The first 24 hours

I'm sure you're all dying to know what I did after I turned off the computer at 7:30 pm last night...not! But here it is anyway. Don't worry, I'm not planning on giving you a run down every day, but I myself am impressed at how much I got done.

I did in fact turn it off right when I said I would, even though I hadn't even started planning the group meeting for tonight, and in fact should be doing that right now, probably. Anyway, I went downstairs, sat on the couch, and tried myself at doing nothing for a while. It lasted all of two minutes, before I noticed that there were toys everywhere, the kitchen was cleaned only superficially and the playroom was a total disaster area. One thing lead to another, and although I tried periods of just sitting down and relaxing they never lasted longer than two minutes. Apparently I have a very short chill-span. In some ways I think I'm very much like Ezra. He's so hyperactive, always bouncing about from one thing to the next. The only time he slows down is when he reads a book. While I no longer bounce, except perhaps as a passive reaction to my movement, I still move a lot, and only sit still when I read. Anyway, darlings, this is what I did while trying to just chill:

November 15, past 7:30 pm

1. picked up all the toys
2. vacuumed downstairs
3. cleaned dishes
4. cleaned kitchen (2x)
5. sorted out the pantry/closet for stuff to give away
6. organized the toy closet
7. organized pantry
8. did a load of laundry
9. folded a load of laundry
10. put said laundry away (always my least favorite part, frankly)
11. tidied and organized playroom
12. swept playroom
13. prepared a glutenfree pastry crust for a quiche in the morning
14. prepared 3 GFCF muffin and cake mixes
15. prepared tea/coffee for the morning (relax Mormons, it's herbal tea, and cereal coffee)
16. chopped up chicken for chicken nuggets lunch, and prepared the mix for chicken nuggets

All of this took me until about 10:00 pm. The result showed this morning and during the day where things just ran more smoothly, it seemed. Now, if I had set myself a to-do-list like this, I would have done maybe two things, and then would have just thought, meh, who cares, I can do it tomorrow. I was pretty pleased with all I got done, but I would consider my evening just as productive, had I just taken time for myself to play through a Sonata, learn new music, or do whatever just for myself. This is what the option process has taught me and I'm starting to grasp and translate it better every day: happiness is the result of your own choice and belief. You are more likely to be happy, if you do what you do, because you want to do it. If you tell yourself: I have to make breakfast for the kids, I have to clean the house, I have to do this or that, because who else will do it, then you are setting yourself up for disappointment. If you however see that you're doing it out of love, because you want your children to have a healthy, yummy breakfast, because -and let's be honest here, friends- YOU like the house nice and tidy, and so on, then you're already doing what you want to be doing, without needing anyone else to "give" you happiness by saying thank you or appreciating your efforts.

OK, enough for today. I really need to prepare the meeting for tonight.