The R-Word

Resolutions. Everybody's talking about them. It's kind of silly...to do this once a year. I sort of live my life like this. They're called GOALS, right??? Anyhow, I still play this game - use the beginning of the year to evaluate my life and see what I want to change and pick something to work toward.
I promised Mike I would get to the gym and work out often. He says 5x/week. I don't know if I actually agreed to that. Before you begin to hate my hubby, realize that he wants me to do this because of my MS. I don't want to do it because of my laziness and my love of making excuses NOT to exercise!
But exercise isn't my resolution - maybe Mike's resolution - but not mine. I will put forth a good effort, because it's good for me. Honest. I will.
My resolution is a bigger struggle, and something I think about all the time.
That's it, btw - time.
I have a love/hate relationship with time.
I vascilate between being too driven and too lazy.
And this year, with getting sick I HAVE to "conserve my energy" - which means that I have to rest periodically - even if I'm not tired - yet. Which smacks of laziness...and I can abuse it, totally.
It's crazy.
And, I don't have any less to do in a day now that I have MS, mind you.
I've always struggled with how much time to spend on household chores vs. my ministry stuff...which is ALL volunteer, but stuff I love...writing, helping people. And the household chores are a mix of stuff I love (vacuuming, ironing) vs. stuff I don't love (cleaning bathrooms, organizing, cleaning my car).
I probably stink at prioritizing, and once I get into something I lose track of time...so that doesn't help. (Like maybe now? Perhaps I'm rambling???)
So, this year (like, starting YESTERDAY) I started keeping a notebook - it's a secret - only YOU know about it! And in this notebook I am keeping a list of everything I do in a day's work. This accomplishes two things. #1) I can feel good about this big list of stuff I am accomplishing and #2) I can see how evenly/unevenly I am spreading my time between house chores/ministry/self-indulgent things because I am labeling them all with an H (for household stuff) F (family enrichment or family entertainment) S (SAMmy's) or M (Me) and in a week, I'll see what I spent my time on and if I need to rearrange my priorities.

Like yesterday (the only day I've done this) I did this:
M - Worked out
H - Washed 2 loads of clothes & folded
H - Walked dog twice
M - Spent time talking on phone with Cathy
M - Checked email/blog
F - Made Dr. Appt. for Mike
S - Sent 2010 Contribution Letters to Donors
M - Registered for Conference in May & Arranged for Mom to watch kids
S - Finished Writing Leader's Guide & Sent to Editor
F - Took B. to get hair done
H - Made Dinner
H - Ironed (2 shirts & 3 tees)
H - Vacuumed Bedroom, Living Room & Hallway

That was a picture of my day. At the end of the week, I hope to look and see that my activities are pretty well-rounded. I can see if I am spending too much time on ministry work, or myself and nip that in the bud right away. I can also feel good about myself by looking at my list at the end of the day, and see all I accomplish (because we all know that nobody REALLY cares what we do...so we may as well pat ourselves on the back)! Also, I've noticed that just like when you write down everything you eat, I am more careful about what I'm doing when I write it down.

I have just been convicted that I haven't included my devotions in my list. I should put a "G" category for "God", huh? I think I will...so that I can list my devotions - because my day doesn't go well if I skip my prayer and Bible reading in the morning...

Well, those are my thoughts on this year's resolutions. What are your resolutions for 2011? Maybe we can hold each other accountable!