Here’s the deal with January: it’s a great time to do your spring cleaning. Nothing much is going on. It’s cold, the days are short and the dark, long. Why not clean out that lingerie drawer, reorganize the pantry and tackle the catch all closet? You know, the one you’ve thrown stuff into for so long, you’re afraid to look at?
I’ll tell you why not! It’s cold, the days are short and the dark, long! All I want to do is eat comfort food, curl up in our Barcalounger love seat with Charlie and Scamp, crank up the gas fireplace and veg out.
Seriously! About all I’m doing these days is workin’ down at the A&P, cooking dinner, and feeling overwhelmed by all the stuff I should be doing. Every now and then, I wander aimlessly around the house, open a drawer or closet and sigh. Even Scamp is less than enthusiastic about his morning walk. Gotta practically drag him out there. All he wants to do is take a quick pee and bolt back indoors. And who can blame him?
Caitlin, my niece and guru for all things new age-y, says to me the other day, “Aunt Ida, some animals hibernate the winter. Maybe we should take our cue from them, and slow down a little. You know, enjoy it.”
We were having lunch down at the Busy Bee, and I was digging into the special of the day: baked macaroni and cheese with sausage. To die for! “But there’s so much I should be doing, Caitlin! It’s stressin’ me out.”
“I hear you. But maybe what’s stressing you out is not all the things on your “to do” list, but the pressure you’re putting on yourself to get things done. Maybe it’s not about the stuff, so much as your thinking.”
Took me a minute to process that one through my mac-and-cheese addled brain.
“So,” I says, “let me get this straight. Me worrying about the fact that I should be getting more accomplished is what’s getting me down, not the things I want to accomplish?”
“I think so.”
“Well,” I reason, “at least if I’m worrying, I feel like I’m doin’ something.”
“Au contraire, Aunt Ida. I think worrying is the opposite of doing something.”
“I can see that. Hard to stop the cycle of abuse, though.”
“Listen, I have a great affirmation I got from someone out there, I can’t remember who. Anyway, it really works for me. You want to hear it?”
Caitlin has an affirmation for everything, God bless her, so I’m kinda used to this sort of woo-woo talk. I figure, what the heck. “Sure,” I says.
“’Time is my friend, and I’m getting the perfect amount done today.’”
“Oh, Caitlin. You can’t be serious.”
“I am. It beats worrying all the time. Come on. Say it with me.”
I quickly look around the Busy Bee, to make sure nobody I know is within earshot.
“Okay”, I says, ‘Time is…’ How does it go?”
“Time is my friend. I’m getting the perfect amount done today.”
“I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to remember that. How ‘bout this: ‘It’s amazing how I always have enough time to get done what actually needs to get done.’”
“Even better!” she says. “Together: ‘It’s amazing how I always have enough time to get done what actually needs to get done.’
“You know, Caitlin, I think I’m starting to feel a little better already. How’d you get to be so smart, dear?”
“I must have got it from you, Aunt Ida. How about dessert?”
God, I love that kid! To be sure, my to do list isn’t getting any shorter, but I’m not beatin’ myself up about it. I just say my little affirmation.
Well, gotta throw some ingredients into my crockpot (We’re having beef stew tonight), and get ready for work. And that’s all I need to get done this mornin’.
That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!
IDA's PODCAST: Time Is My Friend
Where’s Ida this week?
January 26: Book Reading, Albert Brown Memorial Library, 2:00 p.m., China Village, ME
Upcoming shows:
February 7-9: The Best of Ida, Garrison Players, Friday & Saturday at 8:00 p.m., Sunday at 3:00 p.m., Rollinsford, NH
March 19: Book Reading, Stockton Springs Community Library, 6:30 p.m., Stockton Springs, ME
For details, please check out the schedule page on my website: http://www.idaswebsite.com/schedule
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