Order

What do clocks, calendars, personal limits and realistic expectations have in common? They are helpful tools that can bring order, regularity, and predictable patterns to our lives. 

Bringing order to our lives is a good thing. It gives our lives structure, a bit of security and lets others know we are not fly by the seat of our pants people, but actually credible, reliable and safe.

 When ordering our lives, it is always good to keep in mind that we only have 24 hours in a day, that seasons change regardless if we are ready or not, and that we are all ordinary humans and not superheroes with super powers.  

Being the ordinary humans that we are, there is only so much we can manage and trying to manage too much, only invites chaos, frustration and sometimes anger and tears from us and others. So, if we know what the main thing is for us, then we can keep the main thing the main thing. I find that a calendar helps me to keep my priorities in order. 

I just purchased a new daily planner calendar because I already have commitments for January and February 2026. Although I have been known to schedule myself to be in two places at once, a calendar does help me to remember to commit to only one thing at a time, most of the time. 

Certain days and hours of each week have regular commitments and those commitments take precedence over everything else. So, I write those priorities on my calendar at the beginning of each month. Then, as other things arise, I can choose to commit to them or not. But, because I know my priorities, everything else is a secondary choice. 

Though I wish I could afford a cleaning lady, I cannot. So, once a week, with a little help from my husband, I clean my house.

 I do not agree with the old adage that a tidy house holds a bored woman. Rather, I believe that a tidy house holds an organized woman. 

Ever been frantic to find something? Ever have to dig around trying to locate that object you thought you placed in the right place? Keeping a tidy house without added clutter keeps us from frantically looking for something we’ve lost track of or from purchasing something we already own but can’t seem to find.

What sort of personal expectations do we harness ourselves to? Keeping personal expectations of ourselves goes hand in hand with knowing our personal limitations. We all have limitations, but we don’t always admit to them, especially to ourselves. 

The other day, after teaching yoga and then a barre class, going grocery shopping and then instructing swimming lessons, I decided to rake the leaves in our yard. 

Of course, I had a goal in mind, but I didn’t know it was a lofty one until my body let me know how tired it was. I wanted to push to finish what I had in mind, but my body did not. So, I quit. My body said, “Hey, thanks!” After all, raking leaves was a secondary choice. I’d already accomplished the main things in my day. 

Why Bother?

Why bother being grateful for order? Order in our lives can transform us from slapdash decision making people to someone who is credible, reliable and trustworthy.

P.S.  I wrote the story of my journey to forgiveness for those who, like me, know they need to change, but are not quite sure where to start. You can find A Heart’s Journey To Forgiveness at Redemption Press and Amazon.