I seem to be getting the message to simplify my life. To be honest, I think my life is not that complicated when I compare to others(which I shouldn't be doing, I know)--that there are a lot of things that we don't spend time and money on already. Our kids are not involved in many activities, we haven't yet ventured into sports for them, we try to keep our stuff to a minimum, and we are not really ones to go out and spend money on more things that we don't need. But I have realized that there are a lot of ways that I can simplify my life to make more time for more important things and not waste energy and worry about things that don't matter. I had been thinking a lot about this and started to write down some of my thoughts in my journal when my dear friend Kathryn added this quote from Marjorie Hinckley to her blog:
"We women have a lot to learn about simplifying our lives. We have to decide what is important and then move along at a pace that is comfortable for us. We have to develop the maturity to stop trying to prove something. We have to learn to be content with what we are. As you create a home, don't get distracted with a lot of things that have no meaning for you or your family. Don't dwell on your failures, but think about your successes. Have joy in your home. Have joy in your children. Have joy in your husband. Be grateful for the journey."The other week I was at the library checking out books with the kids. It was time to go so I decided we'd just swing through the adults' section and I quickly grabbed a couple of books that caught my eye. One of them was this one:
I have really enjoyed reading this book and have gotten a lot out of it. Mostly I have benefited from trying to change my way of thinking about what is really essential and what is merely optional. I am trying to reevaluate lots of different things. We are going to get rid of lots of toys and other things. We are going to scale back on the amount of clothes and toys that we store in the house. I am going to go through every last corner of this house and rid it off the excess stuff that is cluttering up our lives. I am going to recommit myself to my morning and evening cleaning routines.
One major change that I am working on is that I have decided that I spend way too much time in the kitchen cooking and cleaning. I know that not everyone has this problem, so you might laugh at me for it. But I have told myself that cooking is the only hobby I have left. I enjoy it but the whole process of looking up new recipes, making grocery lists, going shopping, cooking meals, and then cleaning up after them is taking too much of my time that I could be spending on more important things like playing with my kids, mostly. I have decided I need to simplify this area of my life. I am kicking around the idea of doing something like this for dinners:
Tuesday: 2X Tuesday (Make double of something that can be frozen for later or eaten the next night)
Wednesday: Freezer meal
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Movie night (eat pizza or hotdogs or something easy)
Saturday: sandwiches (paninis, subs, grilled cheese, etc)
Sunday: who knows
I think having some type of schedule will make meal planning take less time. I like to be more flexible with meals, to cook whatever sounds good, or whatever sounds fun to prepare, but I think this is what we need right now. I realized when I don't have to cook dinner or I do something super easy I have so much more time, partly saving time from cooking, but also all the time saved not having to clean up as much.
The cooking thing is my first step. What do you do to simplify your life? I am just barely getting started--give me your ideas.
2 comments:
I've been thinking about this lately too! Thanks for the book recommendation, I'm going to check it out.
I love that quote by Sis. Hinckley and think on it often.
I recently went through all of our toys and took away half and they still have too much. They didn't even miss it!
Thanks for the post Marily--I read an article this month in the Ensign on being busy--really good and helped me to think about the same stuff. I need to do the same thing with our stuff too--great idea!
A recipe book I really like for planning meals is The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner--simple meals and each day has a theme, but you don't have to follow it exactly if you don't want to of course. It has helped me plan our meals though, and for me that makes the day so much less busy and stressful because it frees up your mind to do other stuff.
Maybe I'll see you at the pool again sometime!
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