Have you ever felt like life was like a merry-go-round? Like you are going up and down and all around, but not really getting anywhere? Sometimes I think we all can feel that way. Day to day routines can seem...well, just that,...routine!
I have always been a play-it-by-ear kind of gal, and I think that suits me better than planning and setting goals that I don't think I can attain. I know some people could not function without schedules and routines and plans,...but I like to just let the Lord take me along and show me what's next!
I think that I am this way because my mother was this way. When I was a little girl we might start a project on a Saturday morning like,...cleaning out a cupboard, and along the way we would find all sorts of things we had forgotten that we had, and we would get sidetracked. We might find a photo album and turn each page and smile at the memories. Or we might find a card or a letter and of course stop and read through it too. Then we would continue to straighten and tidy up the cupboard until the next little treasure would pop up and detour us. Maybe several hours later we would finally have a tidy cupboard, but even better than that we had taken a sentimental journey together along the way.
One time we were cleaning out a walk-in closet that had gotten quite out of hand, and when we were about half-way finished I found a little red patent leather purse that I had left there once when I was "playing house" with my dolls inside that closet. When I opened the little red purse I found several dollars worth of change inside! I was so excited, and I asked my mom if we could go to town so that I could spend my new found money. Well, it was Saturday,... and it was lunch time,... so we stopped what we were doing and we headed to town and ate lunch at Woolworth's and mama let me buy some fudge after lunch with the money from my little purse. Then we returned home and finished cleaning out the closet again. My older sister said I was spoiled,...but I think I was just greatly blessed to have a fun mama.
As I got older, a Saturday job might involve moving the livingroom furniture so that we could vacuum behind it or underneath it,...and that's when I discovered that I liked to rearrange the furniture. It was just so exciting to move it in a different position and redecorate the room. Then for many days afterward I could admire my work and feel like I had really accomplished something!
I also did this with my bedroom decor a lot as a teenager,... and this rearranging hobby continued on into my married life. I was always changing things around and switching trinkets around in the rooms to give them a new look. I guess I am not the type of person that likes routine so much, but I like to "mix it up a bit".
Oh I had to go to school everyday as a child of course, and we went to church every Sunday, and each day we had to do the dishes, and make beds and such. But my mama was always ready for a new adventure, like a walk in the park or around the block, just to break up the routines of life.
We often would go visit friends and force them to stop their routines too. A good visit was refreshing and we could all go back to the day-to-day business of life soon enough. Or while we were sorting laundry and putting in loads, the phone would ring and my mama always had time to take a break and chat with a friend who needed her.
Maybe my mom wasn't so good at teaching me to finish what I started before playtime, but she would always say that, "this can keep till tomorrow,...and if tomorrow never comes, then it didn't matter anyway"!!!
What is a merry-go-round really for? It is a place to enjoy yourself and use your imagination, and listen to some perky music,...and to try to grab the brass ring. It is not meant to be hum-drum and boring, and for a little child it is exciting. But adults find it extremely repetitive.
Maybe we should be more child-like. Maybe we should be more like my mother and take a few adventures along the road. Remember the merry-go-round when Mary Poppins rode it? The horses escaped and went on a fun adventure with the people on their backs.
Let's make life an adventure and really look for ways to enjoy it when we are doing our daily chores. And let's try to grab the brass ring!
Linda ~~~March 2009
