I should clean my oven today, but it's only 52 degrees outside and it's raining. When I clean my oven, I prefer to leave the window open. Every month, I clean my oven on the first Saturday. How often do you clean your house?
Are you familiar with Fly Lady? I use the Fly Lady + app to keep track of my housecleaning chores. Today's muse asks if life got in the way of your dreams. Almost forty years ago, I dreamed of marrying Rick and helping him raise his daughter. She left our home thirty years ago. We had another daughter by then. I had another dream to focus on. She moved on. She will be celebrating seventeen years of marriage soon! I was a career woman. Met all my dreams dreams. I retired nearly nine years ago. I had the wonderful opportunity to help take care of a couple of the grandchildren. They outgrew diapers. It was time for my dreams again. And this time, they didn't need to be driven by what others' needs were. Wow...what a concept. So, who was I? What did I like? What did I want to do? I went to Africa. I became a MendingtheSoul.org Support Group Facilitator and did I mention I became an artist?
The reference photo below is the one I used when I painted my first painting of Africa. The painting sold out of Zest Kitchen in Rocklin, California. I was hooked!
I agree with Fly Lady that most of us have unfulfilled dreams. "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." - Proverbs 13:12. Have you postponed your dreams? What is your heart condition?
How are you going to use your time today? How long will it take you to walk around the corner to that car show? It takes me about 15 minutes to clean the washer trap. It takes me about one minute to oil the paper shredder. I talk myself out of doing them because I would rather paint. I am curious. What have you talked yourself out of today? Laundry? A walk in the rain? Reading your Bible?
What's your purpose in life? Why are you here?
Happiness comes from our circumstances. Joy comes from knowing your purpose in life. If you are unsure what your purpose in life is, I would recommend reading Do you Have the Courage to be You? by Jenny Williamson. So good! It helped me find my purpose in life.
I also read Boundaries by Henri Cloud. It helped me differentiate my needs from what everyone else thought (and still thinks) I should be doing.
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