Simplifying my life!~ (starting today)

You know we all need to take stock of what is really important to us from time to time.  I am finding myself totally overwhelmed with everything in my life at the moment and as my hubby stated to me yesterday…. “your the only one that can remove that monkey from your back”.  It got me to thinking……These things didn’t happen to me…..I let them happen to me.  I am the one that said yes or continues to allow the nonsense to go on in my life.  I need to SIMPLIFY my life , starting today.  It got me to investigating the “time & joy suckers” in my life.  Here are just a few things I came up with:

• What things or people are most important to me? This is without a doubt my family!  THEY COME FIRST!  Team Dalrymple all the way baby!~
• Stop being a slave to communication tools. I give up! Do I  really need an cell phone, voice mail, a home phone, work e-mail, home e-mail, internet chat technology and Facebook chat?  Do I feel guilty for not saying hi to all 400+ friends on facebook.  Do I allow that quilt to control my internet usage?  What's the solution?  Well for starters I am disabling all chat features (this was not too hard due to yahoo messing up my computer….LOL  I am also only getting on the computer to check email from hubby in the mornings and limiting my surfing for later in the day.  I am not going to feel quilty for not responding to emails right away that can wait a day or two.   I will keep track of just how easier it is to make my goals a reality!~ (remember flylady?) Turning off phones until I can get my chores done and thing prioritized!  That's what the answering machine if for right???
• Make a short list of personal goals!  and stick to them!  I want to do a few goals very well rather then a lot of goals mediocre.
• Stop spending time to save money. Instead, spend money to save time.  Dave and I have already adopted this one the past few years.  I never thought I would see the day when my hubby would pay to have the oil changed in our cars.  His response?  “It gives me more free time to do the things that matter most!~”  we are finding more and more ways all the time to apply this too!!  See first point above: “family comes first”.
• Hang around people that you want to be like:  i.e……..Happy positive people!  Search out and take some of my own medicine “if you want to be happy hang out with happy people…..if you want to be rich , hang with the rich people, if you want to be positive hang out with positive people!”  Plain and simple!  JUST DO IT!
• Learn to say “NO”! this is the hardest of all on my list.  I tend to be a people pleaser and it allows me to feel guilty and worry about whether or not  I am going to be liked by someone.  But I have to nurture me before I can ever nurture anyone else!  I am practicing this one here lately!~

 

This is by far not an exhaustive list but one to start out with.  Like I said before the hectic life did not happen TO me I let it happen and I am the one that gets to tell the MONKEY to get off my back!  I am starting today!

We can all share in this together as I know there are more of you out there that feel the same way.  lets ditch the busy nonsense and nay Sayers in our lives and starting taking back control!  Whatever happen to the good ole days when we sat at grandmas house and did absolutely nothing and had a blast? 

So  what are the “joy suckers” in your life and what do you do to combat them and are you winning????