My sister Saydi discovered this great book a while back called "Restoring Margin to Overloaded Lives." It talks about the importance of having margins in life. The underlying message is that if you tried to read anything written on a page with no margins you would be confused and overwhelmed. Margins help keep you focused on what you are reading and even give you a space to take notes if you want to. The book compares pages you read to life in general. We have to have margins in order to function properly. Not every single second of life should be filled to the brim. We need to have space set apart to meditate and think and pray. We need to schedule in enough time to focus and realign. We all need margins in life.
Well, the second she told me about this idea I was hooked. A little "margin" was exactly what I needed. So I went right out and bought the book (which is actually a workbook). And then I bought the actual book to go with it too. I was determined to get some control of my life.
I came right home and set them on my desk in prime position to start reading.
But the problem is that they stayed right there for months. They kept getting buried under other "more important" things. As soon as I cleared off my desk enough to get a good look at them again, something else was immediately piled on top of them.
As I started morphing into "wit's end" again saying "yes" to too many things and not leaving enough time for some of the most important things, I decided I needed to make enough "margin" in order to even read about margins.
So last week I tried to create some margin. I tried to leave my phone at home as much as possible. I took a blogging vacation. I limited all electronics. And you know what? I got a LOT done.
But as most mothers can probably relate, the minute you let go of some things in life other things inevitably cave in like sand through a sieve. I still felt like I was running all week. BUT, I was able to prioritize a few things. I feel like I have things so much more in check. I started into my books, I made headway on having a serious weekly plan, and I had a few priceless epiphanies.
Most of all, I feel like I'm living up much better to my goal to be truly "present" this year. And that feels good.