Motivationally Speaking!

I am the kind of person who is always creating & maintaining a To-Do List! Anyone close to me knows this to be true! In fact, my husband has been known to write little notes on my To-Do Lists, such as "write to-do list"! He thinks he's funny so I let him! I've caught others over the years doing much the same! Even though I am all about the recycling and as much as it pains me to admit this, if someone wrote on my list I'd have to start all over! I know what you're thinking but I've never actually been diagnosed as OCD, so there!

The thing I've found over the course of my 15 or so years of  "To-Do List writing" is that it is always easier to write the list than it is to actually carry out all of the tasks on the list! I've always thought it was funny when a famous person had a personal trainer to help keep them motivated to continue their work outs! I'm not laughing so much now that I've contemplated one to keep me motivated to complete my daily To-Do Lists! Why is it so hard to just complete a task? This is a question I have asked myself many times over the years! I can't obviously answer for anyone other than myself, so for me it is about loading myself down with so many tasks even Super Woman couldn't possibly finish it all in one day! Perfect case in point is the fact that I've had "paint the living room & dining room ceiling" on my list for nearly a month! Do you think it's been done yet? Nope! Just gets moved to the next days list! 

Day in & day out I torture myself with that long list of disappointment! Every day it just stares at me from the fridge! Winking at me as I go by as if trying to entice me to get my ass in gear! It's not that I'm doing nothing! I get going on one project then find myself moments later working on another one in a completely different room! I think sometimes I find myself so totally overwhelmed by the fact that I am a grown-up with big girl responsibilities that I get stumped! Of course the dog's, who think they're awesome helpers; cat's, who are far too good to care; ferret's, who are completely oblivious; kids, who seem to speak a different language than myself; a husband who doesn't know that mud actually sticks to your shoes; and the fact that we live in a 100 year old dust bucket (I mean house) doesn't always help either!

My daughter is always saying, "you are WAY too picky mom!"! She's right! I just feel like since my family knows this about me that it would be far easier to just do it how I want it done! Yes, I am picky but I'm not delusional! I know I need to revamp my way of thinking and I am truly working on it!

While paying a bill over the phone a few days ago I had the most educational conversation with the very nice customer service rep! She said that her children are grown now but when they were growing up the question she always asked herself was, "will this ultimately matter in 30 years?"! What random wisdom! I have started asking that very question when dealing with things around the house and though I still want things tidy & clean, I am trying hard to more wisely choose my battles!

I will probably always be a To-Do List writer/picky mommy/neat freak, that's just who I am! But motivationally speaking, I am working a lot harder at pairing down my list, actually completing projects on the list and being the calming force I so badly want to embody! I want to know that when my family looks back in 30 years they don't just remember me always cleaning & nagging but rather that I love them & just wanted a clean, tidy, safe & cozy nest in which they can all land safely!