What Matters Most

It’s so easy in this life to get distracted from the things that matter. Without that focus, we end up spending our days running around and putting out fires, feeling stretched too thin as we try to cram in all of the things we’re “supposed to” do or accomplish or care about, and not leaving ourselves enough time or energy to enjoy our right-now lives.

This is something I’ve always struggled with, and something I want to continue to work on this year. I’ve already made a lot of progress in this area, but I’m a future-oriented problem solver, and that means that I spend a lot of time fixating on the future and strategizing ways to handle imaginary problems that don’t even exist yet.

It’s really hard for me to relax and live in the moment or sit back and enjoy accomplishments because I’m always thinking ahead to the next thing. I’m rarely content with things as they are and am always looking at how things could be better and then I end up trying to do ALL THE THINGS and beating myself up when I fail. People, this is a way to make yourself crazy.

That’s why I love love love this post by Kendra at the Lazy Genius Collective on deciding what matters to you and carefully editing your life around that. In her words:

Maybe you have one simple statement or belief that you want to direct your life. Maybe there are several attitudes you want to maintain always. Maybe you have relationships you want to prioritize.

It doesn’t matter what matters, as long as it matters to you. And once you decide, it changes everything.

Along with my one word for 2017, this principle has the potential to radically change how I do life and homemaking. As soon as I read that post I opened my journal and spent some time figuring out what matters most to me:

I want a home/life that:

• Puts God first
• Is peaceful, relaxed and welcoming/hospitable
• Fosters creativity
• Is debt-free

Here’s what I think that looks like:

• Not a lot of clutter; enough to inspire and create an un-stuffy atmosphere, but not so much it overwhelms or feels chaotic
• Clean/presentable enough to not be embarrassing or uncomfortable but not sterile or super neat. I want people to both not be afraid to walk around barefoot or to put their feet on the furniture.
• Furniture/stuff that is comfortable, well-made and has personality but that won’t be a tragedy if it gets stained or broken
• Remembering that Jesus is coming and stuff is just stuff and is temporary
• Lots of books, art, hand-made pieces, personalized pieces and stuff that has meaning
• Not of lot of being on the go. Having a restful, relaxed home where we enjoy spending most of our time.
• Easy, healthy meals (and no guilt over the occasional not-so-healthy splurge)
• Putting God first and last in each day and also making time in the middle
• An un-fussy wardrobe that doesn’t depend on trends; simple hair and makeup & an easy beauty routine
• Having people over more instead of feeling pressured to go out
  • Having games, a good entertainment system and plenty of comfortable seating
• Being responsible financial stewards; only buying things that we need or absolutely love; investing in quality items that won’t break down or wear out quickly and need to be replaced; only buying stuff when we have the money available.

The main thing is that keeping this set of principles first and foremost in our decisions about how to do life has the potential to help me shed a metric ton of try-hard baggage and strip everything down to what actually matters.

I’m applying this as best I can starting now but I really can’t wait to see how it impacts the way we do things as we set up house and figure out our routines after our impending move and all of the other changes that will entail.

What about y’all? What matters most in your life, and how do you think putting the focus on that might help?

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PS: Find more encouragement for your soul at these linkups:

Holley Gerth’s Coffee For Your Heart

Missional Women’s Faith Filled Fridays

#DreamTogether at God-Sized Dreams

PPS: Looking for some a-MAZ-ing tools and resources to help you be more productive, write better and/or generally do life while keeping your sanity? I’ve got the goods — sign up to receive Daydreamer Dispatches, a once- or twice-a-month newsletter from yours truly, and you’ll automatically receive a super-sekrit link to My Absolute Must-Have, Can’t Live Without Tools and Resources list! Click here to get your link!

A Jesus girl through and through, Jean Marie Bauhaus is on a journey of healing and rediscovering who God purposefully created her to be and figuring out how to do life within that context. She’s the wife of Matt and mom to a crew of four-legged dependents, all of whom make their home in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Jean counts coffee, dark chocolate and a yarn addiction among her vices. She’s the author of Restless Spirits, a family-friendly paranormal romance/mystery now available from Vinspire Publishing. You can learn more about her novels and short fiction at jeanmariebauhaus.com.

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