I have been thinking a lot about laundry today.
I typically do my laundry every other day, and it has become a regular part of our family routine to fold and put away our clean clothes daily. But this past week, it got away from me.
I did not wash one single load of laundry. There it sits in the corner of my closet, mocking me as I try not to look at it. It is as if the pile of clothes knows that if I look at it, I will feel compelled to deal with it, but I do not have time to deal with it today. So, I quickly looked away and rushed out of the room as I made a mental note to get back on track with my laundry this evening. As I write this blog, I am on my third and final load (yay! Almost done!)
There was a time that I could easily ignore a mountain of dirty clothes.
I would toss another item onto the overflowing basket without another thought. For weeks, both Ron and I would walk by the massive heap of laundry as if it were normal. We waited until we had nothing left to wear before we would tackle the overwhelming mound. We spent an entire day washing, drying, folding, and putting away our clothes. It was exhausting! Time after time, we did the same thing.
We ignored the chore until we could no longer ignore it.
We would let the pile grow until it overtook a room in our home and our peace of mind. Repeatedly we suffered the consequences until we hated doing laundry. Doing our laundry became a nightmare because we didn’t work it into our schedules regularly. We only did laundry when it became an emergency. Finally, we had to face our laundry dysfunction and resolve it. We began to wash our clothes regularly and discovered that we enjoy doing laundry together!
I am so glad we solved this issue. Laundry doesn’t scare me anymore because we have a plan to manage it regularly. What do you avoid? Avoidance causes the problem to keep getting bigger and bigger. Thus the things you don’t want to face loom over you. You are giving up your peace of mind as you try to run from the issue. Your problems will enlarge until they appear impossible. Stress increases, and you start to feel helpless and hopeless.
Letting things pile up is not healthy.
When you deal with each issue as it surfaces, you will begin to gain confidence in your ability to solve problems. Ignoring them doesn’t make them go away; it allows them to take over your life. Here are some tips to help you get started with tackling the problems you are avoiding:
- Look at it. Take time to figure out what the issue is. Don’t turn away from the problem; identify it.
- Ask WHY? Why are you avoiding it?
- Ask WHAT? What do you need to fix the problem? Do you need assistance, money, time? Figure out what you need to resolve the issue.
- Determine the steps. Write down a step by step plan you can follow to achieve your goal.
By following these four simple steps, you will be able to identify the issues and design a plan of action to resolve them.
I am rooting for you!