Organization requires many parts working together, and I don’t know about you, but in my home we’re all usually going in different directions. Sure, some days we are all clicking along, but MOST days not so much.
For curiosity sake I looked up the word “organize” at dictionary.com.
Organize: to form as or into a whole consisting of interdependent or coordinated parts, especially for united action, to organize a committee, to systematize, to organize the files of an office, to give organic structure or character to, to organize the elements of a composition, to enlist or attempt to enlist into a labor union, to organize workers, to enlist the employees of (a company) into a labor union, unionize.
Insert, boring.
I had the fullest day on Friday. It started at @4:30am. Because that is what time I’ve been getting up lately to get a better start on my days. I actually like it, even though I’ve never really considered myself a morning person. You might think I’m crazy and that I make up words. Words like “morganize.” I do. And it’s just my thing. Maybe I should write my own dictionary.
So I worked on MWM, threw some laundry in, caught up on my emails, planned the workout for my client that day and then by 6:30 I switched over to mom mode. Which equals about 90 + minutes of kitchen duty, finding coats, signing papers, cramming things into lunch boxes and dealing with struggles, such as where is my…???
At 8ish I hop in the shower and get ready for the day. Which also included writing out my menu plan for the next two weeks and making a grocery list. At @9 I head out to the grocery store and do my first shop. Then I drive 30 minutes to meet with a client. After meeting (and working out) with my client I do my second grocery shop, where I pick up the rest of our groceries.
I fly home and bring in the seven plus, crammed to the brim, bags of groceries. I only put away the essential refrigerated items and then rush to get dressed for a luncheon. I try on four outfits, as I didn’t really have a plan as to what I was going to wear. (And the current ensemble of yoga pants and a workout tee weren’t going to cut it.) You know how it goes, some of my skinny jeans wouldn’t work with the top like I thought…the colors weren’t matching. It was EXHAUSTING.
After finally getting an outfit together, and trashing my room in the meantime, I get back in the car and have to stop for cash on the way to lunch. (Because the ATM at the grocery store that morning had been out-of-order. Of course it was.) Did I park on a sidewalk? Yes I did. I grab my cash from the machine and pray for a good parking spot near the restaurant.
Lunch was wonderful, full of inspiring ladies and lots of good laughs. Three or so hours later I’m dashing back home to put away all of the groceries. This is pretty much how my kitchen did not look. #blogpicturesdontshowthereal
Then my kids come home. (One of my favorite parts of my day.) We re-connect, I fold some laundry, they get their snacks and then I take some time to catch up with a friend. After that it’s back to mom/kitchen mode or what I like to call, being a “short order cook”.
I currently have one child who has decided to be a vegetarian (thanks to a video he stumbled across about slaughter houses – the same kid who wants to be a vet) and a hubby who doesn’t like to eat grains.
Here family, I made smoothies. My menu options are shrinking as I type.
The rest of the night consisted of us all vegging out after dinner and watching mindless TV. Because that is what Friday nights are for, right?
So, WHY will you and I never really BE organized?
Because we don’t have control.
I did not just say that. Oh, yes I did.
We’re not in control.
Do we have the ability to control some things at some times – absolutely. But really there is SOOOO much that we just don’t have control over. And that is probably a good thing.
Think about this – the first definition says – “to form as or into a whole consisting of interdependent or coordinated parts, especially for united action” – that to me says that all of the parts (like the organs in the body) are working together, in harmony.
In my house, with five people, I can say with most certainty that usually one of us (or more) is not wanting to work together. One person is usually “off” – and that can just as easily be me. We are not united. When I say load your dishes and only one of the three kids does it, we’re not united. When I ask my hubby to pick up something at the store and he forgets, the coordination is lost. Or when I fail to move the laundry from the washer to the dryer, I delay the next persons start on their laundry day – as I have to re-wash clothes.
Oh sure there are days, when we have a more united focus, but they are not the norm. Which is why you and I will never really BE organized. To be organized means that there is a consistent harmony between the different parts in your life.
That the ATM machine will work when you need it to, that the parking spot will be available for you and that your top will be long enough for your skinny jeans. #firstworldproblems
Which is why, I made up my word – “morganize.” You don’t need to BE organized, you just need to work to be MORE organized. That means that you work to set up your days with order and intention, while also allowing for the organic flow of life.
The mess, the interruptions and the unexpected events. I’ve always said – plan, plan, plan and then go with the flow. You can’t BE organized (because you are not the “whole”) but YOU can be more organized in your approach.
Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.
I’m excited to share that I’ve got an e-guide coming out very soon with my 10 simple steps for a MORE organized life. It’s full of love and grace, and designed to give you much encouragement.
And if you need a little encouragement for dinner tonight, something besides smoothies, check out my newly updated recipe page full of free printables.
Happy cooking and organizing – despite the lack of control…
Linked up with Work It Wednesday!
