Margins for the New Year-Simplifying my Life

Busyness verging on chaos with a schedule so packed I sometimes felt like I had NO TIME for sleeping or breathing. My 2017 was marked by an unexpected remodel of a major portion of our house. This disruption of my regular life was disconcerting and ridiculously frustrating on many levels but in the process, I learned so much about myself. In the end, I LOVE the changes and the openness of the living room, dining room and kitchen area. I love the lightness I feel with so much of the clutter gone and less stuff everywhere. But the process was VERY DIFFICULT for me. I had to face some of the ugly realities of my “too busy” schedule. What could have been fun and enjoyable often felt like a burden and there seemed to be so much wasted time. The experience was stressful for me, since I am the queen of “efficiency”—-someone who really does NOT like wasting time. I spent much of 2017 trying to stay organized in a very disorganized environment.

So in 2018 my theme is simplifying my life-MARGINS for the new year-created by scheduling pockets of unscheduled time in my life on a regular basis. My expectation is to allow more time for God to surprise me with His agenda.  Welcoming and having quality time for the unexpected phone call, the spontaneous invitation to go for a walk with a friend, more time to read, send encouraging notes and pray for people I know and love. More time to serve, more time to enjoy each precious moment with my grandchildren. More time to invest in the lives of others. Time to minister to the poor and raise awareness, getting others involved in Gogo Grandmothers where friends and I can be putting our love in action to support the needs of vulnerable children. MARGINS in my new year can also be created by setting aside time to accomplish tasks that remove unwanted clutter in my life. So with my husband’s support and encouragement, our first project of 2018 has been accomplished. The massive garage clean out was begun and completed this past weekend. After one year of the messiest garage we have ever had, we conquered the piles and sorted through the unwanted and unnecessary stuff we had stored out there during the remodel. We scheduled a charity donation pick-up for next week and trust that our unwanted stuff will make some other folks very happy.

Here is part of the mess we started with…..

Here are some of the treasures we found……

Here is the end result…..

My next task is to finish organizing the playroom and get rid of more unwanted clutter. It feels so freeing to let go of stuff. . I have begun MY OWN PERSONAL LIFE SIMPLIFYING process-giving me more SPACE in my life for the BEST STUFF!

What ideas do you have to create more time in your life in 2018? Do you have MARGINS in your life-giving you more space for the BEST stuff?