This morning I was thinking about my upcoming half marathon. I was feeling pretty excited that I’m on the final leg of the training plan. The finish line is in sight!
My mind drifted to all the times I got up before the crack of dawn to go running, and the countless occasions when I chose to run even though I didn’t really feel like running at all. For a split second I thought…Ahhh…soon I can go back to sleeping in and not running when I don’t feel like it.
Luckily, there’s another Aby inside my head who stopped this crazy thought with a simple question:
This running thing—is it an event or a lifestyle?
Right! Before I interrupted myself, I was getting caught up in the event—the half marathon and the specific training plan I was following. I was thinking that once the event was over…well, it was over and my life could go back to the way it was before. But the truth is that running is now a part of me. It’s a part of my life, and I don’t want that to change when the half marathon is over. I am living the “running lifestyle” and that involves running when you don’t feel like it and getting up at the crack of dawn when you’d rather hit the snooze button, or better yet, throw the alarm clock across the room and drift back to sleep! It’s a life filled with blisters, sore muscles, and chaffing, but it’s also a life filled with feeling good, energetic and strong, and it’s a life filled with new friends. Running is a lifestyle…it isn’t an event, and organizing is exactly the same way.
Even though getting organized can feel like training for a marathon, the truth is, the minute you cross the finish line you have a choice: Was this just an event or is organizing now part of my lifestyle?
If you choose the latter it means you decide to continue to make harder-in-the-moment choices like doing the dishes instead of checking Facebook, handling the mail now instead of saving it for later, and remaining intentional about what you bring into your home and take out of it. When you’ve worked hard to get organized and realize that the benefits of being organized outweigh the effort of staying there, that’s when you know organizing is part of your life.
Do you think of organizing as lifestyle or an event? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Thanks for joining the conversation.
Thanks for the reminder! I hadn’t thought about staying organized from this perspective before, and you’re absolutely right. A lifestyle requires on-going support, and that requires the conscious decision that this really is something I’m going to continue to invest time in every day, not just once!
Huh. complete change in mindset now, that’s so cool how you connected it to running. 🙂
thanks for the post: a real thought provoker. definitely need to start thinking of organizing as a lifestyle, not an event. ^^
and btw, good quote from “bitterblue” for getting up in the mornings:
“she got up, bemoaning all existence”
😛
A few months ago, I started getting up 45 minutes earlier to organize & edit my backlog of digital photos. I take lots of family photos and was a year and a half behind. To be honest, I turned my alarm off the first 3 weeks and went back to sleep. But I just kept setting it for 4:15 a.m. Finally, I got up. Now, after only 2 months of actually getting up and working on my photos, I am only a few weeks behind! I now look forward to this “me” time because it gives me such a sense of accomplishment. Once I am completely caught up, I plan to continue setting my alarm and scrapbook during this time…scrapbooking is something I love but have not found time to do in over a year! So, for me too, this has become a lifestyle.
Congrats to you for hanging in there and continuing to set your alarm even though it took three weeks to get up! It is funny how these things we originally dread, in time, can become something we look forward to. Thanks for sharing this Debbi!
Thanks for the fresh perspective. I know that organizing needs to be a continual process, but I’d never really thought of it as a lifestyle choice that you make every day rather than event. I tend to take the event approach more often.
Thanks for the wake up call!. It gives me a new way to look at the progress I am making (slow though). This “event vs. lifestyle” helps keep me on track!!! thanks.
Wow– this is exactly where I am right now!! I’ve been training with Team in Training for the Nike Women’s Marathon and it’s less than 2 weeks away. I’ve met soooo many great people training (and gotten to know them pretty well– we’ve walked a LOT of miles and hours together!) and have had conflicting feelings about the end being near. On one hand I’ll be so happy to sleep in on Saturday mornings! But I will really miss the friends I’ve made and the way I feel about the hard-won strength I’ve gained doing this. After reading your post I see this can be continued as a lifestyle– I won’t be training in the same way but I can get together with my new-found friends and keep it up, working toward other marathons. Thank you for the paradigm shift re training (and organizing!). Your posts are always inspirational. 🙂
Thaks for the reminder, what an interesting comparison to running! Oh, yes, getting and keeping organized is most definitely a lifestyle choice. For instance, my kitchen is rather small and before picking up a new gadget or attending a home party, I have to decide what will have to leave the kitchen to make room. If there are no items that are no longer used or I am willing to let go, the new items just can’t be purchased. So much easier this way than trying to cram yet another thing into a too small drawer or cabinet. Works for any area of the home.
WOW! Thank you. Never really thought of that. Actually I am not YET organized but am working on it. I KNOW all about maintenance, etc. I really don’t spend much time on this but you are right about time choices. God has been convicting me about things and this was ‘spot on’ as they say to ‘bring it home’. I am 60 and have made huge progress – not a hoarder but clutter is here.
I have to say that I think all of us would like it to be an event that, once is over, you are done and dusted. But if we are honest with ourselves, we know that it has to become a lifestyle choice. Can you hear the groan yet? And the resigned uuffff!?
Thank you Aby. You always hit the nail on the head 😉
Aby, I’ve enjoyed your post. You always seem to uncover any hidden feelings I may have. Yes, I am choosing to have the organization of my home, my taking caring of my husband and children, and my own personal life. I am not looking at this “Cleaning, Sorting, Purging” as an event, but as a continual way of life. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.