Progress Report

Last week I wrote about busting the routine rut. I struggled all week long to make some progress out of the rut. To tell you the truth, I dealt with a LOT of guilt. Do you ever do that? You know what you need to do and you work hard but just don't see the progress you were hoping for......That was my week.



I have done some serious thinking about the progress I made and did not make this week. Here are some of the conclusions I came to.



Once you start to make progress in the right direction your eyes are ALWAYS opened to time wasters, bad habits, selfishness, and various other ugliness that has taken up residence in your heart. I don't know about you but my first reaction after these realizations are made is to feel guilt, frustration, and defeat. We have two options at this point: Give up and snuggle back into the rut you have created and loved for however long OR KEEP WORKING.

It's really important to keep a positive attitude. If you are a list maker, then keep two. One is the list of things that need to happen and the second is a list of GOOD things that HAVE happened.

My to do list seems to be everlasting. No matter how hard I work it will never get finished. But that isn't really the goal is it? There is more to life than getting THINGS done. I mean I am trying to nurture a family here in this home. I want to take my role as Family/Household manager seriously but that role includes more than cooking and cleaning.

Here is my list of good things that I did this week that I didn't do last week:



-two bike rides with the little man

-trip to the library

-read several books with Judson and some on my own

-worked with little man on learning to play solo in a designated area

-cooked a few more meals than last week

-swept the floors.

-Hung things on the walls in J/O room (it only took me 3 1/2 years to get to that!)

-Got to sleep at a reasonable time at least 5 out of 7 nights.

-Made pumpkin ch. chip bread

-Studied up on new recipes and saving money on grocery shopping

-Sat in front of the computer a LITTLE less

That list seems longer than it did in my head. Those are things I succeeded at. That is something to celebrate. Now I can keep moving on. It is always a struggle for me to jump out one rut and not fall right into another rut called guilt. This week I am starting off tired and the list is long but I am determined to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Here's to finding Joy in the work that is set before me!