My mind has been coming up with all sorts of slogans lately, the kind that should be made into a crocheted wall hanging, or a fridge magnet.   Being no good at crochet and having no magnets in the immediate vicinity, I decided to share them with you lovely people.

They’re nothing new here, more a rehashing of wisdom already out there, but sometimes an old saying framed in a new way has a different impact.  We’ll find out!  Here goes:

If you wait until every job is done before you have fun, you’ll never have any fun.

A to-do list is like a bucket under a leaky tap (faucet), you can empty it as much as you like, but it’ll keep filling back up.  If you want to make time for the things you enjoy, then you’ve just got to do them, no excuses, no rainchecks. Treat the things you love doing as the most important part of your day, even if it means the to-do list gets a little longer. 

This is something I struggle with frequently.  My priorities are spending time with my children, meditation, reading and writing, yet somehow I often feel like I can’t do any of these things until I’ve done all my work, or the dishwasher is empty, or the laundry is put away, or every cupboard in the kitchen has its contents arranged in alphabetical order (ok, that last one never happens, and I never intend to let it), but still, there are too many days when I never quite get round to the things that are most important to me, how rubbish is that?!  But on the days when I prioritise playing with my children, writing that journal entry, or having a few minutes of quiet contemplation, everything else feels better.  I haven’t got that squashed, strung out, frustrated sense that it’s all slipping away from me. 

My goal is to make sure I have more days than not where I spend some of my time engaged with the people and things I love, even if it’s only a little time.

Make the space you need.

This ties into the previous rule to live by.  There are never enough hours in the day, that’s true, but it’s up to us to make the space we need.  Despite the time I allow most days for meditation, sometimes I want space to read, write, or be alone, but I feel guilty for taking it.  There’s always something else to do or someone I should be spending time with.  Yet time alone is important to me.  It keeps my bucket full so that when I’m with the family I’m an approachable human being, which brings me nicely onto my next slogan:

I’m sorry for what I said when I was hungry.

Ok, this one isn’t mine, I saw it on a card in a garden centre, but how many of us have needed to say that at one time or another?  How many times have you lost it because one of your needs wasn’t being met?  Because you hadn’t had enough food, enough cuddles or enough rest?  We visited Disneyland Paris recently and it made me smile to see how many families were arguing as they were leaving the happiest place on earth.  Their distress wasn’t making me smile, rather I could empathise, enjoying yourself all day is hard work!  One of the things I’ve learned about family life is that often someone isn’t happy, and the best thing you can be is at peace with that.  With a calm attitude and a little exploring, the unmet need of the grumpy party can usually be identified, addressed and remedied in two bites of a ham sandwich (houmous works just as well).  Which brings me onto my next rule:

Always carry snacks!

It just makes sense.

Don’t waste your energy looking for things you’ve lost, they’ll turn up.

I misplace things often, but lately instead of driving myself bananas looking for them, I’ve decided to put a feeling out into the Universe that I very much want to find the missing item, and then wait patiently until it returns to me.  This has been working very well with all sorts of things, apart from some samphire, which went missing just before a sea bass dinner a few weeks ago and never reappeared.  This also doesn’t work very well if you’re about to leave on the school run and have misplaced your car keys, but for misplaced clothes, jewellery and wallets it’s been working wonders.

Don’t waste your energy pushing for the future, focus on what is.

This runs counter to the ‘go for it/pursue your goals/nothing is out of reach if you try hard enough’ narrative, yet lately I’ve been getting the distinct impression that the best thing for me to focus on right now is what’s right in front of me.  I can get lost in dreaming big and hoping for this and that, wondering how I’m going to get to the place where X or Y finally happens, but there’s been an undeniable sense lately that even though some things don’t look like I thought they would (or should) everything is exactly as it’s meant to be, and everything will become what it’s meant to be, if I can let go of the resistance to what is.  As Byron Katie says, there are no mistakes in the Universe.

If it’s simple, do it now!

How many times do I build a small and simple task up in my mind until it becomes a mammoth ordeal that dominates my day?  When l I finally get round to the task it takes moments and I wonder what the fuss was about.  I can spend more time and energy thinking about doing the thing than actually doing it!  If it’s quick and it’s simple then I’m endeavouring to just get it done instead of overthinking it.  This one has been serving me well, especially in the laundry department.

Set the intention.

If I mentally set the intention each day for something I want to happen, then it often happens.  It’s like the act of mentally committing to it bring it into being, even when I don’t do much to orchestrate it.  Yesterday I wanted some family time, so I suggested a meal at our local pub.  This was not well received by the children, who prefer to stay at home over the weekend (unless there are friends involved), but I was committed, so we went anyway, even though it looked to be a bust.  After a perfunctory meal with much moaning  (which was still enjoyed by me because of my aforementioned acknowledgement of the complexities of family life and the peace I’ve made with this), we returned home and played some basketball, which turned out to be lots of fun, enjoyed by all and rounded off with some family Star Wars watching, my favourite kind.  Today I set the intention to finish this post, which has been floating around my brain for some time, and here it is.  Manifestation at its best. (It doesn’t every work with winning the lottery, but then I never buy a ticket).

You create your thoughts, your thoughts create your intentions, and your intentions create your reality.

Wayne Dyer

What rules or slogans would you put on a fridge magnet?