YOLO

You Only Live Once.  This saying immediately brings visions of living life to the full, enjoying every moment, doing all the fun stuff, doing what makes you happy, and making decisions to go after dreams, goals, or perhaps simply just a new hairstyle!  Last weekend was packed with just fun and activities for our family.  But boy am I paying for it now!  Don't get me wrong, I am glad it was packed with all the fun stuff.  But reality set in on Monday and the cleaning and catch up must be done.  With a husband working extra hours, busyness of the holiday season, and the normal every day upkeep of kids, household (plus throw in a few extra random events and to-do's), life can seem just downright overwhelming.  When life hits you full force, every minute seems filled up and even simple tasks like keeping up with dishes and laundry can be hard.  It's times like these that renew my passion in living simply even more.  Own less, do more.  When we have less stuff to take care of, wash, dust, account for, it frees time up to focus on the truly important stuff.  It amazes me how many times I've needed to peel down the layers of stuff, and to-do's like an onion.  Once I purge one area of the house or life, I find other things I need to get rid of.  Also, isn't it amazing how stuff just creeps into life?  Paperwork is a repeat offender, and my favorite - all of the tiny little plastic things that kids seem to be a magnet for.  Have a container or treasure box for a few these things, and let the kids pick their treasures.  I often have to just sneak a bunch of that stuff (the pieces that were not deemed treasure) in the trash or recycle bin.

Conclusion:  I want to do all the fun stuff, and minimize the no-so-fun stuff.  To make that happen, focus on holding on to the things and people in life that really matter and be persistent in letting go of the things that take too much of your precious time.   Make it a daily habit to get rid of things, and you will be on your way to maximizing your YOLO factor.