good post! very well said:)
glad to know your house isn't company perfect all the time either, miss crafty/ cooking/piano teaching/homemaker lady. my house is company clean usually on thursday. by sunday night somehow it's thrashed and then little by little it gets better and better until thursday. repeat. as long as i know that it was clean at one point the week before and that it will be clean at one point in the week to come, i can keep my sanity.
Randa, my house is rarely "company perfect" even when company comes! I usually think, "ah well. They're family. They can see the real house..." I need some sort of cleaning schedule. I usually just "pick up" and do dishes nightly, and vaccuum a couple times a week, but my bathrooms, windows, cabinets, fridge, oven, etc. get neglected far too frequently. I clean them when it gets to the "I CAN'T LIVE WITH THIS ANYMORE!" stage. (That was me cleaning Dean's bathroom last night at 11 pm.)
Well said. If there's one thing having two children has taught me, it's that I can't do everything. Well, maybe I can. But it will take me a SUPER LONG time. Which also means that, on the surface, I really can't do everything. :) Have fun prioritizing!
This was all so very well said. Everyone has their strengths and priorities, and no two people organize their lives and time the same. I love a Saturday where we all work together to get every floor picked up, and then Cannon takes the kids out for some fun while I deep clean for 2-3 hours. It is the only time our house is clean all at once, and although I wished it happened every week, it is kind of a rarity lately. Oh well. My two youngest go into kindergarten and preschool next year, so I am trying to make the most of the time I have with them this year. Maybe next year will be a cleaner house year. :)
Amanda, that's what I keep telling myself. There's a season for everything and I'm trying to just enjoy this season of toddlers and messes and hand prints on the windows.
Oh baby, I could have written this. I once asked a lady with a very clean house and kids that always looked perfect how she did it. She said you choose one or at the most two things you want to be perfect and you let everything else go. I was horrified. I said, "I have so many interests." She said, "that's OK. You just won't be perfect in any of them." So it is what it is.
I never have a clean house and haven't run 4 miles for a long time so you are doing just GREAT!
Thank you for the epiphany! It was an eye-opener for me; I've felt the same way you do many-a-time. I'll have to remember this thought. :)
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