OK, that doesn’t sound as cool as Snow Day, but you gotta work with what you’ve got.
I was just thinking about the Best Laid Plans quote.
The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. (Robert Burns)
I often forget that my best-laid plan can go awry easily. Yeah, sometimes I can blame MS, and sometimes I can blame the kids, but when I’m being honest, I really just need to blame myself. I know, I know, blame is such a negative word. Focus on positive self-talk, affirmations, blah blah blah. But sometimes it feels better just to call a spade a spade.
Today’s a classic example. The work day officially ended at 1 today because of the weather. Sleet day! Sleet day! Nah, still doesn’t sound cool. So I’m at home and it’s lunchtime. I’ve been reading the Clean Cuisine 8 Week Challenge and bought all of the ingredients to make one of the big, yummy sounding salads. So I’m home, no time restrictions, got all of the ingredients…and I make a sandwich. I can read, I can blog, I can work on taxes…but first, I’m playing games on my phone. I’ve got all of this time back – a rare gift – and I’m just doing the same old, same old. I did make popcorn, though. I was in the mood for popcorn and got out the popper. Usually, I forget about the popper until bedtime and then say oh…I could’ve had popcorn.
I’ll find these pockets of time that I can use productively, that can get me closer to the goals I say to want to meet. But then I end up having a case of the I-Don-Wannas. And it’s the whiny kind. The voice in my head whines in a tone that would make SNL’s Doug and Wendy Whiner proud. When my kids were little, they knew how to be cute and would say “I can’t want that.” It’s not cute when my inner voice says she doesn’t want to.
So I send my little inner monster to the corner of my mind and let her eat purple crayons and paste while I trick myself into actually doing something. I negotiate with myself to do something “on the list” and then I can nap or play games on my phone or whatever. And I’ll get some peace or happiness from the time instead of wasting it all away feeling guilty about not reading or not doing taxes or not blogging. Nike says just do it. I keep reading stuff that says not to wait until I feel motivated to do something…just go ahead and try to do something. So here I am. Feeling stubborn. Feeling grumpy. But also feeling a little creep of satisfaction because I’m actually getting something accomplished. No, it’s not Pulitzer-prize winning material, but it’s something. And now I can say I’ve blogged 2 days in a row.
