Read time: approximately 2 minutes
Do you ever feel like you are doing as much as you can, as fast as you can, but you just aren’t able to get everything done?
Our family has been experiencing a series of major life events in quick succession.
Beginning this summer, our lives have been thrown into complete upheaval. Too often I have experienced the feeling that no matter how fast I go, there is no way to get everything done.
One evening as I was attempting to clean the kitchen, I could feel myself unraveling into complete panic.
My to do list was making mental circles in my mind and I could feel myself spiraling out of control.
Something that I had read years before entered my mind.
Faced with a crisis, a younger woman asked her grandmother, “what do we do?”
The grandmother replied, “we do the next thing.”
So, I took a breath and reminded myself to “do the next thing.”
I continued through that evening simply doing the next thing (and the next and the next) until, unbelievably, everything that was critical was actually accomplished
Over the last few months, I have often found myself reaching out and grabbing onto that thought and proceeding to do the next thing.
Regardless of whether you are facing a life crisis or a morning crisis, the only thing you can ever really do is, “the next thing”.
Sign the permission slip, feed the dog, fold the laundry.
Call the doctor, sign hospital admission forms, make the next phone call.
Life can be very overwhelming.
Especially now, when so many parents are not only juggling jobs, they are facing the reality of doing a huge chunk of teaching at home.
There is never going to be more hours in the day. The load is probably not going to get lighter anytime soon.
But no matter what you are facing, take a deep breath and remind yourself to simply do “the next thing”.
And unbelievably, you will get through.
Note: After Googling the phrase, “do the next thing”, I found that there was an old poem by that title. Prior to writing this post, I had no knowledge of the poem.
Want some little ideas to help keep your house clean?
Little Ideas for a Clean(ish) House is included in the first edition of Micki’s Little Letter
LIKE IT? SHARE IT!
(It’s a little thing that means a lot to me!)
I needed that today!