Day 10: Feeling Overwhelmed

For the month of October, I am joining TONS of other bloggers by linking up with The Nester for 31 day blogging challenge where we post about one topic each day for the whole month.  After lots of consideration, I have chosen to take a journey through this book, 31 Days to Clean: Having a Martha Home the Mary Way, by Sarah Mae.  Check out more information about the book from my 1st post here, and see my intro post with the links to the entire series here.

Do I ever feel overwhelmed!  It is a frequent feeling in my home, though I wish it was not.  The list that Sarah shared today of practical ways to tackle your home and to not feel overwhelmed were amazing.  As I type this with my ares stretched to the limit because I am cuddling my curious baby girl (who loves to push buttons), I am reminded that while I may feel overwhelmed at times, there is so much good in my life.  My home is also part of where I am in life.  I am a working mom.  I work full time out of the house each week (with evening hours 1-3 days every week).  I also run the home, menu plan, pay the bills, budget, clean mostly on my own.  My hubby does help (he has been getting better at this), especially in the cooking and laundry areas.  However, the primary burden of managing and maintaining the home is mine.

As I sat and did my Mary Challenge for today, I was amazed at how different my big picture was in my head than last year.  Don't get me wrong, several of the things were the same, but when I picture them happening, it doesn't stress me out.  Part of it I think is I am in a much better place.  I have formed better habits that allow me to feel better about where my home is (many of them were recommended in today's reading).  My favorite one was to start with one room.  The room I always start with is the kitchen.  If my kitchen is clean, I feel a million times better about my home.  It being clean means, it is easier for me to cook, it is easier for me to feel accomplished, and it is easier for me to feel like my home is under control.  I know that my home will never been what I envision it to be in my head.  I have come to terms with that.  I know that I dream big and wild dreams, and I cherish them.  I have slowly learned that these dreams are not my reality.  When I compare my reality to my dreams, I am instantly overwhelmed with my failures.  The key is, to dream big, then bring your dream down into reality, and pick and choose parts of it that are attainable for you, where you are in your life right now.

Do you dream big?  Do you allow your dreams to make you feel overwhelmed?

I did do my Martha Challenge today, but I forgot to take pictures, and because they are windows, the light is now not allowing me to take a decent shot.  So no photo's today.