When it comes to letting go, we all have our unique difficulties. One of mine is the letting go of my house. I find it nearly impossible to allow myself the chance to rest when I truly need it. Instead, all I see are the things that need to be done.
The past week has been a little stressful. Not only have I been sick, but I was also the host for Thanksgiving this year. Then there are the expectations that the weekend after Thanksgiving, I put up the Christmas tree and decorations. I had a lot on my plate and yet was feeling under the weather.
How would others handle this? Perhaps they would simply cancel hosting Thanksgiving. They might tell everyone, “Sorry, but I’m just not up for cooking and having everyone over.” I sometimes wish I could be like that. But I would feel bad about it (despite the fact it wasn’t even really our turn to host Thanksgiving).
Or they might tell the family, “I know you always look forward to the Christmas tree and decorations going up the weekend after Thanksgiving, but I need to rest. It will have to wait.” I wish I could do that. But I allow guilt to overtake me.
Now really, what is the worse thing that could happen if I didn’t follow through on these things? Sure, others might be mad at me for a bit and my family might have to wait another weekend…but these aren’t life or death issues.
Yet I can’t do it…I can’t let it go. Just like I couldn’t let things around the house go over the weekend (even though I was sick). I still did the laundry, the dishes, cooked and so on.
Yes, my family helped some but that was quite limited. My husband would tell me to just leave it and he would be fine about it. But I can’t. It eats away at me. I notice things too much and then I can’t relax until something is done about it.
So the price I pay? I remain sick for longer than is probably necessary. Does anyone else struggle with letting things go in the house?
Related Articles:
Thinking Positive Thoughts about Housekeeping
When Everything Is In Disarray
Which Type of Housekeeper Are You?
Photo by Perfecto Insecto in Flickr