Life is never perfect. Not for anybody. Everyone has ups and downs.
The secret is keeping your peace through the downs.
February is always a very hard month for me. Sales are down – bills are not. You don’t want to stray too far from home if there is snow in the forecast, so you don’t get to see friends or family as much. I feel very isolated in February, which is weird because I do tend to be kind of a hermit.
I am having daughter withdrawals. She is coming up next weekend and I am so happy! It will keep me motivated to finish up a few of the projects I have on my plate that I keep putting off because they are hard. I want to feel free to have fun without stuff hanging over my head.
You can choose to fall apart and be miserable, or you can choose to keep your integrity.
Its an easy choice to neglect the house, or your diet, or your faith, or your fitness, or whatever else is important to you. The problem is, when you do that, you just feel worse.
I’ve talked before about how things become a cycle.
You don’t feel like doing things, so you don’t, then you feel worse, so you do even less. Things build up to where you now feel bad, and overwhelmed. The cycle just keeps feeding itself.
You have to keep your integrity.
Sometimes you have to force yourself. I know I do.
Just keeping the house clean gives you peace, calm, and a sense of accomplishment.
Eating right keeps you healthy, thinking clearly, and having more energy. I know that if I eat bad, I will be lethargic and I probably won’t be able to even force myself to do the things I need to do.
One day this last week, I had to leave early. It was snowing and cold, and it was garbage day. Now this time of year its not that big a deal. It would be really bad if its 90 degrees. My neighbor must have picked up on the fact that I was overwhelmed that morning and he put it out for me.
But my neighbor that shares the garbage cans with me should have been the one to put it out. I live in what used to be an old resort and we have 2 houses on one lot, so we can get away with that. But she never puts the cans out and rarely brings them in. There is almost always dog poop on the sidewalk from her dog. Her house is a total disaster. We switched parking places because she scraped up my car so bad. And she just doesn’t care.
Now here’s the thing –
Your actions affect your credibility.
Let’s say you’re a parent and you’re trying to teach your kids that it’s important to clean their room, but the rest of the house is a disaster, you are sending mixed signals. Its important for them, but not for you?
I see the same thing with diet. You want to teach them that it is important to eat right, but you are constantly shoveling bad stuff in your mouth – what’s the message?
At work you give the impression that you are a dedicated team member, but you’re hiding your cellphone in your lap, texting throughout the day (people do see it.)
How many instances can you think of where people’s actions don’t match their words?
There are times when we do, or don’t do things because of circumstances that are out of our control. But you’ve got to do your best with the things you can control. It won’t magically make life perfect, but at least you’ll have a certain sense of peace knowing that you are doing the best you can.