When the brakes slammed on our economy the past year, many of us felt our lives simply spiral out of control.
The floor dropped out of the aspects of our lives that were on shaky ground prior to 2008, and those things that seemed safe no longer seemed infallible. In addition, perhaps the ways we once found comfort in the past (like shopping) were no longer advisable or either possible with the tightening credit market.
Fluff, this is what I call all those things that are simply not necessary in life; and it is probably a good description of how many of us lived – fully enveloped in fluff. It’s easy to get stuck in fluff when you don’t have any clear cut priorities and goals. “Wants” rule your emotions, and “needs” are expected. Not only will this type of living leave us feeling empty, but also broke!
Do you have too much? Are you always running? Do you want this year to be more fulfilling than last? The first step in that is to take inventory of your life, and that is my challenge for you this week. I want you to spend this week focusing on all that you have invested your emotions, money and time. Refer to the following categories and feel free to add or adjust these to meet your specific needs.
Material Possessions: Literally walk through your home and grab your camera. Don’t clean first; it is time to get real! Take photos of your jammed closets, cabinets, cluttered cars, toy rooms, kitchen cabinets, piles of magazines, etc. Print these pictures out and keep them as a visual reminder. Sometimes viewing things from a photo make us face our reality.
Obligations: For this week, document the time spent working at your job and/or volunteerism.
Sleep: Keep a sleep journal and see how many hours you are getting each evening.
Health: Make an appointment with your Doctor to get a complete health check-up. We do this for our children every year, but often fail to take care of our own bodies with the same dedication.
Relationships: Write down a list of all the people in your life and your relationship with them; and the amount of time you spend nurturing them.
Spirituality: Where do you stand right now in your faith? This week give this some thought.
I would suggest you document all of the above in a journal. In order to make a new start towards a more fulfilling life, it is absolutely essential to know where you stand today. This week please focus on your present situation, next week we will focus on setting priorities and goals and the steps to success.
Happy New Year!
Betsy
By Betsy on 01/11/09 in Clutter Busting, Columns, Editor Picks, Featured, Health, Main Feature
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January 16th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Thank you. These are great tips. I’ve actually found myself being thankful for the economic crisis. It’s caused my husband and I to follow through on the simplifying and prioritizing we’ve been threatening to do for years.
January 20th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
This is a great list; I would only add “Consider your down time”. A lot of us either deny ourselves any relaxation time at all, or don’t realize how much we are actually taking, often at the expense of our spouse.
It might also be great if both parents could do this and compare notes! Helps to see if how you perceive your spouse doing things is how they really are doing things – a valuable communication tool.