Playing With A Full Deck by The FlyLady, Marla Cilley
When I turned 50 year old in 2006 I started compiling a list of the lesson I had learned over the years. I did not write them in order I just wrote as fast as I could to get them down. Last year I forgot to add something I had learned to my list. I don't have to be perfect. So I am going to put in two important lessons I have learned this year.
The first lesson is one that is funny. Do you know how we procrastinate about everything that needs doing. This year I learned that something doesn't have to be empty to be filled up. In our bathroom at the office there is nothing worse than to reach for a paper towel and it be empty. One day I was in there and noticed that it was half full and took a dry erase marker and wrote this little message on it. The paper towels dispenser doesn't have to be empty to fill it up. Do this every Wednesday, Anti-Procrastination day. The funniest part of message is that no one at the office had ever thought of it and the dry erase marker would not erase. Let's just say the dispenser is never empty now.
This goes for our cars, our dresser drawers, our pantries, our refrigerators and our bodies. Why do we wait till we are on empty to refuel? This is when we get desperate. Desperate people do desperate things. CHAOS takes over and reigns all because we procrastinated and didn't fill up when we had the chance. Our routines give us a way to stop the avalanche before it ever starts. Peace of mind is the byproduct of routines. Your basic weekly plan is a routine for keeping things filled up: Your gas tank, your clean clothes, your food staples and your fresh produce. With these things fueled up your are ready to face the world! Now take it to the next babystep! Don't allow yourself to run on empty because our bodies don't do well without good fuel in our tanks and plenty of sleep.
The second major lesson I learned this year was when my sister almost died from a staff infection from an outpatient procedure. I had to let her go to get her back. This sounds strange, but I have always been her protector. It wasn't until I was able to give up control and put her into God's hands that found my weakness and my strength. My weakness was being afraid of not having her in my life and the strength I found was that I could make it without her if she died because she would still be with me. We have been blessed with her getting better every day.
We are all control freaks. We think that if everything runs smoothly then those around us will not find fault and love us. That is not love! We have to let go of our control to gain control over our lives.
I love being 52 years old. There are 52 cards in a full deck and there are 52 weeks in a year! I have 52 more weeks to learn something new for my next year's list. I like playing with a full deck of cards! Are you ready to join me in a game? After all if we make it fun it will get done. No more procrastination. Do it now! Don't wait! Get things done in 2008!
For more help getting rid of your CHAOS; check out her website and join her free mentoring group at www.FlyLady.net or her book, Sink Reflections published by Bantam and her New York Times Best Selling book, Body Clutter published by Fireside. Copyright 2008 Marla Cilley Used by permission in this publication.
She FLIES, she SPIES, she leaves a SURPRISE By the House Fairy
At FlyLady.net we have a dear friend who helps our children keep their rooms clean. The House Fairy has started to write stories for our children. This is her first column. To learn more about her go to www.HouseFairy.org remember org is for get organized. Our children need her. When we make it fun it will get done.
Today I had an appointment in a small town outside London. The Sheffield's. I love to go to the Sheffield's home because the parents always leave me a treat and some tea! AND I absolutely love Jenny the family's Basset Hound. Jenny is very hard for me to understand what with her English accent and those big lips! She sounds like a British statesman with a mouth stuffed with banana. Usually Jenny and I talk to each other in ANIMAL. When we talk ANIMAL we actually read each others minds and we don't have to say a word.
When I got to the Sheffield's to inspect the children's bedrooms, Jenny was the only one home. She was asleep on Rebecca's bed. (With those short little legs, I wonder how in the world she gets up there. Maybe she can fly like me?) Rebecca has done wonders with her bedroom since her parents signed me up to make inspections! It is so neat and tidy and it used to be in such a mess and Rebecca was not very happy. It seemed she was always in trouble for making messes she didn't clean up. Now she is so much happier!
Since I had a special surprise for her today (a new diary) I was so glad she left her room in order (though I wasn't really surprised), otherwise I would have only been able to leave a little fairy dust to let her know I had been there.
Since I can make myself as small as a lady bug or as big as a real mom, it really helps me get around for inspections. Today I chose to be about the size of a mouse because I bought this really cool, sparkly new dress in the mouse department at the Fairyland Dress Shop. It was the perfect size to be today, for I was able to crawl under Jenny's big black ear and whisper, Hi Jenny, I love you! Of course I woke her out of a dream (she was dreaming about tracking a mouse in the field) and she lifted her head and shook her face and those ears. Slobber went all over the wall along with me! I didn't mean to startle her, but she looked at me like I was that mouse she was trying to catch in her dream. In ANIMAL I said, Hi Jenny, it's me House Fairy! Hi, House Fairy you look great, is that a new dress?
THEN she said, I've been waiting for you to come and make an inspection because I know a secret and I want to tell you all about it. Now there isn't anyone who loves secrets more than me! What, what, what? I asked wishing I'd left one of the whats off. Well, Rebecca is hiding junk under her bed. When she doesn't want to DECIDE what to do with something, she just chucks it under her bed so you won't see the stuff when you inspect.
Listen up my sweet little snuggle bunnies, if you don't know what to do with something and you cant decide its a good sign you don't need it. Maybe it's a toy you don't play with much anymore, or a book you've outgrown and probably memorized. Maybe it's a pair of pants that are too tight, or a shirt you got too big for. Today, let's start filling up a Not For Me Anymore box. Then the next time I come to inspect your bedroom I can take the box to a family who won't chuck the stuff under the bed and will actually use the stuff.
I didn't leave Rebecca her diary (sniff) because of my under-the-bed discovery, but I left some fairy dust and a note saying what I want her to do and I told her, I'd be back.
For help getting your children to keep their rooms clean; check out her website www.HouseFairy.org Copyright 2008 Pam Young Used by permission in this publication.
