Join the Parade by the FlyLady, Marla Cilley
We all love a parade but did you know that each day in your life is a parade. What is a parade anyway? I will define it by where you stand. You can be in the parade which means you put one step in front of the other and follow an assigned route through your town. Or you can be sitting or standing on the sidelines watching the parade pass you by.
You get to choose where you are in our little parade. To celebrate the month of March we are focusing on getting dressed to shoes and fixing your hair and face each morning in a marching band theme. Marching bands love to perform in a parade.
I was in marching band in high school. We practiced many hours in the sun to learn our routines. Oh wow I actually said it. We had routines. We had warm-ups and we took breaks too.
I will never forget my first summer in band. We went to band camp! Now let me tell you that I barely knew how to play my French horn but when you put playing and marching at the same time. I had two left feet. My band director taught me one important lesson that has stayed with me all these years. It was to learn the steps first then you will not have to think about two things at once. Your body will automatically do the steps and then your mind can focus on the music. Guess what it worked then and it works now.
This is why we practice one habit at a time, because as we establish one habit we can easily integrate the next lesson to that. We are not being mean to ourselves by piling on. This is what we have always done; make a big list of what we should do and expect ourselves to follow that list to the letter. As you establish one habit at a time; you do not have to think. One foot goes in front of the other and before you know it, your are marching to the consistent beat of the peaceful rhythm of your day.
No longer are you rushing so fast that you can't breathe or don't know which way to go or the flip side stopped dead in your tracks! Each step you have taken has prepared you for the next step and you are in the parade instead of sitting on the sideline wishing to get organized!
To begin our parade we have to get up and get dressed in our uniform. In order to do this, our uniform has to be clean and laid out for us to jump into! Our shoes are part of that uniform. They give us support for the many steps we have to take during our daily parade route. We have to keep our instrument tuned up by eating good food, drinking our water and taking breaks.
Have you ever stopped to think about how many steps you are making in your day! Put on your uniform, grab your timer and duster and let's march the FlyLady Way!
Put on some Marching music and let's have some fun! Do you have an old pedometer hiding in a drawer somewhere? Get it out and put it on!
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.
