Life is Like a Sewing Room...

Okay, maybe not a sewing room, but certainly a room- take a look at any room in your house. Is there any space that you are completely happy with?

If you're like me, probably not- at least until you get that room cleaned up!

Sometimes our lives are so full of activity, that we forget to maintain things- and I don't mean actual things like dusting furniture and clutter- I'm talking about maintaining us.

Sometimes our inner selves resemble our surroundings. Mine was a cluttered mess (aka sewing room), not knowing where I wanted to be and getting lost in the mental mess; I can honestly say my house was reflecting the real me- sloppy and lazy.

I was sloppy in my thinking- saying things without giving a thought to what I was saying, waving others off if what they said didn't pertain to me or my interests. Sloppy in my heart concerning others- and God in particular. Mentally lazy because it was just too much work to change myself.

Then I went and cleaned that sewing space. And I learned a lot more about myself other than how to label items properly!

I found that I liked things where I could find them, and it was worth the work involved to get to that point. I'd also learned that it's much easier to maintain the space once it's neatened. But how was I going to do that, when the problems were inside my mind?

Clearing out mental clutter has to be one of the hardest jobs on the planet- especially if you're a writer like me, whose mind is always going in different directions! Even my ideas have ideas sometimes, and I tend worry a lot- mostly about silly things that will never happen. So the first task to do was to clear these thoughts out, and focus on what was important to me. Really important.

I'd made a list of all the things on my mind, then started crossing off the least important ones first, moving those items to a new list to be tucked away for later. Then I kept narrowing it all down until three or four remained. This was my Focus List.

Then I jotted down everything I wanted to change about myself under each listing. Not too many, but enough to get started. I could fine tune later. Now I'm working on each change, one day at a time. Any other things that clutter my thinking get written down and put aside. I'm decluttering my mind!

The best part is that once I'd gotten the ball rolling, things started to click together! You see, when fixing once aspect of your life (or house), it tends to trickle down and effect other areas in your life! And the work gets a little easier each time.

One thing to keep in mind though, if you plan on doing the same thing- unless you're living alone, things will not stay neat, nor will they ever be perfect. Kids and a husband are people I can't control (okay, the kids I can- but only to a certain point!), so I can't expect everything to be just as I want it. But I can control how I react to clutter and interruptions, and whether I decide if it's going to get me off track or not. And most times I have decided not to let those things sidetrack me.

So life is more like a sewing machine- everything stays together much better if the stitches are straight!