The Wisdom Teacher In Your Kitchen

Have you ever had something you really wanted to do, just for you, but just couldn’t seem to make it happen? You intend to have this on the top of your list each morning but as the day wears on, something always seems to come up?

Perhaps music, a hobby, meditation or even exercise. There just never seems to be enough time at the end of the day (or even in the middle). 

We get frustrated when day in and day out, our priorities seem to be last on the list. Our focus is often on taking care of others and hence, we may never get to focus time on us. 

I used to feel this way too, until I realized a pattern through dirty dishes. 😖 

After the crazy morning rush of getting two adults and three kids fed and ready for school or work, the kitchen would look kinda rough, to put it mildly!

I would usually take the kids to the bus stop while my husband started work. Then, later in the day, when I was done with work, I would return home to a sink full of breakfast dishes. 

One day our routine got disrupted and he took them to the bus. I was about to start washing all the dishes, before jumping into my work, when I realized I was prioritizing dirty dishes over everything else (and my husband wasn’t).

I’m not embarrassed to say that got me kinda irritated! (Remember, anger creates movement, LOL.) And then I realized the cold hard truth: I was prioritizing housework over my business. I was choosing to focus on those dishes before anything else, though the value of a clean sink is way high up on my list…I must admit.

‘Where you spend your time is where your priorities lie.’

And just like that, I decided to start leaving dishes and focus my time on other priorities (and to work on getting kids to clean up after themselves, but that’s a whole other blog post).

The easiest way to see our priorities in action is to keep a time journal for a few days. Where are you actually spending your time? What are you choosing? 

Looking at your journal, you can look for opportunities to redirect time and align with your priorities. Perhaps you’re spending too much time on activates others can do for themselves. Perhaps you’re spending a lot of time on social media or email that could be directed elsewhere. Perhaps there are shortcuts you could take advantage of for cleaning or cooking.

Where do you have opportunities to get your minute-by-minute choices in alignment with your desires and goals?

It usually doesn’t take a lot of rearranging to find 15-30 minutes per day. Go for it!

To be fair, time is only part of the answer. We also need to feel worthy of the joy these activities can bring. It is super easy to always have something derail our desires if deep down, we don’t feel worthy of feeling good.

What is stopping you from making changes? From putting yourself first? From finding time to focus on you, whether it’s joy or health or friends or self-care?

Self-care isn’t easy over the December holiday season. With so many demands on our time—shopping, family gatherings, social events, kids out of school—it can be tricky to keep our ground and sanity.

As we head into December, I invite you to take a look at where you spend your time. And then compare this with your personal priorities and see if you can get a match. Both can cooexist. You are worthy.❤️