Friday, January 2, 2009

I love new beginnings!

I truly love the New Year! I enjoy taking Christmas decorations down and packing them away for another year. I love wrapping each treasured piece of my nativity sets and nestling them inside their boxes to rest until it's time to display them again.

Then I'm ready to tackle my house. I don't want anyone around while I'm cleaning and I don't want interruptions. I just want to bring order from the holiday chaos of an abundance of family and friends and presents and food.

Order - things where they belong, clean and neat and sparkling - brings peace to my soul. The next step (which is a little later this year than most) is bringing a new order to me. As does Cheri, and probably most of you, I have resolutions to make. I have a new organized me to produce this year.

Yesterday I sent as my daily thought to my family, a quote from President Monson's conference talk on Finding Joy in the Journey. He said: "I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey - now."

So I started my list of priorities for the new year - those "most important things (that will bring me joy.)" Our schedule changes on Sunday. For the first time in 15 years, we'll be meeting at 1:00 in the afternoon. (My husband is unhappy that he'll miss his big Sunday dinner.) I'm happy for the change so that I can use those morning hours to work on Family History. I'm determined to find my illusive great-grandfather this year! The new schedule will enable me to make the necessary adjustment in my routine. Usually when I get home from church I'm so exhausted from two hours with my thirteen two and three year olds, I just collapse.

As with Cheri, I'm determined to drop some unwanted pounds. My doctor is threatening medication for high blood pressure so I have even more impetus to make changes in my life there. In addition to Curves, I'm adding 30 minutes of exercise on my own, either walking or in front of a TV workout program. Finding the time for the last two years to go to Curves has been a major challenge to my schedule, (I was just TOO busy!) but it has become one of those "most important things" to keep myself healthy and strong. I have eleven (soon 12) grandchildren that need me, and I'm sure the Lord has a few more things for me to do for Him, so I need all my strength and energy for those "most important things!" Great motivation.

I have 30 years of slides and 20 years of photos that need digitizing so I can present my children's life stories to them before I die. I can't leave the mess for my kids that both of our mothers left to us when they exited this mortal sphere. I promised I would have everything well organized and take care of the chaos before it passes to them. Another "most important thing" that I really want to do. So it is now on my priority list, scheduled into a weekly time slot. I've already invested in the equipment to do it - making time has been the problem.

President Monson said "Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future."

I've lived by that advice, and taught my children that precept and they learned it well. Now I have to bring order to those recorded memories for them! :)

The other "most important things" will get their due, but I'm enjoying the feeling of being organized and ready to tackle the biggies on my list. Stay tuned for a report on how I'm accomplishing my goals this year. The "report back" concept is another impetus to make sure I'm working on those most important things.

6 comments:

Jennie said...

Lynn, you make me tired--or maybe it's this cold. I like my house nice and clean after putting the Christmas stuff away, but I don't like actually doing the taking down, putting away, and digging out the stuff I had to put away to accomodate the Christmas clutter. I don't make resolutions either, a whole year is too long of a goal for me; I work with shorter goals better, the climb this mountain today, then I'll think about tomorrow's mountain kind of goals.
Good luck with your lofty goals, you're the kind of organized person who might actually accomplish them. If I were making resolutions, I might borrow some of yours, but for now I can't see beyond getting my tax stuff together and getting my carpet cleaned. If I manage to accomplish bigger things, it will be a pleasant surprise.

Lynn Gardner said...

Yesterday and today I have a houseful of kids and grandkids. Total chaos reigned yesterday. The house is a disaster! I love them dearly, but am really ready to plunge into getting things in order! I need order in my life like most people need food and drink.

But now that I have about three days worth of cleaning up and putting away and organizing, I have to stop it all and do the final edits on Pursued. I'm not sure why. I'm of the opinion it may never really be published. It is all a charade. Can you see I've come down off my high of yesterday! :) Lynn

Kerry Blair said...

Oh, Lynn! That's the problem I have with highs, too. I tend to fall off them too quickly and land back on earth on my . . . you know. :) But I was so inspired by your words that I actually brought a semblance of order to my kitchen for the first time in . . . I won't confess how long.

Here's hoping you get a chance to establish a house of order before very long, and that in the meantime you find joy in the unique chaos children bring!

One more wish: hang in there, okay? I would never have had the patience and forebearance you have shown. I suspect this has happened to you just so I will again be impressed, inspired and totally awed by true greatness! You're my hero.

Nancy Campbell Allen said...

I echo everything Jennie and Kerry said. January is hard for me, and I have to tackle one thing at a time. I do also love the order and crispness of the de-Christmassed house, Lynn.

Kerry, don't you wish the euphoria would last just a little bit longer? I guess we just have to remember those great feelings through the harder or more mundane times.

Lynn, good luck with your edits, sweet lady. What Kerry said- Hang in there.

Anonymous said...

Lynn, you're my hero. I'm going to just follow your post this next year. Curves, genealogy, photos--well, I don't know about those. The first two will keep me busy, but I have put one of my family trees online at myfamily.com and my goal is to keep adding to it so it will be available for other genealogists in the family. Oh, and getting organized. I managed to lose about 50 pounds this last weekend just tossing papers and magazines I'd held onto for too long. I think I can lose about 200 if I give up some books--not my favorites--just the ones I feel I ought to but really don't want to. There are too much fun books to read to spend time on "have-to's," right?

Jeri Gilchrist said...

Lynn, what a wonderful post. I needed to read those quotes today. They are certainly words to live by. They were a great help to me.

Getting organized...what a great goal for me! Starting with a house of order. My christmas stuff is taken down but still not packed away. I'll begin there! :)