SETX Women’s Ministry – “Simplify” by Debbie Slaughter

SETX Women’s Ministry – “Simplify” by Debbie Slaughter
For some reason, 50 has been a year of revelation for me.

Not only have I found my voice in some aspects, but I’ve discovered something about myself that has been (or is in the process of) simplifying my life.

Not surprising to those who know me – I like change. I change my hair, change my furniture, I’ve even changed cars a time or two.

Living without change is boring.

But, sometimes change can bring about unnecessary stress. Totally self-inflicted, mind you, but stressful all the same.

For instance, I have a cycle with HAIRSTYLES – long, short, bangs, no bangs, curly, straight. It’s always been a thing that has driven me crazy and caused a lot of discussion between my husband and I (he likes it long, big surprise).

But, this year, I started looking back at pictures and discovered that the only time I felt like I looked good in pictures, was when my hair was a certain length. I began thinking about some of the women I know that have kept the same hairstyle for years and I wondered why I wasn’t like them.
I realized that I’ve been putting undue stress on myself by going back and forth, when I could clearly see that there was a certain style that fit me best.

So, on some certain day, a few months ago, I made the decision to get my hair cut and vowed that from now on, this would be “my style” – the one that other women, years down the road, would associate with me.

There ya go – simplified!

The second area of simplifying came in the form of LAUNDRY.

Years ago, I tried to get fancy and bought a laundry sorter, which allowed me to divide the clothes into colors, supposedly making it easier to just grab out of one section and throw in the wash.

However, what I found was that it gave me too much room for dirty laundry!

The laundry was piling up (albeit sorted nicely) and I felt like I could never get ahead.

So, true to these revelations that keep coming to me – I woke up one day and decided that what I needed was not some fancy laundry sorter. What I needed was an old fashioned, super simple clothes hamper. One like we had growing up – just a few feet tall, with a lid. One that gets full fairly quickly and therefore, empties pretty quickly.

I made an agreement with myself to do two loads per day and never let the hamper get overflowing with clothes.

I haven’t succeeded 100% – some days you just don’t have time for laundry – but I would say I’m looking at a 90% success rate, which is good enough for me.

These simplifying revelations are such a welcomed visitor to my life!

I’m discovering that having too many choices does nothing for productivity or decision making; in fact, too many choices just slow you down and leaves you in constant confusion.

I think that’s why MINIMIZING has become such a THING.

People are realizing that we don’t need 100 choices of meals and laundry sorters. Our hair only really looks good in certain styles and when we find what that is, we should just go with it and put that energy toward something else.

Right now, I’m working on minimizing my menu. I’ve tried and tried to perfect this area of my life, but I’ve always tripped over how many good choices there were. Then, when I really started thinking about what we eat on a weekly basis, I realized we like to eat the same meals all the time.

So, why do I stress over making meals new and exciting when my family has their favorites and that’s what we like?

Did I mention “self-inflicted”?

I’ll be sure and share any MEALTIME revelations, if they develop.

In the meantime, at least I don’t have to worry about my hair or my laundry and that sure feels good!

Until Next Time,
Blessings!