1. Clutter. It's everywhere. Mostly paper, or at least that's the format I find most annoying, yet have no solutions for. The toys I can work around, and then say, "Everything you don't want tossed needs to go upstairs in the next half hour!" and it all magically moves to their rooms. Jackets--I've accepted that I'm the only person who is both tall enough and invested enough to hang up the coats, and it takes me less than a minute to do so. But the paper is EVERYWHERE, and CONSTANT, and ALL OF US generate it and NONE OF US know what to do with it.
2. My weight. Four years ago, I joined Weight Watchers, rather self-consciously, because philosophically and emotionally, I am anti-diet. But I'd gained 15 lbs a year, 3 years in a row, and a friend of mine (who has diabetes, and knows that diabetes runs in my family) was brave enough to point out that I should probably change my habits. I lost a satisfying amount of weight, then put a little back on, but was still comfortable with myself. I don't need my body to look like it did in my teens and 20s. I'm okay with being soft around the middle and having sturdy thighs and actually needing a bra for the first time. But something changed in the past school year, and my consumption of sweets, always high, because obsessive. I stop in the car on the way home from work, buy candy and/or cookies, eat most of them in the car, hide them in my bag, eat the rest at work the next day, then repeat. Not surprisingly, I no longer own any comfortable pants. The button on my favorite pair of jeans popped off. The button that is RIVETED to the pants.
3. My internet usage. Blah. I don't even want to talk about this one. Not because it's porn or anything, just that it's dumb and such a waste of time--not just time I could be productive in, but time I could have fun in. Pinterest, Candy Crush, FB, TV tropes...seriously? Why do I do this? If I were blogging, or reading the handful of blogs I really feel connected to, or researching for work, that would be okay. But I get on the computer telling myself I'll do one of those things, and three hours later...it's two hours past my bedtime.
4. Which is one reason I am blogging so little.
5. And it's also one reason I'm not getting enough sleep.
6. #3 + #5 combined are making me less effective at my job too. Teaching takes a lot of energy. I have been put into a new position three years in a row, and this year my whole school is undergoing a massive changeover to new technology, so the learning curve has been steep. I love my job, but I'm tired, and I'm not putting as much into it as I need to be successful.
Luckily, I have an indomitable optimism.
No, really. I also have a healthy amount of self deprecating snark, but despite being stressed and anxious and angry and sad about all of the above, I am still basically okay. Maybe that's just the anti depressants talking, but honestly, once I survived the ages of 12-15, I've always felt like I'm basically okay. I screw up, and fail to live up to my ideals, and act selfishly, and am lazier the older I get, and forget to follow up on things...but it's okay. I'm human. I'm re-joining weight watchers. I'm eyeing some simple organization ideas. I'm thinking of making myself a schedule, so time wasting activities fill in around the edges instead of replacing things I actually care about.
What's not on this list? Parenting. Maybe that's why I'm not beating myself up more for all these failures. I am putting my energy where it counts most. It's still a struggle, but it's a struggle I am actively engaged in. We aren't where we want to be, but the progress is visible.
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