Refocus

Hey, remember me?  It is a bit of an understatement to say that I have neglected this blog significantly over the last year or so...not on purpose or with any statement to be made by doing so.  Life just sort of....took over.  It does that.  

But it makes me sad all that I've missed out on capturing and documenting for posterity by making this journal of my life less of a priority.  So, as we approach 2015, I'd like to share my renewed commitment to sharing and telling the stories of my life.  I won't stress over it.  I won't worry if I don't have the best story to tell or the perfect photo to share for the topic (that's not the real point, anyway)..,I will fret less that my story may not be "worth sharing" for it's ALL worth REMEMBERING.  And that is the point.  

Simplify and Focus

It’s a message I’ve been trying to get through to my husband for months (dare I say, years?)…Simplify and focus. I keep saying our interests are too diverse. Our energies are expended too widely, our resources (time, money, etc.) are spread too thin and our attentions need to be focused. We need to cut back, reign in, and hone our extracurricular activities. It’s a basic principle. We camp, we hunt, we boat, we fish, we hike, we bike, we walk, we stalk (OK, so we don’t STALK…but I was on a roll there) – basically, we LOVE the outdoors, period. However, all of our interests are fair weather activities. Our life is chaotic and our hobbies all fall within the same time frame. The inevitable consequence is that nothing is done well - nothing has our entire focus, complete devotion, 100% commitment, or our full investment.

It makes perfect logical sense. We should downsize, pick an interest or two - simplify and focus.

Why am I rambling on about this, you may wonder? What is the magical epiphany in all this? In going through this exercise in my head, I came to the conclusion that I should really be listening to myself a little more. I am completely guilty of this in my own life - in my head, in my hobbies, in my priorities. I need to stop. Look. Listen. I need to rewind. Reevaluate. Re prioritize. After all, I am always complaining that there are not enough hours in the day. I have the basics to accomplish - parenting, cleaning, laundry, dishes, bills. Then there are my sanity savers - photos, blogging, reality TV.

A horoscope I received in a recent fortune cookie spells it out perfectly for me. It reads: You cannot be anything if you want to be everything.

Profound, no?

So in saying this and coming to this realization, I hereby vow to simplify and focus. I will pick one or two things that mean the most. I'll focus on my family, a few basics (so as to avoid CPS from knocking at the door when a roach infestation takes over my disaster of a house) and simplify my diverse interests to a passion or two. As a result, I hope to perfect these priorities and excel at that which is most important. Everything else will just have to give (for now). Wish me luck!