Dear Friends,

It is a beautiful day in the mountains of western North Carolina, and it is just as lovely in our home. We have beautiful music filling our heads and hearts and I am writing and Robert is reading his Sunday paper. The music Robert selected today is the Brahms Requiem. The voices bring tears to my eyes and I feel blessed the have experienced this joyous piece of music. One day I will know what they are saying in German; but for now I can read the text as they sing.

Sunday is our “renew your spirit” day! We love to celebrate with music. Yesterday was family fun day and we hopped in Robert’s little car with the top down and took a drive down a curvy mountain road into South Carolina. This was not planned. I just said, “let’s go for a drive” and we slathered on some sunscreen and took off. We had no idea where we were going. Four hours later we were in Saluda, North Carolina having dinner at an old favorite restaurant, Green River BBQ. After dinner we had to put the top up because it started to rain. It was a great day and my sweetie thanked me for coming up with the idea. He is so easy to have fun with.

Routines do not keep us from being spontaneous. They give us the flexibility to be able to leave at the drop of a hat; no planning, no stopping to get gas or having to do the dishes first. We were dressed and all we had to do is grab sunscreen and I knew where it was. If we had to do too much to get going; we had rather just stay home because it was “too much trouble”!

When was the last time you turned down an invitation to do something because it was just too much trouble to get ready? You do this all the time and you don’t even know it. You get a call to have lunch with an old friend or kids want to go to the park or swimming. You say no because the house is telling you that you cannot go. When are you going to shut that house up and have a little fun?

This “too much trouble” attitude is the same attitude that got your home in the shape that it is in. I know you don’t understand this so I am going to explain it. Let’s look at your bathroom. One of our monthly habits is “Swish and Swipe”. This is how we keep our bathroom company ready all the time. While we are getting dressed we swish the toilet and wipe down the counters and shine the sink. Poof the bathroom is cleaned and it only took a few short minutes. Now if we didn’t have our Windex in the bathroom and it was under the kitchen sink; we would have had to go to the kitchen to get the Windex and you know what would happen then. We would get sidetracked again. When we have what we need in bathroom then we can’t say subconsciously; that is too much trouble. We can just do it without having to go through too many steps to get it done. In other words; I don’t have any excuses.

This also happens to me when it comes to my floors with something as simple as putting a clean cloth on my mop as soon as I finish. I have gotten into the habit of doing it at the end instead of the beginning. This way I don’t say to myself it is too much trouble. It is ready to grab and go; one minute later my floors are done. Wow.

Robert and I have a toiletries bag always packed and ready to grab; if ever we just want to head out on an adventure. This is also a blessing when you need to leave for an emergency. When your laundry is done you just have to toss a couple of items in an overnight bag and go. It is no longer a laundry marathon to get enough clothes to be able to leave.

How does your guest room look now? Would it take all day to get it ready for a guest? Or could you open your door at a moments notice to help a friend in need. Whenever I have a guest leave; I put clean sheets on the bed right then to be prepared for the next visit.

Does your family like to camp? Camping was always an ordeal for me. I would take everything but the kitchen sink. Then I got smart. I got one of those plastic totes we have used to store our clutter and put my cooking essentials in it. Each time we got home from a camping trip I would restock it with the necessities then close it back up. To go camping all we had to do was go to the grocery store and fill up the ice chest with food, toss the kitchen box in the truck, fishing gear, tent and sleeping bags. Shopping was easy because I had a list ready to go with the kitchen box. Camping was fun again. We haven’t gone camping in a long time. I have given all my camping equipment to my son for his family outings.

Do you have your shoes tied to your feet? This is another one of those little habits that when you establish them, will keep you from saying it is “too much trouble” to put on my shoes to take the garbage out or go for a walk with your sweet darling.

Now don’t you see how having just a simple routine can free us up to have more fun. This same preparedness, helps us bless our homes, face any emergency, welcome unexpected guests and go away for the weekend.

You can have this same spontaneity in your life too! Routines will give you this freedom!

Are your ready to FLY?

FlyLady