The Battle Against Busyness

As a wife, mom and a business owner, I feel like I have a never-ending to-do list. Most of my days start with a triple shot americano and valiant determination to get everything done. Most days end with me lying in bed thinking about all the things I didn't get to. It seems like a vicious cycle of trying, resorting myself to attending to the immediate needs, and inevitably feeling like I am failing at something. If I'm on top of my work, I feel like I'm neglecting spending quality time with my kids. If I'm spending quality time with kids, stuff starts growing in the refrigerator and my family stares at me like deer in the headlights when I tell them that we are eating Rice Chex for dinner (again?!). We all want to get to the gym, plan healthy meals, play with our kids, keep the house clean, actually shave our legs at least once a month, have a date night with our hubbies, have a girls' night once in a while, do that one project I saw on HGTV, water the plants, dust (yeah right!), oh and maybe I should actually READ my Bible today and not just think about it, and somehow I need to bring in a little extra income with my time somewhere, and....ugh. It makes me tired just thinking about it.

Busy, busy, BUSY. I would be willing to bet that if you asked any adult on the street if they considered their lives to be busy, most - if not all, would answer yes.

Why are we SO busy?

A friend and business colleague recently sent an email out that stopped me in my tracks and reminded me that I really am in control of my schedule:

"You do have a say in everything that you do and in what you accept. Each day is a reflection of all the things you agree to because you believe that you must do these things.

When you tell yourself that you don’t have time to take care of the things that you know you need to do it’s because you are crowding out your life with things that you don’t need. The laundry list of excess is often not focused on things that add to our lives, but rather things that pull life out. You may want it all, but the truth is, unless you know what exactly “it all” is, you are just going to be filling your life with things that pull you further away from what you need and want because you have no clear direction."

Clear direction. Doesn't that sound glorious?

I thought that since today was the first day of school for my kids - routines, consistency, etc - that it would be a good time for me to put my priorities in writing. 

My clear direction is this:

I want to FIRST be a child of God, a woman who sits at Jesus' feet every day so that my life produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness and self-control. I want to be a wife who is an exceptional help-meet to my husband by serving him, encouraging him and loving him out of the abundance of Christ's love for me. I want to be a wise and nurturing mother that raises brave, strong and wise young men, and a mom who teaches in times of non-conflict. I want to be a friend who isn't afraid to be inconvenienced, a friend who isn't attached to my possessions if someone else needs them. I want to be a business owner with integrity, excellence and quality as marks of my trade. I want to be someone who reflects God's love to everyone around me.

There it is. Now I can say no to everything else that doesn't help me accomplish those purposes. Ah.....that feels so much better.

What is your direction? I'd love to hear it <3