Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Life-WiP: Lesson of Slowing Down

 My life is a work-in-progress, hence Life-WiP.  Every few weeks I'll share about my life and what I've been learning. I want to hear from you, too, so there will always be a question at the end for you to comment on life lessons you've learned. In this way, you can learn a bit about me and I about you. 

A little over a month ago a friend shared her testimony at church about how God had used her time in the hospital to teach her about slowing life down. I sat in my chair and nodded in agreement. Yep, that is something I'm trying...I read that book on simplifying life...but not happening right now.
Then, a week later, I ran into a door, literally.  
I won't go into long details, but the door was heavy and swinging. 
I didn't see it and was running inside. 
Door swung out and made a great impact on my forehead.
Large goose egg. Which in Chinese I learned they call that bump a "duck egg".
Mild concussion.
Talk about feeling totally stupid...

I had to slow down dramatically. I was dizzy or light headed most of the time. 
But, I learned a few things about simplifying my life.
1. Simplify house chores. My kids are now old enough to help out, so they've been given a few more weekly chores to do then they previously had.
2. Simplify meals. Cereal for supper is okay once in a while. I'm back to making meal plans, but ones that are not elaborate.
3. Simplify Activities. I'm limiting what I can do in a day. I don't need to do it all, and I need to be okay with that.

It has almost been five weeks, and I'm feeling much better, but I still have to take afternoon naps almost daily. The one thing I will have to remember is to keep up this simple life once I'm back to "normal"...whatever that is.

So, do you live a simple life? What do you do to maintain that simple life?

8 comments:

Fran said...

Yes, I think demands of age helps me maintain a simple life. During the summer in US, we had many "no alarm" days. This helped us get into the habit of 7 hrs of sleep daily, which is easy to do when not startled awake by an alarm. This developed a new habit, which enabled us to make adjustments i.e. get to bed earlier, so to get up earlier - after getting 7 hrs of sleep. Also,
Not until I moved to TW did I learn how to cook several meats at one time to put into frig/freezer for the busy week days. Wish I had done that during child rearing days. Anyway, all I have to do is steam fresh veggies, or make a salad, and clean up is easy because my meats are pre-prepared.

p&k said...

I guess I'm in a simple stage right now: though I have the occasional busy weekend, or week-of-stress because husband is out of town, generally, I'm "just" at home with my not-yet-in-school kids! ;) No matter how UN-scheduled, though, it's never TRULY simple, though, is it?!

MaDonna Maurer said...

Fran, thanks for that tip...seriously, someone else just told me yesterday that they have cut up their meat and cooked it all in the crock, and then froze it. Hmmm, think I should pay attention. =) I've pre-marinated my meat by bagging it in Italian dressing and putting it all in the freezer, then I just pulled it out to thaw out. But, having it already cooked would be great for casseroles...
No alarm clock days...I set mine, but Jie Jie wakes up before it goes off daily...even if I set it earlier. Crazy!
Kim...I know you are not "just" at home with those adorable kids. =) And simple...well, I'm just trying to make it a bit less hectic. HA!

A.L. Sonnichsen said...

Oh, MaDonna, I need to learn this lesson. I've been running ragged here lately. I need to get my kids to help out more, too. And I need to ease up on feeling like I have to produce fancy food. LOL! Thanks for being a wonderful example. I'm so sorry you had such a long recovery time from the door incident. Ugh!

Amy

MaDonna Maurer said...

Amy, you are really sweet! Definitely, you should ease up on those fancy foods...you are going to be a bit busier soon with an AGENT's deadlines. ;) Congrats again!

Jenny said...

Sorry about your head! I know from watching my sister recently how bad a concussion can feel. Ryan constantly wants us to have a simpler life. I just don't always know how to do it or what to give up. I have a really bad habit of asking the kids "what do you want for lunch?" because I know, personally, I always feel like something particular at the time. I've tried to stop doing that and just make their lunch, end of discussion. Our homeschool co-op is 3 minutes from our house, which played a role in deciding to have both boys go there this year.

MaDonna Maurer said...

I saw your pics from the wreck..super scary!
THAT is awesome that the co-op is so close...
Still working on the simpler life here...guess it takes time, patience, and practice. =)

aisyahputrisetiawan said...


Banned complain !! Complaining only causes life and mind become more severe. Enjoy the rhythm of the problems faced. No matter ga life, not a problem not learn, so enjoy it :)

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