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Monday, December 14, 2009

Just for Today: Throwing Out the To Do List









Just For Today Challenge, Hosted by http://aroomofmamasown.com, Image by http://www.flickr.com/photos/catdancing/ licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/
Image by: catdancing on Flickr
Licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

After really struggling last week between my need to sleep and my desire not to sleep, I decided that this week on my day of spirituality I would spend one day throwing out my to do list and letting go of all the things I "should" do in favor of whatever came to me in the moment.

So after I got the kids off to school, I thought, "I should exercise, but I'd like to sit down and pet the cat and look out the window."  So I sat down with the cat and just relaxed.  Every now and then a thought would come to me and I'd worry about when I should get up or what I should do next.  I told myself that I would know when I knew.  And I sat petting the cat until I was done and it felt like time to go lie down and take a nap.  So I took a nap.  And when I woke up, I didn't quite want to get out of bed yet, so I stayed in bed, trying to trust that I would get up when the time was right.

And when my daughter was finished with school, she wanted to play outside.  So I went outside.  And as I stood there watching her play, I thought, "This day feels so much better than last week.  What if I lived every day this way?  Just doing the next right thing and trusting that I'd know when to do it..."  Which I followed immediately with the thought, "But then nothing would ever get done!"  And I realized that I was fine trusting God to take care of rest and relaxation, but I did not trust God when it came to getting work done.  Sure, God could help me relax and pet a cat, but I didn't feel God was going to be there when it came to getting the dishes done or cleaning the bathroom, which was quite a lesson and one I need more than ever at this time of year.  I hope I can take at least some of that into the coming weeks with me.

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Posted by at 5:00 PM
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4 comments:

  1. If God could just do the dishes, eh? Hah! Great post. I think some kind of balance is the best way to deal with things. I try - key word here: TRY - not to be governed by the almighty to-do list. It's a hard thing with three kids at home and a hectic season looming. Still, I need to pet the cat more often. I really do. Except when she has a tick, which she did last week. Then I'd rather not pet her until it's removed. Gross...

    Have a great, semi-productive day! :P
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  2. "And I realized that I was fine trusting God to take care of rest and relaxation, but I did not trust God when it came to getting work done."

    Oh, man, I can really relate to this. I have the same problem. I actually had a situation recently where I felt like God was helping me get the work done, though. I had this big project due today, and I noticed that over the past two weeks when I was working on it, I was able to break it down in really manageable pieces and not stress out about the parts that still weren't done. . Which is not my usual M.O.--I often feel overwhelmed and scramble to get it all done at the last minute. I think praying about it helped.
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  3. I'm working so hard on trying to be still and be in the moment. It's so hard but I'm working on it. Great post.
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  4. I think that God wants me to do those things that I can do for myself. Those things over which I have no control are gladly given up. I am just putting first things first and that is enough for today.
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