My Messes {and how I'm cleaning them up}

 

 Sharing a sewing machine with my sisters consists of numerous spools and bobbins of thread exchanges.

As the story begins it happened to be my turn with the machine.

“Where’s the white thread?” I asked my sister.

“In the thread box.”

“Where’s the bobbin thread?”

“In the thread box.” She answered again.

Of course it was. I was hoping it wasn’t.

On the shelf was a tornado of fabric scraps big and small piled high on top of the thread box. The tornado of fabric I created. I wondered how my sister had gotten the thread inside.

 I leave a mess where ever I go… There's my project basket piled and stacked to the brim with yarn, papers, thank you notes, letters, odds and ends as much as can fit… Then there’s my shelf in the office. Papers galore. Little notes with scribbles and doodles, ingenious ideas and music lyrics, music sheets and blog post ideas. If I have a paper I just stack it with the rest… There’s my sewing box...Filled with pins and needles, fabric scraps and a spider web of thread.

So, I pulled out all the fabric; the sewing manual, lonely papers, piled them on a chair and got out the thread box. Well, now the mess was on a chair. I couldn’t just put that pile back on the shelf. That would be… irresponsible. So I brain stormed! I cleaned it all up and put everything back in it’s place! *Chirp, chirp*… I am so smart... Right? ;-)

I am disorganized and a pack rat. 

Many people out there are wonderful at keeping things organized. Neatness seems to run in their genes.

Either I didn’t inherit the gene or I’m just sloppy. Don’t misunderstand me though.

I shouldn’t feel sorry for myself and imagine that I am just not gifted with neatness.

No. The truth of the matter is I’m lazy. It began when I purposely didn’t put something away, then I gradually began not putting things away with out realizing it and now it has become habit. The first step for me to get organized is realizing and accepting the fact that I’m lazy. I have to become responsible for my messes.

The next step is diligence. I’ve been trying to get things cleaned out. It’s surprisingly satisfying. Getting the messy shelves, boxes, and baskets of mine cleaned out is actually somewhat easier than other steps. The hard part for me is keeping it clean.

That takes discipline. Which is the hardest thing I am struggling with. It’s one thing to admit that I am messy, but harder to start improving. I need to stop myself if I walk away from a mess. Pick up the pencil, put the scissors in the container, throw the spider web of thread away. Once I get a system down it’ll become easier. But diligence and discipline need to be put in place. It might be painful to have to put every thing away. But it will pay off the in long run. 

Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life,
 but whoever ignores correction leads others astray. 

Proverbs 10:17

So, how clean are you? Do you have any tips for staying organized?