Abandon the urge to simplify everything, to look for formulas and easy answers, and begin to think multidimensionally, to glory in the mystery and paradoxes of life, not to be dismayed by the multitude of causes and consequences that are inherent in each experience--to appreciate the fact that life is complex.
-M. Scott Peck
I like this. Not a day goes by that I am not somehow confronted with messages to "simplify" my life, usually in the form of some new organizing or filing system. You know the routine: take a few hours or days, move everything to a new easy-to-find location (that is somehow better than the last easy-to-find location from the previous simplified system that you set up). You get everything in place, manage to keep it organized for a couple weeks, and then the clutter builds back up and you decide "Enough of this mess! I need a system!" and it starts all over again.
Personally? I'd rather just take the time I would be setting up a new system (and less time, at that) and periodicly just sort the piles into their respective homes.
But I digress, because really, the problem with simplicity isn't in wasting time by constantly redoing systems, or weeding the excess activities out of our life. The problem lies more in the needless frustration simplicity, or rather, its pursuit causes. Like the quote said- "appreciate the fact that life is complex".
It's no wonder my son can eat candy and cookies and not get fat. If you could see what he's doing right now... For the last few minutes, he's been alternately running in place while singing, and running around in a circle while singing and dancing. Of course, he's doing this while half of his breakfast is sitting on the table. "My tummy's all full." Too funny.
It isn't even 6a.m. It's barely even 5:45a.m. I don't do a.m. As you might be catching on, there's something wrong with this picture. Need a hint? It's a four letter word that I'm starting to think should really be one of those four letter words: baby. Honestly, I'm starting to think she was switched at the hospital. Nevermind all the ID precautions they have, and nevermind that I was with her almost all the time- there is no way a child of mine voluntarily gets up this early. Yet here we are. Here we have been for the past week. She's sitting in her little play saucer (hey, maybe she's an alien! It looks kinda like a spaceship, and she's awfully comfy in it...) laughing and playing with all the toys and whirly-things, and I'm seriously thinking of breaking my "no coffee in the morning" rule. If I was a nice person, I'd be trying to find something quiet for her to do. Instead, I'm yawning and sitting here in a stupor and hoping she'll be louder so the husband wakes up soon so I can pass her off and get some sleep. Or at least that she tires herself back out soon so we can both get some sleep.
How do people do this? Why do they get up at this obscene hour? Outside, I see cars going by, people out jogging, more cars warming up... for the love of all that is holy, WHY? What's so great about it? All I'm seeing is a perfectly good night sky getting grey and dirty looking- the sun's coming up, but it's too early to be anything pretty. Even the bords are smart enough to still be asleep.
In all fairness, the past couple of days haven't been her fault. She's teething, which is making her phlegmy and stuffy, so she's been waking up when the Dimetap wears off. The bad part is that she's had enough sleep by then to be awake for a while, and the Dimetap is non-drowsy. I don't think it actually keeps her awake- it certainly hasn't before bed the past 2 nights, but it doesn't help her back to sleep either. So we have to wait until she plays herself out again, and the Dimetap kicks in enough for her to nurse. (Talk about cranky! You don't want to see this little bug when she can't nurse for having to breathe through her mouth. Let's just say there's a reason she gained half a pound in a month.) Which looks like about now. Thank you dear lord! She's yawning. Now maybe we can get back to sleep.
Mornings can't be healthy. Good night :-)
I've been rereading the Rich Dad Poor Dad series, and it got me thinking. I've been considering my finances in general the past several months, and honestly, I've not liked where my thoughts were going. I was thinking about the common- but undeniably good- advice of examining your spending. I hear examples of people stopping every day to get a coffee and a pastry, and I think to myself "That's not me- I don't do that. I wouldn't waste my money on a pastry everyday. I don't even get a coffee every single day". And then it hit me right between the eyes yesterday as I was driving to get my coffee- "That is me! Shit." Because so what if I don't get a pastry with my drink? That's just denial, avoidance, and me completely missing the point. And I do get a coffee drink every day, or close enough. So I had to really acknowledge that to myself, and admit the sheer amount of money I was spending on my coffee habit. Ouch. Combine that with sitting and figuring out exactly what I owe and at what rates, and working out the interest charges per year, and I have found my tangible motivation to get out of debt.
That's what I was missing before- a tangible motivation. Sure, I told myself that I want less stress, more comfort, more vacations, and to be easily able to both retire and still send my kids to college if they want- or at least not leave bills behind when I'm dead. But those were too abstract and too far off. I'm 24; retirement is easy to consider, but hard to really get a handle on. And so I buy coffee.
Of course, figuring all this out (finally- what the hell took me so long?) leads to more questions. I know I'm not willing to completely give up coffee. Maybe if it was choice between coffee or my family starving. To death. Otherwise, I'm keeping my coffee. I am going to cut back though. I'll go back down to 1-2 coffee drinks per week and 1 pot a day. It'll save cash, gas, and calories, and help my wallet, the environment, and my waistline- and that's what I need to focus on. And I'll start today, because otherwise I won't start at all.
I've been trying to get some more money coming in, and several things are coming together at once.
All in all, I'm glad I figured this out now. Spring is coming: that wonderful time of renewal,and dropping utility bills. Hopefully I can make some progress while the bills are minimal and have an easier time of the higher heating bills next winter. Either way, I'll keeping reading up and working on it, and I know I'll make progress. I found 2 quotes that I particularly like, so I'll close with these thoughts:
"The bottom line of procrastination is a fear of failure." Earma Brown
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
--Winston Churchill