No Sweat

“Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness.”

~ Richard Carlson

"Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" by Richard Carlson. Remember the book and the common place phrase that followed it? I have perfected the art. I don't sweat at all anymore.

As I was tidying up the house yesterday for company the words 'I just don't care' wafted in and out of my brain with great regularity. We don't live in a pig sty. The house is tidy, everything has its place, things are organized and it is quite simply good enough.

I haven't washed the blinds, scrubbed the windows or cleaned all the nooks and crannies around here for longer than I care to put in writing. I'm a clean-as-I-go kind of girl. If I see dirt, I deal with it. I just don't play hide and seek with it any more. If it's hiding, it could be a while before I take my turn and start seeking.

I used to deal with clutter on a regular basis. Now? I cull as I go; make a pile; and when the pile gets too high I make it disappear. I don't open a closet door just for fun and think 'I'm going to declutter this today'. That just doesn't happen any more.

I used to work hard enough to break a sweat. I used to dance and exercise hard enough be wringing wet. I even used to break a sweat if I started thinking too hard! Now? I don't sweat. At all.

Have I gone too much the other way? I used to be obsessive about this stuff. I used to drive myself (and the people around me) crazy with my standards and expectations.

A friend painted a picture in my mind that may explain (or excuse) this phenomenon. She said to think of a pendulum. I used to function on the far arc of that pendulum's swing when I was obsessive about work; cleaning and organizing. She suggested that all that has happened, is that (for now) the pendulum has swung to the complete opposite end of that spectrum. In time, I will settle in a place that I like to call a 'happy medium'.

I'm coming back to a new normal. I'm just enjoying hanging out where I'm at right now.

“The key to a good life is this:

If you're not going to talk about something during the last hour of your life,
then don't make it a top priority during your lifetime.”

~Richard Carlson