I QUIT!

It was just this week...Monday...and I quit!

And I must say...

it.
felt.
so.
good.

It's not often that we quit something and feel good about it. Don't we tell our kids, "Don't be a quitter!" or "You started something, now finish it!"

Really? Is that always the best thing?

A few years ago Parker was involved in a multitude of activities. We were going here, then there, then somewhere after that. You could see it start to really bring him down. He's a "home body" kid, so all this running around was taking a toll and you could see it in his little eyes. He is also one who does not like to disappoint so sometimes he'll do things just because he thinks that what we want...when really, we're only making suggestions and we only want him to do what he enjoys doing.

Scott and I came up with a plan. We found something that represented every activity Parker was involved in and we put it all out on the table. Some items included the following:

* Backpack - homework (daily)
* Bible - Sunday school (weekly)
* Cub Scout Manual - Cub Scouts (weekly)
* AWANA book - he was participating in this program at another church (weekly)
* Sports Balls - representing any sports he was involved in (several times per week)
* I don't remember what we decided to use to represent friends, but there was something (daily)

Then we brought Parker into the room and told him we wanted to talk to him about each of these things. We went through each one individually and talked about what it was that he enjoyed about each of them. Then we talked about what he didn't enjoy about each of them. Then we started to purge, accordingly. Of course, homework was a necessary. There was no "getting rid" of that. Same with Sunday school. He wanted to continue with sports, but only the ones he really enjoyed...not all of them. He liked Cub Scouts and the friends he had there, not to mention that he liked having Scott as his Den Leader. Friends were critical...no getting rid of them. But when it came to AWANA, he just wasn't sure. Cub Scouts and Sunday school at our church put together were covering all the same areas as the AWANA program. His friend that initially invited him to go had moved away. He said it stressed him out and he didn't enjoy it. He wished he could be done.

So Scott got up from the table and came back with the garbage can. He told Parker to pick up the AWANA book and throw it in the garbage. Parker just froze for a second and look at Scott in disbelief. Scott said again, "Parker...just throw it away." So Parker threw it in the trash. Scott said, "There. Done."

Then Parker started to cry. We asked him why he was crying...what was wrong? He said, "I'm just so relieved!" We hugged him and told him how much we loved him and that we were sorry we had allowed him to become so over-scheduled.

Last week I found myself in the same sort of predicament. I wasn't necessarily over-scheduled, but I was participating in things that I was not finding enjoyment in. So...I decided to "lay it all out on the table." And I put out the things that I was not participating in that I wanted to participate in. Then I thought about each thing and how it made me feel. The end result was doing something that I had been forcing myself to do, trying each time to like it...but never liking it.

So I quit.

In doing so, I felt like I could take a little bit bigger breath. My shoulders didn't feel quite so heavy. There are a couple things that I'm not sure of yet...I need more time to think about them before I make a decision. But just freeing myself from this one thing made a difference. I realized that I was looking even more forward to an activity I had been enjoying but now felt like I had room to fully enjoy.

Just another baby step in my 2011 peace-simplicity-joy plan.

Peace and blessings to your day!
Jeanine