Have you ever had someone ask what you've been up to lately and not have one single thing worth sharing come to mind? I have. Lots of times. It tends to make me think that I live a very boring life. After all, everyone else seems to have interesting and fulfilling stories to tell: children's activities and accomplishments, work and it's ups and downs, hobbies that create, or needful service given.
Often, my only answer is "just the same ol' stuff." It's gotten to the point that I'd rather not admit just what I've been doing because it sounds so darn dull. But the truth is, I'm fairly content with my boring but fairly routine life most days. I don't have a lot of drama going on (okay, with a teenage daughter maybe there is SOME drama... but not a lot!) which is the way I prefer it. I wish I could say that I'm an adventurous person who looks forward to new challenges and lots of variety (chaos?) in my life. Instead, I'm a person who prefers to know when things need to be done by, what will be expected of me, and how to get those things done. The less surprise involved, the better. Dare I admit that I kind of enjoy boring?
The problem is, the world we live in doesn't put much value on a boring life. Whose going to follow the tweets of an average housewife?! Oooh... look... she just did the dishes! Whoohoo. If what you're doing isn't "exciting" then it must not be valuable, right?
Sometimes it's hard to feel like I have a greater purpose in life than just keeping a house clean and feeding my family. Where is the glory in cleaning toilets or going grocery shopping? I've always had problems with low self-worth so you can imagine that my life as "just a homemaker" doesn't always leave me feeling that I'm a good use of space on this planet. I have to remind myself that a clean house, a well fed family, making the most of our household income, trying to teach my daughter good values, and trying to be a loving person are worthwhile pursuits. No, they won't bring me any great admiration or accolades, but if the best someone can say at my funeral was that I was a good mom, wife, homemaker, and friend... what else will really matter?
So scoff at my boring, dull, mundane life. But to prove that I'm not just wasting my time... here's some of what I've been up to lately: I replaced a case fan in my computer, (mostly) repaired a leak in my basement wall, read some good books, made dinners for friends, am continuing to learn the ins and outs of couponing, have been keeping my yard looking decent, and working part-time doing billing and such for David. That's in addition to keeping my house clean (enough), teaching each week at church, gathering coupons to share, and keeping things running smoothly at home. Boring? Sometimes. Dull? Yeah, maybe. Fulfilling? Often.
Welcome to my life.
And by the way... what have you been up to lately? :)
1 comment:
My answer would be "the same ol' stuff" - which for me means work, family, church, blogging, and probably not enough cleaning.
Boring can be good. Too much excitement and chaos can lead to unhealthy trauma of the physical, emotional, and mental varieties. (Been there, done that. Most of us have at some point...)
I guess my point is that you shouldn't be too hard on yourself or feel bad that your life is rather boring right now. That sounds rather inviting!!
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