Friday. Deep fry day? French fry day? Small fry day? Fish fry day? Bats in the bell-fry day? Makes no difference to me, I'll take Friday any way I can get it.
Welcome to 7 Quick Takes Friday. This edition is short and simple, due to the fact that I am tending to little vomiters and cannot ignore my kids with my usual gusto. So today, I bring you a list of 7 things that make me feel better when I am overwhelmed or feeling like too much is going on around me. I will be doing all of these things today, which will hopefully carry me straight on through to bedtime.
~ 1 ~
Running my washer and dryer. Something about the sound of those machines humming along in my garage makes me feel efficient and capable. Go figure.
~ 2 ~
Straightening my couch cushions and pillows, and folding blankets. A tangible, immediately gratifying way to make order out of chaos.
~ 3 ~
Setting the timer for 10 minutes and putting things away. I'm always surprised by what a difference I can make in just 10 minutes. It's doable, simple, and satisfying.
~ 4 ~
Sitting down with a tall drink of water. Just sitting and drinking. Nothing productive, unless you count taking good care of yourself as productive. Which I suppose I do.
~ 5 ~
Listening to NPR. (For today, I'll add pledging to my local station to the list: why don't you do the same?) NPR is my lifeline to the world. Listening inspires me. Too bad Peter Sagal keeps ignoring me, but I find myself devoted nonetheless.
~ 6 ~
Reading. Pretty self-explanatory.
~ 7 ~
Saying a prayer or two. Or twenty. To be honest, my prayers run along the desperate cry for help lines, rather than meditative and peaceful lines. More God help me make sense of this chaos and help me through the next 5 minutes and less walking beside peaceful waters. There will, I trust, be time for that kind of prayer. Right now, surviving the years of young children necessitates the short bursts of intense prayer that remind me that I am loved, I am able to love others, and that like the lilies of the field, I need not worry. Twenty times a day.
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Feel better? I do.
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3 comments:
wait those are my kind of prayers...the prayers of mothers everywhere...Dear God, Help me get through today!
Yep, same prayers here, haha! I also love NPR. I'm just now starting to drink more water myself -- I had a bout of crazy dehydration this week that was not fun at all. Hope you have a good week! :)
Have you ever read Anne Lamott? If not, you should pick up some of her books. I think she'd speak to you as she does to me. Humor and all.
When things are crazy, picking up one of her books and reading just one essay, even, will often help. And it's amazing how often it just happens to apply...
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