Sunday morning I decided it was high time I tackle our master bedroom. I couldn't remember the last time I cleaned it and my allergies have been horrible. I'm just terrible about cleaning. Maybe it's because I have two young children, could be the CFS, or maybe I just don't like to do it. Regardless, I always feel awful health-wise when I'm done and then I have to deal with the rest of the hurdles my day is throwing at me. However, on Sunday, Doug had been home for a three-day weekend and he was watching the kids so I felt relatively well-prepared to tackle the task and felt assured that he could help take care of them if this cleaning threw me for a loop. That didn't mean the cleaning wasn't accompanied by a lot of grumbling on my part but it got done. I am embarrassed by how much dust I removed and wish that I hadn't let it get to this point. However, it was done after an hour. Ugh.
Coincidentally, a woman in my CFS/Fibromyalgia support group that I run on cafemom.com posted about how awful she feels about how she's let her house go. I made a response that came down to sympathetic murmurings about feeling the same way. However, the woman who posted after me was a genius - just clean for 15 minutes a day and then rest. My wheels started turning and I thought ah ha, I can do that. Instead of not cleaning at all and waiting until it would take me an hour to get a room presentable, if I just did 15 minutes a day my house might start looking a lot better and maybe every one's health in the house would improve. So, I'm going to make this a goal of mine - 15 minutes of cleaning per day. Today, I spent just 15 minutes on the downstairs bath (the powder room) and what an improvement. It's really amazing how much can be done in 15 minutes. I did stop exactly at 15 minutes and then treated myself to a bowl full of fresh cherries and bite of dark chocolate (70% cocoa thank you). As a result, I don't feel that wiped out and I really do feel like I accomplished something.
Another valuable tip I gained from a member of this same group is to keep an accomplishment journal. She posted that at the end of the day she writes down everything that she accomplished that day. Upon looking back at what she wrote she finds that she feels much better about herself. I think this is a great idea. I know that I really need to forgive myself for my limitations and to celebrate what it is I can do. I think that focusing on the negative all the time only hurts my health more. I really would like to focus more on the positive - think about what I can do and what I can accomplish. Maybe I'll be able to find some value in myself as a person again.
No comments:
Post a Comment