A Post For Anyone Who's Growing Older...Guess That's Everyone!

Having camera problems...so no new pictures today.
The weather is changing...getting warmer this weekend. Soon, I look for people without coats, kids out playing, and sunshine. I was talking to a friend just yesterday afternoon and we touched on the subject of cleaning cupboards and ridding ourselves of many things we no longer need or use. She mentioned that she had cleaned one cupboard of all out of date food stuff. I laughed and told her to quick dispose of it, because otherwise if her kids saw it....she might be deemed unsafe to live alone and put in a home. I laughed at the thought of her hauling that bag of trash out to the curb before the garbage man got there. We often joke about situations like that, but in the back of our minds...that real thought often lingers. As we age...our bodies as well as minds age. We get a little less sharp. We forget things. We start to make lists of what to do each day. We might mumble to ourselves. Our bodies often hurt.....and speaking of hurt...it is easy to hurt our feelings. We don't always feel good. We get tired and fall asleep in our chair...we may need a nap. We feel we are at the mercy of someone else pulling the strings of our lives in the future. We don't like that feeling. Our kids often don't accept reality. They think of us as that super mom...who did everything and still can. They are often in a hurry....to much of a hurry to really look at us and realize that we are old....not getting old....old. They want us to remain the same as we were years ago...and do things with the family that might easily wear us out. We are expected to find things at the drop of a hat....and that's why....
I try my best to keep my things in order. Not to keep so much garbage around me. I don't like stacks of papers that I may or may not need. I like to organize and put things in marked bins. Getting rid of clutter is another thing to help keep my mind clear. I have never been able to work in a mess. I always had to clean my workroom before I could create. They say that neat people are boring....a cluttered desk is a sign of genius. Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure out... that when something is needed quickly... and you have to rifle through piles of clutter....you just may be a dunce.
So, saying all of this, I have a plan to put away things that just sit around and gather dust. I have lived with these things long enough. I have dusted these things enough. It is hard for me to keep up with the housework, so I am (as my blog says) going to simplify. I started with my Lenten Challenge of disposing of 40 bags in 40 days. I have collected as much as I can....now the rest of the challenge is to pack away some of the things that just sit around and collect dust.. for me to clean. I would rather have a shelf on the wall, with a couple of things, rather than one filled with collections. It will be easier to dust and my things will be put away neatly for my kids when I am gone. I plan to live for a long time yet....and I don't want to spend the rest of my time cleaning shelves full of bric a brac. I have fun things that I want to do. Simple things like just sitting on the porch, having lunch with the "girls" do simple things with my kids, visit more with neighbors, simple gardening, crafting as much as I can tolerate, rides in the country, birthday celebrations, picnics with Joe, I could go on and on with simple things that I want to do. I can't have fun, when there is a messy house waiting for me to clean. When I'm out and about....my house is always in the back of my mind and what I have to do yet that day. I'm on a mission....my Lenten Challenge is expanding.
Balisha