Space and Grace

Have you noticed how many books and blog posts and articles have been written lately about downsizing, living intentionally, decluttering, and living a more simplified life? Then there are all the tiny house fans and minimalists and tv shows about people selling everything they have and moving into the woods to live off the land. I am seeing a pattern here, and I have to say that totally understand it.

The need to simplify and declutter is always on my mind. It’s not just material clutter that bothers me, either. The clutter of technology, the to-do lists, the meal plans, the homeschooling, the home business, the house cleaning, etc. all pile up.

I have looked for ways to schedule everything better to no avail! I have tried digital reminders. I have a paper planner cluttered with lists and appointments and things I need to do but still feel…..off.

We live a different kind of lifestyle with my husband being a preacher, us homeschooling our children, and me having a home based business. Our “schedules” are always all over the place. I can usually do one thing really well but everything else just falls by the way side. I never really feel caught up, and sometimes it’s so overwhelming that I totally lose it and cry.

Then, I get these online messages from others and they say things like….”Wow! You really have it together!” or “How do you do it all?”

I can’t even tell you how much this bothers me!

I don’t want to appear to have it all together all the time. I don’t want others to look at my “online life” and think that I have everything figured out!

I don’t. 

I don’t have it all figured out.

Most of the time I don’t even know what I am doing!! LOL

I have accepted the fact that I can’t do it all, and guess what?! You can’t either. I just try my best to do what I can each day and let go of what I didn’t get around to doing. That is really hard for me to do some days, but it is necessary in this cluttered world in which we all live.

Y’all, I don’t post photos of my kitchen sink full of dirty dishes or my piles of dirty laundry. I don’t tell you all about our homeschooling troubles or lost library books. I don’t think you want to hear about how I scramble around the kitchen trying to find something for us to eat at the last minute and end up order a pizza.

I live a real life…a messy and real life. I am a real person who does not have it all together, and I am trying to learn how to be okay with that.

So this is my, “come clean” post to say to you….I don’t have a secret to doing it all because I don’t!  I don’t do it all!

Please don’t be discouraged when you see photos of blogger’s home décor, homeschool posts, or crafting ideas. Know this….that one perfectly staged photo or awesome crafty idea or wise homeschooling article may be the ONLY thing that she accomplished that day. Most of the time, what you see another person post online is not that person’s reality but a snippet of a best moment that has been carefully tweaked and edited.

Give yourself some space and grace, and just do what you can without comparing yourself to others.

With Love,

Amanda 🙂