Friday, September 18, 2009

Living in the Moment










I used to be organized. I used to be impeccably on time. I used to consider myself a peaceful and quiet person. I used to make lists with times assigned to each thing needing to be accomplished, and actually accomplish them. I used to have endless time devoted to planning my future goals. I used to always be on top of every detail of my life: my laundry, my studies, cleaning, time for friends and family, etc. AND THEN:

I had kids. My house is almost never clean, my laundry is in neverending heaps, almost every drawer in the house is a "junk drawer", I have become a sort of movie celebrity always wearing my sunglasses in public to mask the fact that I never got ready that day, I am constantly frazzled, and I am required to no longer be peaceful and quiet, since if I am, no one will listen. BUT:

I have learned, like an alcoholic, to live one day at a time. Sometimes, it's one minute at a time. And for a reformed perfectionist like myself, it has been a long road. I guess at some point you surrender and realize you can't do it all, and is it really that important anyway? The other day, my 2 youngest wanted to wait outside for Christian to get home from school. As always, there were dishes that still weren't done, and messes to be cleaned up, but I went outside with them and watched them chase each other, laugh, and indulge in the pure joy of LIFE. It touched me, and it was beautiful. How I love that I have learned to live in the moment.

3 comments:

Krissy Noel said...

Oh how I love this post. Maybe my favorite one yet. I wish I could say the same about myself, but hopefully one day I will learn to live in the moment because life can pass by very quickly when being so critical of every little detail. I think I'm in control and in my little niche and keep my head down and focused, but sometimes it's nice to look up and live a little.

Tiffany said...

Beautiful post and so so true. Though I would never say I was ever a perfectionist, there are some things that just have to be let go being a mother of five children. Thanks for the reminder to slow down and remember what is really important.

Juliann said...

Love this, Sandy. I've really been trying to do the same thing lately, and it makes me happier when I do it. Thanks for the reminder.