April 9, 2013

My Six Life Lessons.

I make grand plans. If I followed through on even 10% of my ideas, I'd be in amazing physical shape, have an impeccably styled home and be broke as a joke because I spent all my money on fad workouts and new flooring.

I view my time, money and very short, sometimes intense, attention span as hot commodities; they're in demand and not widely available.  Here are my six life lessons (so far):

1. Make time. There is always time for what matters in life. Yes, you have to drive your son to soccer practice every Friday, but instead of sitting in silence while music drowns out any chance of conversation, ask him what music he likes. BUT MAKE IT INTERESTING! Make him choose from your radio stations. This is how I learned my nine year old likes Third Eye Blind.

2. Do your chores. My house is rarely spotless, but I feel ready to take on nearly anything after I clean a room. The kitchen is usually my quick fix. After I wipe down the counters and load the dishwasher, I usually feel like the world is looking a little brighter.

3. Live so your friends wonder how much money you make.  No, not like that. We live in three bedroom 1960s slab ranch. It has one bathroom.  It's the last house before a city park, and we live only five houses away from the local elementary school.  My husband and I both work full time; I was promoted in 2012. This home was a choice we made. 

4. But don't be Scrooge McDuck.  This lesson took me a minute to learn. It's OK to spend money sometimes. This weekend we went out to eat as a family and were discussing Clue in the car on the way home. It sounded so fun my husband turned the car around, and we went to Target to buy the board game. We played three games on Saturday and two on Sunday. Can I tell you how excited I am that the kids are old enough to understand and enjoy Clue? Best $20 spent so far this month.

5. Allow yourself to flit. If I force myself to concentrate, it has the opposite effect: I shut down completely!  I find if I simply keep the end goal as an ever-present panic simmering just below the surface (thanks, anxiety!), I can flit around from project to distraction to unintentional nap back to the task at hand and it all works out!

6. Know when you've had enough. In addition to my ADD tendencies, I have an addictive personality. I now know this about myself and can uninstall games or apps that are a bad influence for me. That was a tough lesson to learn, one that came with about 50 pounds of weight gain! I was a big MMORPG gamer for a while, getting multiple characters to max level. I spent over a year in front of my laptop chasing the proverbial carrot and gaining a bunch of weight in the process.

Being in my early 30s, this list isn't nearly complete. I look forward to learning more about myself!

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