After a week of being incapacitated with the whole flu thing, there is one thing I can look back and say with all certainty... I do a lot more than I thought I did.
Before I got sick, though it's been a short albeit icky illness, I would have told you if I were asked, and maybe if I weren't, that I don't do enough. I can't get it all done. And there are even times when I feel that if I just tried harder, wasn't so lazy, didn't take time for things I like at all, things would be so much more efficient, and the house so much happier.
Now that I'm back up and starting to run again, I can see the half-truths and misinformation of those thoughts.
Even without therapy and school schedules to keep, without church responsibilities, without writing, I do enough to choke a horse. Oh, to me it's not a big deal. But I'm used to it.
It's an interesting thing, being stuck on the couch while life swirls around you. So strange to lay on the couch and hear my husband and my mother talk through how to do things I do without thought, much less discussion. They did well, too! They chose the most important things and let the others go.
Before you get the idea that I think I'm hot stuff, hold on a minute.
When I was in college, I did my laundry in a laundromat. It was always interesting to see the mix of folks doing laundry. Everyone wears clothes. Everyone has to wash them. It's one of those things that must be done, whether you do it at home, hire someone, or go someplace to do it, the fact remains that we all do it. Now imagine what would happen if you walked in one day, decided you were sick of your own clothes, and randomly chose another person's load. Just walked in, took it out, loaded it in your car, and left. No size or gender checking. Just clothes dryer grab bag.
What do you think the chances are that those clothes would fit?
Oh, they'd have two arm holes, two leg holes, and a hole for your head, so they should be just fine. They're human and so are you, so what's the big deal?
Obviously, we're all different. My life is somewhat like an old pair of jeans... or a worn pair of shoes. Someone else may not like them. I might even get tired of them and look around, thinking someone else's look better.
This is where we get into trouble. Weary, road-worn, we start looking around. Or maybe we're feeling pretty good about ourselves, and begin looking at others thinking, "wow, if they'd just do things I like I do, they'd be in good shape." Neither is correct. Neither is helpful.
Our lives, including but not limited to difficulties and happy things, are more designed for us than we know. So much more than a pair of jeans, they are intricately designed so distinct from each other, but still just the same enough to empathize. Just enough that we need one another, with a common thread enough to make it possible, with a large amount of grace and mercy, for us to love and encourage each other. Pretty amazing, no?
Thanks be to God again for my Mom and my Eric picking up all my duties while I was down... and helping while I'm getting used to it all again! It's so much easier to stop than to re-start!
Before I got sick, though it's been a short albeit icky illness, I would have told you if I were asked, and maybe if I weren't, that I don't do enough. I can't get it all done. And there are even times when I feel that if I just tried harder, wasn't so lazy, didn't take time for things I like at all, things would be so much more efficient, and the house so much happier.
Now that I'm back up and starting to run again, I can see the half-truths and misinformation of those thoughts.
Even without therapy and school schedules to keep, without church responsibilities, without writing, I do enough to choke a horse. Oh, to me it's not a big deal. But I'm used to it.
It's an interesting thing, being stuck on the couch while life swirls around you. So strange to lay on the couch and hear my husband and my mother talk through how to do things I do without thought, much less discussion. They did well, too! They chose the most important things and let the others go.
Before you get the idea that I think I'm hot stuff, hold on a minute.
When I was in college, I did my laundry in a laundromat. It was always interesting to see the mix of folks doing laundry. Everyone wears clothes. Everyone has to wash them. It's one of those things that must be done, whether you do it at home, hire someone, or go someplace to do it, the fact remains that we all do it. Now imagine what would happen if you walked in one day, decided you were sick of your own clothes, and randomly chose another person's load. Just walked in, took it out, loaded it in your car, and left. No size or gender checking. Just clothes dryer grab bag.
What do you think the chances are that those clothes would fit?
Oh, they'd have two arm holes, two leg holes, and a hole for your head, so they should be just fine. They're human and so are you, so what's the big deal?
Obviously, we're all different. My life is somewhat like an old pair of jeans... or a worn pair of shoes. Someone else may not like them. I might even get tired of them and look around, thinking someone else's look better.
This is where we get into trouble. Weary, road-worn, we start looking around. Or maybe we're feeling pretty good about ourselves, and begin looking at others thinking, "wow, if they'd just do things I like I do, they'd be in good shape." Neither is correct. Neither is helpful.
Our lives, including but not limited to difficulties and happy things, are more designed for us than we know. So much more than a pair of jeans, they are intricately designed so distinct from each other, but still just the same enough to empathize. Just enough that we need one another, with a common thread enough to make it possible, with a large amount of grace and mercy, for us to love and encourage each other. Pretty amazing, no?
Thanks be to God again for my Mom and my Eric picking up all my duties while I was down... and helping while I'm getting used to it all again! It's so much easier to stop than to re-start!
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