I often get asked the question, “How do you do everything you do Kara?”
Between balancing marriage, a business, friendships, volunteer work, managing clients, employees, social media accounts, calls, emails, family, mentorship, bible studies, finances and not to mention just trying to keep our house decently clean and cooking meals so we don’t eat at Taco Bell all the time, life can get pretty busy very quickly.
Right now my to-do list for the week is piling up, our laundry hasn’t been touched in about 2 weeks and we have a half finished patio extension project in our backyard. And don’t you dare get me started on the fact that I haven’t taken more than two baths in over a month (for those of you who have lived with me in the past you know that my tub time is a sacred, almost religious experience that on a healthy week happens at *least* twice. I’m telling you now that it has happened only twice THIS MONTH. I’m basically going crazy and the only thing that can fix me is a glass of wine, a tub of hot water and a lush bath bomb.)
Anyways, I’ve been reflecting a lot on the answer to this question, “How do you do it all?” and while this past December has been wonderful and festive, it’s also taught me a valuable lesson.
The reason I can “do it all” is simple. I leave up my Christmas tree.
“What the heck do you mean by that?” You’re probably thinking to yourself, “How does a Christmas tree tie into all of this?” You see, I grew up in a household where the Christmas tree came up the day after Thanksgiving, and was always put away before all of the kids went back to school.
Call it the perks of having a Type-A mother who liked to clean for fun - a gene I never possessed as a child and my poor mother probably still resents me for. But nonetheless as a kid I always knew that the Christmas tree had its short lived time in our house and no matter your plans, the tree must be put away before school started - no questions asked.
As I was saying above, I did not possess the Type-A, clean freak gene that my mom so desperately wanted me to have growing up. And what I’ve learned after having my second Christmas in my own home is that it is okay to leave your Christmas tree up for a couple extra weeks after Christmas when you know you don’t have time to take it down.
I repeat - it’s okay to have your Christmas tree up in January.
To be honest, this past month has been one of the craziest, busiest months of marriage for myself and my husband. We’ve dealt with sick nephews, the death of Jacob’s grandmother, a huge boom in our business, and we’ve been gone almost half of the month, most of it for unexpected reasons - so having time to go around my house and take down every piece of Christmas decor I have has not exactly been a priority for me, and honestly, it might not be for another couple of days (or weeks - again, sorry mom.)
What I’ve realized is that there are seasons for busyness and seasons for rest. We can’t pack everything into a period of time that it wasn’t meant for. My priorities this month are to help our business grow, mentor and manage new employees that are coming onboard my company and serving my clients in the best way I know how.
So how do I do it all? I actually don’t!
My house is a wreck right now and probably won’t be cleaned until this weekend, my laundry is somewhat done, but also probably won’t be done until this weekend. And meal prepping? Hah! I am only making things this week that can be microwaved or thrown in a crockpot.
I’m starting to understand more about how valuable my time is, how valuable I am as an individual and how important it is to invest in things that will bring value to others and myself. So, for the last time - sorry mom! Please don’t come over until the end of January when I finally have put my Christmas tree away. And for all of you who still have Christmas decor up - I’m not judging you in the slightest, in fact I raise a glass of wine to you - keep on doing you pals.
Xoxo,
Kara