New Year, New Goals- How I'm Decluttering My Life

The holidays always have a way of leaving me feeling overwhelmed afterwards…Overwhelmed by being tired, but mostly overwhelmed because I feel like once we get home with all of our new gifts and goodies that I need to seriously clean house and declutter. I’ve spent the last few days doing just that. I swear with a toddler, it’s amazing how many things you’re given over the span of one year! Holy toys! So, never the less, I’ve gone through all the junk we’ve accumulated over the past year and decided what things it is now time to part with. It got me to thinking though, how getting rid of old junk is such a stress reliever for me. I love to organize and get things in order (I’m a nerd, I know). But, it also reminded me how important it is each year not just to declutter your home, but also to declutter your thoughts and your life too.

Sometimes we have to say 'no'

It brought me back to another article I wrote about how it’s ok to say no. Sometimes to declutter our lives and relieve some stress we have to say no to all of the activity. Mind you, I was NOT good at that this year. In fact, I’m not good at this often, especially around the craziness of the holidays. But, as I was organizing our home and going through things I realized how much more I need to just say no. I need a person to understand that even though it’s the holidays, that doesn’t mean I’m any less tired than usual, in all actuality during this time I’m usually even more tired. I know most people don’t easily understand MS fatigue or lassitude and it’s hard for most to understand our symptoms in general, especially all of the invisible ones. But, around the holidays is a great time to explain.

I can be very stubborn

This is something I really need to work on. I’m really bad about letting others in on how tired I am. There are even days I’m bad about letting my own husband know because I just want to get things done myself. I can be very stubborn, but after this holiday season has left me feeling so defeated I have decided it’s really time to let go of more and allow myself the time to rest. It’s a lot easier for me most days just to get in the habit of routine. I tend to push aside the overwhelming fatigue and just keep going until I am just about to literally fall over. But, I’ve realized that’s nobody’s fault but my own. I am responsible for letting others know when I need a break or need some down time, and I need to let that be known more rather than suppressing it. I need to quit saying, “I’m fine” when I’m not and I need to be honest when I’m having a harder day than usual. Sometimes I hate the fact that I don’t look sick. And, I only say this because it’s a lot easier for me to hide how terrible I’m feeling. As I said, I’m stubborn-ok extremely stubborn-and unless I stand up and say something I can’t just expect my friends and family to understand that I’m having a bad day health wise.

Decluttering thoughts, time, and activities

2017 was a wonderful year. I had a lot of positive changes happen. I got a new work from home job as well as completed my first year with MultipleSclerosis.net (which I love), my husband and I celebrated 3 years of marriage, we officially had our first year in our new home, I got back into my best shape physically, and my son turned 2. While it was an amazing year, it was also a busy year. So as 2018 begins I want to make sure as I declutter our home that I also remember to declutter not just my thoughts, but my time and activities too. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure this year will be just as busy, but this year I plan on making sure I let others in on my tough days more often. I want to make sure to let my stubbornness go, and learn when I need to stop and take a breather per se. It’s easy as a work from home wife and mom to forget I’m only human too. To forget that not only am I human, but I deal with MS too, and that means its ok to take some more “me time” and to make sure I’m rested up before I’m overwhelmed by being so tired I can’t think straight. I want to make sure this next year I’m more overwhelmed by the happy changes of life, than being overwhelmed by fatigue and too much to do.

I hope you all have an amazing New Year! What are some of the things you plan on doing to help yourself out this year??

XOXO,

Calie