Image source: Caty99 on Etsy

Holy crap balls Batman, where did the weekend go? Seriously! Where? One minute I was celebrating the fact that Hubby was home from work the next minute I was wailing (in my head) that I wanted another 10 minutes in bed before he went to work!

The last week has been a blur. I have a to-do list a mile long and time pressures that are making me a little frazzled. It’s like I’m living with the tell-tale heart under my floorboards; only for me it’s my Woodland Sampler.

Every where I look I’m reminded of all the things I want to do; gardening, quilting, cross stitching, cooking, and (the most important) spending time with my family. I just don’t have enough time (or money).

I’ve really embraced the quote; “You can do anything, but not everything”.  I find it liberating on one hand (it’s a great retort when someone makes the foolhardy decision to ask what’s for dinner) and on the other it’s become a mournful lament.

In the immortal words of the philosopher Mercury; “I want it all and I want it now”.

As well as having to come to terms with the fact that I can’t do everything I’m also having to learn to embrace the fact that I can’t do it all perfectly. I’m learning to embrace the wonky.  It’s not just something I’ve had to learn in relation to getting my points to line up in my patchwork, it’s also something I’ve had to embrace when it comes to life.

Sure I want to be the 1950′s housewife (immaculately dressed, dinner on the table by the time my man gets home and a pristine house) but the reality is something else entirely. (Just making it out of my pajamas some days is a herculean effort!)

Friends often comment on how much I get done, but all I can think of is the long list of all the things I haven’t gotten done but I want to. Sometimes I think my life motto is something out of Empire Records; “My dad always said that there’s 24 usable hours in every day.”  (Let’s not mention the fact that Corey was chewing speed to make those 24 hours usable!)

I like being busy, I like getting things done – I just don’t like moderation. I’m an all or nothing kind of girl. So at times (like now) I can get a little overwhelmed with the long list of things thumping away under the floorboards.

I don’t know what the answer is.

My go-to position is to make a list, prioritise the items on the list and then (manically) work my way through the list.  If I have to sacrifice something I do it. (This hasn’t always been the case… there was a time when I was like the Marines and no task was left behind!)  I do struggle with making that decision and I have been known to go into overtime to try and get something done (why, just recently I was up till 2am making jam, relish and writing an MC speech!).

I guess the key is to look at your life and ask the question, “Am I happy with this arrangement?”.

Am I happy being busy? Yes.

Am I happy with having a lot of things to do? Sometimes. Sometimes I would like a little more down time to just sit and enjoy the fruits of my labour. But overall I’m happy with the way life is tracking.

If the overwhelming feeling is of unhappiness then I guess it’s time to change it. I have learned that there’s a difference between unhappy and frustrated. I find 99% of the time I’m frustrated at having too much on my plate and that frustration arises out of not being able to do everything the way I want to. But I’m not unhappy.

In fact I’m really happy. And busy. Which begs the question why am I sitting here at my computer when there’s life out there to be living?

Do you have any tips for balancing your wants and desires with your abilities and resources? I’d love to hear any strategies you have!