SOAK.
This has nothing to do with sitting in a bathtub...well, I guess it could but for me it doesn't. It's meditation. Meditating on the One that means the most. A few years ago I was at a women's retreat with my church. The lady that led our music was one of the ladies that sang with Travis Cottrell. She. Was. Amazing. She told us about something that she did often with her church. She called it a SOAK. There are no other words that go with it...it's not an acronym for anything. Basically you are SOAKing in the presence of the Lord. It's the most wonderful feeling in the world. She opened the curtains to a beautiful snowy view of the lake beside our lodge. She turned out the lights. And we sat there with our Bibles and our journals and listened to her sing soft worship songs. All the songs were TO God. Not about God or praying for things from God. We were telling God how much we love him. Truly worshiping Him. This is something that I plan on doing a lot more of in the future.
Routine.
I thrive on routine. I don't always ACCOMPLISH routine but I love when nothing breaks our daily routine. Having a routine keeps me calm and focused.
No more Multi-Tasking.
This is mostly a dream I think. The ideal would be to do just one thing at a time. And when I get off track stop and ask myself 'what should be done first'.
Accept it.
Practicing acceptance is something I really have a hard time with. Instead of opening my mouth to PROVE something to be wrong or not the way I think it should be, I want to learn to just keep my mouth closed and accept it. Face it without reacting, blaming or getting angry. Practicing acceptance will keep me calmer and using positive thinking will keep agitation at bay.
Just say no.
A friend of mine bought me a cup that said 'Stop volunteering for stuff.' Slowly but surely I HAVE stopped volunteering for everything. This is already a work in progress.
Simplify.
This is something that I want more than just about anything. I look around my house sometimes and think 'do I really need that?' If it's something that I know I don't need then I get rid of it. The problem is that I feel like I'm never going to get finished simplifying. I have school boxes for the boys that need to be gone through and organized. I'm going to learn to do 'one thing at a time' like one drawer or one closet and not multi task so much by trying to do everything all in one day. This one pretty much sums up everything else.
Keep Learning.
I would like to find something new and learn more about it. I often think of this but I never do anything. I took three years of French in high school. I would love to refresh my brain with this beautiful language. Maybe I will.
So those are a few tips for making life easier and more balanced in the coming year.
This is going to be a year for big changes here in the Mallari home. In 2011, my oldest will be headed to college, my middle will be headed to high school and my youngest will be headed to middle school. This will be one of those years where I will do a lot of crying I'm sure. Of course it doesn't take much! I'm looking forward to the new things coming up though.
So here's wishing you all a VERY Happy New Year and lots and lots of love!!
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