Recently I have had a flux of new members coming in.  I love each and everyone of them.  One thing that I have to constantly remind myself, “How did I feel when I found Flylady?”  One has to remember I found her in 2005.  Of course I was excited because I loved the saying, “You are never behind.  I don’t want you to try to catch up.  Just JUMP in where you are.”  Oh, what a relief I felt.  Finally someone wasn’t telling me to hurry up.  Of course this was offset by my enthusiasm to FINALLY get my house organized.  The problem in the beginning is that I was looking at this the wrong way.  Somewhere in the back of my head I had convinced myself that once my house was organized, that is all I would have to do and I could finally feel good about myself.

Many of you may be feeling the same feeling I felt.  The problem is there is a very big flaw in it.  Sure we can get it all organized by using up all that enthusiasm we have when we finally find something we think can work for us.  That enthusiasm will probably get your house organized, but for how long?

This is what I want to write about.  It is the “How Long” will you be able to keep it organized?  Part of this answer has everything to do with how much “Clutter” you still have.  That is how long it will stay organized because as Flylady has said “You Cannot Organize Clutter.  You Can Only Get Rid Of It.”  This took me awhile to comprehend it and I still am.  Because I have been FLYing since 2005, I have been at MANY stages of Flying.  Whoever says this happens overnight is like the same one saying you can get rich overnight.

So why do so many of us take FLYing so seriously by making sure we do ALL the steps that are involved?  Because we have this sick need to fail and tell ourselves, this doesn’t work because part of us went on the mode of only FLYing while the rest of our lives fell apart.  I want you all to know I am having a hard time trying to get across what I mean without being too harsh.

So why did you fail or feel that you failed?  It is very simple.  You have not practiced a handful of habits that you can get comfortable with so you find yourself having already done it without thinking about it.  What are these handful of habits I am talking about?

Keeping Your Sink Shined Or Empty

Making Your Bed Everyday When You Get Up In The Morning

Getting Dressed To Shoes (You owe yourself and should love yourself enough to show up each day.)

Swish and Swipe Your Bathroom

Declutter Something Just Anything Each Day

Lay Out Your Clothes The Night Before

Establish A Launch Pad For All The Things That Will Be Going With You The Next Day.

With A Family For Sure, Do One Load Of Laundry A Day

Know What Is For Dinner Everyday

These are NINE very important HABITS to learn.  It is these habits that will help you develop routines.  Then you can get into the details of FLYing.  Will your home be clean just doing these Nine Habits?  The answer is No.  So what’s so great about taking a leap of faith and trying these?  You somehow find yourself again!  The house is still messy but the habits you do have down I bet your house won’t be as messy as it was.  The other thing is by practicing these Nine Habits you will begin to want to do more.  You have a base now and I bet your family will be happier.

When we first find a group like Marilyn’s Way we already know you are overwhelmed.  What we want to help you with is learning to let go of your feeling of being overwhelmed.  This will happen faster when you let go of perfectionism and practice, “Done is better than Perfect.”  That keeps Procrastination at Bay.

How do I want to end this blog?  I want all of you to loosen your reigns!  I want you to have fun because this is a journey and I don’t want you to say, I will be happy when my house is organized.  I want you to say I know I have lots to learn.  While I am learning new ways to get my home comfortable, I will be happy and I will communicate with the other members who choose to be part of this.  We are a community where friendships are formed.  We don’t compare ourselves to others or the level of decluttering we are in.  What we do is help each other out by supporting each other.  Last but not least  “You Can Do Anything For 15 Minutes Except Whine.”  Set a timer and get busy doing something just anything and at the end of those 15 minutes look around.  You will be surprised and I hope happy.  So let’s get out of our heads and practice these Nine Habits that will soon become so automatic you will begin to see you are actually beginning to have some WHAT? Free Time!  That’s when you can get into the details of this all if you so choose to!  Now, take a deep breath and exhale slowly.  I hope you can now see this is a process and let’s try to “Dance Till You FLY!”
Dance Till You FLY!
~Marilyn~