Anti-Procrastination Challenge: More Inbox Organization

It wasn't been too terribly long ago that I posted the Anti-Procrastination Challenge to declutter your inbox.  In spite of doing a lot of cleaning out and unsubscribing, I've still felt very overwhelmed with the massive amounts of email I receive.  Many times things go unanswered just because I have too many emails to deal with.  I came across this post yesterday at Simple Organized Living about organizing email using Gmail filters.  Wow!  I attacked my inbox and started organizing it, and I feel about 10 pounds lighter!

Photo from Simple Organized Living

 I can choose specific emails to not even come into my inbox, but to automatically go to a specific folder.  I have already seen increased productivity in checking my email.  When I open my inbox, I don't have 300 emails staring me in the face, making me feel behind before I've even started.  Instead, I can open up the folder with the most important things and deal with those first.  No more wasted time sifting through and sorting emails every day!  The sorting is done for me already!

I will warn you, though, that if you start setting up your filters, make sure you stay focused.  There are lots of shiny gadgets on Gmail that I was tempted to explore once I started looking around at the settings.  Just follow the directions Andrea's post  to help you stay on track. 

If you don't use Gmail, your job today is to do some research on how you can keep your own email inbox more organized.  You'll save time in the long run!

This post may be linked to one of these parties.

Will You Say Yes?

I have a deep admiration for God's servants.  When I see people who have given their whole life to Him to do whatever He asks, no matter how hard, I am motivated to be like that.  I am so encouraged when I see people who are making sacrifices and living through difficult circumstances with a smile on their face.  I've watched a missionary family live with numerous health problems and deal with inconveniences like their water being turned off for nearly a week.  I've watched a family proceed with multiple international adoptions in spite of the lack of finances and the emotional, physical, and spiritual toll it takes to parent adopted children.  I saw another missionary family who lost their 3 year old daughter in a tragic car accident, yet they are choosing to be thankful for the way God is using that accident for His glory.   These are just a few examples.  Everywhere I go I see people who have said "Yes" to God, no matter how hard a thing it is that He has asked them to do.


 I have spent much time in prayer asking God what it is that He has for me.  What hard thing is it that He wants me to do?  I am determined to say "Yes".  I will trust him for the grace each day to do whatever He asks of me.







...Or will I?


Fast forward a few days, and in your imagination come join me in my home.  I get up early, eager to tackle my lengthy to-do list.  I have big plans for all that I am going to accomplish.  I read my Bible and pray, then get up and start working on my list, humming as I go.  I'm excited to face the day, determined to be a great mommy and homemaker.  Several short minutes later, my well-laid plans are interrupted.  I hear a baby crying.  "He never wakes up this early," I think.  "Pleeease go back to sleep so I can get some work done."  After a couple more minutes, I decide that I'd better go get the little fella.  I'm too late.  My oldest boy, who shares a room with the baby, has already awakened, and there's no getting that one back to sleep once he's up.  To top things off, he gets so lonely while I'm feeding the baby that he has to wake up his little sister so she can play with him.

Okay, I can adjust.  I'll just go ahead and start working on the things I had planned to do after the kids were up.  Then I'll get them down a little early for their naps and go back to working on what needs to be done while they're sleeping.

All 3 kids are cranky all morning from getting up so early.  I'm stopping every few minutes to console a crying baby or try to thwart an emotional meltdown from my 2 year old.  In between grouchy spells they're running around like little crazy people, getting into everything they're not supposed to get into.  I'm trying to maintain some semblance of order, so I stop to deal with each issue that arises and clean up each mess.  By lunchtime, I've accomplished the amazing feat of getting everyone dressed and fed.  That's it.  Oh!  And I did throw in a load of laundry and make a loaf of bread.  Well, I dumped the ingredients into the bread machine, if that counts.  I'm eying the clock and eagerly anticipating naptime so I can at least get a little bit of work done.  I'm hoping that everyone (including myself) will be in better spirits after a good afternoon rest.

Naptime, however, is delayed due to the fact that the timer on the bread machine says that the bread will be finished exactly one hour later than I thought it would be finished.  I'm almost out of groceries, and that bread is about the only thing in the house that I have to feed the kids, so I'm stuck waiting for it to finish before we can eat lunch.  Combine hungry grouchy with tired grouchy, and we have a house full of very grouchy people.  And Mama is getting grouchier by the minute.  I'm very close to surpassing the grouchiness of my children.  Yes, that happy, humming mama that arose so excited about her day is acting like a child who is not getting her way.

But wait, it gets better.

Much to my relief, naptime finally arrives.  I make sure the two older older children have gone potty, and get everyone tucked snugly into their beds. 

For about fifteen minutes.

That's when I hear the footsteps in the hall.  "Mommy, I have to go potty," I hear a little two year old voice say.  "You just went potty.  Go back to bed," I reply through gritted teeth, trying hard not to sound as irritated as I feel.  As she turns to walk away, I see the little bulge in the back of her Pull-up.  I roll my eyes, thinking to myself, "WHY does she have to go stinky during her nap every. single. day????!!"  I change her Pull-up and put her back to bed.

For another fifteen minutes.

"Mommy, I have to go potty again."  I check the Pull-up.  Stinky again.  I change the Pull-up again and put her back to bed.

She's up and down several more times after that, not to go potty, but just the general two year old naptime avoidance tactics.  By the time I finally get her to actually go to sleep,  my oldest boy is up.  He's actually taken a good nap, so I have no reason to make him go back to bed.  I try to make him sit quietly and read books so I can have a few minutes of quiet.  Yeah, right.  Four year old boys and quiet don't belong together in the same sentence.

I finally give up and go to the kitchen to start supper.  My husband walks in the door, and is greeted with what is by this time a very grouchy wife   I start complaining to him about my day, how I'm so tired, and how I didn't get anything done today and that I barely have enough strength to make supper.  (Which is true.  I'm still nursing the baby, and I hadn't had enough to eat throughout the day.)  He just smiles at me and goes to play with the kids.  I sit down with my head in my hands and wish that supper would make itself.  There's not even anything that I can eat for a quick snack to give myself an energy boost.  I get up and manage to pull together some chicken and pasta, and while I'm cooking, the Holy Spirit speaks to me in His still, small voice.

"Didn't you tell me that you would do whatever I asked of you?  And that you would do it cheerfully?  Do you know what I've asked of you today?  I've asked you to love your husband and to love your children, and to have a good attitude even when your day doesn't go the way you planned it."

I confess to the Lord my selfishness, and for the rest of the evening I choose to be joyful.  I choose to say "Yes" to God, although I wish I had obeyed a whole lot earlier.



What about you?  What is God asking you to do?  We all have different life circumstances, and the thing that He asks you to do will be different from what He's asked me to do.  Maybe, like me, you haven't even stopped to recognize what it is that He's asking of you.  Will you take the time to realize what it is?  Then, will you say "Yes" to Him?   


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30 Uses for Coconut Oil

I recently received a quart jar of Virgin Coconut Oil from Tropical Traditions to try.  I've been making homemade granola bars that call for coconut oil, and I love the sweet, nutty flavor!

That's been about the extent of my coconut oil usage, however, and I was ready to find some more uses for it.  I did some web and pinterest surfing and came up with this list of 30 uses for coconut oil.

It seems you can use coconut oil for pretty much anything!   

Ready?  Read on!


Beauty Aids:

1. Skin Moisturizer
2. Lip moisturizer
3. Make-up remover
4. Under-eye treatment for bags and wrinkles
5. Prevent or treat stretch marks
6. Treat nails and cuticles
7. Smooth rough and cracked heels
8. Natural sunscreen
9. Treat dandruff
10. Reduce age spots
11. Tame hair flyaways
12. Dry hair treatment - leave in hair for a couple hours, then wash out
13. Make homemade body scrub - mix with sugar and essential oils
14. Natural deodorant
15. Shaving cream
16. Homemade toothpaste - mix with baking soda


Baby care:

17. Treat minor diaper rash
18. Treat cradle cap
19. Treat or prevent nipple irritation for nursing mothers
20. Increase milk flow in nursing mothers


Health and medicine:



21. Soothe bee stings or bug bites
22. Soothe sunburn
23. Energy boost
24. Prevent nose bleeds


Cooking:

25. Use while cooking in place of vegetable oil
26. Butter substitute
27. Use in place of shortening or pan spray
(For tons more ideas for using coconut oil in cooking, go here)


Around the house: 

28. Mix with lemon juice for natural furniture polish
29. Homemade Goo Gone
30. Leather moisturizer


I'm sure this is by no means an exhaustive list.  If you use for coconut oil for something that's not on this list, would you mind leaving a comment and letting us know?

If you want to try some coconut oil, you can order the quart jar here for $27.50 or buy 2 quarts for $40 here. (If you order through either of these links, you'll receive a free copy of Tropical Tradition's Virgin Coconut Oil book.)

This giveaway is now over.
Now for the fun part!  One of you gets to win a quart of Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil from Tropical Traditions!

To enter, just follow the directions on the Rafflecopter form below:

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Legal stuff: 

• Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product. 

• This post contains affiliate links.

• I am not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site. All information is provided on an as-is basis. Please use your discretion before taking any decisions based on the information in this blog. Author will not compensate you in any way whatsoever if you ever happen to suffer a loss, inconvenience, or damage because of/while making use of information in this blog.

Anti-Procrastination Challenge: Company's Comin'!

Inviting guests over may come easier to some of you than it does to me.  I always have some reason why I don't want to have anyone over.  I love spending time with friends and family, but it just feels like it's going to be too much work to make it all happen.  The excuses come flying through my thoughts at an incredible rate.  "I don't have time to get my house as clean as I want it."  "Have you seen my living room?  It is in such serious need of re-decoration that I'm embarrassed to let anyone see it!"  "What in the world am I going to cook?  I don't have stuff on hand, and I really don't feel like going to the grocery store."

Let me tell you, whenever I just go ahead and invite somebody over, all of the excuses seem to take care of themselves.  I suddenly have motivation to get my house clean; we end up with something to eat (maybe nothing gourmet, but food nonetheless); and my living room does not get re-decorated.  But, I am always so glad I decided to just invite somebody regardless of my embarrassing living room.  Time spent with friends or family is so enjoyable, and as a bonus I get a clean house and a good meal out of the deal too! (Maybe one of these days I'll also end up with a re-decorated living room.)

Are you procrastinating on inviting someone over because you're waiting on your house to be perfect or you've mastered gourmet cooking?

You're missing out on some priceless times with people you love.

Just invite them!  Once you've obligated yourself, you'll suddenly find yourself motivated to get your house clean and cook a decent meal.

Are you going to take the challenge?

I'm letting my crockpot do the work for me as I wait for my guests to arrive.  They'll be here any minute.

When are yours coming?


This post may be linked to one of these parties.

Spring Cleaning for the Easily Overwhelmed

Spring cleaning and I don't get along too well.

Don't get me wrong, I'm ready to get rid of the germs, dust, and cobwebs just as much as anyone else, but I get overwhelmed way too easily.  I march into a room ready to attack it full force, but before five minutes have passed I'm already ready to give up.

I want to empty every drawer, scrub it out, then re-organize it.  But before I can do that I have to try on clothes to determine what still fits and what I need to get rid of.  "Oh, goodness.  Is that a hole in that shirt?  I need to get that mended."  
 Before I know it I'm sitting in the middle of a room full of empty drawers, piles of clothing, cleaning supplies, and now mending supplies.  I have a mess bigger than before I started, and I'm getting nowhere fast.

That is a rather drastic example, but honestly, I do have a really hard time not getting overwhelmed.  I want to do everything, and I want to do it all at the same time.  That approach gets me into a lot of trouble.

This year will be different.  My Anti-Procrastination challenge has made sure of that.  Instead of leaving every cleaning or organizing project to be a huge ordeal that takes a week to accomplish, I have been plugging away day by day on one thing at a time.

Instead of "spring cleaning" having the meaning of washing windows and curtains, moving furniture, scrubbing baseboards, and organizing drawers for a week straight, all it means to me is that I continue on doing one thing each day.  To be honest, there's really not even that much that needs to be done since I've been working on things since the beginning of the year.  We're nowhere close to 2013, but I've already decided the Anti-Procrastination challenge will be going on again in my life.  While I may not always feel like tackling one thing every day, it sure makes things easier in the long run!

What about you?  Are you dreading spring cleaning?  Are you easily overwhelmed by all that you want to accomplish?  For many of you it seems impossible to get that much cleaning done in a week's time, especially if you work or if you have small children.

Maybe you need to re-think your definition of spring cleaning.  Pick one thing to accomplish each day.  Just start with whatever it is that's bothering you the most.  Is it the cobwebs you see in the corner every time you sit down on the couch?  Or maybe the window you can't see out of because it's so dirty?  Just pick one thing and do it.  You'll only spend about 15 minutes, but you'll feel like you've accomplished so much!

Come back and tell me what you worked on today, okay?  In the meantime, I'll be spending a few minutes sucking some cobwebs out of the corners, then spending a fun-filled day enjoying my little ones!  No stress for me trying to keep them out of my way while I scrub for hours on end!






I'm linking this post to the Spring Cleaning Challenge at Amy's Finer Things 

Anti-Procrastination Challenge: Fulfill Your Promises

 I'm working right now on scanning a bunch of stuff that my sister-in-law needs.  It is a little time-consuming, and to be honest, I don't really feel like doing it.  I mean, it's boring sitting here waiting on stuff to scan and tedious to make sure I save all the files in the right place and get them all emailed to her. 

But, she is my sister-in-law, and I love her dearly.  This is stuff she really needs, and I promised her I would do it for her.  Procrastinating on it just because it's not exactly something  fun is not going to help her any, and it's going to leave it hanging over my head and making me feel badly that I haven't done it for her yet.

(If you're reading this, dear SIL, I'm not trying to make you feel guilty!  I'm happy to do it for you, it's just not exactly what I would call fun.  And my flesh would rather have fun than do work.) 

So, now that I've gotten this far on my post in between scannings, I am done with what I promised!  That wasn't so bad, was it? 


Your turn!

What have you told someone you would do for them, and why haven't you done it yet? Have you told your kids you would take them to the park, but haven't found the time because you're too busy working on your to-do list?  Have you made a promise to a friend out of politeness and conveniently forgotten about it?

Whatever it is, it's time to get rid of the excuses and do it!  I'd love for you to leave a comment letting me know what you've accomplished!

If you're just now joining our Anti-Procrastination challenge, you can read all the details here. be sure you're subscribed to email updates or follow me on Facebook to receive each day's new challenge!  



This post may be linked to one of these parties.

How to Grind Wheat in a Blender

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As requested, here are the results of my experiment with grinding wheat in the blender.  I love cooking with whole foods, but I've never baked with freshly ground wheat before.  I don't have a wheat grinder, and I certainly didn't intend on spending the money for one if it were possible to grind it in a blender.

Step one: Get some wheat berries.  I ordered mine from Vitacost since you get a free $10 coupon when you create an account.  I didn't feel like spending good money on an experiment when I knew it might not work.

I used hard white wheat berries, but I wouldn't think it would make much difference what kind you use.

Step Two:  Get your blender ready to go.  Do not let the brand name of my blender fool you.  KitchenAid mixers are definitely 10 steps ahead of any other mixer, but their blenders?  Eh...not my favorite by any means.  All that to say - even if you have a cheap blender, it will probably work just fine.

Step 3:   Add the wheat berries and start grinding.  I only ground about a cup at a time.  The wheat berries jumped so high when I turned it on that I was afraid if I added any more the flour would start flying out the top of the blender.

Step four: I found that I needed to let it run on high for about 2 minutes. If I ground for less time it still had chunks. And if I ground for more time, it didn't seem to get any more fine, but the motor started heating up the flour.

Step five: Bake some bread or rolls using your favorite whole wheat bread recipe.  I actually made some of both.  My bread didn't turn out too pretty, but you get the idea.

My conclusion:  The blender definitely does not get the flour very fine.  The dough feels very gritty when you're working with it.  But as you can see from the pictures, it is still very useable.  (How pretty your bread turns out just depends on how good of a cook you are - which I'm obviously not the greatest!)


I'm very curious now to try out a recipe I saw for Blender Pancakes!  You grind the wheat in the blender along with the other pancake ingredients and then pour them onto the griddle!

Maybe soon you'll see a post on how that turned out! 

This post may be linked to one of these parties.

Anti-Procrastination Challenge: Just Buy It!

This is a hard one for my tightwad stingy frugal self.  The back of our office chair fell off a good while ago.  Really, I can't even remember when it was.  Maybe a few months?  Six months?  More?  I don't know.  We just kept using it like it was "until we get a new one."  Well, we haven't gotten a new one yet.

I have lots of excuses, the main one being, "I just haven't found a good deal on one."  I don't buy anything unless it's a really, really, really, really good deal.  Or free.  That's the truth.  (That would be why I run another blog all about deals and free stuff!)   

But, even though there have been several times I've come up with pretty much the best deal I'm gonna find on an office chair, my tightwad stingy frugal self always backs down at the last minute.  I just hate spending the money, good deal or not.

Well, this whole Anti-Procrastination thing has had an over-riding theme of getting rid of excuses.  The broken chair is hideously ugly, and it's bugging both my husband and me.  It's time to just buy a new one!  Part with that money already!  I'm biting the bullet today and getting a new chair!

Your turn!

What is it that needs to be replaced in your home?  Hey, it could be something as simple as a lightbulb, but it's just made its way to the bottom of the list.  Just buy it!

Please be aware that I'm not advocating your going out and spending money you don't have.  Please, no!  But, if it's within reason and needs to be replaced, what is keeping you from buying it?  You may need to be purposeful about rearranging your budget a little bit so you can financially fit in that purchase this month.  But you'll be glad you did when you can stop looking at that ugly, broken whatever-it-is and wishing you had a new one!

If you're just now joining our Anti-Procrastination challenge, you can read all the details here. be sure you're subscribed to email updates or follow me on Facebook to receive each day's new challenge!


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Anti-Procrastination Challenge: De-Clutter your Inbox

My inbox was starting to get really annoying.  It seemed like I was deleting 10 times more stuff than I was actually opening.  It was time for an inbox de-clutter! 

Your turn!  Any type of newsletters, advertisements, etc. that are coming to your inbox that you don't ever read are simply wasting your time when you have to click the delete button every day.  Open them all up and unsubscribe.  I like to do it all in one day even if it takes me a while.  The reason for that is because your unsubscription request can take up to 2 weeks to process.  In the meantime you'll continue to get emails from that company.  I can never remember which ones I've already unsubscribed to, so I do it all in one shot, wait a couple weeks, then do it again.


If you're just now joining our Anti-Procrastination challenge, you can read all the details here. be sure you're subscribed to email updates or follow me on Facebook to receive each day's new challenge!


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Anti-Procrastination Challenge: Pinterest

It's been a while since we've done something fun for our challenge.  Let's go take a look at our Pinterest boards and choose one thing to do today, whether it's making a new recipe or craft, doing an activity with the kids, or whatever. Just do something!  If you can't complete a project start-to-finish today, I want you to at least write down whatever supplies or ingredients you might need on your shopping list so you can get started as soon as possible. 

I've been working on perfecting a recipe for homemade laundry detergent, but I can't give you the results yet because it's supposed to sit for 8 hours.  Guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to try it out.


If you're just now joining our Anti-Procrastination challenge, you can read all the details here. be sure you're subscribed to email updates or follow me on Facebook to receive each day's new challenge! 


This post may be linked to one of these parties.

Frugal Tip: Regrow Green Onions

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I have pinned a lot of things on Pinterest, but this is one of my favorite finds!  I love the added pizazz of green onions in recipes, but I hate paying for a pack of them and only using them one time.

Well, I saw somewhere on Pinterest that you can just put them in water and place them in a sunny window and they'll keep growing.  It works incredibly well!  They grow so quickly I think we could eat them for every meal and not run out!

At first I was afraid it was not going to work because the first day all the tops turned yellow and some of them wilted completely over.  Then I realized that the stalks were still nice and firm and that they were growing taller.  I just keep weeding out any that wilt and cut the yellowed tops off when I'm ready to use them.

Wow; this has saved me so much money!


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Anti-Procrastination Challenge: Do it Now!

Today's Anti-Procrastination challenge isn't so much of a one-time challenge as it is the practicing of a habit.  I call it the Do-It-Now Principle.

The idea behind the Do-It-Now Principle is to practice Anti-Procrastination on everything that you do.  There are plenty of people for whom that comes naturally, but unfortunately I am not one of those people.  I am forever convincing myself  that things will be easier if I do them later.

 Here's an example that occurred just today.  I had been out shopping all day, and when I pulled into the driveway it was already well past the children's naptimes.  I looked into the back at the jumbled mess of bags, kids, coats, diaper bags, and who-knows-what else and thought to myself, "Right now I just need to concentrate on getting these kids down for their naps.  I'll clean the van out later." 

The only problem is that later never seems to come.  By the time everyone is down for naps and I've had a couple minutes to put my feet up, it's time to make dinner and straighten up the house.  Before I know it, bedtime is upon me and later becomes, yet again...later.  The next day I'll most likely forget all about the junk that's sitting in the van.  I'll continue to forget about it until a very inconvenient time, like when we're already late for church and we're looking for the kids' coats.  I'll then remember that they're in the van, along with a bunch of other stuff.  We'll hurriedly jump in on top of all the stuff, allowing it to get trampled under the kids' feet while they climb into the back.  I could continue to go on with the possibilities - a bottle of lotion getting squirted all over the place under a kid's foot, finding a bag of spoiled cheese (not that I've ever done that or anything), a coat that now has to be washed because it just got walked on with dirty shoes. 

What begins as an attempt to make things easier ends up creating more work and making things take longer.  And the longer you procrastinate, the worse they become. 

I am learning ever so slowly that those who always seem to have their house clean are the people who have a habit of practicing the Do-It-Now Principle.

Whatever we do, let's quit procrastinating, okay?  Let's make our lives easier by doing things now!  Will you join me?  If you're already in a good habit of doing things right away, will you cheer me on?


*By the way, I did clean out the van before I put the kids down for their naps!  Good habits are developed one decision at a time!*

If you're just now joining our Anti-Procrastination challenge, you can read all the details here. be sure you're subscribed to email updates or follow me on Facebook to receive each day's new challenge!   


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Anti-Procrastination Challenge: Take a Day Off

I realize I haven't posted an Anti-Procrastination challenge for the past couple days.  I also realize that there are a lot of weekends that I don't post anything.  That's simply because I made a commitment that I would not let this blog take priority over my responsibilities as a wife and mother.  (That would be pretty dumb to blog about homemaking and be a lousy homemaker!)

I really hope, though, that on the days where I don't post a new challenge that you're still completing your own Anti-Procrastination task.  We all have different things that need to be done, and I'm sure you can think of something to do that you've been putting off.

Today is a little different, though.  I'm going to give you permission to take a day off...with one requirement.  You have to use your day off to do something you've been putting off.  I know you're thinking, "What?  Isn't that the same as an Anti-Procrastination task?"  Here's what I mean.  You need to stop procrastinating caring about people.  In my case it's the three little people that call me mom.  I can get so focused on getting everything crossed off my list, including my Anti-Procrastination task for the day, that I hear myself saying things like, "No, not right now..."  "Not today..."  "Later..." to my kids.  They want to go outside (which means I have to drop everything and go out with them since they're too little to go out by themselves) or play with playdough (which I hate because it makes a big crumbly mess)  or they want me to read to them or play with them.  There is nothing wrong with telling your kids they have to wait a few minutes while you get the dishes in the dishwasher, but do you find yourself constantly telling them "Later"?  If not now, then when?  Blink an eye and they'll be grown.  You'll be so sorry you waited to spend precious time with them.  So don't add that Anti-Procrastination task to your list today.  Instead, go read a book to your kids.  Take them outside.  Play playdough with them. 

If you don't have children or yours are grown, what people have you been putting off because you're too busy?  Why don't you take the time to make that special meal for your husband even though it's time-consuming and requires a lot of cleanup?  Write that letter to your grandmother.  Visit that lonely person in your church.  Bake those cookies for your neighbor.

We're not promised tomorrow.  Let's not get so focused on getting things done that we put off caring about people.

 

This post may be linked to one of these parties.