Some important reflections

My inspiration

Decluttering my house had a much bigger effect on me that I could have foreseen. As my life became more straightforward, as my sense of well being improved and as the amount of my stuff reduced; I started to think about what I wanted.

How do I want to live? What do I want to teach my children? What kind of parent to I want to be for more children.

These are some of the things came to mind....  

I want to be more engaged in the moment. I want to be more engaged with my children. I want to be more engaged with my husband. I want to me more engaged with my life.

Then I asked myself....

Why am I not engaged? How am I not engaged? 

And I answered....

Because I am distracted by technology. I have paid more attention to and placed more importance on things like the television, the computer, my phone, Facebook, the internet, You Tube, Instagram, emails than I have on my family.

Because I am distracted by my stuff. Buying things, storing things, managing things, losing things, using things and tidying things.

Because I am distracted by things ‘to-do’. The ‘need’ to tidy, the laundry that needs washing, hanging out and folding, the dirty dishes calling my name from the kitchen. There’s no doubt that those are things that need to be done eventually, but are they more important than playing with my children or talking with my husband? Which should come first? I feel that I am distracted by a sense of urgency that I attach to these tasks, an urgency that doesn’t really exist.

Because I am distracted by own thoughts, thoughts that run away with me when I could be more focused on the present moment. 

Then I asked myself how could I be more engaged with my loved ones?

And I thought...

To be more engaged in life and to make the most of every moment I have, I need to work on eliminating these distractions. So that I can truly make every moment I have count. So that I can truly engage with what matters the most – my children and my husband.

I need to ask myself what kind of person I want to be for my family and what kind of person I want to be for me. I need to become that person. I need to model the actions and behaviour and feelings that I would like to see in my children.

I asked myself what was stopping me?

Probably laziness if I am being honest with myself. External pressures like work and other commitments. Internal pressures I place on myself like the need to have all the washing folded and the need to be on time wherever I go.

In short, I am the only person who is stopping me from making the most of every moment. Yes, I have obligations. Everyone has obligations. But between those obligations are moments that I need to make count and I am the only person who can do that. Just me. I realised that I  If I don’t make the change myself then no one can make it for me.