Catching Up

So, I'm just wondering if I'm the only person in the world who had wonderful hopes and aspirations for how my new year would begin, only to find myself failing miserably by half past the stroke of midnight. Can you relate? Anyone?

I was going to spend our Christmas break preparing and planning for the new year. I wanted to get rid of bunches of clutter, organize what was left, plan out the rest of our homeschool year, and maybe even stick a few meals into the freezer. My plan and my reality ended up being in two different universes.

Not only did I not accomplish my (totally unrealistic) goals, but also my Christmas tree is standing tall in the corner of the living room, the wreath and garland are still hanging from the loft railing, and there are odds-and-ends of misplaced items on nearly every flat surface. See, you don't feel so bad about your own broken resolutions anymore, do you?

Now, as my excuse defense, I had out-of-town guests until New Year's Eve, at which time I came down with the plague. Fine. It was probably just a really bad cold, but it was the worst I've felt in a long time, and I have the hacking cough to prove it.

Regardless of my "reasons" for not accomplishing much of anything over our Christmas break, I'm now faced with the here-and-now. What am I going to do today? I can whine about what I didn't do, or I can attack what I need to do. I can look around and feel overwhelmed, or I can do one thing at a time. I can put it all off until another day, or I can set a timer for fifteen minutes and admit that doing something is better than nothing.

Just in case I'm not the only one who started the new year a little behind schedule, I'll be sharing what I'm doing to catch up. Instead of saying, "If only I would have...", I'm going to think about one thing I can do right now to lighten my load. Tomorrow I'll pick something else.

For me, the obvious task for today would be putting away the Christmas decorations (duh), but they aren't bugging me as much as the stuff that's piled up on my kitchen table and counter. The Christmas tree is a little embarrassing, but it isn't clutter. I'll probably deal with that tomorrow, but my next few minutes will be spent finding homes for the packages of food and piles of papers littering the kitchen.

When I'm done with that job I'll breathe a sigh of relief, smile at my progress, and go plug in the Christmas lights. Hey, I might as well enjoy the twinkle for one more night!

How about you? Are you right on track or struggling to keep up with the new year? Do you have "one thing" you hope to accomplish today? Tell us about it in the comments!

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Related posts:

1. New Year Catch Up: Christmas Decorations
2. Lights Out
3. let the festivities begin