I know it seems like a weird question, but hear me out.
There are a lot of stories I’ve told myself about being organized:
- Other women come by it so easily.
- My family actively works against me when it comes to getting organized.
- I could get so much more done if I could just get organized.
And to some extent, those are all true.
So let’s break them down. Today I want to tackle the first one.
Other women come by it so easily. Yes- I would say that most women are naturally more organized than I am. Their natural response is when they pull something out, they put it away. Not me. My natural response is to leave it out in case I need it later.
But just because something comes more easily for someone else doesn’t mean that I should give up on it – that it’s any less important for me to achieve it. When I use the excuse “It just comes easily for her.” what I’m saying is that the things in my life are not as important to accomplish as the stuff in her life.
You do a lot of things that don’t come naturally: I get being a mom didn’t come naturally at first. Or cooking dinner. Or figuring out Facebook. But you stuck with it – and now you can.
It was the same for me. Putting things away. Not natural – but now I do it. Keeping my living room picked up. Not natural, but I’ve set myself up that I do it for 15 minutes a day, and it stays mostly picked up.
Is there someone in your life that you compare yourself to when it comes to organization? What do you tell yourself about why you are not as organized as you want to be? I want to deal with the issues that keep us from being all that God wants us to be.
In the last few days, I have come to the realization that I am lazy, selfish, and want someone to wait on me most of the time. I want the clean, organized home, deck and yard without the work. I want the neat, orderly office but don’t like the idea of spending the time and energy it takes to accomplish that goal. I paid a professional to help me but that turned out to be too expensive for something I could have done myself.
Somethings aren’t as important to me as they used to be. My house doesn’t have to be uber clean when I have company but if I didn’t have so much stuff, this whole thing would be a lot easier. So along with my other conclusions about myself earlier in my post, I own too much! I don’t need all of these things that clutter my home, my office, and my life.I don’t even want to try to sell them via garage sale or eBay. I just want them gone.
I have multiple boxes left from my parents who reside in heaven now. My emotional attachments are less since it’s been a couple of years yet they must be sorted through, decisions have to be made, and the work has to be done. My siblings live out of town so the burden rests on me. More things pile up in my once clean office as the boxes empty. Yikes, it’s never ending.
My girlfriend has this beautiful home that’s always clean and everything has it’s place. I don’t envy her because I know that she disciplines herself, has a routine, and doesn’t let it get out of control. She knows what she wants and doesn’t want. She doesn’t hang onto things that aren’t necessary. She works at it yet finds plenty of time to do fun and exciting activities, completes her Bible Study, plus all her other obligations. I could be like her but God didn’t make me like her. He made me who I am.
So I come back to my premise. I don’t want to do the work! Won’t someone come do it for me? But by the way I can’t pay you! Yes, God is dealing with me loud and clear. If I want something, a clean home, organized office, I need to roll up my sleeves and get to it or I’ll be living with the guilt of the “I should’s” for the rest of my life!