Ways To Streamline Your Responsibilities In The Midst Of A Crisis

Can I get that line engraved on a plaque? I will put it over my desk, and in my kitchen, in the bathroom …and in the car! As Mr. Kissinger implied, if you are going to have a crisis, it really would be nice to be able to schedule it. Crises are unwelcome, unannounced intruders. They just muscle in the door at the wrong time and stay for way too long.

This has been an interesting year – one emergency after another. It started in January with my husband in the hospital with heart trouble. He came home with lots of instructions and not as strong as he had been – but he was getting better. Next, a wind storm came through the region so big that it actually knocked over the boxcars on a freight train! The power in the whole community was out for for days. Power came on and then over 20 inches of snow fell in a day – blizzard!  After that was over, life became normal, for a while.

At the end of May, we were back in the thick of it. A number of times in the hospital for hubby. Changes in medications. Loss of mobility for him so almost everything became mine to do. While trying to work everything out as best I could, it became apparent that truly we were in survival mode.

There is a breaking point. This week I finally admitted that I have battle fatigue. I need a mom … or a vacation … or both!  Anyone have a mom they can spare for a little while? LOL

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So, today I just took the morning off. No blogging. No cleaning. I just went out on my deck in the sunshine with my cup of coffee and an inspiring book filled with scripture but mostly I prayed. I started with thanksgiving. There are still lots of things to be glad for. Being thankful brings the not-so-good things into perspective. Next, I poured out my requests to the Lord. Then I gently thought about what can be done to minimize so that I can do the things that really need to be done better.

I say “gently” because I wasn’t ready to think too hard about anything so I took my big yellow lab dog, Sadie, for a long overdue walk. Afterward, I came up with some simple things to concentrate on:

     a. paying bills MUST happen

     b. balancing the checkbook can wait a few days

     c. building my blogging business gets delayed till sometime in the future

2. Accept that some things may need to be done in a smaller way. My house needs cleaned BIG TIME! I absolutely cannot do it. No time. No energy. Not now. So, I picked just one thing I could do. I vacuumed the carpets. I needed some exercise and knew I would feel so much better after they were done. I was right. But I kept the promise I made with myself and stopped cleaning after that was done.

3. Enlist help. I have reserved this for the more important times when I cannot be in two places at once. At those times I will call my kids or my brother and sister-in-law.

What I really need is a maid or super-assistant. That isn’t going to happen (if it does, first thing she does is clean my house!) 

At the risk of sounding all salesy, I am sincere in saying that getting Amazon Prime has lightened my load. I order all sorts of supplies that normally I would go to the store to purchase.

For instance, I needed a couple of long sleeved shirts (our summer has been unusally cool) so I bought them through Amazon. There “how does it fit” feature was perfect. Each top is a keeper! Dog food? Amazon! They brought that big 24 bag right to the door in 2 days – FREE shipping! Office supplies? Of course! No traveling for toner again. Groceries? Yes, I have started buying food supplies through them, as well. Amazon Prime is not a maid but definitely like having a shopping assistant!

4. Conserve energy. Minimize the places you go and the things you do. Pick the most beneficial. Besides going to work and taking hubby to doctor appointments, I made going to a two hour family get together as one of my times out. I needed it!  We had such a good time. It was refreshing.

5. Think happy thoughts. Crisis situations can lead to negative talk. The problem is screaming for attention all of the time. We do need somebody to talk to but the tendency can be to repeat the situation over and over again.

A little bit of sharing can be therapeutic but dwelling on it – giving it constant attention – can lead to depression. I totally stopped going on my personal Facebook page and I’ve reduced how many people I share with. I’m believing for this man to be healed. I have to keep my thoughts positive. I stopped watching the news, too. Oh, I keep up-to-date on the basics but I do not feed on it anymore. I’d rather talk and think about good things and I feel much better for it.

Enjoy!