Take a moment: how far have you come?

[cellybird]

I can see all the floors (especially my bedroom, which is all floor!)

I have no unmanageable piles of stuff anywhere except the basement from hell and the back porch from hell (and way in the back of my closet, which is where mice evidently lived and made a nest and OH I am scared to look back there for fear of dead mice, but anyway)

I vacuum at least once a week now, where I used to go months without vacuuming!

I always make sure to do the dishes every day!

I buy cleaning supplies/Lysol often, and use them!

I've gotten seven bags of garbage out of my house just this week!

I'm still terrified at the idea of anyone coming in the house, but there are times when I look at the living room with its vacuumed floor and I just say "This looks okay."

[dayeanu]

I find it quite awesome and encouraging that we all have made great progress.

Even if it is not the progress we want, even if it is not as much as we want, I think we can all agree that it is so much better than we likely would have done, had we not been reading and working with others, both on this site and Flylady, and other organizers' sites.

I firmly believe if we continue reading and writing and sharing support, we will continue to make progress.

And progress IS what matters. As the thread "mandalas and housekeeping" discusses, as long as we are living, we will be making messes. It's just what happens when people are living and doing things. There will never be perfection - not for more than a few minutes, as long as life is taking place.

"Progress, not perfection."

[catcat]

Thank you, greenhill. I guess I needed to hear that. I have been down lately , thinking a lot & even dreaming about my DH. It will be 2 & 1/2 years on the 25th. I was doing better last year.
You are so sweet.
Blessings, catcat

[gadget]

Thank you for this great thread. I have been feeling very down and depressed about the state of my house. I have started to backslide due to depression. It has been so good for me to remember how far I have come in the last two years!

I used to live in a bad neighborhood next to drug dealers because my apartment was so squalorous and cluttered, I thought I would never be able to move.

I now live in a safe, friendly neighborhood just a 15 minute walk from work. My house is neat, clean and sunny. I am almost in maintenance!

I stayed in a verbally and emotionally abusive relationship for way too long because I was so ashamed of the squalor that I felt everything he said about and to me was justified.

I got the courage to leave and I am now strenghening old friendships and making new friends. I am much more active in my community and I am enjoying my life so much more!

[dayeanu]

May 20, 2012 7:20:55 GMT -5 gadget said:

Thank you for this great thread. I have been feeling very down and depressed about the state of my house. I have started to backslide due to depression. It has been so good for me to remember how far I have come in the last two years!

I used to live in a bad neighborhood next to drug dealers because my apartment was so squalorous and cluttered, I thought I would never be able to move.

I now live in a safe, friendly neighborhood just a 15 minute walk from work. My house is neat, clean and sunny. I am almost in maintenance!

I stayed in a verbally and emotionally abusive relationship for way too long because I was so ashamed of the squalor that I felt everything he said about and to me was justified.

I got the courage to leave and I am now strenghening old friendships and making new friends. I am much more active in my community and I am enjoying my life so much more!

Gadget, I am SO HAPPY for you!

[sidestep]

Thanks to everyone who has shared their journey here & thanks in advance to those that join this thread later. It really is encouraging to read these stories!

SOS has helped me get long neglected repairs done. I am at a high level II,
& managed clearing paths enough to have repairmen over. I still have a long way to go & I'm proof no one has ~really~ died of embarassment.

Here are the long neglected repairs I had done since I found SOS:

• Water Heater Replaced-- it had rusted thru the bottom & leaked so rapidly I had turned it off & cut the water to the house in the end. (Neglected 4 mo.)
  
  
• Garage Door Repair--springs & cables replaced-- it had broken ajar & rats were entering the garage/utility room & crawl space. (Neglected 2 yrs.)
  
  
• Plumber/ New Toilet-- I was unable to flush paper products & plunged frequently. (Neglected 5 yrs.)
  
  
• Fridge-- I had been getting by on a dorm-size fridge 'til that failed too & I was rotating ice/ice chests. (Neglected 5 yrs.)
  
  
• Side doors-- bottom panel broke off & so warped it was tied shut. (Neglected 5 mo.)
  
  
• A/C-- Went without in the Hot South-- temps reached 93-95* inside. (Neglected 6 yrs.

[/color])

[/li][li] Tree Removal-- 2 rotten trees in danger of falling on the house.
(To be done tomorrow!)
[/li][/ul]

[cleantine]

Starting to declutter books. I just bought a Kindle. It should arrive in the mail by next week. It's giving me incentive to throw out and donate books. Also getting rid of a lot of CDs due to MP3s and iTunes. Going digital makes it easier to sort through books. Gone are the ones I had in college (20+ years ago).

My biggest obstacle this month will be clothes. I've started to make some major shifts in reducing and donating. Need to pick up the momentum.

[dairy2mama]

Catcat, could your friend help you so she feels needed after her lost of her husband ? or did she move far away? Don't forget the turtle and the hare story: slow and steady wins the race. You can just keep moving. Remember - what do my children or who ever is going to clean out your house reallly want/keep? That is my "motto" now.

[dayeanu]

May 20, 2012 9:41:54 GMT -5 sidestep said:

Thanks to everyone who has shared their journey here & thanks in advance to those that join this thread later. It really is encouraging to read these stories!

SOS has helped me get long neglected repairs done. I am at a high level II,
& managed clearing paths enough to have repairmen over. I still have a long way to go & I'm proof no one has ~really~ died of embarassment.

Here are the long neglected repairs I had done since I found SOS:

  Water Heater Replaced-- it had rusted thru the bottom & leaked so rapidly I had turned it off & cut the water to the house in the end. (Neglected 4 mo.)

  Garage Door Repair--springs & cables replaced-- it had broken ajar & rats were entering the garage/utility room & crawl space. (Neglected 2 yrs.)

  Plumber/ New Toilet-- I was unable to flush paper products & plunged frequently. (Neglected 5 yrs.)

  Fridge-- I had been getting by on a dorm-size fridge 'til that failed too & I was rotating ice/ice chests. (Neglected 5 yrs.)

  Side doors-- bottom panel broke off & so warped it was tied shut. (Neglected 5 mo.)

  A/C-- Went without in the Hot South-- temps reached 93-95* inside. (Neglected 6 yrs.

[/color])

  Tree Removal-- 2 rotten trees in danger of falling on the house.
(To be done tomorrow!)
[/ul]


[/quote]

Sidestep, this is AWESOME! And I KNOW it wasn't easy. But isn't it WONDERFUL now!

[dayeanu]

The garbage can thread got me thinking - I used to never throw trash away. I would just set stuff on the counters, etc. Then it would get knocked off on the floors.

That's one habit I have developed - I do throw things in the trash now. That makes a huge difference in my house.

[freedom13]

Wonderful brilliant thread! thanks for the bump!

The stuff in the middle of the garage has been sorted / gifted / donated / swept out (I worked like a dog, dcoz worked like three dogs)

I'm out of one storage unit, those boxes are in my garage (again, dcoz worked like three dogs)

I have gone through 5-6 of those boxes, contents sorted / purged / homed

I keep my dishes washed and my bedroom picked up on a couple-of-day-ly basis

[dayeanu]

I am loving this thread, reading about everyone's progress. It's wonderful!

[angela]

Thank you for this thread! So much progress and hope and accomplishment here. It is wonderful and inspiring.

I think the biggest thing for me is developing routines again. Once I realized I had a long road back to clean and decluttered, I spun and spun for quite a while, not knowing what to do first. Now I know that the basic daily maintenance tasks need to stay caught up (weeklies too) even if it means I don't spend any time on the backlog of clutter.

I also had to let go of a lot of the livestock. Too much time and money, too much work and stress, and I had no room in my head or my day to take any positive steps forward in my house.

So now, the livestock tasks are very manageable and I have been able to start selling my fiber products so the money outgo is becoming more balanced with income.

I've cleaned up a lot (most) of the old animal messes in the house, mostly soiling from cat spraying, donated a lot of clothes and books, thrown out a lot of trash from all areas of the property. Have 5 out of 8 of the rooms in the house clean enough to be used for their intended purpose, in comfort and cleanliness. 2 of the outbuilding "stuff" spaces are organized. 4 more to go.

I understand too that I have an acquisition problem so I am keeping a more watchful eye on my compulsion to walk into thrift stores. It helps that I no longer have a job right across the street from a thrift store!

As important is what I have learned about my tendency towards "Someday Syndrome", my sentimental attachments. And I've struggled the most with telling the truth about how I actually use my time and what I want to do for hobbies and leisure activities and accepting myself and my ever variable energy levels and ability to do the work. I am much more philosophical now about the process. I know it will take me a long time yet before I get to a state where I can do things like painting and repairs. It is what it is!

[catcat]

To dairy2mama, I helped my widowed friend move from an enormous home & she had a tremendous amount of stuff, but it was not squalorous. I am too ashamed to have her help me. Also, she is a little older than I & often complains about not having much energy. I don't either but it is my neglected mess. In some areas, it's OK, but some, like basement, are BAAAAAD. Thank you for your kind suggestion.
Blessings, catcat