Expectations

I recently realized that much of my life has focused on meeting everyone's expectations--including mine and what I thought were God's.  Of course I couldn't. I can't even meet all my own expectations of myself, let alone what I think others expect of me. That is a key thought: what I think others expect. Chances are what I think they expect isn't really what they expect at all.

But does it really matter what other people expect? The apostle Paul said in Galatians, that if he was still trying to please other people then he would not be a servant of Jesus Christ.

In an attempt to counter my tendency to be ruled by the urge to try and meet everyone's expectations, I am trying to focus instead on the big things. For example, rather than meeting my expectation of always getting the kitchen cleaned and all the dishes washed each morning, I instead think about and pray about what job is most important. It usually is something that takes a fair amount of energy, like shopping. And like shopping it may be something I am reluctant to tackle. I really don't like to shop! (I know that's strange!)

I've been using this approach for several weeks now. It is really helping me get more done. Like the well known illustration, I get more of the big rocks in my jar. Then it's surprising how many of the little ones I still manage to fit in. The dishes do eventually get washed. I may not have a pristine kitchen first thing in the morning, but I am getting more of the truly important things done. I am also having more energy overall. As someone who has struggled with fibromyalgia and other fatigue producing conditions for a long time, that is huge. (And yes, I am praying and hoping for healing!)

Even though I really dislike shopping I found it energized me to get out in the morning and shop. It was probably partly the sunlight that did it. Also the boost in my confidence level when I conquered what felt like an insurmountable task. It helped, I'm sure, that it was partly to buy fun things. Here is a photo of some things I got a few weeks ago for our RV.

I got, among other things, the cute little rugs, the kitchen towel hanging from the oven door handle and the pot holders hanging from the hooks above the stove.

I also got this vacuum: Dirt Devil Power Stick Carpet & Hard Floor 4-in-1 Cyclonic Vacuum for our RV. The vacuum maneuvers well in small awkward spaces. It also has powerful suction which is great for someone, like me, with dust allergies. And it does well on both carpet and hard flooring. There are a few things I don't care for particularly how difficult it is to disconnect the main cleaning head from the stick when switching to one of the other attachments. I also wish it had a dusting brush attachment in addition to the crevice tool. I haven't yet emptied and cleaned the canister so I don't know how difficult that will be. (I didn't receive any discounts or payment for advertising this. I just want to help other newbie RVers such as ourselves.)