Simplifying Life

My experiences yesterday reminded me of this very funny book. If this describes you, you should go buy it. (barnes and noble, amazon, hallmark)

As you saw by my last post, I have been couponing. Couponing is a great thing if you have the time and energy to do it. In fact, I highly recommend it if you do. If you want to go extreme, it is a big commitment and a LOT of planning. (those of you who do it know what I mean) As much as I have been wanting to do it, it is taking time away from the simple things in life that matter most.
Sometimes I forget that I have CFS. (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a horribly misleading name for the nature of this illness) I can't do everything. Hey, even if I was healthy I wouldn't it be able to do everything. Here is my typical list of goals. To all the women out there, do yours look anything like this?

1. Keep my house clean and organized ( this includes keeping up on dishes and laundry)
2. Make a healthy dinner most nights of the week
3. Have the energy to spend quality time with my amazing husband each day                         because he deserves it and I love him. 
4. Do my visiting teaching each month
5. Continue to build food storage
6. Be a financial queen the Dave Ramsey way. (make money and save money!                             Not for things, but for security and financial freedom.)
7. Keep in touch with friends
8. Spend time with family 
9. Be fit by going to my water zumba class :)
10. Read scriptures and write in my journal
11. Work in our vegetable garden and our flower garden
12. Be productive at work
13. Take care of myself
14. Make Jake's lunch all 5 work days each week. 
15. Magnify my calling
16. Make time to help others when they need it
17. Go to the temple often

Sometimes I get frustrated that I can't do it all but I just need to remember its okay. Maybe some of you have actually mastered being able to check everything off your list each day. If you have I totally admire you and need some tips! But I think most of us go through this frustration on a regular basis. 

Yesterday I spent most of the day at the store, went to work, went over to the garden, came home and made dinner, did the dishes that have been piling up and driving me nuts, budgeted, and then was grumpy towards my innocent, hard working husband. 

I was frustrated that I was wiped out, grumpy, and feeling sick by the end of the day. In a nutshell I was overwhelmed. Actually, I probably looked a little like this:

I sat there and wondered what happened and then thought, "duh jen, you can't do all of that in one day and expect to be pleasant, energized and emotionally satisfied." 

I had an "a-ha" moment I have had many times and decided I needed to edit my list of things to do. By edit I mean delete most of them. 

There is a time and a season for everything. I will have the opportunity to do each of the things on my list throughout my life but I can't do them all at once. So I decided to pick a few things to focus on and fill in the rest when I am able. Needless to say, right now I can't be an extreme couponer. I will be a couponer but not an extreme one. I just don't have the time and energy without giving up my sanity and  valuable time with Jake and the rest of my family. Those are a few of the things that matter most to me.


Feel free to share any thoughts, comments, or experiences so I know i'm not the only one that goes through this!