Surviving to Savoring

Last year I felt like I was constantly hearing the same concept over and over and over:
"From Surviving to Thriving"

It was the theme of Women of Faith, a song from Casting Crowns (and I attended a concert) and I just kept hearing it everywhere. The part that drove me crazy was that it seemed so out of reach. Most days I felt lucky just to survive. I felt like "thriving" was a million miles away.

Why did I feel like that?  Because I let all the voices shouting at me tell me that I had to do everything. Here's a short list of what I felt like I needed to do every day.

-get up early before the kids are up
-have an amazing intense quiet time with God
-make healthy meals for my kids
-bake indulgent treats for my family
-be a best friend to my husband
-have a hot romance with my husband
-know where every dollar I spend is going
-be fully engaged with what is going on at all 3 of my kids' schools
-make crafty items for my home
-have a perfectly decorated home
-have a perfectly clean home
-don't worry about having a clean home and spend time with my kids
-exercise
-be an amazing photographer and make all my clients thrilled
-get more clients every day
-don't forget my other part time job in Missouri
-connect with my family
-take time to hang out with my friends
-volunteer
-blog
-remember everyone's birthdays
-decorate the house for every holiday and season
and on and on and on and on.....

It overwhelms me and the truth is that I probably only do about 3 of them each day.  And maybe one well.

In hopes for a better year, I made my "one little word" for 2015 the word "savor."  Why savor? Because I really want to be fully present in every day.  Our lives are going to change so much this year bringing home Liam that I want to soak up every moment. I want to squeeze every last moment of every day.

But honestly, two months into the year, I haven't been savoring very well.  I've been overwhelmed, surviving, worried about the adoption, and feeling like a failure about that list up there.  I start every day with a 30 foot long to-do list that no human could ever accomplish in a day and by the end of the day, I reflect back with frustration of all that I didn't accomplish.

So I'm restarting my "savor" year. I read the book "Say Goodbye to Survival Mode" and really enjoyed the simple tips. One of my favorite parts is that there are things on that list up there that the author, Crystal Paine, just lets go.  Based on that, I'm going to let go of the impossible 30 foot list and just pick 5 things to put on my to-do list every day.  I make the list before bed, read, journal and relax. If I get more done the next day, great.  If not, its really going to be okay.

Here's an example of something I'm deciding to letting go of.  I am throwing a party tonight for some friends. I pinned a couple of cupcake recipes on Pinterest planning on spending a whole night baking in preparation for the party. Add that to everything else that needs to be done (cleaning my home, making decorations, etc) and I know that I will get overwhelmed. So instead, I picked up 2 cakes at Costco. People will love them just as much and I won't turn into a crazy person.  I'm going to savor my party and time with my friends and not over-extend myself.

I do finally feel like I'm moving the ball down the field from surviving to thriving.
I hope things are going well with whatever word you picked for this year and you take some time to savor it all.