Lists

I need a list to keep track of my lists...that was a statement I made this weekend to a suggestion that I need to have lists so I make sure and get all my stuff done now that my hands are in so many different areas. But I've thought a lot about it, about that whole conversation actually and as crazy as it sounds, that's exactly what I need to do.

I'm probably one of the most unorganized people I know, yet the flip side to that is I know this. So, now that I know it, how can I work with it to ensure things aren't falling through the crack and I'm not loosing my mind. A list of lists, that's totally me.

Are you feeling overwhelmed just like I am? Do you feel like everything is equally important and you aren't even sure where to start? I hate to admit it, but I've even gotten to the point where I feel so busy a guilty feeling comes over me if I think about taking time to spend with God, "doing" nothing, because I keep thinking of all the things I need to be doing. That's not God's plan at all for us, He doesn't ask us to be with Him after we've done everything else, to give Him what's left of us. He wants the best part, the beginning part...why? Because then He can be at the center of our thought as we begin our day thus we'll be better able to sense His guidance and maybe, just maybe, not feel so overwhelmed.

So, the deal I've made with myself is to get up 15 minutes earlier, not get out of bed mind you, but wake up and spend those first 15 minutes with God...before my brain kicks into full speed and the day starts spinning around me. I am also going to take 15 minutes at night, just before bed, to go over my agenda for the next day. I'll make my list for the next day, go over whatever list I already have, and review what I did for that day. It all sounds so simple, so logical, so easy. Yet I'm fully aware it's not going to be, I'm going to have to remain conscience of this goal and force myself to truly do it, truly stick to it.

It's so much easier to float through life, to not have a lot going on, to ignore all that's going on around me. It's so much easier to whine, eat some cheesecake, and then take a nap. But as I tell my kids life isn't about doing what's easy, it's about doing what's right. It's also about doing things in a certain order because in the end that is what will help relieve the overwhelming feeling.

So, even though right now I feel as if I'd just added something else to my list, I am going to choose to change my thinking and know I've just taken a major step in helping myself out. Let the list making and time taking begin...