I’d love to be all chipper and happy, but it’s not happening today. Sorry. I’m at DEFCON 2 in terms of pain. The only way it could be worse is if I were being wheeled out of the operating room and the anesthesia was wearing off. And they couldn’t give me any more because my blood pressure was too low. Which is what really happened when I had my spinal fusion last summer.
Johnny Cash keeps going through my mind. Except with knives.
And it burns, burns, burns. A ring of fire. A ring of fire.
So after dropping the kids off at school, dropping Stephen off at work (we’re still a one car family at least until I can find a car I’m willing to buy), getting my paying work done, cleaning up around the house, and throwing some laundry in the wash, I was on fumes. And when I say fumes, I mean it. Fumes.
I had to find something I could do in less than five minutes. Otherwise, I was going to be coming up empty for a blog post and I would be playing a game of blogger chicken.
So on the way back in from taking Eddie outside, I grabbed this from the garage:
I have no recollection as to where this basket was before it got moved to the garage. Nor do I recall how everything that is in it got there.
The easy stuff first: the foil and cling wrap got put in the appropriate drawer in the kitchen. The papers I no longer needed got put in the recycle bin. Trash was put in the garbage can. That left this:
The green reusable rags were put away under the kitchen sink, and the basket and dental care supplies were put under the kids’ bathroom sink, along with other items that needed corralling under there.
The tea got put in the pantry with the other teas and I put all of the muffin cups and birthday candles in an empty drawer. But I’m not sure if I’m going to keep them. I think I’ll mark the Ziploc with a date a few months from now and if I haven’t used anything in there by then, I’ll find another home for them.
That’s all I could muster today. But you know what? Even five minutes gets something done. And moves you forward. So, if you’re tired and overwhelmed, just tell yourself you only have to do something for five minutes. Part of a drawer. A corner of a shelf. One small stack of paper. Today’s mail. Three articles of clothing.
And then you can say you did it. Because, sometimes, that’s all you really need to keep you going.
Tomorrow
I’m scheduled to have another round of spinal injections tomorrow. I hope they work. But let’s be honest, I’m not too optimistic given that they didn’t help the first time. It will take 24-48 hours to recover, so I’m not sure what Friday’s blog post will look like. But, I will find five minutes. And then I will blog about it. But if I make no sense whatsoever, and it comes out as gibberish, chalk it up to drugs.
Sorry to hear you had such a tough day. The fact that you did anything more is incredible. It shows what a strong person you are. You’ve inspired me to get up off my butt, and get something done before bed. Thank you. I hope tomorrow goes better than you think.
🙂
Many of us live with an internal struggle between feeling so overwhelmed by a task that we don’t know where to begin and knowing that if we will simply devote 10 minutes to the task we can make tangible headway. And, presuming we’re not dealing with your physical limitations, we also know that that 10 minutes frequently leads to an hour or more of road-grading progress. Thanks for giving us a real world reminder!
Sometimes I look at a project and give up before I even get started if I get stuck in the mindset of perfectionism. I’m battling that all the time. Today, five minutes just had to be good enough.
Kandi, I hate hearing about your constant struggle with pain. I can’t even imagine how you get through the day…would it make you feel better if I took those cupcake liners off your hands??? Just doin’ my part!
I would love for you to take them off my hands! Miss you. 🙂
Thanks for the inspiration! I’m praying for you…
Thank you!
Giving you a round of applause from the UK. I can’t imagine what living with that level of pain is like, but I’m currently recovering from a broken wrist and the discomfort and awkwardness I’m experiencing just wipes me out.
The pain is just exhausting! So sorry to hear about your wrist. I hope you feel better soon! This is definitely one party I don’t hope others join …
So sorry you are in so much pain. The way you press on inspires me on days when I don’t want to do anything.
hopefully the procedure tomorrow will relieve your pain.
you are an inspiration!
Good luck tomorrow! Second time’s the charm?
You are right. Just keep moving forward – even if it is for only 5 minutes at a time. That is true of everything in life. Be well.
I admire so much how you are working to declutter your home. So many people use pain (or other problems) as an excuse to avoid moving forward. Your five minutes is a triumph of will. Congratulations on that. I hope it is easier for you, very soon.
Hope you are feeling better. My mom had her 3rd spinal shot yesterday and she said she is feeling rough today. But you know you did get something done so that was great!! Somethings better then nothing.
Keep up the good work!
I used to love this blog but honestly while trying to be sympathetic I am so sick of hearing about your back and your pain. I think this is the wrong type of blog for you to be writing at this stage or your life.
Well, we’ll have to differ on that point. I think no matter what stage of life you are in, you can try to improve on something. For me, it’s simplifying/decluttering even given challenging circumstances.
Well done with finding the energy to be able to distract yourself (albeit temporarily) AND still blog and inspire us to do a bit more -back pain is no laughing matter.
I think you’re doing a great job on the blog, don’t listen to the haters! Everyone has challenges in their life and it’s inspiring that you are making progress, even when your challenge is a big one. I think consistently doing a little a day is a good way for many of us to slowly, but surely, improve our homes and our lives. Even removing one thing a day that’s cluttering up your home will make a difference over time (as long as you aren’t continuing to bring more and more stuff in) so carry on!
Thanks, Deanna. I’m starting to get used to the rude comments so they slide right off my back. No worries on this end. 🙂
When you first put everything in your garage, I thought that was weird . . . just moving the clutter from one place to another, even if it was for a reason. But I see the brilliance in your decision 🙂 Being able to walk through the garage and grab ONE thing to work on inside . . . awesome way to break what sounds like a huge never-ending task into small doable chunks. Kudos to you for sticking with everything through all the pain . . . back pain sucks, plain and simple . . . and could be a great excuse for any one of us to choose to sit on the couch all day and whine rather than move on and do what you can do at any given moment. Kerry is a good friend of mine, and I was sad to see her go, but I’ve loved reading your blog and seeing your approach to simplifying your life in your Simple Year. Keep on keepin’ on!
Thanks! Yeah, putting everything in the garage and the sunroom gets it out of the house, so we aren’t living IN the clutter. And, like you said, I can bring in small amounts of stuff at a time. Living in a clean, minimalist-ish environment is quite peaceful and keeps me motivated to make sure it stays that way.
And I’m super honored that one of Kerry’s friends is hanging on with me. 🙂
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