Let’s Get Simple

I don’t know about you guys, but my “I need help” notes are looking more and more like a “to do” list and less and less like a “be kind to Shirley” project. I’m feeling overwhelmed by the impossibility of dealing with them. I definitely didn’t want to set us up for failure and yet that’s how it is starting to feel to me. So I came up with an idea…

Remember our fun little post about Using Your Words? I decided to apply it to the “needs” collection of notes that I compiled at the beginning of our project (Let’s Get Radical). Here’s how it went ~ these are my actual notes:

• My bathroom faucets are almost totally clogged up but I don’t have to do anything about it today.
• There is not enough music in my life and I can do something about that right now if I want to.
• There is a giant tree branch in my yard and I don’t care.
• My car is rusting where paint has peeled off and that’s ok because it has 300,000+ miles on it and I can always buy some spray paint and cover it up if I want to.
• The yard is way over gown and I don’t care.
• The Magick room is cluttered and messy but not all the time, and I’ll clean it up when I’m ready.
• My daily meditation practice is non-existent and that’s OK.
• My Kwan Yin outdoor garden area is overgrown and neglected but that’s OK because it has a water moccasin guarding it and I’m not going to mess with him, not today anyway.

There were way a lot more, but you get the idea. I pulled all of my notes out and wrote a good answer on the ones I’m going to release into the wild and ripped them up. I put some of the others on an actual “to do” list.  It felt really good. Like I have forgiven myself for the chaos around here, and liberated Shirley from the YOU SHOULD’s that have been dogging her for months.

I did, however keep two needs in my container. These are the two that I am actually going to make myself deal with. I chose them because it will be a huge sigh of relief to get them taken care of, and getting them taken care of will definitely make my life better. Here they are:

• My toilet doesn’t flush properly.
• Siding is falling off my house because wood is rotting behind it.

Obviously, for me, Radical Self Care revolves around maintaining my environment. This makes it simple because there are actual practical solutions. I actually can fix my toilet or buy a new one. And while I can’t do much about my wood rot (long story), it won’t be impossible to do a quick fix Band-Aid repair that will last through winter.

This little exercise really was helpful for me. I discovered what it was that I really want to do something about and liberated me from all the busy work that I am not interested in doing. It lightened my load, and gave me a boost of enthusiasm for the two things I’ve been dreading and avoiding for months.

So, what about you? Can you simplify your wants and needs for self care? Are there just one or two things that would make all the difference? Do you WANT to address them?

If so… call a committee meeting with yourself, make a plan of action, divide it into small easy bites, schedule a date a place and a time … and just dig in. Remember an epic journey begins with one small step followed by another, followed by more small steps with maybe a random number of mad dashes and desperate scrambles.