A few weeks back I had a day where I was incredibly stressed.  The kids were sick, a few had attitudes, Pete was leaving for a business trip, I had unpacking to do … the list goes on of seemingly good reasons to be stressed.  Pete asked me – Is anything urgent?  No, I had to admit nothing on my to-do list was urgent.  The implication was – chill Girl!!

So I took a deep breath and gave myself a few days off.

As I’ve taken the liberty just to meander through my days, doing what takes my fancy and getting back – slowly – into the swing of things I have been thinking about how much I make urgent in my life and how much of it really needs to be so.  I am reminded of the maxim:  Important versus Urgent.

• I believe if I am consistent, diligent, and thorough with the important there will be less urgent in my life.

• I also believe I need to carefully choose what is important in my life – what priorities I make.

I recently saw a picture of a meal set on a patchwork table cloth, on it was a home–cooked meal and there were candles on the table.  It gave a picture of a slow and relationship approach to life.  That is hard to find these days.  But it is something I want so much for my family.  I liked the picture so much I’ve put “make a patchwork table cloth” on my to-do list – but just making myself a patchwork tablecloth (should I find the time LOL!!) won’t do it for me – It has to come from my heart.

Over the next little while I’m going to watch what creates inner stress for me and see how I can eliminate it.  Of course there will be the odd occasion where this is just life – but I don’t want it to be the norm.  I want to be able to achieve the important things for me to achieve each day, without undue stress, without having ½ my list left over to add to tomorrow’s list.

Sometimes it is hard to make a priority list but maybe taking a look at those unproductive, stressful situations may be a good first step.