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| "Purple leaves, well I never..." by Jarod Carruthers is licensed under |
A few weeks ago, I lucked into a 2002 copy of a book by the Fly Lady at a thrift store. I remembered that my mom followed her stuff for a bit when I was little, and I figured that it was worth the $1 gamble to see if it would be any good. I've also been trying to follow a 20 minute workout video every morning, cut down on social media, and watch what I eat a little more.
Well, between the constant hits to our immune systems (in addition to the digestive drama a couple weeks ago, everyone caught a cold that we're still getting over), the fatal mistake of opening a family size pack of Oreo cookies, a teething baby, and the ever present mountain of laundry in the master bedroom, progress has been...spotty.
Some days, It's been downright non existent.
There were a couple days this past week where I stared at my phone all day, let the load of laundry in the washer get sour, ate a large stack of cookies slathered in peanut butter after the kids went to bed, and then woke up late the next morning in a fractured state of mind and prepared breakfast two hours later than usual for no good reason other than mentally drowning in a state of general malaise.
But there's been less and less days where I don't have some small victory. Some glut of old papers that gets cleared out, a load of laundry folded, two or three days in a row I managed to get a workout done, or a day where I don't get on Facebook. It's very very imperfect, but I still feel like progress is being made.
Perhaps it's appropriate that I'm starting to get serious about "cleaning up" as Lent is approaching. I recently found out that Septuagesima is a thing-- the Church prior to Vatican II had a sort of "pre-season" to Lent. That sort of makes sense to me: trying to cram several changes in all at once is almost always a sure recipe for diaster. Knowing a thing is coming and preparing for it gradually seems to be the best way to make it actually successful.
It makes the sudden joy of Easter more interesting though, doesn't it? For pain, suffering, and toil you have to work gradually to get good at bearing it. For Easter, it just kind of pops up and hits you full on. There's nothing gradual about it; it's not a sunrise so much as it is a bomb.
I think more often goodness and grace act gradually, though they're often a gentle surprise. You work and work and work and then one day look back and realize you're further than you thought. You suffer and suffer, and then realize there's gifts and graces that you've had for a little while now.
But Easter is the exception in that it doesn't come quietly or only noticed gradually. You go through suffering to get there, certainly, but then it walks up behind you and crashes some pots together.
A lot of miracles are like that too. Pain, weariness, all hope seems gone....then, all of a sudden, things are right again.
I'm not sure what all this has to do with getting the house clean, working out, turning off my phone, or eating better. Any grace won from that is almost sure to be the quiet, gradual kind-- I can't for the life of me see how a big, flashy miracle could come out of this.
At any rate, it's good to start thinking about Lent. It's good to prepare.
Definitely a difficult phase of life. I was recently reading some of my old posts from right after my fourth was born, when we were living in the frozen north and my husband was gone for work a lot and everyone seemed to get sick all the time, and . . . yeah. Looking back, I was kind of awed that I actually got through all of that. You will, too.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I will note that eating better REALLY REALLY does help with everything, physically and mentally. And it is also REALLY REALLY hard to do when you're chronically sleep-deprived. It's also very difficult to do while also trying to exercise, however, so if it all seems too much, prioritizing the food choices is a good bet. I'm still not real good at it, even now that I mostly get to sleep through the night, but one thing that helps me to not eat after dinner is to brush my teeth as soon as I finish the dishes. I hate the thought of re-brushing them so much that it's almost always enough to keep me from eating anything else. Sounds kind of simplistic, but it works for me.
I should probably try that. I've tried having herbal tea after dinner instead, but that only kind of works.
DeleteEaster clashing pots behind you - that paints a pretty picture.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your progress. I'm currently working on my constant sweet tooth.