More about "off" days

So, yesterday's post was a little bit of a pity party, coupled with a switch to an attitude of gratitude.

I want to add a little bit to the rant, though, if I may. Because "off" days are a big threat, and I need to have solid ways to deal with them!!

There are all sorts of reasons that the systems/schedules/routines can get "off" -- one of the kids gets sick, or I get worn out, or a neighbor pops in for an unexpected visit, or... whatever... sometimes I allow something small to be a bigger obstacle than it really needs to be and I throw up my hands and give up on the whole day because the one thing didn't go as planned or pictured.

Over a lifetime of picking myself up out of the dust of a day-gone-wrong, I've gathered a few helpful mantras... I like the simple and straightforward, though sometimes the longer, rhyming ones have their place as well.

Keep On Keepin' On.

My mom had a magnet on her fridge that said: The Main Thing is to Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing. 

I'm Doin' It Anyway. (I say this a lot when my body is sending pain signals that say, Don't bother to do it -- use the fibromyalgia as an excuse... I hate to let the pain win, so I say it in a little bit of a snarky voice.)

Time by minutes slips away; first the hour, then the day.
Small the daily loss appears; yet it soon amounts to years.

I'm very much an analogy person and scaffolding comes to mind as I try to illustrate my ideas on this. Scaffolding is used when a building is in the midst of being built or remodeled. It allows the construction workers to access parts of the building that need attention. It is somewhat unstable-looking, but it is relied upon by the laborers to support them in their duties.

I have to remember that the schedules and systems are the scaffolding, not the building itself. If the scaffolding is unsteady for some reason, that doesn't mean the building isn't worth working on... but it does indicate that the people who use the scaffolding need to be warned and take extra safety precautions.

The building is my life in general -- which includes relationships, responsibilities, hobbies, taking care of my body, etc. etc. -- and schedules & systems simply help me do all that. If they can't help me and threaten my sanity because they're "off" for some reason, I have to be willing to step back and look at the big picture.

That's where the gratitude comes in!