Living A Balance Through Laundry

My mom told me today that I need to make more posts, so I am sitting down at the laptop in the kitchen and thinking ....what do I write about? The laundry room is just off the kitchen. I am looking at the dryer that has just gone off, and I tell myself, "I should probably get those clothes folded before they get wrinkled."

Ta Da...my subject: But let me fold the clothes first. BRB (Be Right Back)

I'm done! You know, I really don't like to do laundry. I don't ever get a break when it comes to laundry. It never seems to end. When we clean the toilets, at least we can say "Yes, I am done." Have you ever told yourself...."yes, all the laundry is done (washed, folded and put away)." Maybe you have (you also may need your head examined), but just as you say that, an item mysteriously shows up in that dreaded laundry basket. As the family gets bigger, so does the laundry. If you have kids that have accidents, even more laundry. Each day you don't do laundry is another day for it to pile up.

Laundry is never done in my house, However, in order to live in my house, you have to go through my Laundry 101 course. Part of that course includes an understanding that no one is to ever to touch any of mom's clothes. There also can not be anything in the dryer at 7:00 a.m. mostly because Trevor and Brooklyn like to heat up their clothes in the dryer before putting them on in the morning. When you live in a refrigerator like we do, you will understand. Because Preston, Megan and Trevor are older than 12, they must do their own laundry. Preston has Monday, Megan has Wednesday and Trevor has Friday....Ask me how many times they have done their laundry on their assigned day. If you can count to 1 then you got it.

My goal is to do two loads of laundry every day. I put a load in the washer at 5:00 a.m. and then another one around 7:00. Most days the clothes are washed dried and put away by 9:00 a.m. Today was an exception, because Nathan put a load in the washer when he got home from work. Nathan doesn't do laundry. So if he is doing it, the laundry situation has reached critical mass. It doesn't matter if there is only 2 loads to do or 12 loads to do, I only do 2. Eventually I will catch up. We have had guests these past two and half weeks, so taking care of them has taken precedence over the laundry.

I know lots of people who do all of their laundry in one day. I could not do 12 loads of laundry in one day. I would be so burned out, that you would have to throw me into a room with padded walls. I am a believer in slow and steady, steady and slow. It is all part of living a balance. Whatever your balance is, keep it up. At least we no longer have to wash our clothes on washboards.

Balancing Mind, Body, Spirit and Heart

I have known, for as long as I can remember, how important it is to live a balanced life. I remind my 16 year old son that no matter how busy we are, we can live a balanced life. He is often overwhelmed by his schedule. He manages to do well in balancing except he doesn't like homework. So he doesn't do it until it becomes a crises. I tell him that balancing our lives requires sacrifice. He doesn't like that those sacrifices include eliminating video games, and tv. We can do everything we want to do, just not at the same time.

When I used to think of balance, I would always think in terms of mind, body, and spirit. I am always in the process of learning knew things like drawing with colored pencils or learning about people who have impacted the world like Winston Churchill. I am getting back into shape physically (I am just a few pounds shy of my ideal weight) and it is important for me to study the scriptures personally and as a family; as well as have personal, family, and companion prayer. But there is one more aspect of balance I have forgotten.

I received a copy of the Utah Valley magazine in the mail the other day. Stephen R Covey was on the front cover. I am a huge fan of his and have read several of his books like 7 Habit of Highly Effective People and First Things First. I own his the 8th Habbit, but have not been able to read it yet. I was excited to read what he had to say. He talked about the mind, body, spirit and to my surprise, the heart. Except for the occasional helping someone out or visiting teaching, I have completely lost my focus on being compassionate and serving others.

My husband and I were waiting at the accountants office the other day. I had a doctor appointment scheduled for that same day. I was a little stressed about making it to the doctor's appointment because I had waited 2 years to see this particular doctor. Yes two years. We were sitting in the foyer of the accountant's office for 45 minutes. The accountant's secretary came out after realizing we were there and showed us into another, more comfortable waiting area. She apologized that we had to wait in the foyer. She said, "If I had known you were here, I would have brought you back to this more confortable sofa sooner." I replied, "Whether it's waiting in the foyer or waiting on this couch, it is still waiting." She smiled and then asked us if we wanted a drink of something. When we both said "no" she left. Nathan looked right at me and said only one word. "Wow." I looked at him and said, "Was I too harsh?" He said, "Oh yes." We spent another 10 minutes waiting for the accountant and talking about how I have forgotten how to "be nice".

Knowing I needed to work on the 4th aspect of balance (love), I went to Stephen R Covey's website/blog. I learned a very important lesson about love and service. When we work on that aspect of our lives, we are less likely to say something that isn't nice. I love this website. In fact I signed up as a member of a learning community in developing a paradigm shift in my own life. It is free. I am looking forward to more favorably balancing these four areas in my life and perhaps encourage others along the way. Check it out and perhaps sign up with the rest of us 80,000 people who are hoping to leave a great legacy. http://www.stephenrcovey.com/community