Inspirational Thought of the Day

I'm not sure where this originated, so I can't post a source. . . but it's a beautiful thought, isn't it? Don't worry, because no matter how hard life gets, you have the Savior on your side. 

For the full story, read Matthew 14:22-33

Are You a Little "Jumbled" Too? - Part Two

Okay, so in Part One, I gave you a snapshot of a 24-hour period in my life that had been particularly jumbled to see if you could relate to it. After what turned out to be a *very* long exposition, I gave you a list of three reactions about my crazy day and asked you to choose which best describes you. Here they are for your review:

1. Reaction #1: "I have not a clue what this woman is talking about. She must literally be insane."
2. Reaction #2: "Wow, that's really funny, I guess my life gets kind of crazy like that sometimes, but it's not nearly as crazy as this lady's life appears to be . . . "
3. Reaction #3: "Oh. My. Gosh. That is so totally me. Wow, I think I could have written that post myself about MY last 24 hours!"

So the question is, based on your reaction, what do you think? Are you jumbled too?

Well honestly, you're the only one who can decide for sure, but your reaction could point to some important clues about your personality, your strengths and weaknesses, and what you can do to be your best self, no matter what your tendencies are. So let's discuss the different reactions and I'll give you "my take" on what they mean.

Reaction #1: "I have not a clue what this woman is talking about. She must literally be insane."

If you chose Reaction #1, then you are definitely not jumbled by my definition. You are one of those people that jumbled people really admire and look up to and want to be like. But try and try as we might, we never quite get there. You probably have a really good routine set up that you follow nearly every day because you know the value in it. For you, it's not restrictive, but smart. You get done what has to be done, and you do it efficiently, and then you are free to pursue a few other interests.

You probably carry around a planner, or feel like your smart phone is an extension of your arm because it keeps you on track with all the responsibilities of your demanding life. You are likely successful at much - or all - of what you do. But you limit yourself to what makes sense given the time parameters and realities of your life. You are what Flylady calls "Born Organized" (See Flylady.net: "No More Parents Left Behind").

The question is, can someone really be "born" organized? I suppose that depends on who you ask. Here's an article on this subject from Lifehack.org called Productivity & Organizing Myth #1 – Born Organized. According to them, the idea that "some people are born with an organizing gene or are natural organizers and others will never be organized" is a myth. They explain: "Organized and productive people have a set of skills that lead to their being organized." After explaining this, the article lists a lot of organizing skills and what people can do to learn them.

Honestly, this is the kind of thinking that jumbled people usually find when they go looking for "organization help" on the internet. A lot of "should do's" and "must do's" to make themselves feel guilty because they can never live up to it. At least that's my take.

I will admit that I have no idea if people are born with an "organizing gene" or not. However, I believe that everyone is born with talents and strengths as well as weaknesses. People who are so-called "born organized" simply have a talent for organization! It comes naturally to them, or they learned it from a very organized environment growing up. Or, as is sometimes the case, they may have had an extremely disorganized parent and went the opposite direction because it frustrated them so much! But no matter it's roots, the fact remains that for some people, organization comes more naturally that it does for others.

I want to make a point though, that someone with a talent for organization can actually be a jumbled personality in disguise! Many of my friends and colleagues were probably surprised to read this blog for the first time and realize how random my life can be! That's because, honestly, I am pretty put-together despite my weaknesses. I suppose I have a talent for taking a bunch of random ideas and organizing them into a concise and detailed format or system. My problem comes with maintaining the system I have created because I get distracted and don't follow it for awhile, then I give up on it, thinking the system is broken. Either that, or I just get bored with it! I follow a continuous cycle of implementing new solutions written by organized folks and then moving on when I am not receiving value from it anymore.

Summary: If you answered with #1 you may not read my blog for very long. However, if you stay, know that us jumbled people greatly value your contribution to our lives! Many of us are married to "born organized" people, or we are their children or parents. You keep us on track and help us learn how to do better. My only request is that you please try to be understanding, even when our actions make no sense! We need love, not judgement.

Okay, let's move on. . .

Reaction #2: "Wow, that's really funny, I guess my life gets kind of crazy like that sometimes, but it's not nearly as crazy as this lady's life appears to be . . . "

If you chose Reaction #2, you are somewhere in the middle between "born organized" and "jumbled". You are a likely a fairly balanced personality with perhaps some tendency towards distraction. You probably have a lot of great creative ideas, but you have them mostly under control. You get sidetracked once in awhile, but mostly your life runs smoothly. You've put into place a few routines and systems that work for you. You change them up once in awhile to add variety to your life, but there's a lot of consistency because you've learned that it makes your life so much better.

You may be the type of person who writes an organization book  because you think you're disorganized, even though you're really not, at least when compared to some of us! You're the person that jumbled people have a hope of becoming and most likely they can achieve it with patience and perseverance. Chances are, you may actually be a jumbled personality in disguise!

Lastly. . .

Are You a Little "Jumbled" Too? - Part One

So now that you've had a few minutes to look over my blog, you may be thinking, What exactly does "jumbled sunshine" mean? Or maybe even. . . "Am I a little jumbled too?"

Let me explain by telling you about my past 24 hours and see if you can relate. . . This started out as "the short version" (NOT!) Honestly, I don't think I'm capable of a truly short version of this topic, so here's the long version of the short version which is actually the full version. . .

• Tuesday started with a realization that there was absolutely no more time left to procrastinate Christmas. So my day consisted of online shopping. . . all day. It was exactly 1 week before Christmas, so of course I found myself paying extra for expedited shipping. Oh well, as the French say, "C'est la vie!"

• So, 5 hours later . . . (yes, really.). . . I finally finished shopping (which I must admit was a ton of fun!) and added the final touches to the Christmas present spreadsheet I had created to keep track of who was getting what, complete with color-coded text fields showing me what was ordered (green), what was wrapped and under the tree (red), what was not done yet (white) and what needed to be urgently attended to (yellow). Those two yellow fields meant that I would be crocheting a LOT over the next week! Which is okay, because I love to crochet, and I will save a lot of money, but I really should have done this last month. Famous last words, right? haha.

• Once that was finally finished, I stumbled out into the main rooms of my home, my eyes burning from too much screen time, and looked around me to assess what was going on and what needed to be done. The kids may - or more likely may not - have done their homework, but I'd have to check on that later, because everyone needed to be fed! 

• So I made a quick dinner of spaghetti while listening to Sirius XL Holiday Music on my Dish Network TV. It was great. I found my toes tapping and my hips bouncing as I listened to the old familiar carols play. . . anyone who walked through the kitchen joined in (or ran away in fright! haha!) I had only about an hour before family members needed to run out the door to attend the various activities of the evening. As the family gathered around the table, I threw together a quick salad with the veggies I picked up Saturday from Bountiful Baskets, and enjoyed the novelty of shredding some rainbow carrots into a bowl. As we dished up our plates, I spent time strongly encouraging everyone to put a few freshly sliced radishes and crumbled cauliflower florets over their salads. It didn't matter if you like them or not, they are good for you - so at least try a bite or two. (That's my philosophy and probably a good topic for another post. . .)

Photo courtesy of:
Karah Fredricks Photography.

• Once everyone was fed, satisfied, and headed out to wherever they needed to be, the rest of us who were left quickly cleaned up the kitchen (with the promise of some TV time when we were done) so it would be ready for my husband to come back and do a planning meeting with his Scouts. (Thank goodness it's the week before Christmas break, so there was little homework to be done! At least that's what they told me and I didn't argue because I was exhausted!)

• Then we settled into the den for some nice relaxing TV and fiber arts time. I got busy finishing the gift I had made for my Dad and step-Mom last week, which I was fixing because I had made an error on the last 7 rows and needed to re-do them. . . My 15 yo daughter was working on her sewing project that had to be done by the end of the week or she would fail her sewing class, and vehemently complaining "I hate sewing! I don't know why I even took this class! It's all my soccer coach's fault because I had to take advanced conditioning, and so then I had to change my schedule, and ended up with sewing!" Hahaha. . . I knew she was exaggerating because she loves her teacher, and her coach. And she's a decent seamstress considering how little guidance she has received from her mother on the subject. And I also knew that she was really just upset because she kept making mistakes and had had to unpick her stitches at least 3 times last night (any seamstress knows how frustrating that is!) . . . In the meantime, my 18-year-old daughter was busy in her corner spinning roving into yarn . . .