As I was driving home through the spring sunshine today and listening to the glorious sound of melting snow as it splashed up and hit the car, I was thinking about how often we are too busy completing jobs from our personal to-do lists to enjoy the beauty of each day. We are entirely distracted by time wasters and energy leeches. Here's my list of what I think you* should give up:
1. Fake friends. Spend time with people who really care about you and celebrate your weirdness.
2. Uncomfortable underwear. I'm not kidding. You know the pair. Throw it away already.
3. Wearing make-up everyday. We know what you really look like anyway, and we like you better when you're not perfect either. (By the way, for those of you who are, we'd really appreciate it if your bikini selfies would stop. It's giving us a complex, and our brains have no vacancy for additional complexes.)
4. Waiting until the house is clean until you invite your real friends over. They'll be relieved to see that you struggle with clutter too, and you'll have more time for—well, friends. Also refer to reasoning in number three.
5. Doing everything with your spouse or significant other. You won't go out to lunch without your husband? Why not?
6. Guilt and anxiety. They clog up your thoughts and don't allow for productivity.
7. A job you don't love or coworkers who aren't nice. Please. Do it for yourself.
8. Fear. My friends and I joke about one of the images from Pinterest. You know the one: like this. We're in taekwondo, and the seven-year-old next to me does the straddler splits when we are stretching, so I have decided to simply laugh. The only thing worse than not being able to do it is not even trying, right? Today not possible; tomorrow possible.** It's refreshing to almost not care anymore. (By the way, I still turn bright red when I get warm. Does anyone have a fix?)
9. Too many clothes. Sell them or give the extras away. Your regular clothes will get less wrinkly if you don't stuff so many in the closet. (You know you didn't like that shirt anyway.)
10. Self-help books. You don't need them. You have your real friends, your mom, and your Bible to help you get better and hold you accountable. The superfluous manuals are just telling you what your mom said to do anyway.*** Just listen to her this time.
What would you add to my list? Please comment below!
1. Fake friends. Spend time with people who really care about you and celebrate your weirdness.
2. Uncomfortable underwear. I'm not kidding. You know the pair. Throw it away already.
3. Wearing make-up everyday. We know what you really look like anyway, and we like you better when you're not perfect either. (By the way, for those of you who are, we'd really appreciate it if your bikini selfies would stop. It's giving us a complex, and our brains have no vacancy for additional complexes.)
4. Waiting until the house is clean until you invite your real friends over. They'll be relieved to see that you struggle with clutter too, and you'll have more time for—well, friends. Also refer to reasoning in number three.
5. Doing everything with your spouse or significant other. You won't go out to lunch without your husband? Why not?
6. Guilt and anxiety. They clog up your thoughts and don't allow for productivity.
7. A job you don't love or coworkers who aren't nice. Please. Do it for yourself.
8. Fear. My friends and I joke about one of the images from Pinterest. You know the one: like this. We're in taekwondo, and the seven-year-old next to me does the straddler splits when we are stretching, so I have decided to simply laugh. The only thing worse than not being able to do it is not even trying, right? Today not possible; tomorrow possible.** It's refreshing to almost not care anymore. (By the way, I still turn bright red when I get warm. Does anyone have a fix?)
9. Too many clothes. Sell them or give the extras away. Your regular clothes will get less wrinkly if you don't stuff so many in the closet. (You know you didn't like that shirt anyway.)
10. Self-help books. You don't need them. You have your real friends, your mom, and your Bible to help you get better and hold you accountable. The superfluous manuals are just telling you what your mom said to do anyway.*** Just listen to her this time.
What would you add to my list? Please comment below!
*Disclaimer: I have relied on every one of the above. I am still working on some of them, but the load is so much lighter now. Happy purging!
**I get extra credit in taekwondo for saying that.
***Disclaimer #2: I am a self-help junkie. Right now I am reading The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown. The more I read of them, though, the more I realize that the best ones are those that teach what the Bible has already said, and my mom, being the good person she is, has repeated those things to me.
**I get extra credit in taekwondo for saying that.
***Disclaimer #2: I am a self-help junkie. Right now I am reading The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown. The more I read of them, though, the more I realize that the best ones are those that teach what the Bible has already said, and my mom, being the good person she is, has repeated those things to me.
