So my goals this year were to to have savings for three months of costs and a years worth of food. Man, it has been tougher to do that then I thought. Repairs have come up that have eaten into the savings that we had saved. Thank goodness we had them. I do not want to use a line of credit again! And as for the food. Either I really suck at being thrifty or food prices have gone up. I budgeted what I thought was a reasonable amount of money to buy the food we need for the month and have some left over to add to the food storage, but it has been slow going. The past two months I don't think I have added anything! It is definitely time to renew my efforts.
But, I think I have discovered new goals that I want to work on as well. That is the great thing about life. We always get a chance to reevaluate where we are and what we want to do differently. While building up savings and food storage is still important to me and I want to do them, I have discovered that my focus is really not on that. My focus has been on clearing out the junk. Both physical and mental junk.
So my new goal for the rest of 2014 is to take control of my house and my head. We are going to go through all the boxes that we still have in the garage (from two years ago!) and get rid of the junk. Organize what we want to keep and get rid of all that doesn't fit. I am excited about this. My husband a bit less so. I am going crazy having to constantly look through boxes for things, to trip over boxes, having junk that we don't need all around us. It affects my mood, my energy levels, and thus it affects the kind of mother and wife that I am, and not in a positive way.
Do you find that? When you are overly cluttered, or not feeling as organized as you would like to be that familial relationships take the toll?
I know this will be a challenge for me but I am ready for it. I am not a naturally neat person, and I hate getting rid of groovy things, but if it is not adding to our happiness, then it really is not serving any purpose and so, has to go. I think that is the question you always have to ask yourself while you are going through your stuff. "Is this adding to my happiness or not". If something is adding to your stress, it has to go. Your health and your relationships are more important than a present that your aunt gave you that you aren't using. I think it might have been Hellen Buttigieg who said this, I can't remember, but whoever said "people give you things to bring you happiness. If it is not get rid of it. They would rather you be happy then hold on to it." (Totally paraphrasing but that is the gist. I am sure they said it way more elegantly then I did.)
The next thing that I want to simplify this year is my electronic time. There are so many distractions in the world. Facebook, pinterest, blogs, news sites YouTube. In today's world you almost feel this urgency that if I don't hear about this or see this on YouTube or whatever, that you have missed out on something great. In reality you can get on just fine without always having to be up on every last thing. I'm not saying you shouldn't be engaged in society, I'm just saying if you miss on little thing, it won't be the end of the world.
There are sometimes when I feel like I have been busy, but then I see what I have accomplished and it isn't much. It is because all my time is really being wasted by computer stuff. And not even useful computer stuff. I want to build a repertoire of healthy recipes. During nap time do I look them up? No, I have been checking email, going on facebook, doing everything but what I really want to do. Then I complain about it. Seriously! what is up with that?! Well it is time to pull in the reigns and evaluate how I'm spending my time. I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to do that. I don't like the idea of rigid schedules but maybe that is what I will need to do. Anyone have tips of how to make the best use of your time?
With distractions, cheap goods and a pull from the world around you it is challenging to simplify. I know, I'm living it now. But I also know that I won't regret going through this simplifying process. I know that it will bring greater harmony to myself and my family. We will be able to spend more quality time together than being worried about the stress of the stuff. I know de-plugging will us make our home a more productive place to be and that personal goals will be able to be better attained. Our focus will be able to be more narrow. It won't be easy but I am ready for the challenge.
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